LAURA LUNDY-PAINE, M.Ed. (Acting, Improvisation, Audition Techniques)

Laura is the Program Director for Virago Theatre Conservatory, and the Artistic Director for Virago Theatre Company, where she directed the inaugural production of Threepenny Opera, the world premiere of Robert Hamm’s A Bed of My Own, and Candide. Other directing credits include Sight Unseen for Lunacy Stageworks (Portland), the world premiere of Anatomy at The Next Stage, theoriginal musical Wink at Theatre Rhinoceros, Take Fountain and Joan the Temp at the San Francisco Stagelites One-Act Festival, Grace & Glorie at Ross Valley Players, Scotland Road at the Altarena Playhouse, Shivaree for Paula Productions (Portland), and Assistant Director on A Midsummer Night’s Dream at California Shakespeare Theatre. As an actor, Laura played Madeline Broadmore in the world premiere of "It Falls. . . .” at Chabot College. Other roles include Pola in Dream of a Common Language at Virago, Mariana in Measure for Measure at Shakespeare at Stinson, Victoria Frankenstein in the San Francisco Fringe Festival production of Frankenstein, The Modern Prometheus, and Lee in Marvin's Room at Ross Valley Players. Other shows in regional theatre include Titantia/Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night's Dream  with Shakespeare in the Park, Rita in Educating Rita, Lucio in Measure for Measure , Enid/Succubus in Vampire Lesbians of Sodom  at Theatre Paris, Phoebe in As You Like It, and Mary Boyle in Juno and the Paycock. Laura received her training at Pomona College in Los Angeles and at a Conservatory Program with the staff of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, in London.

ANGELA DANT (Physical Theatre and Improvisation)

Angela is a founding member of Virago Theatre Company, and has appeared in several of its productions, including ThreePenny Opera, The Death of Ayn Rand, Mankind's Last Hope, and Dream of a Common Language.  Before forming Virago, Angela was seen on Bay Area stages in the female version of the Odd Couple at StageOne, as Ismene in the US premiere of Maria Lampadaridou's Antigone, Jessie in ‘night Mother, and Jack's Mother in Into the Woods. Angela performed in two productions at the 1994 Edinburgh Theatre Festival in Scotland, and won a Best Actress Award for her portrayal of Susie in Wait Until Dark at Chanticleers Theater. Angela studied theatre at Cal State Fresno and Cal State Hayward, which included training in physical theatre with Jeff Raz of the New Pickle Circus and Cirque du Soleil, and improvisation with Bay Area Theatre Sports co-founder Rebecca Stockley.

MICHAEL C. STORM (Improvisation, Stage Combat, Advanced Acting)

Michael is currently the Artistic Director at TheatreFirst and has been acting, teaching and directing in the Bay Area for almost 20 years. He has worked with the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, American Conservatory Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, California Shakespeare Festival, Napa Valley Rep, Pacific Alliance Theatre Company, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Virago Theatre Co., and San Jose Stage Company where he was also the Education Director. In addition to holding degrees in Theatre and Economics from University of California at Irvine, Michael is a certified Actor Combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors.

EILEEN MEREDITH (Voice for the Actor)

Eileen Meredith is a lyric soprano, voice teacher and vocal coach.  She has taught private voice lessons for over ten years, and has taught after-school singing classes.  She has directed music in three Alameda Children’s Musical Theatre productions, and prepared singers for High School Musical at Wood Middle School.  She has also joined mezzo-soprano Frederica von Stade in several benefit concerts. She is a founding member of Virago Theatre, where she recently performed the role of Cunegonde in Bernstein’s Candide, and played the role of Polly Peachum in Virago’s production of The Threepenny Opera in 2006. Eileen is a full-time member of the San Francisco Opera Chorus.  She has been a soloist with the San Francisco Symphony at Davies Symphony Hall, and she can be heard on their CD, Voices 2000.  She has performed as a soloist with Berkeley Opera, Livermore Valley Opera, Pocket Opera, Goat Hall Productions, the UC Berkeley Chamber Orchestra, and Oakland Youth Orchestra. She recently released a CD, “Silver and Gold:  American Songs and Arias,” featuring both rarely performed and popular selections.  Eileen is delighted to be part of the Theatre Conservatory.

LISA BUSH FINN (Movement)

Lisa created choreography for Virago Theatre’s productions of The Threepenny Opera, The Death of Ayn Rand, Mankind’s Last Hope, and Candide as well as for Alameda Children’s Musical Theater’s productions of Peter Pan, Alice and High School Musical, and for Jasper Productions’ Anatomy. She is also a performer and has appeared in the works of several Bay Area choreographers, including Nina Otis Haft, Carol Kueffer Moore, Dana Lee Lawton, Randee Paufve, Jill Randall, and Alisa Rasera. Lisa earned her B.A. in Dance from Bennington College. Subsequently, during her 15 years in New York City, she was a member of the Wendy Perron Dance Co. while also performing nationally and internationally with many other choreographers and performance artists there. In NYC, her own choreography was presented at Movement Research and at University Settlement. Lisa currently teaches early childhood music in Alameda for East Bay Music Together® and is also a teaching artist at local schools through the Creative Education Institute. Lisa would like to thank her kids, Connor & Emma Finn, and her husband Chris Finn for their generous support.

AMY DEMMON (On-Camera Acting)

Amy is a Bay Area Producer and Videographer/Editor who began telling her stories through film and video in 2003. Since then, she has worked on two feature films, various short films, a documentary, a 3-episode sitcom and a television talk show in such capacities as Producer, Director of Photography, Assistant Camera, Camera Operator, Production Manager, Editor, and Special Effects Coordinator. She's had the privilege of working with the Academy Award winning editor Jim Klein, the Sundance winning documentary filmmaker Tom Shepard, and award-winning director and cinematographer Phillip Hudson. She was Production Manager and Co-Producer for the sci-fi thriller Homeworld that has enjoyed a film festival run and is available to purchase now on DVD. She was Director of Photography and editor for the 3-episode sitcom Mankind's Last Hope, which began life as a hugely successful Virago Theatre Company stage production.  She works as the freelance videographer for the City of Alameda Health Care District Board, is busy creating an Alameda business networking group, enjoys being a member of the production group "The Whittlers", and sits on the governing board for the Alameda Community Learning Center, a charter school for grades 6th through 12th.

ELIAS ESCOBEDO (On-Camera Acting)

Elias is a full-time actor working professionally throughout the Bay Area who recently appeared in Virago’s production of The Afterlife of the Mind.  His current television credits include NBC's new hit show Trauma, a WEAVE public service announcement in the Sacramento area, and a Romelli's Bail Bonds commercial in the North Bay.  Elias is also the current online video spokesman for Santa Clara County's elite civil engineering firm Transmetrics, Inc.  His other television, commercial and industrial credits include Oracle, Opera Mini, CNET, Adobe, Seagate, Albertson’s, Save-Mart, Longs Drugs, Kaiser Permanente, and Sutter Health.  He is a regular actor overseas in Japan's hugely successful TV show The World's Most Astonishing News.  A proud member of AFTRA and AEA, Elias is represented by Look Talent Agency in San Francisco.  www.EliasEscobedo.com.