TADA! Staff & Board

Artistic/Production/Ensemble

Janine Nina Trevens  jtrevens@tadatheater.com  Executive & Artistic Director 

Joanna Greer  jgreer@tadatheater.com   Associate Artistic Director & Resident Choreographer

Jim Colleran   jcolleran@tadatheater.com,  Resident Music Director

Desiree Accomando daccomando@tadatheater.com,  Executive Assistant & Ensemble Manager

Andy Bryant   abryant@tadatheater.com, Production Manager & I.T. Manager 

John Martinez jmartinez@tadatheater.com, Technical Supervisor

Kirk Bookman, Resident Lighting Designer 

Lester Thomas Shane, Resident Voice and Diction Coach 

Education

Marcie Sturiale  msturiale@tadatheater.com, Director of Education 

Alyson Ahlberg aahlberg@tadatheater.com, Assistant Director of Education

Maya Singh msingh@tadatheater.com, Education Associate

Development & Marketing

Susan Turcotte  sturcotte@tadatheater.com, Assistant Director of Development

Julia Prieto jprieto@tadatheater.com, Assistant Director of Marketing

Courtney Breslin cbreslin@tadatheater.com, Development & Marketing Associate

Sabrina Leichty sleichty@tadatheater.com, Development Associate

Administration

Jeanette Castillo jcastillo@tadatheater.com, Business Manager

TADA! Board of Directors

Stephen T. Rodd, President

Laura S. Friedrich, Vice President

Meish Goldish, Secretary

Ken Greiner, Treasurer

Ann Chao

Joan S. Davidson

Don Healy

Callie Herzog

Victoria Munroe

William Stern

Janine Nina Trevens

Vera Vitels

Darcy Volpe

Janine Nina Trevens, Executive & Artistic Director, co-founded TADA! in 1984 with Linda Reiff. Since that time, she has served as Artistic Director for all works produced by the company, many of which she commissioned specifically for TADA!. In addition, she has directed the Ensemble appearances at such events or places as Central Park's Easter Eggstravaganza, Salute to the Theater 2000 at Gracie Mansion, Circle Line's 50th Anniversary, J.P. Morgan and The White House. She directed and adapted the company's premier musical, The Little House of Cookies and has also directed 6 staged readings and 20 mainstage productions for TADA! including Everything About School (Almost), B.O.T.C.H., Maggie and the Pirate and Sleepover. She wrote and directed The History Mystery, one of TADA!'s most successful musicals, as well as Sweet Sixteen, a musical revue celebrating TADA!'s 16th anniversary in 2000. She has also directed for the Woman's Workshop, MCC and the Kennedy Center's Educational Department's New Vision/New Voices Program. In May 1997, Nina was selected as one of 10 Parenting Leaders by Parenting Magazine. In 1999 she was one of only 5 women nationally to receive Family Circle's, 1st annual Halo Award for women who make a difference. Nina directs many of TADA!'s mainstage productions and works directly with each of the ensemble members.

Joanna Greer, Associate Artistic Director & Resident Choreographer, holds a BFA in Musical Theater Performance and Dance from Columbia College Chicago. As an arts administrator, director-choreographer and teaching artist she has had the pleasure of working with numerous organizations such as The American Ballroom Theater (featured in the documentary Mad Hot Ballroom), YANY, City Lights Youth Theatre, PASE, The Old Town School of Folk Music, and The Steppenwolf Theatre Company. Her current TADA! Choreography credits include: The History Mystery, Everything about a Day (Almost), Rabbit Sense, Sleepover, The Gift of Winter, They Chose Me! and Everything About Camp (Almost) for which she served as the Director-Choreographer. Joanna is also the co-founder of NYC-based Kinetic Dance Theater, an artistic collective driven toward innovating dance theater, cabaret and musical theater performance www.kineticdancetheater.org.

Jim Colleran, Resident Music Director, an honors graduate of Tufts University, has nearly 20 years’ experience in children’s theater. For TADA!, Jim has directed music for several shows, composing material for Everything About a Day (Almost) and Sleepover. As composer-in-residence for Kidstock Theater in Winchester, MA, Jim wrote over 200 songs and dozens of original plays. Other NYC credits include: The Paper Bag Players, The Charles Busch Revue, Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, and numerous cabaret and children’s shows. National tours: The Slim Goodbody Show and Jim’s original one-man musical assembly, Gentleman Jim. Jim has composed scores for It’s A Wonderful Life, Medea, and My Little Martian, was awarded Best Song in the National Film Challenge 2003, and is currently at work on a new musical entitled Carried Away. Jim teaches voice and piano privately and is a member of the BMI-Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop.

Desiree Accomando, Ensemble Manager/Executive Assistant, hails from Connecticut and graduated from Hofstra with her BA in Drama and English (Phi Beta Kappa).  Previous experience includes donor relations work with Save the Children in CT; human resources administration with Monroe Staffing; and extensive theater and volunteer experience. She manages the TADA! Resident Youth Ensemble, a free, pre-professional theater training and youth development program serving 70 NYC kids ages 8-18, and also works closely with the Executive and Artistic Director on the day-day-to-day administrative operations of the organization.

Andy Bryant, Production Manager & IT Manager Past TADA! shows include The Prop Shop, History Mystery, New York New Year, Everything About Camp (Almost), The Little House of Cookies, Sleepover, Wide-Awake Jake and Everything About School, (Almost). Outside of TADA!, Andy has stage managed Manhattan Theater Club's productions of Valley Song with Athol Fugard and The Green Heart; Roundabout's The Minneola Twins; The Drama Department's June Moon and numerous productions with Jacques d'Amboise's National Dance Institute, where he was also the National Residency Director. Andy also stage manages specials events such as Broadway on Broadway, Stars in the Alley, The New York Yankees Foundation, United Way/NFL Benefit and JP Morgan/Chase Holiday Festival.

Kirk Bookman, Resident Lighting Designer Broadway: Band in Berlin, The Sunshine Boys with Jack Klugman and Tony Randall, The Gin Game with Julie Harris and Charles Durning, and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Off-Broadway: Havana Is Waiting, Force Continuum (Atlantic Theater Company), Rude Entertainment, Hope is the Thing with Feathers, As Thousands Cheer, June Moon, My One Good Nerve with Ruby Dee, The Importance of Being Earnest, Major Barbara (directed by Tony Walton), Eclipsed, Exactly Like You, The Green Heart and The Shawl. (directed by Sidney Lument). Regional: Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Coconut Grove Playhouse, GEVA Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre, Paper Mill Playhouse, Seattle Repertory Theatre. Ballet: English National Ballet, Santiago Ballet. Mr. Bookman is a member of the Off-Broadway theater company, The Drama Dept.

Lester Thomas Shane, Resident Voice & Diction Coach, is also on the faculty of The New Actor's Workshop. Trained by Edith Skinner, Lester's coaching credits include Merchant of Venice with Morris Carnovsky, Escape From Happiness, Orpheus Descending (T. Schreiber Studio) and New Music (The Mint Theater). He was invited to give the keynote address at the 2001 National Teaching Training Institute sponsored by PBS. His work as an actor, director and writer has been seen on television, film and the New York stage and in regional theater. Lester's award-winning one-man show, Mortal Coil, premiered at the First International New York Fringe Festival and has since played across the country. With Penelope Brackett he co-authored the recently published, Seven Keys To Success Without Struggle.

Education

Marcie Sturiale, Director of Education, has been in the field of Theatre Education for the past 10 years and has classroom as well as Regional, Off-Broadway and Broadway credits. Formerly the Director of Education for Camp Broadway, she has also worked for Syracuse Stage, the Metropolitan School for the Arts, the Central New York Institute for Aesthetic Education, and was the Education Program Director for Tony Randall’s National Actors Theatre. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Secondary Education and Theatre from Oswego State in upstate New York and a Masters in Educational Theatre from New York University.

Alyson Ahlberg, Assistant Director of Education, graduated cum laude from The American University in Washington, DC with a BA in Music Theater and a minor in Education Studies.  Her performance opportunities have ranged from solo acoustic gigs at coffeehouses to a principal role in a musical premiere at The Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage.  Her arts education background includes co-directing (and co-founding) a music and drama program in the Sterling Park Community Center in her hometown of Stratford, CT, as well as assisting in summer Musical Theatre educational programs at BAPA’s Imagination Stage in Bethesda, MD.  She also completed an internship with Imagination Quest, assisting with a series of professional development workshops dedicated to promoting arts-integrated education in public schools of Montgomery County, MD.  Alyi is delighted to be involved with TADA! in this capacity, combining her love of the performing arts with her love of providing the arts to students of all ages. 

Maya Singh, Education Associate, is currently anticipating her graduation this fall from Eugene Lang College at The New School with degrees in theater and education.  Before coming to New York,  she spent two years pursuing a BFA in Music Theater from Elon University in North Carolina.  She recently returned from a summer in Bangalore, India teaching theater workshops to children at the Parikrma Foundation (a non-profit school for Bangalore's underserved slums).  At the moment Maya is writing her thesis discussing introducing critical thinking and conceptual thought through theater based on this experience.  After interning with TADA! for almost a year, Maya is extremely happy to be an official member of the family!

Development & Marketing

Susan Turcotte, Assistant Director of Development, joins TADA! after having worked on Wall Street and the financial services industry for over 15 years. She holds an MBA from NYU's Stern School of Business and was educated in Europe and Asia as part of the diplomatic community.   Most recently, Susan has ventured into successful efforts in special events and corporate sponsorships for various non-profits including ART/New York. 

Julia Prieto, Assistant Director of Marketing, is a graduate of Williams College holds her BA in Political Science and International Relations. While completing her degree she also studied in Oaxaca, Mexico and Madrid, Spain. Most recently she worked at Scheer Advertising Group in NJ where she helped craft radio and print campaigns for major retailers and assisted in developing new business for the company.  Additional experience includes work at Tribeca Film Festival, Georgetown Policy Institute and Berkshire Artisans Gallery. She grew up in Texas and parts of New England.  At TADA! she will implement all marketing and press campaigns with the Director of Development & Communications.

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