kidstheatreWEST

Meet the KTW Staff for 2010

Eric Peterson Artistic Director

Eric is originally from Pittsburgh, PA and received his Masters of Fine Arts in Acting from the University of Texas. Before moving to Colorado, Eric lived for many years as an actor and a teacher in Los Angeles. While in LA, Eric performed and directed at many prestigious theatres, including the Pasadena Playhouse, The Grove Theatre Center, The Will Geer Theatricum and the Knightsbridge Theatre. In addition, he has done numerous films, tv shows, print ads and  voice-overs. Some of his favorite shows that he has played in or directed  include Terra Nova, Hamlet, Loot, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Music Man, The Wizard of Oz and Macbeth. Currently, Eric lives in the Stapleton neighborhood of Denver with his wife, 2 sons and daughter and serves as the Performing Arts teacher at Mackintosh Academy. Eric has been teaching, in some capacity or another, for the last 10 years.

Lennie Singer Director

Lennie Singer has an extensive background in teaching children theatre as well as directing children’s theatre. With a B.A.and graduate work in Theatre Education from University of Illinois, Lennie has taught in the public schools as well as private theatre camps and academys. While living in Summit County, Colorado for 11 years she founded Young People’s Theatre Workshop and the Lake Dillon Theatre Company. Now in it’s twelfth year, this program has expanded to include outreach theatre productions for small children (performed by high school advanced theatre students), an intense training camp for children 6 through 15, and a full winter and summer theatre season for both children and adults in Dillon and Keystone Resort. Lennie has also adjudicated many high school theatre competitions, and continues to do private tutoring for students of theatre. She has written and produced three children’s plays, and four musical cabarets.

Some of her favorite directorial productions include Wizard of Oz, Cinderella, the Musical, Alice in Wonderland, Charlotte’s Web, Annie, Grease, Music Man, and Oliver.

Her greatest joy is teaching children the thrill and challenge of performing live theatre.

Amy Michelle Smith Director/ Choreographer

Amy is pleased to be working with Kids Theatre West.  She is a Denver native, but has only recently moved back to the area after a long time away.  Amy has been involved in dance and theatre since she was very young.  She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Art from Stephens College and her Masters of Fine Arts from The University of Nevada, Las Vegas.  She has worked in theatre in almost every capacity from tech to costuming to design to directing, a real Jill of all trades.  Her favorites by far, though, are acting and choreography.  For the past three year she has been working as the resident choreographer for two theatre companies in Orlando, Florida.  She has done choreography for shows such as Little Shop of Horrors, Annie Get Your Gun, Hello Dolly, and Oklahoma to name a few.  Dance is her passion. She has also done a lot of directing.  Some of her favorite shows have been, Joseph, From the Pit to the Palace, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, and School House Rock.  She also enjoys acting and teaching.  Some of her favorite roles have been, Cinderella in Cinderella, Sally Brown, in Snoopy, a Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz and Millie Second in The Time Machine to name a few.  Amy would like to thank the Denver theatre community for welcoming her back with open arms.

Melissa Leach Resident Stage Manager

Melissa Leach recently graduated from the University of Colorado with a degree in English, a minor in linguistics. In the last few years she’s performed in many of CU’s productions. Melissa has interned with The A.D Players in Houston, teaching younger kids acting. She’s also a playwright and director and has been lucky enough to have five of her plays produced at CU, one of which was given a grant by the school for a full scale production. Melissa recently had a small 3 minute piece published in a Colorado literary magazine: Walkabout. She was accepted into and attended the Kennedy Center Playwriting Summer Intensive the summers of 2006 and 2007. Melissa spent the last 2 summers working for kidstheatreWEST as a stagemanager and has loved every second of it.

Jeff Frazier Musical Director

Jeff Frazier is a dedicated and versatile musician and teacher. A current student of the highly acclaimed jazz studies program at the University of Northern Colorado, Jeff has utilized his training in a variety of performance and educational arenas. A long time private educator of piano and voice, Jeff has a passion for instilling the mechanical and emotional techniques in his students that facilitate a life-long love of the craft. Jeff looks forward to working with the students and parents of KTW for a third term.