ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF
►John Mayer, Principal
►Tracy Goodell-Pelletier, Dean of Students
►Adam Friedman, Facility & Marketing Manager
►Elizabeth Macha, Administrative Assistant

Artistic, Academic & Administrative Team
 

DENISE ABERCROMBIE, ACTING
dabercrombie@eastconn.org
 

Denise Abercrombie is currently directing John Surowiecki's award winning verse drama My Nose and Me at UConn's Nafe Katter Theatre. She is a founding member of Stage Left Ensemble, which aspires to create socially committed plays and performances. She performed her original one-woman show The Most Dangerous Animal in the World under the direction of Michael Bradford at the Avery Point Playhouse in 2002. She has performed throughout the state, including appearances in Stories I Ain't Told Nobody Yet at The Spirit of Broadway, Olaudah Equiano and the Atlantic World at Mystic Seaport, and Vital Signs at theYork Correctional Institute. Denise's writing has appeared in Kalliope, The Blue Collar Review, Phoebe, Common Ground Review, Radiance, Connecticut Review, Fireweed, The Minnesota Review, Seeds of Fire: Contemporary Poetry from the Other U.S.A., Struggle, The Lumberyard Journal, and Writing on the Edge. Denise teaches English, creative writing, and theater at E.O. Smith High School and has directed several student productions, including You Can't Take It With You, Our Town, Le Bourgeoise Gentilhomme, Up the Down Staircase, The Lottery, EYES WIDE OPEN, The Complete Works of the Incomplete, and A Not-So-Silent Tribute To Marcel Marceau. Denise has taught Creative Writing and Expressive Writing in Performance at the University of Connecticut and Quinebaug Valley Community College. Denise holds a master’s in Theatre Studies from Wesleyan University and teacher certification in both theater and English.

DANIEL BOISVERT, AUDIO/VIDEO & PHOTO SHOP
dboisvert@eastconn.org

Dan spent 13 years working for Northeast Utilities and Dominion Nuclear Energy as a creative specialist in charge of video production. He has been enhancing his video production skills since 1986, after graduating from Lyndon State College with a bachelor’s degree in Communications. In 1988, Dan worked as a production assistant for Castle Rock Entertainment during the filming of Lord of the Flies. After moving back East, he was hired by Colony Cable in Rhode Island, where he was named director of photography and senior editor in the video production division.
 

AMY REUSCH CHIBEAU, DANCE & VIDEO

Amy Reusch Chibeau was trained in ballet by principals and soloists of New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, The Joffrey Ballet, The Royal Ballet, The Kirov (Maryinski), The Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, and others. She is familiar with the influences of Balanchine, Cecchetti and Vaganova on dance pedagogy. She studied Modern Dance with members of Martha Graham Dance Company, Merce Cunningham Dance Company and Jose Limon Dance Company, and also studied in the pre-professional program at New Jersey Ballet; summer intensive at North Carolina School for the Arts; and as BFA Dance Major at SUNY Purchase; as well as taking classes at David Howard Dance Center, New York Conservatory of Dance, STEPS, The Rock School of the Pennsylvania Ballet, Ruth Page Foundation and Hartford Ballet. Knowledge of dance informed work as company videographer for Pennsylvania Ballet, Ballet Chicago, Doris Humphrey Society, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, and many independent choreographers. With her video work, clients won National Endowment for the Arts grants, Pew Charitable Trust Fellowships, Guggenheim Fellowship, New York State Council on the Arts Fellowships, Choo San Goh Choreography Award, National Initiative to Preserve American Dance grant. Amy also did videowork for The George Balanchine Foundation Interpreters Archive with Kansas City Ballet, New York City Ballet, Dallas/Fort Worth Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theater, Miami City Ballet. After moving to Eastern Connecticut and having a child, Amy has returned to her earlier roots of teaching ballet. She previously taught advanced ballet and choreographed for Ballets Des Jeunes (Philadelphia), Miss Kelly’s Dance and Drama, Mansfield Community Center’s Nutcracker.

DAN COYLE, IMPROV/ACTING

Dan has worked in theater for the past 40 years. During his acting career, Dan has performed in more than 100 shows in Connecticut and New York. Most recently, Dan performed at the Ivoryton Playhouse in Inherit the Wind. Dan has done radio voice-overs and commercials, including ones for te Greater Hartford Open, Husky Hoops, and the state lottery. Dan's film career includes Cry Uncle and Kids Gold, which was on PBS. Locally, Dan has taught at the Manchester after-school program and at Enfield's Enrico Fermi High School as the assistant drama teacher. Currently, Dan teachers at Arts at the Capitol Theater (ACT) and directs shows throughout Connecticut, including Parish Hill High School.

RUTH DAGG, SINGING/VOICE
rdagg@eastconn.org

Ruth Dagg operates a private voice and piano studio from which she has had several award-winning students. She has taught at Manchester Community College as well as directed and accompanied numerous choirs and vocal groups. She is currently the soprano section leader for the Hartford Chorale Chamber Singers, vocal soloist for a regional music series and is assistant worship leader for International Students, Inc.

BILL DOUGAL, DRAWING/ART
bdougal@eastconn.org

Bill Dougal earned his BFA from the University of Hartford’s Hartford Art School in 1973. He earned CT State Teachers Certification. He has taught all types of art to all age groups. Teaching venues have included MCTC, TLC, QVCTC, ALC, and NFA. The CT Art Teachers association nd the CT Teen Librarian association have had him make presentations. At a national caricature convention (NCN) he was voted into the top ten. The CT Art Directors Club awarded him a prize for outdoor advertising design. As a freelance illustrator, he has had work published in The Valley Book, The Hartford Courant, The CT Business Journal, and numerous advertising projects. As a caricaturist, he is busy drawing for private parties, business promotions and gifts. Musical Performance acts are outlined on www.dougalmusic.net. He has acted and produced video productions. His multi-disciplinary experience in the arts supplements his teaching of the visual arts. Bill believes that art is very important part of a student’s education. Facilitating skills of pre-visualization, planning, creative thinking and translating ideas to paper are his specialty. Bill endeavors to offer pupils a diverse selection of projects utilizing different mediums and approaches.

SANDRA EVANS-ABBOTT, ACTING/DIRECTING
seabbott@eastconn.org

Sandra Evans-Abbott is a theatre artist with a wide and varied background in the Arts. She is an acting and vocal coach with extensive knowledge of dialects for the stage. She has performed in over 12 states as an actress and singer with companies such as the Wisconsin Shakespeare Festival, Hutchinson Repertory Theatre, Minnesota Repertory Theatre, Company One, and the Nutmeg Summer theatre. Sandra is a trained stage makeup artist whose makeup designs include a live recreation of the Thomas Hooker statue at the Old State House in Hartford, Connecticut, done for the 1999 UConn Basketball team’s victory parade. She has also worked as a TV makeup artist for ABC news. Sandra is an instructor of acting at Eastern Connecticut State University where she has served as a director for a variety of productions. She has been working with young theatre students for over 15 years.

ADAM FRIEDMAN, Musical Theater Instructor, Facility and Marketing Manager and Director of the Capitol Theater Arts Academy
afriedman@eastconn.org

Adam has taught and directed performing arts programs for the past 20 years. He has also led youth and adult theater for over 20 years, has acted in dozens of productions, and directed nearly 100 musicals, plays, concerts, and variety shows. He is currently the Facility and Marketing Manager for Arts at the Capitol Theater (ACT) in Willimantic and Director of the Capitol Theater Arts Academy. Adam was the founding director of East Haddam’s Summer Theater and directed their productions for three seasons. He has worked with many different school and community groups, including Simsbury High School, East Haddam’s Nathan Hale-Ray High School, Wallingford’s Second Stage Theater, and groups across Connecticut. Adam sits on the Board of Directors for The Spirit of Broadway Theater in Norwich. Through voice and acting lessons, Adam has helped many aspiring student performers prepare for the stage. An active member of The New England Theater Conference, Music Educators National Conference, and the Connecticut Coalition for Arts Education, Adam is a former broadcaster who started his radio career at WICH/WCTY in Norwich. He studied radio, television, film, and theater at Temple University.

JANE GLENN, SPECIAL EDUCATION

Raised in a household that combined the best of both her Chilean and American heritages, Jane Glenn is very proud to be working as a Special Educator of the full academic day student program at ACT. Jane received her degree in Latin American Studies from The University of Connecticut and Masters of Science in Special Education at Southern Connecticut State University. Jane worked as a bilingual special educator for the Windham Public Schools for seven years prior to her position at ACT. She has lived in and traveled extensively throughout Latin America and Spain , and finds that unique experience of ACT is the culmination of her varied interests. Senorita Glenn feels privileged to work with young people who share her passion for the performing arts. When not teaching, she enjoys spending time in the great outdoors.

TRACY GOODELL-PELLETIER

Tracy Goodell-Pelletier is the Dean of Students for Arts at the Capitol Theater, and for as long as she can remember, knew she would be an educator. Tracy began her career as an English teacher in the Howard County, Maryland and Ellington, Connecticut public school systems. After ten years in the classroom, Tracy had the opportunity to fulfill her professional goal of working as a high school guidance counselor at Lyman Memorial High School in Lebanon, CT. Working in this capacity allowed her to make diverse and varied connections with students, staff and parents. Establishing these relationships and seeking out ways to assist and encourage each and every student is what she enjoys most about her profession. Tracy holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Secondary English Education from the University of Delaware, and a Master of Education degree in School Counseling from Loyola. Currently, she is pursuing a Sixth Year degree in School Administration at Sacred Heart University. In her free time, Tracy enjoys running with her training partner, Jake, her yellow Labrador retriever. She and her husband also enjoy camping and traveling.

BARBARA PFISTER GREENBAUM
bgreenbaum@eastconn.org

          After a twenty-five year business career that included Real Estate, Advertising, Public Relations and Special Event Coordination, Barbara Pfister Greenbaum returned to her roots as a creative writer, and shifted her vocation to education. She received a Master’s in Secondary Education in 2003 from St. Joseph College, with Certifications in English and Social Studies, and a Masters in Fine Art from the University of Southern Maine, Stonecoast, in fiction in 2005. She earned her B.A. in English Literature from the University of Hartford.
          Currently, Barbara serves as a Writer in Residence and Interdistrict grant coordinator for EASTCONN in Willimantic, Connecticut. She coordinates Successful Journeys, a grant that helps high school freshmen make a more successful transition from middle school by providing learning experiences in leadership, time management, goal setting and writing. She serves as co-coordinator of a grant called New Images that marries the technology of digital photography with creative writing for ninth to twelfth grade students. Plainfield, Stafford, Killingly, Coventry, Norwich, Bloomfield, Woodstock and Windham are the districts that participate in these grants. In addition, Barbara develops writing activities for other Interdistrict grant operating in districts throughout eastern Connecticut, and she teaches fiction writing at the Arts at the Capital Theater magnet high school in Willimantic.
          As a writer, Barbara has served as the editor of the Hog River Review, (The University of Hartford), editor and contributor of The Green Thumb Print, and Assistant Editor of Sunfish Magazine. Her poetry and fiction has appeared in several literary publications, including The Underwood Review. Her short story “The Breaks” won a second place prize for fiction in the 2006 Connecticut Author’s and Publisher’s Association fiction contest. Currently, she is working on her first novel and a collection of short stories.

ANDREW GUTT

Andrew comes from a diverse background having worked backstage in multiple facets of the arts from theater and live music to corporate events. He has served as deck crew and stage manager at numerous venues including the Webster Theater and CREC's Theater of the Performing Arts in Hartford. Andrew has designed lighting for tour stops of national recording artists including Chris Botti, Acoustic Alchemy, Spyro Gyra and Staind. Locally, Andrew has designed lighting for the Windham Textile and History Museum's annual Snowball, the Hartford Chorale, as well as several shows at Manchester Community College. For the past five years, Andrew has been a freelance artist providing marketing and design support to touring musicians and event planners. He has designed constructed and painted backdrops, set pieces and promotional materials for national tours and corporate functions. Prior to joining EASTCONN, Andrew was the Events Manager at WindhamARTS Collaborative where he developed a performing arts program and venue to present new theatrical works and concerts featuring local and regional musicians. Andrew has collaborated with the Capitol Theater producing The Willimantic Cinema Project, Columbia Fields, The Romantic Willimantic Chocolate Festival and most recently, The WindhamARTS Music Series. In the spring of 2008, Andrew produced his first film, a historic documentary on the rise and decline of the textile industry in Willimantic for the Windham Textile and History Museum. Andrew is an alumnus of the Greater Hartford Academy of the Arts and will complete his B.S. in Business Administration at Eastern Connecticut State University this fall. Most recently, Andrew has joined the Board of Directors for Willimantic Renaissance, Inc.

ELIZABETH MACHA

Elizabeth Macha is the administrative secretary for both ACT and the Capitol Theater Arts Academy. She is a graduate of Eastern Connecticut State University, where she earned a bachelor’s in business administration. Elizabeth has worked in a variety of administrative support roles most of her life and is delighted to be working for both of EASTCONN’s distinguished arts programs.

KRISTEN MALINOWSKI-PAINE, ENGLISH

Kristen Malinowski-Paine came to ACT after a career in Journalism. She has a BA in English from Eastern Connecticut State University; a MS in Journalism from Quinnipiac University and a Master of Art in Teaching from Sacred Heart University. She worked as a reporter for the Norwich Bulletin, Stanford Advocate and the Cheshire Herald before obtaining a teaching certificate. She began teaching at Shelton High School as an English teacher in 2007, but wanted to move back to the Northeastern corner of Connecticut where she moved grew up and find a teaching position where she could utilize her skills in Journalism. She currently teaches English, Journalism and Media Literacy at ACT. She lives in Pomfret with her husband and cat, Olivia.

TIANA MANCUSO, DANCE
tmancuso@eastconn.org

Tiana Mancuso is currently lecturing at the University of Connecticut in the School of Dramatic Arts. Since the fall of 2001, she has been teaching theater dance jazz technique as well as the fundamentals of concert choreography. Most recently, Ms. Mancuso contributed choreography and performed in a production involving the use of original and authentic jazz music entitled, Collaboration. Last fall, she was invited to work with the UConn Symphony Orchestra as a featured soloist, dancing to her own choreography. During the academic year of 2001-2002, Tiana was hired as the resident coach of the UConn Dance team. In addition to performing and choreographing, she is a staff member at the Community School of the Arts in Mansfield, where she offers workshops in various genres of dance. Working for CSA, Tiana has developed numerous after school programs focusing on the fundamentals of jazz and movement in Hebron and Coventry school systems. Tiana, a Fairfield County native, has studied Ballet, Modern Jazz, Character, Hip Hop and Tap throughout New England. Her passion for art of movement has influenced her in countless ways and she believes it is her purpose in life to share her knowledge and her love of dance with others.

JOHN MAYER, PRINCIPAL

John Mayer, Principal of ACT, is an artist and an educator. Mayer began his artistic career in Boston as a mime/puppeteer and has performed in his one man show “Stories in the Air” since the mid-seventies. In the eighties, he studied with puppeteer Frank Ballard at the University of Connecticut where he received an M.A. in puppetry. In the nineties, he served on the Board of Directors for UConn’s BIMP (The Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry). In education, John is a certified English teacher, grades 7-12, a reading and language arts consultant, grades K-12, and an administrator. He has taught in public education settings for over twenty years and several more in private settings. Arts at the Capitol Theater allows John to combine his arts and education experiences.
 

OSWALDO TIRANO, LATIN/BALLROOM DANCE INSTRUCTOR

A native of Bogotá-Colombia, Oswaldo learned Latin dance as part of his cultural heritage. He has studied theater, puppetry, dance and voice at the National University (1989 - 1994) and National School of Dramatic Arts in Colombia (1996 - 1998). In 1998 he came to this country to study artistic skills at the Puppet Arts program at UConn. In order to update his dance skills he took an intensive Salsa dance training at the East Hartford Cultural Center: "Circle of Life", Ballroom/Swing at Maria's dance studio in Canterbury and Stardust weekends in New York State. Recently he won first places in two "Salsa" rhythm tournaments in Hartford. This is his tenth year teaching Latin dance for all ages in several dance studios, colleges, public schools and community centers throughout Connecticut, such as Arts in Motion in Willimantic, Maria's dance studio in Canterbury, Manchester Community College, Eastern Connecticut State University, UConn, Mansfield Community Center, among others. His passion for art and movement led him to create Grasshopper Arts (formerly known as "Saltamontes puppet theater") in 1994. Currently he is the director of this company which conducts performances and workshops in area schools, universities and art centers.

SARAH ROBERTS, PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Sarah Roberts is a recent graduate from Central Connecticut State University earning a BS in Physical Education with cross endorsements in Health Education and Dance Education. During her time at Central, she was the president of Dancentral, Central’s dance company. Sarah has had the opportunity to work with Paul Dennis of the Limon Company, Jennifer Muller, the Paul Taylor II Company, Hubbard Street, cast members of Broadway’s the Lion King, and the Albano Ballet. Sarah is involved in the American Alliance of Health Physical Education Recreation and Dance and presented a workshop titled “Rhythmic Dance: All Included!” this past April at the national conference in Fort Worth, Texas. Sarah is looking forward to sharing her passion for movement and with all of her students.

ANNA SOKOLOVSKAYA, COSTUMING/FABRIC MODIFICATION

Anna Sokolovskaya has been working as an instructor for ACT for more than two years. She teaches a variety of classes that are related to costuming, including costume construction, fabric modification, costume design, and flat-pattern drafting, among others. Anna also designs and constructs costumes for all of ACT’s theater productions. In addition, she designs for Harry Hope Theatre productions at Eastern Connecticut State University in Willimantic, where she is working as an invited guest artist. Anna holds an MFA in costume design from the Dramatic Arts Department at the University of Connecticut.

LISA C. TAYLOR, CREATIVE WRITING
ltaylor@eastconnorg

Lisa C. Taylor holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing with concentrations in Pedagogy and Literacy from University of Southern Maine’s Stonecoast Writing Program, an M.A. in Educational Psychology, and a B.A. in English and Comparative Literature. Lisa is also a Connecticut Certified Professional Educator. She has two published collections of poetry and her work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and has appeared in numerous national journals including Midwest Review, Birmingham Poetry Review, Cape Rock, and Hawai’i Pacific Review. She also has poetry in two anthologies. Lisa has three books of poetry published and just recently Finishing Line Press published her newest book "Talking to Trees." An audio book of "Talking to Trees" is also available. She also runs the EASTCONN interdistrict grant, “Imagination Connections,” pairing second graders with a sister school in a diverse district to write collections of poetry or storybooks. In her free time, Lisa writes song lyrics, working with a local musician. She is a member of Still River Writers and is listed in the American Directory of Poets and Writers and the International Who’s Who of Writers.