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Production Team
Management
Adrian Cohen
Artistic Director & Founder of Upstage Theatre Schools
Adrian has been a professional actor and drama teacher for over 25 years. He was born and educated in England completing a BA (honors) at Leeds University and a Drama Diploma at the Arts Educational Schools, London.
Adrian has worked extensively in film and television with credits including “Ocean’s 13”, “Entourage”, “General Hospital”, “The King of Queens”, “Frasier”, “Bruce Almighty” and recurring roles in “24” and “iCarly” (as Mr Devlin).
Adrian started Upstage in 1999 with a simple principle at its core — to create an environment that would produce fully rounded young performers:
“I wanted the students to take part in all three disciplines (i.e. acting, singing and dance) so that when they perform on stage, they have what we call 'chops'-that's how actors are taught in England. And the skills learnt in the performing arts are so useful to young people whatever future career they choose.”
Julie Bank
Managing Director
Julie has been part of the Upstage family for over a decade, starting in 2004 as a volunteer at Westwood Charter before joining the Upstage Production Team in 2014.
She has a Masters of Social Service Administration Degree from the University of Chicago and has been working with children and families for over to 25 years, first in foster care and more recently as an international adoption social worker.
Originally from Texas, her love of Musical Theatre started with a High School production of “Grease” and was revived when the oldest of her four children joined the Upstage Program.
Julie loves being a part of the Upstage Theatre Schools family and loves working with the amazing Upstage staff and students!
Gary Rolin
Production Manager
Although new to Upstage, Gary has been in love with the theatre for many years. In that time, he has learned what it takes to put on a production both in front or and behind the curtain. He has been an actor, set designer, director, writer and producer.
Gary, grew up in Somerset, NJ and graduated Rutgers University, New Brunswick with a degree in English. Since then, he has run student backstage crews for high school production, written for sketch comedy for radio, voiced characters in video games and can be seen with a small part in a number of television shows including "iCarly," "Happy Endings," "Young & Hungry" and "The Crazy Ones." He also produced the web series "Life, with Zombies" and the award-winning short "Baby Fight Night."
Gary hopes to bring his experience and knowledge to create great theatre experiences with Upstage.
Taylor Sherry
Director/Choreographer/Media Coordinator
Taylor Marie Sherry is thrilled to be joining the team at Upstage. She grew up in Chicago in a family deeply entrenched in the Theatre world. Her senior year of high school, Taylor attended the Jimmy Awards in NYC, as the winner of Best Actress at the Illinois High School Musical Theatre Awards. She is a recent graduate of Florida State University with her BFA in Musical Theatre, training everyday with Broadway’s Michael Hayden, and Fred Chappell. Taylor spent two summers in college performing at the Highlands Playhouse in North Carolina, and whilst not doing that, choreographing and assisting musicals at Elgin Academy’s theatre camp. After graduation, Taylor spent her summer as a performer in the resident company at Music Theatre Wichita working with fantastic leaders such as Peggy Hickey, Wayne Bryan, and Nicholas Palmquist; where she also had the opportunity to play Amber in Hairspray choreographed by Al Blackstone. Taylor has recently moved to LA to pursue her acting career, and to grow her directing and choreographing experiences.
Miranda Wynne
Director and Production Manager
Miranda Wynne graduated from UC, San Diego with a Bachelors in Theatre and a minor in communications. She performs in theatres all around Los Angeles and recently received a nomination for Best Lead Performance by the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle. Previously, Miranda has had the pleasure of being a teaching artist for La Jolla Playhouse’s Young Performers Workshop and as the Performing Arts Specialist at Fun Under the Sun Day Camp for a number of years. Miranda is also a substitute teacher for LAUSD during the year!
Danielle McFadden
Production Manager
Danielle is thrilled to wear various Upstage hats! She joined the production team for the launch of Upstage Conejo's Summer Camp in 2019 and for its expansion into other schools in the Conejo Valley, while also serving as the parent production volunteer at Brookside Elementary. Danielle grew up and high-tailed it out of Florida to NYC where she graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in Drama. She has been a part of the theatre for over 20 years, from performing as a member of a resident theatre company on New York City’s Theatre Row, to the national tour of the Drama-Desk Award winning play Charlie, Victor, Romeo. Danielle also enjoys performing locally (including Four Star Awards for best lead actress and best supporting actress) and roles in film and tv including Welcome to the Family. She has trained at Upright Citizen’s Brigade in improv and loves sharing think-on-your-feet acting and improv skills with students including co-teaching Upstage’s week-long showcase camps in the Conejo Valley!
Amanda Koppe
Production Manager
Amanda Harmon has studied Acting and Improv for over ten years and loves to be involved in the arts in any way she can. Since graduating from AMDA College & Conservatory of the Performing Arts with a BFA in Performing Arts: Acting, she has written a feature film screenplay, was the Artistic Director for the world premier of, Breather, a play at the Hollywood Fringe Festival, taught Improv classes to kids, became a member of the Critical Action Theatre Company, and has acted in a number of short films.
Amanda has a passion for introducing the benefits of theatre to children and could not be happier to join the Upstage team.
Direction
Jason Currie
Director
Jason attended The Juilliard School on a full vocal performance scholarship. After graduation he performed in regional and touring productions all over the US. He has also scored numerous indie short films and web series.
In July of 2009, his YouTube hit Girls In Pantyhose was released and to date has over 2.5 million views, while his work on My 2 Black Girlfriends won him the 2014 IAWTV Award for Best Original Music.
He is a founding member of comedy troupe Fred For Nothing and the award-winning comedy song troupe Stupid Songs. Jason also facilitated Opera Improv, a collaboration between the Groundlings and LA Opera. Jason joined the It Gets Better tour in 2012 where he travels the country speaking, performing and doing outreach for underserved and at-risk LGBTQ youth.
Sara Cravens
Director
Sara is a comedic actress who grew up in Tennessee playing in trash cans for fun. Sara rose up quickly in the video game world, voicing Power Girl in Injustice 2, Boom Bloom in Skylanders and characters in Agents of Mayhem, Batman Arkham Knight, Star Wars Uprising as fan favorite Deathstick, and Halo 5. She has voiced 100s of commercials, including Nike, Nissan, Taco Bell, Target, McDonalds, BevMo, CVS, Diet Dr Pepper, Wells Fargo, Google, Honda, and you can hear her on TripTank on Comedy Central, Harriet Wolf in Monster High, Emma Stone's voicematch in The Croods, and Princess Maribel in The Snow King 2. Anime crowds love her as Sachiko in Erased and the Child Emperor in One Punch Man. Sara is a co-founder of The Harmony Series, a series of women's empowerment events encouraging women to find and embrace their authentic voice. She loves children and has created kid's improv programs for schools and theaters all over Los Angeles. She is thrilled to be a director with Upstage, and it is her absolute joy to see the young kids blow their audiences away. Sara loves yoga, country music, and makes the best from-scratch buttermilk biscuits you've ever tasted.
Patrick Hallahan
Director
Patrick Hallahan has been a teacher and director since age sixteen. Working for the non-profit group Children's Theatre Network of California, Patrick worked on dozens of classic musicals (everything from "Music Man" and "My Fair Lady" to "West Side Story" and "Into the Woods") to put himself through college. After graduating from UCLA's School of Theatre, Film, and Television with a BA in theatre, Patrick was accepted to The Juilliard Drama Division, where he graduated in '00.
Patrick worked as an actor in New York for six years before moving to southern california to continue to teach, direct, and act closer to his family and friends. Since returning to California, he has worked for the Metropolitan Arts (MET2) group, Arts Northridge, AMDA in Hollywood, and the Southern California Musical Theatre, directing productions, running workshops and classes, and staging showcases for graduating conservatory students. He ultimately hopes to return to school within the next few years to get an MFA in Directing for the stage.
Patrick’s productions for Upstage include the summer camp shows "Oh Mamma Mia", "High School Musical 2" and "Into the Woods Jnr"; and the after-school productions of "You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown" and "Singin’ in the Rain". Recently he completed a successful summer directing "Cats" and "Once On This Island Jnr".
Beverly Wilkerson
Director/Choreographer
Beverly received her BFA from the Boston Conservatory of Music at Berklee, in Drama/Musical Theatre/Dance with Honors in Directing. In NYC, she performed at Lincoln Center, Off Broadway, and regionally. She did several productions of “Sweet Charity” and “Sugar Babies,” one of each choreographed by award-winner Susan Stroman. In LA, Beverly appeared at the Whitefire, Powerhouse, and Court theatres, and at the Comedy Store and Luna Park. She played violin for John Cleese in a DirecTV ad, won many game shows (incl. “Wheel of Fortune”), and will appear as a dancer this year in Sia’s movie “Music” and Netlix’s “Ratched,” and playing tennis in the Roger Ailes’ movie. She sings with the a cappella group “The Music Companie” and the quartet “Jazz and All That.” She has been sharing her passion, directing, music directing, and choreographing children’s theatre, for 13 years, and is thrilled to join the Upstage team! www.beverlywilkerson.com
Miranda Wynne
Director and Production Manager
Miranda Wynne graduated from UC, San Diego with a Bachelors in Theatre and a minor in communications. She performs in theatres all around Los Angeles and recently received a nomination for Best Lead Performance by the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle. Previously, Miranda has had the pleasure of being a teaching artist for La Jolla Playhouse’s Young Performers Workshop and as the Performing Arts Specialist at Fun Under the Sun Day Camp for a number of years. Miranda is also a substitute teacher for LAUSD during the year!
Choreography
Meghann Lucas
Choreographer
A Boston native who's been dancing since she was three, Meghann studied Dance and Theatre at both Hofstra and Jacksonville Universities. She has been teaching dance for the past 9 years in both the New England and Los Angeles areas. She has performed with local dance and theatre companies and most notably in the hybrid dance-theater company, Thrance.
Currently, she is a preschool dance teacher at Temple Isaiah Preschool in addition to owning her own dance company for the past six years, Kickstart Dance, located in West LA. She had her choreography debut with the Upstage Production of Peter Pan JR. this summer! She couldn't be happier teaching kids... and dancing!
Taylor Sherry
Director/Choreographer/Media Coordinator
Taylor Marie Sherry is thrilled to be joining the team at Upstage. She grew up in Chicago in a family deeply entrenched in the Theatre world. Her senior year of high school, Taylor attended the Jimmy Awards in NYC, as the winner of Best Actress at the Illinois High School Musical Theatre Awards. She is a recent graduate of Florida State University with her BFA in Musical Theatre, training everyday with Broadway’s Michael Hayden, and Fred Chappell. Taylor spent two summers in college performing at the Highlands Playhouse in North Carolina, and whilst not doing that, choreographing and assisting musicals at Elgin Academy’s theatre camp. After graduation, Taylor spent her summer as a performer in the resident company at Music Theatre Wichita working with fantastic leaders such as Peggy Hickey, Wayne Bryan, and Nicholas Palmquist; where she also had the opportunity to play Amber in Hairspray choreographed by Al Blackstone. Taylor has recently moved to LA to pursue her acting career, and to grow her directing and choreographing experiences.
Beverly Wilkerson
Director/Choreographer
Beverly received her BFA from the Boston Conservatory of Music at Berklee, in Drama/Musical Theatre/Dance with Honors in Directing. In NYC, she performed at Lincoln Center, Off Broadway, and regionally. She did several productions of “Sweet Charity” and “Sugar Babies,” one of each choreographed by award-winner Susan Stroman. In LA, Beverly appeared at the Whitefire, Powerhouse, and Court theatres, and at the Comedy Store and Luna Park. She played violin for John Cleese in a DirecTV ad, won many game shows (incl. “Wheel of Fortune”), and will appear as a dancer this year in Sia’s movie “Music” and Netlix’s “Ratched,” and playing tennis in the Roger Ailes’ movie. She sings with the a cappella group “The Music Companie” and the quartet “Jazz and All That.” She has been sharing her passion, directing, music directing, and choreographing children’s theatre, for 13 years, and is thrilled to join the Upstage team! www.beverlywilkerson.com
Mario Mosley
Director/Choreographer
Mario Mosley attended the UCLA School of Theatre, Film, and Television. Some of his credits include World Music Awards, Dreamgirls, Walk Hard, Castle, Madtv, RuPaul's Drag U, Dance Your A** Off, Nickelodeon, Heineken, Kia, Sprite, Miss Universe Pageant, Miss USA, Miss Teen USA, iCarly, Popeyes, It Get's Better Tour, Michael Jackson's Sisterella, Notre Dame de Paris, Joe's Garage and many more. Mario is a longtime Lythgoe Family Panto Choreographer, having worked on such shows as Peter Pan, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Aladdin to name a few. This summer, he went to Sydney, Australia to choreograph a brand new 3D production of Jack & the Beanstalk at the world famous State Theatre. His love and talents in some many fields of the arts have presented him with the opportunity to work with some of the most exciting names in the entertainment industry, including Beyonce, Michael Jackson, Prince, Ariana Grande, Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, The Pussycat Dolls, Justin Timberlake, Snoop Dogg, Zac Efrom, Jennifer Hudson, Kelly Clarkson, Olivia Holt, and the new Disney sensation Ruby Rose Turner.
Cori Cable Kidder
Choreographer
Cori Cable Kidder, an Arkansas native, holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Musical Theatre. Cori has been choreographing musicals for 17 years and started her own company, Confidence in Choreography, to make learning easier for dancers of all ages. Her credits include The Music Man, Fiddler on the Roof, and Mary Poppins (Wynne High School), and Thoroughly Modern Millie (Ouachita Baptist University). Her performance credits include the Broadway Farewell tour of Mamma Mia! (Donna/Rosie cover), Patsy Cline in Always...Patsy Cline (Sierra Madre Playhouse), and In the Mood international tour.
Bria Robinson
Choreographer
Bria Robinson is from Chattanooga, TN. She attended Earlham College in Richmond, IN where she majored in Theatre Arts and minored in Business Management. After graduating Earlham is moved to New York to start here career in the arts. She was upon moving to New York she participated in a fellowship program at the Brooklyn Academy of music for production and stage craft. She has been a stage manager for other shows such as Plaza Suite, 24hr Theatre Project, and a few others. She really enjoys theatre and loves the people that she meets throughout her experiences.
Alison Smith
Choreographer
Alison has been a professional dancer and actress for 25 years here in Southern California. She has been in numerous plays, musicals, television productions, industrials and has been lucky enough to travel the world with her talents. She grew up on the stage dancing, transitioned into film and television in her 20’s, learned make-up artistry in her 30’s and has worked as co-owner in a successful photography business as well. Alison has taught dance as a guest artist throughout many studios from Kansas City to Southern California. Her love for dance and choreography has continued even as she has settled down in South Pasadena to raise her 3 young children. She continues to teach dance at local studios, audition commercially and is involved in the School district directing productions, State recognized Show Choirs and has also implemented a dance program within the elementary schools. She also shares her talents as a Teaching Artist for Disney Musicals in Schools. Alison feels at her best when she is inspiring kids and people through dance and expression and is thrilled to be part of The Upstage Team.
Musical Direction
Cait Leow
Musical Director
Cait Leow is so excited to join the ranks of the Upstage staff. Growing up in Toledo, Ohio, she filled her days singing at church and performing in her high school musicals. Cait went on to study Theater and Art History at The Ohio State University and moved to Los Angeles to pursue her dreams in 2012.
Cait continues to write songs and perform at venues around Los Angeles with her ukulele and guitar. She has performed at the House of Blues and the Viper Room to name a few. You can even catch her on the occasional Amazon commercial or episode of The Rookie. Cait also travels with the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus on their educational outreach tour, It Gets Better. The tour focuses on outreach in the community during the week and culminates in a Broadway style show that spreads a message of love and equality for the LGBTQ+ community. It Gets Better tour combines both Cait's love of performing and educating. Cait has a passion for teaching and loves that Upstage gives her another stage to grow and help your kids develop skills that go beyond that stage
Katie Bottomley
PODS Teacher
Katie Bottomley is a singer-songwriter living in Los Angeles with her husband and two little black dogs. With a degree in musical theatre, she is also pursuing a second degree in biological sciences. She has performed in several regional theatre productions, as well tv and commercials. She has been teaching voice, piano, and songwriting for almost 5 years. Working on her third album, she is a well established artist with a top-notch band that plays locally around California. Through her music, she hopes to help spread feminism and fight for women’s rights around the world. She also aspires to one day work along side conservationists and biologists to help keep our ocean ecosystems alive.
Angelica Smith
Musical Director
Angelica is an avid lover of music and has been singing in choirs since she was in high school. After high school, Angelica lived in Borken, Germany for one year as an exchange student where she studied language, culture, and the performing arts. She has since been studying voice at Santa Barbara City College, San Francisco State University (B.A. in Spanish), Moorpark College (where she won an award for Best Actress as a newcomer), and continues with private coaching.
Angelica is active in community theatre in the Ventura County and has been in productions such as Nunsense, Dogfight, Curtains, Nuncrackers (CSP), West Side Story (CPT), and a number of productions at Moorpark College.
Teaching kids music and seeing their faces light up with enjoyment is a gift Angelica doesn’t take for granted. She is incredibly grateful to Upstage for including her in the team.
Ken Jones
Musical Director
Ken is thrilled to be joining the ranks at Upstage Theatre. Working throughout Chicago, he made a career in Music Directing throughout the area at Educational Institutions and Theatrical Venues. Co
Ken Jones, Piano, Voice, WWs
312-550-8774
KenMusicJones@gmail.com
Gabriel Oliva
Musical Director
Not the average Spaniard, Gabriel grew up half in San Diego, and half in Seville, Spain. His first words were a "me gusta" followed shortly by "juice". After being confused for a short while (so he's told) he decided to stick to English primarily. He still speaks Spanish regularly to his family across the sea who still have a hard time believing "El Pollo Loco" is a restaurant.
Gabriel attended the USC School of Theatre and quickly transitioned into professional acting and singing after graduating with honors. Growing up with two opera-singing parents, he has an in-depth knowledge of singing technique. Gabriel’s music education continued and expanded through 10 years of performing in the barbershop group The Dapper Dans at Disneyland Resort. His musical experience aided his transition into the world of voice-over. You can hear Gabriel’s voice in “Star Wars: Rogue One”, “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales” and several episodes of Disney Channel’s “Elena of Avalor”.
Debra Lee
Musical Director
Debra Kay Lee has been singing in choirs since she was nine years old. She went on to study music at CSUN and toured Europe with John Alexander and the University Singers. Debra has had the pleasure of teaching music and theatre to children since 2006 under the expert tutelage of Adrian Neil. She has worked on productions such as "Annie", "High School Musical 1 & 2", "Guys and Dolls", "Little Shop of Horrors", and "Into The Woods Jr".
Debra has appeared on Good Morning America singing with The Caroling Company. As a comedian she opened for Jerry Seinfeld at the Hollywood Improv and for Suzanne Edwards at the Country Music Radio Festival in Nashville. Some of her favorite roles have been Svetlana in "Chess", Yucca in "My Cup Ranneth Over" and Bobbi Lynn in "The All Star Radio Broadcast of 1939". Her T.V. and film credits include "Capitol", "Days of Our Lives", the indie film "Lost" and the web series "Nora Breaks Free". Her theatre roles include Mrs. Fezziwiz in "Marley’s Xmas", Diedre in "Richard’s Cork Leg" and Enid in "A Chorus of Disapproval".
Debra loves teaching at Upstage Schools and seeing the amazing growth and joy that the kids experience from their participation in the program.
Technical
Megan Lian
Costume Designer
Megan Lian is a Los Angeles based Costume Designer born and raised in the Los Angeles area. She graduated from the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising in Los Angeles with a degree in Product Development. Shortly after she enrolled in Los Angeles City College’s Theatre Academy and fell in love with Costume Design.
Since 2012, Megan has designed dozens of productions for film, television, theater and digital platforms.
Megan’s works include the projects for Hulu, Dreamworks, Disney, NFL, an office comedy “Liberty Crossing”, produced by Mason Novick (Juno, 500 Days of Summer), Season 3 of the drama “Guidance” for AwesomenessTV. Most recently she Costume Designed the film “The Bellmen” (due to premier in 2019) and was the Assistant Costume Designer for the latest season of “Dreamcorp” on Adult Swim.
She is a an avid supporter of Los Angeles Theatre and is frequent patron of Mark Taper and Ahmanson theaters. Megan has been costuming shows with Upstage since 2016, and is looking forward to another fun season of shows!
Lauren West
Costume Designer
Lauren West has been involved in theatre for over 15 years, costuming productions across California. She has worked with Shotgun Players (Oakland), Opera Parallele (San Francisco), Downtown Repertory Theatre (Los Angeles) to name a few, and is thrilled to be on staff at Upstage as one of their costume designers.
Lauren firmly believes that theatre is paramount to children and adults in discovering their own agency while fostering interdependence. "Theatre promotes confidence and gives us language to reinterpret and discover ourselves."
By putting students in dashing costumes, Lauren hopes to encourage the embodiment of their character and in turn feel bold to take on anything!
Michael Gideon Sherry
Video Editor & Teacher
Michael Gideon Sherry is excited for the opportunity to teach and grow with the Upstage Community. At 6 years old his family introduced and helped shaped his love for the stage. From there he was involved with theatrical shows, in the jazz and marching band, along with being a wrestler and baseball player during his middle and high school years. His junior year in high school he developed a true love for film. Making small backyard home movies with a camcorder and a couple friends was just the beginning. In 2013 he officially started his first company ADuckOnARock. They have gone on to make short films, music videos and even started pursuing the TV pilot circuit. He continues to work as a storyteller through film with One Mind Studios and ADuckOnARock ProDucktions. Within this time Michael has acted in T.V shows, Feature Films, Award Winning Short Films, Independent Features and multiple web series. He also worked for three years as an acting coach for youth and young adults in Chicago. Michael recently moved to LA with his sister, Taylor Sherry, to pursue knowledge as a student of the world.
