Ashland Children's Theatre

Our instructors:
Kate Sullivan (ACT Director), a founding member of Oregon Stage Works, holds a B.A. in Drama and Theatre from the University of Hawaii, where she trained in both Western and Eastern Acting styles. While in Hawaii, she performed and toured with Honolulu Theatre for Youth and taught creative drama for two years at their summer camp for young actors. In addition, she taught performance skills and theatre games to children, ages 5- 14 with “Getting Dramatic”, a program that set up Drama residencies in various Hawaii public schools. Trained in gymnastics, Kate has taught the sport and worked with young children for over thirty years. She has played numerous roles here in the Rogue Valley Her most recent Oregon Stage Works appearances include Mrs. Kendall in The Elephant Man and Elizabeth Proctor in The Crucible. Last season she performed as an understudy at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival.

Eve Smyth (ACT Co-Director) has been acting and performing improvisation for 20 years. After graduating with a degree in theater from San Francisco State University, Eve performed and toured with her own theater company throughout the Northwest. In San Francisco, Eve taught and performed with Bay Area Theater Sports where she was also the Director of their Young Audiences program at BATS Improv, where she facilitated improvisation workshops and performances in schools throughout the Bay Area. As an emerging playwright, Eve has written two scripts for Ashland Children’s Theater, “The Snow White Project” and “The Peter Pan Project”, both of which have played to sold out houses. She has directed the Young Academy Productions. She currently performs with Oregon Stage Works and is a member of the comedy improv troupe the Hamazons.

Peter Alzado is the Artistic Director of Oregon Stage Works. After graduating Cum Laude in English and Theatre from Queens College, New York, Peter's debut on Broadway was in Michael Weller's Moon Children , directed by Alan Schneider. He performed with many of the major theatres in New York City including La Mama E.T.C., the New York Shakespeare Festival, the New Phoenix Rep Company, Playwrights Horizons, and the American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford Conn. An award winning actor, Peter received his MFA in directing as a Donal Harrington Scholar from the University of Montanna. He has taught acting at universities and professional schools and currently conducts The Craft of The Actor. Peter directed The Peter Pan Project for Ashland Children’s Theatre and continues to support the vision of Ashland Children’s Theater.

Laura Derocher brings over 30 years of experience as a musical theater actress. She has performed lead roles in Chicago, Santa Fe and the Rogue Valley. Laura is also an experienced teacher of acting and voice. She has created and directed musical theatre camps since 2007 for Oregon Stage Works Ashland Children's Theatre. She has also coached children in acting and voice for other local and Chicago-area children's theatre companies. Laura served as Music Director for Ashland Middle School's productions of Into the Woods Jr. and Seussical Jr. A singer, songwriter and recording artist, Laura teaches private voice lessons from her studio in Ashland, with a focus on musical theatre performance. Her students have successfully landed lead roles in shows at Oregon Stage Works, Oregon Shakespeare Festival and other local theatres.

Kyndra Laughery has been working with children for the last twelve years as a teacher, storyteller, and creative play facilitator. She performed in the valley for six years with the Greenroom Theater and Second Saturday Players. She teaches improv to children for Walker Elementary Pathways program, OSW Ashland Children’s Theater and Willow Wind. She played” Parsley” in Ashland Children’s Theaters’ production of The Peter Pan Project and “Puck” in their production of A Midsummer Nights Dream. Currently she is one of the Warrior Princesses of Comedy, The Hamazons.