STACI
MICHELLE ARMAO
Staci
is a long-time member of Actors Co-op.
She was most recently seen as May in The
Nibroc Trilogy (LAST TRAIN TO NIBROC,
SEE ROCK CITY, and the World Premiere of
GULF VIEW DRIVE), for which she received
an LA Weekly Award. Other Co-op roles
include Fanny in AS IT IS IN HEAVEN (LA
Drama Critics Ensemble Acting
Nomination),
Lydia in ALL MY SONS, Essie in THE
DEVIL’S DISCIPLE, and Clara in EDITH
STEIN. Additionally, Staci co-wrote,
produced, directed, and performed in the
original run of DANCING WITH MY FATHER.
Staci began her performing career as a
dancer and was a member in several
ballet and modern dance companies. She
has danced in numerous musicals,
including THE KING AND I with George
Chakiris/Lee Meriwether (soloist), THE
MOST HAPPY FELLA, ANNIE GET YOUR GUN,
OKLAHOMA, THE WIZ and GUYS AND DOLLS.
TV/Film: THE CAPTAIN, AMERICAN U
(pilot), THE FALLS, STARDUST, EAGLE
AGAINST THE SUN, UNSOLVED MYSTERIES and
scores of short films. An alumnus of
the Act One screenwriting program, Staci
co-wrote the independent short MICHIGAN
SKY, currently riding the film festival
circuit. Staci also produced and
starred in an independent feature
currently in post-production. She is
honored to be working with such an
extraordinary group of women. Thank you
to Jim, Rita and Marianne for all
they’ve done!
Jump to Top
JONAS BASOM
Jonas
Basom is a passionate educator, artist,
consultant, and author. He is a national
presenter in arts and literacy for
schools, organizations, and education
conferences. His hands-on workshops
train teachers how to use drama in all
school subjects to create an optimal
learning environment. In 2003 Jonas was
named the Bravo Award Winner for
Outstanding Arts Specialist of Southern
California. Jonas first appeared on
stage as the hungry crocodile at the age
of six and has been immersed in the
performing arts ever since. He received
outstanding training at world-renown
Seattle Children’s Theatre, and
Roosevelt High School, a national top
ten theatre program. His professional
credits include dozens of productions
for stage, film, television, and radio.
In Los Angeles, Jonas has engaged
hundreds of children at parties and
events as “Kuzu the Klown” and helped
produce and perform traveling theatre
productions for school assemblies. Jonas
is accomplished in acting, pantomime,
puppetry, tap dance, clowning, singing,
improvisation, and voice-over work.
Jonas received his BA in English and
French from Amherst College, and his MA
in Education with Multiple Subject
Teaching Credential from Pepperdine
University. As a teacher, Jonas has
worked with students from preschool to
adult in both private and public
schools. From 1993-2000, Jonas created
and managed the Drama Program at the
prestigious Buckley School. His
curriculum included sequential drama
instruction for every child in grades
K-5, elective courses for middle school,
and annual performances in grades 1-6.
In 1999 Buckley won the Bravo Award for
Outstanding Visual and Performing Arts
School. Since 2000, Jonas has been a
traveling theatre teacher and coach for
Los Angeles Unified School District's
Arts Program. He trains elementary
teachers in standards-based theatre arts
instruction by teaching 12 model lessons
to K-6 students, leading staff
development, and coaching teachers
individually.
Jonas has taught high school students as
a guest artist at numerous schools and
conferences. As program director for The
Media Workshops, Jonas organized and
taught hundreds of high school and
college students from around the country
in media studies seminars at UCLA.
Currently an adjunct professor at
California State University LA, Jonas
instructs future teachers how to use
drama in the classroom. Jonas lives in
Los Angeles with his wife, Susan, and
their two children, Luke and Grace.
Jump to Top
NAOMI CHAN
Naomi,
a native Angeleno, has always dreamed of
being on the stage. She has appeared in
numerous productions in the Los Angeles
area including several at the Actor’s
Co-op, where she was a member for
years. Past productions include
Little Shop of Horrors, The Fantasticks,
God and Shakespeare, Joan La Pucelle,
The Lark, and several others
including Sisters of the Winter
Madrigal, a Beth Henley world
premiere. TV and film: The Theory
of Everything, and a recurring role
as Grace the Maid on The Suite Life
of Zack and Cody (Disney). Thanks
be to God for every opportunity that has
come along. This performance is
dedicated to Dad. I love you, Daddy!
Thanks for all the stories I get to
tell because of you.
Jump to Top
KIMBERLY
CREASMAN
Kimberly
Creasman is a freelance theatre
practitioner and dramatist. She is well
known as a mentor and leader to
Christian artists and pastors. She is
involved in ministry focused on building
spiritual leaders for the Chinese World
- in church, mission, marketplace, and
the arts
She is married with two children
Jump to Top
CRAIG
DETWEILER
Craig
Detweiler, Ph.D., is a filmmaker,
author, and cultural commentator
who has been featured in The New York
Times, CNN, and National Public
Radio.
Craig directs the Reel Spirituality
Institute for The Brehm Center at Fuller
Seminary.
His first book, A Matrix of Meanings:
Finding God in Pop Culture, was a
finalist for the Gold Medallion in
Theology/Doctrine. His next book,
Into the Dark: Seeing the Sacred in the
Top Films of the 21st Century,
arrives in July 2008.
His new documentary, Purple State of
Mind, explores the religious and
political divide in America with humor
and passion (www.purplestateofmind.com).
Films he has written include The Duke
for Disney’s Buena Vista and the comedic
road trip, Extreme Days. His
first doc, Williams Syndrome: A
Highly Musical Species won a Cine
Golden Eagle and the Crystal Heart Award
at the Heartland Film Festival.
Craig is the producer of the 15th annual
City of the Angels Film Festival www.cityofangelsfilmfest.org
and the inaugural Reel Lives Film
Festival (www.reellives.org) held in
conjunction with the World Cancer
Congress in Geneva, Switzerland this
August.
Craig is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of
Davidson College and earned an M.F.A.
from the University of Southern
California’s School of Cinema/TV. He
also holds a Master of Divinity degree
and a Ph.D. in Theology and Culture from
Fuller Theological Seminary.
Craig and his wife, Caroline, live near
Sony Studios with their children, Zoe
and Theo.
Jump to Top
MARLENE
DICKINSON
Marlene
Dickinson is a dancer and choreographer
who has worked at the intersection of
Christianity, dance, and theater, for
over 25 years. As an independent
choreographer, Marlene has developed
several original theater dance pieces to
support the talks of Christian author
and speaker Dr. Lori Salierno, Founder
of Celebrate Life International (www.celebratelife.org).
Marlene has choreographed or performed
in more than 25 musicals and revues for
theaters, colleges, schools and
churches. Favorite shows include
“Hello, Dolly!” “The Music Man” and
“Joseph…” As an actress, she has worked
at Indianapolis’ Indiana Repertory
Theater and Beef and Boards
Dinner Theater, among others, and on
numerous cruise ships throughout the
Caribbean. Marlene has worked on
several extensive tours to the far East,
Europe and Hawaii with Operation
Appreciation, a theatrical outreach
to the U.S. military. She also served
for ten years as Director of Theater
Arts at Church at the Crossing in
Indianapolis where she directed
productions and choreographed new works,
most often drawing on dance as a form of
storytelling. Marlene was a full
scholarship recipient and summa cum
laude graduate of the Northern
Kentucky University Theater performance
program. She has been active in CITA
for 15 years, having served on the
Board, presented regularly, and helped
to coordinate the participation of
several professional dance companies at
our conferences. Marlene lives in the
Atlanta area with her husband, Curtis,
and their children, Lily and Tommy.
Jump to Top
While
a Professor at the University of
Pittsburgh Dr. Gillette Elvgren was head
of the M.F.A. directing program and
staff director for the Three Rivers
Shakespeare Festival. He is co-founder
and resident playwright for Saltworks
Theatre Company in Pittsburgh, PA.,
Gillette Elvgren has been writing for
over thirty years, his plays and film
scripts have been produced by
professional organizations throughout
the United States and Canada. There
have been approximately 8,000
performances of Elvgren scripts. He
teaches Directing, Acting, and Play
and Film writing in the Theatre Arts
Department at Regent University.
Jump to Top
LAURALEE
FARRER
Lauralee
Farrer is the principal filmmaker of
Burning Heart Productions. She is
writer/director of the feature
documentary The Fair Trade, the
award-winning documentary Laundry and
Tosca and the upcoming feature
narrative Praying the Hours.
Freelance writing for humanitarian
organizations took her to Spain when
Franco died, to Kenya during the
droughts of 1981 and 1991, to Somalia
when the war broke out, and to Uganda to
write about early outbreaks of AIDS and
the plight of its orphans. She wrote of
the Sisters of Charity in Ethiopia, was
in Moscow when the 1991 coup took place,
and when Leningrad became St. Petersburg
again. She was in East Germany before
and after the wall went down, in Mexico
City to write about cultures of poverty,
and in U.S. cities like Philadelphia,
Houston, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and
Boston to write about American life. Her
freelance writing provides the material
from which her directing and
screenwriting voice emerges, as does her
public speaking.
Jump to Top
HARVEY JOHNSON
Harvey
is currently Artistic Director of Doma
Productions, an Arts organization based
in Western PA. He earned his B.F.A. in
Acting from Kent State University and
his M.F.A. in directing from Carnegie
Mellon University. Harvey also keeps
himself busy as Chairman of the Board of
Director for Christians In Theatre Arts
(CITA), a national networking
organization. In addition, he is a
freelance director and actor. As an
actor he finds work in numerous local,
regional and national commercials and
industrials. His directing credits
includes directing for professional and
amateur theatre companies including
Saltworks Theatre Company, The Kuntu
Repertory Theatre and The Karamu and
Ensemble Theatres of Cleveland, Ohio.
Harvey’s concern since his association
with CITA has been the spiritual journey
of the artist in which he has worked to
promote both at the Board level and in
several workshops and intensives. He and
his family are members of Sound the
Alarm Ministries, Aliquippa, PA.
Jump to Top
TODD JOHNSON
Todd Johnson is the William K. and
Delores S. Brehm Associate Professor of
Worship, Theology and the Arts. As a
member of the Center for Advanced
Theological Studies faculty, he is the
lead professor in the new PhD
concentration in Worship and Culture.
Johnson has a wide range of experience
in education, ministry, and social
services. Before coming to Fuller, he
served on the faculties of North Park
Theological Seminary and Loyola
University. He has also spent 20 years
in church and campus ministry and has
been involved in various community
projects in and around Chicago’s inner
city.
Johnson is currently working on a book
about theater and theology (coauthoring
with Dale Savidge) that will be part of
the Engaging Culture series
edited by Fuller professors Robert
Johnston and William Dyrness. He is a
member of the North American Academy of
Liturgy, The Academy of Homiletics, the
American Academy of Religion, the
Society for the Study of Christian
Spirituality, and serves as an editorial
board member for Questions Liturgique.
He is also the recipient of a grant
through the Lilly Foundation directing a
project to develop a multimedia resource
for teaching worship at Calvin Institute
of Christian Worship.
Jump to Top
ROBERT K.
JOHNSTON
As
Professor of Theology and Culture at
Fuller Theological Seminary, Dr.
Johnston teaches students how Christians
can best engage movies, culture, and
contemporary fiction. Rob has a B.A.
from Stanford, a B.D. from Fuller and
his Ph.D. (Religion-Theology and
Culture) from Duke University.
His latest books include: Reframing
Theology and Film: New Focus for an
Emerging Discipline (2007);
Useless Beauty: Ecclesiastes through the
Lens of Contemporary Film (2004);
Reel Spirituality: Theology and Film In
Dialogue (2006, second edition);
Finding God in the Movies 33 Films of
Reel Faith (with Catherine Barsotti,
2004).
Jump to Top
KELLY KEATON
Born
and raised in Wisconsin-Go
Packers!
This Cheesehead received undergraduate
(Moorhead State in
Minnesota)
and graduate (UNC-Greensboro) degrees in
Theatre. She was nominated twice for an
Irene Ryan
scholarship award. Favorite roles
include Bev in
Graceland, Ellen in The Art of
Dining and Sister Mary in Sister Mary
Ignatius Explains it all to you. If
variety is the spice of life, this
character actress is pretty spicy. She
was most recently seen in the original
5-woman show Dancing with My Father at
the Actors Co-op in
Hollywood.
Just before that, she played 80-year-old
Italian Mrs. Fremus, 40-year-old
midwest
Karen, and 30- something developmentally
disabled Clara in The Boys Next Door.
Her first role
at Actors Co-op was sassy Southern Butch
in Shooting Stars. Since moving to LA
she has been seen in several national
commercials including,
Buick,
Hallmark, Scrubbing Bubbles and
currently
Comcast,
Round Table Pizza and Lexus hybrid. She
has also worked on several independent
films. Keep an eye out for The Eyes of
Scott Robbins and Back Soon. In her
first major motion picture, she can be
seen scolding
Steve Martin
and Eugene Levy in Cheaper By the Dozen
2.
Jump to Top
LINDA KERNS
Linda
is currently appearing in WICKED at The
Pantages Theatre in Hollywood. Her
previous Broadway credits include NINE:
The Musical, BIG RIVER, the national
companies of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and
LES MISERABLES. She is a member of
Actors Co-op, and recently received the
LA Weekly award for Musical Performance
for her role as The Witch in the Co-op’s
production of INTO THE WOODS. Linda has
done a bunch of other stuff: TV, films,
more theatre, directing theatre, etc.,
teaches singing at UCLA, and is thrilled
to once again be working with these
talented ladies.
Jump to Top
JILL LINCOLN
Jill Lincoln, M.A., is an assistant
professor in the Department of Theater,
Film, and Television, at Azusa Pacific
University, where she instructs acting
classes, on-camera classes, and directs
productions such as the Hollywood
Showcase and an original sitcom.
During the last twenty years, Lincoln
has worked in regional theater,
Broadway, film, and television, as well
as instructed at several universities
and schools. In addition, Lincoln
co-founded and acted as artistic
director of the Brennan/Gould Acting
Studio in Los Angeles. Her mission is to
train aspiring young artists in the
technique and skills needed to become
transformational actors and better the
future of American theater as well as
film and television.
Jump to Top
Tom
Long is the director, playwright, and
chief storyteller for Friends of the
Groom Christian Theater Company based in
Cincinnati, Ohio. He has been a
performer for Public Educational
Television, and has served as a
consultant in youth work and theater for
the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio,
the Cincinnati Library, and a number of
schools and social agencies throughout
Ohio. Tom has an M.A. in theatre from
the University of Cincinnati. His
religious plays and musicals have been
published by Baker's Plays, Chorister’s
Guild, Hal Leonard Publishing, Hope
Publishing, and the National Christian
Education Council of Great Britain. His
work has won the Christians in Theatre
Arts sketch writing and one-act play
writing competitions, two Telly Awards,
and a Dove Award nomination.
Jump to Top
CHRISTI
MARSICO
Christi
Marsico was born and raised in the
grizzly bear/rodeo country of Park
Country,
Wyoming which is an hour and a
half outside
Yellowstone National Park. Being
the oldest of four children and the
daughter of a taxidermist, her big
sister abilities enabled her to
orchestrate neighborhood plays and film
stories of great imagination on the
family video
camera, casting and directing
family, friends and pets. After pursuing
her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama from
the University of Montana, Christi
toured the United States in the
Montana
Repertory's production of "It's
A Wonderful Life," twice. Then
came the shake down of
Detroit.
Christi received her Masters of Fine
Arts from Wayne State University's
Hilberry Theatre program, and then
packed her bags for
Los Angeles.
While living in LA, she became enamored
with writing and all the adventures it
can offer. She has written three
one-woman shows while pursuing other
acting endeavors. Christi is currently
residing in
Casper, Wyoming working as a
writer for the arts and entertainment
beat at the
Casper Journal. Beyond baking
cakes and crafting, Christi is an avid
supporter of karaoke and
roller skating.
She is honored to be a part of such a
talented and gifted group of ladies and
is thrilled to be back rocking and
rolling in
California for "Dancing with My
Father." Chaka Khan!
Jump to Top
PRIS MCDONALD
Pris
McDonald is the Executive/Artistic
Director of Master Arts Theatre, a
community theatre located in Grand
Rapids, Michigan. Master Arts provides
performance and educational
opportunities to both youth and adults,
and brings wholesome entertainment and
challenging drama to the entire family.
Pris taught on the college level for
many years, and then helped organize
this company which is dedicated to
quality drama consistent with a
Christian worldview. Master Arts now
operates a four-show production season,
touring groups, mime, dance and drama
classes, and an active summer program
for youth.
Especially interested in using the
dramatic arts and readers' theater in
the church, Pris has been a leader in
CITA's Church Drama Festivals and
Intensives for numerous years. She often
teaches at conferences and is a regular
clinician at the national Lillenas Drama
Conference each February.
Jump to Top
COURTNEAY
SANDERS
Courtneay
Sanders is the Director of Theatre at
Oral Roberts University in Tulsa,
Oklahoma. She received her MFA in Acting
from The University of Arkansas.
Regional credits include: “Theresa
Bedell” in Boy Gets Girl,
“Olivia” in Twelfth Night,
“Maxine” in The Night of the Iguana,
“Lady Capulet” in Romeo and Juliet,
“Casey” in Anton in Show Business,
“Gwendolyn Fairfax” in The
Importance of Being Ernest, and
others. She has also worked with
Shakespeare and Co, Dallas Shakespeare,
and TheatreSquared in various workshop
settings. Courtneay is a founding member
of The Playhouse Theatre, a new theatre
company in Tulsa, Oklahoma. While at ORU,
Courtneay directs and teaches acting
techniques in Meisner, Shakespeare,
Chekhov, Hagen, Brecht, Pinter, and
Viewpoints.
BART MCHENRY
Bart McHenry is the Chair of the Azusa
Pacific University, Department of
Theater, Film and Television and also
serves as the department's musical
theatre specialist, directing a musical
every semester. He has directed over
twenty different college and regional
theater productions and is often called
on for instructing master classes on
musical theatre auditioning. As a
performer, Mr. McHenry has appeared
regionally in many musicals. Mr.
McHenry graduated from the University of
Southern California B.F.A. Acting
Conservatory and earned his M.F.A. in
Musical Theater from U.C. Irvine.
Jump to Top
KIM MESSER
Kim
Messer is a writer, editor and creative
product developer. Through publishing,
she has the chance to encourage
and teach writers and drama teams. She
has written and compiled several books
and regularly helps develop and write
church musicals. She has a passion for
excellence in drama ministry, and
recently has begun to develop visual
resources for the church.
She worked as Product Line Manager for
Lillenas Publishing Company for nine
years before becoming a free-lance
consultant and writer. Prior to that,
she spent time on stage and backstage,
and worked with Nashville Children's
Theatre and Theatre for Young America,
in Kansas City, MO. She currently
resides in Baltimore, MD.
Jump to Top
DALE SAVIDGE
Dr. Dale Savidge was instrumental in
founding CITA in the mid 1980s, and was
elected its first President; he held the
presidency until his appointment as
Executive Director in 1994. Dale
Savidge earned two Masters degrees in
theatre (and studid
at Kent State University)
and a PhD in English and Theatre from
the University of South Carolina. After
teaching collegiate theatre at the
undergraduate and graduate levels for
fifteen years, in 1996 Dale launched
Associates and Savidge, an arts
management organization for professional
Christian actors. He resides in
Greenville, SC with his wife Tammy, a
registered nurse, and their three
children: Timothy (married to Maggie),
Patricia and Olivia.
Jump to Top
PETER SENKBEIL
Peter
serves as Director of Theatre Activities
and Associate Professor of Theatre at
Concordia University in Irvine, CA.
He holds a Ph.D. in Theatre and Drama
from Northwestern University, where he
wrote his dissertation on professional
theatres run by Christians; he is
currently at work on a book on the same
subject. Peter teaches theatre history
and literature, and directs both
mainstage and touring plays. Peter is a
charter member of CITA and a former
chair of its Board of Directors from
1994-1997. Peter is also a member of the
Association for Theatre in Higher
Education; has served as a circuit
coordinator and play adjudicator for the
Kennedy Center/American College Theatre
Festival; and he worked for two years as
the artistic director of Trinity House
Theatre, a community theatre run by
Christians in Livonia MI.
Jump to Top
LIN SEXTON
Lin
Sexton has for 29 years served as
Director of Worship Arts at the First
Baptist Church of Modesto, California
where her duties include drama ministry,
writing, editing, video production,
directing theatre, mentoring performers
and creating worship opportunities
through the arts. Currently she is
working on a three-year arts outreach
project for the Christian churches in
Slovenia, utilizing arts teams from her
church as they recruit and train arts
teams in that Central European nation.
Lin has written, staged and toured
dozens of dramas and musical theatre
productions, and her material has been
performed in the USA, Canada, England,
New Zealand and Australia. A
contributing author to the Maranatha
Worship Bible, Lin currently serves as
Worship Leader Magazine’s drama
columnist. She has penned magazine
articles, music and gift books and
serves as a professional ghost writer.
“As a way of getting out of the four
walls of the church,” she says, “I have
a second, much loved job as a writing
therapist, working with cancer
survivors.”
Jump to Top
ROBERT SMYTH
Producing
Artistic Director and performer
celebrated his 30th year with Lamb's
Players in 2006. He has directed over
100 productions for LPT, including
Detective Story, Edith Stein, Joseph and
the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, A
Woman of No Importance, The Secret
Garden, Joyful Noise (here and
Off-Broadway), The Great Divorce,
Hamlet, Metamorphoses, and Into the
Woods. He is the creator and director of
the theatre's annual holiday
celebration, An American Christmas, at
the Hotel Del. The founding member of
our Resident Ensemble, his performance
credits include Damien, The Boys Next
Door, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Sleuth,
Cyrano de Bergerac, Uncle Vanya, My Fair
Lady, 1776, Private Lives, and Art.
Jump to Top
JOCELYN SLUKA
Jocelyn
Sluka is a full-time performer, workshop
leader, and administrator with Friends
of the Groom Theater Company based in
Cincinnati, Ohio. In her thirty years as
a professional actor and singer, she has
worked with a variety of regional and
educational theaters including the
Hollywood Free Theatre, "The Stephen
Foster Story," and in touring
productions for US troops stationed in
Germany. In addition to performing with
Friends of the Groom and teaching acting
classes, she appears in regional
commercials and industrial films, and is
a member of AFTRA. Jocelyn has a B.A.
in Theatre from the University of
Kentucky.
Jump to Top
CLARE SERA
Clare
Sera was the Director of the improvised
comedy show, Theatresports at The Sak
Theatre Comedy Lab and Drama Director
for Northland Community (mega)Church
before moving from Florida to Los
Angeles. She turned her improvisation
skills toward movie pitches and
currently has three screenplays in
development at Warner Brothers and
Paramount.
Jump to Top
MARCIA
WHITEHEAD
Marcia
Whitehead was born in Cincinnati, Ohio,
and grew up in the suburbs of Los
Angeles, California. She currently lives
in the metropolitan New York area,
working exclusively with world-renowned
vocal instructor, Franco Iglesias.
Marcia is an award-winning lirico-spinto
soprano, whose vocal gifts were
discovered after her college experience
in the dramatic arts. She was involved
with music at an early age, but her
serious pursuit of opera commenced after
a choral concert where she stepped in at
the last minute for an ailing soloist
and an enthusiastic audience member
offered to sponsor professional
training. Subsequently, her private
vocal study has included training with
Kathleen Darragh of Los Angeles, and
Maestro Franco Iglesias of New York
City. Her operatic coaches have included
Greg Buchhalter and Luis Menendez of the
Metropolitan Opera and international
operatic soprano, Juliana Gondek and Ann
Baltz of OperaWorks. Additionally,
Marcia has studied stage movement with
academy award-winning actress Alfre
Woodard and language arts with Carmen
Brunol.
Marcia was thrilled to perform an aria,
composed specifically for her voice, as
a guest artist in a production of "Romeo
and Juliet," performed at the Kennedy
Center’s Opera House. She was also
invited to be a guest artist, and sing
the role of Abigail in The Crucible
for the California State University
at Fullerton, California. In addition,
Marcia participated in recording the
sound tracks for Hanna-Barbera’s
Jetsons: The Movie and The Easter
Story.
In an Opera Guild of Southern California
competition, she was recognized as an
unusual talent, as she performed arias,
art songs, oratorio selections,
recitatives, duets, trios and ensembles
in a rigorous contest, for which she was
a finalist and award winner.
Marcia’s years in the professional
chorus of California’s Opera Pacific
gave her several opportunities to sing
“bit” roles and occasionally serve as
rehearsal cover for roles lead roles in
Der Fliegende Hollander, Manon
Lescaut, Un Ballo in Maschera and
Cavalleria Rusticana. On two
occasions, while rehearsing Tosca
and Aida, Marcia was heard by
general directors David DiChiera and
Patrick Veitch (respectively) who both
encouraged her to pursue work on the
world’s operatic stages. Though Mr.
Veitch was aware that Marcia had come to
opera late, having already begun a
career in an unrelated field, he
pronounced her voice “glorious in the
extreme” and told Marcia “you have the
voice for which the entire operatic
world awaits.”
Marcia is the subject of the
award-winning documentary film,
Laundry and Tosca, which has been
honored in international film festivals
in Europe, Great Britain and the United
States. Marcia was presented the award
for “Best Music” in Milan for her work
in the film. After experiencing a
profound encounter with the Lord, Marcia
has chosen to focus all her musical
energies with a heart for Christian
ministry. In addition to worship
concerts, she enjoys presenting both
arias and worship music in a faith-based
ministry, born out of the film
Laundry and Tosca which is a poetic
examination of what it means to follow a
calling and the abundant living that can
result. Ministry opportunities have
taken Marcia to Washington DC, New York,
California, Oregon, New Mexico, New
Jersey, Idaho, Texas and Utah, where
Laundry and Tosca was presented at
the Windrider Forum at the Sundance Film
Festival.
Marcia has performed several classical
concert works with choral societies and
regional orchestras in California. Her
concert repertoire includes works by
Verdi, Mozart, Bach, Vivaldi, Faure,
Saint-Saens, Britten and Rossini.
Marcia’s sacred repertoire includes
music composed by contemporary Christian
artists and gospel in addition to
classical sacred works. Marcia has sung
with regional opera companies in Oregon,
California, New York, and New Jersey and
her operatic repertoire includes
Aida, Andrea Chenier, Cavalleria
Rusticana, The Crucible, The Consul,
Manon Lescaut, Tosca and Un
Ballo in Maschera.
Jump to Top