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Elementary and Middle School Program Instructor Bio

DAWN LOVELAND is the Director of Education at Playhouse on Park.  Dawn currently teaches Creative Dramatics through the Bridge Family Center.  She taught musical theatre through the Surflight Theatre STARS program, instructed music and arts programs for Simsbury Department of Continuing Education, and was a counselor at Camp Acting Manitou (overnight camp in Maine).  Dawn directed IF YOU GIVE A MOUSE A COOKIE for young audiences (Playhouse on Park) and was the stage manager and a performer with Surflight To-Go (educational touring theatre for children).  She directed students in HOMEROOM (Playhouse on Park), THE LITTLE MERMAID (Surflight Theatre), co-directed Middleground Children’s Theatre (Middlebury, VT) and choreographed for students (Middlebury College Musical Players, The Company Summer at Hartt School, Henry James Memorial School, Simsbury High School).  Dawn is a graduate of Middlebury College with a BA in theatre, focused on directing.

Directing Workshop Instructor Bio

SEAN HARRIS has been a professional actor for almost 20 years performing in regional theatre across the country including: Playhouse on Park, Florida Studio Theatre, Shakespeare on the Sound, The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, and the Roxy Regional Theatre. His NYC Theatre credits include DINNER WITH FRIENDS (Tom), HAMLET (Laertes), MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING (Claudio), and BLOOD WEDDING (Bridegroom).  Film/TV: Saturday Night Live, The Early Show, Table One, Captain Karaoke, Being Michael Madsen. Sean has his BA in Acting and Directing from DeSales University and an MFA from the New School for Drama/Actors Studio. He has been an acting teacher and director for over 15 years and is currently the Director of Theatre at Hall High School in West Hartford, which was recently selected to represent the United States as part of the American High School Theatre Festival in Edinburgh Scotland in 2010 and now in 2013.  Sean is also the Artistic Director and Casting Director of Playhouse on Park.

Improv Class Instructor Bio

CLAIRE ZICK moved to West Hartford from Seattle where she was an ensemble member at Unexpected Productions, Seattle's first and most reputable improv theater company. She performed weekly in Seattle Theatresports™ and long-form shows such as Harold, Spoken, Blank Slate, Fakespeare, The Melanie Game, Campfire, A(n) Improvised Christmas Carol, Black Eyed Blonde, Impressionistic Horror, and improvised versions of movie genres. She was also the Assistant Artistic Director and only female member of Sisters of Sal, a long-form improvisational comedy troupe that won Seattle CageMatch and performed with Ryan Stiles. She has studied improv at Unexpected Productions, Magnet Theater, and UCB Theatre. Her instructors have included Randy Dixon, Matt Smith, Jill Farris, Armando Diaz, Christian Capozzoli, Keith Johnstone and Mick Napier. Locally she has been seen in Vanities, Isn't it Romantic, Arsenic and Old Lace and Lend Me a Tenor as well as other scripted and improv productions in theaters around the state.