Meet our Summer Workshop Staff
Courtney Boches, Director of Peter Pan JR and Alice in Wonderland JR
Courtney is a teacher, designer, and performer in Philadelphia and the surrounding suburbs. She graduated from Villanova University with an M.A. in Theatre in May 2014. While there, she worked in the costume shop and in various capacities on eight professional productions, including stage manager, performer, and costume designer. In 2014 Courtney interned with the prestigious William Ivey Long Studio in NYC. She has directed numerous children's musicals in the area and worked as a theatre teacher with ages three and up. Acting credits include It's A Wonderful Life (Mary Bailey), Seussical (Mayzie LaBird), The Drowsy Chaperone (Trix), among others. She was the costume designer for Twelfth Night with Commonwealth Classic Theatre Company in 2014. Courtney is the newest board member of Firebird Theatre. www.courtneyboches.com |
Amy Osterhoudt, Musical Director of Aristocats KIDS and Aladdin KIDS
Amy received her Bachelor's Degree in Music Education from Elizabethtown College in 2013. She has been involved in Firebird since the beginning, serving as music director and vocal coach for various summer productions and winter workshops. Amy is actively involved in local community theaters, most recently performing as Martha in The Secret Garden and Miss Dorothy Brown in Thoroughly Modern Millie. She also sings with the Philly POPs! Festival Chorus. Amy looks forward to being involved in the summer workshops, rounding out her experience with Firebird Theatre. Michelle Horoho, Director of Aristocats KIDS
Michelle currently teaches music at Good Samaritan Day school in Paoli. She has spent most of her life participating in theater and music in some capacity. She spent many years performing in local community theater, and is actively involved in her church's music program. Two of her four children have been involved in Firebird Theatre productions. Michelle is thrilled to be joining the Firebird family and excited to share her love of theater with the young performers in Aristocats! |
Victoria Rose Bonito, Director of Aladdin KIDS
Victoria is an actress, teaching artist, and director in the greater Philadelphia area, and she is thrilled to join Firebird for the first time this summer! Teaching credits include the Montgomery Theatre, Theatre Horizon, and The Little Theatre. City and regional performance credits include the Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre, City Theatre Company, REV Theatre Company, Scranton Shakespeare Festival, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, Philadelphia Fringe Festival, and Theatre of the Seventh Sister. Victoria has her BA in Theatre, English, and Secondary Education from DeSales University and her MA in Theatre from Villanova University, where she was a costume assistant with Firebird's own Courtney Boches. Many thanks to Courtney, the entire Firebird staff, and the fabulous cast, crew, and interns of Aladdin! |
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Craig Corrao, Instructor of Backstage Pass
has acted, produced, and directed in community theater for over thirty years. During that time he’s participated in productions at Dutch Country Playhouse, Playcrafters, and Forge Theatre. Craig has also been a teacher in the Methacton School District for the last sixteen years where he currently directs the Arcola Spring Musicals. |
Kayleigh Rozwat, Intern
is a senior Psychology major and Theatre minor at the University of Pittsburgh and hopes to pursue a master’s degree in Occupational Therapy. She has great enthusiasm for working both on and offstage and is thrilled to be joining the team as Firebird's newest intern at the Methacton workshops after performing as the SugarPlum Fairy in the 2014 production of Shrek. She has most recently been seen in Big Fish the Musical and Urinetown (Little Sally) at the University of Pittsburgh and will return to Firebird's stage this summer in Mary Poppins as the Bird Woman. She can't wait to spend her summer with the amazing kids at Firebird! |
Ryan Douglas Musselman, Intern
is a graduate of Methacton High School where he was the president of the Methacton Theatre Company. He will be attending DeSales University in the fall as a Criminal Justice major. Ryan previously interned for the Firebird’s 2014 Holiday Revue. He is excited to return as an intern this summer. |
Alexa Ross, Intern
is a sophomore at Temple University majoring in Journalism and minoring in Theatre. She is thrilled to be returning to Firebird for another fun filled summer on and off the stage! This is her fourth summer with Firebird and she is so excited to be returning for her second year as a summer intern for the new Methacton workshops. Her favorite part of the summer is teaching young children the joy of theatre and all things performance. Alexa is also honored to be returning to the stage after a year and a half hiatus as one of her favorite Disney women, Mary Poppins, in Firebird’s main stage production of Mary Poppins. Past Firebird credits include Bye Bye Birdie (Rosie), It’s a Wonderful Life (assorted roles), and Wizard of Oz (Wicked Witch). |
Sam Gambino, Intern
will be a sophomore at Methacton this coming year. She has been doing theater since she was nine and plans to continue with it throughout her life. She's very excited to be interning this year for Aladdin KIDS. and Aristocats KIDS. In the past she's been in Arcola shows such as Into the Woods Jr. where she played the Witch and The Wizard of Oz which she played Dorothy. She's also been in the Methacton High School's productions of A Christmas Carol and Urinetown as a chorus member. Here at Firebird, she's been in Bye Bye Birdie as Mrs. Merkle, Shrek the Musical as the Fairy Godmother, and Beauty and the Beast Jr. as Monsieur D'Arque. She can't wait to help this year at Firebird Theatre. |
Abby Gould, Intern and Director of The Importance of Being Earnest
is a junior Early Childhood Education major with a concentration in Special Education at Elizabethtown College and a minor in Theater Performance. Abby has been involved in school and community theaters for most of her life. She has spent four wonderful summers performing with Firebird and is excited to be dancing in Mary Poppins and directing Firebird’s student-directed play, The Importance of Being Earnest, this summer. She loves that she gets to combine her two passions—teaching and theater—by interning at the summer workshops with so many amazing people. |
Jake Gould, Intern
will be a senior at Phoenixville Area High School, and is super excited to be a first year intern at Firebird, after being involved in the majority of their shows over the past 4 years. He has been in every high school production to date, and will be the president of Phoenixville's Theater Guild next year. |
Emily Beckers, Intern
is going into her second year at Northeastern University, dual majoring in Computer Science and Music Composition and Technology. She is excited to come back to Firebird Theatre for her second year as the music director for Peter Pan Jr. In the past, she has directed music for Beauty and the Beast Jr., as well as run sound for both Beauty and the Beast and Shrek the Musical. After four years of working exclusively behind the scenes, Emily will return to the stage this summer as Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest. |
Jack Stillwell, Intern
is thrilled to be an acting intern at Firebird Theatre this summer! Jack will be entering Drexel University in the fall as a Computer Science BS/MS Major. Jack has been involved in theatre since 5th grade and has portrayed many different characters, including Daryl Grady (Curtains), Oberon (A Midsummer Night’s Dream), Lord Farquaad (Shrek: The Musical), and Professor Callahan (Legally Blonde: The Musical). Jack has also been involved as an Apprentice Director at Great Valley High School, as well as Assistant Director and Sound Manager at Charlestown Elementary School. Jack is delighted to be a part of Firebird, and looks forward to making great memories this summer! |
Andrew Vitovitch, Intern
is a junior at SUNY Fredonia and he is excited to be interning at Firebird Theatre. He is excited to be working intensively with so many talented people and enjoys helping so many young artists become better performers. Andrew has performed in many shows including Balm in Gilead, Arsenic and Old Lace, and the Firebird Theatre’s own production of Shrek. He has also obtained recommended passes in unarmed, knife, and single sword from The Society of American Fight Directors. He would like to thank his friends and family for their constant support as well as their faith in his ability. Andrew looks forward to completing his Theatre Arts and Exercise Science double major and cannot wait to perform in numerous shows and venues in his, hopefully, long professional career. Words to live by: “I am a work in progress.” ― Paul Mockovak |
Alyssa Briddes, Intern
is a five foot two, curly headed, Cinema Production major at Point Park University. When she’s not working with Firebird, she likes to drink tea, eat cookies, and watch Netflix (usually at the same time). She specializes in film work at Firebird, but she’s not afraid to pick up a hot glue gun when needed. This year, she could not be more thrilled to be an acting instructor at the Phoenixville camps. No stranger to Firebird, you may have seen her in Wizard of Oz (The Cowardly Lion) or Shrek (Ogress Fiona). On her off days, she works as a production intern at Nancy Glass Productions. |
Caitlyn Colgan, Intern
is extremely excited to be returning for her third year as the Choreographer for the summer workshops! Caitlyn is also the Editor-in-chief of the Firebird Quill. Caitlyn is a senior Public Relations major at York College of Pennsylvania. At YCP, she is also a member of the YCP Dance Team and a sister of Phi Mu. Caitlyn also started a chapter of Her Campus, which is a national online magazine at school. This summer Caitlyn was Neleus in the mainstage production of Mary Poppins. Caitlyn has been dancing for about 17 years and would not be where she is today without the guidance of the Mary Poppins choreographer, Gail Oldfield, and her daughter, Jenn Oldfield. Previous theatre experiences include Guys and Dolls (Hot Box Dancer), Shrek the Musical (Wicked Witch, Pied Piper, Duloc Dancer), The Boyfriend (Gladys), Bye Bye Birdie (Lead Sad Girl), Oliver! (Charlotte Sowerberry), The Wizard of Oz (Lead Jitterbug). Caitlyn has loved working for Firebird Theatre and would like to thank every director, intern, and member of the production staff for making it such a fun and enjoyable experience. Many thanks to Miss Courtney for allowing her to spend another amazing summer with Firebird Theatre! |
Safiyyah Green, Intern
is excited to return to Firebird Theatre for her second summer as a summer intern, but her fourth year being involved with Firebird. She has experience both on and off the stage in both plays and musicals. She was most recently seen as Motormouth Maybelle in Phoenixville High School’s production of Hairspray and before that in their production of Romeo and Juliet. She has also assistant directed shows and stage managed. |
Nick Capriotti, Intern
is an incoming freshman acting major at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City. This is his second summer with Firebird and his first as an intern. You may also have seen him on the main stage as Bert in Mary Poppins this summer. Most recently he was seen as Sonny Malone in Perkiomen Valley High School’s production of Xanadu and as Firebird’s own Donkey in Shrek the Musical last summer. |
Tameka Sadler, Intern
is excited, to be interning for the first time with Firebird Theatre! In the fall, she plans to attend UCLA to study neuroscience with a pre-medicine track. Tameka has been involved in several different aspects of theater with various companies, and her previous credits include: Shrek: The Musical (Firebird Theatre), Nunsense, Once Upon a Mattress, The Complete Works of Shakespeare [abridged] (Spring-Ford Community Theatre), Footloose, Father of the Bride, The Wizard of Oz and Little Shop of Horrors (Spring-Ford High School Theatre), The Drowsy Chaperone (Forge Theatre), and High School Musical (Steel River Playhouse). |
Nathan Withers, Intern
a junior enrolled at Methacton high-school, has found a way to combine the subjects he loves to learn into his job. Nathan is an up and coming computer scientist capable of writing websites for organizations or performing tech support for various operating systems and software for a civilian who may have gotten themselves stuck in a sea of zeros and ones. Nathan was first exposed to computer science at the age of eight, when a family friend introduced him to the basics of HTML. In addition to computer science, Nathan has a passion for Math as well as acting ,and with (Firebird Theatre), he can express both these interests in The Importance of Being Earnest. In his two years at Methacton, Nathan has performed as a lead actor in both plays; as Reverend Parris in The Crucible (Methacton High School Theatre Company) and as Ebenezer Scrooge in The Christmas Carol (Methacton High School Theatre Company). Nathan endeavors to continue this line of work through college where he will, hopefully, come out into the world an accomplished computer scientist having majored in Artificial Intelligence and Applied Mathematics. |