YC Faculty
Faculty
Andy Alabran
Acting, Voice & Dialect
Biography
Andy Alabran received his B.A. in Theater from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and his M.F.A. in Acting from the American Conservatory Theater. He has over 19 years of experience as a teacher, director, producer, and performer in the theater. He has taught at the American Conservatory Theater Young Conservatory and Studio, California Shakespeare Theater, Oakland School for the Arts, 826 Valencia (Tenderloin), Voice One, Mission High, Burton High School, and Hayward High School. He has performed with Theatre First, the Shotgun Players, and Killing My Lobster. A current company member of the Shotgun Players since 2000, his acting credits include Woyzeck, The Death of Meyerhold, A Seagull in the Hamptons, Truffaldino Says No (world premiere), and Mother Courage. He served as Creative Director with San Francisco’s premiere sketch comedy group Killing My Lobster. With KML, he also performed, wrote, directed, taught, and produced where credits included The Shakespeare Bug (world premiere), The Whole Megillah, KML Plays with Beckett (at A.C.T.), and Patronizes the Arts.
Robert Allen
Accompanist
Biography
Robert Allen is a keyboardist and singer-songwriter based in the Bay Area, performing under the stage name Robert “Neutron” Sound. He graduated cum laude in 2017 from Berklee College of Music, where he majored in jazz composition. During 2016, he joined Canadian singer-songwriter and fellow Berklee alum Mr. Grizzly’s band on two tours of the U.S. and Canada. Robert has been accompanying YC classes since 2019.
Credits
https://rneutronsound.com
Cristina Anselmo
Private Coach, On-Camera
Biography
Cristina Anselmo has been teaching kindergarten through adult students since 2007. In the Bay Area, stage work includes Jewel Theatre, SF Playhouse, Capital Stage, Stanford Summer Rep, TheatreWorks, and Pacific Rep. LA credits include shows at A Noise Within and Grove Theatre Center. She is a current member of the Alma Theatre Company, and a proud former member of Pasadena Shakespeare, N.O.T.E., and Actors Alley. Training: LAMDA, Antaeus Academy, and Santa Clara University. She can be found at CristinaAnselmo.com. Upcoming episodic: The Omnibus Social Club.
Joe Ayers
Biography
Joe has had the pleasure of working on and offstage at many companies such as ACT, Asolo Rep, San Francisco Playhouse, Cal Shakes, Alonzo King LINES Ballet, Aurora Theatre Company, Berkeley Playhouse, 6th Street Playhouse and Center REP. He holds three BA degrees from UC Berkeley in Theater and Performance Studies, Dance and Performance Studies, and English. He is currently an MFA Acting candidate at the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training in Sarasota, Florida.
Enrico Banson
Private Coach, On-Camera
Biography
Enrico Banson is a filmmaker, music director, stage director and actor. Enrico got his degree in Film from San Francisco State University and has written and directed two full-length indie films, The After and Some Night, both of which have played at various film festivals. He’s worked both in front of and behind the scenes in many Hollywood movies. Enrico has stage-directed Jekyll & Hyde and Glory Days and music-directed numerous musicals. Enrico is also teaching staff at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill. He is a proud member of the Writer’s Guild and the Screen Actors Guild. Enrico thinks young people should study theatre because it provides them with a keen awareness of how storytelling is embedded in our lives, helping them build strong communication and social skills.
Credits
Some favorite stage acting credits: Dr. Fine/Dr. Madden in Next to Normal, Stephen in Farragut North (Masquers Playhouse), Serge in Art, Roger in RENT (San Francisco Regional Premiere/Hollywood Hudson Theatre), Georg in Spring Awakening (Hudson Theatre, LA), Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing (Golden Eagle Award/Winner the National Shakespeare Competition), Iago in Othello, Harry in Company (actor/muso version playing piano and trumpet as well).
Dinah Berkeley
Private Coach, Acting, LGBTQ+Affinity Group facilitator
Biography
DINAH BERKELEY is a nonbinary Chicago based actor, collaborator and teaching artist. They’ve contributed to the development of and performed in new works at The American Conservatory Theater, Humana Festival of New Plays, Are Nova, HERE Arts Center, At. Ann’s Warehouse and more. They're a proud MFA alum from A.C.T.’s class of 2020, and they hold a BFA from Ohio University and completed the Actor 's Theatre of Louisville’s Professional Training Program. Dinah believes in honoring each individual artist ’s ability to be in process and is dedicated toward shifting the narrative within the business to become less product oriented.
Kimberly Braun
Private Coach, Musical Theater, Voice
Biography
Kimberly Braun is a singer, writer and teaching artist. She earned her Bachelors of Music in Vocal Arts at the University of Southern California, where she studied opera, musical theater, and jazz. Kim independently released an album of her own music, Growing Up, and wrote and performed the award winning one-woman musical, A Woman Grows in Brooklyn. Kim received her Master of Arts in Theater Arts from San Jose State University, and she launched Citizen Workshops, a haven for performing artists in Los Angeles. Kimberly has worked as a musical theater teaching artist with TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, Cupertino and Monta Vista High Schools, and A.C.T.'s Young Conservatory. She thinks young people should become involved in theater to build friendships, confidence, and joy.
Credits
Janel Chanté
Musical Theater, Acting
Biography
Born and raised in the Sacramento area of California, Janel Chanté found her passion for music and entertainment in her adolescence going on to perform at various sports events and festivals leading up to her writing and releasing her top three singles : “Meditation”, “Queen”, & “Play” as well as her female empowerment inspired music video for her song “Queen”.
Additionally, Janel attended “Academy of Art University” graduating with a BFA in Acting. There she performed in the musicals and showcases “Drowsy Chaperone”, “In the Heights”, “Here’s To the Ones Who Dream”, and “No One Is Alone”. Janel continues to pursue her singing and acting career, playing a lead role in the short film “My Sister’s Soul”, booking commercial work for the applications and websites “Cherie” and “TikTokData.com”, and performing in plays “Rachel” and “Heart Like An Ocean” at the “Fresh Baked Pears One Acts Festival”.
Janel is also a teacher, directing music at “42nd Street Moon Theater”, serving as an acting instructor with “Tomorrow Youth Repertory Theater”, and teaching musical theater with the “A.C.T. Young Conservatory” all based in San Francisco, California.
Meredith Joelle Charlson
Dance/Choreographer
Biography
Meredith Joelle Charlson is a contemporary dance and theater choreographer based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She trained at the ODC/Dance School and was a trainee for Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company in Northern Israel. Meredith has worked as a teaching artist for the A.C.T. Young Conservatory, College of San Mateo, and the Tabard Theatre, and was the Children's Chorus Co-Rehearsal Director for ODC/Dance's "The Velveteen Rabbit" (2018/9 home and touring productions). She has also created contemporary works for College of San Mateo's Dance Department, for Raison D’être Dance Project in Bozeman, MT, and for The Kitchen SF. Meredith graduated from Stanford University with a B.A. in Comparative Literature and a minor in Theater and Performance Studies (TAPS). Upon graduation, Meredith received the Louis Sudler prize for Outstanding Achievement in the field of Dance. Recent theater credits include Choreographer for "Bright Star" (Palo Alto Players), Choreographer for "Into the Woods" (A.C.T., Young Conservatory), Choreographer for "The School for Scandal" (A.C.T., MFA), Assistant Choreographer for "A Walk on the Moon" (A.C.T., Mainstage), Choreographer for "Tinderella: the modern musical" (The Custom Made Theatre Company and FaultLine Theater), and Assistant Director for "The Grapes of Wrath" (Los Altos Stage Company). She believes that every body can dance.
Emily Cooper
Acting, Improvisation
Biography
Emily Rose Cooper is a theater educator and administrator who is thrilled to be part of the Young Conservatory Team. At A.C.T., she works at both a junior-level teaching artist as well as the YC and Studio A.C.T. Associate Programs Manager. She’s a Bay Area Native that has been working in theater education since high school. Emily graduated from the University of the Arts in 2018 with a BFA in Directing, Playwriting, and Production. Since then, she’s worked with California Shakespeare Theater, Marin Theatre Company, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Oakland School for the Arts, Town Hall Theatre Company, and New Conservatory Theatre Center. Emily is passionate about the power of theater education to inspire young people and help them build valuable life skills.
Credits
www.emilyrosecooper.com
Jane Erwin
Musical Theater, Voice
Biography
Jane Erwin Hammett is on the faculty at Sonoma State University and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music (SFCM) in addition to A.C.T. She has taught singing, acting and musical theater in the YC and the MFA Program, served as Musical Director for five YC world premiere musicals, and co-directed the YC Cabaret and Musical Ensembles with former YC Director Craig Slaight. She has performed across the U.S. and in San Francisco in two national companies of The Phantom of the Opera, as well as sung many leading roles with Bay Area opera and theater companies. She has earned two Bay Area Theatre Critics’ Circle Awards and a Drama-Logue Award for appearances with San Francisco’s Lamplighters, She has directed productions for Sonoma State University, the Lamplighters, Pocket Opera, SF Opera Guild’s Opera á la Carte, SFCM’s Gilbert & Sullivan Scenes Program, and the International Gilbert & Sullivan Festival in Buxton, England. For her 2016 direction of Ruddygore she received a Theatre Bay Area Awards nomination for Outstanding Direction of a Musical. Jane received her BA from Dartmouth College and her MA in Integrative Health Studies with Sound Healing Focus from the California Institute of Integral Studies where she was also a graduate of the Certificate Program in Sound, Voice & Music Healing.
Allison Gamlen
Biography
Allison Gamlen is proud to be a Bay Area native and received her B.A. in Theatre from San Francisco State University. Allison is an actor, director, choreographer, and arts educator who has trained and performed with numerous companies along the California coast, including Studio A.C.T., Berkeley Repertory, South Coast Repertory, Actors Ensemble of Berkeley, SF Shakespeare, Panndora Productions, and Flux Theatre.
In addition to educating young performers at A.C.T. Young Conservatory, Allison has directed and trained actors at Ruth Asawa School of the Arts, Spindrift School of Performing Arts, San Leandro High School, and Hillsdale High School. Favorite directing credits include The Addams Family, In the Heights, Little Shop of Horrors, The Laramie Project, Urinetown, The Princess Bride, and Chicago. She is also the Narrator and Co-Director of The PayLess Murders Podcast.
Nancy Gold
Physical Character, Acting, Improvisation
Biography
Nancy Gold is a multifaceted performing artist, director, teacher, playwright and author of Finding Your Funny Bone! The Actor’s Guide to Physical Comedy and Characters, Smith and Kraus Publishers.
Her passion is to empower her students to find, fill and have fun developing their artistic gifts. She has studied physical theatre with Jacques LeCoq in Paris, clowning with Ctibor Turba and mime with Claude Kipnis. She holds a BFA from the University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana and a Master’s Equivalency Degree. Nancy’s teaching experience includes A.C.T.’s Young Conservatory where she was honored with a Distinguished Artist Mentor Award, as well as Berkeley Rep School of Theatre, California Shakespeare Theatre, Marin Theatre, UCLA, Academy of Art University and public and private schools throughout the country. She has been a presenter at CAIS, AYCO, International Clown-Theatre Congress and recipient of grants from The Parsons Foundation and The Patron Saints Foundations. She has directed numerous productions as well as writing original plays about empowering women for young audiences and adaptations from Literature. Most recently, Thank You! RBG, and a film (created on Zoom) MY SHOT!. Nancy performs comedy and vaudeville with her partner, Lol Levy.
Lore Gonzales
Acting, Improvisation
Biography
Lore Gonzales is a Filipino-American, non-binary interdisciplinary artist, actor, and theatermaker based in Oakland, CA / Chochenyo Ohlone Territory. As a multifaceted artist, they've worked in the Bay Area as an actor, director, photographer, musician, teaching artist, and arts producer. Their work explores the boundaries of theater, performance, visual art, music, photography, and everything in between. Lore is passionate about community-based art and community building through storytelling. They have performed and collaborated with various companies in the Bay Area over the years, notably with Shotgun Players, Bindlestiff Studio, Cutting Ball Theater, SF Shakes, Cal Shakes, Theaterworks, and Berkeley Rep. They studied acting with ACT, Berkeley Rep, the SITI Company, and holds a BA in Theater & Performance Studies from UC Berkeley.
Ashley Hicks
Private Coach, Acting, BIPOC Affinity Group facilitator
Biography
Ashley J. Hicks (a.k.a. ASH) is a 2021 graduate of the Master of Fine Arts program at A.C.T. Recent projects include her very first co-star role on a television series and a voiceover for IBM. In addition to being an actor, Ash is also a writer and is currently working on developing her first pilot. Ash believes that art can build bridges between communities and various intersectionalities of identity. As a Black woman with Albinism, she uses her voice to help tell stories that call people in and bring them together.
Kimberly Hollkamp-Dinon
Private Coach, Musical Theater, Acting
Biography
Kimberly Hollkamp-Dinon is an actor, singer, and teaching artist, holding an M.F.A. in Acting from the American Conservatory Theater, with a concentration in Citizen Artistry (Class of 2020). She additionally holds a B.S. in Recording Arts from Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music as well as a B.A. in Theatre & Drama from IU's College of Arts and Sciences. She has been working for the past four years as a teaching artist in the Bay Area, and has previous experience working as a substitute teacher and instructional aide for neurodiverse communities. As a multifaceted artist, she is a firm believer in the restorative nature of theatre.
Jessica Holt
Private Coach, Acting, Musical Theater, College Prep
Biography
Jessica Holt is a director and artistic producer with over 15 years of experience directing new and contemporary work at nationally renowned theaters, championing new work and nurturing the development of emerging, diverse and exciting new voices in the American theater. Recent directing projects include The Daughters (San Francisco Playhouse) The Wolves at A.C.T.’s Young Conservatory, Fun Home, Venus in Fur (Virginia Stage Company), The Resting Place, Bright Half Life, Taylor Mac's The Lily's Revenge, Act 5 (Magic Theatre), Speech and Debate (Barrington Stage Company), Rich Girl (Florida Studio Theatre), and Ugly Lies the Bone (Alliance Theater). Additionally, she has developed and directed work at Santa Cruz Shakespeare, Berkeley Rep's Ground Floor, Rivendell Theatre, NYU, Pocono Mountains Music Festival, AADA, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, Sewanee Writers Conference, Cutting Ball Theater, among others. She is a proud graduate of the Yale School of Drama, where she received her MFA in Directing. Projects there include: The Seagull by Anton Chekhov, Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, and the new hip-hop musical The Children by Phillip Howze. She served as the Co-Artistic Director of the 2014 Yale Summer Cabaret, producing and directing a season of adventurous and daring work by contemporary American playwrights. Jessica is a 2016 National Directors Fellow with the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, NNPN, the Kennedy Center, and SDCF, and is a proud member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.
Dario Johnson
Musical Theater, Voice, Cabaret
Biography
Dario Johnson has enjoyed performing music his entire life. Dario holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music from San Jose State University and has performed extensively as a baritone in numerous Bay Area Opera Companies and Musical Theater Organizations. He has led multiple collegiate level ensembles and organized trips across the California coast. In addition, he has performed in concert with the San Jose State Choraliers and has traveled with the university's many choral ensembles to Finland and the Baltic States. Dario has been teaching private voice for several years. He is dedicated to providing joyous musical experiences to the youth in our community.
Nikki Meñez
Biography
Nikki Meñez is a freelance director, movement artist, and arts administrator based in the San Francisco Bay Area who is moved to challenge what performing arts look like and how stories are told. A graduate of the University of California at Santa Cruz, they received degrees in Environmental Studies and Theatre Arts. When not directing, Nikki works in casting and artist outreach, theater education, and arts advocacy for a more equitable, sustainable, and humane creative ecosystem. Local creative affiliations include Queer Cat Productions, Custom Made Theater Company, Faultline Theatre, Epic Party Theater, & PianoFight. Select directing credits include "In the Heights" by Quiara Alegría Hudes and Lin Manuel Miranda (Custom Made), “The Gay Divorce Play” by Carson Becker & Nicole Jost (Queer Cat Productions), “Let’s Kill Jessica” by Claire Rice (Awesome Theatre), and “The Law of Attraction” an audio play by Patricia Milton (NCTC).
Michael Mohammed
Private Coach, Musical Theater, Voice
Biography
Michael Mohammed received his doctorate from the Music and Music Education Program at Teachers College, Columbia University. His dissertation used narrative inquiry to explore the use of the voice as a means of personal and cultural expression by elite black theatre and opera performers. His research continues to look at the representation of persons with historically excluded identities in theatrical and operatic performance.
"Dr. Mojo" is the Director of the Musical Theatre Ensemble at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He is also on the voice faculty of San Jose State University, College of Marin, and the San Francisco Community Music Center. He has been invited to give presentations at Stanford University, Opera Philadelphia, Pacific Voice Conference, Bowling Green State University, and Earlham College.
He works throughout the US and Canada as a stage director, choreographer, and performer. Recently, he co-created What's Known To Me Is Endless with baritone Kenneth Overton and pianist Rich Coburn for the inaugural season of Amplified Opera, a Toronto based company that places equity-seeking artists at the center of public discourse.
Andrew Mondello
Musical Theater, Acting
Biography
Andrew Mondello is ‘Bay’sically a native to the Bay, having been here since he was 12. However he was born and raised in Chicago – so you will often see him donning one of his many Chicago hats. He graduated from UC Irvine in 2015 with a BA in Drama and an emphasis in musical theatre. Since then he has had the great pleasure of making his living as an artist here in the Bay Area performing, directing and teaching amongst; CenterRep, 42nd Street Moon, The Ballet School, BACT, PCRT, Town Hall Theatre, Broadway By the Bay, Pleasanton Youth Theatre Company, and of course here at ACT. He started teaching youth theatre in 2012 in his hometown of Pleasanton – where he has spent the last decade teaching and cultivating new programming all with the goal of creating a space students feel safe to learn and grow. So, it goes without saying he is just over the moon to be here with you at ACT – a program brimming with positivity and kindness at every turn, where he can continue to teach in a space crafted to make students feel safe and welcome. AndrewMondello.com
Credits
AndrewMondello.com
Ely Sonny Orquiza
Acting, Devised Theater
Biography
Ely Sonny Orquiza is a Queer Filipino multidisciplinary theater-maker based in San Francisco Bay Area. He is a co-Founder and co-Artistic Director of The Chikahan Company. Through theater and the performing arts, Orquiza explores the role of the Asian diaspora, Asian American experience, ancestral ghosts, and the politics of Queer/ness for the American stage. He champions new works by BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) artists, examines previously untold folklore, and advocates for undiscovered works highlighting the narratives of intersectional identities. He believes in the power of theater to start a revolution. Orquiza has been in various work at the Academy of Art University School of Acting, African-American Shakespeare Company, American Conservatory Theater, ARC Repertory Theatre, Bindlestiff Studio, Cal Performances, California Shakespeare Theater, Campo Santo, Crowded Fire Theatre, Custom Made Theatre Co., East West Players, FOGG Theatre, Gritty City Repertory Company, Magic Theatre, New Conservatory Theatre Center, PianoFight, PlayGround, Playwright’s Foundation, Playwright’s Center of San Francisco, San Francisco Opera, Studio 52nd, and Theatre Rhinoceros.
Credits
elysonnyorquiza.org | IG: @TheOrquiza
Brennan Pickman-Thoon
On-Camera, Acting
Biography
Brennan Pickman-Thoon is an actor, teaching artist, and proud Bay Area native. He grew up training with A.C.T., Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Marin Theater Company, and more. He graduated with honors from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where he earned a BFA in Drama and trained at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting. In addition to working as an actor in New York, he also wrote, produced, and directed a one-act comedy that won Best Short Play in the 2015 Unchained Theater Festival. Since returning to the Bay Area, Brennan has performed with Marin Theatre Company, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, California Shakespeare Theater, Cutting Ball Theater, Marin Shakespeare Company, and New Conservatory Theatre Center, among others. Brennan enjoys developing and teaching diverse acting and theater curriculums, from Shakespeare to Improvisation to On-Camera Acting to Devised Theater. SFBATCC Winner: Actor In A Leading Role. Member, AEA.
Thaddeus Pinkston
Accompanist, Musical Arranger
Biography
Thaddeus Pinkston has been a member of the YC and Studio A.C.T. faculty for 12 years. As the YC Cabaret Program accompanist, he plays and arranges music for the Musical Ensemble, Cabaret Ensemble, Middle School Cabaret Ensemble, and a number of special events and musical theater classes. Thaddeus was musical director and co-composer for “Saint Tous” which premiered at La Mama along with Broadway Legend Andre De Shields. He also musical directed and toured with the Fifth Dimension’s rendering of “Ain’t Misbehavin” and served Musical Director for The Color Purple's Benefit Concert in San Francisco. He has accompanied a host of stellar performers and ensembles for American Conservatory Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theater, Telluride Jazz Festival, Jazz Legend Stan Getz, Blues icon singer Koko Taylor known as the “The Queen of the Blues,” American folk singer Joan Baez, Maurice Hines, Freda Payne, and Jennifer Holiday.
Salim Razawi
Acting, On-Camera, Musical Theater
Biography
Salim Razawi is a theatre maker who is thrilled to be at the YC. He majored in theatre arts in college with an emphasis in acting and a minor in communications. Having been involved in numerous theatrical productions, Salim is no stranger to the theatre. He has been on a two-year collegiate competitive speaking team where he was internationally recognized and awarded. When not performing, Salim spends his time teaching theatre arts, directing, and coaching private students through various companies in the bay area and is passionate about DEI work. In addition to being a teaching artists, he serves as the casting director for Shotgun Studios.
Credits
Kimiya Shokri
Acting, Devised Theater
Biography
Kimiya Shokri is a Bay Area born and raised Iranian American activist, educator, and theatre maker, committed to creating equitable theatre and uplifting the narratives of her students. She is a teaching artist with American Conservatory Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, California Shakespeare Theater, and StageWrite. Since graduating from Saint Mary's College of California, she has worked with companies across the Bay Area as an educator, actor, director, writer, and dramaturg..
Valerie Weak
Acting, Shakespeare, College Prep
Biography
Valerie Weak is an Equity actor, teaching artist and communications coach with 20 years of teaching experience with companies such as Word for Word’s Youth Arts, California Shakespeare Theater, and ACT’s Young Conservatory and Studio programs. She has performed everything from Shakespeare to world premieres at theaters including CenterREP, Shotgun Players and the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival. Valerie also works in indie film, commercials, and voiceover, and can be seen as Mrs. Miller in Season 2 of 13 Reasons Why on Netflix. Additionally, she is a Theatre Bay Area TITAN winner, has trained at Skidmore College with Anne Bogart and the SITI Company, and holds a BA in Theatre Arts from UCLA.
Credits
Krista Wigle
Musical Theater, Voice
Biography
Krista Wigle received her B.M. and M.M. Degrees in Vocal Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. She has taught musical theater and singing classes for the A.C.T.'s Young Conservatory for two decades and is currently the Vocal Director/Consultant for the YC’s Cabaret Ensembles. Krista has also served as Music Director/Vocal Arranger for many YC productions including Homefront, Fields of Gold, I’m Still Standing, Forever Young, Shed a Little Light, Dangling Conversations, The Ladies of the Canyon, Across the Universe, and Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris. She music directed Hair for A.C.T.'s MFA Program, and was the Assistant Music Director for A.C.T.'s mainstage production of A Christmas Carol. Krista also teaches voice in the Pre-College and Continuing Education Programs at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music(S.F.C.M.), has been an Artist-in-Residence in the Vocal Department at the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts since 2014, and is teaching Upper School Vocal Ensemble at the San Francisco Day School. She has also worked as a Vocal Instructor/Music Director at Musical Theatre Works and Cinnabar Theater. She currently maintains a private vocal studio, and frequently performs in both the opera and musical theater genres throughout the S.F. Bay Area and beyond.
Credits
Performance credits include The Fantasticks (Cinnabar Theater), The People in the Picture (3Below Theaters, West Coast Premiere), The Mystery of Edwin Drood (3Below Theaters), Trouble in Tahiti (Opera Parallele), and Mamma Mia (Woodminster Amphitheater). Other favorite credits include Falstaff, The Turn of the Screw, La Cenerentola, The Most Happy Fella, The ThreePenny Opera, Die Fledermaus, La Boheme, The MeshugaNutracker!, Don Giovanni, and Carlotta in the long-running productions of the Las Vegas and San Francisco productions of The Phantom of the Opera.
Folami Williams
Private Coach, Acting
Biography
Folami Williams is an Actor and Theatre Artist currently based in Los Angeles. She believes strongly that it is the duty of the actor to be the storytellers of a people and culture; to bring light to new voices and find the magic in connecting people. She has an MFA in Acting from Columbia University She also received a BA in Drama from the University of Virginia. Currently she portrays Rose Granger-Weasley in the San Francisco production of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
Credits
Other select theater includes: Skeleton Crew (Portland Stage Company); Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare Theatre Company, Helen Hayes Award nom.); Julius Caesar, Othello (Classic Stage Company), Smart People (Kitchen Theatre Company); The Maids (INTAR/One-Eighth Theater); Blue Window (Columbia University), Romeo and Juliet (Manhattan Shakespeare Project); and Auto de Fe (International WOW Company). TV: Younger (TV LAND), Bull (CBS), She’s Gotta Have It (Netflix; dir. Spike Lee).
Becca Wolff
Biography
Becca Wolff is a California-based director collaborating with performer-creators to explore deeply personal material in bold new ways. Her work for the stage has appeared in festivals around the world including Son of Semele’s Company Creation Festival (The Last Days of Mary Stuart) Sibiu Festival (Our Country,) Edinburgh Fringe (Explain This, Our Country,) Under the Radar at the Public Theater (Our Country work in progress at Incoming!, Weightless, Our Country premiere in 2022).
She has directed world premieres at resident theaters including Z Space (Weightless,) VS. Theater LA (Love Is a Dirty Word,) and Long Wharf Theater (SCOTUS Theater.) Other world and regional premieres include Lauren Yee’s Hookman (Z Space,) Yilong Liu’s Book of Mountains and Seas (NCTC SF,) and Dance Nation by Clare Barron (SF Playhouse). She directed the award-winning short film “The Statue,” which has screened around the country and internationally including at Comic Con 2021. She produced Giovanni Adams' short film “Gayme On,” an official 2021 selection at Outfest and others.
She teaches writing & directing for film & other media in Berkeley City College’s Multimedia Arts department. She is a graduate of Yale School of Drama. Member SDC.