Summer 2011 Staff
Acting Instructors: Dane Madsen & Michelle Nigh-Mogstad
Music Instructors: Troy Bashor & Andy Pokel
Dance Instructors: Traci Traasdahl & Michelle Payler
Dorm Directors: Andy Pokel & Michelle Payler
Managing Director: Greg Boris
2011 Guest Artists
ALEX GEMIGNANI (Guest artist in 2009 and 2010.) Alex has appeared on Broadway in Sweeney Todd, South Pacific, Passion, Sunday In The Park With George, and portrayed Jean Valjean in the 2006 Broadway revival of Les Miserables. Mr. Gemignani also performed in the New York Philharmonic's Gala honoring Sondheim's 80th birthday, singing "Something's Coming" from West Side Story. Alex’s specialty with the Next Step students will be acting through song.
ERIN ORTMAN (Guest artist in 2009 and 2010.) Ms. Ortman has been a private acting instructor and is currently a faculty member of the Voice and Music Program at the prestigious CAP21 (Collaborative Arts Project) Musical Theatre Conservatory in New York City. Erin is also the in-house producer for the numerous CAP21 shows. Erin’s focus with the Next Step students will be acting.
MARNI NIXON A Broadway, film, and TV veteran, Miss Nixon was just named the winner of the 2011 George Peabody Award for “Significant Contribution to American Music.” She is the singing voice of Deborah Kerr, Natalie Wood and Audrey Hepburn in the Motion Pictures and on the Soundtracks of The King and I, An Affair to Remember, West Side Story, and My Fair Lady. Miss Nixon’s specialty with the Next Step students will be voice expression through song.
ANDY TAYLOR (Next Step guest artist in 2009.) Mr. Taylor played Leo Bloom in the National Tour of The Producers and was on Broadway in Titanic and Moon Over Buffalo (with Carol Burnett). Andy is an acting instructor at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. A highly skilled comedic actor, Andy’s focus with the Next Step students will be acting and comedy.
ALET TAYLOR (Next Step guest artist in 2009.) Ms. Taylor is an accomplished performer and a dance teacher at the prestigious American Musical and Dramatic Academy. Alet’s focus with the Next Step students will be musical theatre dancing styles.
MARY ANNA DENNARD Ms. Dennard is a nationally recognized college audition coach and author of “I Got In—The Ultimate College Audition Guide for Acting and Musical Theatre.” Mary Anna will focus on preparing the Next Step Students for college auditions.
LINDA MURPHY Ms. Murphy is an adjunct professor of dance at The University of Montana. Linda has a BFA in dance from Southern Methodist University, and has studied and performed in New York City and Los Angeles. She also teaches tap at On Center Performing Arts and Ballet Arts Academy in Missoula, and continues to attend major tap festivals around the world. Linda’s focus with the Next Students will be tap dance.
LYNN HELDING Mezzo-Soprano Lynn Helding is Associate Professor of Voice and Performance Studies at Dickinson College, a recitalist specializing in recital and chamber music of our time, a trained vocologist and singing voice specialist, and an active presenter on current topics in vocal pedagogy. Lynn will actively teach the students how to produce a healthy strong vocal sound.
GEORGIA STITT Ms. Stitt is a composer and a lyricist. Her musicals currently in development include: Big Red Sun (NAMT Festival winner in 2010, Harold Arlen Award in 2005 and and written with playwright John Jiler); Hello! My Baby (a "new-fashioned musical" written with Emmy Award-winner Cheri Steinkellner using the great American songbook); The Water (winner of the 2008 ANMT Search for New Voices in American Musical Theatre and written with collaborators Jeff Hylton and Tim Werenko); Sing Me A Happy Song (a musical revue); and Mosaic (commissioned for Off-Broadway in 2010 and written with Cheri Steinkellner). Georgia is married to composer Jason Robert Brown. Georgia will talk with the students about the different tiers of expectations within music rehearsals.
Past Guest Artists
SETH RUDETSKY Prominent Broadway vocal coach who appeared regularly on the MTV-produced Legally Blonde reality show; host of Seth’s Big Fat Broadway on Sirius/XM Satellite Radio’s Broadway’s Best.
BILL BOWERS Actor/mime/educator on Broadway for Lion King, Scarlet Pimpernel; Mime: Under a Montana Moon, It Goes Without Saying; Film: Two Weeks Notice.
JASON ROBERT BROWN Broadway composer: Parade (Tony Award winner), The Last 5 Years, Songs for a New World, 13.
TERRY MCGONIGLE Instructor/department coordinator Las Vegas Academy, 2008 inductee Educational Theatre Association's National Teacher Hall of Fame.
JACK FAILLA Dancer/choreographer Siegfried and Roy, Las Vegas; Moulin Rouge, Paris; International tours with Suzanne Summers and Carol Channing.
MATT MURPHY Dancer/choreographer: former corps member American Ballet Theatre; Theatre Writer: Dance Spirit, Movement Magazine, Dance Magazine and Playbill.
STEVE SMITH Artistic director: Big Apple Circus; past Dean of Ringling Bros. Clown College; 1993 inductee to the Clown Hall of Fame.
MARCUS OLSON Head of Musical Theatre BFA Program at Western Illinois University; Broadway: Passion, Assassins; National Tour: Into the Woods (Baker).
ALAN CAMPBELL Performer/ Producer Broadway: Tony Award nominee for Sunset Boulevard (Joe Gillis); TV: Jake and the Fatman, Three’s a Crowd; Artistic Producer of Hot Summer Nights at the Kennedy Theater in Raleigh North Carolina; Film: Weekend Warriors, Bump in the Night, Tom, Dick and Harry, and Universal's Simple Wish.