About Theatre and Dance

As an actor, director and fight choreographer, Steve has worked for several theatres in the Bay Area including: Palo Alto Players, Primitive Screwheads, Rabbit hole, N.C.T.C, Ray of Light, FOGG Theatre, One minute play festival and the San Francisco Playhouse. Steve serves as artistic director for Breach Once More, where he recently directed the TBA recommended, SubUrbia. Steve holds and M.A. and B.A. in Drama from San Francisco State University. He is particularly interested in viewing classical and famous plays through new, culturally relevant lenses. He is also committed to producing exciting new works. Overall, as artistic director, Steve is passionate about producing entertaining plays that grapple with human struggles and ignite his audience’s sense of empathy. Up Next: Steve will be playing Walter in "Much ado about Lebowski" this summer. When Steve isn’t fighting to stave off starvation from his questionable career choices, he works as a personal fitness trainer, which is pretty awesome.

B.A., Performance, 2004

M.A., Drama, 2012

As a San Francisco State University Theater Alumni, Nick has worked in production since graduating in 2003. At satoriteller he is the production sensei. He runs the production department. He produces our shows. Nick has solid fundamental production skills and a work ethic that means when the show needs to go, he will get it done.

After graduation in 2014, Cheryl and her husband moved to Denver, CO. She's been doing both set design and props. She's currently propping a production of "Sunset Boulevard" on one side of town and a production of "Casa Valentina" on the other side! Cheryl has done a couple set designs with a fantastic theater in Denver called Phamaly, which works with disabled actors. She loves working with them because it's a really wonderful and welcoming group of people and they challenge her as a designer in interesting ways, such as designing around motorized wheelchairs or actors with varying levels of mobility. Her next project will actually bring her back to the Bay Area briefly, as she will be doing set designs for Palo Alto Childrens' Theatre's production of "Rapunzel" this summer.

Desriee Carillo (2011) became the resident lighting director at a mega church called The House Modesto where she expanded her skills in production management, lighting design (theatre & concert), stage design and stage management. She has also spoken at the LDI Conference in Las Vegas in 2015 on the similarities and differences between lighting for theatre versus house of worship, and has been published in their magazine, Live Design, as a featured speaker. Also, some of her lighting and stage designs were featured on a very popular church design website, Church Stage Design Ideas. She has also worked at Walt Disney World in Florida as an entertainment tech working primarily in lighting and special effects for productions such as "Finding Nemo: The Musical", and was chosen to be a part of the opening team for "Rivers of Light", a new outdoor night time water show opening at Animal Kingdom. She is also currently enrolled at Regent University, where she will be receiving her M.A. in Theatre in Spring 2017.

Ironically, Chloe missed her San Francisco State University Theatre graduation (2011) because she was performing on stage in Mountain Play's "Hairspray!" Favorite Bay Area credits since graduating have included Logainne in "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" (Berkeley Playhouse), Rosemary in "How to Succeed"... (Bay Area Musical Theatre), Sally Brown in "Snoopy!!!" (42nd Street Moon), Penny in "Hairspray" (Broadway by the Bay) and Kira in "Xanadu" (New Conservatory Theatre Center). She has also performed with Bay Area Children's Theatre, Woodminster Summer Musicals, Ray of Light Theatre, Awesome Theatre Company, The Alcove Theatre and Altarena Playhouse. She was also the winner of the best comedic singer at Martunis piano bar in 2014, and also wrote and starred in her own Cabaret in 2015 titled "Oh, I Just Can't Wait to Play Teens" at the Society Cabaret (at Hotel Rex) chronicling her life as an actress who plays kid/teen roles at age 26.

Cook (2013) was recently cast in FOX's new comedy "The Grinder," playing Christina Applegate's son, Toby, alongside Rob Lowe and Fred Savage. He also appeared in "FreeForm's Recovery Road" this past February as Kyla Pratt's dysfunctional boyfriend, Gael. This summer he will be seen in a brand new CW Digital series as the recurring character 'Insidious.' The series will be a comical spin-off of the network's "Vampire Diaries", and will premiere at this year's VidCon in Anaheim. Also since his time at SF State, Cook took home Best Actor in 2014 at the Campus MovieFest International Grand Finale out of an accumulated 15,000 films.

Emily Cross (2010) moved to Los Angeles in 2011. Two weeks after moving to LA she was involved in a traumatic accident when she was hit head on by a drunk driver while riding her bike home. She suffered multiple fractures, broken bones, and spent the better part of the year in a wheelchair. However, even in the hospital Emily was determined to express what had happened to her the only way she knew how, creatively. Since then, Emily has used her experience as a platform to educate and inspire others. She is a dancer and choreographer for the non-profit dance company LA Unbound, and in November 2015 presented a workshop version of "Life is a Bicycle", a contemporary dance piece based on this life-changing event. She is so grateful her piece has resonated with others and was recently chosen as the guest artist for the Riverside City College Summer Intensive, where she will teach and expand this movement piece for selected students of the dance department. She is expanding this piece with the hope to transform it into an immersive, multimedia, full length evening performance. She thanks her mentor and former professor Barbara Damashek for her viewpoints training and encouraging her to "spin gold from tragedy."

After graduating from San Francisco State University in 2012, Alix Cuadra has made the transition into voice-over acting with commercials for First Republic Bank, Docusign, Sony PlayStation and Uber to name a few. She continues auditioning for on-camera and voice-over work in the city through her agent, Stars, the Agency.

Kamala Devam (2001) is a multi-lingual dance artist, choreographing, performing and teaching in the UK and US. Kamala grew up training in Bharata Natyam for thirteen years in the Bay Area with Kalakshetra graduates Katherine and K.P. Kunhiraman and received her B.A. in contemporary dance at San Francisco State University in 2001. She has performed Bharata Natyam professionally in Malaysia, India and England and toured the US and Mexico with SF-based California Contemporary Dancers. Since moving to London in 2004, Kamala has performed for the London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremony with Akram Khan Company, toured internationally for 8 years with Shobana Jeyasingh Dance and worked with many independent choreographers including Merav Israel, Luca Silvestrini (Protein Dance) and Stephanie Schober . She has collaborated with choreographer/dancer Seeta Patel on their multi-award-winning dance film The Art of Defining Me (2013) and toured their duet works (Alter Ego, 2007 and Last One Standing, 2009) and her own solo (FretLess, 2010) internationally. Kamala is a Visiting Lecturer at the University of East London and an internationally commissioned choreographer for university and youth dance companies, returning to SF State to premiere "The Shedding" on the University Dance Theater in Spring, 2015. Kamala founded Kamala Devam Company in January 2016 after successful London commissions for dance research with SF-based dancers. KDC premiered its debut piece "Ankusha" at the London Southbank Centre in Sept 2015, created with support from Arts Council England, Akademi, The Place and University of East London. Kamala hopes to bring her company work to San Francisco in the near future. 

Check out her website here.

Erin (2013) previously worked in the performing arts field all across the Bay Area, including California Shakespeare Theatre Company, the Fort Mason Center, The Exit Theatre, and was previously the Technical Director for the Urban School of San Francisco from 2016 to 2020. Currently, they are back at SFSU as a staff member working for the LCA Events and Operations team managing the LCA Service Desk. 

Alandra Hileman (2012 B.A. Drama, Play Development & Dramaturgy) is a writer, arts administrator, recovering stage manager, comic-book nerd and gothic-heroine-in-training lurking around the SF Bay Area. After graduating from San Francisco State University with a double B.A. in Drama and English, Alandra served as the Administrative Director of 99 Stock Productions (2012-2014) and Marketing Manager for The Breadbox (2015), and is a founder and the current Managing Director of Quantum Dragon Theatre. Playwriting credits include Same/Difference (reading, 2015 SF Olympians Festival), Cypress, Sin, and Care (reading, 2016 BoxCutters Series with The Breadbox), Hiraeth (reading, 2016 Greenhouse Festival with SF State/Z Space), Queen of the Sword (reading, 2016 Loud & Unladylike Festival), and Spell Eternity (production, 2016-2017 season for Quantum Dragon Theatre). Her stage management and production skills have previously been employed by Central Works, Shotgun Players, Awesome Theatre, the Livermore Shakespeare Festival and the Live Oak Theatre/TheatreFirst. She is also on staff as a Theatre Technician for the arts facilities of the City of Pleasanton, and this summer will be teaching their Youth Tech Theatre Camps.

Ashley Holvick (formerly Rogers) (M.F.A. 2012) is currently the costume shop manager for the Marin Theatre Company and a freelance costume designer. Previously, Ashley worked as a shopper for the San Francisco Opera costume shop and was a company member of the award winning collaborative theatre company, Mugwumpin. Ashley has designed costumes for theatre companies and institutions throughout the Bay Area including The Aurora Theatre Company, Shotgun Players, Marin Theatre Company, Just Theatre, TheatreFirst, Pacific Repertory, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Mugwumpin, UC Berkeley and San Francisco State University. Upcoming design products include Anne Bolyen and August: Osage County for the Marin Theatre company, The Rules at The San Francisco Playhouse and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? for Shotgun Players.

Since graduating from San Francisco State University in 2013, Dar Vejon has relocated to Portland, Oregon to pursue experience for his future graduate studies in Dance Choreography. In his short stint in the NW, he has accepted positions as a dance instructor with Bodyvox, Dance Fusion NW, and NW Dance Project. Additionally, in Fall 2015 he was commissioned as an Adjunct Associate Professor of African Diaspora Dances by Portland State University. As a commissioned dance teaching artist, he has traveled to Casa Chapi(a Quechuan Orphanage) in Chivay, Peru. Through Run For the Arts and other non profit organizations, he teaches at Buckman Elementary, Da Vinci Arts Middle School and has taught at Vancouver School of the Arts and Academics. He is the Artistic Director of The Fuse Dance Force, a local youth non-for-profit pre-professional dance organization; focusing on providing learning experiences, scholarships, and challenging choreographies for a group of gifted youngsters. He is the Rehearsal Director and Associate Choreographer for REJOICE! Diaspora Dance Theatre and has been a dancer with Tere Mathern Dance. Currently he and his wife, Dione, are preparing for a bundle of joy coming into their world this summer: a beautiful baby girl.

After graduating, Leuchars moved to Los Angeles to pursue my career. He has worked several full time jobs in the industry, including Production Manager for Pepperdine University's Center for the Arts and as a Sales Manager for PSAV (Presentation Services Audio Visual). Currently, Leuchars is the Assistant Technical Director at the Valley Performing Arts Center, located at Cal State Northridge. His main duties involve advancing and implementing lighting needs for incoming touring and presented shows, designing and programming lighting and managing the in-house technical crews.

Crista Llewellyn graduated from San Francisco State University in 2012, since then she has gone on to study at the Blush School of Makeup in San Francisco. After attending Blush, she moved to Los Angeles and interned at several special effects makeup labs including Makeup Effects Labratories and Creature Effects. She has worked the past two years at Six Flag's Fright Fest, working closely with the Scream Team. Crista splits her time between working in the lab and on set for independent films, web series, and specialty events. She's currently working at Joel Harlow's lab, and some of her more notable projects include Oscar's Hotel for Fantastic Creatures, Fight of the Living Dead, All Through the House, The Head Collector and The Goblin Queen.

Juliana Lustenader (2013) has been acting, singing and writing for stage and film throughout the Bay Area. She has worked with a plethora of local theatre companies, including Shotgun Players, Custom Made Theatre Co., Broadway By The Bay, CentralWorks, Ray of Light, SF Theatre Pub and NCTC. In 2016, Juliana won a Best Featured Actress in a Musical award from the Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle for her portrayal of Little Edie in Grey Gardens at Custom Made Theatre. She was also nominated by Theatre Bay Area in 2015 for the same performance. While studying at San Francisco State University, Juliana was the recipient of the Clarence Miller Scholarship for Excellence in Musical Theatre, as well as a faculty Book Award for Excellence in Playwriting. She graduated Magna Cum Laude in the class of 2013.

San Francisco State School of Theatre & Dance alum (2006) Mike Maio is a man who believes in taking his skills on the road, which is evident in the amount of international travel he has done recently for Lightswitch. He can be found exercising his talents for control system design, programming and construction administration in locations as far away as Macau, China. This expert in lighting design and installation supervision got his start in theatrical lighting for entertainment and live events, here at San Francisco State University’s School of Theatre and Dance, which explains his gift for landing on his feet anywhere.

Since graduating from San Francisco State University in Spring 2011 (B.A. in Drama, Magna cum Laude), James has continued to live and work in San Francisco. He is currently an Office Manager for a tech company by day (theatre kids make the best office managers), and works as an actor/singer/dancer/director/teacher by night. Favorite roles have included the Ensemble in Alice! (11th Hour Ensemble; an ensemble-based theatre company of which he is a founding member. Started by a group of SF State Alumni), Hedwig #3 in Hedwig and The Angry Inch (Boxcar Theatre), Paul in A Chorus Line (SF State) and Boy #1 in the TBA Award winning Heathers: The Musical (Ray of Light Theatre). Additionally, James has performed with the Bay One Acts Festival, The Flash Plays Festival, Shotgun Players, ODC, Lamplighters Music Theatre, Mojo Theatre, and The Dark Room. James is also a Teaching Artist at Handful Players, a nonprofit children’s musical theatre in San Francisco’s Western Addition, whose mission is to help kids find their creative voice, build self-esteem and learn skills for getting ahead in life.

Recently reclassified as a Key in Local 705, Malia has reached the top tier of this local! She still want to join the Guild, but at the right time. Malia is still having a great time working/assisting/learning from the designer she works with, Karla Stevens. Malia feels very fortunate to have been working with her for the past few years as she is a wonderful designer, having worked her way up, and a great person as well! She is on the CBS / Chuck Lorrie show “Mom” and it is a bit crazy…but its a wonderful crew and cast. She still loves costuming…thanks :)

Jenna Monroe (2007, Dance) is currently a co-director for requisitedance alongside Michaela Shoberg. From 2011-2015 she was the Director of Dance for Spindrift School of Performing Arts and was an Artist in Residence at Oceana High School from 2007-2014 in Pacifica. She currently teaches dance at the Jewish Community Center in San Francisco. From 2002-2006 she was a member of University Dance Theater at San Francisco State University. Her student choreography was performed at the American College Dance Festival and at McKenna Theater as part of SFSU’s spring dance concert. Her professional work has been seen at The Garage, Dance Mission Theater, The Santa Cruz Fringe Festival, sjDANCEco's Nation Dance Week, SAFEhouse Arts and ODC Theater. She has collaborated with Deborah Slater Dance Theater, Keith Carames and Donna Von Joo-Tornell. In 2006 the Silicon Valley Community Foundation awarded Jenna with their Artist in Residence grant.

An San Francisco State University Theater alumni, David Morris (2002) has worked in production and related industries since graduation. At satoriteller, founded by fellow almna Lisa Sato (2002), David is the Director of Operations and Business Development. He has helped build the business and is working to curate interesting clients and productions. satoriteller is an experiential production studio specializing in developing unusual solutions to the common problem of making events more than moments to reflect brand or identity and striving to make moments truly memorable by folding culturally and or artistically relevant experiences into each event. satoriteller is comprised of artists that develop designs specific to each event in a way that creates a fabric for the attendee to be surrounded and supported. Using sensor technologies to capture user’s physical interactions, imagery, and other information custom technology provides the ability to projection map and track in new and compelling ways. Using new and interesting methods to develop 3D content in a near real time render environment to avoid content choke points in pre-production development and onsite when things change. Subsequently using captured data as real time reinforcement in a number of fun and innovative ways enclosures, surfaces, and physical elements are designed to create tangible connections with an audience.

Following graduation, Kyla Morris (2010) segued from Contra Costa Civic Theater where she worked as props designer on four shows with Pied Piper Players to Children’s Theatre as Technical Director as well as substituting for her mentor Associate Professor Kim Schwartz, in the Fall of 2011. She has also worked at Lowell High School as the Technical Director for the theater program. During her tenure, the program has grown from 15 students to a capacity crowd of 60 theater technicians. Supervising all technical elements of the ten, student-facilitated productions, she simultaneously prepared a student team to compete in The Ohlone Theater Festival each year. Kyla and her students have taken home various awards over the years, including the Technical Theater Sweepstakes Award in 2014 and 2016. She attributes the success of this program to the student’s hard work and willingness to take on challenges. She sees her time with students as an opportunity to help them accrue the technical theater skills they can use to find employment during their college years and the team-building work that will serve them far beyond high school.

Alariza Nevárez (2008). In 2009, again from San Francisco State University, she earned her California Teaching Credential and taught middle and high school students Drama and Theatre Tech in schools in San Jose for three years. While she taught, however, her education and practice never ceased; she spent her 2010 summer at SF's American Conservatory Theater's Summer Training Congress, and she continued performing with Bay Area company's, including Women's WILL, Shady Shakespeare (now Silicon Valley Shakespeare), and Awesome Theatre (run by fellow SF State alumni). In 2012, Alariza joined a professional Children's Theatre company in the south bay, California Theatre Center, and toured up and down the West Coast, as well as continued teaching and directing in local south bay schools. In 2013, she was accepted to East 15 Acting School of Loughton, England, a prestigious acting school North East of London, and earned her MFA in (International) Acting. During her 2-year stay in the United Kingdom, Alariza had the pleasure and honour of performing all over London, including on Shakespeare's Globe as Leontes in The Winter's Tale. She also spent a 4-week module in Moscow, Russia at GITIS, The Russian University of Theatre Arts, to study Meyerhold, Stanislavsky, and Chekhov from students only generations apart of the men themselves!

Adriann Ramirez (2015) is a performer/choreographer/filmmaker who is based in the San Francisco Bay Area and London, England. As a performer, he has worked under the guidance of Push Dance Company’s Artistic Director Raissa Simpson, first performing as a soloist in Simpson’s San Francisco Union Square installment Bitter Melon. Under his collective, NEW OPULENCE ARTS, his choreography and films have been shown in various venues and cities throughout the United States and England. His first short film, CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’ premiered at Frameline International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival 2014 in San Francisco, California and Deep Desires and Broken Dreams in London, England. He created NEW OPULENCE ARTS in order to provide a platform for artists who are interested in a collaborative approach to creativity and creation of art. He has continued to create short dance films and performance pieces to perform and showcase throughout the SF Bay Area and London since his graduation from San Francisco State with a Bachelor of Arts in Dance in 2015.

Ruth Raser Timbrell (M.F.A. 2005) graduated with a Bachelorʼs degree from Wheaton College, Norton, Massachusetts in French literature, minor in art.

She went on to get a Masters of Fine Arts Degree from San Francisco State University graduating in 2005 with a primary focus in costume, secondary focus in set design.

While at San Francisco State, she was a semi finalist at the Kennedy Center Theater Arts Foundation. Subsequently, the costumes designed by her for the SF State production of “Les Liaisons Dangereuses” proceeded to the Prague Quadrennial to represent SF State in the student exhibit. She has designed and created costumes for plays at various grade schools in the Bay Area and for Pinole Players, 42nd Street Moon, The Hill Barn Theater, Berkeley Playhouse and Young Performer’s Theatre. Many of the costumes she has designed and constructed have been for plays that benefit scholarship for children.

Her volunteer work includes being a Guide at SFMOMA. In conjunction with SFMOMA her art work has been shown in the Staff art shows there.

She has illustrated a childrenʼs book “You Canʼt Teach a Dog to Chew with his Mouth Closed,” available on Amazon.

Drew Reitz (2014) has been very active in the bay area theater scene since his graduation. He was recently seen in the SFBATCC award winning In Love & Warcraft with Custom Made Theatre Co. and has worked with SF Playhouse, Palo Alto Players, Dragon Productions, and The Pear Theatre. Last year the Silicon Valley Small Theatre Awards named him an "Actor To Watch Out For Next Season". Drew has also been involved with commercials in San Francisco, working on projects for YouTube, Salesforce, and Google. In the next few months he will be making his way down to Los Angeles to pursue film and television opportunities. You see him up next as Rapunzel's Prince in Into The Woods in Palo Alto.

Chauncey K. Robinson is a 2015 graduate of San Francisco State University, where she received her bachelor's degree in Theatre Arts. Since graduating from San Francisco State University she has used her love for writing and story telling to highlight social justice issues affecting working class people through play writing, journalism, and multi-media. Chauncey is currently on the editorial board for the award winning international online news publication People’s World, where she also serves as a journalist for the daily news source. She has traveled to number of places across the country, and the globe — recently to Vietnam — to cover stories affecting every day people and our world. Since graduation she has had a number of published articles featured on PeoplesWorld.org and around the web-sphere. She believes that art and creativity, in any capacity, should help to reflect the world around us, and be one of the tools to help bring about progressive change. The multi-media play, SEEDS, which Chauncey is co-producer of, highlights the story of a Black queer revolutionary, and was commissioned to premiere at the 2016 National Queer Arts Festival, sponsored by the Queer Cultural Center of San Francisco. Chauncey is grateful for her time at SF State because she believed it enabled her to bring creativity in all aspects of her life and work.

Kirsten Royston graduated from San Francisco State University in 2013 with an emphasis in Scenic Design, In the few years since graduating Kirsten has stayed in the bay area and worked locally on over 70 professional productions both as a scenic designer and a properties artisan. Last year she landed a full time position as the Properties Artisan for The California Shakespeare Theater and you can also see her current set and props design work at The Berkeley Playhouse in their current production of The Addams Family Musical. You can follow her work on her website. 

Emily Rued graduated from SFSU with a BA in Drama in 2006 before going on to act in many plays and films in San Francisco and Los Angeles. She trained at ACT, Berkeley Rep, The Beverly Hills Playhouse, Lesly Kahn Studios, Stan Kirsh Studios, the BGB Studio, and with some of LA's top acting coaches. She holds a Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy from Pacific Oaks Therapy. Currently, her award-winning screenplay is in pre-production, where she will be starring alongside Johnny Whitworth (Limitless, Empire Records), Brynn Thayer (Blue Jasmine), and Jorge Garica (Lost), directed by Emmy Winner Jaclyn Bethany (Indigo Valley). 

Daniel T. Schultz (Production Stage Manager & Actor), CLASS OF 2009-A NYC based actor and stage manager, who travels frequently to Northern and Southern California working for various regional theatres. Most recently he served as the production stage manager for Big Fish, Young Frankenstein and Mary Poppins at Performance Riverside, and up next he will be returning to the Bay Area for CalShakes production of Much Ado About Nothing, directed by Jackson Gay. NYC Credits include: Apres Moi (MMAC), WikiMusical (NYMTF); Regional: Into the Woods with Titus Burgess (Adrienne Arscht Center, Miami); Joseph and the Amazing...(STONC, New Canaan, CT); Shrek, Ragtime, Legally Blonde, Les Miserables and The Drowsy Chaperone (Performance Riverside); Jubilee, Three Sisters and A Funny Thing Happened (42nd Street Moon, SF). Daniel is also an actor and was last seen playing Angel in 6th Street Playhouse's RENT, other credits include: Duane/IQ (Mountain Play Association, Hairspray), Cockney Quartet (Lamplighters Musical Theatre, My Fair Lady) and a featured dancer in White Christmas (Diablo Theatre Company). Proud member of Actors' Equity Association since 2011.

Since her Graduation in 2008, Catlin has traveled researching traditions in Asian theatre, representing the United States in Indonesia thru the IACS arts and culture scholar program and continuing her work more independently over the last decade directing shows in Tokyo, Japan as well as in China where she developed curriculum for acquisition of oral english thru drama as well as acting with the Peoples Art Theatre in Beijing. She continues working with other SF State alum and new colleagues from all around the world; her company has preformed under the name "The People in The Dark". Now a certified yoga instructor, Catlin has most recently been developing new works as well as teaching yoga with the SubTerranian Arthouse Collective in Berkeley California and volunteering in development and archiving with Larry Reed and his innovative ShadowLight Productions team. Her more local projects include facilitation of Release Dance workshops with her Dance Company WIDE Eyed, supporting choreographer and founder Shannon Stubblefield as well as hosting talks with Fullbright Fellow Chandra Dasan of Lokadarmi Theatre from Kochin Kerala India, supporting screenings and discussions of some of his major works as well as a Dristhi Workshop in traditional Acting Techniques of South India. Her latest research has brought her to Colombia and El Salvadore where she hopes to develop future projects with the Iberoamerican Theatre Festival in Bogota as well as the Forum for Peace by Mirarte in San Salvadore and Guatemala City.

Clyde Sheets is the Instructor of Design & Production at Interlochen Arts Academy in Interlochen, Michigan. He has designed works for Theatre, Ballet, Opera, and Contemporary Dance over the past 20 years. At Interlochen, Clyde has designed lighting for the Theater, Dance and Music departments. Show credits include designing sets and lights for Brecht’s Caucasian Chalk Circle, Directed by Gulshirin Dubash and lighting a collaborative performance of all Interlochen arts disciplines featuring the Grammy Award winning ensemble 8th Blackbird. In 2014 Clyde designed The Missing Generation for San Francisco’s Sean Dorsey Dance Company, which was nominated for an Isadora Duncan Company Performance Award for their show at Dance Mission Theater. Clyde taught dance lighting /collaborative process at Mills College in Oakland California and was the Production Manager for the Theater Arts at San Francisco State University, where he earned an MFA in Design. Clyde received Isadora Duncan Dance Awards for Deborah Slater’s Hotel of Memories at CounterPulse in S.F. and Company awards for Lizz Roman and Dancers and Sean Dorsey Dance and a Bay Area Critics Design Team award for Metamorphosis at Aurora Theater in Berkeley CA.

Jacqueline Steager (M.F.A. lighting 2010) is the assistant production manager, master electrician and house lighting designer at the JCCSF. Jax is a company member of Berkeley-based Impact Theatre, which you may have heard is giving up its space but is not finished yet by golly. She's lighting director of the Bracebridge Dinner at Yosemite, running the historical holiday show at the Ahwahnee Hotel, which so far Jax has managed to avoid calling "The Majestic". The Edinburgh Fringe venue company she co-founded, Gryphon Venues, is on hiatus but plans to return. She continues to serve in the Air National Guard. When she's not in dark rooms pushing buttons or launching fighter jets, Jax can generally be found far out in the backcountry, climbing rocks.

Oona Wong-Danders is a Bay Area native, born in San Francisco and raised in Oakland. She received her early training at Berkeley Ballet Theater, Shawl-Anderson Dance Center, with Stefani Berger at The College Preparatory School, and the ODC/Teen program, as well as working with numerous choreographers and artists in the area over the years. She completed her B.A. in Dance at San Francisco State University in 2015, where she was accepted as ODC/Dance's Student Apprentice and performed as a guest artist in their 2015 home season. She has also performed work by Brenda Way, KT Nelson, Kimi Okada, Janice Garrett and Charles Moulton, Cathleen McCarthy, Amy Foley, Raissa Simpson, and Nol Simone. She is currently dancing with ka·nei·see | collective, Ayana Yonesaka, and a part of Garrett and Moulton Productions’ movement Choir. If she were not so in love with dance, Oona would most like to live in Tokyo and open up an eco-friendly flower shop!

Casey Worthington (2012) joined the Acting Apprentice company of Actors Theatre of Louisville for the 13-14 season. Following that, he relocated to New York and founded The Associates, a devised theater ensemble based in Brooklyn, with a group of his fellow apprentice alums. Recent roles include Leo in 4,000 Miles at American Stage Theatre Company, Ben in The Totalitarians at Capital Stage, and Cinna in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar at Sacramento Theatre Company. SF State projects include Fool for Love directed by Rhonnie Washington, Simply Shaw directed by Mohammad Kowsar, and directing the Players' Club production of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot.

Ayana Kathryn Yonesaka (Class of 2013) has performed with Bay Area companies Blind Tiger Society, LV Collective, First Voice Productions, Cali & Co, and Garrett and Moulton Productions. In addition to teaching dance at San Francisco Youth Ballet Academy, she is establishing herself as a choreographer in the San Francisco dance community. “Kijo”, her piece commissioned by SF State for the University Dance Theatre in 2015, has since been presented at the ODC Theatre (PUSHFest 2015 Audience Choice Awards), SAFEhouse Arts, and Dance Mission.

Martha L. Zepeda Pamintuan (2006) is a Bay Area native, choreographer, dance artist, dance educator, fitness professional and Assistant Professor of Dance at Long Beach City College. Pamintuan earned her M.F.A. on a full scholarship from the University of California, Irvine in 2010 and a B.A. in Dance with an emphasis in Performance and Choreography, and a Minor in Kinesiology from San Francisco State University in 2006. Pamintuan is the Co-Artistic Director, Co-Founder and Co-Choreographer of LV Dance Collective, a Contemporary Fusion Dance Performance Company spanning from the Bay Area to most recently Southern California. She is the former Cultural Arts Program Director of the East Oakland Sports Center (EOSC) and Founder and Artistic Director of the EOSC Introductory School of Dance and EOSC Performance Group. Pamintuan is a certified Zumba instructor, Ballet Barre instructor, Water Fitness instructor, Spinning instructor and CPR/AED First Aid Instructor trainer. Pamintuan has toured internationally for various dance projects in Chile, Vietnam, Spain and Ghana. She is also a competitive long distance runner and a former Collegiate Swimmer for SF State. Pamintuan’s dance career officially began at Skyline High School in Oakland, Calif., under the direction of Dawn James. Although, she started dancing at a late age she dreamt of being a dancer since she was a little girl. Following high school, she continued her training at SF State, Lines Ballet, ODC, Shawl Anderson and Ballet Hispanico, to name a few. Her passion for dance kept strong, pushing through as a dance artist studying, choreographing, performing and teaching nationally and internationally. While at UCI Pamintuan earned several travel grants and a Diversity Fellowship. Her Masters thesis “Experiences of Men en Pointe & the Anthropometry, Range of Motion, & Injuries of Their Ankles and Feet” and 50-minute thesis documentary “Men That Pointe” researches male pointe dancers of Les Ballet Trockadero de Monte Carlo and former male pointe dancers of Les Ballet Grand Diva. During her time as Cultural Arts Program Director Pamintuan was awarded the City of Oakland Parks & Recreation Employee of the Year for 2014. She appeared on KQED Forum “Affordable Fitness in the Bay Area” broadcasting Nationally through NPR (National Public Radio). She also earned various grants for student programming and dance studio equipment, including the Thompson Bliss Grant and Youth Scholarship Grants - Friends of OPR. Finally, Pamintuan’s choreography has been earned various choreographic awards, including the sjDANCEco Best Choreography for “Size 9” and collaborative work “Quest for Truth.” Martha aims to inspire, motivate and share her voice through dance. Come join her in class!

Abel Herrera is a costume designer and graduate student at San Francisco State University’s School of Theatre & Dance. His most recent costume design credits at SF State include Rent (2023), Stupid F**cking Bird (2023), and an upcoming production of She Kills Monsters. Abel strives to tell stories that audiences can relate to and enjoy. Currently, Abel’s Creative Works Project focuses on using semiology, the study of signs, to represent historical styles within theatrical costumes. Abel argues that using “historically accurate” costuming, in terms of how these styles were traditionally worn, can inhibit the effectiveness of a production. To help support his argument of representation in theatrical costumes, he’s recreating “The Wishing Dress”, a blue Victorian bustle dress named after the song “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again”, designed by Maria Björnson for the stage production of The Phantom of the Opera. Through the construction of this dress, Abel hopes to emphasize the importance of representing historical styles through semiology and establish the idea that historical accuracy doesn’t exist on stage.

Ben Zingos (he/him) is an M.A. candidate in Theatre Arts at San Francisco State University, where he also got his B.A. in Theatre Arts with a focus on Performance. His areas of focus include found space and unconventionally staged theatre, as well as Japanese theatre, particularly Rakugo, for which he is in the process of making the first English language catalogue of plays. He is an active actor and has appeared in multiple SFSU productions, including Antigone and A Nice Indian Boy (Both in 2022). He is also a playwright, and his play Memories is being staged as a part of the SFSU Creative Writing Greenhouse Staged Reading Festival in May of 2024.  He is directing his first production for his thesis Creative Works Project (CWP), an immersively staged production of John Logan's RED in the SFSU scenic paint shop. His goal is to be an active theatre practitioner who participates in theatre scholarship.

Cynthia Lagodzinski lives in the Tri-Valley and works around the San Francisco Bay Area as a director, actor, and designer. Recent directing credits include King Lear, and As You Like It, Silicon Valley Shakespeare, Strings Attached (Cinema 3.0/Amazon Prime). Favorite roles include Marthy, Anna Christie, Eugene O’Neill Foundation, Danville and EON Festival, Ireland, Mrs. Dashwood in Sense & Sensibility, Mistress Page in Merry Wives of Windsor, at Silicon Valley Shakespeare, and Lady Catherine de Bourgh in Pride & Prejudice, Livermore Shakespeare Festival. Cynthia holds a Bachelor of Arts in Acting and Playwriting and a Post-Baccalaureate in Directing from UCSC. She completed her Master's Degree in Theatre at SFSU this December, presenting a thesis defense of her all-female King Lear production. In January, she will begin teaching theatre courses at Las Positas College in Livermore.

Hatem Adell (he/him) is a theater professional and scholar. His academic focus is Early Modern Race Studies and Early Modern Theater History and Practice. His culminating experience for his MA proposed expanding the definition of Shakespeare's Race Plays to include all those where race crafting is centered. With dual cast cue script readings and recent scholarship, he made the argument for the addition of Antony and Cleopatra, and The Tempest to the category, as well as Shylock as the focus of race crafting in Merchant of Venice. Hatem has directed, acted, or designed well over 100 plays.

Joel Cicero is an actor, talker, and writer. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Theatre Arts from the University of Benin. He was awarded the Best Actor and Most Creative Arts Student award for Theatre Arts Students Association (TASA) in 2009/2010. While at the university he was involved in a range of literary activities and served as Editor-in-Chief of the Creative Writers Club, UNIBEN.

He is a distinguished poet and has won prizes for his poetry, such as the Editor’s Choice Award for International Society of Poets 2004/2005 and Runner Up, Sparrow Poetry Prize 2009, Port Harcourt, for the poem, ‘Au revoir’. He was poet nominee, Poet of the year competition 2005/2006 at the 20th Anniversary International Society of Poets Convention and Symposium, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

His play ‘The Sceptre’ was selected for the LoveWorld Festival of Music and Arts (LFMA) cavalcade that took place in, Johannesburg, South Africa.

As a research expert in the theatre, he engages in new concept ideation and a firm adherent to the theatre for social change that advocates for theatre of the people, for the people and by the people. He was a panelist and speaker at the Association for Theatre in Higher Education  (ATHE) Conference 2022, Detroit, Michigan and currently serves as the Vice-President of the National Society of Leadership and Success (NSLS), SFSU chapter.

He is a recipient of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA), conservatory acting scholarship award and dreams of pursuing his acting career in Los Angeles.

Victor is a graduate student of the Master of Arts in Theatre Arts program at the San Francisco State University, with anticipated graduation in December 2023. Last year, he graduated from West Valley College, Saratoga, California, with an Associate of Arts in Liberal Arts and a Certificate of Achievement in Theater Arts: Performance Technology. His compositions include “The Pea for Real Princess” musical, produced by Matrix Theater in Mainz, Germany in 2019, “Solo on Sax” ballet, and “The Story of Esther” musical, with Victor’s text, lyrics, and music produced in Rehovot, Israel in 2014, and performed at SFSU as part of his Culminating Experience. Victor also wrote a one-act play, “Once at Lam;" "Minaret," a play in 3 acts in Russian; composed numerous songs and published over fifty pieces of poetry. For over 20 years, he also taught computer science courses at the University of California in Santa Cruz Silicon Valley Extension in Santa Clara and in San Jose State University. Victor holds a PhD from the USSR.

He is an immigrant from the Soviet Union, arriving in the United States in 1988. It took his family nine years to get exit visas. Victor received his musical education at the Rimsky-Korsakov Conservatory of Music in St. Petersburg, where he was part of a unique program for gifted kids, the class of Professor Arkady Aronov.