CAROLYN MILLER A.K.A. 'Ms. Music

GENERAL DIRECTOR
Musical Director/Conductor
(Broadway Bound Class and Main Stage Company)

With 30 years experience teaching Music History, Theatre and Choir in several private schools in San Francisco, Carolyn Miller (or 'Ms. Music' as her students call her) has brought together everything she enjoys doing to create MUSICAL THEATRE WORKS. With MTW now approaching its 12th year, her dream of creating a productive and exciting Company for young people has, indeed, been realized. With students coming from 45 different schools, Carolyn, who is also a published composer and credentialed Music teacher with degrees in Choral Music and Music Education, has been able to help young people experience full-scale, professional-level Musical Theatre.

CHRISTINA LAZO

ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR
Stage Director/Choreographer
(Broadway Bound Class and Main Stage Company)

Christina holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree from Marymount Manhattan College in New York. She has performed in, choreographed and directed both local and regional theatre. Christina currently specializes in Dance and Theatre Education, and has worked with students from preschool through professional level. In addition to her work with MUSICAL THEATRE WORKS, she has worked locally with Peninsula Youth Theatre, ACLO Kids, Palo Alto Players, and Stage 1 Theatre.

JAY LYON

Assistant Musical Director/Accompanist

Jay is a composer, pianist and violinist.  His Prelude and Invention won the SF Conservatory's Jim Highsmith Award, and his Toccata for Cello and Percussion won first prize and chamber music award at the Delius Festival in Florida.   He has received an NEA fellowship in jazz composition and, this year, a Subito grant from the American Composers Forum.  He lives in San Francisco where he is Music Director of Unity Christ Church, as well as pianist for the chorus, Soli Deo Gloria.

MARIANNA ELISE FERRIS

Vocal Coach/Instructor
(Voice Class, Gotta Sing, Gotta Dance and Broadway Bound #2 Class)

Marianna has been performing for over 24 years, studying singing for 18, and teaching full time for five.  She loves music of all kinds and has sung and coached in such disparate styles as Musical Theatre, Opera, Rock, Jazz, Cabaret and Folk Rock.  She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts with honors from Carnegie Mellon University, and believes that a solid singing technique should be easy and comfortable for any singer.

DAVE GARDNER

Technical Director/Master Carpenter

Dave's set construction for MTW include Guys And Dolls, Grease, Titanic-The Musical, Annie, West Side Story, Damn Yankees, and Oklahoma, Bye Bye Birdie, Joseph, Footloose and The Music Man. The long list of Theatre companies for which he has worked includes Theatre Rhinoceros, Vector Theater Company, Berkeley Opera Company, The Marsh, Golden Gate Opera, Lamplighters, Diablo Light Opera, Lorraine Hansberry Theatre and the San Francisco and California Revels.

 JOAN DICKSON

Costume Designer

Joan has worked with MTW for 16 seasons. She has designed and costumed many shows, including The Sound of Music, Annie, Once Upon A Mattress, The Wizard of Oz, Guys & Dolls, Pippin, Titanic-The Musical, Oklahoma, West Side Story, Damn Yankees, Joseph....Dreamcoat, Footloose, The Music Man and Beauty and the Beast. Joan is well-known for her ability to build costumes based on the characteristics of a specific era.