Teacher bios;
Angela Frost Baltezore email Angela
Education Director
Angela is a long-time area resident. She served as Drama Instructor at Woodland High School and has an extensive background in education and theatre. She graduated with a degree in Theatre Arts from Santa Clara University with an emphasis in Dance. She owned and directed the Yuba City and Chico franchises of The Sunshine Generation Children's Performance group for twelve years. Angela teaches our musical theatre classes, directs the Rising Stars productions, and has directed and choreographed such WOH productions as; Suessical, the Musical, (Elly Award- Best Choreography, Elly Nomination- Best Youth Musical) Beauty and the Beast, (Elly Award - Best Set Design, Elly Nomination - Best Musical), and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Chesley Award- Best Production.).
Eva Sarry email Eva
Dance Director & Ballet Instructor
Eva trained extensively at the Academy of Ballet in San Francisco, the San Francisco Ballet, American Conservatory Theatre, and Pacific Ballet where she worked with choreographers such as John Pasqualetti, Sue Loyd, Carlos Carvajal, and Larry Grenier. She also performed in the long running San Francisco show “An Evening at La Cage”.
Amy Shuman email AmyPerformance & Drama Instructor
Amy holds a BA in Theatre performance from San Francisco State University. Her studies include a year at the University of East Anglia in England. She is the recipient of a Chesley Award, two Elly Awards for theatre performance (as well as an additional nomination in that category), and nominations for direction, choreography and scenic design. Amy was formerly the Associate Education Director at Woodland Opera House, and currently directs musicals for the Theatre for Families season (past credits include Les Miserables: School Edition, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: The Broadway Musical, Alexander Who's Not... Going to Move, and Disney's High School Musical). She has taught locally at the Davis Art Center, Holy Rosary School, and various schools in the Woodland District, as well as developed an after school arts program at Grafton Elementary in 2006.
Wendy Harris Cunningham
Performance Instructor
Wendy holds a BA in Theatre Arts from San Diego State University. Wendy comes to us with an extensive background in musical theatre and dramatic productions. (Show Biz Kidz and the Beamer School Program Outreach)
Crissi Kessler
Performance & Drama Instructor
Crissi has been performing on the Woodland Opera House stage since 1995. She has been a Drama Instructor at WOH since the fall of 2010. Crissi graduated from Woodland High School in 2002 and since has studied at Sacramento City College, Woodland Community College and Sacramento State University. Crissi spent six years teaching Pre-Kindergarten at a private preschool and has an extensive background in Early Childhood Education. Involved in musical theater since age eleven, Crissi has performed in numerous productions in the Sacramento area. She received an Elly Award in 1999 for Leading Actress and was nominated for her choreography in "Grease" at Woodland High school in 2003.
James C. Glica-Hernandez email James
Vocal Music Educator
James has music directed shows at the Woodland Opera House since 1998. He is a eight-time nominated and three-time Elly Award®-winning musical director in the Sacramento area. He taught vocal music and music directed the musical theatre productions at Natomas Charter School Performing and Fine Arts Academy from 2001 to 2008. His vocal music teaching experience dates to the late 1970s. He studied music and theatre arts at CSU, Sacramento, and was mentored in conducting by Maestro Monroe Kanouse of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. He sang and music directed the small vocal ensembles for the Sacramento Opera Association, an organization for which he was also Managing Director.
Amanda Young
Ballet Instructor
Amanda is a student at UCD and is an advanced dancer having trained at the WOH with Miss Sarry.
Staci Arriaga
Tap Instructor
Staci has been teaching dance for over 20 years and choreographing musical theatre for the last 16 years. She spent 10 years dancing with The Lisa Clark Dancers and spent 20 years on their faculty teaching tap and jazz. Ms. Arriaga’s choreography has been seen in Solano, Contra Costa, and Sonoma Counties as well as the San Francisco Bay Area. She has earned two Dean Goodman Awards, one Elly Award and several Arty Awards as well as a Bay Area Critics Award nomination for her work. Her work was last seen at the Woodland Opera House in the production of White Christmas