The 1980s and Beyond Movie Appreciation Club

Meeting new students is my favorite thing in the world.

I'm a professional theater director and educator. I love working with young people and seeing the creativity and energy they bring to their work with me. I always say that I teach people--not content--and I love seeing how classes in the arts can help students grow as people as they lean empathy, collaboration, and share laughter with  the new friends we make in every class. My classes are challenging but more importantly--fun.

I have an MFA in Directing from U.C. San Diego, and I've been lucky to direct a lot of shows over my career. My favorite experiences have been assistant directing the national tours of RENT and working on WAITING FOR GODOT with some amazing actors at Portland Stage Company in Maine. I've directed around fifty plays and musicals with professional actors around around the same number with students in educational settings ranging from universities to Montessori elementary schools.

As an educator, I've worked with little kids, big kids, and all sizes of adults. I traveled around the world teaching ensemble theatre with the International Schools Theatre Association. We've worked with students in Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and Spain most recently. I've also been fortunate to teach for many years at the oldest continuously running youth theatre in America, San Diego's Junior Theatre. (I also directed a musical version of MATILDA and an adaptation of THE BORROWERS there!)

I've taught improvisation and acting as a private coach, high school teacher, and college professor. I worked with students to write and perform an original children's play at Colgate University that then toured around New York state. I've worked as a teaching artist with regional theaters like La Jolla Playhouse and the Old Globe Theatre going into public schools and teaching standards based drama classes and helping teachers teach their own drama classes.

I ran a Young Performers' Workshop summer drama camp in San Diego for many years, and I also taught improvisation and acting at La Jolla Playhouse's conservatory program for serious high school actors. I've coached monologues for high school seniors to apply for competitive BFA programs and for working actors to audition for productions.

 I've worked on puppetry with elementary school kids. I've taught playwriting to students in the foster care system. I've directed radio plays with families at the Museum of TV and Radio in Beverly Hills. I've even taught English classes! When I reflect back on all the teaching I've been able to do, I'm so grateful....and so excited to now move into the online realm!

I love musical theater, clowning, and classic comedies....anything that breaks the fourth wall and invites the audience into the madness! I look forward to joining with students around the world and building a learning ensemble together via our screens. The best way to learn theater skills is by doing it, not just talking about it. I create a safe space to take risks, explore creativity, respect others and develop empathy, and to have a great time. Audiences know if the creators had a positive experience. I promise we always will!

Feel free to send me a message if you would like to browse my complete CV or the list of shows I've directed!

I have a 17 year old son who loves video games and playing D and D on Outschool and an 11 year old non-binary kid who loves drawing and designing makeup and singing along to Disney movies with me. We are not very good at it, but we have a lot of passion. We live by a lake in Seattle, Washington.

**Please don't hesitate to message me with any ideas for classes that you want to see offered on this platform!**