Teachers

BIOGRAPHY
Sherri Allen is a San Diego-based actor, director, and teacher with extensive credits in local and regional theatre.  She has appeared in plays and musicals with PCPA Theaterfest, Santa Rosa Summer Repertory Theatre, Moonlight Stages, North Coast Repertory Theatre, Poor Players Theatre Company, and Vaudeville Express Melodrama Theatre; tours and outreaches with Old Globe Theatre's Education Department, Lamb's Players Touring Company, Traveling Lantern Theatre Company, Casey/Woody Entertainment; and understudied roles at San Diego Repertory Theatre, La Jolla Playhouse, and Asolo Theatre Company.  She was also a performer specialist and show captain at Legoland for over three years.  Additionally, Sherri has been published in The Actor’s Other Career Book: Interviews with Acting Pros, and An Invitation to Poetry: A New Favorite Poem Project Anthology. She is a member of San Diego Actors Alliance.

TRAINING
As an undergraduate, Ms. Allen studied Shakespeare and British Theatre in London with Gordon Scammel of the Essex Repertory Company and Lynne McVernon of The Young Vic Theatre.  She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Drama (with distinction in Acting) from San Diego State University where she was the recipient of the Laurel and Hardy Scholarship Award for achievement in acting. After graduating, she interned as an actor at PCPA Theaterfest (Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts). She went on to do graduate work on a full scholarship at Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training, where she studied with legendary director and acting teacher José Quintero.  In 2003 she earned a teaching credential in English and drama from California State University at San Marcos. 

TEACHING/DIRECTING
When she isn't performing, Ms. Allen enjoys working with those who share her love for the arts, and is a Teaching Artist with numerous performing arts organizations throughout San Diego, including: Playwrights Project; J*Company Youth Theatre; San Diego Lyric Opera; San Diego Junior Theatre; La Jolla Playhouse; Carlsbad Cultural Arts; and North Coast Repertory Theatre.  She has directed student showcases for each of these organizations. She also teaches Improvisation classes and Fine Arts courses through MiraCosta College in the history of theatre, dance, art, and music. 

PHILOSOPHY
An experienced and credentialed teacher, Sherri says, 'I nurture my students' creativity and provide them with a fun and supportive environment in which to learn and develop self-expression and self-confidence at their own personalized pace.'

No bio available at this time.

BIOGRAPHY
Cindy Lewis is an actor, teacher and writer who moved to San Diego from Albuquerque, New Mexico three years ago. She made her stage debut as Tiny Kim in "A Crisis at Mistletoe Mesa" at the age of 10. Although it has weaved in and out of her life, her burning desire to act has yet to diminish. She graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in Journalism and a minor in Performing Arts at the University of New Mexico. She wrote reviews for plays at UNM for the culture section and now writes for 944 Magazine. Locally, she has performed in several plays at North Park Vaudeville Theatre and Compass Theatre. She works with children’s company, Open Curtain Theatre Troupe where she plays in "A Tale of Higgledy-Piggledy Mumbo Jumbo."

TRAINING
Lewis was an active thespian in high school and continued to study the art in college where she took courses on both acting and film and starred in several plays. She continues her own education at Carey Scott's Rehearsal Room; Training for Film and Television. She is represented by Linda Comer of San Diego Talent Management.

TEACHING
For the past year, Ms. Lewis has taught Theatre Time workshops at several elementary schools with the Open Curtain Theatre Troupe. She also taught theatre camp this summer through the North Coast Repertory Theatre and teaches drama to foster children with the Behind the Mask program. She received a Crudential with the San Diego Unified School District a year and a half ago and substitute teaches on her “down” time. Substitute teaching has taught her a lot about kids and how to adapt to any situation but most importantly it has taught her that drama is by far her favorite thing to teach.

PHILOSOPHY
Cindy Lewis says, “There is no greater reward than to teach children what you loved to do as a child.” In her case, that is and continues to be the art of theatre. She admits her students also have a lot to teach her. One of the greatest acting theorists of all time, Michael Chekhov, claimed imagination is the actor’s most important tool. He said,  "The inner life of the imagination, and not the personal and tiny experiential resources of the actor, should be elaborated on the stage and shown to the audience. This life is rich and revealing for the audience as well as for the actor himself." And who better to learn about the power of the imagination than from children?

No bio available at this time.

BIOGRAPHY
Jason received his BA at Cal State San Bernardino and his MFA at the University of Illinois Urban-Champaign. Go Illini! Currently he is an Acting Instructor at Mt. San Jacinto College in the Inland Empire.  He has taught for numerous companies and age groups, including the La Jolla Playhouse and the Utah Shakespearean Festival. Locally Jason has performed with Premiere Productions, the Welk Resort Theatre, San Diego Musical Theatre, Moonlight Stage Productions and North Coast Repertory Theatre. Other regional credits include the Utah Shakespearean Festival, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Kingsmen Shakespeare Festival and Pechanga Resort (Theatrical Arts International Productions).  One of the highlights of Jason’s career was spending the summer of 2007 as a mime in the Sea Lion and Otter show at Sea World San Diego.

TRAINING
Jason received his BA in Theatre Arts form Cal State San Bernardino, and his MFA in Acting from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where he studied with Tony Award winning director, Dan Sullivan. During his training, Jason studied everything from Children’s Theatre to Shakespeare, Edith Skinner to Patsy Rodenburg, and Suzuki to the Alexander Technique. Jason has experience and training in other theatrical areas such as: Stage Combat, Dance (Modern, Ballet, Jazz & a little bit of tap), Stage Dialects, Clowning and Singing for Musical Theatre.

TEACHING/DIRECTING
Mr. Maddy is an Acting Instructor at Mt. San Jacinto College in the Inland Empire, Where he has taught beginning and intermediate acting classes, as well as voice and diction since his start in January of 2007. He has also taught for numerous companies including the La Jolla Playhouse, the Utah Shakespearean Festival and the City of Escondido. Although he is not an accomplished director, he is particularly proud of a recent production of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, which he directed in Escondido and had rave reviews.

PHILOSOPHY
Joseph Chaikin of the Open Theatre said, “An actor should strive to be alive to all that he can imagine possible.” Jason’s belief is that this is not only true for the actor but the audience, or the world, as well. He says “It is our job to hold the mirror up to nature. What does that mean exactly? … I don’t know, but I LOVE trying to figure it out.”

BIOGRAPHY
An actor, director, playwright and teacher, Matt is very happy to call North Coast Repertory Theatre home.  His plays have been published through Dramatic, Brooklyn, and Heuer Publishing, respectively.  Matt is also an actor as you may have seen him here on stage in many North Coast Repertory Theatre shows.  A director of over thirty plays, including last season’s Hansel & Gretel, right here at North Coast Rep. He has also acted with Lamb’s Players, The Theatre in Old Town, The Falcon Theatre, The Road Theatre, Sierra Repertory Theatre and The Kingsmen Shakespeare Festival.  For over 10 years Matt has also worked at The Disneyland Resort and Sea World of California as a performer.  Matt is the former artistic director of Compass Theatre in San Diego.

TRAINING
Matt received his B.A. in theatre from SDSU and is currently working on his Master’s Degree in Theatre Education. Matt was trained at The Second City Improv troupe where he learned improvisation and the art of sketch comedy writing.  Also versed in stage combat and fencing through Sword Play Studios in Burbank. Matt worked for several season at the North County Shakespeare Festival working on Shakespeare’s language and dialects.  He studied Shakespeare Intensives with Richard Easton at The Old Globe, right here in San Diego.  For over 10 years Matt has worked at Disneyland as a performer in a variety of shows and for five years he performed at Sea World of California working every show in the park, including The Sea Lion & Otter Show where he used clowning and miming techniques on a daily basis.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE
Matt has taught in-school residencies and master classes through The La Jolla Playhouse education department for the past two years.  Subjects have including, Acting for Stage, Greek & Shakespeare Studies, Improvisation and Playwriting.  Matt has also taught a multitude of theatrical subjects including Shakespeare Studies through The Kingsmen Shakespeare Company, sketch comedy and improvisation through The Second City and the Comedy Store, and Creative Drama through Monart School for the Arts.  He has also taught acting for TV and film through Mackerstar Entertainment, The San Diego Workshop Studios, and San Diego Acting Lab.

PHILOSOPHY
“Acting from the heart is the most sincere form of performance.”