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 a founding member of Stage Left Ensemble, which aspires to create socially committed plays and performances. She has written and performed three one-woman shows: Something Like Sex, Anima, and The Most Dangerous Animal in the World, which was produced under the direction of Michael Bradford at the Avery Point Playhouse in 2002. She has performed 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 The Windham Area Arts Collaborative's Annex and York Correctional Institute (Nov. 2007). Denise's writing has appeared in Kalliope, The Blue Collar Review, Phoebe, Common Ground Review, Radiance, Connecticut Review, Fireweed, The Minnesota Review, Struggle, The Lumberyard Journal, and Writing on the Edge. Denise has taught creative writing and expressive writing in performance at the University of Connecticut and Quinebaug Valley Community College. She has taught English and theater at E.O. Smith High School for 20 years; she served as drama director from 1988-1991. She has directed several student productions, including You Can't Take it With You, Our Town, Le Bourgeoise Gentilhomme, Up the Down Stair Case, and The Lottery. Denise holds a master’s in Theatre Studies from Wesleyan University and a teaching certificate in both theater and English.

DIANE ADAMS, MATH
dadams@eastconn.org

Diane Adams grew up around the theater. She has taught and tutored for the past 20 years for the State of Connecticut, for Education Solutions in Essex, and at Westbrook High School, among others. She earned her B.A. in psychology at Bard College, where she also studied drama and voice. She completed a dual master's degree program at Columbia University School of Social Work and Bank Street College of Education. Most recently, she received a Master of Science in mathematics from Central Connecticut State University. Diane lives with her husband and daughter in Chester. She sings in her church choir, co-directs the junior choir and dreams of returning to the stage. She was last seen as Lady Thiang in The King and I at the Ivoryton Playhouse. In her spare time, she co-leads her daughter’s Girl Scout troop and edits the newsletter for the Connecticut Butterfly Association.

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.

 

MEAGHAN CONNELLY, CIVICS/SOCIAL STUDIES
mconnelly@eastconn.org

Meghan Connelly, social studies teacher at ACT, has bachelor’s degrees in anthropology, sociology and history from the University of Connecticut. In 1998, she earned her certification in secondary social studies and her Master of Arts in curriculum and instruction. She has consistently maintained a high level of achievement and leadership through ongoing, district-wide curriculum development and innovation in the field of online learning. Meghan has had teaching experience in several settings: suburban middle school, rural middle school, urban high school, rural high school, GED preparation and online instruction. She has taught social studies for seven years. In addition to her teaching responsibilities, Meghan is president and curriculum director for a non-profit, educational current-events Web site, Student Educational Exchange Inc. Meghan has lived in the “Quiet Corner” all her life. She has stepdaughter and stepson at Eastern Connecticut State University and a son in kindergarten. She, her husband, the children and their dog Cobber live in Mansfield Center.

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 teaches both voice and piano at her private studio. She also serves as a church musician and currently sings with the Hartford Chorale. She has taught class piano at Manchester Community College and has conducted children's choirs, women's ensembles and served as accompanist for soloists and choruses. In addition she has been a vocal soloist with several choral groups in both Minnesota and Connecticut. In the past year she has been a featured vocal soloist with several music series and is a soloist and music leader at UCONN's International Christian Fellowship. She resides in Coventry, Conn. with her husband, five children and miniature dachshund.

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. Besides teaching at ACT, he has taught at MCTC, TLC, QVCTC, ALC, and NFA. The CT Art Teachers Association and the CT Teen Librarian Association have had him make presentations. Awards have been received from the Connecticut Art Directors Club, and the NCN (National Caricature Network. 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. Performing acts include: Fun Songs From Bill's Hat, Crooner's Corner, Cowboy Billy and the Pictures and Puns easel show. Bill believes that art is a 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 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.

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 GREENBAUM, CREATIVE WRITING
bgreenbaum@eastconn.org
After a 25-year 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 become an educator. She received a master’s in secondary education in 2003 from St. Joseph College, with certifications in English and social studies, and a master’s in fiction from the University of Southern Maine, Stonecoast, in 2005. She earned her bachelor’s in English literature from the University of Hartford. Currently, Barbara serves as a writer-in-residence and Interdistrict Grant coordinator for EASTCONN in Willimantic. She coordinates Successful Journeys, a grant that helps high school freshmen make a more successful transition from middle school. Along with Peter Landry, she co-coordinates a grant called New Images, which marries the technology of digital photography with creative writing for students in grades 9 to 12. In addition, Barbara teaches fiction writing at ACT. As a writer, Barbara has served as the editor of the Hog River Review (University of Hartford); editor of and contributor to The Green Thumb Print; and assistant editor of Sunfish Magazine. Her poetry and fiction have appeared in several literary publications, including The Underwood Review. In 2006, she won second place in the annual Connecticut Authors and Publishers Association short story contest. Currently, she is working on her first novel and a collection of short stories.

JENNIFER HOLOWATY, ENGLISH
jholowaty@eastconn.org
Armed with a bachelor's degree in English (Eastern Connecticut State University), and a master's in education (UMass-Amherst), Jennifer began her career teaching English at East Hartford High School. While there, Jennifer also created standards-based curricula and served as activities coordinator, academic advisor to student-athletes, Writing Group advisor, as well as coordinator of Poetry Slams and more. Jennifer continues to work with the Connecticut Writing Project, which has allowed her to find the courage to share her voice through her writing. Her writing continues to become a little stronger each day as she works with her students, trying to help each of them find his/her own voice. Jennifer was raised on a baseball field, and her passion for "diamonds" continues as her father enters his 40th year as head baseball coach at Eastern. Her own sports background includes 10 years of basketball and two marathons. In addition to baseball, Jennifer is passionate about her work with children. Her goal is to help every student discover and explore the depth and breadth of their capabilities. Jennifer is devoted to Packer and Pinnock, her chocolate and yellow Labrador retrievers.

PETER LANDRY, SCIENCE

Peter Landry is both a physical science teacher at ACT and a staff developer in EASTCONN’s Training and Development division. He has a B.S. in biology, an M.A.T. in teaching, and holds his Connecticut teaching certificate for grades 7-12 (content areas: biology, chemistry, general science). He is a former high school science teacher and science center educator, specializing in inquiry-based learning for sciences. Prior to his time in the public school systems, he spent 20 years as an industrial chemist and quality control engineer. In addition to teaching science at ACT, Peter co-coordinates a high school Interdistrict grant with another ACT teacher, Barbara Greenbaum. Through the grant, students combine digital images with creative writing to produce art projects that are displayed at the Windham Arts Collaborative in the spring.

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.

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.
 

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.

ADAM VAUGHAN, LIGHTING/THEATER PRODUCTION/COMPUTER
avaughan@eastconn.org

Adam Vaughan recently graduated from the University of Connecticut with a B.A. in Theatre Studies. He has had extensive experience, both onstage and behind the scenes for various theater productions. Adam has worked at major venues like Mohegan Sun, where he worked on concerts for Aerosmith and The Who. He has also designed lights for various musical artists, including Dropkick Murphy’s and Ben Folds. Adam’s theater design credits include set designs for both Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat and The Odd Couple.

MONICA ANNE WILLDING, DANCE
 
Monica began her dancing career with the Judith Hook Dance Company at the University of Rochester in upstate New York. She earned a diploma in dance/dance pedagogy from the Hartford Conservatory and a bachelor’s in mathematics/computer science from the University of Rochester. She has appeared in many performances with Hartford-based dance companies, including the Sonia Plumb Dance Company, the Hartford Conservatory and Alla Nikitina’s Premier Dance Theater. Monica also recently did choreography for The Connecticut Repertory Theatre’s production of The Arabian Nights at the University of Connecticut. She was honored to work with Jacques d’Amboise, former principal of the New York City Ballet and founder of the National Dance Institute, in his summer outreach music/theater/dance program for Hartford’s inner-city children. Monica currently teaches modern dance, ballet and choreography/dance composition at ACT and at Miss Kelly’s School of Dance and Drama in Storrs.