STEVE

is a Drama Teacher at The Winsor School in Boston, Massachusetts. Prior to that Steve taught and directed theater at Hunter College High School in New York City. Steve is a proud member of the Dramatist Guild and Actors Equity Association and was a working actor in NYC prior to receiving his MA in Educational Theater from NYU. Steve most recently directed Blood Brothers and Here Be Dragons . This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

TIM

is enjoying his seventh year as the Drama Teacher at The Brearley School in New York City. He has directed plays with students in NYC, Princeton, Ridgewood, Washington DC and Middlebury, VT. He is the co-founder of Acting Manitou, and serves with Steve Borowka as producer and director of the program. He directed and adapted a production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe for one of Acting Manitou’s outdoor amphitheaters. Most recently Tim directed The Bomb-itty of Errors.  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

AMI received her MA from NYU in Educational Theater. Ami has taught drama for The Young Women's Leadership Project, The Brearley School, The McCarter Theatre and at Middlebury College as a Guest Instructor for "Children and the Arts." She most recently directed the First-Year Show, Tales of Love, Loss and Laughter: A Relationship Study at Middlebury College. Ami teaches drama at the Hunter College High School in New York City. Last year she directed Footloose for Session 1.

ANDYgraduated from Emerson College in 2010 with a B.A. in Theater Education. Andy recently directed Theater in the Open’s original, Pinnochio: A Playful Puppet Panto. Andy also directed Terezin: Children of the Holocaust, a show that tours to different schools around the Northeast to promote Holocaust and bullying education. In the summer of 2011, he toured with the show as an actor, to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Andy began working at Acting Manitou as a bunk counselor in the summer of 2009. Last summer he directed an adaptation of The Birds.

KRISTAN works at the Northgate High School in Pittsburgh, PA, when she is not producing the plays at Acting Manitou. She freelances for the Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theater. Kristan graduated from Shenandoah Conservatory with a BFA in Musical Theater and holds an MA from New York University in Educational Theater. In her free time, she studies voice and continues to sing around the city of Pittsburgh.

CHRIS has performed as an actor at Goodspeed Opera House, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, and the Geva Center for the Performing Arts. Most recently, Chris was seen as Bobby Strong in the National Tour of Urinetown. Chris holds a BFA from Florida State University and has trained with Yale's Pamela Prather and Juilliard's Wendy Waterman. Chris's directorial debut for Acting Manitou was Seussical the Musical. Chris also directed Sweeney Todd, The Crucible, and Pericles.                                                        

MEG teaches Drama and English at Hunter College High School in New York City. Meg is the Associate Artistic Director for The Management Theater Company and is returning for her second year to direct in manhattan theatre source's Estrogenius Festival. Additionally, her one-act play One for More Options was recently produced at the Bedlam Theatre in Minneapolis. She holds an MA in English Literature from Hunter College. Meg's Acting Manitou directing credits include As You Like It, Pippin, The Government Inspector, Annie and Bye Bye Birdie. 

JOE is an actor and director and most recently performed in Monster with PTP/NYC at Atlantic Stage 2 and Lovesick at 59E59th Theater. Other work includes Cut with The Management, and A Man of Wealth and Taste at The Harkness Dance Festival. His work in film has been seen at the Slamdance, TriBeCa, and Atlanta Film Festivals. At AM he has directed Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors and Macbeth and served as Set Designer. He is a graduate of Middlebury College.

MICHAEL received a B.S. Degree in Theater and Sociology from Skidmore College.  Michael works primarily as an actor, with such credits as the national tour of Shear Madness, Twelfth Night Off-Broadway at The Pearl, The Barber of Seville at The Met Opera,  A Tuna Christmas at Orlando Shakespeare Festival, Our Son’s Wedding at Florida Studio Theatre, and Macbeth at The Virginia Shakespeare Festival.  Michael is also a Teaching Artist at Tada! in NYC.  michaelkevinbaldwin.com

KEVIN is a director, actor, and teacher. He has worked for several organizations in New York City, including Manhattan New Music Project, Theatre Development Fund, and TADA!. At The McCarter Theatre in Princeton NJ, Kevin directed young people in productions of Schoolhouse Rock Live!, A Year With Frog and Toad, Pinkalicious, The Prophesy of the Shoe and ArgoNUTS! As a professional actor, Kevin is a member of Actors’ Equity and has appeared in regional productions as well as national tours of The Who’s Tommy and A Chorus Line.

BENJI is a composer and musical director currently living in New Haven, CT and studying at Yale University. Benji's recent work at Acting Manitou includes musical directing 13: The Musical, Sweeney Todd, and Annie, as well as writing music and lyrics for The Averageachievers Club. Averageachievers, which had its world premiere at Acting Manitou, has since had staged readings in New York City and at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. At Yale, Benji is the musical director of the Duke's Men, an all-male a cappella group www.dukesmen.com

MELISSA received her BA in Gender Studies from Skidmore College in 2010, where she performed as a member of the college's Sketch Comedy Group, "The Sketchies".  She has worked at Acting Manitou since 2007 and has filled many fun roles including bunk counselor, stage manager, assistant director, office manager, yoga/zumba instructor, photographer, teaching artist, and DJ for prom.  She currently lives in Los Angeles, where she works as a health educator throughout high schools, teaching and implementing youth development programs for teens.

SARA is a teacher, performer and choreographer in the DC area. She received her BFA from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. She has a dance background in modern, jazz, ballet, hip-hop, tap, musical theater, and folklorico. Sara currently teaches at James School of the Dance Arts, choreographs for Ashburn School of Ballet's junior and senior companies and performs with Dimensions of Funk. Sara choreographed Little Me, Cupid & Psyche, Pippin, Once on this Island, Xanadu, 13, Spelling Bee and Seussical the Musical for Acting Manitou. 

TIM is a voice teacher and musical director currently living in North Carolina. He received his BFA in Dramatic Arts with a concentration in music from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and he received his MA in Music Theater from NYU. Tim has recently worked on the musicals The New Hopeville Comics and All Shook Up. At Acting Manitou, Tim served as musical director for Pippin, Spelling Bee and Spamalot.

MARGOT is an independent puppetry artist and storyteller in NYC.  Her work as Co-collaborator and founder of Double Image Theater Lab has been seen in Holland, Jerusalem and the United States.  She has studied with master puppeteers Ralph Lee, Landis Smith (U.S.), Diego Guzman (Malaga, Spain) and Norbert Goetz (Germany).   She received a B.A. in Theater and Spanish (Dickinson College, 2004) and M.A. in Educational Theater in Colleges and Communities (NYU, 2007).  www.doubleimagetheaterlab.com

JONATHAN graduated from University of North Carolina Chapel Hill with a BA in Classics and is now beginning graduate school for Playwriting. Jonathan wrote the book for two new musicals, which premiered at Acting Manitou: The Averageachievers Club and the new rock-musical Cupid & Psyche. The Averageachievers Club recently had a showing at the NAMT New Musical festival in NYC and a performance at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. 

JOHN graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2003 and has been a rock star ever since. He performs in venues in NYC and around the country with his band, 'Apollo Run'. www.apollorun.com John plays trumpet, guitar and piano, sings lead vocals and is the songwriter for the band. John wrote the score for Cupid & Psyche and he wrote original music for The Trial, His Dark Materials, Arabian Nights and Comedy of Errors. In 2010 John musically directed and arranged music for Xanadu  and wrote the score for Here Be Dragons. www.johnmcgrewmusic.com

BLAINE graduated from Southern Oregon University in 2011 with a B.F.A. in Theatre. He was an actor and educator with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for three seasons, performing in The Music Man, The Pirates of Penzance and understudied Twelfth Night, Throne of Blood & Henry IV pt. 1. In the fall 2011 he toured the Northwest with Acting Manitou's Jeremy Johnson in a Shakespeare Educational tour where they both performed and taught Shakespeare. 2012 marks Blaine’s first year as a teaching artist, assistant producer & co-director of Evening Activities. In the off season, Blaine works in the Acting Manitou office as a recruiter!

SARAH is a dancer and aerialist with a Minor in Theater Arts from UC Santa Cruz. She has had the opportunity to perform regionally with Shakespeare Santa Cruz and Willows Theater Company, and most recently as one the founding members of Brooklyn based aerial acrobatics/dance/theater group, Constellation Moving Company. Sarah has a dance background in classical ballet, jazz, modern, African, hip-hop, Sevillanas, gymnastics and aerial silks. She’s choreographed for several dance and aerial shows in the New York area and had the pleasure of choreographing Bye Bye Birdie and Here Be Dragons at Acting Manitou. 

SHAYNA graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a BA in Liberal Arts and is now continuing on to obtain her MFA in Theater with in emphasis in performance, directing, and devising.  She is also interested in creating documentary films and recently traveled to Bolivia to work on a new project called The Little Prince of The Andes. She has been working at Acting Manitou since 2009.

JENNIFER is a costume designer for theater, film, and opera, and her work has been seen throughout New York and in regional theaters nationally. She is passionate about collaborating with directors and actors to help them achieve their vision through costumes. Jennifer received her BFA in technical theater and design from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and her MFA in costume design from New York University. She currently resides in Brooklyn, NY.

JENNIFER received her BFA from Purchase College in Lighting Design. She is the lighting designer for John Lequizamo's Ghetto Klown currently running at the Lyceum Theater on Broadway. Other Broadway credits, as an Associate Lighting Designer, include House of Blue Leaves, Book of Mormon, Joe Turner's Come & Gone, You're Welcome America, American Buffalo, 13 – the musical, A Catered Affair, Cymbeline, The Color Purple and Fences. Her first summer as light designer was 2009.