Meet Our Staff

CURRENT FIREBIRD STAFF MEMBERS:

Caitlyn Colgan (Main Stage & Workshop - Director/Choreographer/Costumer/Producer/ Instructor)
Caitlyn is a 2017 graduate from York College of Pennsylvania where she earned a Public Relations degree and a double minor in Speech Communications and Musical Theater. Caitlyn is the choreographer for Spring Ford Area High School's spring musical. She has been part of the mainstage productions in many ways, including director and choreographer for Legally Blonde, assistant director of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet and Hello, Dolly!, choreographer of Big Fish the Musical and Beauty and the Beast, and also as an actor. Caitlyn directs and choreographs many of the junior workshops, including Into the Woods Junior, Wizard of Oz Youth Edition, A Christmas Carol, Peter Pan and Wendy, and choreographed Elf the Musical Jr, The Addams Family young@part, Curtains young@part, Guys & Dolls Jr, and Lion King Jr. She previously worked at Lower Providence Presbyterian Preschool as the music and theater teacher in the Kinder Kritters program. In 2017, Caitlyn made her NYC debut as the choreographer for the award winning premiere of Dorian Gray: The Musical for the New York Musical Festival. Acting credits include You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (Lucy Van Pelt), The Drowsy Chaperone (Kitty), Hairspray (Amber Von Tussle) and Tape (Amy). Caitlyn is looking forward to directing Matilda Junior and our main stage musical The Lightning Thief this summer!

Craig Corrao (Main Stage & Workshop - Director/Instructor)
Craig is a reading specialist at Arcola Intermediate School where he has also directed the spring musical for the past several years. Over the last thirty years he has acted, produced, and directed at a variety of community theaters including Forge Theatre, Playcrafters, and DCP. Craig is also an aspiring guitarist who plans on forming a blues/country/rock band in the not too distant future. Craig's Firebird directing credits include Hairspray and Disney's Mulan Junior. Craig looks forward to directing Shrek the Musical Junior this summer!

Mary Fitzgerald (Workshop - Director/Instructor)
Mary has a BA in Theatre Management, with a specialty in Children's Theater, from Fordham University. No stranger to the stage, Mary has worked on all aspects of putting on a production, including her favorite role as director. She has directed Disney's AristoCats Kids, Cows in the Kitchen at Firebird and is currently the Director of the Fall Play and Spring Musical at Methacton High School. Her past directing credits include Footloose, The Sound of Music, Bye Bye Birdie, SpongeBob the Musical, Urinetown, The Great Gatsby, The Laramie Project, and The Dining Room to name a few. When not working on a show, Mary loves spending time with her husband and two daughters, who are her biggest fans. She can’t wait to direct Disney's Descendants this summer!

Becca Futty (Workshop Director) Becca has worked as a director and choreographer over the past ten years with all ages through both school and community productions. She received a Bachelors of Arts in Theatre from West Chester University with a minor in Dance. Some favorite past projects include Disney's Aladdin Junior at Firebird, Godspell, Cinderella, Into the Woods, and Little Women. Becca’s biggest joy is mentoring the next generation of theater artists, and she can’t wait to direct Disney's High School Musical Junior this summer!

Tony Barrett (Workshop Director/Instructor)
Tony's directing debut with Firebird was the 2022 production of Jingle ARRGH the Way! His passion for sketch and improv started when he watched old Saturday Night Live episodes way past his bedtime as a 10 year old. That passion took him to Chicago where he learned the art of improv. Tony is a graduate of The Second City conservatory and Improv Olympic training center, where he served on a house team and embraced the Del Close philosophy of ‘Truth in Comedy’. Tony worked in the Phillies entertainment division along side the Phillie Phanatic for four years. Tony is a graduate of Cabrini University, where he served on the Improv team and performed in several National College Comedy festivals.

Janet Hnatin Hoehl (President, Founder, Executive Producer, Director, Workshop Instructor)
Janet's directing credits include Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat, Magic Tree House: Pirates Past Noon and ‘Twas the Week After Christmas at Firebird Theatre, and Theseus and the Minotaur and The Seussification of Romeo and Juliet at Forge Theatre. Janet has served on the Board of Directors at Firebird Theatre and Forge Theatre and has worn many hats, as an actress, director, producer, lighting and costume designer, General Productions Chair, Hospitality Chair. But by far her favorite role has been as the President and Founder of Firebird Theatre, where her greatest joy is cultivating the love of live theater in the next generation of artists and dreamers. Janet has her BS in Marketing/Business Administration from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She lives in Collegeville with her husband John and their four children, who have been her biggest inspiration, and her hardest working crew.

Christen Mandracchia (Main Stage Assistant Director/Technical Designer)
Christen received her PhD in Theatre from University of Maryland and her Masters in Theatre from Villanova University. Her teaching credits include: University of the Arts, Penn State Abington and Delaware County Community College. She is currently serving as the Fall play Director and Production Manager/Technical Director of Phoenixville Area High School's theatre program. She recently directed Peter and the Starcatcher at Phoenixville High School. Past directing credits include Gypsy with King of Prussia Players and Venus in Fur at The Centre Theatre in Norristown. Christen was the Assistant Director and Set Designer for Legally Blonde the Musical as well as a lighting designer and technical consultant for many Firebird workshop and main stage productions and Stage Craft program over the years.

PAST STAFF MEMBERS:

Kate Coll (Main Stage & Workshop - Choreographer/Director/ Instructor )
Kate's directing credits include Elf the Musical Junior and Disney's 101 Dalmatians KIDS at Firebird. Kate’s previous choreography credits include Disney's Frozen Junior, Hello, Dolly! and Hairspray for Firebird and The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Gypsy and The King and I. She has also acted in a variety of community theater productions include playing the role of Tessie Tura in Gypsy, Laurey in Oklahoma, and Anna in The King and I. Kate also choregraphs the musicals at Arcola Middle School.

Brian Horoho (Main Stage & Workshop - Musical Director)
Brian is the Choir Director at Upper Merion High School. He has been a Vocal Director for more than twenty musical productions. He has experience working with vocalists ranging from those who are in elementary school to retirement age. Brian is also the Choir Director at Shannondell. Brian has been part of our summer programming since 2014.

Michelle Horoho (Main Stage & Workshop - Director/Instructor)
Michelle attained a Theatre Minor from West Chester University and has performed in community theatre for most of her life. She is currently working as a Music Teacher at Good Samaritan Day School in Paoli. Michelle and her husband, Brian and four children live in Lower Providence Township and are all involved with Firebird Theatre. Her directing credits include: Rogers & Hammerstein's Cinderella Youth Edition, Seussical the Musical Junior, Once on This Island Junior, Disney's Lion King Junior, Frozen Junior, AristoCats KIDS, Winnie the Pooh KIDS and The Jungle Book KIDS. Michelle is thrilled to share her love of theatre with young performers!

Courtney Boches ( Main Stage & Workshop - Director/Instructor/ Costumer)
Courtney has a Masters in Theatre from Villanova University and a Bachelor of Science in Television-Radio and Screenwriting from Ithaca College and works as a freelance director, teaching artist, and costume designer. She has been directing for Firebird's summer workshop program since its inception in 2013 and assisted in developing new, innovative programming during COVID. She has directed over 25 musicals and plays with student age casts, including Big Fish the Musical and Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet at Firebird. As a costume designer she has worked with Firebird, Simpatico Theatre Project, Azuka Theatre, Act II Playhouse, Villanova Theatre, and many college and high school programs. She has designed for the New York Musical Festival and had a fabulous internship with Tony-winner William Ivey Long in NYC. Favorite roles onstage include Annie Oakley (Annie Get Your Gun), Karen Wright (The Children's Hour), Mazeppa (Gypsy), Ethel Toffelmier (The Music Man), and Amelia Vane (Dorian Gray, Off-Broadway, New York Musical Festival).

Brandon Carcella - Technical Consultant
Brandon is a graduate of DeSales University where he received his B.A. in Theatre with a concentration in Design/Technology. Brandon was a student performer with Firebird starting in 2013, and then joined the production staff in 2017 and served on the Firebird Board of Directors from 2019 - 2021. He was instrumental in providing his technical expertise during the summer of 2021 while filming Romeo & Juliet, and assisted in developing new, innovative programming during COVID. Brandon was the Technical Director and Head of Production for Firebird Theatre’s 2019 seven-show season which included an award winning production of Big Fish. He also worked with Firebird in 2017 as the Technical Director for their five-show summer season. Brandon currently serves as a technical consultant and works at Corbett Inc.

Victoria Rose Bonito (Workshop - Director/Instructor)
Victoria is an actress, teaching artist, and director in the greater Philadelphia area. 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.

Justin Damm (Main Stage - Director/Instructor)
Justin is a graduate of Villanova's Masters of Theatre program and is excited to return to the directing chair, most recently serving as director for Rogers and Hammerstein's Cinderella, Little Shop of Horrors and Thoroughly Modern Millie at Owen J Roberts High School. Justin is also a Physics Teacher for Upper Merion Area High School and continues to direct and perform throughout the area. Favorite directorial shows include Urinetown and Into the Woods for Villanova Student Musical Theatre and various work for the The Action Section. Favorite acting roles include Frank in Catch Me if You Can, Gabe in Next to Normal, Melchior in Spring Awakening, Bobby Strong in Urinetown, Rueben in The Devon Theatre's Joseph...Dreamcoat (Barrymore Nom), Rademes in Aida, Jimmy in Thoroughly Modern Millie, Johnny in Tick Tick....Boom, Daniel in Theater Horizon's Once on this Island, Finicky Fox in the national tour of Pinocchio, and Bruhs in Tom Wilson Weinberg's original musical Sixty Years with Bruhs and Gean. Justin is thrilled to have this opportunity to direct Disney's Beauty and the Beast this summer.

Mark Edwards (Main Stage - Pit Orchestra Director)
Mark has retired from service with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. He has had an exceptional twenty-one year career as an Institutional Music Teacher at the State Correctional Institution at Graterford where he has provided comprehensive programming and activities for the residents who wish to improve themselves through the musical experience. He received his Bachelor of Science in Music Education degree from West Chester University. He has held the position of artistic director and conductor of the Audubon Symphony Orchestra from 1997 through 2009. Although “retired”, he continues to teach, write and arrange music, conduct and also performs locally jazz and pop piano, drums, guitar and vocal, and as a disc jockey and sound engineer. Messiah 2.0 is his contemporary setting of the traditional work and it premiered in 2012.

Theater experience: (directing) 110 In The Shade, Two By Two, Godspell, and The Fantastiks. (conductor) Into The Woods, Grease, Little Shop of Horrors, Hello! Dolly, Bye Bye Birdie, Annie, Hairspray, Fame, Urinetown and Beauty and the Beast. (pit musician) Cabaret, 110 In The Shade, West Side Story, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, South Pacific, 1776, Anything Goes, and Legally Blonde. Mark conducted and was Musical Director for our Hello! Dolly Main Stage Show last year and this year he is Pit Conductor of Disney's Beauty and the Beast, our 2018 Main Stage Musical.

Geovanny Fischetti aka Mr.Geo ( Online Instructor)
Geo has been teaching children as an award winning Choreographer, Director, Teaching Artist, Party Coordinator and more. Recently, Geo had the honor of receiving 2 Broadway World Philadelphia nominations (Best Choreography and Best Director/Musical) for his work in 2019. He has choreographed near 40 productions (17 in which he also directed), directed/choreographed 27 camps/showcases and has performed in dozens of professional shows. Geovanny’s style, which is inspired by Jerry Mitchell, can be recognized for his sharp, high-energy, show stopper style choreography. Teaching credits include JPAC, Time to Leap, Limelight Performing Arts Center, Small Steps Big Dreams Dance Studio, Acorn Montessori School and Tumbles Gym. Geovanny’s choreography credits include: “The Illusory Adventures of a Dreamer” (FringeNYC Festival), “Annie Get Your Gun”, “Bye Bye Birdie”, and “Aida" twice. Some of Geovanny's Directing credits include productions of “Honk!”, “Frozen”, “James and the Giant Peach” and “Annie”.

Angela LaRose (Online Instructor)
Angela is so excited to be part of the Firebird team! A native of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, she attended DeSales University, and will graduate with her B.A. in Musical Theatre in May. For the last three summers, she has worked as an acting intern with the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival at DeSales, working alongside seasoned professionals in a variety of productions. Angela has studied dance for nearly 20 years, and loves to combine her passion for performing and teaching through sharing the art form with young people!

Seth Martin (Main Stage & Workshop - Director/Instructor)
Seth directed Hello, Dolly! and Annie Junior for Firebird Theatre and was the the music director for Elf Jr. He co-taught the Triple Threat Workshop for several years. He is a graduate of Villanova University with a Master of Arts in Theatre. Seth directed youth of all ages in musicals in the Central Pennsylvania region and was honored with four Hershey Theatre Apollo Award nominations and one win. Seth currently works as an actor at the Strasburg Railroad Entertainment Company and is a freelance acting coach, director, designer, and performer.

Stephanie "Stevie" Tagye (Main Stage Music Director)
Stevie joined the Firebird family when she music directed our Main Stage Summer show, Big Fish. She has worked extensively in area theaters as a director, music director, producer, costumer, stage crew, light crew and actor. Stevie has trained vocally for 40+ years, first with Roy Wilde and currently with Joseph Erdeljac. Her first concern in music direction is the care and training of young voices, and she is thrilled to work with the talented young people of Firebird Theatre.

Deana Wisniewski (Workshop - Instructor)
Deana is a graduate of Seton Hill University with a B.A. in Theatre. After graduating from college she worked professionally as an actress in theater, TV, commercials, film and radio. Deana turned her love of acting into a passion for teaching. She owned and operated her own Drama School for many years and came to teach for Firebird in 2011. She has been involved with the local theater scene either on stage or behind the scenes for over 25 years. What makes Deana the most proud is that so many of her young students are now grown up and pursuing an acting career of their own. She expects to one day in the future be mentioned in someone’s Oscar speech! Deana lives in Oaks with three children. When she isn’t spending time with her family or at the theater, you can find her putting her past experience as a dance instructor to use teaching Zumba classes.