Executive Board:

2012 Production Staff:

STAFF BIOS

Gary Buchanan, Executive Board, Artistic Director
Qualifications — Years working with youth-23 / Years in performing arts-17

• Volunteered as a staff member with the Actors Guild of Parkersburg’s Guild Builders youth theatre arts program since its inception in 1997, serving as a Director and Technical Advisor
• August 2005 - attended 2-day training seminar "Designing Effective Instructional Residencies for Students" presented by the Kennedy Center's Partners in Education Program
• July, 2008 – attended 3-day Broadway Teachers Workshop, New York City, sponsored by Music Theatre International
• Appeared in 10 productions on the Actors Guild stage since 1991
• Directed 3 Actors Guild productions, assistant directed 2 Actors Guild productions, and volunteered as running crew, stage manager, lighting setup, and set construction on other Actors Guild productions
• Directed and appeared onstage for the Calhoun Theatre Guild in Calhoun County
• Directed the St. Marys, West Virginia Sesquicentennial celebration’s historical stage production From A River Bank

Linda Buchanan, Executive Board, Administrative Director
Qualifications — Years working with youth-24 / Years in performing arts-17

• Volunteered as a staff member with the Actors Guild of Parkersburg’s Guild Builders youth theatre arts program since its inception in 1997, coordinating all program activities
• August 2005 - attended 2-day training seminar "Designing Effective Instructional Residencies for Students" presented by the Kennedy Center's Partners in Education Program
• July, 2008 – attended 3-day Broadway Teachers Workshop, New York City, sponsored by Music Theatre International
• Appeared in 10 productions on the Actors Guild stage since 1991, and volunteered as running crew, stage manager, light board operator, and follow spot operator
• Served on the Actors Guild’s Administrative Council for three years, the Board of Directors as President for two years, and as committee chair and Guild Builders liaison for eleven years.

Andrew Clovis, Executive Board, Production Director, Director, Technical Director
Qualifications — Years working with youth-18 / Years in performing arts-28

• Contracted for 4 years with the Actors Guild of Parkersburg’s Guild Builders youth theatre arts program as Technical Director
• Directed numerous productions at the Actors Guild in Parkersburg, West Virginia and the Mid-Ohio Valley Players in Marietta, Ohio
• Appeared in numerous productions on the Actors Guild’s and the Mid-Ohio Valley Player’s stages
• Director of the Youth Theatre Program for the Ely Chapman Education Foundation
• Contracted as a Guest Artist for the Artsbridge Arts Services Agency for Wood County, WV and Washington County, Ohio for their Arts Education program (www.artsbridgeonline.com)
• Currently employed as an Adjunct Faculty member at West Virginia University at Parkersburg, Parkersburg, West Virginia, where he directs productions and designs for the Theatre Department

Teresa Parkhurst, Executive Board, Treasurer
Qualifications — Over 40 years experience as a Bookkeeper/Accounting Supervisor

• Bookkeeper 4 years for Actors Guild Community Theater, Parkersburg West Virginia
• Accounting Supervisor for 8 years at Fluid Components Inc., San Marcos, California
• Duties have included:
  • Monthly, quarterly and yearly tax deposits and reports
  • Daily and monthly expenditures
  • Monthly financial and budget comparison reports to Board of Directors
  • Payroll, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable and General Ledger
  • Working with Board members on budgets, including proposed yearly budget, comparison charts of actual to budget

Paula Oliverio, Executive Board, Recorder
Qualifications — 20+ Years working with students / 30+ years in performing arts

• Holds 2 Master Degrees in Education from West Virginia University
• High School Drama Director 12 years- St. Marys High School
• Appeared in numerous stage productions at Actors Guild of Parkersburg and other area theaters
• Directed 4 Actors Guild productions, assistant directed 3 Actors Guild productions, and volunteered as running crew, stage manager, orchestra, usher, and house manager on other Actors Guild productions
• Served on the Board of Directors for Actors Guild of Parkersburg
• Volunteer for many Actors Guild of Parkersburg committees
• Directed and appeared onstage for the Pleasants County Players Theatre in Pleasants County, West Virginia Sesquicentennial
• Assistant Director of the St. Marys, West Virginia Celebration’s historical stage production From A River Bank

Production Staff

David Makuch, Technical Advisor
Qualifications — 10 Years working with students / 29 years in performing arts

• Instructor and Assistant Professor/Technical Director, Theatre Department of Marietta College, Marietta, OH
• Designs mainstage scenery, lighting and sound for the Theatre Department, builds sets for productions
• Freelance corporate / industrial / concert lighting designer in Chicago

Morgan Heflin, Choreographer / Dance Instructor
Qualifications — 11 Years working with students / 19 years in performing arts

• Studied ballet with Velma Schrader and jazz, African, liturgical, and tap with Lori Patton
• 2002 Full scholarship recipient to West Virginia Dance Minifest
• 2003 Winner of the West Virginia Dance Festival Jazz Scholarship
• 2006 Second place in the National Society of Arts and Letters competition
• Summer studies have included: 5 years with Point Park University International Summer Dance, West Virginia Governor’s School for the Arts, West Virginia Fine Arts Dance Camp, Jazz Dance World Congress and workshop with Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago
• Attended the prestigious Broadway Theater Project at the University of South Florida studying with Ryan Kasprzak, Rockette Kelly King, Debra McWaters, Ronnie Demarco and Herman Payne
• Completed the teacher-training program with Hoctor Dance Caravan in New York City studying ballet with Jerry Rose
• Classes completed at the Broadway Dance Center in New York City include jazz, hip-hop, and theater dance
• Dance Teacher for over ten years on the staff of Schrader Youth Ballet, Parkersburg Arts Connection and Education (PACE), the Academy of Arts at January’s, and Next Step School of Dance
• Taught classes in ballet, jazz, tap, hip hop, musical theater and pointe for students ages 3 to 18

Ann Simonton, Costumer
Qualifications — 34 Years working with students / 14 years in performing arts

• Professional educator for 34 years
• In the Wood County school system has served as Drama Club Sponsor, directed plays both at school and church, and works with Odyssey of the Mind students.
• Active with the Actors Guild of Parkersburg for 14 years appearing onstage, as a hair and makeup artist for productions, costumer for numerous productions, scenic painting and basic set construction.
• Guild Builders theatre arts program Instructor for specialty make-up classes, served as Makeup Designer and Costumer, purchased all show make-up supplies, trained and supervised volunteers in make-up application, and guided and directed the students in writing and producing their own original plays.

Renee Bell, Costumer
Qualifications — 13 Years working with students / 14 years in performing arts

• Currently employed as Assistant Professor, Theatre Department of Marietta College, Marietta, OH
• Previously Visiting Assistant Professor, University of Iowa, Craft Supervisor at the University of Texas, and Costume Shop Manager at Barrington Stage Company, Pittsfield, MA.
• Designed costumes for A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Romeo & Juliet for Marietta College
• Designed costumes for TV and feature films Salome, Splatter, and Alamo 2.
• Many other Design Credits including A Dog’s Life, Raising Medusa, Coffee & Hope (Riverside Theatre), Eurydic( University of Iowa), Dead Man’s Cell Phone, The Dining Room (Iowa Summer Rep), Seussical, My Scary Girl (BSC), Good (Manhattan Theatre Source), Once Upon a Mattress, Children of Eden, Fiddler on the Roof (Weathervane Playhouse), Anything Goes (Brooklyn Players), and Merrily we Roll Along (The 45^th Street Theatre).
• Milliner on Broadway shows Mary Poppins, The Color Purple, and The Pajama Game.
• Holds an MFA in Design from the University of Iowa.

Lora Ludwig, Properties
Qualifications — Years working with youth–4 / Years in performing arts–4

I have four years experience working with young people in the Guild Builder’s theatre arts program. This time has been spent in several capacities. I have worked with registration. For the Narnia production I assisted with props. I have assisted with set building and worked with the backstage crew for the past three years. In addition, I have assisted with marketing design utilizing the youth artwork and have taught the marketing art class for the past three years.

• Volunteered as a staff member with the Actors Guild of Parkersburg’s Guild Builders youth theatre arts program for the last four years in registration and in several capacities for productions: props, set building, marketing design, and backstage crew instruction and monitoring
• Marketing Art workshop instructor for Guild Builders students for last three years

History

2011 producers of Les Misérables Schools Edition

Top of page

Theatre de Jeunesse does not discrimiate on the basis of race, sex, sexual orientation, religion, mental or physical challenge, or national origin in its programs or policies.

Trivia

Name the title and author of the work that begins with…

ACT I

(Scene: a fashionable summer villa near Barcelona. An elegant salon; door in the background, affording a view of a garden. Time: day.)

SCENE I

Don Baltasar, Don Modesto, and Don Leandro

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