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PYT Alumni Association
PYTAA is dedicated to keeping PYT alumni connected to the company and to each other through events and productions that allow alumni to use the skills they have developed in their theatrical endeavors with PYT and elsewhere.

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What's Up in the PYT Family!

What's New

Catherine Smith has released an EP - you can listen to it and find out about her upcoming appearances at https://www.facebook.com/ghostinthecanyon?fref=ts.

Shannon O'Neil completed a successful Kickstarter campaign to fund her band's upcoming album. Find out more about PepperJill and Jack at their Website: http://www.pepperjillandjack.com/

Brian Miller can be seen in Urinetown at Nevada Conservatory Theatre, May 3 - 12.

Jonathan Murphy performs all of the voices for the audio play "The Three Little...Hogs?," the first release by Geek Club Books, the brain child of former PYT Board Member Jodi Murphy.  "The Three Little...Hogs" was written by PYT Executive Director Karen Simpson.  Future Geek Club releases include a book app, "The Terrible Taunting" written by Molly Murphy.  Find out all about it (including a free download of the audio play) at http://geekclubbooks.com/2013/04/dorktales-audio-story/

More from past issues...

Doreen Bloch is the Founder CEO of Poshly Inc. (www.poshly.com) She is the author of The Coolest Startups in America, a book for mainstream readers about the best new tech companies in the country. 

Kaizen Betts-LaCroix, Hannah Heumann, Abbie Heumann, Olivia Heumann and Frede Weitzel perform in the Sunnyvale Community Players production of The Wizard of Oz, directed by PYT Outreach Director Roberta Inscho-Cox.  

After completing a successful stint on Broadway, Nic Rouleau can now be seen as Elder Price in the Chicago company of The Book of Mormon.

Alison Koch appears in West Valley Light Opera Musical Theatre Company's production of Sugar: The Musical Comedy.

Katie O'Bryon appears in San Jose Stage Company's upcoming production of Reckless.

Brian Miller appears as Young Ebenezer in A Christmas Carol at Stage 1 Theatre in Newark.

Theo Gardiner is playing General Genghis Khan Schmitz in the Solla Sollew cast of Washington Open's production of Seussical.

Melissa Goldman, Patrick Castle and Drew Descourez will all be performing in Bellarmine College Prep's upcoming production of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.

Meaghan Anderson can be seen at the Great Dickens Christmas Faire through Dec. 23 at the Cow Palace.

Katherine Goldman has been cast in California Theatre Center's (CTC) professional company, which tours to schools throughout California with 13 different shows. She is currently in performances for the first show on the tour, "Harry the Dirty Dog", in which she plays a variety of characters including a young child, a surfer-dude, and a cheerful puppy!

Nicole Villeneuve has joined the New York Choral Society, which performs this season at Carnegie Hall, with Andrea Bocelli at the new Barclays Center in Brooklyn, and at the Richard Tucker Music Foundation Gala at Avery Fisher Hall. The latter concert will be televised nationally Dec. 13 as part of the PBS series Live From Lincoln Center. Nicole also works part time as a theater critic for Backstage magazine and full time as a senior publicist with book publisher SourceBooks. She blogs about food and literature at www.paperandsalt.org.

Mary Callahan is currently in rehearsals for the Broadway-bound revival workshop of "Sugar Babies", starring Tony Award winners Michael McGrath and Beth Leavel.
 

Alison Koch is a Dramaturg Intern at TheatreWorks working on 33 Variations and Big River and is also a Community Education Outreach Intern teaching kids about Water Conservation using puppetry and performance for the Santa Clara Valley Water District.
 
Christian Koch graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Film, Media & Culture Studies from UC Riverside and is working again this summer as a Video Editor intern for VMWare in their R&D Communications department.
Two PYT alums worked with Marin Shakespeare Company this Summer! Daniel Wallach played Robert Faulconbridge and Megan Putnam was in the ensemble of Shakespeare's King John. Megan can also be seen as Cobweb in A Midsummer Night's Dream with Marin Shakes through September 30th.

Ernestine Balisi played the title role of Aida at Stage 1 in Newark in July.

Katie O'Bryon, Allison Koch and Annie Dow performed in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying at Foothill Music Theater.

Check out Brian Miller and Diana Vandenburg in The Magic Hat show in Kidzville at Great America

Allison Koch and Peter Woolhouse appear in Grand Hotel: The Musical at Sunnyvale Community Players April 20 - May 13.

Lindsay Kristine Anderson recently finished her run of "A Chorus Line" as Maggie Winslow at the Lewis Family Playhouse (Broadway at the Gardens). She will be seen next singing in the musical review "Swing into Spring" at Encore Dinner Theatre and Club, April 12th - May 27th, 2012.

Katherine Goldman performed as Natalie in Foothill Music Theatre's production of All Shook Up.

Diana Vandenburg plays Dolly Levi and Rachel McIntyre plays Ernestina in the Grand Central cast of The King's Academy production of Hello Dolly March 8 - 17.

Martin Gutfeldt, Brett Carlson, Beth McClelland and Brian Miller all performed in South Bay Musical Theatre's production of Finian's Rainbow in February.

Ernestine Balisi and Jonathan Murphy performed in Palo Alto Children's Theatre's  production of Go, Dog. Go!

Claudia Lynch, Patrick Castle, Melissa Goldman, Tyler Groshong, Jason Vu and Patrick Curley will all appear in the Bellarmine College Prep production of The Who's Tommy.

Click HERE to read the latest edition of the alumni newsletter! NEW for May/June 11! 

Catherine Rose Smith did some recording this summer of her original music with her band at Trilogy Studios in SF.
Once the mixing and production is complete, she will release a EP. You can find her music on Reverbnation http://www.reverbnation.com/catherinerosesmith and My Space music http://www.reverbnation.com/catherinerosesmith. You can fan her on Facebook too!

Click HERE to read the latest edition of the alumni newsletter! NEW for Jan/Feb 11!

Jennifer Mitchell is singing in the chorus of Opera San Jose's Pagliacci Nov. 12 - 27th.  She will also be singing in their production of La Traviata in February.  Visit www.operasj.org for more info.

Alison Koch, Will Marsden and Sarah Benjamin have all been cast in “The Laramie Project” at Foothill College. Performances are November 4-20th, 2011.

Emily Ott is performing in St. Francis High School's production of Up the Down Staircase.

Michael Riskin will be playing the Cat in CMTSJ's production of Seussical.

Katherine Goldman will be performing in Round One Cabaret: An evening of new songs by Bay Area composers of musical theater at The Alcove Theatre in San Francisco.

Alumni Martin Gutfeldt and Tony Feenan and Outreach Director Elizabeth McClelland appeared in South Bay Musical Theatre's production of 42nd Street.

Lead Outreach Director Meg Fischer is directing How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying at West Valley Light Opera.

School of Performing Arts Director Katie O'Bryon and teacher and director Michael Champlin are appearing in 5th of July at Pear Avenue Theatre before staging their own wedding production later this month...
Nic Rouleau recently appeared on Broadway as the swing for Elder Price in the Tony-Award winning musical The Book of Mormon.

Ernestine Balisi appears in San Jose Repertory Theatre's upcoming production of Spring Awakening, which is choreographed by Sonya Tayeh from So You Think You Can Dance.

Emily Borromeo will be playing the spit-fire Josie Harvey in the new musical, Effing Hipsters! as a part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival aka NYMF.  In November, you'll be able to see Emily in commercials for Emergen-C fruity vitamin mix drink.

Tony Feenan and Martin Gutfeldt will appear in South Bay Musical Theatre's production of 42nd Street, running Sept. 17-Oct. 8 at Saratoga Civic Theatre.
 
Ryan Szelong will be attending New York University in the Tisch School of the Arts, Playwrights Horizons Theater School in the fall.

Alison Koch won “Outstanding Actor of the Year” at UOP and graduated with a Bacherlor of Arts degree in Theatre Arts in May.  She attended the Summer Training Congress at the American Conservatory Theatre (A.C.T.) in San Francisco.

Christian Koch interned at VMWare this summer as a Video Editor in their R&D Communications department.  He will be starting his final year as a Film & Visual Culture major at UC Riverside in the fall.
 

Emily Bliss will appear in the Bellarmine College Prep alumni production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee this summer.

Congratulations to Maya Maniar, who received a San Jose Stage Top Honor Award for Best Leading Actress for her performance as Hope in Castilleja High School's production of Urinetown.

Former PYT teacher Sarah Eismann is currently appearing in the Manhattan Shakespeare Project's all-female Henry V.  Sarah plays Harry King of England.

Annie Donahey was just notified that she will be receiving the 2010-2011 National Youth Arts award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a musical for her performance as the Drowsey Chaperone in The Drowsey Chaperone at Archbishop Mitty High School.  In 2009-2010 she received an award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a musical for her role as The Beggar Woman in Sweeney Todd.

John Bujalski recently finished a run in two independent productions for NYU - Tisch.  John was the villian "Dante" in Super People and all the male characters in Burning - a Modern Myth.  He is also performing around New York and Boston with NYU's male a cappella music group - Vocaholics.  Check them out on their website: www.vocaholicsnyu.com/

Sean Kranz appeared in Evita at the Lewis Family Playhouse at Victoria Gardens Cultural Center in Rancho Cucamonga.  If you're visiting Disneyland this summer keep an eye out for Sean, as he started working in the park following his graduation from USC!

Blythe (Faxon) Woodland appears as Tracy Turnblat in the Broadway Rose Theatre Company (Oregon) production of Hairspray this July.

Daniel Wallach will play Lysander in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Nym, Gower and York in Henry V with Shady Shakespeare Theatre Company in Sanborn Park this summer.

Annie Donahey recently performed the title role in The Drowsy Chaperone at Archbishop Mitty School.  This May she can be seen in Cole Porter's Silk Stockings at 42nd Street Moon theater in San Francisco (which also features Monkey King director Bill Olson).  In the fall Annie will be attending New York University in the Tisch School of the Arts, New Studio on Broadway in Musical Theatre.

Emily Bliss will play Sally Bowles in Sunnyvale Community Player's production of Cabaret.  Dan Hurst and Lukas Sarnow also appear in this production.

Eden Rousso earned an honorable mention and was cast in the "all state" final showcase in the California Thespian Festival - the only freshman to get a vocal part in the show.

Sharon Lita, Claudia Lynch and T.J. Sonnier will appear in CMTSJ's Secret Garden.

Max Venuti appears in the Los Altos Youth Theatre production of Seussical.

Brian Miller appears in West Valley Light Opera's production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, performing March 12 - April 9, 2011.

Nick Spangler appears in The Book of Mormon, a new Broadway musical by the creators of South Park and Avenue Q.  The show began it's run Feb. 24 at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre.

Shannon O'Neil is the Production Stage Manager for the Off-Broadway run of "The Flying Brothers Karamazov" the Minetta Theatre in New York.  "Four times triumphant on Broadway, the award-winning Flying Karamazov Brothers are back in an unforgettable spectacle of music, comedy, dance, theater and juggling. “100 minutes of cleverness and comedy go by in a flash.” “It’s the Juilliard String Quartet meets Monty Python,” and “as close to a sure thing as can be found onstage.” “It’s unleashed fun.”

Kimberlee Vandenburg, who was seen last Nov. as The Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz, will be playing Belle in one cast of Disney's Beauty & the Beast, Jr. at San Pedro Square in downtown Mtn. View, April 14 - 16; on the other cast she is the wardrobe - Madame de la Grande Bouche.  In addition to her roles, she is also the Costume Designer and Hair & Make-Up Designer for the production.

Fiona (Lawson) McCrea appeared in a staged reading of Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband with Arclight Rep Theatre of San Jose.

Raine Scott appeared in the Fremont High School production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Jonathan Murphy appears as the title character in the Palo Alto Children's Theatre production of Ferdinand the Bull.

Robert Wiszowaty has been cast as "The Toughest Kid in Camp" in Hillbarn Theatre's upcoming production of Holes, running Jan. 27 - Feb. 13.

Nic Rouleau is currently touring the United States and Canada with Legally Blonde: The Musical, playing the role of Emmett, playing in Fresno Feb. 2 and Redding Feb. 3.

Sabrina Sonner will appear in California Theatre Center's production of Madeline this winter.

Molly Murphy performed in Reluctant at Brava! For Women in San Francisco.

Alex Watson-Tremellen appears in the Palo Alto Children's Theatre production of Cinderella, running Nov. 3 - 13.

Brian Miller appears in the Sunnyvale Community Players production of Godspell, running through Nov. 21.

Katie O'Bryon directs Meg Fischer, Jillian Toby-Cummings, Lillian Blank, Gabrielle Filloux and Max Venuti in West Valley Light Opera's White Christmas, running Nov. 13 - Dec. 11.

Annie Donahey and Brian Miller appeared in Sunnyvale Community Theatre's production of Sweeny Todd.

Alison Koch received kudos for stepping into the role of the Nurse during Livermore Shakespeare Festival’s production of Romeo and Juliet when an accident sidelined another actress.  Read the review!  http://pacific.edu/x37568.xml?ref=nf.  Alison was recently cast in the University of the Pacific Fall production of “Godspell” which runs November 12-20, 2010 in Stockton, CA at the Long Theatre.

Christian Koch, a Media and Cultural Studies major at UC Riverside is currently creating a promotional video for the Eugene O’Neill Studio Retreat program for young actors and playwrights.  

Ernestine Balisi performed the Star Spangled Banner at the San Jose Giants game on Sept. 5.  Ernestine will be at PYT a lot the next few months as she and fellow alum Dan Hurst are choreographing our upcoming production of The Wizard of Oz.

Congratulations to Katie O'Bryon - Katie received an ERMA award from West Valley Light Opera for her performance in Sweet Charity, and was named one of Wave Magazine's artists to watch for next season!

Sophie Schulman, Annie Dow, and Molly Murphy all appear in Anything Goes running July 23 - Aug. 15 at Foothill Musical Theatre. Molly is one of Reno’s Angels and Annie and Sophie are in the ensemble.

Alex Watson Tremellen finished up her summer after playing Edmund in Narnia by working as an extra on the new Brad Pitt movie Moneyball, filming at the Oakland coliseum.

Ernestine Balisi appears in Bus Barn Stage Co.'s production of Smokey Joe's Cafe running Sept. 2 - Oct. 2 in Los Altos.

Katie Caldwell will be attending the honors program at Emerson College in Boston studying Writing, Literature and Publishing.

Claire Uschersohn will be attending the dramatic literature program at NYU in the fall.

Emily Borromeo has been cast in the role of Nell in the new Off-Broadway musical I'll Be Damned, which is making its premiere at the Vineyard Theater in New York City in July. Emily is excited to perform with Broadway veterans, including Tony Award nominees Mary Testa, Kenita Miller and Kurt Robbins.
 

Several former PYT'ers received nominations at the 2009 Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Awards:
Kalon Thibodeaux---Wildcat---42nd Street Moon*
Danelle Medeiros---Rent Boy Ave.: A “Fairy’s” Tale---Boxcar Theatre
Andrea Bechert---Twentieth Century---TheatreWorks*

Alison Koch will be interning with the Livermore Shakespeare Festival Company this summer and will also be a member of the Romeo and Juliet ensemble.  Performances are July 8 – August 7th.

Sean Kranz just finished portraying Prince Lucas in a new work musical called Rapunzel: Beginings & Beyond ,written by creative team Allison McGarry and Brian Leader, which performed at the Electric Lodge in Venice, CA July 30th - August 1st.

Molly Murphy reprises her role as Miss Dorothy in Santa Clara University’s production of Thoroughly Modern Millie running May 28-30 & June 1-5.  This summer Molly will be seen in the Foothill Music Theatre production of Anything Goes, July 23 - August 15.

Jonathan Murphy has been cast in the Festival Theatre Ensemble/Los Gatos Shakespeare Festival's 2010 season and will be performing the roles of Algernon in The Importance of Being Earnest, Lucentio in The Taming of the Shrew, and Dr. Livesey in Bruce de les Dernier’s adaptation of Treasure Island. Performances take place in Menlo Park and Los Gatos June 5 - August 7.

Catherine Smith will be attending USC Thornton's School of Music Popular Music program starting in mid August. She is a singer-songwriter and can be seen performing  at the Blue Rock Shoot in Saratoga on May 14, Chase on the Plaza in downtown Los Altos on June 11th, Relay for Life in Los Altos on June 12th and the Red Rock Cafe in Mountain View on July 26th. Her brother Connor Smith is finishing his junior year at Loyola Marymount University where he is a theater arts major.

Ally Bolognini will be going to UCLA's school of Theatre, Film & Television in the fall for stage management and production.

Katherine Goldman will be performing in The Alcestiad at USC, April 1st-4th.  The show is directed by Jason Robert Brown, who also wrote music for the show. She is a member of the four-woman chorus.

Jennifer Spindler has been cast as Kleonike in Gonzaga University's production of "Lysistrata" opening the end of March.

Jeremy Davies can be seen in West Valley Light Opera's upcoming production of Sweet Charity running through April 10, and then in Marquee Productions' Singin' in the Rain.  Jeremy will also be directing and choreographing the PYT Alumni Association's production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.  Click HERE for tickets!

Judd Yort appears as Ryan in Sunnyvale Community Players' production of High School Musical 2, playing through March 21.

Read an excerpt from a review of Sean Kranz' co-direction of USC Musical Theatre Repertory's production of Urinetown www.stagescenela.com/html/urinetown.html.  Sean will next be seen on stage as Rapunzel's Prince in the USC School of Theatre's production of Into the Woods.

Claire Uschersohn has been cast in the role of Philia in Menlo-Atherton High School's production of A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum.  Performances are being held March 12-20.

Alison Koch appeared as the Nurse in the University of the Pacific (UOP) production of Romeo and Juliet in October 2009.  Alison was also cast as the central character Lily in Blue Window which plays in March 2010.