Aisha Abdelmula, BS, 2014
After NYU, Aisha acquired an EdM in Student Affairs Administration to promote better access of underrepresented people in higher education. She uses her creative sprit to engage students as a social justice educator at Columbia University and is a writer, model, and personal stylist when she finds the time.
Isaiah Bent, MA, 2016
Isaiah continues to teach theatre at PS 206 in Rego Park, Queens. He loves his job and takes pride in presenting a yearly Shakespeare production with his fifth graders.
Andrea Bertola Shaw, MA, 2010
Andrea is currently the Artistic Director of the New York Film Shop. Her team has won numerous awards for their short films at national film festivals. She is currently directing a documentary that will be released in 2019. In addition to her film work, Andrea continues to work as a freelance website designer.
Samantha Bessudo Drucker, BS, 1994
Samantha is an image consultant, columnist, lifestyle personality, speaker, host and actress who uses dramatic constructs and humor with her clients, readership and audience. She is currently developing new media projects.
Micaela Blei, MA, 2004; PhD, 2018
Micaela does a lot of personal storytelling lately—including Moth shows, her solo storytelling show, an episode of the Panoply podcast “Family Ghosts” last year. She just finished her PhD in Ed Theatre, and she is the Director of Community and Education Programs at The Moth.
Brooke Boertzel, MA, 2005
Brooke has worked as Director of Education at New York City Children’s Theater, formerly named Making Books Sing, since 2007. She is also on the board of the NYC Arts and Education Roundtable. This summer, Brooke is transitioning into consulting work, specializing in curriculum development, arts integration, and trauma-informed training.
Tova Bomzer Halpern, MA, 2009
After working for 2 years as an independent teaching artist, Tova founded Fresh Theatre Arts, LLC, an educational theatre company whose mission is to introduce, educate and encourage youth to participate in performing arts programming while strengthening their creativity, self-esteem, and social skills. Fresh Theatre Arts is currently serving communities throughout New Jersey.
Steve Borowka, MA, 2002
Steve is the Chair of the Performing Arts Department and Theater teacher at Friends Seminary a K-12 school in NYC. He also owns and operates Acting Manitou—a theater camp in Oakland, Maine.
Jenna Briedis, BS, 2014
Jenna currently works at Warner Brothers in Domestic Television Distribution. She plans to pursue a lifelong career in the Film and Television industry.
Cheryl Brumley, MA, 2017
Upon graduation from Ed Theatre, Cheryl accepted a position with Campbellsville University as a full-time faculty member teaching theatre and is happy to report the completion of her first year!
Kristopher Casey, MA, 2018
Kris is a brand new graduate and is currently the Center Director for the NY Kids Club, Battery Park.
Sarah Chichester, MA, 2013
Sarah has directed shows Off-Broadway, Off-Off Broadway, regionally, and internationally in Israel since finishing her MA. She’s spent the past year teaching as an Instructor of Record at Southern Illinois University.
Amber Grace Collins-Ives, BS, 2015
Amber is going on her third year out in Los Angeles working as an Actress, Writer, and Production Designer.
Andrew Coopman, MA, 2015
After graduating from NYU and doing the Dublin Study Abroad program, Andrew moved to Seattle, Washington where he works as a full-time director and teaching artist for many of the major local theaters, including Village Theater, 5th Avenue Theater, and Seattle Children’s Theater. Up next, Andrew will be attending the University of Washington to get his MFA in Directing through the Professional Director Training Program.
Liana Costable, BS, 2016
Liana is a proud member of Actors Equity with credits such as Sally in the 1st national tour of A Charlie Brown Christmas, Jenny in Theatreworks USA’s national tour of Click Clack Moo and Lucy in A Music Box Christmas at the Hershey Theater. In between performance contracts, Liana works as a teaching assistant at Broadway Workshop.
Jessica Cressionnie, MA, 2017
Jessica is finishing her first year teaching elementary theatre at P.S. 94 The Henry Longfellow in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. This summer, she will be returning to Camp Tel Noar in New Hampshire as the Head of Drama where she and her staff will produce three musicals in seven weeks.
Jeanine DeFalco, MA, 2012
Jeanine is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow with the Army Research Laboratory, Human Research & Engineering Directorate, assigned to the United States Military Academy. Research includes motivational feedback in game-based training, and creative reasoning on accelerated learning. Jeanine received a PhD in Psychology, Cognitive Studies (concentration: Intelligent Technologies) from Columbia University, Fall 2017.
Jim DeVivo, MA, 2001; PhD, 2018
Jim is Director of Education at Writers Theatre of NJ, part-time theatre teacher at Lacey Township High School, and adjunct instructor of TYA for the Program in Educational Theatre. He is researching the history of youth playwriting in the US and abroad. Jim and Bridget (MA, 2001) live down the Jersey shore with three children.
Gaspare DiBlasi, MA, 2014
Gaspare currently teaches K-5 Theater at P.S.217 in Brooklyn, New York.
Jason Diminich, BS, 2005
Jason is the Education Director for Think 360 Arts for Learning in Denver, Colorado.
Sheng-Tao Fan, MA, 2008
Sheng-Tao has been working at National Taiwan Normal University where he mainly teaches Theatre in Education as well as Arts and Business Cooperation. Dr. Fan is published in international journals such as The Journal of Drama and Theatre Education in Asia. Dr. Fan is so thankful for the NYU Educational Theatre community and faculty.
Diane Feldman, MA, 2001
In addition to operating her educational musical theatre company (year 32), Diane is completing her seventh year as the award-winning Director of Drama, Musical Theatre & Vocal Performance at de Toledo High School in West Hills, California. Several of her productions have received Outstanding Production Awards from both The Jerry Herman Awards and National Youth Arts.
Mitalene Fletcher, MA, 1997
Mitalene earned her doctorate at Steinhardt in International Development Education in 2008. Since that time, she has been developing executive education programs at Harvard Graduate School of Education and volunteering as a mediator in a Boston municipal court.
Christine Fuchs, MA, 2012
Christine is a full-time theatre Instructor at the University of West Georgia in Carrollton, Georgia. She earned her MFA in Acting at Northern Illinois University in 2016.
Nicole Gebler, MA, 2016
Nicole is currently teaching grades K-5 at Riverhead Charter School on Long Island. RCS takes great pride in the arts and is pleased to have Nicole on board as they expand their theater program to middle school and a brand new high school starting in the year 2020.
Lisa Goldberg, MA, 2004
Since graduating from NYU, Lisa has been working at Trevor Day School where she serves as Director of Auxiliary Programs. She oversees the after school program, music conservatory, and camp. She also assists in helping choreograph the 4th and 5th grade musical and concerts. She is happily married with two daughters ages 9 and 7.
Honey Goodenough, MA, 2005
Honey is the Resident Teaching Artist at Puppet Showplace Theater near Boston, Massachusetts. She founded Good Hearted Entertainment and tours an original puppet shows, including a literacy based puppet show called Word Play throughout schools and theaters.
Robert Reid Goodson, MA, 2013
Robert is honored to be named the A.C. Reynolds High School Teacher of the Year.
Megan Ibarra, MA, 2016
Megan has been teaching theatre at an elementary school, building the theatre program to include: multicultural theatre, story drama, play writing, Shakespeare, and puppetry. She has enjoyed building relationships with students and seeing them grow in speaking skills, confidence, and expressing themselves.
Laura Josepher, MA, 1990
Laura recently directed Godspell for the American Musical Theatre Academy (AMTA). With partner, David Sisco, she runs ContemporaryMusicalTheatre.com, a subscription site for musical theatre songs. Last year they published the book, Mastering College Musical Theatre Auditions: Sound Advice for the Student, Teacher, and Parent available on Amazon.
Emily Kaczmarek, BS, 2012
Emily is a playwright and librettist. She has developed work at theatres across the country and held residencies at the O’Neill, Goodspeed, Orchard Project, and SPACE on Ryder Farm. She is a 2018 Jonathan Larson Grant winner and a Kleban Prize finalist, and is engaged to her writing partner, composer Zoe Sarnak.
Jennifer Kapitan, MA, 2005
Jennifer has been teaching elementary school since the fall of 2005. She currently teaches at PS 506 in Brooklyn.
Sobha Kavanakudiyil, MA, 2013
Sobha is on faculty in the Graduate Program in Educational Theatre at The City College of New York. During her sabbatical this year, she was accepted into the Fulbright Specialist Program, traveling to South Korea and Puebla, Mexico, hosted by Instituto Municipal Arte Y Cultura sharing her love of devising theatre and community building!
Britt Shubow Keshner, MA, 2009
Britt is a full-time drama teacher in Orange, New Jersey. She teaches at Oakwood Avenue Community School and Cleveland Street School. She teaches students from kindergarten through seventh grade. In the summer, Britt is an acting, dance, and vocal instructor at Performers Theater Workshop in Maplewood, New Jersey.
Robin Levenson, PhD, 2007
Robin’s book, Acting Chekhov in Translation: 4 Plays, 100 Ways will be published by Peter Lang International Publishers, Inc. later this year. It was conceived & edited from her dissertation, for which committee members Deborah Borisoff, Nan Smithner, Joanna Rotte, and Lowell Swortzell helped her develop the idea and initial musings.
Elyse Lewis, MA, 2016
Since graduating from NYU, Elyse has been teaching in the NYC DOE. She currently teaches drama to high school students (grades 9-12) at Bronx Center for Science and Mathematics.
Dara K. Marsh, MA, 2007
After completing her MA at NYU, Dara went on to receive her MPA from Baruch College. Though a lover of theater, Dara is currently focused on writing and performing poetry, especially from her two books, Black Man, Black Woman, Black Child and Casualty of Love.
Steven McIntosh, MA, 2008
Steven was a featured speaker at the REMIX Summit NYC this past spring sharing how the education department at BAM is using tech to reach new audiences. He recently joined the Board of Directors of the Jim Henson Foundation.
Christina Neubrand, MA, 2007
Christina is currently a Community School Director in Brooklyn, a Professor at BMCC in the Theatre, Speech and Communications department, and is launching her own public speaking coaching business.
Kimberly Poppiti, PhD, 2003
Kimberly has a new book coming out this year with Routledge, A History of Equestrian Drama in the United States: Hippodrama’s Pure Air and Fire. She also won a second Greggs Award from the USITT for her 2017 article “Hamilton’s Turntable and Ring Stage.”
Sarah Ripper, MA, 2013
Since graduation, Sarah taught in Brooklyn at Acting Out! and then moved to California to go back to school to receive an MFA in Directing from California State University, Fullerton (CSUF). She has taught at CSUF as well as Orange County School of the Arts, and is the Associate Artistic Director of a new theatre company in Orange County called The Wayward Artist.
Norah Roderick, MA, 2010
Norah continues her work as a teacher and administrator in the afterschool and camp division of LREI in the West Village. Her daughter Juniper will be two this fall and teaches Norah new things every day!
Marisol Santana, MA, 2008
Marisol is the founder of TESOL Drama, an organization providing workshops in New York, Los Angeles, Paris, and Florence instructing teachers how to use drama in the English and EFL classrooms both domestically and abroad (www.tesoldrama.org). Marisol is also a Professor of English at New Jersey City University.
Heidi Schoenenberger, BS, 2011
Heidi was awarded the 2018 Tom Behm Award from Southeastern Theatre Conference. This award will support her to present her research on the impact of live performance for elementary school students in Auckland, New Zealand at the 9th Annual International Drama in Education Research Institute.
Shannon Stoddard, MA, 2018
Shannon is teaching creative drama and directing/choreographing the Children’s Musical Theatre Company with the Community School of the Arts in Fort Smith, Arkansas. She is working with a wide range of students—from preschoolers through high school!
Robert Thaxton-Stevenson, BS, 2013; MA, 2014
Robert is a Brooklyn-based theatre maker and educator. He has worked as a performer or designer with Trusty Sidekick Theater Company, Spellbound Theatre, Bluelaces Theater Company, and Atlantic Pacific Theatre. He is a Teaching Artist with the New Victory Theater, New York Theater Workshop, and the Met Opera Guild.
Kari-Noor Thompson, BS, 2008
A recent graduate of the Ed Theatre Program, Kari-Noor will begin his teaching career as an International Teacher, teaching English and Theatre at an organization is Hangzhou, China in the fall of 2018.
Nicole (Losurdo) Upton, MA, 2005
As Director of Partnerships and Professional Learning at Ingenuity in Chicago, Nicole designs, develops, and delivers 40+ professional learning experiences each year for arts and cultural organizations, teaching artists, and teachers. She develops sector-wide strategies build capacity, strengthen leadership and facilitate collaboration within and among arts organizations and schools.
Christina Zagarino, BS, 2007
Christina lives in Santa Cruz, CA with her husband and cat and is working on kid and family products with Google. She’ll be welcoming her first baby in summer 2018.