Winter Break-a-Leg Teachers

• Mikaela Gould

  Mikaela Gould (they/them) has been a theater kid from day one! Mikaela has always immersed themself in the act of play. Trained as a clown, vocalist, and actor. They love games that open us up to be creatively thoughtful, take chances, be present, intentional, and of course have fun. With an emphasis on ensemble work, we can grow together and be the greatest next generation of storytellers.

• Parker Stinson

  Parker Stinson (they/them) is thrilled to be working at the Hangar Theatre again after being Music Director for the 2023 Next Generation School of Theatre’s production of Shrek: The Musical JR. Parker has performed in an array of plays and musicals starting from age 7. They pursued studies of Theatre at Wells College in addition to years of experience as a musician. Parker’s greatest childhood joy was attending theater camp every summer back home in Maine and strives to bring that same enjoyment to these young performers. Parker hopes to continue to have a positive impact on children through shared love of Theatre and creativity.

Alphabetical By Last Name

• Holly Adams

  Holly Adams has been a Teaching Artist at Sinatra School, Greater Hartford Academy of Arts, and the Hangar Theatre since 1995. She is SAG/AFTRA, a grad of Dell’Arte School, and holds a Master’s in Theatre, Education, and Social Change. She performs for stage, film, and audiobooks with Audible. You may see some of her work here and on her website.

• Miranda Bianchi

  Miranda Bianchi is a teaching artist and the Next Generation School of Theatre coordinator for the Hangar Theatre. She has collaborated with the Redhouse Arts Center, Auburn Public Theatre, and CSMA, focusing on Shakespeare, freeing the natural voice, and devising within an ensemble. Miranda received her BA in theatre from SUNY Oswego and has studied at the Moscow Art Theatre and Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, MA.

• Emma Elizabeth Bowers

  Emma Elizabeth Bowers is an Ithaca native going back multiple generations. She earned her BFA from the Juilliard School’s drama division (group 26). In addition to working as an actor and acting teacher, Emma is a painter and is currently finishing her first play, She is always happy to be working in her hometown and back at the Hangar Theatre, where she first learned about the performing arts.

• Ashley Burt

  Ashley Burt is a recent graduate of East Carolina University, where she received her BFA in dance performance and choreography. As a 2018 Lab Company member, she had the pleasure of assisting on the Mainstage productions of Chicago and Pride and Prejudice, and the KIDDSTUFF Seussical Jr. and Snow White. Outside the Ithaca area, Ashley also assisted East Carolina University’s production of If/Then and has choreographed numerous other contemporary and jazz dance pieces.

• Gabriella Patricia Carr

  Gabriella Patricia Carr is a graduate of Ithaca College with a concentration in musical theater direction and vocal coaching. Previously based out of NYC, Gabriella was a performance advisor with Broadway Artists Alliance and an assistant to Artistic Director Jeremy Quinn at The White Plains Performing Arts Center. She is an artistic associate with Civic Ensemble as well as a teaching artist with the Hangar Theatre and runs a private voice and acting studio in Ithaca.

• Margaux Deverin

  Margaux Deverin is delighted to be a part of the Hangar Theatre teaching community as a dramatic director. When she isn’t teaching English and drama to high school students, she performs in two improv troupes in the Syracuse Improv Collective. Margaux earned her BA in English at Syracuse University, and recently graduated with an MA in educational theatre from New York University.

• Michael Fambro

  Michael Fambro is delighted to be teaching at the Hangar Theatre. She was previously the artistic director of the WNY Performance Center, and now divides her time directing in the Rochester area, as well as doing stage management and playwriting. She holds both a BA in theater and psychology from SUNY Geneseo, and has enjoyed teaching, directing, and performing nationwide. Favorite directing credits include Clue, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and The Woman in Black.

• Erin Fitzpatrick

  Erin Fitzpatrick has loved being a Hangar Theatre teaching artist for Project 4 these past two years. She has a degree in theatre performance from Wagner College and has trained with the Upright Citizen’s Brigade, the NY Film Academy, and the Accademia dell’Arte in Italy. In Ithaca, she has worked with the Civic Ensemble in Streets Like This (Abby) and Walking on Water Productions in The Fantasticks (Luisa). Find her at efpnyc.com!

• Kelley Hamilton

  Kelley Hamilton (Music Director) has been a performing artist, director, and arts educator for over 25 years. A graduate of Ithaca College and the Eastman School of Music, she writes and directs original musicals and revues, and frequently performs as a professional opera and music theatre singer. She has been a soloist with the Rochester Philharmonic and Chamber Orchestras and Irondequoit Chorale, among others, and sung roles with the Buffalo Opera, Rochester Opera Theatre, Empire Lyric Theatre, and GEVA Theatre Center. She has also been part of the music theatre voice faculty at Syracuse University, Binghamton University, and SUNY Cortland.

• Evie Hammer-Lester

  Evie Hammer-Lester (Spring Break-a-Leg) came to Ithaca as a Kitchen Theatre Fellow in 2015. She has worked in Ithaca, Endicott, and Auburn as an assistant director, associate choreographer, stage manager, and teaching artist. Most recently she had the pleasure to work as assistant director and choreographer to the Fitz&Startz production A Case for the Classics and as choreographer for the Hangar’s A Christmas Carol.

• Priscilla Hummel

  Priscilla Hummel is thrilled to be back for her third season as choreographer for NextGen’s annual KIDDSTUFF production. She holds an MFA from Regent University and a BA in theatre with a dance minor from Brenau University. Priscilla is the founding artistic director of WoW (Walking on Water) Productions, a local non-profit musical theatre company, for which she is directing/choreographing the world premiere of Katrina, A New Musical presented at the Kitchen Theatre this August. walkingonwaterproductions.org

• Jan Nigro

  Jan Nigro is the co-founder and a songwriter for the nationally acclaimed young people chorus Vitamin L. He is also founder and director of The Mostly Motown Chorus. He has written music for National Geographic and Disney and is a guitar instructor on the faculty of the Community School of Music and Art.  

• Sally Ramirez

  Sally G. Ramírez (she/her/hers) has acted, sung, and taught at the Hangar Theatre for over 5 years including the roles of Mrs. Fezziwig and the Spirit of Christmas Present in the Hangar’s seasonal production of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Sally has had principal acting roles on national television including the PBS show American Family, and The Young and the Restless. As a teacher for youngsters, Sally uses your child’s imagination to help them create their own storytelling experience and feel like a true storyteller. A lover of language, Latin jazz, and World Music, Sally and guitarist Doug Robinson have presented school assembly programs celebrating language, music, and culture and have produced two CDs.  SallyRamirezMusic.com    

• Camilla Schade

  Camilla Schade was a teaching artist with the Hangar from 2003 until her passing in May, 2019. She was a gifted actor, director, teacher and playwright who touched the lives of many children, teachers, parents and her theatre family profoundly.

• Elizabeth Seldin

  Elizabeth Seldin has been teaching theater since 2006 where she began at the Ithaca Youth Bureau with Tin Can Fantasy Factory.  Since then she has worked in both London and NYC as a professional actor and playwright.  She has a BA in drama from Ithaca College and has specific training in devised theater.  

• John Simon

  John Simon, songwriting musician with Project 4, has been working in schools since the mid-70s. Along with his reading buddy Cal Walker, John is currently presenting early literacy programs for The Children’s Reading Connection. He also fronts the good-time party band Radio London, and can be heard most weekends on WVBR (Cornell’s student-run radio station, 93.5 FM, or streaming at wvbr.com). More info at: http://www.johnsimonmusic.com/   

• Marie Sirakos

  Marie Sirakos has been a teaching artist for The Hangar Theatre for many seasons. Some performance credits include work at NYC Fringe, Kitchen Theatre, City Theatre, Unseam’d Shakespeare Company, and New Works Festival. Her plays have been presented at The Kitchen Theatre, Music’s Recreation and at The Kimmel Center (Philadelphia, PA). She holds a BA in theatre and literature from the University of Pittsburgh. Additionally, she is the proprietor of The Vintage Industry in Ithaca.

• Fatima Sowe

  Fatima Sowe is an Ithaca-born dancer, coach, and choreographer. She received her dance training at the Armstrong School of Dance and is an engaged alumna of the Running to Places Theatre Company as a dance teacher and choreographer. She specializes in tap, hip-hop, and contemporary jazz styles.

• Karen Stanley

  Karen Stanley , a NextGen alumna, is honored to be back at the Hangar Theatre teaching puppetry. Karen is a member of Kakeru Physical Theater Company, which specializes in clowning, mask work, and other physical theater. For several years Karen was the assistant director for three Binghamton-area programs: Peacetown Puppets, Mental Health Players, and Ray of Sunshine Clown Therapy Program. Karen graduated from Boston University where she studied acting, directing, playwriting, and stage management.

• Mike Stanley

  Mike Stanley, a magician for 28 years, has taught magic at the Next Generation School of Theatre for the past several years. Currently president of the Finger Lakes Magic Club Ring 140 of the International Brotherhood of Magicians, he has performed magic all over the world, including numerous Ithaca venues. He has taught magic at almost every school in the area, as well as at conventions. He has also founded, taught, and performed with a troupe of special young adults called “The Cayuga Wizards.”

• Aoise Stratford

  Aoise Stratford is a dramaturg and playwright with more than 100 productions internationally and around the country. She has won numerous awards and her play The Unfortunates was a Time Out NY Critics Pick and was recommended by Backstage Magazine. Locally, Aoise is best known for her adaptation of A Christmas Carol for The Hangar Theatre and for her audio plays Storm Country and The Missing Chapter (Cherry Arts). She teaches playwriting at Cornell and as a teaching artist for the Hangar.  

• Paige Winn

  Paige Winn was an education intern at the Hanger in 2018 and is thrilled to be returning this summer to teach dance. She recently graduated from Ithaca College with a BA in theatre studies and a minor in education. She has danced and choreographed for IC Unbound Dance Company as well as IC Second Stage. She hopes to further her education in the form of dance/theatre therapy, particularly for students with learning disabilities.