Who Are We?
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Julia Pinhey - Stagecraft TeacherJulia Pinhey has been the Stagecraft Teacher at Santa Susana High School since 2019. Prior to working at Santa Susana, Julia taught at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California. She loves working with students and sharing her passion for the arts. In addition to teaching, Julia works as a Rental Manager for Jabworks, is a freelance sound engineer, and is on staff at The Broad and UCLA School of Theatre, Film, and Television. She drinks a lot of coffee (and La Croix).
As a sound engineer, Julia has worked on several projects that have gone on to play on Broadway and Off-Broadway such as the original productions of Heathers: the Musical and Deaf West's Spring Awakening. Julia has mixed over 20 productions for 5-Star Theatricals based in Thousand Oaks. Her favorite productions include Mary Poppins, Matilda: the Musical, Memphis, Shrek, Peter Pan, and Sister Act. She has had the pleasure to work with many wonderful people over the years, including Tom Hanks, William Shatner, Billy Crystal, Daveed Digs, Paul Simon, Noel Paul Stookie (of Peter, Paul, and Mary), George Grove (of The Kingston Trio), Eddie Redmayne, and Martin Short. Julia formerly worked for the Walt Disney Company in Technical Services at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. Her favorite job of all time was working with NASA on the Endeavor Space Shuttle's final mission; if you look closely at the press conference video you can see her adjusting the microphone during an international broadcast. |
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Irene Silbert - Theatre Manager/AME Coordinator Irene Silbert is an Emmy Award-winning DGA (Directors Guild of America) director, Equity performer, Music Director and Television Lighting Designer (first female lighting director at ABC-TV Hollywood). She has directed numerous documentaries, winning an Emmy in 1993 for Pioneer Women. She has designed lights for shows such as General Hospital, AM Los Angeles with Regis Philbin, Elvira and numerous commercial and cable productions. Her extensive stage experience includes directing classic plays such as Feydeau’s A Flea in Her Ear; Dracula; Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, As You Like It, Richard III, Twelfth Night, Julius Caesar, King Lear, Macbeth, Timon Of Athens, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Tempest, Taming of the Shrew as well as performing and music directing for Taming of the Shrew, Tempest, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Winter’s Tale, Pericles, Cymbeline, and Twelfth Night. She was the official folk-singer for Amtrak’s Coast Starlight for five years.
Irene has taught and directed acting and music to young people at public and private schools, theatres and museums. She earned an MA in Theatre from California State University, Northridge and a BA in Anthropology with a minor in Renaissance Music from the University of California, Berkeley. Currently, Ms. Silbert is the Theatre Manager, AME coordinator, Shakespeare Director and Stagecraft Mentor at Santa Susana Magnet High School in Simi Valley. She and Rick Geiger founded the ROP stagecraft program which began in 2002. Utilizing state-of-the-art lighting and sound equipment, the program prepares students for a professional career in the entertainment industry upon graduation. She is the Conductor/Director for the Madrigal group The Merry Minstrels, performing at the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum; plays violin and sings for the Ragtime Group Sedalia; and is co-director of the Simi Arts Conservatory (working with youth ages 5 through 18 in theatre, dance, voice and acting). Irene has two lovely children, Evan and Amy, (and three grandchildren) who share her love of the arts. |
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Alex Choate - Artist in ResidenceAlex Choate was a student of Don and Jane Childs, and some would argue he's the son they never needed. Alex has had his hands in everything from lighting design to prop and scenic design. Notable projects include KFC's Zinger Space Sandwich space launch (which Alex art directed), and Jeep Compass Trailhawk Edition commercial popularized on social media. Recently, he has been working with The Windward School, Santa Susana High School, and 5-Star Theatricals. Alex runs a custom shop for productions, collectors, and high-end cosplay.
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Talia Krispel - Artist in ResidenceTalia Krispel is a bi-coastal Production Stage Manager, living and working in Los Angeles and New York City. Talia joined Actors’ Equity Association, the labor union representing American actors and stage managers in theatre, in 2004. Some of her credits include 5-Star Theatricals: The Music Man; West Side Story; Matilda; Shrek the Musical; Beauty and the Beast; The Hunchback of Notre Dame; Joseph... Technicolor Dreamcoat; Peter Pan. Broadway: Inherit the Wind; Dame Edna: Back with a Vengeance; How the Grinch Stole Christmas; Legally Blonde (Workshop). South Coast Repertory: Where the Mountain Meets the Moon; A Christmas Carol (2014-2019); Junie B Jones Is Not a Crook; Abundance; Amadeus; Pinocchio. 3-D Theatricals: The Secret Garden. Musical Theatre West: Oliver!. Sound Stage LIVE!: The Little Mermaid. ACT of CT: MAMMA MIA!. A Noise Within: Man of La Mancha. Theatre By The Sea: West Side Story; Sister Act. Ocean State Theatre Company: Guys and Dolls; The Sound of Music. Ogunquit Playhouse: Joseph...Technicolor Dreamcoat. North Shore Music Theatre: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels; Joseph...Technicolor Dreamcoat. Paper Mill Playhouse: Miracle Worker. Old Globe: The Times They Are A-Changin’. Radio City Music Hall: Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular. New York University (Educational Theatre Department PSM): Little Shop of Horrors; The School for Scandal; The Crucible; Yikes!; 7 original works. Education: MA, Educational Theatre in Colleges and Communities, New York University.
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