Joseph J. Egan- (Director/Set Designer) is a director and scenic designer who has been working professionally for 16 years in the Tri-State area with regional and youth theater companies. He has just celebrated his 13th year working at Nyack H.S., where he has helped establish the Drama Club as a nationally recognized theater organization. He led the club to produce one of six amateur productions in the country of Andrew Lloyd Weber’s The Phantom of the Opera, for which the club received six National Youth Theatre Awards. Under his guidance the club has tackled Shakespeare, a student directed One Act Series, and some very advanced musicals. Some of his favorite productions have been Our Country’s Good, Noises Off, Smile, The Diary of Anne Frank and Seussical to name a few. Joe is very grateful to work here where the arts are so appreciated and their educational value is revered.Joe, a graduate of Purchase College with a degree in Theater, has directed the last nine years at the high school. Joe has also worked as a director for the Helen Hayes Youth Theatre, Clarkstown Summer Theatre Festival, New Youth Performing Theatre, Yorktown Stage and the Westchester Broadway Theatre. He is a scenic designer by trade who has won critical acclaim for his designs in the New York area and in Denver. He recently won the Denver Ovation Award for his set and costume design of The Women .
Greg Baccarini is a director/choreographer who has worked extensively throughout the New York area with professional and youth theatre companies, as well as several high school theatre programs. Greg most recently served as Resident Director of Yorktown Stage in Yorktown Heights, NY, where he staged Seussical, The Sound of Music, Godspell, Oklahoma, Grease, Footloose starring Edward Staudenmayer (Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me and Wonderland) and Into the Woods starring Chris J. Handley. Other directing/choreography credits include regional productions of Honk! with Adam Chanler-Berat, Skylar Astin, Erich Bergen and Sara Kramer, The Music Man, Peter Pan, Working, Curtains and The Sound of Music starring Sarah Uriarte Berry and Martin Vidnovic. Most recently, Greg had the opportunity to work with Craig Schulman (Les Miserables, The Phantom of the Opera, Jekyll and Hyde) in Fiddler on the Roof at Yorktown Stage.
Greg is beginning his eleventh year as Associate Director and Choreographer of Nyack High School’s Drama Club in Nyack, NY, responsible for staging such shows as Pippin, Smile, Zombie Prom, Cats, Titanic, Disco Inferno and My Favorite Year. In 2008, Nyack’s Drama Club had the distinction of being chosen by The Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization to be one of the first six amateur productions in the world of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera. This monumental production was honored with six National Youth Theatre Awards, including Outstanding Production.
Greg has also worked with Saddle River Day School (Saddle River, NJ), New Youth Performing Theatre (Bedford, NY), Helen Hayes Youth Theatre (Nyack, NY), Nyack Middle School (Nyack, NY), Franklin Youth Theatre (Winnsboro, LA), Strauss Theatre Center (Monroe, LA) and The Renaissance Theatre Academy (White Plains, NY). In 2001, Greg was recognized with the Helen Hayes Theatre Award for Outstanding Choreography.
In addition to directing and choreographing, Greg is a professional actor and has performed extensively throughout the U.S. in regional theatre and national touring companies of 42nd Street and Me and My Girl.
Kurt Kelley- (Music Director/Conductor) is an active musician, musical director, conductor and sometime performer throughout the area. Professionally speaking, he has worked with all levels of ability, from Off-Broadway to local community theaters and high schools. For the past 8 years he has served as the music director for Nyack High School’s Drama Club, conducting such memorable productions as the award-winning The Phantom of the Opera (2008) and Titanic (2007). He has also worked with the Cardinal Hayes High School Players (Beauty and the Beast) Lighthouse Youth Theatre (Sweeny Todd) Westchester Broadway Theater Young Artists Program (Les Miserables: School Edition), music directing gigs at Scarsdale High School and White Plains Performing Arts Center Conservatory.He is completed his Masters of Music Education at Lehman College of the City University of NY in June 2011.
Tom Beck & Neil Schleifer (Costume Designers) are pleased to return to Nyack where they designed the costumes for The Diary of Anne Frank. In the Pelham School District, where Tom teaches High School English and heads the Middle School drama program, they have designed the costumes for the last five years – Les Miserables, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Bye Bye Birdie, Once on This Island Jr and Lost in Yonkers. In addition to their design work for schools, their costumes have also been seen in local productions of Sweeny Todd (PMT), Working (Yorktown Stage), Batboy (Scene Stealers) and most recently, Fiddler on the Roof (Harlequin Players).
Andrew Gmoser (Lighting Designer) is thrilled to be back working with this outstanding theatre company after lighting last year’s production of Cats. Andrew is owner and operator of Silent G Productions, which provides theatrical lighting design, equipment, and consultation for live theatre, dance, and concerts, throughout Westchester and beyond. Since 1990 he has lit every main-stage production for the Westchester Broadway Theatre. His greatest production is with his lovely wife, Catherine: their almost eight year old twins Thomas and Elizabeth.
Bryan McPartlan (Sound Designer) is delighted to be returning to NHS for his 10th production. He has mixed for hundreds of professional performances and is very happy to do it a few more times for our students. Bryan is the Resident Designer for Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts as well as the Emelin Theatre. In his spare time, he is the Lead Designer/Consultant for 4 Horsement Theatricals, a Westchester-based company geared to serving all your behind the scenes needs.
Kathy Tappenden (Producer) With over 30 years of theatrical experience, she still loves the challenges and solutions presented with each new production.
