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Steven Abusch (Executive Director)
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... is co-founder and Executive Director of the Play Group Theatre. He has studied both visual and performing arts throughout his life and received his BFA in Fine Arts after studying at Scuola Lorenzo de'Medici in Florence, Italy and at SUNY Binghamtom. Directing credits include: Pippin, Lord of the Flies, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown and The Hobbit. Designing credits include: Little Shop of Horrors, Family for Sale (which he also co-wrote), The Wiz, The Me Nobody Knows, West Side Story, Frog and Toad and Into the Woods. Steven designed and created a series of man-eating plant puppets for PGT's Little Shop of Horrors, the Candy Wonderland in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and co-designed and created the masks and puppets for Children of Eden. He also wrote and
directed Inside Out. Steven's favorite role is off-stage husband to Jill and father to Aviva and Ilana.
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Jill Abusch (Artistic Director)
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... is co-founder and Artistic Director of the Play Group Theatre. She studied acting and directing at the Stella Adler Conservatory and the Classical Studio at NYU Tisch School of the Arts, where she earned a BFA in Drama. Jill is the co-writer and lyricist of Piper, Family for Sale and Girl Talk. Directing credits include: The Red Sneaks, Fabulous Fable Factory, Little Shop of Horrors, Working, Pippin, Once on this Island, Godspell, The People Garden, Piper, Children of Eden, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Me Nobody Knows, Sweet Dreams, Hair, Sandyland!, Fame, Girl Talk, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The Dining Room, Grease, Honk!, Quilters, West Side Story and Into the Woods. She adores working alongside husband and partner, Steven, and is especially proud of their favorite productions to date: Aviva and Ilana.
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Jeff Downing (Associate Artistic Director)
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... is originally from Chillicothe, Ohio and received a BFA in Theater Design and Production from the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music. Jeff is proud to be finishing his third year with The Play Group Theatre and has directed All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, Once Upon A Time, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Still Life with Iris, Lucky Stiff, Seussical, The Laramie Project, Starmites, A Man of No Importance and The Wizard of Oz. He is also the resident designer at PGT, serving as set and costume designer for many of our productions. Jeff spends his summers in Helena, Montana teaching at the Grandstreet Theatre. He is co-founder of The Wide Awake Theatre Project, an educational organization that brings New York artists and performers to communities across the country.
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Jaclyn Harriott (Director of Operations)
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... is more than thrilled to have found her second home at PGT. She graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in Drama and received an acting certificate from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. Since then, she’s traveled from coast to coast, doing marketing for Broadway’s Chicago the Musical, The Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival, and the Hillcrest Center for the Arts/Young Artists Ensemble in California (where she also co-produced the annual Evening of One-Acts). Most recently, she was the Advertising Associate at Theatre Communications Group (TCG) and currently serves on the Board of Directors for 11th Hour Theatre Company in Philadelphia. Man3y thanks to Steven, Jill, and the entire PGT family for the amazing opportunity to teach this awesome group of summer theatre teens!.
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Vicki Buda (Director of Summer Programs)
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... comes all the way from Oneida, NY where she is affectionately known to her performers there as Miss Vic. Vicki has directed and written several plays and musicals for performers of all ages. She has been a proud member of the Actor's Equity Association for almost a decade. Vicki’s PGT directing credits include Children Of The World, Dear Edwina and The Jungle Book Kids. A fan of being both on stage and off, Vicki is excited to be a part of the PGT team and would like to thank all the staff for their warm welcoming and support.
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Stacie Moye (Outreach Coordinator)
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... recently moved to Westchester County from Boston where she worked as Associate Producer/Education Director for the Fiddlehead Theatre Company of Norwood, Massachussets. She received her Masters in theatre education from Emerson College and has been busy teaching, directing, performing and choreographing in the Boston area ever since graduation. Stacie has directed productions such as Into the Woods, The Music Man, Bye Bye Birdie and Annie to name a few. Favorite shows she has choreographed include Little Shop of Horrors, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Nunsense and the premiere production of the rock opera The Scarlet Letter. At PGT, Stacie has directed Frog and Toad, Starmites and Return to the Forbidden Planet.
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Stephanie Kovacs-Helfrich (Master Teacher)
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... has worked with PGT since her return to New York in 1996 from a residency at the Florida Studio Theatre in Sarasota, Florida. Stephanie has taught countless classes and workshops including Acting Technique, Masks, Improvisation, Musical Theatre, Storytelling, Playwriting, On Camera, Theatre Skills, Character Development, Audition Technique and more. She has also directed many PGT productions such as: The Littlest Angel, The Little Prince, The Phantom Tollbooth, Our Town, Once Upon a Mattress, Really Rosie, Schoolhouse Rock, The Sound of Music, Merrily We Roll Along and others, as well as creating the PGT Three-Week Summer Intensive Program. Stephanie trained in acting at The Minneapolis Children's Theatre, Yale, A.C.T. and NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. Stephanie also works as an actor and casting director.
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Derrick Cobey (Teaching Artist)
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... earned a Bachelors
of Music in Musical Theater degree from
Baldwin-Wallace College. He recently appeared in The Mikado at City
Center in NYC and in Jesus Christ
Superstar at North Shore Music Theater. Recent credits also include the National Tours of Rent and Forever Swing as well as Abyssinia (Goodspeed), The
Buddy Holly Story (Carousel Theatre), Henson in
Ragtime (Paper Mill Playhouse), Oklahoma, Brigadoon,
Ragtime, Damn Yankees, Wizard
of Oz, Footloose (Sacramento Music Circus), Milton in
Avenue X, Flick in Violet (Cain Park), Mr. Lindquist
in A Little Night Music, Agwe in Once on this Island
(Connecticut Repertory Theatre), Fred in Smokey Joe’s
Cafe (Actors Playhouse), Pacific Overtures (Arden
Theatre) and Jim in Big River (Virginia Music Theatre).
Derrick has served as the music director of a large children’s choir, taught musical theater workshops and
directed and choreographed various shows regionally for
the past several years. He is very excited to join The PGT Team!
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Dana Haynes (Musical Director)
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... started his musical career at the age of 7 as a boy soprano. Though his voice has dropped since then, his love of music has not. Previous Musical Director credits include Scalpel at the 2003 New York Fringe Festival (music director/arrangements) and regional productions of Footloose, Seussical, The Robber Bridegroom, and The Pajama Game. He is the orchestrator for Marc Smollin's Jubilee and wrote the music for Vital Theatre Company and HoNkBarK! Production's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Dana has been Musical Director for PGT's Prince and the Pauper, Dear Edwina, Children of the World and The Secret Garden. www.dbhaynes.com
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Amy J. Ludwigsen (Teaching Artist)
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... comes to New York after spending a beautiful summer performing and teaching with American Folklore Theatre in Door County, WI. Amy has recently abandoned the north woods of Wisconsin for the busy streets of NYC in search of students ready to create!
Amy graduated from Northwestern University in 2003 with a degree in Theatre and Certificate from the Musical Theatre Program. Since then, Amy has worked extensively with several regional theaters including: Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Marriott Lincolnshire Theater, American Folklore Theater, ShawChicago Theatre Company, Second City Chicago, and the Tony Award-Winning Utah Shakespearean Festival. Amy is a proud member of the Actors’ Equity Association. Amy now calls Brooklyn home and spends her time teaching theater and music, studying voice privately, working, and auditioning- a bunch! Amy is thrilled to be working with the Play Group Theatre!
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Jessica Danser (Choreographer, Teaching Artist)
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... a native New Yorker, graduated Cum Laude from the SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Dance with a BFA in Dance Composition. She has been a 5-time Fellowship recipient at the world renowned Ailey School, and has trained at the Martha Graham School, the Limon Institute and Talented Unlimited High School. Her choreography has been presented at the 92nd St. Y, the Cooper Union, Peridance, the Cunningham Studios, Teatro Clunia (Burgos, Spain), Chelsea Piers and the American Theater for Actors. Musical theatre choreography credits include Purchase College's You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown and Talent Unlimited High School's Pippin. Jessica has taught dance at the Ailey School, the Astoria Dance Theatre, Allegra Dance Studio, the Renaissance Charter School and the Central Queens Y. She is pleased to be a member of the PGT family!
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Barry James (Musical Director, Teaching Artist)
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... was last seen playing Monty in the Broadway National Tour of Saturday Night Fever. He graduated from the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music with a BFA in Musical Theatre, where some of his favorite performance credits include Dracula: The Game of Love, Candide, Saturday Night and Grand Hotel. He performed in CCM's summer series in A Chorus Line and All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. He has also been seen at the Prince Music Theatre in Gemini, The Grandstreet Theatre in Beauty and the Beast, Barksdale Theatre in They're Playin' Our Song, Musicals Tonight! in Face The Music and in the concert tour of Disney's A Little Mermaid with the Tokyo Philharmonic, as well as numerous performances with the Cincinnati Pops and Symphony Orchestra. Barry music directed and choreographed Blood Brothers at the Grandstreet Theatre. He co-wrote the musical Once Upon A
Time with Jeff Downing which performed at PGT in November 2003 and wrote and directed Risk! and Brushstrokes for PGT Summer Theatre. He also works as a web designer for many entertainment websites.
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Barbara Orwick (Musical Director)
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... received her Bachelor of Music Degree from Manhattanville College in 1983 and has been making music in Westchester County ever since. She regularly accompanies several area choirs and musically directs at many local schools and theatre companies. Barbara's PGT credits include Little Shop of Horrors, Peter Pan, How to Eat Like a Child, Pippin, The Wiz, Into the Woods, Out of this World... and Others, Once on this Island, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Once Upon a Mattress, Godspell, Grease, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, West Side Story and Seussical. Barbara composed the scores for Girl Talk and Family for Sale, for which she also co-wrote lyrics.
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Caren Valente (Choreographer, Teaching Artist)
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... is a graduate of Marymount Manhattan College with a BA in Dance. Caren is making a career as a dancer through teaching, choreographing and performing. She is thrilled to be working with PGT and currently choreographs the musical productions at Scarsdale High School and White Plains Middle School. Caren is on the faculty of The Steffi Nossen School of Dance, as well as Beverly Dance Studio, and is the coach of the Purchase College Dance Team where she also teaches Musical Theater Dance through the youth programs in the arts.
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Jessica Smith (Teaching Artist)
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... is originally from the Boston area and graduated from The Boston Conservatory with a degree in vocal performance. She works as a private voice and musical teacher, a musical director as well as a professional performer and studio singer. PGT credits include Girl Talk (the revival), The Mystery of Edwin Drood, How to Eat Like a Child, Risk!, Brushstrokes and Return to the Forbidden Planet. In addition, Jessica has served as the vocal coach on many PGT productions and taught voice at PGT Summer Theatre.
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Julie Preston (Choreographer, Teaching Artist)
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... earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance Performance at the University of Colorado at Boulder. After dancing professionally in Denver, Julie came to New York and earned a MA in Education from New York University. While in graduate school, she performed in a variety of musical theater productions and taught dance at a half dozen studios in both Westchester County and Connecticut. Currently, Julie is teaching dance at New Rochelle High School and is responsible for overseeing the creation of dance programs throughout the New Rochelle school district. With PGT, Julie has choreographed A Day in the Life, Narnia, The Velveteen Rabbit, Sleepaway, Hero's Journey, The Portable Pioneer and Prairie Show, Really Rosie, The Good, the Bad and the Squiggley, Our New York, Working, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, The Sound of Music, Grease and Quilters. She also teaches dance, movement and yoga for PGT
Summer Theatre.
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Erin Ortman (Director, Teaching Artist)
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... , originally from Helena, MT, graduated with a BFA in Musical Theatre from the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music. She's a founder of WETlab, a collective of young professional artists focused on developing new plays. Her experience in development began in 2003 with a directing internship at the Ensemble Studio Theatre where she directed many readings of new plays. She continues to create new works with various actors in New York, recent projects include Rejected Showgirl (Dillon's NYC) and ...My Sad Repartee (Urban Stages). Current teaching credits include: Teaching Artist for Broadway Classroom, Acting Coach for The Studio New Canaan, Monologue Coach for The Paper Mill Summer Conservatory, and private acting training offered both in Manhattan and at PGT. Additional training: Shakespeare Intensive at RADA (London) and membership in the Lincoln Center Director's Lab. Her favorite credit of all is serving as Education Director at PGT, where she has directed You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, The Laramie Project, R and H's Cinderella and Alice in Wonderland.
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Amy Schneider (Musical Director)
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... has been working with PGT for several years and has been Musical Director on such shows as Working, Narnia, The Sound of Music, Sleepaway, A Day in the Lfe, Schoolhouse Rock, Really Rosie, Quilters, Lucky Stiff, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Frog and Toad and Foolish Mortals. In addition, she has musical directed for Scarsdale Summer Music Theater and Little Village Playhouse, taught voice to many brilliant voices around Westchester, and on occassion, eaten dinner.
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Adam David Cohen (Musical Director)
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... has directed many shows including Sweeney Todd, Assassins, Tommy, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Gorey Stories, Pacific Overtures, Floyd Collins, Merrily We Roll Along and Sunday in the Park with George. He has also musically directed many shows. Some favorites include Into the Woods, Dreams and Once on this Island. Adam has worked as a composer for Independent Film Channel, American Movie Classics and Bravo. He is also the founder and director of The Little Village Playhouse in Pleasantville. Adam has composed the score of many musicals, including Hadleyburg and Sleepaway.
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