Conservatory Faculty & Staff

Summer 2021
STEPHEN AGOSTO (Section Director/Musical Theatre Instructor) serves as Senior Director of Artistic Engagement at Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, NJ, recipient of the 2016 Regional Theatre TONY Award. He is a member of the artistic team that shepherded such new musicals as The Honeymooners, The Sting (starring Harry Connick Jr.), Unmasked: The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, and Half Time (directed and choreographed by Jerry Mitchell). In January 2017, Stephen drafted the Musical Theater Common Prescreen, a universal set of guidelines for college entrance that now boasts over 65 participating MT programs and impacts thousands of students annually. Stephen’s long career in arts education includes programming and curriculum consultation for numerous educational institutions including the New York City Department of Education and the Maine Arts Academy. For five years Stephen served as Director of Musical Theatre at Talent Unlimited High School in Manhattan where he and his students were Circle in the Square “Teens on Broadway” honorees, recipients of “Special Honors” from the Gershwin Theatre Awards, and recipients of The Shubert Organization High School Theatre Award (Top Honors). He is currently an adjunct professor of theatre at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University and a frequent master instructor for universities across the country. Additionally, he has directed, choreographed and/or provided musical staging for shows internationally. Early in his career, he was a performer in such shows as Beauty and the Beast (2nd National Tour), Godspell (National Tour), The Marriage Play (Soho Playhouse, OB), and Sam (OB, written by Nicholas and Mel Brooks) to name a few. Stephen holds a BFA in Acting from The Theatre School at DePaul University and a Graduate Certificate from The Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theatre.
ALEXA AQUINO (Production Asst.) is a senior at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. She is double majoring in Musical Theatre and English with a minor in Business and is transitioning into a Graduate Degree Program for Performing Arts Administration this fall. Alexa has performed in the New Voices concert for three years and is thrilled to be back working for Paper Mill Playhouse this year. She feels honored to have the opportunity to work with such a phenomenal team at such a pivotal moment in the world and to be back in the theater.
MARVIN AVILA (Private Voice Instructor) is a PROUD alum of the Paper Mill Playhouse Summer Conservatory, and the first ever recipient of the PMP Rising Star Full Studied Scholarship. A two-time graduate of New York University with a Master’s in Opera Performance and Bachelor’s in Musical Theatre, he is most recognized on the streets of New York as “the sandwich guy” from “Broad City”. He has since spent a lot of time on-screen having appeared on “New Amsterdam” (NBC), “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” (HBO), “Person of Interest” (CBS), “Ugly Betty” (ABC), and more. Having sung in public since the age of 7, some of his favorite musical moments include the title role in Candide, Adam Guettel’s Myths And Hymns, Barbara Cook’s Master Class at Lincoln Center, a soloist in a concert with Alan Menken, and principal cantor for the late Archbishop of the Philippines Cardinal Ricardo Vidal during his New York City visits. Recently, he was a faculty member of the Performing Arts Department at his alma mater, Saint Joseph High School in Metuchen NJ, until the pandemic hit. He also consults for the not-for-profit arts organization Rhinebeck Writers Retreat which supports musical theatre writing teams in the creation of their new musical.  You can catch Marvin coaching on-camera technique, vocal performance, and audition prep courses while running his Brooklyn-based company Self Tape Productions. He is beyond thrilled and honored to be working with such inspiring talent at the Paper Mill Conservatory!
KRISTEN BROCK (Production Asst.) is a rising senior BFA Musical Theatre major at Montclair State University. Some of her favorite roles include: Mary Lane (Reefer Madness), Ariel Moore (Footloose), Millie Dillmount (Thoroughly Modern Millie), Reno Sweeney (Anything Goes), Jovie (Elf: The Musical) and Janet (The Rocky Horror Picture Show). Recently, she was cast in the workshop production of Brooklyn’s Bridge at MSU and had the opportunity to experience creating a brand new musical with the writers of the piece. Kristen won the Central Florida Applause Awards for her portrayal of the Witch in Into the Woods and made her Broadway debut with the Jimmy Awards in 2018. www.kristenbrock.com
EMMA CANALESE (Section Director/Dance Instructor) is a graduate of The Western Australian Academy of the Performing Arts and The Neighborhood Playhouse, NY. She is also an associate member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC). Directorial and choreographic work includes Einstein and Mileva (World Premiere at Theatre Row, NY), Peter and The Starcatcher (The Naples Players, nominated for Best Director of a Musical, Broadway World Regional Awards), Silent Sky (The Naples Players, Naples Florida Weekly Top Pick), Hollywood, Hollywood (Midtown International Theatre Festival, nominated for Best Direction and Best Choreography), Yellowpants (SOLOCOM at The Pit, NY), America (Downtown Urban Theatre Festival, winner of Best Audience Award), Thick Gnat Hands, The Brazilian Dilemma, Stick, Stiff , Any Given School Day, Twenty (Collective NY), The Tempest: Remixed (Teatro Heckscher, NY), A Sense of Purpose On Sunday’s (IO Myers Theatre at UNSW, Aust), Par amnesia (Seymour Centre with One Extra Dance, Aust), The Magic Flute (Talent Unlimited), Oklahoma and Mame (Stagedoor Manor). She is co-writer and director of the play A 100 Years of the History of Dance that toured Australia in 2019, was a Western Australian Critics Choice winner at Fringe World Festival 2020 in Perth, Western Australia and has runs in Brisbane at The Powerhouse (2019) and La Boite Theatre Company (2021). Emma co-wrote and co-directed the short film 13 (Awarded Best Screenplay and nominated for Best Direction in Sparrow Film Project). She directed and produced the web series Kate Plus Date in collaboration with Martian New Media, was associate producer for the short film Blink: The Observer (Backslash Bomb Productions), producer on HIV and AIDS: Let’s keep talking PSA (GLAAD), First AD on short film Corn Bread and Bad Luck (Rocky from Da Bronx Productions) and for feature film Lighthouse Unmanned (LU Productions). She is co-creator of the micro series Historgrams. In 2020, she directed Holiday’s From The Heart, a virtual performance and fundraising program produced by Bravehearts For Broadway, streamed on Playbill.com for The Actors Fund. Emma produced, directed and performed in The Collective NY’s C:10 To Go, a touring production of short plays and workshops aimed at schools and colleges, taken to Coastal Carolina University in 2017. She is a director, choreographer and teacher for The Papermill Playhouse Conservatory and Intensive Summer Programs and was a guest choreographer for The Papermill Playhouse Show Choir. She taught dance for Rutgers-RSAC, was guest director/choreographer for UNSW Dance and Drama Dept. and StageDoor Manor, among other engagements. Most recently she has directed for Ponoma College, CA.
CHRISTOPHER COOLEY (Arranger) has enjoyed a wide variety of musical activities as a freelance accompanist, organist, cocktail pianist, arranger, and composer in and around New York City for over 20 years. Recent projects include a recital of the music of Ricky Ian Gordon with Opera Noire; a workshop of Sheila Silver’s new opera “A Thousand Splendid Suns”; a summer tour of Europe (2019) including work as pianist and composer at festivals in Italy; and a Broadway-themed dinner cruise for Hornblower Cruises, for which he arranged the music.  He has concertized with various instrumental and vocal soloists in five continents, as well as Alice Tully Hall and Carnegie Hall, and has served on the staff of numerous summer opera festivals in Italy, Germany, and Austria.  Chris holds a doctorate in Collaborative Piano from the Manhattan School of Music and is currently living in Lithuania, working as a vocal coach and pianist at the Klaipeda State Music Theatre.  chriscooleypiano.com
LISA E. COONEY (Program Coordinator) has been with the Paper Mill Playhouse Education and Outreach department since 1998 and in 2007 became the Director of Education. Now in her 23rd season at Paper Mill, Lisa oversees the development and management of the Tony winning theater’s nationally recognized education and outreach programs including the Rising Star Awards, the Adopt-a-School Project, the Paper Mill Theater School, Theater For Everyone/Autism-Friendly performances, Paper Mill Prep College Discovery & Audition Coaching, the Actor’s Fund Actor’s Home Residency and the Summer Professional Training Programs & New Voices Concert. Lisa has a long history in the New Jersey arts education community and has planned many successful programs for a variety of providers in the state. Prior to her long tenure at Paper Mill, Lisa was the Director of the NJ Summer Arts Institute at Mason Gross School of the Arts/Rutgers University and served on the Board of the Institute for Arts & Humanities Education. Additionally, Lisa has managed events and programs for Newark Symphony Hall, the State Theater and George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, NJ. Lisa served on the 2010 and 2020 conference planning committee and 2016 grant panel for the National Alliance for Musical Theatre and has co-chaired the Rules & Regulations committee for the National High School Musical Theater Awards. Lisa is the recipient of the 2010 New Jersey Governor’s Award in Arts Education for Distinguished Service in the field and the 2011 Innovators Awards from the Cultural Access Network of NJ and NJ State Council on the Arts for designing and implementing Autism Friendly performances for children with autism and other developmental disabilities. Lisa also received the 2015 New Jersey Governor’s Jefferson Award for Public Service. In 2017, at the invitation of the Chair of the National Endowment for the Arts Jane Chu, Lisa made a presentation on her work at the public meeting of the National Council on the Arts in Washington DC, a lead funder of her work. Over the past decade, she has served as a consultant on Autism-Friendly programs to several performing arts centers around the country, most notably the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. Lisa graduated from Rutgers University and currently resides in Mendham, New Jersey.
BRUCE DE LA CRUZ (Music Director/Arranger) is a freelance music director, arranger, orchestrator and accompanist in the NY/NJ area. He is currently a staff accompanist at Montclair State University and at Paper Mill Playhouse where he has been part of their Summer Conservatory and “Children’s Theatre On Tour” programs. A major proponent of new works, he has been music director, arranger and orchestrator for new musicals such as Wendy’s Shadow and The Most Incredible Thing by David Maglione which have both had local and regional premieres. He has most recently served as music director for Songs For A New World, Falsettos, Into The Woods, Curtains, Guys And Dolls, Hair, Rent, Legally Blonde, If/Then, American Idiot and conducted a full orchestra in the concert version of Porgy and Bess at Union County Performing Arts Center where he is currently the resident music director.
MAYA FORTGANG (Production Asst.) is a rising junior at Ithaca College training for her BFA in Musical Theatre! She is so excited to return to Paper Mill this summer as an intern after being a student for 7 years and performing on Paper Mill’s mainstage as Brigitta in The Sound of Music. Some other favorite credits include Elle Woods in Legally Blonde, Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family, Fairy May in Curious Savage, and Ensemble in Sister Act at Ithaca College! Special thanks to her family, friends, and teachers for their endless support!
SAM GROISSER (Music Director/Arranger/Class Pianist) is a music director, accompanist, arranger, and conductor working in New York and Chicago. Graduate of Northwestern University (BA in Music Direction, Music Theatre Certificate, Sarah Siddons Society Scholarship recipient). Recent credits include works at The Fulton Theatre, Paramount Theatre (The Secret Of My Success [pre-Broadway tryout], Newsies), The Marriott Theatre (Madagascar, Darling Grenadine), and musical works at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe with the American Musical Theatre Project. At Paper Mill Playhouse, Sam has worked on past New Voices Concerts and is a proud New Voices alumnus (first appearing as an actor in New Voices of 2008: Paper Mill Goes Platinum). Sam is a member of the American Federation of Musicians (Local 10-208).
COLLEEN HAWKS (Private Voice Instructor) performed on Broadway in Shrek the Musical(Fairy Godmother & Voice of the Bluebird), The Boy from Oz(“Trio” – soprano backup singer to Hugh Jackman) and Smokey Joe’s Café (Original Broadway Cast). Other credits include Women on Fire at The Royal Family Theatre in Times Square, APAC’s Blood Brothers (Mrs. Johnstone), MTC’s Wild Party – (original premiere of Andrew Lippa’s version) and of course, Paper Mill: Anything Goes! starring Chita Rivera (Erma) & A Chorus Line.  Film and TV: The Narrows, Law and Order: CSI and As the World Turns as well as the webseries MERCE.  Colleen has done numerous voice and musical theatre residencies in the NY and NJ area through Together in Dance and NJPAC, including Disney Musicals in Schools. She has directed and choreographed for the Garage Theatre at Fairleigh Dickinson University, Bronx Science and Pied Piper in Manhattan.  She was the Musical Theatre Director for Rutgers Summer Acting Conservatory and is co-writer and director of the WWII epic adventure play Southern Man starring her husband Jeff Pierce. In the course of her career Colleen has performed as a magician’s assistant, raised a baby lion, lived in Japan, Korea and on cruise ships and been a Disney Princess in three international tours and on the Disney Channel.  She has danced “Adagio” style with lifts and acrobatics and spun high in the air from a rope by her ankle on the Web. The things you do in show biz… Colleen began as an opera performance major and has taught private voice for over 20 years.  She is currently the Artistic Director for Pied Piper Children’s Theatre of Northern Manhattan.  www.ColleenHawks.com
MARK S. HOEBEE (Producing Artistic Director) joined the artistic team at Paper Mill Playhouse in 2000. Under his leadership, Paper Mill was presented with the Regional Theatre Tony Award in 2016 and in recent years launched such noteworthy projects as the world premieres of Newsies, in partnership with Disney Theatrical Productions, Honeymoon in Vegas, Ever After, Bandstand, A Bronx Tale, The Honeymooners, My Very Own British Invasion, and The Sting starring Harry Connick, Jr., as well as the American premieres of the 25th Anniversary Production of Les Misérables, working alongside Cameron Mackintosh, Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz’s The Hunchback of Notre Dame, and the national tour of The Bodyguard starring Deborah Cox. On Broadway, Mark directed the Actors Fund benefit of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas starring Jennifer Hudson. He has directed national tours of Victor/Victoria starring Toni Tennille, Dreamgirls, Company, and An Evening of Lerner and Loewe starring Diahann Carroll. His directing credits at Paper Mill include West Side Story; Beauty and the Beast; Annie; Mary Poppins; Dreamgirls; Hello, Dolly! starring Tovah Feldshuh; Harold and Maude: The Musical with Estelle Parsons; The Will Rogers Follies starring John Davidson; Meet Me in St. Louis; The King and I; Miss Saigon; Disney’s High School Musical; Peter Pan; Smokey Joe’s Cafe; Oliver!; Damn Yankees; Thoroughly Modern Millie; Curtains; and The Full Monty starring Broadway legend Elaine Stritch. He resides in Glen Ridge with his partner Larry Elardo, Broadcast Coordinating Producer for the CBS Evening News and CBS Sunday Morning, and their children, Stephen and Ashley.
JOHN HOUSLEY (Section Director/Acting Instructor) directed Songs for a New World, Company, Baby, and Urinetown at Montclair State University where he is an adjunct professor. A graduate of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, he has been the acting teacher at Paper Mill Playhouse’s Musical Theater Conservatory since 2001 where he has written and directed their New Voices concerts. He is the writer of the acclaimed movie Dadetown and his film Jack 1/24/71 was a finalist at the Sundance Institute.
ALEXANDER KARIOTIS (Private Voice Instructor) has performed as an operatic tenor internationally, with solo appearances at Avery Fisher Hall in NYC, the Berlin Philharmonic in Germany, and regional opera houses, singing the roles of Rodolfo, Cavaradossi, Canio, and Nemorino, to name a few. As a Broadway leading man, Alexander performed alongside Tony Award winning actress Elizabeth Ashley in the Columbia Artists/Broadway tour of Master Class by Terrence McNally directed by original Broadway director Leonard Foglia. As a classical crossover artist, Alexander released his debut CD, “Alexander Kariotis and The Rock Opera Orchestra” with VMG/SONY. The music weaves timeless operatic arias amid soaring rock melodies, and a powerhouse rock rhythm section, with strings, woodwinds, brass and backing vocals. Alexander enlisted the exceptional talents of the iconic jazz saxophonist David Sanborn, who joins Alexander in a beautiful jazz/opera fusion song called Ho Bisogno Di Te. Darryl “DMC” McDaniels from the super rap group RUN DMC also joins Alexander in a hip hop/opera collaboration of a remix of Alexander’s original composition called Vesti la Giubba – Hide the Tears. A new album is set for release October 2021. As a playwright, Alexander’s one-man show Holdin’ On directed by Lynn Thomson, dramaturge for RENT on and off Broadway, premiered at the Zipper Theater, regionally, and in Los Angeles at the Victory Theater and is currently being adapted into a screenplay. As an educator/voice teacher, Alexander has taught at the Paper Mill Playhouse, as well as vocal coached/musical directed for their main stage production A Comedy Of Tenors. Alexander has had private voice studios in Berlin, Germany, Chicago, Illinois, and a thriving vocal/recording studio in Maplewood, New Jersey. Currently he is a professor of voice at The University of Texas at El Paso.
MATTHEW LOWY (Music Director/Arranger) is an NYC-based composer and music director.  This is his twelfth summer working on New Voices at the Paper Mill Playhouse, where he has also worked on various projects as music director, conductor, arranger, and accompanist.  Matt spent several years touring nationally and internationally, including An American in Paris (Music Supervision, orchestrations), A Chorus Line (U.S., Japan, and Shanghai; music director/conductor/orchestrations), and 42nd Street (music director/conductor).  Matt also worked as a keyboard sub at Beetlejuice on Broadway.  He is currently a composer in the Advanced BMI Lehman Engel Advanced Musical Theater Workshop, where he received the First Year Jerry Harrigan Musical Theatre Award in 2019.  His original musicals have been performed at Sound Bites, NYTF Winterfest (These Walls; winner, best short), the New York International Fringe Festival (Fallen Skies, Overall Excellence Award in Music Composition), and the C.I.C. Theater Company (How Christmas Feels).  Matt proudly holds a B.M. in Music Composition from The Boston Conservatory. matthewlowy.com
SUZI MARTINEZ (Section Director/Acting Instructor) (aka the actress formerly known as Susan Ancheta) is thrilled to be in the company of these talented Conservatory artists and students! Broadway Credits: Miss Saigon (Mimi) and Flower Drum Song (Asst. Dance Captain/Swing/Understudy Linda Low). Additional show credits include Europe & National Tours: A Chorus Line (Connie), West Side Story (Anita) as well as regional theater: South Pacific (Liat), Peter Pan (Tiger Lily) and off-Broadway shows. Fun facts: 1st audition in NYC landed her on the television show FAME; was an original Knicks City Dancer (Madison Square Garden); sailed through Tahiti and Australia performing on Princess Cruises; sang at the Vatican (Leonard Bernstein’s Mass-televised in Italy). Since 2008, she has been a Teaching Artist for Paper Mill’s after school classes as well as the Paper Mill Players Camp. Choreography credits as Adjunct Professor at Fairleigh Dickenson University (Cabaret, Hair, Pump Boys and Dinettes, Pippin) ; Theater Works (Junie B. Jones, Henry & Mudge, Skippy Jon Jones, If You Give A Pig A Pancake) ; Director/Choreographer for numerous school shows and currently is a certified NJ teacher for grades K-6 who teaches Performing Arts for grades K-2 at Uncommon Schools. Earned B.F.A. from Southern Methodist University, Meadows School of the Arts in Dallas, Texas.
MICHELE MOSSAY (Company Choreographer) joined the faculty of the Paper Mill Theatre School in 1998 staging productions of Into the Woods, Beauty and the Beast, and eventually Aladdin Jr. for the Paper Mill mainstage. International/China:  “Serendipity (or The Fortuitous Happenstance)” (A Day a World, Composer: Gao Ping). Director/Choreographer: Paper Mill Playhouse’s Theatre Conservatory New Voices Concerts 1999-present; Choreography/Regional: AIDA, Kiss Me Kate, Shrek, Beauty and the Beast, Thoroughly Modern Millie, R&H’s Cinderella (Dir. Mark Waldrop, Olney Theatre); Choreography/Premiere Works: The Boomer Boys Musical, High School Reunion: The Musical (both Van Zandt & Milmore), Princeton University Triangle Club Presents: Excess Hollywood (McCarter Theatre; Equitable Theatre, NYC). University/Choreography: Parade (Dir. Daniel Kutner), Seussical, Hairspray, Spring Awakening. Recipient: Kennedy Center Certificate of Merit for Choreography Urinetown, the Musical. Member: Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers; Michele studied dance at NYU and Temple University.
JENSYN OERTEL-MODERO (Section Director/Musical Theatre Instructor) is thrilled to be working with the very talented team and students at Paper Mill Playhouse again. She has her M.A. in Theatre Studies from Montclair State University and her B.F.A. in Musical Theatre from The Boston Conservatory. Jensyn is a certified Theatre & Dance educator and is currently the theatre teacher and director/choreographer at Rahway High School. In addition, Jensyn directs and choreographs at Mount St. Dominic Academy and is the proud writer of Professionally Developed: A Musical About #ArtsEd. Her most favorite role is that of mom to Mackenzie and Jackson.
MONA SEYED-BOLORFOROSH (Music Director/Arranger) is a Music Director, Conductor, Pianist and Arranger whose work encompasses numerous genres including Musical Theatre, Symphonic Music, and Opera. Recent credits include Amour, a Virtual Revival (Associate Music Director), MENASAFIED at Ars Nova (Music Director, Arranger) OFF-BROADWAY: Heather Christian’s Oratorio for All Living Things (Piano) NATIONAL TOUR: Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (Keys 3), Credits in opera, film, and orchestral music include Heartbeat Opera (Music Assistant) and Harry Potter Soundtrack Orchestra (Former music director, conductor). She is an alumna of Berklee College of Music, where she studied composition and conducting.
MACK ELLIOT SCHAEFER (Production Asst.) is a recent graduate of The Boston Conservatory at Berklee, where he received his BFA in Musical Theatre. Recently, he appeared in Boston Theatre Marathon’s workshop of ALBERT: A New Musical and BCB’s production of HIR (Max) . Other favorite credits include Metamorphoses (Hermes & Others), The Cradle Will Rock (Yasha), and BCB’s digital production of Fugitive Songs. Mack has participated in PMP Summer Conservatory and was nominated for a PMP Rising Star Award in 2016. www.mackelliot.com
DR.CHRISTOPHER SIERRA (Private Voice Instructor) is a Peruvian-American tenor recognized for his artistic sensitivity and versatility in repertoire ranging from classical, musical theatre, to contemporary commercial music. He has performed with Opera Philadelphia, Santa Fe Opera, Opera New Jersey, Spoleto Festival USA, Princeton Festival Opera, Long Island Opera, and New York Lyric Opera Theatre, to name a few, and has made international solo debuts in Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Luxembourg, and India. Recent engagements have included singing the tenor solo in Peter Berring’s Song of the Salish Chief at Alice Tully Hall and performing melodies by Henri Duparc at the College Music Society Pacific Northwest Regional Conference. As a recording artist, Dr. Sierra can be heard on The Flower of Beauty (2009) with the Westminster Choir, Landscape: Choral Music of Gerald Custer (2008) with Anam Cara, and Teaching Music Through Performance in Choir, Volume 2 (2007) with the Grammy-nominated Westminster Williamson Voices. Sought after for his research in crossing genres as a classically trained singer, Dr. Sierra has been invited to present lectures at College Conservatories and Universities throughout the United States, including The Hartt School of Music, University of Connecticut, Troy University, Belmont University, Florida International University, etc. He has also led vocal master classes at the University of the Bahamas, Iceland University of the Arts, Fundación Cultural Armonía in Quito, Ecuador, and currently works with developing musicians at the Shanti Bhavan Children’s Project in Tamil-Nadu, India and the Tomas de Berlanga School on the island of Santa Cruz, Galapagos. Dr. Sierra serves on the voice faculty at Butler University, where his responsibilities include teaching courses in vocal literature, lyric diction, vocal pedagogy, and applied voice lessons. In previous years, he has taught voice at The College of New Jersey, Columbia University, Rutgers University, Monmouth University, and Washington State University. Dr. Sierra has also been invited to lead vocal technique classes at musical theatre intensive programs, such as the Rutgers High School Musical Theatre Academy and the Rutgers Summer Acting Conservatory. Dr. Sierra holds a Doctorate of Musical Arts degree in Voice Performance from Rutgers University, a Master of Education degree in Music Education from Columbia University, a Master of Music Degree in Classical Voice Performance from Manhattan School of Music, and Bachelor of Music Degrees in Music Education and Voice Performance from Westminster Choir College.
IVETTE SOSA DEMPSEY (Section Director/Dance Instructor) has over 15 years of experience in show business and teaching various styles of dance. She has performed in numerous musicals and stage productions including West Side Story at the famed La Scalla Opera House in Milan, Italy; Latinologues on Broadway and Yo soy Latina at the TONY award-winning Crossroads Theater in New Brunswick to name a few. Ivette is best known as a member of the pop singing group Eden’s Crush where she toured with superstars ‘NSYNC and Jessica Simpson performing her Billboard #1 hit single “Get Over Yourself.” Her TV and Film credits include Chasing Papi, Disney’s Even Stevens, Sabrina the Teenage Witch, and various commercials and music videos. Most recently, television audiences can hear Ivette sing “Imagine” in the UNICEF national campaign. Ivette is a graduate of Marymount Manhattan College with a BFA in Dance. She is currently The Theater Arts teacher at Nicotra Early College Charter School where she is also interim director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Ivette teaches voice and dance at Across the Floor in Woodbridge where she directed The Lion King Kids, A Cabaret Night, and various workshops on audition techniques. Some Choreography credits include: How to Succeed…, Crazy for You, …Charlie Brown, Anything Goes, 42nd Street and Urinetown. She had the pleasure of directing up and coming pop star Rich Hennesey in his music video for his new song “Dodged a Bullet” and choreographed The Adamms Family and Footloose at Hillsboro High School. She is happy to be returning to Paper Mill Playhouse for her 5th summer as a Dance Instructor/Section Director for New Voices.
ANDREW DAVID SOTOMAYOR (Music Director/Arranger/Class Pianist) Music directing credits include the First National Tour of Escape to Margaritaville, the Off-Broadway premiere of Curvy Widow, Some Enchanted Evening at Paper Mill Playhouse, Man of La Mancha at Westport Country Playhouse, Newsies and West Side Story  at Maltz Jupiter Theatre, The Will Rogers Follies at Merry-Go-Round Playhouse and Cutman: A Boxing Musical at Goodspeed, among others. As a composer, he has provided music and lyrics for the original musicals 50 Shades of F***d Up, and Committed as well as scores for the short film Cuba 1961: A Love Story, and the independent feature film, BX3M. He is a proud graduate of Stetson University in Florida.
DEIRDRE TOBIN (Production Asst.) is a rising sophomore BFA Musical Theatre major at Temple University. She performed in the Paper Mill New Voices Concerts for two years and was a member of the 2018-2019 Paper Mill Show Choir. Favorite roles were: Audrey (Little Shop of Horrors) and Amneris (Aida). Recently, she was cast in the song cycle “Women on Love” and featured in “Killer Instinct: A Villainous Cabaret” and the “2021 Best of Undergrad Showcase” at Temple University. She would like to thank Stephen, and the rest of the Paper Mill staff, for choosing her as an intern. Deirdre is extremely grateful for this opportunity.
AMAYA WHITE (Production Asst.) is a rising senior BFA Musical Theatre major at Montclair State University. Some of her favorite credits include Bebe in A Chorus Line, Lizzie in Baby, Diva in Priscilla Queen of the Desert, and Reefer Madness. She was also a participant in the Growing Studio’s LINK program class of 2021. She performed in the Paper Mill New Voices concerts for eight years and is excited to return as an assistant to help inspire other students to chase their theatrical dreams.
AIMEE WILLIS (Private Voice Instructor) holds a BA from UCLA and a MM from Northwestern. Her operatic career started at the young age of 22 when, directly out of college, she became a leading soprano at the Deutsche Opera Berlin (Berlin Opera) in Berlin, Germany. She has performed with famous conductors all over the world, including Giuseppe Sinopoli, Jiri Kout, Richard Buckley, Carlo Rizzi, Christopher Keene and Fred Scott. In her concert work, she was fortunate to be included in Guiseppe Sinopoli’s first Carmen with Agnes Baltsa, accompanied by the  Danish Radio Orchestra and broadcast in Copenhagen, which she then reprised in Berlin with Baltsa, Neil Shicoff and Denyce Graves. Also under the baton of Sinopoli at the Santa Cecilia in Rome,  Aimee performed Parsifal with Waltraut Meier and Rene Kollo. In addition, Aimee sang numerous performances at the Berlin Philharmonic, including Bach’s B Minor Mass and St. Matthews’ Passion. Since returning to America, Aimee is creating a buzz with her critically acclaimed portrayals of Salome (Atlanta Opera), Tosca (Opera Fort Worth), Leonore (Fidelio: Atlanta Opera), Tatiana (Eugene Onegin: in Russian with the Hawaii Opera and Atlanta Opera) The Countess (The Marriage Of Figaro: Hawaii Opera), Amelia (Un Ballo in Maschera: Arizona Opera), and Elisabetta (Don Carlo: Arizona Opera) to name a few. Aimee also has a large private voice studio in Maplewood, NJ, in addition to teaching voice by skype all over the world.  She has been teaching voice at the Paper Mill and Paper Mill Summer Conservatory for 20 years
JAY WINSTON (Private Voice Instructor) is a New Jersey based lyric tenor and voice teacher.  He has performed as tenor soloist in concerts throughout the tri-state area in works including Mendelssohn’s Gloria, Haydn’s Creation Mass, Mozart’s Coronation Mass, Haydn’s Creation, and Schubert’s Mass in G.  As an operatic tenor, Jay has been seen in operas including Les Contes d’Hoffmann, Lucia di Lammermoor, Die Fledermaus, The Magic Flute, Acis and Galatea, Rigoletto, The Marriage of Figaro, Tosca, and Amahl and the Night Visitors.  He recently he ventured into the world of musical theater taking on the role of Beadle Bamford in Sweeney Todd.  He has been working with Broadway singer and voice teacher Bradley Dean. Jay is a full-time vocal music instructor at The Pingry School where he directs Sopranos and Altos in grades 6-12, is the Vocal Director for the high school musicals, and is a member of the school’s Diversity and Inclusion team. As a private voice teacher, Jay has been teaching for 21 years, and this is his 14th year as a voice teacher at the Paper Mill Playhouse Summer Conservatory. His private students have been recognized with Rising Star Awards and Governor’s Awards, have been accepted to the Juilliard School pre-college program, and have attended top college programs in Voice and Musical Theater such as: The Juilliard School, University of Michigan, Carnegie Mellon, Ithaca, NYU, Montclair State University, Baldwin Wallace, Rice, and Boston Conservatory at Berklee.  He received his Alexander Technique certification through the Balance Arts Center in New York City and is a graduate of Northwestern University in voice performance. Jay is a huge fan of New York Mets baseball, Northwestern football, and New York Jets football.
MEG ZERVOULIS (Music Supervisor/Music Director/Arranger) Broadway: West Side Story (current revival), The Prom, Mean Girls, …Great Comet of 1812. Off-Broadway: The Visitor (upcoming @ The Public), Merrily We Roll Along (Fiasco/Roundabout), Cagney, Rated P. Other New Works: Breathe (May 14th ’21 Album and Streaming Release), Broadway Vacation (Seattle 5th Ave upcoming), Buñuel (Public Theater in development), and Jeannette (in development).  At her home base, Paper Mill Playhouse, her credits include Mary Poppins, Bandstand, and Ever After, and their annual New Voices concerts. Meg is also active as a music educator and music therapist and is a proud member of Local 802 and Maestra. Education: Carnegie Mellon University. www.megzmusic.com