Teachers

Rebecca Cansler Main Street Theater: Stuart Little (Tour), Click, Clack Moo: Cows That Type; Webster Hall (NY): Awesome 80’s Prom Night; Manhattan Theater Source: Spontaneous Combustion; The Great Caruso: 1950 Doowop Review; Unity Theatre: Honk!; Stages Repertory Theatre: Toys Take Over Christmas; Town Center Theatre: Julius Caesar; Strand Theatre: Gypsy. Education: Texas State University.

Courtney Chilton returns for her third summer teaching with Kids On Stage. She is currently working on her BA in musical theatre and dance at the University of Tulsa. She has worked throughout the Southwest as a dance teacher, performer, and choreographer. As a dancer, she has studied and performed with Keith Cross, Dwight Sheldon, Dr. Suzanne Oliver, Amy Blake, Victoria Loftin, and Daniel Gwirtzman. This past spring her choreography was featured at the American College Dance Festival. As a performer, she has worked for Tulsa Ballet, Texas Repertory Theatre, College of the Mainland, and Island ETC.

Margaux Crump is a senior at Trinity University in San Antonio where she is majoring in studio art and minoring art history. She is a gradutate of HSPVA’s visual arts department and has had pieces exhibited at the Jung Center, the Michael and Noemi Neidorff Art Gallery, the Clear Lake Art Center and the Rockport Art Center. She is very excited to be returning for another summer at Main Street Theater and hopes everyone has as much fun this year as she did when she was a camper!

Lauren Dolk graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre from the University of Miami, Florida. A native Houstonian, she attended Johnston Middle School’s Fine Arts Academy for continuing endeavors in dance training and to establish what would emerge as an equal enthusiasm for her second elective, theater! Her acceptance into the High School for Performing and Visual Arts’ Dance Program enabled her to earn a Dance Major’s diploma in 2005. Involvement in extracurricular voice lessons as well as acting, musical theatre, and dance classes encouraged her to go on to study Musical Theatre at the collegiate level. Upon returning home to Houston, she has pursued opportunities in local theater. This spring, she made her Main Street Theater debut in the Theater for Youth touring production of Romeo and Juliet. For the past three consecutive summers, Lauren has acquired teaching experience locally as an instructor of dance, acting, singing, and improvisation in a children’s summer enrichment environment. She is thrilled to be a part of Main Street Theater’s Kids On Stage Summer Performing Arts Camp 2010 as Dance Teacher and choreographic collaborator in “Project Broadway”!

Karen Imas is from Seattle, Washington where she has taught theater and dance at various high school and pre-school programs for the past 6 years. In addition to teaching children, she has directed, acted, danced and worked as a props designer in the professional Seattle arts circuit. She holds a B.A. in Theater from Towson University and a M.F.A. in Theater from Naropa University. In her Bachelors and Masters programs, she had the wonderful opportunity to work and study in London. In England, she worked with students from all over the world learning how to perform and create original productions with various masks and dramatic themes of storytelling. As a dancer, she has performed in various dance styles including modern, tap, jazz, folk and ballet.

Julie Keselman returns for her fourth summer at KOS and is looking forward to her second summer as a teacher. She taught Enrichment at Rice Village last summer and absolutely loved it. Julie has been immersed in the arts her whole life, and graduated from the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts with a concentration in sculpture. Outside of KOS, she loves to dance and has worked at Walden Pond InterArts Learning Center in San Antonio. She is currently an upcoming senior at Trinity University double majoring in Art and International Studies. She can't wait to see how her students interpret this year's theme!

Joey Melcher Main Street Theater: Stuart Little (Tour), The Best Christmas Pageant Ever; Ensemble Theatre: Freedom is My Middle Name; Houston Grand Opera: Turn of the Screw; Horton Foote American Playwrights Festival: Courtship; Theatre Southwest: The Beauty Queen of Leenane; Country Playhouse: The Man Who Came to Dinner; ComedySportz Houston: Ensemble; Baylor University Theatre: Cyrano de Bergerac, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, An Infinite Ache, The Importance of Being Earnest, Hamlet, Urinetown; Film/TV: Out of Woodlock, Lost and Found, Gizmo and Friends.  Education: B.F.A., Baylor University, Performance.

Amelia Rico Ornelas has a BA from the University of Houston, where she majored in Theater Arts Acting/Directing and minored in Film Studies. This is her 5th year working at Main Street Theater’s Summer Camp and is excited to be teaching Filmmaking on top of Theater and Dance. As well as teaching during the summer, she also teaches Theater and Filmmaking during the year and directed Sally Cotter and the Censored Stone and Sherlock Holmes and the Baker Street Irregulars. She’s been the Assistant Artistic Director at Broadway Bound - where she directed Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland - part of the wig crew for the Houston Grand Opera, The Alley Theatre, The Houston Ballet, and The Rockettes Christmas Spectacular 2009, and make-up designer (2002-2010) for The Moores Opera Center. She and her husband, Art Ornelas, own RicOrnel Productions, a multi-media production company.

Lisa Pearson is in her fourth summer at Kids On Stage. She spent the 2010 school year teaching Drama to children of all ages at various city schools through Main Street's Kids On Stage satellite program. She also has prior experience teaching pre-school ballet/movement and Theater with Enrichment services in Houston with Faraway Stars Productions In Nantucket, Mass. Lisa's main objective as a teacher is to provide an emotionally safe place for the children to experience the creative process.

Christine Sloat is a Biology major at University of Houston but has always loved performing. Once a camper, Christine was a TA for 4 years and is now on her second year of teaching dance at MST. Dancing has always been a passion of hers, and she aims to create a positive environment for kids to explore the arts and have some fun!

Derek Stuckert is a senior Motion Pictures and Creative Writing major at the University of Miami and was a student of KOS long before he started working here. Apart from his film work, he has appeared in Big Love, The Beggar's Opera, I Never Saw Another Butterfly, Fame, Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Beyond Therapy, and Manuscript. He has a passion for theater, film, and all aspects of the arts, and he hopes to inspire that same enthusiasm in the younger generations.

Brittney Thorne is excited to return to the Kids On Stage Summer Camp for her third year. Brittney graduated from the University of Houston with a Bachelors Degree in Theatre in 2008. Since graduating, she has taught theater to children in after school programs, summer camps, and at Katy Visual and Performing Arts Center where she teaches Pre K theater and directs children's plays. In addition to teaching and directing, Brittney loves acting. Previous productions at Main Street’s Theater for Youth were the touring production of Stuart Little, and A Little House Christmas, and she just finished doing a tour of Boo Hoo Moo with KVPAC. Last year Brittney got married and moved to Katy with her husband. She is looking forward to being back in the city this summer and sharing her love of theater with the kids at camp.

Caroline Turner has taught in all aspects of the Kids On Stage program, including summer camp, Rehearsal and Performance classes, and satellite classes at schools around town. She holds a BA from Rice University in English and Theater. Originally from Dallas, Caroline worked for Dallas Children's Theater and the Alley Theatre. She has been onstage and backstage since age 12 and doesn't plan on stopping anytime soon. She can't wait to make Animalia: Wild Adventures a crazy ride this summer and looks forward to the creativity that will ensue!