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Theatre Arts Center prides
itself in the professional quality of the teaching staff
for all classes and the summer Performing Arts Workshops
in NYC & Bucks County.
Below is a partial list of artists who are
CURRENTLY
on our roster OR worked for us in recent seasons past.
Selected BIO'S
Karen
Mason
Karen
Mason has starred on Broadway, Off-Broadway, television, and recording:
and "has few peers when it comes to ripping the roof off with her
amazing voice that knows no bounds!" She was in the final Broadway
company of HAIRSPRAY as Velma. Most recently she
appeared in the new Frank Wildhorn musical, WONDERLAND, as
the Queen of Hearts. Karen is
a
nine time MAC Award winner and has won the MAC Award for Major Female
Vocalist of the Year for six consecutive years. She has also won the
2006 Nightlife Award for Major Female Vocalist and three Bistro Awards.
Ms. Mason originated the role of Tanya
on Broadway in Abba's MAMMA MIA!,
and was awarded a 2002 Drama Desk nomination as Best Actress. Her other
leading roles include Norma Desmond in SUNSET
BOULEVARD, which she performed
to critical acclaim and standing ovations on Broadway and in Los Angeles
for three years; Mazeppa in JEROME ROBBINS' BROADWAY;
Rosalie in CARNIVAL
(another Drama Desk nomination); plus featured roles in Broadway's TORCH
SONG TRILOGY; and PLAY
ME A COUNTRY SONG. Karen
won the Outer Critics Circle Award for her performance in AND
THE WORLD GOES 'ROUND, and
starred Off-Broadway in her own show KAREN MASON SINGS
BROADWAY, BEATLES AND BRIAN. Her
television appearances include the hit dramas ED
and LAW & ORDER: SVU.
Film credits include SLEEPING DOGS LIE and A CHORUS LINE. Karen
has headlined Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center,
Feinstein's at The Regency, Rainbow & Stars, the Algonquin, Arci'
Place, The Supper Club and The Ballroom in NYC; The Cinegrill and the
UCLA/ASCAP Concert Series in Los Angeles; The Plush Room in San
Francisco; and Davenport's in Chicago.
She has shared concert stages with Luciano Pavarotti, Rosemary Clooney,
Liza Minnelli, Michael Feinstein, Jerry Herman, and John Kander &
Fred Ebb, among others. Karen has given concerts in the United Kingdom,
Sweden, Brazil, Scotland, Tokyo and Osaka. Her starring symphonic
performances include The New York Pops with Skitch Henderson, The
Oklahoma Philharmonic with Joel Levine, the premier performance of The
Chicagoland Pops, The Indianapolis Philharmonic, and the St. Louis
Symphony with John McDaniel. Karen will be the featured Guest
Artist for the New Teen Cabaret Workshop in our 2007 workshop in Queens
and for the Ensemble and Jr. Ensemble in Bucks County.
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Dennis
Deal,
Music
Director, NYC
Dennis
Deal is a writer, musician and director working in legitimate
theater, music and communications.
Recently he has produced 3 DVD’s for In The Classroom
Media (I, Pencil; Plymouth: The Lesson of 1623 and Everyone’s Space with Scott Bakula (TV star of Quantum Leap and Star Trek:
Enterprise), scored The
Power of Choice, a biography of Nobel Prize economist Milton
Friedman for PBS, and directed and arranged Mr. Bakula’s one-man
musical show for Washington’s historic Fords Theater.
For the past 15
years Deal has sung bass with the mixed a’capella group, The Accidentals, winners of the National Harmony Sweepstakes and
numerous Manhattan Concert and Cabaret awards.
Dennis has arranged over twenty albums of unrecorded theater music
(Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hart, Jerome Kern, Leonard Bernstein,
etc.) for Ben Bagley’s Revisited
Collection, featuring such notables as Alan Arkin, Nell
Carter, Sandy Duncan, Georgia Engel, Ann Miller, Anthony Perkins,
Lynn Redgrave, Chita Rivera and Katharine Hepburn. Off
Broadway he’s done musical recreations for CBS
LIVE! at the Minetta Lane Theater and directed his own comedy The
Bad and the Horrible at The Triad. He
co-wrote and directed the New York Fringe Festival production Tri-Sci-Fi
and directed Attack of
the 50 Ft. Walt Whitman at Mabou Mines.
But Dennis is mostly recognized for his award winning
50’s musical send-up, Nite
Club Confidential, which he has directed Off-Broadway, on
London’s West End and in Los Angeles.
shira-lee
shalit,
Film & TV Acting
In
May 2007, Shira-Lee Shalit was chosen by Steven Spielberg out of
12,000 directors, as one of 12 Finalists for the Fox/DreamWorks TV
show, "On The Lot.” While on the show, Shira-Lee wrote and
directed 3 films: Check Out, Beeline and Open House.
Shira-Lee’s feature film directorial debut was A-List, a
comedy starring Daphne Zuniga, Sally Kirkland, Renee Taylor and
Damon Shalit. A-List won the Audience Award at the 2007 Milan
International Film Festival, the Gold Remy Award for Best Comedy
at the 2006 Worldfest Film Festival in Houston, TX, and was
selected for the LA Women's Directors Film Fest, the Miami
International Women's Director's Festival, and profiled as one of
the IFP East's Project Involve Awardees.
Born in South Africa, Shira-Lee grew up in Houston, Texas,
where as a high school senior, she was awarded the prestigious
Presidential Scholar of the Arts Award in Acting, and performed at
the White House for the President. She also won the National
Foundation for Advancement in the Arts Award.
Shalit graduated from NYU with a BFA in Acting, and
received her MFA in Directing at Columbia University's Graduate
Film Division. While at Columbia, Shira-Lee wrote and directed her
first short film, Full Cycle, which was named a Finalist in the
Student Academy Awards. In May 2008, Shira-Lee was hired to direct
the powerful dramatic piece, Open Air, written and produced by
David Paterson (writer/producer - Disney’s The Bridge to
Terabithia.)
She
is a faculty member at The New York Film Academy, where she
teaches Acting for Film and Directing Actors. Shira-Lee is
currently working on her next feature, a sexy screwball comedy.
Russell
Ochocki, Show
Director
Russell
began his stage career at the age of 10 as "Winthrop" in The
Music Man With Forrest Tucker. He has appeared in over 60
productions including the National Tours of Can Can as
"Boris," "Sohovik" in Damn Yankees, and
"Barnaby" in Hello Dolly!. Regional productions
include "Og" in Finian's Rainbow, "Hysterium"
in ...Forum, and "Nathan" in Guys and Dolls,
NY Premiers of: Pictures at an Exhibition, The
Ventriloquist, and Roadside by Tom Jones and Harvey
Schmidt. Russell also toured the world as "Garfield the Cat"
and has written and directed shows for the famous feline at theme parks,
National Tours, and other special events. His song "Discovering
America" was used as a National Commercial for Embassy Suite
hotels. Russell has served as a consultant for the National Symphony
League and the Literacy in America Foundation for Family and Youth
Projects. As a casting director he has consulted for several NY
agencies. As a director and teacher he has conducted audition workshops
and Musical Theatre performance workshops for young performers across
the USA and Canada. Mr. Ochocki has directed over 100 productions for
both youth and professional theater including Moby Dick the Musical
for Cameron Mackintosh and Disney's Aladdin Junior For MTI's
Broadway Junior Collection as well as the Garfield Family Concert
show. He will be directed the 2006 Bucks County Musical
Theatre Ensemble in THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE, 2007 in JUST SO, 2008 in
BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, and 2009 THE DROWSY CHAPERONE, all Premiers of
MTI's Junior Version catalogue.
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penny
ayn maas,
Musical
Theatre / jazz
Penny
is a Broadway veteran, having appeared in Cabaret, directed
by Sam Mendes and choreographed by Rob Marshall; Crazy for You,
Choreographed by Susan Stroman; and Damn Yabnkees, directed
by Jack O’Brien and choreographed by Rob Marshall.
She has appeared in many roles at theatres throughout the
U.S., including Cleveland Playhouse, Goodspeed Opera House, Asolo,
Charlotte Rep, Maine State Music Theatre, and the Tropicana in
Atlantic City.
Film and TV audiences have seen Penny in The Stepford
Wives, Another World, David Letterman, Late Show with Jay Leno,
and the Kennedy Center Honors.
She has directed and choreographed at professional theatres
and schools—a variety of shows ranging from Swingtime Canteen
to High School Musical.
She is a sought after Guest Artist and choreographer at
studios and theatre schools around the country.
Penny received her BFA in Music Theatre Performance at
Illinois Wesleyan University.
SHANNON
LEWIS,
Theatre
Dance / Jazz
Just
returned from the National tour of A
Chorus Line where she played Sheila.
Broadway: Curtains
(U/S/ performed Bambi & Georgia); Sweet
Charity (Ursula), The
Look of Love; Contact (Standby/performed: wife, Girl in the
Yellow Dress) Fosse
(I Gotcha); Candide (U/S/performed Paquette) and Crazy for You (Vera). Encores!
includes Sweet Adeline; Tenderloin;
Damn Yankees (Lola u/s and Dance captain.)
Regional: Pippin
(Fastrada) at Goodspeed and National Tour; Damn
Yankees (Lola) at North Shore; A
Chorus Line (Sheila) at TUTS; World premiere Carmen
(Juanita) at La Jolla. Recordings:
Fosse; Sweet Charity ;The
Broadway Musicals of 1930; Candide; Tenderloin.
Film: Beyond the Sea;
The Stepford Wives; Across the
Sea of Time; Anything
But Love. . Commercials:
E-Bay; Mohegan Sun, Trident.
Robbie
Roby, Musical
Theatre, Jazz
Robbie
is currently on Broadway in BILLY ELLIOT. He was Dance Captain/Swing for the
original production of Hairspray: Las Vegas, performing with Tony Awardã
winning actors Harvey Fierstein and Dick Latessa. Robbie returned to Hairspray as the final dance captain and swing for the Broadway
production. He was
cast as an original member in the US national tour of Starlight
Express. As part of the show, Robbie was invited to perform at
TUTS’ American Musical
Theatre Awards for Sir Andrew Lloyd Weber and former President
George Bush and his wife.
Regional credits include: Beauty and the Beast (Michigan Opera Theatre, North Carolina
Theatre, and the MUNY), Empire
(Stamford Center for the Arts), Young
Zombies in Love (NYCFringe), and South
Pacific (Casa Manana).
In 2005, Robbie served as Dance
Captain/Swing for the US national tour of Joseph
and the Amazing Techincolored Dreamcoat, as well as Remount
Supervisor for the second national company.
In 2006, Robbie became Dance Captain/Swing for the 1st
national tour of Monty
Python’s Spamalot. He can be heard on cast albums of Joseph
and the Technicolored Dreamcoat and Carols
for a Cure, Vol. 9 and
10.
He was seen in the world-premiere of Idaho,
the 2008 award winner for best musical in the New York Musical
Theatre Festival and also served as Audition Supervisor for the
current Broadway-hit Billy Elliot.
He was featured in
the 2009-2010 national tour of Fiddler
on the Roof.
CORNELIUS
JONES JR.,
Musical Theatre – Theatre Dance /
African
Dance
Cornelius
Jones Jr. is a native of Richmond, VA.
In 1992 Cornelius auditioned and was accepted to study vocal
music at The Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC.
While attending Ellington he became actively involved with The Duke
Ellington Show Choir, Concert Choir, and the Teen Musical Theater
Company. He has
performed at The White House for former President Bill Clinton; The
World Earth Day Celebration with Kenny Loggins; and the 1994
Presidential Inauguration at The Washington Monument. Cornelius
has also appeared with Anita Baker, Stevie Wonder, and the late Ray
Charles. You may also remember him on-screen alongside Phylicia
Rashaad, Ruby Dee, and Edward James-Olmas as "Bunky-The Burro"
on BET's Storyporch, in it's Final Season in 1994.
He studied theater and music at Syracuse University and the
University of The Arts in Philadelphia, PA. In 1999, Cornelius was
cast in The National tour of Smokey Joe’s Café, which he
would later tour to Seoul, Korea alongside Broadway stars BJ Crosby and
Ken Ard. Other tours
include A Chorus Line, The Wiz, and Big River.
In 2001, he landed his first Broadway show under the direction of
Broadway’s famed director/choreographer Susan Stroman and native New
Orleans’s jazz music icon Harry Connick, Jr. in Thou Shalt Not.
Next came the First National tour of Disney’s The Lion King for
2 ½ years, when he was invited to join the Broadway
Company. On Broadway, he
has had the opportunity of performing the role of adult Simba and other
roles in the show.
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STEPHANIE
KLEMONS
Stephanie is currently serving as a Dance
Captain, Swing and Carla understudy in the 2008 Tony Award Winning new
musical, In The Heights. She began with the show Off-Broadway at 37 Arts
where the cast all received Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Ensemble
Performance. She has
appeared in two other Off- Bway shows Automatic Superstar and
Repo:the genetic Opera. She was in the cast of the 1st National Tour of
Bombay Dreams. Other favorite credits include back-up dancing for Don
Omar at Madison Square Garden and doing a commercial with Ciara on
Nickolodean. Stephanie is also starting a not-for-profit called Katie's
Art Project which brings art classes to children's wards in hospitals.
Stephanie was born in Colts Neck, NJ and graduated with a B.A. in
Genetics and Micro Bio Research and a B.A. in Modern Dance from Rutgers
University.
Angelo Fraboni
Angelo recently completed an Off Broadway run and
national tour with Bebe Neuworth in Here's Jenny. He originated the role of Teddy Slaughter in the
Broadway hit, THE FULL MONTY.
On Broadway, he also appeared in Victor/Victoria
(Blake Edwards,
Director), Jerome Robbins' Broadway (Jerome Robbins,
Director), Cats (Trevor Nunn, Director), and
Dream (Wayne Cilento, Director). Other
New York appearances include three productions with
the renowned Encore Series at City Center, and
the National Tour of Spirit. In regional
theatre he has appeared at Cleveland Playhouse, Berkshire
Theatre Festival, Papermill Playhouse, and in the National
and European tour of West Side Story, to name a
few. Film
& TV roles include The Cosby Mysteries, Mighty
Aphrodite, Thomas Crown Affair, Another
World, Loving, and Guiding Light.
He is currently General Manager of the Off Broadway play, Burly Grimes,
opening in the Spring of 2006 at the Dodgers Stages. His daughter,
Mia, is a long-time student at Theatre Arts Center, NYC.
| Andrea
Lynn Davis (Jazz & Theatre Dance, Bucks County
Faculty) began
dancing at the age of three under the direction of Susan Spadero
and Fern Helfond with Le Ecole de la Dance, and has since trained
under Susan Jaffe with Princeton Dance and Theatre, Heather Bach
with Bach Ballet, and Elise Knecht with Knecht Dance Academy. Some
of her past performance credits include The Nutcracker with
the Donetske Ballet Company, Twelve Dancing Princesses with
Bach Ballet Company, as well as many performances with Mercer
Dance Ensemble. In addition to being a Jazz, Lyrical,
Contemporary, and Ballet instructor for the past 7 years, her
creative efforts include choreography, having worked on shows such
as Smokey Joe's Café, Little Shop of Horrors, Nunsense ...
Amen!, 101 Dalmatians, Alice in Wonderland, and Cinderella.
Andrea teaches at TAC in Bucks County. |
BRYAN LESNICK
(Vocal
Technique, Audition Technique, Acting Bucks County Faculty)
is a singer, songwriter, performer and
director. He has studied voice under renowned Broadway vocal
coaches, Candace Goetz and Stephen Lutvak in NYC. Some of his past
regional theatre credits include: Evita, Cabaret, Last Five
Years, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Little Shop of Horrors, Hair,
Jesus Christ Superstar, Smokey Joe’s Café, A Chorus Line, and
Footloose. As
a director he has received critical acclaim for his work on Once
On This Island Jr., 101 Dalmatians, Sleeping Beauty and an
original Revue, Nostalgia. Bryan is recently starred in Brunch
The Musical which made it’s off-Broadway debut in January
‘09. He is also work shopping music for Welcome Week, a
new musical in NYC. Bryan is a private vocal coach in Bucks Co.
His original music can be heard at Myspace.com/bryanlesnick.
Bryan teaches at TAC in Bucks County.
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Michael
O’Donnell
Michael is a veteran Broadway actor having
performed in six Broadway musicals including Spamalot, where he had the privilege of working with acclaimed
director, Mike Nichols and Monty Python member, Eric Idle.
Other Broadway credits include The
Pajama Game with Harry
Connick Jr., The Roundabout Theatre’s revival of Cabaret,
Wonderful Town, Lincoln
Center’s Carousel and Victor/Victoria starring Julie Andrews. Mr. O’Donnell is also a writer and director.
His first feature film comedy, Moving
Mike, is currently being screened at film festivals across the
country and abroad.
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CATHY TUBOLINO
(Tap, Bucks County Faculty)
is a native of
Buffalo,
New York. She has been in the dance industry for more than 35 years
as a teacher, choreographer and business owner. She is the former
owner of Theatrical Dance Arts Academy and is currently the director
of Dance Expressions, a local dance competition held in the Delaware
Valley. Cathy has taught in many settings such as the Hartford
Conservatory,
Canisius
College, and The Buffalo School for the Performing Arts, Karyn
Kelly’s Professional Dance Center and other dance studios. Cathy
began the after school dance programs at Mary Mother of the
Redeemer, St. Titus, Corpus Christi and Beth Or and co-founded
“Happy Feet Productions” teaching elementary school children the
history of Tap. Cathy has trained with Karyn Kelly, Beverly
Fletcher (Author of the Tap Dance Dictionary), Gus Giordano and
Bruce Stegman, Tom Ralabata and Sammy Fiorella. She holds a B.A.
degree from Canisius College in Buffalo, New York and is also a
graduate of the Dance Masters of America Teachers Training Program.
She has choreographed several national, regional and local winning
dance teams as well as high school and college level musical
productions: including “Guys & Dolls”, “George M” and “Hello
Dolly”. Cathy is currently dancing with members of “Tap Ties” at
Moravian College where she studies with Nicole Hockenberry and
Rochelle Haynes. Cathy performed for the University of the Arts 60th
Anniversary Alumni Dance Celebration. |
Tony
Gonzalez
Most recently Tony was seen on the 63rd
Annual Tony Awards with the cast of "Mamma Mia!"
He has been with the "Mamma Mia!" family for the past
four years. He is currently
the Dance Captain and Swing in the Broadway Company.
He has also been in companies of "We Will Rock You",
"Joseph..." and "Saturday Night Fever".
Tony is thrilled to be a part of The Theatre Arts Center this
summer (2009). Originally
from Mentor, OH, Tony's first choreographic endeavor was in the first
grade when he created and performed an original solo piece to Billy
Joel's "Uptown Girl". He graduated in 2003 from Otterbein
College in Westerville, OH with a Bachelor of Fine Art in Musical
Theatre and Dance Concentration. At
Otterbein Tony was very privileged to work closely with Randy Skinner,
Dan Knechtges and Stelle Hiatt Kane.
During his professional career Tony has enjoyed teaching with
many musical theatre educational and outreach programs, namely, Camp
Broadway where he has taught workshops as well as aided in a children's
theatre program onboard numerous Royal Caribbean cruise ships.
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ROD
KINTER,
Stage Combat
Since
1995, Rod has been the Resident Fight Director with New York City
Opera and in that venue has staged fights for more than 25
productions and revivals. Along with seasonal mainstays such as
"Carmen" and "Don Giovanni", Rod’s work has
been seen in the New York premieres of "Dead Man
Walking", and "Harvey Milk", and in the televised
NYCO productions of "Porgy and Bess" and
"Tosca". Regional opera credits include productions for
The Glimmerglass Opera, New Jersey State Opera, Opera Festival New
Jersey and The San Diego Opera. New York theatrical credits
include: "The Jaded Assassin", Ohio Theatre; "Fatal
Attraction: A Greek Tragedy" (Starring Cory Feldman), East
13th Street Playhouse; "Hamlet", "Romeo and
Juliet", "Comedy of Errors" and
"Macbeth", American Globe Theatre; "Doctor Faustus",
Tribecca Theatre Lab; "Macbeth", Chekhov Theatre
Ensemble; "The Brothers Karamazov", Lincoln Center
Directors Lab; and "Twelfth Night","Playboy of the
Western World" and the critically acclaimed "Duellists:
The Forgotten Champions" (for which he was Co-
Creator),Theatre Ten Ten. Rod teaches stage combat in the Opera
Studio program at Manhattan School of Music. He has also been a
Fight Director or Guest Instructor for the Stella Adler Actors
Conservatory, Rutgers University, Mannis School of Music, Summer
Theatre Institute at Columbia, SUNY Rockland and SUNY New Paltz.
In January of 2005, Rod was invited by the organizers to be a
guest speaker at the International Opera Convention in an effort
to promote the training of opera singers in the craft of stage
combat.
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DebRA
Whitfield, is an award-winning actress and director who has appeared on
stage, screen and television in a wide variety of roles.
Off-Broadway credits include Mrs. Hamilton in Alexander Hamilton: In Worlds
Unknown, Olivia in Mr.
Pim Passes By (The Mint Theatre),Cleopatra in Antony and
Cleopatra (The WorkShop Theater)and The
Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr.Hyde (opposite Orson Bean).
Regionally she has played Claire in Proof (Hartford TheaterWorks), Natasha in Rough Crossing (Virginia Stage Company), Blanche in A
Streetcar Named Desire (Theatre Works) and the title role in Charley's
Aunt with John Astin. She won Best Actress Awards for her work
as Li'l Bit in How I Learned
to Drive (Contemporary American Theatre Company), Sharon in The
Adjustment (Florida Stage) and Sheila in Relatively Speaking (Dorset Theatre Festival). Television audiences
have seen her as Chrissie Sommers on The
Edge of Night and Ingrid Brice on As
The World Turns.
Debra has a supporting role in the film, I
Believe in America
starring Jamie Harris. In New York she has directed
Absent Friends, First Lady
and Duck Sauce Can Be
Dangerous for The WorkShop Theater Company
and Wasps and Certain Souls for
Algonguin Productions, an Endurance
at the Greenwich Street Theatre. Her production of Trifles, by Susan Glaspell, won the Beaux Arts DaVinci Award for
Best Revival in New York. Regionally she has directed To Gillian On Her 37th
Birthday, The Memory of Water and Sherlock’s Last Case (The
Depot Theatre), A Murder is
Announced (The Dorset Theatre Festival),
Brighton Beach Memoirs (Emelin Theatre)
and Innocence (NJ Repertory Theatre).
Her
recent production of In the
Belly of the Beast for Florida Studio Theatre just won the
Sarasota Magazine Award for Best Play of 2008.
Debra is a graduate of The London Shakespeare Studio. She has
taught master Shakespeare classes both with founder David Perry
and independently.
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Gary John La Rosa
GARY JOHN La ROSA has worked successfully as a theatre professional
for over twenty-five years. A New York City native and UCLA graduate,
his diverse career has brought him to four continents.
Formerly a performer,
Gary John considers extended stints in Hollywood, Las Vegas, South
Africa and New York to be highlights, culminating with Broadway and
National tour appearances.
Directing and choreographing as early as his student years, he
discovered the reward in research and collaboration. As his desire to
create and challenge himself grew, he decided to forego performing
altogether.
As a SDC director-choreographer, he has enjoyed working in dozens of
venues including off-Broadway, regional theatre, industrial shows,
dinner theatre and summer stock. A guest artist at many universities, he
especially enjoys nurturing young talent.
Gary John spent six seasons as resident director-choreographer for
Montclair Musical Theatre in New Jersey where his inventive revivals of
classic musicals received much acclaim. While continuously employed as a
freelance artist at theatres across the country, he is also currently
developing several exciting original projects in NYC. When time permits,
he conducts theatrical workshops and seminars in schools and
universities, in addition to coaching privately.
Gary John frequently stages productions of Fiddler on the Roof, recreating the original Jerome Robbins direction
and choreography. He considers himself part of the Fiddler…
family having performed in the 25th and 30th anniversary productions on
Broadway and National tour and having been involved in well over two
dozen productions worldwide. It is an honor to carry on the
"Tradition."
Over the years, Gary John has received the Kennedy Center ACTF,
Clifton Webb, Phoenix, Judy, and Connecticut Critic’s Circle Awards
along with two Loewe fellowships. He has received numerous nominations
for the Kevin Kline, Robby, Ostrander, Perry, ACT and ariZoni Awards.
EMILY
DAVIS, Acting
Ensemble / Mask
Emily is a founder and Artistic Director
of Messenger Theatre Company for which she has written and directed fig.
a: The Heart, The Great God Money, Persephone,
The Golden Apple: For the Fairest,
The Daughters of Memory, The
Adventures of Baba Yaga: Little Girl Stew and The
Enemy. She also directed Macbeth,
A Show About Magic, Burden of Proof and assisted Helena Kaut-Howson on Yerma
(at the Arcola Theatre in London) and Sanatorium
Under the Sign of the Hourglass, as well as Mark Ravenhill on Nursery/School.
Emily has worked as an actor with Shenandoah Shakespeare, Mill
Mountain Theatre, Georgia Shakespeare Festival, Lime Kiln, Messenger
Theatre Company and BAMcinematek. As a teaching artist, Emily has worked
for BAM, New York Student Shakespeare Festival. TDF, City Lights Youth
Theatre, American Globe Theatre, Roundabout, Theatre for a New Audience,
Bronx Arts Ensemble, Arts Connection and Young Audiences/NY.
Emily trained at the Wright School in London and has an MFA in
Directing from University of California, Davis.
Jen
Nails
Acting & Musical Theatre: Creating
Character Thru Improv
Jen is an
award-winning performer, director, teacher, and now a published author.
She has been teaching improvisation and writing in New York City for the
past seven years. She's performed her solo play, "Lylice" in
festivals and theaters all over the world, most recently in NYC this
past spring. As a writer, she has worked for Nickelodeon and the Oxygen
Network, and she currently reviews books for Time Out New York. Her
first novel, Next to Mexico, was
published in the fall of 2008. She
performs and teaches improv at the Peoples Improv Theater and the New
York Film Academy. Her solo
play, Lylice in The Scotsman won the Four-Star Review at the Edinburgh
Fringe Festival (2004). She
received the Best Director Award from the Emerging Comics of New York
(2004), and a Best of New York mention in New York Magazine in 2003.
She was the Critics Pick performer in Time Out New York in 2002. She
has performed and directed at numerous theatre festivals both in the
U.S. and Abroad, including the Edinburgh International Fringe Festival,
Gilded Balloon Theater (Scotland 2004), Uno Festival of Solo Performance
(Victoria, BC Canada 2003), Single File Solo Festival (Chicago 2003),
Chicago Improv Festival (2002, 2003), Harare International Festival of
Arts (Zimbabwe 2001), Impro Festival (Amsterdam 2000), Kansas City
Improv Festival (Kansas City, MO 1999) New York Improv Festival
(1999), Big Stinkin' Improv Festival (Austin, TX 1998), and the
New York Fringe Festival (NYC 1997).
Many thanks to
Robert Laconi for including her in this year's line-up of talented
instructors. Visit:
jennails.com
John
O'Hara
John
is a Philadelphia based actor and director. His credits include work at
the Wilma Theatre,
Walnut Street Theatre, Prince Music Theatre, Pennsylvania
Shakespeare Festival and a Barrymore
nominated performance in ACT II Playhouse's production of HARRY
CHAPIN: REMEMBER WHEN THE MUSIC. He can currently be seen, on
billboards and commercials, as `Ralph', the face of Tunica Resorts
Casino in Mississippi. He has been the resident playwright for TAC for
eleven years--creating over twenty two original scripts for a company of young
actors that never fail to inspire him.
JIM
OSORNO, Theatre
Dance / Jazz
Jim
lives in NYC. He has worked on BROADWAY shows, TV and feature film
productions. He has choreographed for Music City’s CHRISTMAS
SPECTACULAR in Nashville, Baltimore SCHOOL FOR THE ARTS, USO
International Troupe, Verizon, The Miss Orange Co. Pageant, Loyola
Marymount University, Baldwin High School and the Maui Youth
Theatre. For
many years, he has been a Creative Associate and Choreographer for
BROADWAY BARES; an annual BC/EFA benefit that has raised over $5
million. Returning to Baltimore, he choreographed the SCHOOL
FOR THE ARTS’ 25th Anniversary show at the newly restored
Hippodrome Theatre.
As
an ASSOCIATE CHOREOGRAPHER, Jim has worked with TONY winner JERRY
MITCHELL on the BROADWAY production of IMAGINARY FRIENDS and has
worked with DISNEY, VERIZON, WARNER BROS., and the ST. LOUIS MUNY.
HE has also served as DANCE CAPTAIN and SWING on Broadway,
Touring, and regional productions. Most recently, Jim was Jerry
Mitchell’s Dance Captain for the 1st National Touring Company of
DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS. In
addition to JERRY MITCHELL, Jim has worked with GEORGE FAISON,
WAYNE CILENTO, TWYLA THARP, MICHELE LYNCH, JODI MOCCIA, ROBERT
LONGBOTTOM, LINDA HABERMAN, LUIS PEREZ, VINCENT PATTERSON, PATTI
WILCOX, SERGIO TRUJILLO, RICHARD STAFFORD and HINTON BATTLE.
As
a Performer, Jim has been seen on Broadway in NORA EPHRON’s
IMAGINARY FRIENDS, THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW, and the dance workshop
of NEVER GONNA DANCE. He was involved in the creation of the
Pre-Broadway RHYTHM CLUB. He
has toured with THE FULL MONTY, DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS, performed
in TOMMY (Germany), danced on the great stage of RADIO CITY MUSIC
HALL in both the CHRISTMAS and EASTER shows.
JIM teaches at several private dance studios across the nation.
Eric
C. Dente
Eric
is the founder of The Watermark Ensemble and a member of First Look
Theatre Company at Tisch/NYU. Eric served as the Associate Artistic
Director of The Denver Civic Theatre and for Compass Theatre Company.
Directing Credits include: Julius Caesar, 1984, Waiting For Godot,
Othello, You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, Three Men in Search of a Pair
of Shoes, Apartment X, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, Family For Sale
and A Midsummer Night's Dream. He directed the The 2005
& 2006 and 2009 NYC
Theatre Arts Center Acting Ensemble in his adaptations of two
Shakespeare comedies, A Midsummer
Night's Dream and Comedy of Errors and Canterbury Tales, respectively. He
and kc Keene wrote THE RE-ANIMATORS, which had its world premier with
the NYC TAC Acting Ensemble in 2008.
James
Vincent (Stage
Make Up)
ACTING
ENSEMBLE & MUSICAL THEATRE COMPANIES
A
native of Rhode Island, James Vincent started his makeup career as a
student studying Theater and Women'
Studies at Rhode Island College and Brown University. Over the years his
passion for the art of makeup expanded to include training and product
development positions for such companies as MAC, Urban Decay and Stila.
James is the co-founder of the hip, niche makeup line Pretty Pretty and
now focuses his career on the development of the line while working
internationally in fashion, film, theater and editorial. His work has
been seen on the cover of Paper and Atomic and in magazines including
ID, Index, Prudence and Surface. His resume includes clients as diverse
as designers Christopher Deane and Ben Sherman and celebrities Gina
Gershon, Liv Tyler and Jane Fonda. He has been featured on numerous
television shows as a beauty expert such as NBC Universal's Home
Delivery and NBC's The Today Show.
Nylon magazine and WWD have named James as a "makeup artist
to watch".
David DeBesse
Fight Direction credits include: Wonder of the World
at Manhattan Theatre Club, (with Sarah Jessica Parker);
Temporary Help at the Revelation Theater; The Phantom
Lady, Romeo & Juliet and Much Ado About Nothing
at The Pearl Theatre; Pericles at the Red Bull Theatre;
the U.S. premiere of Lovers and Executioners at Arena
Stage; Wait Until Dark at the Cape Playhouse; Oliver
at North Shore Music Theatre; Imperfect Love at New
York Performance Works; Heights at E.S.T., Deathtrap
at the Monomoy Theatre; Twelfth Night at NY Classical
Theatre; Forever Free at Theatre Works; Extremities
at the American Academy of Dramatic Art. David has assisted
Rick Sordelet on many productions, including Scarlet
Pimpernel and Tom Sawyer on Broadway, The Prince and
the Pauper at the Lamb's Theatre, Hamlet at NJ Shakespeare
Festival (w/Jared Harris and Lili Taylor), Coriolanus
and Hamlet at the Shakespeare Theatre and the film version
of Hamlet starring and co-directed by Campbell Scott
(and Eric Simonson). David also works as a stunt
coordinator for Guiding Light, and has directed and/or
co-directed many fights for shows in which he acted.
He has also taught stage combat at various institutions,
including the Atlantic Theatre Acting School, the William
Esper Studio, Long Island University at C.W. Post, and
the School for Film & Television, the Neighborhood
Playhouse and Yale University.
Some acting credit's include: New York: Broadway: Ensemble
in Macbeth (starring Christopher Plummer and Glenda
Jackson); The Acting Company: various roles in Romeo
& Juliet; Off-Broadway: American Globe Theatre:
Lysander in Midsummer Night's Dream. Regional:
Virginia Stage: Clifford in Deathtrap, Guildenstern
in Hamlet; The Shakespeare Theatre: King of France in
King Lear; Walnut Street Theatre: Sebastian in Twelfth
Night; Caldwell Theatre: Yank in The Hasty Heart. Other:
Film: Francisco in Hamlet (Campbell Scott as Hamlet).
David attended the University of Washington's Professional
Actor Training Program under the direction of Bob Hobbs
Steven Smeltzer
Steven is currently on the faculty at
AMDA in NYC. He is a director, choreographer,
teacher and performer.
He is directed and choreographed the 2008
National Tour of The Great American Trailer Park
Musical. He recently returned from Ireland where
he was directly and choreographing the Hot Mikado.
In New York he directed and choreographed
revivals of Hair and The Mystery of Edwin Drood, the
later which was hailed by the composer Rupert Holmes
who said it was his favorite Drood in over a decade
and one of the top three productions ever.
For Theatre Arts Center in Bucks County he
directed the 2007 world premier of Willie Wonka JR
(Music Theatre International National Test Site
Production). In
Europe he directed long running productions of Hair,
The Golden Musical of Broadway (with Jennifer Lopez),
and the Best of Broadway.
In Sweden he is a regular Guest Artist at Folk
University in their Musical Theatre Program, where he
has choreographed such productions as Godspell,
Grease, Hair, Once on the Island, Jerome Robbins
Broadway, Drood, and Michael Bennet—The Legend.
He has also taught musical theatre at NYU’s
CAP21, Theatre Arts Center, Emory, Henry and Virginia
Intermont College.
He is a Resident Director for Pucci
Productions, mounting revues and industrials for
Altlantic City Casinos, and industrials such as
Bristol/Myers and KFC.
Other directing and choreography credits
include Bucks County Playhouse, Alhambra Dinner
Theatre, Surflight Theatre, Gallery Players, Michigan
Ensemble Theatre and several theatres in Sweden.
Steven has a BFA from Florida State University
and a graduate of the Burt Reynolds Institute for
Theatre Training.
Our
Guest Artist and Teaching staff are working professionals and maintain
performing and directing commitments throughout the world. Their
participation at the Theatre Arts Center is always subject to change due
to their busy schedules.
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