Staff Instructors

Director's Note

I have been teaching singers for more than 25 years, and in that time, we have enjoyed many successes together. In the last 2 decades, musical theatre has en-tered the arena of pop culture, and while opportunities to work in this wonderful medium have grown enormously, so has the competition.

One fact has risen to the surface. Most directors on the pro circuit hire actors who sing. In a musical theatre audition, the director is seldom a singer...he or she is most likely to be an actor. The mu-sical director is seldom a singer either. He or she is most likely to be a pianist. The ability to sing with solid technique and control is assumed and expected, but not deeply understood, while the abil-ity to act is fully appreciated. The per-former who is the "triple threat" (acting, singing, dancing) will always have work.

To that end, I encourage you to take ad-vantage of our acting program. Lessons can be scheduled weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, or as you go. Individual atten-tion at this point in your development is more efficacious than any acting class you could take. Regardless of frequency, receiving educated advice and training as an actor will be invaluable to you.

~Laurie

Voice Instructor

Alisa Kieffer

Alisa Kieffer earned her Bachelor of Music from James Madison University where she majored in Education with a focus on Voice Performance. Ms. Kieefer's opera and musical theater credits include: Gilbert and Sullivan's Trial by Jury (bridesmaid, Washington Savoyards), Mozart's Così Fan Tutte  (Despina, JMU), Handel's Acis and Galatea (Staunton Music Festival), Puccini's Suor Angelica (Suor Osmina, Operafestival di Roma), Ibert's Angelique (Angelique, JMU), Lehar's The Merry Widow (Valencienne cover, Grisette Girl, JMU), Handel's Semele (Staunton Music Festival), Edward Penhordwood's Too Many Sopranos (Miss Titmouse, Virginia Concert Opera Theater),  Mozart's The Impresario (Madame Heartmelt, VCOT), Mozart's Die Zauberflöte, (Queen of the Night w/ JMU, 1st Knabe w/ VCOT, & ensemble, Operafestival di Roma), Street Scene (JMU), Purcell's Dido and Aeneas (Staunton Music Festival), Annie (Grace Farrell, American Music Stage), Man of La Mancha (Antonia), Singing in the Rain, and Red Hot and Cole.  Ms. Kieffer is currently teaching music part time in Fairfax County.

Acting & Voice Coach

Ashley Batten

Ashley Batten recently earned her BFA in Vocal Performance from Carnegie Mellon University. 1st Stage: By Jeeves (Stiffy); Music Theatre of Wichita: Les Misérables (Cosette), My Fair Lady, Big River, All Shook Up; Americans for the Arts: BCA Ten with Matt Bogart; Signature Theatre: Overtures program; Carnegie Mellon: Nine (Giulietta), Street Opera (Phyllis), The Coronation of Poppea (Amor). Other: Oklahoma! (Laurey), Ragtime (Evelyn), Guys & Dolls (Sarah), and You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown (Sally). TV: Investigation Discovery’s Nightmare Next Door (Ep. 1), MSNBC's Witness to the Kidnapping of Patty Hearst. TV commercials: BGE Home. Ashley is a recipient of the National Foundation for the Arts' youngARTS Award for classical voice and a merit award for musical theatre. Currently, Ashley works as a script reader for speech videos at SpeakinMotion and as the program narrator for the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra's Overture to Orchestra school programs.

Acting Coach

Caitlin Doyle

Caitlin Diana Doyle is a professional actor and singer and has been working in the DC area since 2009. Caitlin attended Emerson College in Boston, MA where she received a BFA in Musical Theatre and graduated with honors. In 2011, she created the role of Marilyn in Why Pluto Is a Planet as part of the Sam French Off-Off Broadway play festival. She has performed regionally with Olney Theatre Center, The Lyric Stage Company of Boston and the Shakespeare Theatre Company.

Acting Coach

Lindsey Mitchell

Lindsey is a native of the Northern Virginia area. Chesapeake Shakespeare Company: Pride and Prejudice (Charlotte), Romeo and Juliet (Lady Montague/ ensemble); Maryland Shakespeare Festival: Much Ado About Nothing (Hugh Oatcake), Titus Andronicus (Quintus), Shakespeare Alive! tour (ensemble); Synapse Theater Company: The Miracle Worker (Annie Sullivan); Winchester Little Theater: Doubt (Sister James). Other acting credits include: The Comedy of Errors (Adriana), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Titania), Lysistrata (Calonice). Lindsey is currently a full-time teaching artist with the Maryland Shakespeare Festival working with the "Riotous Youth" program and Shakespeare Alive! tour. Training: Shenandoah Conservatory, BFA Acting, cum laude; "Shakespeare and Company" Intensive.