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The Eldon and Anne Foote Theatre School at the Citadel

Introducing our
FTS Instructors and Staff

Diana Boratynec — Foote Theatre School Administrator

Ashley Ball (Musical Theatre)

April Banigan (Junior Spring Drama)

April is a professional theatre, television and voice actor who attended the Citadel Theatre School when she was a kid. She went on to study at Emily Carr College of Art and Design in Vancouver, and now lives with her husband and two small boys in Edmonton. April has performed with nearly every theatre company in town including Shadow Theatre, Northern Light Theatre, Theatre Network and the Mayfield Theatre. Recently she received a Sterling nomination for her role as Marilyn Monroe in Workshop West’s My One And Only. April’s TV work includes Alfred Hitchcock presents, Mentors and numerous commercials. She is also the voice of various computer game characters. April is looking forward to teaching classes that are full of fun and imagination.

Michele Brown (Adult Acting II, Adult Acting Workshop)

Michele Brown graduated with a BFA in Acting from the University of Alberta in 1981 and has worked as an actor, musician, sessional instructor and acting coach since that time. This is her 6th year teaching at the Foote Theatre School and she is delighted to be back. This spring and summer she appeared as Vi in Footloose at The Mayfield Dinner Theatre, as Anne in The Black Rider at the Magnetic North Festival in St. John’s, Newfoundland and at the 25th Anniversary Fringe Showcase and as Marlene in Spring Alibi at Washington, D.C.’s inaugural Fringe Festival. She is currently teaching and coaching at the U of A and at Portage College in Lac La Biche.

Geoffrey Brumlik (Adult Acting I)

Geoff was recently Artist in Residence at the Citadel where he directed Shakespeare’s Will. He is the former Artistic Director of the River City Shakespeare Festival and spent three seasons as Associate Director at the Citadel. Festival directing credits include The Tempest, As You Like It, A Midsummer Night’s Dream as well as Comedy of Errors. He has been assistant director for numerous productions at the Citadel including A Christmas Carol, Hamlet and Romeo & Juliet. As an actor his credits include work at the Citadel, Theatre Network, Catalyst Theatre, the Globe Theatre and as part of the Young Company at the Stratford Festival. He has a private practice as a voice, text and physical integration coach and has taught at the Foote Theatre School, University of Alberta and the Globe Theatre.

Shomee Chakrabartty (Acting for the Camera I)

Shomee works as an actor, director, writer and producer for both theatre & film. His stage credits as an actor/director include New Canadian Kid (Citadel Theatre) Bhopal (Tessri Duniya, Montreal), Suburbia (Kill Your Television Production), Henry IV (Shadow Theatre), Taming of the Shrew and Much Ado About Nothing (Theatre Prosporo). For his own production company, The Nataraja Studio, his credits include: Samsaria, Master Harold and the Boys and Death & the Maiden. Shomee has directed short films & videos such as Will I ...?, Don’t Go Away My Love, The Resurrection Man, Final Ingredient, Reunion, The Audition and The Student. He has acted in many film & TV productions including Fitz, Reverie, Flush with Greatness, Torreta Eccelente 2020, The Diner, The Calling of Andrew, Thrashed and The Audition (Best Actor Award from The National Screen Institute — Canada). Shomee also focuses on teaching the art of screen acting through the Film & Video Arts Society of Alberta (Monday Night Club) as well as the ongoing independent “Actors’ Circle”.

Ellen Chorley

Roxanne Classen

Roxanne (MMus, BMus, BEd) holds performance degrees from the McGill University and the University of Alberta and an Education degree specializing in Junior and Senior Choral Music and Drama from the University of Western Ontario. She has worked with MacEwan’s Theatre Arts Program, Leave it to Jane Theatre, and Theatre Alberta’s Artstrek program. She teaches Music 100 at MacEwan, piano at her Grovenor Music Studio and accompanies choirs and singers around Edmonton.

Cathy Derkach

Katrina German

Julie Golosky (Musical Theatre, Teen Musical Theatre I)

Julie has a Master of Music degree from the University of Alberta and has been a professional actor in Edmonton for over ten years. She has performed for the Citadel Theatre as well as Catalyst Theatre, Concrete Theatre, Theatre Network, and Theatre Yes, to name a few. Julie has taught children’s musical theatre for the Grant MacEwan College outreach program and the Foote Theatre School’s summer programs, and teaches voice to students of all ages.

Crystal Hanson (Musical Theatre, Teen Musical Theatre, Junior Musical Theatre II, Intermediate Musical Theatre)

A trained singer and actor, Crystal has toured with the Alberta Opera for four years and has entertained hundreds of children. She holds a Bachelor of Music Degree (with Distinction) and teaches as a private vocal instructor, musical theatre and drama instructor. She has been involved in various Artist in Residency Programs within Edmonton and surrounding areas. She has been teaching musical theatre at the Foote Theatre School for the past three years and enjoys it greatly.

Heather Inglis

Binaifer Kapadia (Musical Theatre, Teen Musical Theatre, Teen Musical Theatre II, Intermediate Musical Theatre)

Binaifer is a musician who has worked extensively in theatre as a composer, musical director, teacher, and pianist/keyboardist. She has also composed and performed music for radio drama, short film and video.

Annette Loiselle (Teen Acting Company)

Annette has been teaching at the Citadel’s Foote Theatre School for over 8 years. She is a professional actor with a BFA in acting from the University of Alberta. A founding member of the Free Will Players, she helps to produce and performs in the River City Shakespeare Festival. She founded Camp Shakespeare for the Festival and is currently the director of this popular summer program for youth ages 8–17. She also teaches in the Drama Departments of the University of Alberta and the King’s University College.

James MacDonald

James MacDonald is Associate Artistic Director of the Citadel Theatre. A native Edmontonian, he is a graduate of the University of Alberta's BFA Acting program and was also a student at the Citadel Theatre School.

Mr. MacDonald recently completed the inaugural term of the Joseph H. Shoctor Award as the Intern Artistic Director where he participated in new play development, audience development, budget and season planning, community outreach, publicity and promotions.

Barbara Mah (Intermediate Musical Theatre, Adult Musical Theatre)

Barbara has been a director/actor/choreographer/playwright for over 20 years. She came to the theatre through the world of dance where she toured across Canada with the dance troupe Kompany. Recent directing highlights include: A Chorus Line (Festival Players) and Sweet Charity (Walterdale Theatre). Performance highlights include: The Laramie Project (Pets Productions), Broadway Babies (Kompany!), A Chorus Line (Festival Players), Rocky Horror Show (Walterdale), The Wiz, The World Goes Round (ELOPE) and Grapes of Wrath (Studio Theatre). She has studied extensively in both New York and Los Angeles. Barbara also appears occasionally on screen. She can be seen in full Star Trek regalia weekly on ACCESS discussing the finer points of Star Trek. When not working in the theatre, Barbara is an Arts Consultant for the Arts Branch and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.

Laura McDonald (Theatre Explorer, Musical Mayhem)

Joshua Mellot

Michele Darian Miller (From Page to the Stage)

A native New Yorker, Michele received her BFA (highest honours) from Hofstra University. On Broadway, she performed in two hit musicals: Runaways, produced by Joseph Papp and Fiddler on the Roof, directed by Jerome Robbins. Married to Edmonton film/TV producer Josh Miller, she has performed at the Citadel and Mayfield Dinner Theatre and has a recurring role on the TV show Mentors. Michele is an opera/musical theatre/pop singer, flutist, guitarist and pianist.

Randy Mueller

Randy has been working in Edmonton as a music director, teacher, composer and accompanist for close to twenty years. He is also an avid choral director and vocal coach. Randy has a genuine passion for musical theatre which he loves to share with his students of all ages.

Amy Neufeld (Discovering Drama, Acting Up)

Amy is an actor, director and writer in Edmonton. She has a BA in English Literature from Wilfrid Laurier University and a diploma in Theatre Arts from Grant MacEwan College. Amy has taught a variety of different drama programs for the City of Kitchener, the City of Edmonton, Camp Shakespeare with the Free Will Players, the Foote Theatre School and Theatre Prospero. Originally from Ontario, Amy is happy to now call Edmonton her home.

Marie Nychka (Musical Theatre)

Marie began her career as a dancer for such companies as the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Ballet Brazil and Ballet de Roma performing across Canada, the USA, the Caribbean, Brazil, and Italy. Since settling in Edmonton in 1990 she has worked extensively as an actor, freelance teacher, choreographer and director. She teaches Physical Theatre/Movement in the Department of Drama at the U of A. As an actor, recent appearances include The Singing Blade, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, The Making of Warriors, and Trojan Women while some of her television credits include Jake and the Kid, The Incredible Story Studio, and Mentors. Marie has six times been nominated and twice received the Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Award and was also nominated for a Betty Mitchell Award, all for Outstanding Choreography.

Laura Raboud

Nancy Rakovszky (Theatre Explorer, Playmaking & Performing, Drama Adventure, Discovering Drama, Acting Up, From Page to the Stage)

Nancy started her study of theatre at David Thompson University and has been studying and performing ever since. Some of her favourite Edmonton roles include Ludmilla in The River Princess and The Frozen Town by Stewart Lemoine, and as The Woman in Whitehands (which became part of Tales from the Hospital) by Trevor Schmidt. Nancy has also worked as a Child Supervisor here at the Citadel on shows such as Who Has Seen the Wind, Sister Mary Ignatius and The Actor’s Nightmare, as well as A Christmas Carol. She has been teaching for about 8 years, and this is her fourth year here at The Foote Theatre School. As a mother of three, Nancy considers it her great privilege to help children find their voice, expand their view of the world, and realize their dreams.

Kate Ryan (Junior Musical Theatre I, Teen Musical Theatre II)

Liana Shannon (Teen Acting I, Acting for the Camera II)

Ryan Sigurdson

Ryan is an Edmonton-based musician, actor and vocal coach. A graduate of Grant MacEwan College, Ryan has appeared in musicals with the Citadel Theatre (Cabaret), the Mayfield Dinner Theatre (Evita), Leave it to Jane Theatre (Saturday Night, Floyd Collins) and Concrete Theatre at Alberta Scene in Ottawa (The Incredible Adventures of Mary Jane Mosquito). Ryan is the musical director for the St. Albert Children’s Theatre, having worked on such shows as Footloose, Bye Bye Birdie, Honk!, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and the upcoming production of Narnia. Ryan has also composed and arranged the music for several Edmonton theatre productions including three for which he received Sterling Award nominations: Eros and the Itchy Ant (Teatro la Quindicina), A Dybbuk for Two People and Water’s Daughter (Northern Light Theatre).

Linette Smith (Teen Acting Intensive)

Jennifer Spencer (Play it Up, Teen Acting III)

Jennifer is an Edmonton-based professional actor, voice/text coach, playwright, director and theatre educator. At the Foote Theatre School she has taught every class from Discovering Drama to Teen Acting III. She is also on the faculty of the theatre arts program at Grant MacEwan College.

Eileen Sproule (Playmaking & Performing, Drama Adventure, Comedy & Laughter, Play it Up, Teen Acting II)

Eileen Sproule is an Edmonton-based director, writer and teacher. She has an MA from the University of Leeds in Directing and Uses of Theatre; she also trained and worked as an actor in Montreal. She ran Youtheatre in Montreal for a few seasons, sending tours around the province, and did the same at the Globe Theatre in Regina. Here in Alberta, work for younger audiences includes several seasons with Trickster (creating original works in schools in one week), and Green Fools’ Project: Whooping Crane. She is a co-founder of generic theatre.

Vern Thiessen

Vern Thiessen is the Playwright in Residence at the Citadel Theatre. He received is BA from the University of Winnipeg and an MFA from the University of Alberta. He has served as Playwright in Residence at Workshop West Theatre (where he founded the Playwrights Garage program), the University of Alberta, and The Blue Heron Theatre in New York City. For five seasons he was the Artistic Associate of Play Development at the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton, a position he left in May of 2006. He is Past President of both the Playwrights Guild of Canada and the Writer’s Guild of Alberta.

Vern has been the recipient of numerous awards including the Elizabeth Sterling Haynes Award for Outstanding New Play, The City of Edmonton Arts Achievement Award, the University of Alberta Alumni Award for Excellence, The Canadian Jewish Playwriting Competition, and the Governor General’s Literary Award, Canada’s highest honour for playwriting. Last fall, he was nominated for the prestigious Siminovitch Prize in Theatre. He was also honoured this year in Theatre 100, a listing of the top 100 theatre professionals to make a significant contribution to Alberta Theatre in the last century.

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