 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
Owners Steve and Tim met in the fall of 2002. With a shared passion for theater and education, they started the Acting Manitou program. Since 2003, they have been directing, producing, operating and running Acting Manitou.
Directors We pride ourselves on the talent, experience, and kindness of our directors. They are dedicated to creating important, fun and exciting theater with campers.
Teaching Artists In addition to the classes they teach, our teaching artists multitask as choreographers, musical directors, vocal coaches, and producers. They are professionals in their field and passionate about their art.
Designers & Production Our state-of-the-art theater allows our designers to truly show off their incredible talents. In addition to designing our main stage plays, the designers also teach classes in scenic, lighting, costume and sound design.
Business ADAM KIPINIAK is a graduate of Macalester College. He runs every aspect of Acting Manitou's business and website needs from our winter office in Waldwick, New Jersey. In addition to his savvy business sense, Adam is a performer who specializes in improvisation and sketch comedy. adam@actingmanitou.com
|
STEVE BOROWKA is a Drama Teacher at The Winsor School in Boston, Massachusetts. For the past four years Steve taught and directed theater at Hunter College High School in New York City. Steve is a proud member of the Dramatist Guild and Actors Equity Association and was a working actor in NYC prior to receiving his MA in Educational Theater from NYU. Steve most recently directed The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. 
TIM BROWNELL is enjoying his fifth year as the Drama Teacher at The Brearley School in New York City. He has directed plays with students in NYC, Princeton, Ridgewood, Washington DC and Middlebury, VT. He is the co-founder of Acting Manitou, and serves with Steve Borowka as producer and director of the program. He most recently directed and adapted a production of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe for one of Acting Manitou’s outdoor amphitheaters. 
AMI FORMICA received her MA from NYU in Educational Theater. Ami has taught drama for The Young Women's Leadership Project, The Brearley School, The McCarter Theatre and at Middlebury College as a Guest Instructor for "Children and the Arts." She most recently directed the First-Year Show, Tales of Love, Loss and Laughter: A Relationship Study at Middlebury College. Currently Ami teaches drama at the Hunter College High School in New York City. 
TARA GIORDANO is a Helen Hayes nominated actress. She was in the feature film, YellowBrickRoad, and has appeared onstage at Arena Stage, McCarter Theatre, The Kennedy Center, and many other New York and regional venues. As an improv artist, she performed weekly at Comedy Sportz in DC and The Peoples Improv Theater in NYC. Tara has been a teaching artist for 7 years, and was co-director of Spelling Bee at Manitou. She holds a BA in Theatre and English from Middlebury College.
JEREMY JOHNSON starred Off Broadway in Shakespeare’s R&J. Jeremy, a Northwestern University graduate, went on to star in Before the Dawn, Macbeth, The Comedy of Errors and Nothing Sacred. On the west coast, Jeremy was an actor and educator for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for four seasons and taught in-school conjunctive residencies with OSF’s production of Macbeth. Jeremy’s first production at Acting Manitou, performed in our outdoor amphitheater, was Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night.
CHRIS MURRAH has performed as an actor at Goodspeed Opera House, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, and the Geva Center for the Performing Arts. Most recently, Chris was seen as Bobby Strong in the National Tour of Urinetown. Chris holds a BFA from Florida State University and has trained with Yale's Pamela Prather and Juilliard's Wendy Waterman. Chris directorial debut for Acting Manitou was with the wonderful production of Seussical the Musical. 
MEG STURIANO teaches Drama and English at Hunter College High School in New York City. Meg is the Associate Artistic Director for The Management Theater Company and is returning for her second year to direct in manhattan theatre source's Estrogenius Festival. Additionally, her one-act play One for More Options was recently produced at the Bedlam Theatre in Minneapolis. She holds an MA in English Literature from Hunter College. Meg's Acting Manitou directing credits include As You Like It, Pippin and The Government Inspector. 
JOE VARCA is a director and actor in NYC. Recent work includes Extraordinary Circumstances (by Julia Brownell), City of Glass (Atlantic Theater) & As Far As We Know (FringeNYC). He is co-founder of Redux Productions and his theatrical work has been seen at the NYC Fringe Festival (Amerika - 2005 Best Ensemble Award and I Was Tom Cruise - 2006 Outstanding Play Award). He spent his first summer at AM in 2009; serving as light designer in the first session and directing Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors in the second. In 2010 Joe served as our set designer in the first session and director of Macbeth in the second. 
JARON VESELY graduated from the directing program at NYU (BFA from Tisch - Playwrights Horizons). Jaron is a Backstage Bistro Award winning member of the Vocal Jazz Trio, "The Fabulous Pink Flamingos" and recently was invited to a solo night club act for the Metropolitan Room (Swingers and Standards). Being a teacher for five years, Jaron has taught basic music concepts to babies as well as tutored the cast of the Broadway's 13 in music theory. 
BENJI GOLDSMITH is a composer and musical director currently living in New Haven, CT and studying at Yale University. Benji's recent work at Acting Manitou includes musical directing 13: The Musical, Little Me, and The Little Mermaid, as well as writing music and lyrics for The Averageachievers Club. Averageachievers, which had its world premiere at Acting Manitou, has since had staged readings in New York City and at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.
LEAH GOTCSIK is a graduate of Swarthmore College (B.A.) and Harvard University (Ed.M.). She has performed and taught for The Second City and Improv Asylum in theaters, schools, and corporations around the country. Her comedy shorts and pilots have been featured at the NY Television Festival, LA Comedy Shorts Festival, and Austin Film Festival. She currently performs improvised musicals with The Made Up Musical and Baby Wants Candy and is half of the sketch group Somebody’s in the Doghouse (
SARA HERRERA is a teacher, performer and choreographer in the DC area. She received her BFA from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. She has a dance background in modern, jazz, ballet, hip-hop, tap, musical theater, and folklorico. Sara currently teaches at James School of the Dance Arts, choreographs for Ashburn School of Ballet's junior and senior companies and performs with Dimensions of Funk. Sara choreographed Little Me, Cupid & Psyche, Pippin, Once on this Island, Xanadu, 13, Spelling Bee and Seussical the Musical for Acting Manitou. 
JONATHAN KARPINOS graduated from University of North Carolina Chapel Hill with a BA in Classics and is now beginning graduate school for Playwriting . Jonathan wrote the book for two new musicals, which premiered at Acting Manitou: The Averageachievers Club and the new rock-musical Cupid & Psyche. The Averageachievers Club recently had a showing at the NAMT New Musical festival in NYC and a performance at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. 
KRISTAN MANCINI works at the Northgate High School in Pittsburgh, PA, when she is not producing the plays at Acting Manitou. She freelances for the Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theater. Kristan graduated from Shenandoah Conservatory with a BFA in Musical Theater and holds an MA from New York University in Educational Theater. In her free time, she studies voice and continues to sing around the city of Pittsburgh.
TIM MATSON is a voice teacher and musical director currently living in North Carolina. He received his BFA in Dramatic Arts with a concentration in music from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and he received his MA in Music Theater from NYU. Tim has recently worked on the musicals The New Hopeville Comics and All Shook Up. At Acting Manitou, Tim served as musical director for Pippin and Spelling Bee.
JOHN MCGREW graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2003 and has been a rock star ever since. He performs in venues in NYC and around the country with his band, 'Apollo Run'. www.apollorun.com John plays trumpet, guitar and piano, sings lead vocals and is the songwriter for the band. John wrote the score for Cupid & Psyche and he wrote original music for The Trial, His Dark Materials, Arabian Nights and Comedy of Errors. In 2010 John musically directed and arranged music for Xanadu 
DAN VILLAR holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Maryland - College Park. He teaches private voice and piano lessons to children and adults in the DC area. An accomplished singer, pianist and songwriter, Dan is a teacher, musical director and composer for ArtStream. He most recently wrote the music for the new work, Knights of Glory. 
JENNIFER PAAR is a costume designer for theater, film, and opera, and her work has been seen throughout New York and in regional theaters nationally. She is passionate about collaborating with directors and actors to help them achieve their vision through costumes. Jennifer received her BFA in technical theater and design from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and her MFA in costume design from New York University. She currently resides in Brooklyn, NY.
JENNIFER SCHRIEVER received her BFA from Purchase College in Lighting Design. She is currently the associate light designer for Broadway’s Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. On Broadway, Jen has been the Associate Lighting Designer for Joe Turner's Come & Gone, You're Welcome America, American Buffalo, 13 – the musical, A Catered Affair, Cymbeline, The Color Purple and Fences. Her first summer as light designer was 2009.