2020 Festival Respondents & Guest Artists
The following is a partial list of professionals who have lent their time, talent, and passion as respondents, workshop presenters, and guest artists to the Lenaea High School Theatre Festival.
Scott Adams (Monologues) is an actor and singer with a master’s degree in Theatre Arts from California State University Sacramento. He has worked professionally onstage as well as earned commercial and film credits for over 20 years in the Bay Area, Greater Sacramento, and in New York. He is currently Department Chair and Professor of Theatre Arts at Sierra College in Rocklin, where he teaches and directs. He will be directing The Addams Family opening March 29 at Sierra College. Mr. Adams served as Executive Director of Lenaea from 2003 to 2014 and was instrumental in bringing Lenaea from Sacramento State to the Harris Center at Folsom Lake College.
Julie Anchor (Monologues) Julie has been a professional actor for over 25 years, and has played a variety of leading and supporting roles for various professional & community theaters, including B Street’s Children’s Theatre, Sacramento Theatre Company, Capital Stage, and Main Street Theatre Works (MSTW), where she is Associate Artistic Director. Julie also does voice over work, commercials, and industrial videos, and has starred in several independent films. Last summer she directed her tenth show for MSTW, Escanaba in ’da Moonlight. Julie is a native Sacramentan, and this is her ninth year as a Lenaea respondent.
Sabrina Fiora Beach (Musical Theatre, Monologues) is a teaching artist, actor and director in the Greater Sacramento Area. She worked for the Sacramento Theatre Company (STC) School of the Arts for over four years and was their Theatre Camp Program Manager. She has directed elementary school productions, taught arts-integrated courses and after-school acting classes under the School Partnership Program at STC, and she was the pre-professional ensemble classes teacher. Classically trained, Sabrina has been a performer for over 26 years, an educator for the past ten years, and she holds a BFA in Drama with an emphasis in Performing Arts from L’école du Theatre des Teintureries in Lausanne, Switzerland. Prior to moving to Sacramento, she worked as a professional actor in Western Europe and Russia. Sabrina is very passionate about theater arts, is currently working toward a second BA degree, and plans on pursuing a MA in Theatre Education. When she is not teaching, directing, or managing programs, you’ll often find her on various stages in the area.
Andrea Bechert (Duo Scenes, Scenic Design, Workshop Presenter) teaches Design & Technology at San Jose State University, and is a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829. Other universities where she has worked and taught include the University of Michigan, University of Chicago, Ohio University and the University of Wisconsin. Her designs were included in the 2005 World Design Expo and the 1996 Prague Quadrennial. Her numerous awards include Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Awards, a Denver Ovation Award, an international Falstaff Award nomination, and more than 20 other regional design awards. Andrea has designed sets for over 300 productions at theaters across the country, including Berkeley Repertory Theatre, the Colorado Shakespeare Festival, TheatreWorks, the Cleveland Playhouse, American Musical Theatre of San Jose, Chautauqua (New York) Theatre Company, and the Stardust Casino in Las Vegas.
Mallory Brodeur (Monologues) has been a Lenaea Festival volunteer for the past five years. She has worked with numerous theater companies in Sacramento in nearly every capacity. She will make her directorial debut in June, in Resurrection Theatre Company’s Young Directors Series Showcase. She has worked with Sacramento Theatre Company’s Summer Camp, as well as their School Partnership Program. She has taught acting and costuming classes to adults with developmental disabilities. After several years as a Lenaea host, Mallory is thrilled to be helping students develop their techniques and passion for theater.
Tiffany Little Canfield, CSA (Workshop Presenter) was nominated in 2019 for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Casting for a Limited Series for Fosse/Verdon, in 2018 for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Casting for the Drama Series This Is Us, and nominated for Grease Live in 2016. She is a casting director for theatre, film, opera, television and commercials at one of New York’s busiest casting offices, Telsey + Company. She recently relocated to the west coast to open Telsey + Company Los Angeles Branch. Her team’s recent film projects include Mary Poppins Returns, The Greatest Showman, Hearts Beat Loud and Disney’s Into the Woods. Some of Tiffany’s recent television projects include One Day at a Time, Atypical and AJ and the Queen. Tiffany was honored with the CSA Media Access Award for promoting awareness, accessibility and accurate depictions of people with disabilities. She and Bernie Telsey also won the Robert Altman Spirit Award for their work on the film Margin Call. Her Broadway credits include Spider-Man-Turn Off the Dark with Julie Taymor and Bono and Edge from U2 and Rock of Ages. Also an opera lover, she cast Baz Luhrmann’s production of Puccini’s La Boheme (Broadway and Los Angeles companies) and Anna Nicole the Opera at BAM.
Ron Cisneros (Musical Theatre) was born in Sacramento and started dancing at age four. He began dancing with Barbra Briggs’ Camellia City Ballet in 1961 and Sacramento Music Circus in 1965. In 1971 he began a long association with Disney, performing in Disney on Parade, rising through the ranks from chorus boy to dance captain, principal dancer and dance director. In 1981 Ron began eight seasons as the choreographer for Sacramento Music Circus. In 1985 he started choreographing for community theaters throughout the Sacramento area, receiving his first Elly Award in 1987 and 12 more since then. Ron has choreographed and/or directed over 100 musicals for professional, community, and educational theaters, and has worked with such stars as Lucille Ball, Elvis Presley, Donald O’Connor, Mickey Rooney, and Barbra Streisand.
Alissa Deeter (Musical Theatre, Workshop Presenter) is a nationally recognized performer with a firm footing in the classical, operetta, and musical theater repertoires. She is an advocate of art to affect change and is continually promoting vocal music in local communities as a cultural force. She is the author of The Mélodies of Francis Poulenc: A Study Guide and has published several articles in the Journal of Singing. Alissa and her accompanist Arlene Shrut recently released a CD entitled Hier: Mélodies of Francis Poulenc on the Centaur label. She is currently an associate conductor for the Blueprint Ensemble Arts & Theatre Initiative in Portland, OR.
Lori Ann DeLappe-Grondin (Workshop Presenter), a member of the faculty at Sacramento City College since 2005, has been working in the local theater community since 1994. She is Artistic Director of an all-female Shakespeare ensemble, Wildflower Women’s Ensemble, to provide free Shakespeare for the community in William Land Park and opportunities for women to explore traditionally male roles. As an artistic fellow of both Sacramento Shakespeare Festival (SSF) and City Theatre, she fulfills both administrative and artistic duties with those organizations, including directing, management and education. She is also director of the High School Intern Program for SSF, which she created in 2004.
James Elden (One Act Originals, Workshop Presenter) is a CSU Sacramento alum currently residing in North Hollywood, CA. He is the co-owner of Punk Monkey Productions and co-founder of P.L.A.Y Noir, an annual festival of Film Noir-style one-act plays submitted from around the world, currently celebrating its seventh year of production. In addition to performing on stage and film, James can be heard as the voice of Spence on the Smosh animated series Zombies vs. Ninjas and can be seen sporadically on General Hospital on ABC and Conan on TBS. He is also the founder of the Los Angeles Collegiate Playwrights Festival, a theater festival designed to bring college playwrights and Hollywood professionals together on stage.
Deedee Eldridge (Monologues) is the Executive Director of FreeFall Stage in Folsom, CA, the longest-running currently-operating theater in the city. She holds her degree in Dramatic Art from UC Santa Barbara, has performed and directed over 100 productions, and taught students ages six to 60. Deedee has written or adapted over 25 plays and is currently working on a book tentatively titled Body Language in Theatre, which explores the tools of observation and emotion to create believable characters that draw an audience into our stories by using the main instrument of our craft to its fullness.
Scott Ewing (Monologues) is President and Artistic Director of Quest Theatre Works in Grass Valley, Calif.
Jenny Flack (Workshop Presenter) started performing and teaching improvisation professionally in 1997 while at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she earned her B.A. in Theater and Drama. She has trained and performed with ComedySportz, Improv Olympic, and Upright Citizens Brigade, created a successful middle school improv program in Southern California, and served as the Director of the largest educational improvisation program in the country, consisting of 70 high schools and over 1200 students. She does regular live shows all over the country with her all-female improvised Shakespeare company SHREW, is a member of Theatre of Note in Hollywood, where her work was nominated for an LA Weekly Best Female Performance award and she just got back from performing in a new play at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland.
Maureen Gaynor (Duo Scenes) is very pleased that the Festival continues and that she has the opportunity to participate and learn from all the attendees. She is a graduate of CSUS Theatre Department and has been active in the Sacramento community since that time, primarily as a performer. She serves as a volunteer on the board of several theater companies and as a judge for the Elly Awards.
Alex Gomez (Workshop Presenter) is a Bay Area native who has performed all over the US. He has been in musical theatre since the age of 9 and at 18 moved to NYC. There he was fortunate enough to perform off broadway as well as do a national tour. From there he performed in LA theatre scene and now he currently resides in Sacramento. He is continuing to do theatre with great companies like Broadway by the Bay and Lucky Penny Productions. During his day to day he teaches gymnastics and dance. He is very honored to be working with Lanaea once again.
Debra Hammond (Duo Scenes) Professor Hammond is an alumna of Sacramento State. She earned her master’s degree at UCLA and worked professionally there for several years. She is a theater arts instructor at Sierra College in Rocklin, where she directed the all-American musicals Tintypes and Anything Goes. She was also seen as M’Lynn in Steel Magnolias at the Chautauqua Playhouse and as Eleanor of Aquitaine in The Lion in Winter for Magic Circle Theatre. Debra has responded for a number of years at the Lenaea Festival and is pleased to be back at the Festival this year.
James Henderson (One Acts) is a graduate of CSU Sacramento in Theatre Arts. He has studied in the United Kingdom at the University of Wales and at the Globe Theatre in London. He has directed over 100 plays and musicals, has appeared in more than 60 productions, and is a member of the Screen Actors Guild. James is also a playwright and novelist. He taught theater at Fort Bragg High School in Northern California and at Skyline High School in the Greater Seattle Area. He brought students to Lenaea more than 25 times, and is excited to be here again on the “other side of the fourth wall.”
Robin Henson (Musical Theatre, One Acts) studied directing at California State University Sacramento and was subsequently a freelance director in the Sacramento region. His most recent local projects were Mrs. Sorken for Ovation Stage, Enchanted April for The Acting Company in Yuba City, a revival of the ’80s drama The Shadow Box, and a specially adapted version of the classic Tartuffe for Chautauqua Playhouse. Robin was on the board of Light Opera Theatre of Sacramento and a founding participant in the League of Sacramento Theatres, and is a regular respondent for Lenaea and for the CETA theatre festival for middle school students. He currently resides in Cupertino.
Elise Hodge (Monologues, Duo Scenes) is the owner of EMH Productions, which is dedicated to putting time and energy into community theater for those wishing to pursue acting or have a creative outlet, as well as facilitating networking opportunities to writers, directors and producers for theater, TV and film. This is the eighth year Elise has produced, directed, acted and written for the stage in Sacramento, and her sixteenth year doing TV and film, often splitting her time between Los Angeles and Sacramento. Elise feels pleased and privileged to be part of the Lenaea Festival for a sixth time. Currently, Elise is Managing Director of Wagner media Group, a film and TV production company based in Sacramento, and in March she will star in Dancing Lessons at the Ooley Theatre in Midtown Sacramento.
Billy Houck (One Acts, Workshop Presenter) has been a theatre educator 40 years at Sunset High in Hayward, Arroyo Grande High School in Arroyo Grande, and Fremont High in Sunnyvale. He has directed hundreds of plays, including the majority of the Shakespeare canon, and has written many plays including numerous publications and productions all over the United States and worldwide. At Arroyo Grande High and Fremont High, he created a New Play Festival that encouraged and showcased student writers. He currently serves as the Northern California Representative to the Thespian State Board. Billy is retired and lives with his wife in Carmichael, CA.
Cameron Hoyt (Workshop Presenter, Festival Technical Director) is part of the fulltime staff with Folsom Lake College theater department and is one of the technical directors for the Lenaea festival. At FLC he operates as the shop foreman and theater tech. He also acts as technical director for all shows produced by Falcon Eye Theater. Cameron is a local to the Sacramento area and has worked in many areas of technical theater including lighting, carpentry, rigging, designing and scenic painting at a range of the community theaters. He is a proud member of local 50 IATSE.
Alicia Jeffrey (Musical Theatre, Lenaea Board President) is the Executive Artistic Director of Broadway by the Bay in Redwood City, Calif.; a former board member and producer for Contra Costa Musical Theatre; and a founding member of “OMG, I Love That Show!” Productions of Walnut Creek, Calif. She has served in numerous artistic capacities throughout the Bay Area theater community, including casting director, director, music and vocal director, production manager, and stage manager. Recent production credits include Aida, Million Dollar Quartet (Theatre Bay Area finalist for Outstanding Direction and Outstanding Music Direction), Miss Saigon; Beauty and the Beast; Les Misérables; West Side Story; Kiss Me, Kate; My Fair Lady; In the Heights; Dreamgirls; Anything Goes; Tommy; Godspell (Theatre Bay Area Award nominee for musical direction); Dogfight; The Great American Trailer Park Musical; Disenchanted! and others. She proudly serves as the President of the Board of Directors for the Lenaea High School Theatre Festival.
Jasen Jeffrey (One Acts) is an award-winning actor, director, musician, puppeteer and production stage manager around the San Francisco Bay Area. He is a proud member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society and the Society of American Fight Directors. Past directing credits include In The Heights, Les Misérables, Miss Saigon, The Producers, Next to Normal and Aida at Broadway by the Bay, Dogfight and Thrill Me at “OMG, I Love That Show!” Productions, RENT, Disney’s Tarzan and Little Shop Of Horrors at Contra Costa Musical Theatre (CCMT), RENT and Rock of Ages at Pacific Coast Repertory Theatre (PCRT), RENT and Cabaret at Stars 2000. Jasen’s latest upcoming directorial project is Into The Woods for Broadway by the Bay.
Tori Johnson (Workshop Presenter) spent much of her youth performing, training, and playing in Sacramento before participating as one of the 17 company members at the Guthrie’s BFA Actor Training Program. Since then, Tori has taught and assisted at several youth theatre programs around the country; including, the Guthrie Summer Camps and the ArtsBridge Summer Program as a Teacher and Assistant. She has performed at the Guthrie Theatre (A Christmas Carol, Boudica) and also at Shakespeare’s Globe in London (Titus Andronicus). Most recently, Tori debuted a film at HBO’s Outfest Film Festival and is the Program Manager for the Young Professionals Conservatory at the Sacramento Theatre Company. She is excited to direct “I Never Saw Another Butterfly” this spring. She looks forward to meeting you!
Sean Kana (Musical Theatre, Workshop Presenter) is an award-winning Bay Area music director, pianist and conductor currently serving as the resident music director for Broadway By the Bay in Redwood City. He teaches applied voice for the MFA program at American Conservatory Theatre (ACT) in San Francisco. Sean recently served as associate music director for a pre-Broadway musical, Ain’t Too Proud at Berkeley Repertory Theatre. Currently, Sean is working on The Music Man at Broadway By The Bay, where his most recent production was Smokey Joe’s Café. His other recent credits include playing keys at TheatreWorks for Rags, as well as the world premiere of the musical Triangle. He has been the music director for The Theatre Bay Area Awards for the past few years, and he has earned TBA Awards for best musical direction for his work on both In the Heights and Dogfight. A classically-trained musician with a degree in vocal performance from San Francisco State University, he has toured internationally and recorded sound for movie trailers and soundtracks for Pfeifer Broz. Music. Sean possesses an extensive knowledge of repertoire, style and technique and is a prominent vocal coach in the Bay Area.
Claudia Kitka (Musical Theatre) is a Professor of Music at CSU Sacramento, teaches applied and classical voice, as well as musical theater with Ed Brazo of the Department of Theatre and Dance. Her background includes Equity work in a musical stock company, leads in dramatic productions, operatic heroines, and extensive performances in both recital and cabaret venues.
Blair Leatherwood (Duo Scenes) has been a Respondent at the Lenaea Festival for over a decade. He is a graduate of CSU Sacramento and has an MFA in Acting from Brandeis University. He is primarily an actor, having appeared on most of the stages in and around the Sacramento Area (and beyond). He has also done extensive commercial and film work, and is an audio describer for blind and low-vision patrons of California Musical Theater.
John E. Lee (One Act Originals, Workshop Presenter) is an award-winning playwright, director, actor, theater arts educator, graphic arts instructor and stage combat choreographer who has worked professionally in the Sacramento region for over two decades. Since 1997 his original stage productions have garnered 156 Elly Award nominations for theatrical excellence. He was the founder of Sacramento’s original Little Bus Players and Retro-Active Arts and has been a Lenaea Respondent since 2002. Mr. Lee served as the Artistic Director for EGAD Productions at Elk Grove High School from 2013 to 2018, and is currently celebrating his eleventh season as Playwright and Artistic Director for the Fairytale Town Troupers.
Romyl Mabanta (Monologues) is an actor, director, educator and coach. Theater credits include Santa Cruz Shakespeare, La Jolla Playhouse, Contemporary American Theatre Festival, Montana Shakespeare Company and Sacramento Theatre Company. As an arts administrator, his programs received recognition by President Obama’s Committee on the Arts & Humanities. Romyl has trained with members of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, the Roy Hart Theatre of France, Decroux Mime, The Suzuki Company of Toga and the Deutsches Theater of Berlin. He holds an MFA degree in Acting from the University of Delaware’s Professional Theatre Training Program and BA degrees from UC San Diego, and is a proud member of Actors’ Equity.
Joshua Marx (Duo Scenes, Workshop Presenter) is a professional actor, director, producer, and teacher of theater. He has received national acclaim for his performances in such shows as Romeo and Juliet and The Taming of the Shrew at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, The Elephant Man and The Woman in Black at Hillbarn Theatre, Fool for Love at San Jose Stage, and Thoroughly Modern Millie at Contra Costa Musical Theatre. He directed Saturday Night Fever and Oklahoma! at Broadway by the Bay, Sweeney Todd and A Few Good Men at Hillbarn Theatre, and The Lieutenant Of Inishmore at San Jose Stage, and later this season he will direct 110 in the Shade at 42nd Street Moon in San Francisco. Joshua is certified as a stage combatant by the Society of American Fight Directors, and has choreographed fights for theaters across the country. He is also founder of the Immersive theater group FloodLight Productions. Joshua holds a Masters in Fine Arts from the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, where he specialized in training in the Meisner Technique. Joshua is a Professor of Theatre Arts at San Jose State University and Diablo Valley College, and a teaching artist for the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, the California Shakespeare Festival, and TheatreWorks.
Aerin Morneau (One Acts, Design) has been doing theater in Sacramento for many years and has been involved with Lenaea since 1998, conducting the Festival’s make-up workshop and helping to curate Lenaea’s social media presence. Aerin is a board member at Resurrection Theatre and recently directed Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit. She hopes all attendees love this Festival as much as she does. (Break legs!)
Margaret Morneau (One Acts) is a local director/actor/producer, currently working with Resurrection Theatre in Sacramento. Margaret graduated from CSU Sacramento with her master’s degree in Theatre Arts and a concentration in directing. Favorite shows she has directed include Balm in Gilead, Burn This, Gruesome Playground Injuries, The Glass Menagerie, Sister Cities and The Sleeper. She is currently in production starring in a world premiere of local playwright Jayna Anderson’s The Guardians in Sacramento. She has been with Lenaea, as a Respondent and in other capacities, since 1998 and loves the opportunity to see new actors putting their heart into their work!
Shawn B. O’Neal (One Acts) is a local actor and director who fine-tuned his craft at the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. In addition to directing many productions (God’s Ear, Beyond Therapy, Talking With, Five Women Wearing the Same Dress), he has recently appeared onstage in The Crucible at Sacramento Theatre Co., The Pillowman and Twelfth Night at Big Idea Theatre, Angels in America at the Stockton Civic Theatre, and God of Carnage and Burn This at Resurrection Theatre.
Janey Pintar (One Acts) is an educator, actor, and theater movement enthusiast who is a professor of Theatre Arts at Sierra College and William Jessup University. She has worked as a theater teaching artist for the Sacramento Metropolitan Arts Commission through the Kennedy Center’s Any Given Child Program, and for the Sacramento Theatre Company (STC), where she directed the first production at Sol Aureus School. Janey has acted at various theater companies, including Capital Stage, Main Street Theatre Works and Big Idea Theatre. She is a graduate of UC Davis, San Francisco State University, and the American Conservatory Theatre’s STC Program.
Allen Pontes (Monologues) has been a veteran actor and director for over 40 years and is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association, and the Screen Actors’ Guild/American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. His numerous academic credits have been with CSU Sacramento, Sacramento City College, and various studies in cold readings and monologues, improvisation for the camera, voice over for audio books, animation, characters and commercials in the Bay Area. He was Artistic Director for Capital Christian Center for five years, has worked as a fight choreographer, taught numerous acting and history workshops, and directed numerous shows for the Sacramento community over the years. Allen is currently a resident artist with Main Street Theatre Works in Jackson, CA.
Kellie Raines (One Acts) is a local actor, director, playwright, and visual artist. She is an Associate Artist at KOLT Run Creations, for whom she directed The Adoration of Dora. Her KOLT performance credits include Escape from Happiness, Vinegar Tom, Antigone, and My Own Stranger. Kellie’s other notable performances include Motherf**ker With The Hat and The Underpants at Big Idea Theatre, Macbeth, Julius Caesar, and Hamlet at Theater Galatea, and God’s Ear and Five Women Wearing The Same Dress at Resurrection Theatre. She directed Episode 4 of Boxed Up: The Musical, an immersive, site-specific, episodic musical. She has a bachelor’s degree in Dramatic Art from the University of California Davis. She works KVIE-6, Sacramento’s PBS Channel, wearing many hats, including associate producer and on-air talent.
Samantha Reno (Set Design) is heading into her seventh season as resident scenic designer at B Street Theatre in Sacramento, and has designed well over 100 productions over the course of her career (but who’s counting?). Most recently from the Cincinnati area, she still does design work for children’s theater companies there, most notably for Town Hall Theatre in Centerville, Ohio and the Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati. For B Street Theatre, her most recent productions include 1 Man, 2 Guvnors; Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?; and Bloomsday.
Allen Schmeltz (Monologues) has been, for the past 11 years, an artistic associate, director and teacher at Sutter Street Theatre in Folsom, where he teaches teaches acting, scene study and improvisation. Prior to that he was the founder and artistic director of Garbeau’s Acorn and Oak Theatre. He has directed over 70 plays and musicals, and has been nominated for multiple Elly Awards for excellence in Sacramento-Area theater, winning several. He is also a recipient of the Sacramento Area Regional Theatre Alliance Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition, he has acted in various theaters throughout the Greater Sacramento Area.
Shaleen Schmutzer-Smith (Monologues) is a company member at Big Idea Theatre Company in Sacramento. A multiple Elly Award-winning actor and director, she has worked with many theaters throughout the Sacramento region, including Big Idea Theatre, Resurrection Theatre, Runaway Stage Productions, Chautauqua Playhouse, Woodland Opera House, and Main Street Theatre Works. While at CSU Chico, Shaleen competed in the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship Competition of the American College Theatre Festival and was selected to workshop with the late director Milton Katselas. She has also appeared in local independent films and served as a respondent for the Lenaea Festival and the San Juan Unified School District Theatre Festival.
Thor Tivol (Workshop Presenter) has worked in Sacramento in Technical Theatre for over thirty years. He is the Theater Production Supervisor at Sierra College, where he has worked for over twenty years. Before that he worked at Sacramento High School’s Visual and Performing Art Center for four years. Previous experience includes Master Electrician for Sacramento Theatre Company (STC) for two seasons, working in AV for four years for conventions and hotel conferences, and did summer stock at Western Stage for two seasons. He studied theater at CSU Sacramento and has degrees from Sierra College in Cabinetry and Mechatronics.
Maggie Upton (Monologues) holds an MA in Theatre Arts from CSU Sacramento and has been teaching, acting, directing and working in theater management in the Sacramento Region for many years. She has served as Managing Director of River Stage, where shows she directed include Five Women Wearing The Same Dress and The Waiting Room, and where her onstage appearances include Sympathetic Magic. She has been executive director and/or board member for a number of organizations, a theater instructor for the Los Rios Community College District, and is a member of the Playwright’s Collaborative Steering Committee. In the past year she directed The Miracle Worker and Love, Sex and the IRS at Lincoln Community Theatre, Hidden Palms at the Geery Theatre in Sacramento, and the current production of Juno and the Paycock at California Stage. This May Maggie will direct Moonlight and Magnolias for Mission Avenue Players, and looks forward to many more such projects in the future.
Bill Voorhees (Duo Scenes) has been involved in theater for 32 years in the Sacramento, Los Angeles and San Francisco regions. Local theaters where Bill has worked include The Show Below, Thistle Dew Dessert Theatre, Chautauqua Playhouse, and California Stage. Bill was also Artist-in-Residence at Folsom High School and an instructor at Sacramento Country Day School. He currently resides in Los Angeles, where he has worked on The Family Guy and American Dad! for Fox TV Animation. Plays that Bill has directed include the world premieres of Skeleton Stories by Delondra Williams, Red Helen by Jennifer Barclay and Kirsten Vangsness’ Potential Space at Los Angeles’ Theatre of NOTE, where he serves on the Artistic Management Committee. Film and TV credits include Real Time with Bill Maher, Attila, Mega Shark vs. Mecha Shark, Ardennes Fury, Circus Kane and Z-Nation.
Hans Weichhart (Respondent, Workshop Presenter) currently serves as the Chief Relationship Officer for the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA), home of the International Thespian Society (ITS). In this role, Hans provides strategic and operational oversight for all external relations and partnerships through membership, chapters, alumni, and business development. Hans also serves as the producer for special events for the Educational Theatre Foundation (ETF), the fundraising arm of EdTA.
A sixth generation Californian, Hans holds a BA in Theatre Arts from California State University, Sacramento and has spent the majority of his career working in event and entertainment operations, with companies like Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, UC Berkeley, the National Association of College Auxiliary Services (NACAS), and the Los Angeles Dodgers. He also served as the Executive Director for the Lenaea High School Theatre Festival prior to joining EdTA.
A former member of Actor’s Equity Association (AEA) and the American Guild of Variety Artists (AGVA), Hans was recently seen onstage as Black Stache in Peter and the Starcatcher, Clayton in Disney’s Tarzan, and was the AD for the award-winning production of In the Heights at Broadway by the Bay in Redwood City, CA.
Ashley White (Duo Scenes) has been a director, actor, and theater arts educator. She has studied at the Globe Theatre (London), Alliance Theatre (Atlanta), and Broadway Teachers Workshop (New York City). Shows Ashley has directed include Noises Off; Almost, Maine; You Can’t Take It With You; Grease; The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee; and The Addams Family. She is currently directing Newsies at the Roseville Theatre Arts Academy, which will be opening in March. She is a two-time Elly Award nominee for direction and set design. During her years teaching high school theater, she guided her school’s one-act plays to Silver and Bronze medals at Lenaea. Ashley has also led workshops at high schools on monologue and duo scene development.
Corey D. Winfield (Musical Theatre) is a theatrical performer and technician who has worked in stage, film and television and has had the privilege to perform for local, U.S., and international audiences. Collectively, he holds five degrees from the University of Wyoming and American River College. A Renaissance Man of the entertainment industry his experience includes Acting, Directing, Singing, Dance, Choreography, Fashion, Modeling, Hair/Wig Design, Make-up, Stage Management, and the kitchen sink. Locally, he has performed/worked with Capital Stage, Broadway At Music Circus Sacramento, American River College Productions, Bike City Theatre Company, Hawkins School of Performing Arts and Roseville Theatre Arts Academy. In his “free time” he also works as a vocal, ballroom, and runway coach privately across Sacramento. Currently working at American River College in the Equity Programs & Pathways area of Student Services, he inspires and supports marginalized and disenfranchised student populations to achieve their academic, professional, and personal goals.
Bill Zarriello (Duo Scenes) received his BA in English from CSU Sacramento, a certificate in Performance from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City, and an MBA from UC Davis. He has been an actor/director in New York and the Sacramento area for many years, most recently directing Mothers and Sons and I Ought to Be in Pictures for Sacramento Theatre Company and The Shadow Box for Resurrection Theatre. As an actor, he is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association and SAG/AFTRA, has performed Off-Broadway, worked in film (City Hall with Al Pacino and John Cusack) and television (Saturday Night Live), worked as a Guest Artist with Lincoln Center, taught at the famed John Houseman Studios, and spent three years on the road with four different touring shows. He is currently teaching acting classes to high school actors at KD Studios in Roseville.
Become a Respondent
The Lenaea High School Theatre festival requires over 40 respondents to respond to either monologues, duo-scenes, one-acts and musical theatre submissions. Respondents should be comfortable working “hands-on” with student performers on their pieces, conducting ad hoc acting exercises with performers directly after their performances.
To qualify to be a respondent, you must be 21 and have one of the following:
- BA or BFA degree in Theatre Arts
- Graduate Student pursuing their MFA in Theatre Arts
- Be a Theatre Arts educator
- Be a Professional Theatre Artist
To participate in the Lenaea Festival, respondents must be able to:
- Provide a resume of professional experiences
- Attend the Respondent Orientation Seminar (usually one week before the festival)
- Be available for the entire 3-day scheduled shifts
- Be willing to offer exercises and offer constructive responses
- Complete the scoring rubric and confirm final rankings
Complete the Respondents Submission Form and email it to: [email protected]
