 |
|
Kathleen McManus, Artistic Director of the School of Performing Arts
Kathleen McManus is a performer, teacher and writer of children's playtexts who has been an active member of Atlanta's theatre community for several decades. A native of New Orleans, she came to Georgia in 1982 and began teaching performing arts in 1986 while a company member with Academy Theatre where she spent four seasons. She graduated from the University of Georgia in 1995, and then took on the post of Education Director for Georgia Shakespeare Festival from 1996 to 2004, where she also spent seven seasons as a repertory actor. During her tenure with the Festival she produced and directed dozens of after-school residencies, and GSF's Education Department received the coveted Abby Award for Excellence in Arts Education in 2002. Her adaptations of Shakespeare plays for young performers are still in use at that institution. As a performer she has tackled the great playwrights from Albee to Zindel, earning a Jennie Award from Theatre in the Square and the inaugural Katherine Cornell Artie Award in Buffalo, New York for her portrayal of Maria Callas in Terence McNally's "Master Class." Other theatres where Kathleen has performed include Theatre Gael, Actor's Express, Aurora Theatre, Jewish Theatre of the South, Kavinoky, the Shakespeare Tavern and the Center for Puppetry Arts. She currently teaches Introduction to Acting at Shiloh High School in Gwinnett.
Brenda Porter, Artistic Director of the Human Service Program
Brenda has over twenty years of experience teaching children and adults. She has worked with the Atlanta, New York, and Virginia School Systems and has taught workshops at Spelman College, Clark Atlanta University, Mercer College, and several professional theatres. Her expertise has been used in training teachers to use theatre in their classrooms to stimulate students' minds and encourage involvement. Ms. Porter also has twenty-three years of experience in acting and directing.
Tim Stoltenberg, Artistic Director of Theatre for Youth Artists-in-Schools Tour Program
Tim Stoltenberg graduated (2001) from St. Norbert College with honors with a B.F.A. in theatre. Tim toured two years with the Academy Theatre's Theatre for Youth Tour Team and for the second year is the Artistic Director for the Tour. For the past four years Tim has worked for Jewish Theatre of the South' Project Impact as the Director/Facillator. Tim is a member of Laughing Matters Improv and is an Ensemble member and the Improv Director for Dad's Garage Theatre where he performs regularly in improv shows and original plays. Tim teaches improv to all ages and leads workshops in ensemble building. Tim has performed with The Alliance Theatre, Jewish Theatre of the South and The Center of Puppetry Arts.
Jennifer Denning, Artistic Associate, Human Service Program
Jennifer Denning moved to Atlanta after graduating with a BFA in acting from Ohio University. For several years she worked as a professional actor and improvisor in the Atlanta area. Currently she focuses on using the arts as a means of authentic self-expression and empowerment. She has facilitated writing marathons and creativity workshops with adults. She has worked extensively with The Academy Theatre in a number of capacities including creating original drama with adolescents in residential treatment facilities, touring with the Theatre for Youth tour team, and as a facilitator of the Bullies and Bystanders program.
Evan Guilford-Blake, Producer
Evan Guilford-Blake brings 50 years in theatre to producing the Academy's Late Night series. A published and frequently produced playwright (with 14 playwriting competition awards), journalist, poet, and children's and adults' short fiction writer, he has worked in every area of "The Business," including as an actor, director stage manager. He is the former managing director of Working Title Playwrights, which he helped grow into the Southeast's leading play development organization, and serves on the advisory board of Chicago Dramatists. In addition, he has taught theatre, playwriting and play marketing throughout the U.S, and has produced benefits for the Academy, Year of Beckett and other organizations. He is married to freelance writer and jewelry designer Roxanna Guilford-Blake.
Gary Casten, Producer
Gary is trained as an actor, singer, and accredited ballroom dancing teacher who has performed in theatre, TV, and film from New York to Florida. He has owned an Arthur Murray Dance Studio and produced shows for the Earth Foundation at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. He also produced and directed fundraisers for Spinabifida, the Arthritis Foundation, the National Music Foundation, and many AIDS organizations.
Barbara Lebow, Playwriting and Human Service Program Consultant
Barbara was born in Brooklyn, NY, and has a degree in Early Childhood Education from Vassar College. She moved to Atlanta in 1962 and, soon after, joined the Academy Theatre's developmental workshop as playwright in residence. Along with the Academy, theaters producing her work include Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Hartford Stage Company, Jean Cocteau Repertory Theatre, Philadelphia Theatre Company and the Berkshire Theatre Festival. Among her recently produced plays are The Left Hand Singing, Lurleen, The Empress of Eden, Little Joe Monaghan, A Shayna Maidel, Trains, and Tiny Tim Is Dead. A Shayna Maidel, Off-Broadway 1987-'89, continues receiving numerous regional and international productions. In addition to her own writing, Barbara creates plays with disenfranchised segments of the population-- homeless and addicted individuals, youth at risk, and developmentally and physically disabled persons. Most recently, with two grants to the Academy Theatre West, she has been working with boys aged 13 - 15 who are incarcerated at Los Prietos Boys' Camp in Santa Barbara, California. Barbara is a recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a TCG/Pew Theatre Artists Residency, an NEA/TCG Residency, an Atlanta Mayor's Fellowship in the Arts, and a GA Governor's Award in the Arts. She is currently playwright in residence at the Professional Artists Lab at UC Santa Barbara, where she and the Lab have just received an NEA grant through a partnership of the Playwrights' Center (Minneapolis) New Plays on Campus program and the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. Her newest play, recently workshopped at the Playwrights' Center, where she is a core member, is The Phenom.
Lakisha Smith, Artistic Associate, Theatre For Youth Artists-in-Schools Tour Program
Lakisha has been working as a professional atress in Atlanta since 2000. She may be caught wearing many hats from performer to writer/producer. She currently sits on board of the Atlanta HipHop Film Festival, which is entering its third year. She has worked on a number of projects including theater, film, television, print and much community service. This past season she toured with the Academy Theatre's Theatre for Youth Artists-in-Schools Tour Program. She is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Business at Georgia State University.
OUR ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF
Lorenne Fey, Managing Director
Lorenne has worked at the Academy Theatre for the past twenty years -- four years as the Theatre's Educational Outreach Director and the past sixteen as the Theatre's Managing Director. Previously she was the Assistant Artistic Director of the Lafayette Ballet Company where she was in charge of their Artists-in-Schools program. She danced professionally with the Atlanta Ballet and the Dallas Ballet. While dancing with the Atlanta Ballet, she was involved in their Artists-in-Schools Touring Program. She has a Business Management degree from Shorter College.
Robert Drake, Production Manager
Robert has been working in the Atlanta Theater scene since 1993 as Production Manager for several improv troupes including Laughing Matters, The Blacktop Circus, and the Gorgeous Ladies of Comedy. He has served as the Artistic Director for Stage Door Players and is the Executive Producer for 'The Ira Glass Menagerie'. Robert is also the principal author of Bloglanta.com which won a Best of Atlanta Magazine award.
Copyright 2003 - 2006 Academy Theatre. All rights reserved.
