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.

allisongamlen.com

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. She is a recipient of the A.C.T Young Conservatory Distinguished Mentor. Her teaching experience includes Academy of Art University, UCLA, University of Illinois, Foothill College, De Anza College, Berkeley Rep School of Theatre, California Shakespeare Theatre, Marin Theatre and public/private schools in the USA. She has presented at NAIS in SF, AYCO in Seattle and Boulder. Nancy specializes in writing and directing original plays about empowering women for young audiences. Among them include Thank You! RBG, “Bon Appetit” - Julia!, ONE LAUGH AT A TIME The Legacy of Lucille Ball, Ella!, The Story of Jane, Showdown at the Amargosa and the film, MY SHOT!. Traditional directing credits include A Servant of Two Masters, Pippi Longstocking, Madeline and the Gypsies, The Caucasian Chalk Circle. She is a proud member of SAG-AFTRA and AEA. Mentors are Jacques LeCoq, Ctibor Turba, Claude Kipnis. Degrees are BFA University of Illinois and a Master’s Equivalency. Favorite performances are a Mime Tour with symphonies in Canada/US and comedy vaudeville with partner, Lol Levy.

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.

Biography

Nicole Helfer is an award-winning choreographer, director, performing artist, and has been a dance and theatre teacher for over 25 years. Nicole has worked with such well-known bay area theatre companies as TheatreWorks, San Francisco Playhouse, 42nd Street Moon, Broadway By the Bay, Center Rep, Contra Costa Musical Theatre, Lamplighters Music Theatre, Ray of Light, The Mountain Play, and Bay Area Children's Theatre. Notable choreography and direction credits include A Chorus Line, Cabaret (SFBATCC Award and TBA nominee), She Loves Me (SFBATCC Award), West Side Story (TBA Award), In the Heights (TBA Award), Twelfth Night (SFBATCC Award), and Dames at Sea (TBA and SFBATCC nominee).

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.

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.

Biography

Baily Hopkins has been acting on-camera for over a decade in the Bay Area and Los Angeles, and has a degree in Theatre from UC, San Diego. She's worked with director Joe Robert Cole (Netflix: All Day And A Night), Academy Award-winning cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (Pre-production VFX for Gravity), Academy Award-winning director Paul Thomas Anderson (The Master), Academy Award-winning director Barry Jenkins (Venmo spot), and Emmy award-winning choreographer Mandy Moore (Stella Artois national spot). Commercially, she’s had principal roles in campaigns for over 60 nationally recognized companies including Comcast, Toyota, Rocket Mortgage, Uber, NerdWallet, Roku, Credit Karma, and Visa. When not in front of the camera, Baily can be found as a Casting Associate at Nancy Hayes Casting in San Francisco. She's also helped cast national SAG and non-union commercials with Kristen Beck, Gregg Cohen, Kristen Armstrong, and Cathi Carlton, so she has her finger on the pulse of what TV and commercial directors are looking for. Going back to her roots in the theater, she's had the opportunity to perform with The Shotgun Players, New Conservatory Theatre Center, We Players, The Speakeasy SF, UCSD/La Jolla Playhouse, American Conservatory Theatre (Youth Company), Contra Costa Civic Theatre, and Masquer’s Playhouse

www.bailyhopkins.com

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 directs a choral ensemble in the south bay. 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 and piano for several years now. He is dedicated to providing joyous musical experiences to the youth in our community.

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.

Biography

Göran Norquist holds a BFA in Acting from California State University, Fullerton, and an MFA in Acting with a certificate in citizen artist work from the American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.). Favorite past roles include Sweeney in Sweeney Todd, Nick Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Amos Hart in Chicago. Göran currently resides in the San Francisco Bay Area; he has also worked in Chicago, Los Angeles, Texas, and other locales. You can find more of his work on YouTube, including his recent solo show.

Biography

A 2023 YBCA 100 Honoree, Ely Sonny Orquiza (he/him) is a multidisciplinary Queer Filipino artistic director, stage director, and arts educator native to San Francisco Bay Area, the unceded territory of the Ramaytush Ohlone People. Through theater and the performing arts Orquiza illuminates the experiences of the Asian diaspora, explores the politics of Queer/ness, and gives voice to the narratives of People from the Global Majority. As an artist, Orquiza draws on his heritage and lived experiences to create stunning theatrical productions that captivate audiences and spark meaningful conversations about equity and representation. Through his art and advocacy, he is breaking down barriers and elevating marginalized voices; and as a passionate teacher and community leader, Orquiza uses his extensive background in teaching artistry to engage with diverse communities and non-profit organizations, creating spaces for creativity, collaboration, and empowerment. To keep in touch and learn more about Ely's works: elysonnyorquiza.org.

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.

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.

Biography

Leandra Ramm is a versatile singer and actress with an "extraordinary voice" (Anderson Cooper). Leandra has performed with numerous theater and opera companies throughout the world. She starred in her one-woman show entitled One Night With You, which performed Off-Broadway at Theatre Row in New York City. Recently, she starred as Judy Garland in The Boy from Oz at Theatre Rhinoceros and Tanya in Mamma Mia! at Woodminster Summer Musicals to rave reviews. Her favorite roles performed include: The Full Monty (Estelle) at The Media Theatre, Iolanthe (Leila) at The Buxton Opera House with the International Gilbert and Sullivan Festival (UK), Man of la Mancha (Antonia) with Diablo Theater Company, and Darwin in Malibu (Sarah) with Indra’s Net Theatre. She has also flourished in the creation of new works, portraying Annie in Hell’s Kitchen the Musical at the Hudson Guild Theatre, Anoush in Some People Hear Thunder with Smoger Productions, and Hester Prynne in A for Adultery, a musical adaptation of The Scarlet Letter, at the Little Times Square Theatre. Leandra debuted in The Endless Road by Kurt Weill (soloist) with The American Symphony Orchestra performed at Avery Fisher Hall and has also performed at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, San Francisco Opera House, Davies Symphony Hall, Symphony Space, La MaMa, and 59E59 Theaters among other venues. Leandra has been a lead vocalist and vocal captain on Celebrity Cruises, and has released two full albums: "Invitation to a Voyage" and "One Night With You," and is on the cast albums of "The Fourth Messenger" and "Mario and the Magician."

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.

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..

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.

Biography

Krista Wigle received both her B.M. and M.M. in Vocal Performance from the San Francisco Conservatory. Krista has been teaching Musical Theater, Singing, and Cabaret Classes in ACT’s Young Conservatory, Studio ACT, and the MFA Program for over twenty years. She was the Music Director and Vocal Arranger for eight original musicals for the Young Conservatory, was Music Director for a production of Hair in the MFA Program, and was the Assistant Music Director for A Christmas Carol. In addition to her work at ACT, Krista is a Lecturer-in-Voice at Sonoma State University, is a vocal instructor at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music in the Pre-College and Continuing Education Departments, is an Artist-in-Residence at the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts, and has her own Private Vocal Studio in San Francisco. Krista’s extensive performance career ranges from Opera to Musical Theater. Most recently, she performed as Madame Sac D’ Argent in the World Premiere of the operetta, By Georges, with Lamplighters Music Theatre, as The D’Ysquith Family in A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, also with Lamplighters, as Miss Spink in the opera, Coraline, with West Edge Opera, and as Yvonne/Mrs./Harriet Pawling in Sunday in the Park with George with San Jose Playhouse. Other companies with which she has performed are: Opera Parallele, Pocket Opera, Brava! Opera, Opera Santa Barbara, Cinnabar Theater, Festival Opera, Livermore Valley Opera, Sierra Repertory Theater, and Woodminster Amphitheater. She has also been the Soprano Solo-ist/Featured Artist with such organizations as: The Chintimini Chamber Music Festival, The Santa Rosa Symphony, Chora Nova, The UC Berkeley Orchestra, The SFCM Orchestra, The Santa Cruz Symphony, Ballet San Jose, The Monterey Opera Orchestra, and The Rogue Valley Chorale. Krista’s main goals as a voice teacher are to teach her students how to sing healthily, have vocal longevity, and most of all…have fun!