Director of Education

Fall 2026 Instructor: Never Eat a Talking Lobster, Directing Workshop

About Sorrel: Sorrel has been performing since she was a child and has been a director and teacher in theatre, private voice, and choirs for most of her adult life. Sorrel began performing and volunteering at The ACT in 2012 in the role of Mrs. Fezziwig and as the music director for A Christmas Carol. Since then, she has directed, music directed, and stage managed many mainstage productions at The ACT. She became the Director of Education in 2016.

Sorrel earned her bachelors degrees degrees in political science and social science at UNT in 2012 and is currently working on a Masters of Music in Vocal Performance, also at the University of North Texas. Serving as a TA and Resident Stage Manager for UNT Opera, she is also working on a Graduate Artist Certificate in Opera Directing. 

Sorrel believes passionately in the power of the performing arts to transform people’s lives and bring them into a better understanding of themselves and the world around them. She looks forward to meeting your children in classes!

About Amy: Amy has been teaching music to children of all ages for 15 years as an elementary music teacher and middle school choir director for Lewisville ISD. She holds a Bachelors in Music Education with an emphasis in Vocal/Keyboard from Baylor University. Her passion for musical theatre and vocal jazz grew as a musical theatre performer and proud member of Baylor ShowTime! Now she serves on the music team at Aldersgate UMC and as a private voice and piano teacher. Amy is thrilled to be teaching at ACT

Fall 2026 Instructor: Disney Magic - Songs and Scenes for Musical Theatre

About Elam Drew: Elam Drew Coates has grown up at ACT, beginning her theater journey at the age of five. Since then, she has performed in 35 mainstage productions, worked backstage on four productions, served as an ACT Academy teaching assistant for four semesters, and been a camp counselor for six summer camps. Having grown up through ACT Academy, Elam Drew is passionate about giving back to the community that helped shape her. She loves helping young actors build confidence, creativity, and a lifelong love for theater. Through her work at ACT, she hopes to inspire and encourage the next generation of performers

.Looking ahead, Elam Drew hopes to continue growing as a theater artist and mentor, with the goal of someday directing an ACT summer camp, and eventually, a mainstage production!

Fall 2026 Instructor: Everyone Gets Eaten By Shakrks

About Daniel: Daniel Easter recently graduated from Shorter University with a BFA in musical theatre and a minor in dance. As a Georgia boy who recently moved to Texas, he is greatly looking forward to getting to know everyone at the ACT and working and inspiring the kids who walk through the door every day! Daniel has many performance credits for both musical and non-musical. He has a passion for teaching and knows just how important a director or teacher is in the eyes of a student. He is looking forward to building relationships and furthering the wonderful family here at the ACT.

Fall 2026 Instructor: Dr. Doolittle Musical, The Princess and the Pea

About Lara: Lara holds a Masters of Music degree from Texas State University, specializing in vocal performance and education. Although her musical journey began in the world of opera, the adventure has lead to teaching college voice and nurturing a private voice studio. As the vocal director for Valley Creek Church-Denton campus, she also uses her gift to grow the next generation of worship leaders!

About Dylan: Dylan started at the ACT in 2020 doing shows and intensives. She has been dancing since she was about 2 years old and is currently a Texas Rangers Six Shooter while working on her music education degree (vocal focus) at University of Texas Arlington! She loves to inspire a passion for theatre and performing in a fun environment.

Past productions and camps include: Moana Jr. (mainstage choreographer 2022, staging director 2025), The Little Mermaid Jr. (staging director 2024), Finding Nemo Jr. the Musical (mainstage choreographer 2024, TNT choreographer 2025), The Wizard of Oz (camp choreographer 2025), Spongebob The Musical Youth Edition (staging director 2025). 

cAMPS dIRECTOR; EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMING COMMITTEE MEMBER

Fall 2026 Instructor: The Day Aliens Invaded Fairfield

About Sara: Sara has served as the Theater Director at E.D. Walker Elementary School in Dallas, Texas and at DeLay MS in Lewisville, Texas. A patron of the ACT since 2007, she has set designed and worked on tech teams for mainstage shows since 2019. She has a BA in Secondary Education and a MBA in Bilingual Education. She is passionate about providing a way for children from all backgrounds to experience the magic of the theater.

Sara has been involved in the performing arts since she was a child. She sang her first solo at the age of 5 and directed her first show in the 8th grade. She has traveled across the United States and overseas with different performing groups, singing and acting in various venues. She is excited to begin a new chapter of teaching theater and is thrilled to call the ACT home!

About Ben: Ben studied at UNT and graduated with his BA in Theatre Performance in 2005.As a professional actor who has worked in Theatre, Voiceover, and On-Camera performance for over 20 years, he has worked with such clients as Kroger, Toyota, The Container Store, and Samsung. He and his wife were connected with The ACT through their 4 children being involved in Academy classes and then through their participation in the mainstage performances.

While working as an actor full-time, Ben is also a Voiceover Director, an accomplished BBQ pitmaster, a LEGO Enthusiast, and a fella who takes what he does seriously (while not taking himself too seriously). He is looking forward to joining the teaching team and is excited about what's next here at The ACT! 

About Erin: Erin grew up doing theatre here at the ACT and is so excited to be giving back to the place that helped her grow. She has been dancing since she was 5 years old and is now a Dance Education Major at Texas Woman's University. Erin has trained in many musical theatre dance intensives with professionals around the world and is so thankful to be able to share the knowledge she has gained. She has choreographed Willy Wonka JR, The Little Mermaid JR, and Matilda JR at The ACT and is looking forward to teaching this semester!

MAINSTAGE Resident Choreographer; MAKE-UP DESIGNER/CO-COORDINATOR; EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMING COMMITTEE MEMBER

Fall 2026 Instructor: Tap & Jazz Homeschool, Tap & Jazz Saturday, Advanced Tap & Jazz, Triple Threat, Dance Call Workshop, Recover-Reset-Restore Workshop, Dance Moms (and Dads)

About Eliana: Born and raised in the Los Angeles area, Eliana began her dance training at the age of 3, graduated from the Commercial Dance Department at the Orange County HS of the Arts (OCHSA), and was a 4 year member of the National Champion Long Beach State Dance Team. While earning her degrees in Film and Spanish at CSULB, she returned to OCHSA as a dance instructor, which also allowed her to be mentored by top choreographers in Los Angeles. She was also a dancer for a modern/contemporary company called The Brockus Project, taught summer Dance Team camps for US Spirit Leaders, and became a Los Angeles Rams Cheerleader. She seized the opportunity to relocate to St. Louis with the Rams to develop a new cheerleading program, providing their choreography, scheduling public appearances, styling swimsuit calendar photo shoots, and coordinating GameDay entertainment. She also co-founded the Jr. Rams Cheerleader program.

Eliana stepped away from dance and the entertainment industry to raise her children, but discovered The ACT in Fall 2017 while looking for an activity for her daughter. It didn't take long to reignite her love for the arts and she is excited to be back and actively engaged in choreography for several of our mainstage shows! Eliana feels passionately about pushing her performers to build their dance vocabulary, challenges them with stylized choreography, and is a stickler for solid technique. She looks forward to building foundational dance skills in ACT Academy dancers that will build their confidence and aid them in their musical theater pursuits.

Fall 2026 Instructor: Beginning Auditions, How to Become an Elf

About Angela: Angela graduated from Western Governors University with a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. She grew up loving theater from an early age and created her most cherished memories performing. Angela feels that many of the traits and life skills she’s most proud of were developed on the stage, and she hopes to create a space where children can grow confidence, courage, flexibility, and perseverance through drama.

Being a part of the ACT education team is extra special because Angela has three children who are all ACT Academy students and performers! Before becoming a team member, she was so touched by the wonderfully inclusive community the ACT has created for her children, that she felt compelled to contribute to the program. Angela feels so blessed to help fuel the love of learning through the arts, and give others the same joy her family has gained through the years. 

Fall 2026 Instructor: Triple Threat

About Rachel: Rachel has established herself as a sought-after voice teacher, with a unique and practical approach to voice teaching that has supplied singers with the tools to unlock new sounds. While Rachel integrates a variety of methods, she insists that they are all founded upon and support factual, physiological principles of vocal function. 

As a performer, Rachel is an experienced recitalist, embracing modern composers and chamber works. She sang professionally with the Nashville Opera chorus for five seasons, with the opportunity to sing comprimario roles. Rachel has welcomed opportunities to play Meg March in Mark Adamo’s opera Little Women and The Third Spirit in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte. She has also performed as a featured soloist in large orchestral works such as Beethoven’s Missa Solemnis, Handel’s Messiah, Verdi’s Requiem, and Haydn’s Missa in Angustiis. 

Rachel owns The Whole Voice Studio in Flower Mound, Texas, teaching singers and professional voice users, as well as rehabilitating voice users post injury. She has most recently enjoyed working with singers across the world with MET Studio of Voice online. Her previous position as a teaching fellow at the University of North Texas also focused on private lessons as well as on classes. Before starting her work on her doctoral program, Rachel was the Director of Vocal Studies at Trevecca Nazarene University in Nashville, Tennessee, where, during her nine-year tenure, she had the opportunity to teach a variety of classes, as well as watch talented students blossom into capable vocal artists. 

Rachel holds an undergraduate degree in vocal performance from Anderson University and a master’s degree in vocal performance and vocal pedagogy from Belmont University. While studying at Belmont, Rachel had the distinct opportunity to study at the Vanderbilt Voice Center under the tutelage of Mark S. Courey, MD, Thomas F. Cleveland, MM, PhD, and Ms. Jennifer Muckala, MA, CCC-SLP. This focused study equipped Rachel to work with singers who have experienced vocal injury. Currently Rachel is writing her dissertation on the impact of trauma on the voice and will graduate with a Doctoral of Music Arts in vocal performance from the University of North Texas in 2026.

General Production Manager and Resident Stage Manager

Fall 2026 Instructor: Call It! Stage Management for Teens Workshop

About Angela: Angela is the General Production Manager and Resident Stage Manager at The ACT and has stage managed, directed, taught, and worked tech for ACT shows and camps since 2004.  She earned a BBA from Trinity University in Illinois, studying the odd combination of Management, Accounting, and Fine Arts. She has been involved in the performing arts since she was a child, directing her first show at the age of 17! In addition to her own multiple roles on production teams, she has also trained most of the adult stage managers at the theatre. She is especially well known, however, for her work with ACT teens, instilling in many of them (as well as in adult volunteers) a true love for the art and responsibility of working in behind-the-scenes theatre positions. After countless productions at The ACT, she is excited to share her experience and knowledge at our theatre, training the the next generation of theatre arts lovers!

Technical Director & PRODUCTION ASSISTANT

About Shaun: Shaun first joined The Actors Conservatory Theatre 15 years ago as a child actor. He began teaching with The ACT Academy in the Fall of 2016 just after graduating with his Bachelor of Arts in Music with a Classical Vocal Performance emphasis at Southwestern Assemblies of God University. While earning his degree, he taught voice, dance, acting, and piano lessons to kids and adults of all ages, and traveled across the United States and overseas performing with multiple music groups of varying styles. He has worked with many theaters around DFW, including Dallas Children’s Theater and Casa Mañana, and has several years of on-screen film experience. He is happy to call The ACT his home and to be teaching your kids at The ACT Academy for another semester.

Fall 2026 Instructor: Creative Thinkers Lab, The Cheese Stands Alone

About Janna: Janna was raised in Arizona where she received her BA degrees in English and German and a Master’s degree in Library Science from the University of Arizona.  She did her library internships at BYU in Utah where she also reviewed books for the BYU Children’s Book Review. 

Janna and her husband moved to Texas in 1999 and raised their five children here. Janna has enjoyed teaching preschool, piano lessons, Cub Scouts, Brownies, and being involved with the Children’s Sunday School and Children’s Music Programs at her church.  She especially finds joy sharing her love for children’s literature. Janna is so excited to bring her love of teaching children to the ACT!

Meet Our Class Assistants