VOICE AND THEATRICAL FACULTY

 

David Ayers - Studio Head - graduated from Northwestern University in Chicago with a bachelor’s degree in Vocal Performance and Theater. David has starred on Broadway as Sky in Mamma Mia!, originated the role of Fyedka in the 2005 Tony-nominated revival of Fiddler on the Roof, and most recently took over the role of Fiyero in the hit Broadway musical Wicked at the Gershwin Theater. Some of his other credits include Claude in Hair at the Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, the American premiere of Honk! at Northshore Music Theatre, Rodger in A New Brain at Portland’s Center Stage, and The Sound of Music at the St. Louis MUNY. While in New York, he originated lead roles in the workshops of Little Women, Elton John’s Lestat, Maury Yeston’s Death Takes a Holiday, Barry Manilow’s Harmony, and starred opposite his fiancée, Angela Gaylor, in Tom Jones! He can be heard on the revival cast recording of Fiddler on the Roof. David has worked with some of Broadway’s greatest composers such as Adam Guettel, Steven Schwartz, William Finn and George Stiles. He has studied with Ann Bogart’s SITI Company at the Humana Festival of New American Plays and continued his studies at the Edinburgh Theater Festival in Scotland as well as the Festival d’Avignon in France. His television credits include guest starring on “Law and Order: Criminal Intent” and “The Guiding Light.” He has appeared in Elle Girl magazine and is featured in Wicked’s coffee table book: The Grimmerie. This past summer he was a guest Master Teacher at the Broadway Theater Dance Workshop.

 

Angela Gaylor - Studio Head - is a graduate with a Bachelor’s in Fine Arts Degree in musical theater from the prestigious Cincinnati Conservatory of Music where she won the Laurie Beechman Award for outstanding performance. She is an alumni of Interlochen Arts Camp and a previous scholarship winner to the Sanford Meisner Neighborhood Playhouse in NYC.  Angela has been on Broadway where she originated the role of Anne in the Tony-Award Winning revival La Cage Aux Folles, Amber in Hairspray and danced the dream ballet in Trevor Nunn/Susan Stroman’s Oklahoma! She has also appeared as the title role in Cinderella at Papermill Playhouse as well as in Dream a Little Dream: The Story of the Mamas and the Papas, and Best Foot Forward off-Broadway. By age 19, she was working with Stephen Sondheim and Paul Gemignani as Anne in A Little Night Music (Mann Center, the Kennedy Center’s Sondheim Celebration, Northshore Music Theater). Other roles include Julie Jordan in Carousel at Northshore Music Theater, April in Company at Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, Sophia Western in Tom Jones at Northshore Music Theater, as well as originating roles in Maury Yeston’s Death Takes A Holiday, Barry Manilow’s Harmony, Frank Wildhorn’s Camille Claudel, and the title role in Annie Lenox’s Barbarella. She can be heard on the cast recording of the world premiere of George Stiles’ Tom Jones and on Hal Leonard’s Tunes For Teens CD. Her career also extends to television where she guest-starred in “Law and Order: SVU”  and on  “All My Children” as Libby. She has been a soloist with the Philadelphia Orchestra as well as the Cincinnati Pops. Angela is currently engaged to fellow performer and teacher, David Ayers, has taught at Broadway Dance Theater Workshop alongside Ann Reinking and is on the adjunct faculty for Wright State Universtiy.

 

Amy Austin is a founder of CenterStage Theatre Company and has directed hundreds of young actors in musical theatre productions including Les Miserables, Once On This Island, Oklahoma!, The Music Man, A Chorus Line, The Sound of Music and The Wizard of Oz. She has performed in many productions including Little Shop of Horrors, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Suds, and an award-winning production of Working. Amy is a summa cum laude graduate of Metropolitan State College of Denver where she received a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance. While at Metro State, she sang in the Early Music Ensemble, Women’s Choir and Metropolitan Chorale, serving in Chorale as a section leader and assistant director. Amy performed in the recent production of L’incoronazione di Poppea (Fortuna) and in opera scenes from Die Entführung aus dem Serail (Blonde), The Turn of The Screw (Governess), Le nozze di Figaro (Countess), and Die Zauberflöte (Second Lady). She is a recipient of the Beverly Fernald Scholarship, L. Quinn Rudolph Scholarship, Presidential Music Talent Award, and Presidential Academic Achievement Award. In 2005, Amy was named a Channel 7 Everyday Hero in recognition of her work in youth theatre.

 

 

Kristina Fuller holds a Masters Degree from New York University in Vocal Performance, Musical Theater where she had the honor of studying with Dr. Brian Gill and acclaimed director William Wesbrooks. She holds a Bachelor of Music from the University of Colorado in Classical Voice where she studied with Dr. Patti Peterson. While in New York City, Kristina served as adjunct faculty at NYU where she taught private voice lessons for two years. She has also performed in numerous music theater and operatic roles. Her New York credits include The Gondoliers (Gianetta), A Little Night Music (Mrs. Anderson) and 110 in the Shade (ensemble). Her regional credits include The Mikado (Yum Yum), Pirates of Penzance (Kate), Cabaret (Rosie and Lady), L’Enfant et les Sortileges (La chauve-souris), and Fables (The Narrator). Other productions include The King and I, Iolanthe, H.M.S. Pinafore, L’Elisir D’Amore, Dialogues of the Carmelites and La Bohème. Kristina recently moved back to Boulder in 2008 when she joined Parlando's Broadway in Boulder Studios faculty. Kristina teaches private voice lessons and group classes where she emphasizes story-telling and expression through healthy singing. Kristina has also directed many summer camps and performances with Broadway in Boulder and has recently started directing musicals for Boulder Country Day School. She is thrilled to be back in Colorado and currently resides in Longmont with her wonderful husband Graham and their Cocker Spaniel Joey.

 

Andrew Halladay (piano, voice, guitar, composition) is a recent graduate from the University of Colorado at Boulder where he has received both his Master’s and Bachelor’s in Music Composition. Since 2001, Andy has been teaching students of all ages in a variety of genres and styles with a focus on musical expression. Being primarily a composer, Andy enjoys challenging students not only with musical technique but also with musical meaning, and often improvisation. Since the Fall of 2005, Andy has been working with Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church as a guest conductor and resident composer. Andy has written and conducted several pieces for church services and concert performances including "My God, my god, why hast thou forsaken me?" for the Westminster Choir and Montview Orchestra. He has also written music for theater productions including Buntport Theater's "Kafka on Ice." Currently, Andy enjoys singing alongside his wife, Rachel, in the Colorado Conductors Chorus.

 

 

 

Patricia Irby (voice) received a master's degree in Vocal Performance from Arizona State University and furthered her education here at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and at the American Institute of Musical Studies in Graz, Austria. She comes to us from Phoenix, Arizona, where she was a voice instructor and music theater director at Glendale Community College for eleven years. Formerly she taught voice at Boulder Arts Academy and directed the Boulder Youth Choir. A registered Music Together® teacher, Patricia was an early childhood music instructor for Swallow Hill Music Association, Mountain Song Music Studio, and the Boulder Jewish Community Center. She loves working with kids and has done many special children's music programs for the Denver Jewish Community Center, the Denver Library, and the Chautauqua Community House in Boulder. She also volunteers her time to the Boulder County Safehouse serving as an outreach musical play consultant. Patricia has performed in Opera and Music Theater nationwide and locally. In Arizona she directed Canterbury Transfer, a professional renaissance madrigal quartet, for nine years. The group made two recordings, Canterbury Transfer-Madrigals, and A Canterbury Christmas which was sold in record stores locally and received airplay on local radio stations. Patricia has recently recorded with the group Sailor's Dream, a female, a cappella vocal trio specializing in Irish Folk Songs, especially those of the sea. She currently teaches music at Boulder Country Day School.

 

Sarah Wigley Johnson holds an MM in Voice Performance from Colorado State University and a BM in Voice from the University of Minnesota. While residing in Minneapolis, Johnson performed leading roles with the U of M while working professionally with regional companies such as the Guthrie Theatre, the North Star Opera, the Mystery Cafe, the Minnesota Centennial Showboat, and the Minnesota Opera. In 2007 Sarah had the privilege of performing in the Minnesota Opera’s world premiere of “The Grapes of Wrath” by Ricky Ian Gordon, also contributing to the original cast recording of this breakthrough piece. Sarah has an extensive and dynamic background in musical theater and opera, performing such roles as Maria in West Side Story, Sarah Brown in Guys and Dolls, Aldonza in Man of LaMancha, Rose in Street Scene, and Zerlina in Don Giovanni. Johnson currently serves as faculty for the musical theater department at UNC and adores the energy that teaching brings to her life.

 

 

 

Darlene Mueller (voice) holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Hastings College in Hastings, Nebraska and Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts (ABD) degrees in Voice Performance and Pedagogy from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Darlene has been happily teaching healthy singing for over twenty years and enjoys teaching a variety of vocal styles, including Classical, Musical Theater, Pop, Jazz, and even a little Country! Happy to teach all ages, Darlene especially enjoys teaching young voices ages eleven and up. In addition to years as a voice instructor in a private high school in Milwaukee, at the University of Colorado-Boulder Community School, and at the Hastings College Preparatory School, Darlene has served on the faculty of Colorado Christian University in Lakewood, Carroll College in Waukesha, Wisconsin, and currently teaches at Aims Community College in Greeley, Colorado. A lyric coloratura soprano, Darlene has performed extensively as a soloist in major choral works (Bach’s Magnificat, Brahms’ Ein deutches Requiem, Stravinsky’s Svadebka) and is admired for her portrayals of comic operatic roles (Lucy in Menotti’s The Telephone, Miss Wordsworth in Britten’s Albert Herring, Mrs. Nordstrom in Sondheim’s A Little Night Music). She performed in the 35th Anniversary Season at the Skylight Opera Theater in Milwaukee (Gilbert and Sullivan’s Mikado), at the Mozart’s 200th Anniversary at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall in New York City, and has toured as a choral musician in Belgium, Germany and Austria. (Photo credit Sue Daniels Photography,©2008)

 

Gene Roberts (voice) has his master’s degree from the University of Houston and his bachelor of music degree from The St. Louis Conservatory of Music. His students have appeared on London’s West End in The King and I, in the German production of Miss Saigon, and on the US National tour of Suessical the Musical. In addition, Gene is sought after by American producers after his work with such artists as Isaac Slade of Grammy nominated band The Fray and platinum recording hip-hop artists, the Flobots. As a performer Gene was honored to be a part of the Swiss premier cast of the of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom of the Opera, in Basel Switzerland. In Stuttgart, Gene played the role of The Beast in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast in the German production of the hit musical. In the U.S., Gene was honored to play the role of Mr. Eager in the workshop Des Moines Metro Opera production of A Room with a View, and the Town Crier in Houston, Miller Theater revised premier of Bilby’s Doll with Grammy winning composer Carlisle Floyd as director. In addition to Parlando, Gene Roberts is on the faculties of Metropolitan State College of Denver and The University of Colorado at Denver.

 

 

Kristin Van Sickle (voice) joined the faculty at Parlando School for the Arts this year. Kristin comes to us from Kansas City where she taught at Legacy School of the Arts in Olathe, KS for 5 years. She is a 2005 graduate of MidAmerica Nazarene University with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Vocal Performance emphasis in Vocal Pedagogy, where she studied with Dr. Mary Jane Wilder-Hardee and Dr. Dennis Crocker. Kristin has performed in numerous musical productions, including Handel's “Messiah”, Brahm's “Requiem”, Puccini's “Tosca” and “Il Trittico” for The Kansas City Puccini Festival, the role of Kim in “Bye Bye Birdie” and the title role in Seymour Barab's Little Red Riding Hood. Kristin also toured for 2 years as a member of the bands Assurance and Highest Call with whom she traveled through 8 states performing at churches, camps, community events, and even as the opening for the pop group True Vibe. Kristin is a member of the National Association for Teachers of Singing (NATS) and has had students earn top prizes in both classical voice and musical theatre during the NATS student auditions. Kristin currently lives in Longmont with her husband, Paul and sons, Emery and Cohen.

 

 

Laura Williams (voice) is a mezzo-soprano who enjoyed multiple stage roles while completing her master's degree in music, vocal performance at the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she studied with Professor Patti Peterson. She received her bachelor’s degree in music at Brevard College, in North Carolina, where she studied with Julia Broxholm and Kathryn Gresham. Recent performances include Mrs. Herring in Albert Herring, Countess Charlotte in A Little Night Music, Innkeeper’s Wife in The Cunning Little Vixen, Sister Lillian in Dead Man Walking, The Baker’s Wife in Into the Woods. She has also performed as Gilmer in Godspell, Beatrice Hunsdorfer in The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man in the Moon Marigolds, Serse, in Serse and Ms. Watson in Big River. Originally from Florida, Laura loves performing, teaching, traveling, biking, yoga, and delizioso Italian food.