Biography

Ciera Eis is a theatrical director who develops socio-political new work and seeks to emphasize the experiences of human life that are messy, visceral, queer, otherworldly, weird, wild, and hilarious. Ciera has developed new work at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, American Conservatory Theatre, Magic Theatre, and Shotgun Players, among others. She has assisted Anne Kauffman, Mina Morita, Evren Odcikin. Credits include: “Last West” (SVMA Fall 2025), “Love U” (TBA Ca$h Grant), “Every Christmas Story Ever” (Town Hall), “Pickpocket” (Musical Cafe), “Circle Mirror Transformation” (Custom Made). Assistant Direction: “Wakey Wakey”, “Both Your Houses”, “Spring Awakening” (A.C.T.). Ciera is a Casting Director for The Casting Collective, a Founding Member of The Director’s Collective (TBA Ca$h Grant), and has helped produce Berkeley Repertory Theater’s New Work Residency Lab The Ground Floor. She was the Interim Artistic Director at Custom Made Theatre Company, Artistic Director at FaultLine Theater, Creative Producer of Pint Sized Plays, 2024 Directors Lab West recipient, and 2019-2021 SDCF Observer. Double B.A. in Theater Arts and Psychology from University of California, Santa Cruz. Awards: Winner of Shortlived Play Festival VIII, Promising Women in Theatre, Porter Arts Grant, Da Vinci Scholar Award, and Renaissance Artist Award. www.cieraeis.com

Biography

Cameron graduated from Northwestern University’s Bienen School of Music where he received his BM in Vocal Performance with a concentration in Musical Direction.

Cameron has had the privilege to music direct shows all around the country including The Wizard of Oz, 9 to 5, Chicago, and the nation’s largest student-written musical: The 91st Waa-Mu Show. He also composed, arranged, and/or orchestrated for groups such as The National Theatre in DC, Chicago Shakespeare in the Park, and The American Music Theatre Project. Vocally, Cameron has performed as a guest soloist for the San Francisco, Berkeley, & Davis Symphonies. He also performed with the Pacific Boy Choir Academy on America's Got Talent, Nelson Mandela’s DC National Memorial, & under the baton of world-renowned Gustavo Dudamel. Cameron is honored to be Music Directing Hadestown hoping to bring beautiful sounds to the stage.

Biography

Laura Elaine Ellis was invited to join the A.C.T. staff in 2023 to work on the Education Guide and to teach community engagement classes for the A.C.T. hit musical, Hippest Trip – The Soul Train Musical. Ms. Ellis has served 31 years as a dance educator and choreographer for the Dance & Theater Depts for CSU East Bay and the Athenian School. For CSU Eastbay, she co-directed and co-choreographed, A Chorus Line (2003) which garnered critical praise and was the catalyst for CSUEB’s Musical Theater program.  She has co-choreographed several productions for SFArtsED’s pre-professional program and performance group The Players, as well as SFArtsEd/SFBATCO’s collaborative productions of Ragtime (2017), West Side Story (2019), I, Too, Sing America: The Next Gen (2023) and SFBATCO’s acclaimed Sign My Name to Freedom (2021 & 2024). She has choreographed productions for Open Opera, Festival Opera, George Coates Performance Group, Douglass Morrison Theater, Theatre Rhinoceros, and Shotgun Players. She currently performs and tours with two Bay Area dance companies, Dimensions Dance Theater and Flyaway Productions and has danced in works for choreographers Donald McKayle, Garth Fagan, Deborah Vaughan, Anne Bluethenthal, Kim Epifano, and Robert Moses. She is co-founder and producer of the award-winning Black Choreographers Festival: Here & Now, which celebrates a 20th Anniversary in 2025. Ms. Ellis is delighted to be working with A.C.T. again and part of the creative team for this summer's production of Hadestown: Teen Edition.