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Home , A Bronx Tale (musical), Jonathan Pryce, Matthew James Thomas, Ragtime (II)

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CONSERVATORY of the Arts

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AUDITION SHOWCASE 2016

All students auditoning for principal roles will have the wonderful opportunity to independently work with Broadway stars Mathew James Thomas and Tess Soltau to workshop their individual pieces for the auditons. Mathew and Tess will hold workshops on Thursday, November 3 and Friday, November 4 for all students auditoning. This is sure to be an amazing experience for each of students to gain knowledge and input from these two Broadway veterans. The following are bios for them both:

Mathew James Thomas is a Britsh actor and singer who has made appearances Matthew James Thomas in television, flm, and theatre. He is known for his television roles including the BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning, , and the ITV drama-musical show, Britannia High. Thomas is also recognized for his performance in the ttle role of the 2013 Broadway revival of , which received a Tony Award for Best Revival Musical. He was also a late additon to the U.S. natonal tour of Pippin in 2014. He had his Broadway debut in 2010 playing Peter Parker in Spider-Man: Turn of the Dark. Thomas trained at the Sylvia Young Theatre School in and later at the Italia Cont Academy of Theatre Arts also in London.

His frst professional actng job came at the age of 8 when he played Kipper in a producton of Oliver. As a child he also appeared as Simon in and in About a Boy,starring . Additonally, Thomas made frequent appear- ances on numerous Britsh television shows, including Wonderful You, , , and Stephen Poliakof’s, The Lost Prince, among others. Conservatory In 2013, Thomas was nominated for an Outer Critcs Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Broadway Musical for his performance in the ttle role in Pippin, and, in 2015, he was nominated for a Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical for his performanceArtists as Fenwich in the Barryin Levinson Residence produced musical, Diner. Later in 2015, he was cast alongside Eddie Izzard in the HBO pilot, The Devil You Know, an upcoming drama program created by Jenji Kohan.

Tess Soltau graduated from The King’s Academy in 2005 where she played Tess Soltau Tessnumerous Soltau lead roles graduated for The from King’s The Academy King’s AcademyTheatre Company. in 2005 where Tess is shea graduate played numerousof Carnegie lead Mellon roles University for The King’swhere Academy she graduated Theatre top Co.in her Tess class. is a Shegraduate has found of Carnegieincredible Mellon success University fulflling her where Broadway she graduated dreams. Tess’s top inflm her credits class. include She has Love found & incredibleOther Drugs success (2010), fulflling Sleepers her of theBroadway City (2009), dreams. and White Collar (2009).

Tess’Tess’s flm Broadway credits credits include include Love & Far Other from Drugs Heaven, (2010), alongside Sleepers Steven of the Pasquale, City (2009), The and WhiteAddams Collar Family, (2009). where Tess she just played fnished the roleshootng of Wednesday a new flm alongside for HBO Nathanplaying Laneopposite Aland Pacino Bebe inNeuwirth, the Joe PaternoInto the Story. Woods, Tess’s where Broadway she starred credits as Rapunzelinclude Far playing From op- Heavenposite Donna, alongside Murphy Steven and AmyPasquale, Adams, The and Addams most recently, Family ,in where the biggest she played Broadway the role of Wednesday alongside and Bebe Neuwith, Into the Woods, where show in New York, Wicked, where she shehas starredstunned as audiences Rapunzel as playing the fabulous opposite Glinda. Donna Tess Murphy is also the and co-founder Amy Adams, and andco- owner of New York City’s puppy boutque,most Hound recently, and inTail the - bringing biggest comfortBroadway and show style in to New both York, pup andWicked owner., where she has stunned audiences as the fabulous Glinda. Tess is also the co-founder and co-owner of New York City’s puppy boutque, Hound and Tail – bringing comfort and style to both pup and owner.

Adam Kaplan is a New York based actor and singer. originally from Westport, Connectcut. Adam earned a BFA in at Elon University in North Carolina. He was a fnalist in the 2012 NYMF’s Next Broadway Sensaton competton, and in January of 2013 made his Broadway debut in Disney’s ! performing the leading role Jack Kelly. He was in the New York Philharmonic’s Show Boat which was subsequently broadcast as part of PBS› Live at Lincoln Center series. Adam recently toured the United States and Japan as Charlie Price in the first national tour of Kinky Boots.

He is currently starring on Broadway as Calogero in the hit musical directed by Robert De Niro and Jerry Zaks at the Longacre Theatre.

The King’s Academy is thrilled to have Adam work with the TKA Theatre Company’s cast of Disney’s Newsies! Adam is sure to bring his expertse to the project to give our students the best the Broadway industry has to ofer. Matthew James Thomas is a Britsh actor and singer who has made appearances in television, flm, and theatre. He is known for his television roles including the BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning, The Lost Prince, and the ITV drama-musical show, Britannia High. Thomas is also recognized for his performance in the ttle role of the 2013 Broad- way revival of Pippin, which received a Tony Award for Best Revival Musical. He was also a late additon to the U.S. natonal tour of Pippin in 2014. He had his Broadway debut in 2010 playing Peter Parker in Spider-Man: Turn of the Dark. Thomas trained at the Sylvia Young Theatre School in London and later at the Italia Cont Academy of Theatre Arts also in London. His frst professional actng job came at the age of 8 when he played Kipper in a producton of Oliver. As a child he also appeared as Simon in Billy Elliot and in About a Boy, starring Hugh Grant. Additonally, Thomas made frequent appearances on numerous Britsh television shows, including Wonderful You, The Bill, Bad Girls, and Stephen Poliakof’s, The Lost Prince, among others. In 2013, Thomas was nominated for an Outer Critcs Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Broadway Musical for his performance in the ttle role in Pippin, and, in 2015, he was nominated for a Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Musical for his performance as Fenwich in the produced musical, Diner. Later in 2015, he was cast alongside Eddie Izzard in the HBO pilot, The Devil You Know, an upcoming drama program created by Jenji Kohan.

John Hickok is no stranger to the Broadway industry. He has had experience on the stage as well as in many areas of producton and directng. Mr. Hickok orig- inated the role of Professor Bhaer in Broadway’s Litle Women and is featured on the cast recording. Mr. Hickok world premiered Broadway’s Aida originatng the role of Zoser also being featured on the cast recording. Mr. Hickok received his actng training at the prestgious Royal Academy of Dramatc Arts in London and is a member of the Actor’s Equity Associaton. Mr. Hickok is also on the Theatre Faculty at Queens College and Western Connectcut University. The King’s Academy is thrilled to have Mr. John Hickok serve as head clinician at the annual Broadway Initatve Musical Theatre Showcase March 29 and 30. Ms. Hickok is sure to bring his expertse to our King’s Academy Conservatory students as they prepare for their future performances and auditons. The King’s Academy Conserva- tory of the Arts is excited for this collaboraton with Broadway’s John Hickok allowing our students to receive training from best in the industry.

Lily Ojea Loveland joined Palm Beach as a principal dancer in 2009, afer fve years with the Alabama Ballet. She has spent summers dancing with other groups including New Orleans Ballet Theater and Hosanna Sacred Arts. Since joining Ballet Palm Beach she has traveled overseas seven tmes performing with Ballet Ambassadors. Besides being a dancer, she is also a teacher at Ballet Palm Beach Academy. She is a certfed master of the RPM technique. The technique explains ballet through physics and kinesiology and promotes exquisite classical results without forcing the body past it's absolute limits. It is a highly efectve approach to achieving natural movement quality and classical technique simultaneously. Lily is blessed to be a wife and mom of two. Lauren N. DeSantis ia a wife and mother of two amazing boys. She was born in Boca Raton, FL and moved to Wellington at young age. She has been dancing since the age of two.

Lauren atended Bak Middle School and Dreyfoos School of the Arts, where she studied dance, under an amazing, diverse faculty. Most of her outside dance train- ing was done at a local studio in Wellington, Peggy Brown’s Academy of Dance. She danced with The Company at a compettve level for 15 years before atending college at Florida State University. At Florida State Lauren studied fashion merchandising and design and contnued to dance on her sorority’s dance team. Afer college she contnued her educaton and went into elementary educaton. Lauren currently teaches students with learning disabilites at Allamanda Elementa- ry School, in Palm Beach Gardens. Her real passion, besides being a mom, contnues to be dance. For the past seven years she has taught jazz, lyrical, technique, and contemporary dance at a local dance studio in Royal Palm Beach, Dance Universe. Currently she teaches all ages 3 through 18 and choreographs compettve dances for The Company.

Deborah Marquez was born in Havana, Cuba and trained at the Provincial Ballet School “Alejo Carpenter” and later at the Natonal Ballet School in Havana. She graduated in 1993 as a Professional Dancer and Teacher. Ms. Marquez also joined the Centro Pro-Danza lead by the great maitre Laura Alonso where she was a Classic Ballet Soloist and danced the leading roles of the main classic ballet repertoire: Clara in The Nutcracker, Ef in Le Sylphide, Kitri and Mercedes in , Swanilda in Coppelia, Teresita in Napoli, Lucy and Mina in Dracula, Constanza in The Three Musketeers, Ganzat in Le Bayadere ...among others.

Deborah came to the USA in 2003 and joined the Ballet Florida directed by Marie Hale. There, she had the opportunity to work with well known choreographers as Ben Stevenson (Dracula, Cleopatra, Esmeralda, Five Poems, Bartók Concerto, Four Last Songs, Three Preludes), Mauricio Wainrot (Libertango pas de deux, Rite of Spring, From Far Away, Anne Frank), Twyla Tharp (Baker's Dozen), Vicente Nebra da (Our Waltzes, Handel Celebraton, , Cinderella), Trey McIntyre (Second Before the Ground), Val Caniparoli (Lambarena, Lady of Camelias), Nor bert Vesak (A Midsummer Night Dream), Thierry Malandaine (Stone Flower), David Parsons (The Envelope), Marie Hale (The Nutcracker, Le Corsaire). While at Ballet Florida she also performed in ’s (, Classic Symphony, Il ).

In September 2016, She was selected to be the recipient of the 2016 Randolph A. Frank Prize because she has "enriched many of her students’ lives with exceptonal training and opportunites to prepare them for a dance career. " Claudia Benack – Teaching Professor, Voice, Carnegie Mellon Universi- ty, received both her BFA and MFA degrees in Vocal Performance from CMU’s School of Music where she studied voice with Beatrice Krebs and Opera Work- shop with Mildred Miller. She contnued her vocal studies with Ellen Faull of the Juilliard School, the late Margaret Hoswell of the Manhatan School of Music, and Gary Race, formerly of the Cleveland Insttute of Music and the Univer- sity of Iowa. Benack is a member of NATS, Sigma Alpha Iota, and has served as Vice-President of the Pitsburgh Chapter of NSAL. As a performer, Benack is comfortable in a broad range of setngs. In the operatc genre, she is an award-winning lyric soprano: MTNA Natonal First place winner in Voice (1983), NSAL Regional winner and Natonal semi-fnalist (1987) and recipient of the Minna Kaufmann Ruud Fund grant. She was a leading soprano for twenty years with Pitsburgh Opera Theater, and performed frequently with Pitsburgh Opera, the Pitsburgh Symphony, the Pennsylvania Opera Workshop, and other region- al opera companies. Benack also boasts an impressive array of musical theater credits. Favorite productons include BABY (Arlene), THE SOUND OF MUSC (Maria), Guys and Dolls (Sarah), OKLAHOMA! (Laurey), A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC (Charlote), OF THEE I SING (Benson), and (Eliza). Benack is a true advocate and promoter of healthy singing through solid vocal technique and training and contnues her studies in vocal teaching by atending singing work- shops throughout the country and working with numerous vocal therapists and throat doctors. She also maintains her own thriving private studio. Benack’s fa- vorite part of her career has become watching and enjoying former and present students appear in countless natonal tours and regional productons. Broadway shows that presently have or have had her students as cast members include 42ND STREET, JERSEY BOYS, A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC, MARY POPPINS, WICKED, 9 TO 5, DRACULA, FLOWER DRUM SONG, RENT, THE PAJAMA GAME, GOOD VIBRATIONS, ALL SHOOK UP, THE PRODUCERS and PACIFIC OVERTURES.

The King’s Academy is thrilled to have Ms. Benack serve as head clinician at the annual Collegiate Musical Theatre Showcase November 9 and 10. Ms. Benack is sure to bring her expertse to our King’s Academy Conservatory students as they prepare for their future performances and auditons. The King’s Academy Conservatory of the Arts is excited for this collaboraton with the prestgious Carnegie Mellon University allowing our students to receive training from best in the industry. Larry “Da Beast” Albright Has been choreographing, teaching, and performing his style of Hip Hop for over 15 years all over the U.S. and abroad. Originally, strictly a freestyle dancer, he has been “classically trained” (i.e. by the streets and party scenes of NYC & NJ) in all Hip Hop related styles. He has choreographed, performed with and opened for many popular artists including Sean Kingston, B.O.B., Flo Rida, T Pain, J Rand, Mohombi, Pitbull, Ricky Martin, Rae Sremmurd, Kirko Bangz, Kaskade, The Village People and Cobra Starship just to name a few. He has performed in many music videos and has been seen on network television including MTV's My super sweet 16, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and the South Florida Today morning show. Though he loves to perform, his true passion lies in teaching. His Teaching experience is quite extensive having taught all ages from 4 – 74 and all levels from beginner to professional working dancers. He has conducted many master classes and workshops nationally and internationally including the Dance 4 Life workshop, Dance Masters of America, Underground Dance Xperience, Dance Educators of America, and Pick the Starz International. He has also, choreographed for and taught in many arts programs including the Florida School of the arts, Rutgers University, Florida State University and Northwood University. He has had the pleasure of promoting his philosophy of having total body control to some of the most prestigious ballet programs as well including the Harid Conservatory and Boca Ballet Theatre. Currently, He lives and teaches regularly for the Palm Beach County School District, Palm Beach Atlantic University and various dance studios in the area. He can also be seen as a part of “LOUD LIVE productions,” an interactive Click here for Videos performance company.

Robin Arrigo received the degrees Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance, Master of Music Educaton from Florida State University, and Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Miami in Accompanying and Chamber Music. She held the positon of Artst in Residence at Dreyfoos School of the Arts, is currently an Artst Resident for King’s Conservatory of the Arts, and Adjunct Professor of Piano/Staf Accompanist at Palm Beach Atlantc University. During the Internatonal Piano Fest- val held annually at Palm Beach Atlantc University, Dr. Arrigo is a part of the faculty conductng master classes for the guest pianists. Dr. Arrigo has performed as both soloist and collaboratve artst on numerous con- certs throughout South Florida, New York and Europe including the Kravis Center of the Performing Arts, Flagler Museum, Mar a Lago, Bethesda by the Sea, Royal Poincianna’s Seagull Cotage series, and The Juilliard School, just to name a few. Her recent performance for the Royal Poinciana Chapel Series in March included works by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Liszt and Brubeck. Dr. Arrigo has writen two piano transcriptons of a Mendelssohn Concert Aria for Soprano and Violin Obbligato, which was discovered at the end of the 20th century. Excerpts of these transcriptons appear in a 2002 book by John Michael Cooper and Julie D. Prandi; The Mendelssohn’s and Their Music in History (Oxford Press). Dr. Arrigo’s last symphony performance with Palm Beach Atlantc University Sym- phony featured Rachmaninof’s Second Piano Concerto. On March 17, 2017, She will be returning as guest soloist again, performing the Grieg Piano Concerto. In additon to her performing and teaching career, Dr. Arrigo has recently been wel- comed into the Yamaha artst family. Robin Arrigo is a Yamaha Artst. The King’s Academy Conservatory of the Arts Artists in Residence College Preparatory Clinic November 2 and 3 Jason Gillman

A veteran of seven Broadway shows, Jason Gillman starred as Freddie Benson opposite and Jonathan Pryce in DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS on Broadway. Additonal Broadway credits include CHICAGO, THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE, NEVER GONNA DANCE, ANNIE GET YOUR GUN, HELLO DOLLY with Carol Chan- ning, and most recently, the original company of LEGALLY BLONDE THE MUSICAL. He has performed natonally and internatonally with several Broadway tours, traveling as far as Tokyo, Japan with CHICAGO THE MUSICAL. Jason has appeared at countless regional theatres across the country including The Fifh Avenue Theatre in Seatle, Walnut Street Theatre (Philadelphia), Coconut Grove Playhouse (Miami), Art Park (Bufalo), Pitsburgh Civic Light Opera, and The Berkshire Theatre Festval in Massachusets. Jason has also done extensive commer- cial and television work including appearances on LAW & ORDER, THE ROSIE O’DONNELL SHOW, THE DANA CARVEY SHOW, THE TODAY SHOW, and THE KENNEDY CENTER HONORS. Jason was educated at the University of Florida where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Actng and contnued his training in NYC studying with TONY award winning director Vivian Matalon, who was a protégé of Sandy Meisner at The Neighborhood Play- house.

In additon, Jason and his wife Jackie Bayne have a company called Gotham Headshots, which combines his other area of expertse, photography, with the couple’s extensive Broadway background. Jackie and Jason trav- el regularly working with performing arts students all across the country to ofer professional headshots and conduct master classes at universites such as North Carolina School of the Arts, Elon University, New World School of the Arts (Miami), The University of Florida, Colorado Mesa University and Texas Christan University. Jacqueline Bayne

Jacqueline Bayne was most recently seen on Broadway in the Tony Award winning revival of SOUTH PACIFIC at Lincoln Center. Additonal Broadway and Natonal Touring credits include DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS, Evelyn Nesbit in , the original company of IRVING BERLIN’S WHITE CHRISTMAS (Rhoda) and performing the starring role of Sugar in SOME LIKE IT HOT opposite screen legend, Tony Curts. She has worked extensively across the country at regional theatres such as Goodspeed Opera (Connectcut), Pioneer Theater in Salt Lake City, Pitsburgh Civic Light Opera, the El Portal in Los Angeles, ArtPark (Bufalo), Marriot’s Lincolnshire The- ater (Chicago), Virginia Musical Theater, the Maltz Jupiter Theatre and the Pitsburgh Symphony. Favorite roles include Amneris in AIDA, Z’s Favorite in THE WILL ROGERS FOLLIES, and Charity in SWEET CHARITY. TV and Film credits include appearances on GUIDING LIGHT and the HBO movie BACKSTREET JUSTICE. Jackie is a graduate of Northwestern University, where she received a Bachelor of Music Degree in Vocal Performance and Minors in Musical Theatre and Business. She now serves on the Alumni Admissions Council for Northwestern Universi- ty.

In additon, Jackie and her husband Jason Gillman have a company called Gotham Headshots, which combines Jason’s other area of expertse, photography, with the couple’s extensive Broadway background. Jackie and Jason travel regularly working with performing arts students all across the country to ofer professional head- shots and conduct master classes at universites such as North Carolina School of the Arts, Elon University, New World School of the Arts (Miami), The University of Florida, Colorado Mesa University and Texas Christan University.