MTTP Summer 2018 Instructors
INSTRUCTORS FOR THE SUMMER INTENSIVE, 2018
JANET METZ (Director)
Janet is delighted to be working with all of you on her fourth summer as the director of the York Theatre’s MTTP. She was also the director of this year’s college winter intensive at the York. Janet’s Broadway credits include: Fiddler on the Roof, Marie Christine (original cast CD), On the Town, Once Upon a Mattress (original cast CD). Off-Broadway: Stars of David (original cast CD), Bingo (Drama League nomination – Featured Actress, original cast CD), I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, Falsettoland (original cast CD), Lucky Stiff (original cast CD) and Big – the Musical (both at the York Theatre/Mufti Series), Hurrah at Last, I Love NY (Bistro Award, original cast CD). International/NationalTours: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Narrator opposite Donny Osmond – platinum original cast CD), The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber (opposite Michael Crawford), Stop the World – I Want to Get Off (opposite Anthony Newley), Music of the Night (opposite Colm Wilkinson), Fame-the Musical (pre-Broadway tour). World Premieres/Regional credits include: Barry Manilow’s Harmony (Drama-Logue Award – Featured Actress), Casino Paradise (original cast CD), The Rink (opposite Leslie Uggams), Mack and Mabel (revival), Sunday in the Park with George, Funny Girl, A Christmas Carol, Spitfire Grill (original cast), etc. TV: Mercy, Live with Regis…, Trinity, Out of the Box. Other original cast CD’s include From Broadway with Love, What the World Needs Now is Love (also the music video) and A Christmas Survival Guide. She was honored to perform at the 2016 DNC and sing twice for a former President of the United States. Janet is the winner of the George London Musical Theatre Grant from the Kennedy Center, and a graduate of Washington University, in St. Louis Mo. She is the proud mom of twins Phoebe and Nathaniel, and wife of director Michael Unger.
JOSE C. SIMBULAN (Music Director)
Jose is honored to be working with The York Theatre this summer. He most recently served as the Associate Music Director for the world premiere production of the new musical, Snow Child, with music by Bob Banghart and Georgia Stitt at Arena Stage in Washington, DC. Earlier this season, he served as the music director for Lookingglass Alice at Baltimore Center Stage. Other regional credits include productions at Connecticut Repertory Theatre, Merry-Go-Round Playhouse, Virginia Repertory Theatre, The Kennedy Center, Signature Theatre, and Charleston Stage Company. On Broadway, he has been in the pits of Lestat and A Chorus Line. This coming year will mark his 20th year as the pianist for the Unified Professional Theatre Auditions (UPTA), and his 25th year with the Southeastern Theatre Conference (SETC) Pro-Div Auditions. Jose is a proud graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University.
ANTHONY JOHNSON (Choreographer)
Anthony is a multi-disciplinary artist based out of New York City. Anthony (and his collaborative partner Mary Ann Lamb) most recently returned from staging Disaster! at CT Rep under the Artistic Direction of Terrence Mann, starring Broadway’s Seth Rudetsky (from the Original Broadway Cast), Ann L. Nathan and Angie Schworer. Earlier this year, the duo was awarded Distinguished Choreography by the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival for their work on Evita at Western Connecticut State University last fall. Other choreography credits include the 2017 Pace University Commercial Dance Showcase; Parade at DaSota; and assisting Tony nominee Charlotte d’Amboise restage “Charleston” from Billion Dollar Baby/Jerome Robbins Broadway for the National Dance Institute. Select Performance Credits include: Romeo & Juliet with The Joffrey Ballet at Lincoln Center (David H. Koch Theatre); the world premiere workshop presentation of Susan Misner & Jonathan Bernstein’s new dance play Here in the Bright Colorado Sun at the O’Neill Theatre Center (H); the title role in Pippin at Phoenix Theatre; various productions of West Side Story (Tony, Action, A-Rab); Gypsy (Tulsa) starring Tony nominee Sally Mayes; Hairspray (National Tour and Paper Mill Playhouse). Anthony is originally from North Carolina and has a BFA in Musical Theatre/Dance from Catawba College.
JAMES LUDWIG (Acting Coach)
James’s Broadway credits include Monty Python’s Spamalot (Original Cast) and Little Shop of Horrors. Off-Broadway credits include Two Point Oh, Blue Man Group, Bubbly Black Girl Sheds her Chameleon Skin at Playwrights Horizons; De la Guarda and the original cast of John & Jen. Tours include the Las Vegas production of Monty Python’s Spamalot and the First National Tour of 101 Dalmatians. James has worked at many storied regional theatres around the US, including Buck’s County Playhouse, Baltimore CenterStage, Syracuse Stage, Cleveland Play House, George Street, NewArts, Arena Stage, and McCarter Theatre to name just a few. Film/TV credits include Daylight Raiders (as Jimmy Stewart), “News to Me,” “Lipstick Jungle,” “Chappelle’s Show” and Ghost Town. James owns Back40 Films, which produces the wildly popular series “The Happy Hour Guys” (thehappyhourguys.com). He holds a B.A. from the University of Michigan (Go Blue!), an M.F.A. from the University of Washington PATP, and is a proud Actors’ Equity Member. Twitter: @JimmyLudwigNYC. Best gigs ever: Husband to KB, and Dad to nine-month-old Jake Matthew.
RACHEL REPOLE (Stage Manager, Education Assistant, Housing Supervisor)
RACHEL is very excited to be working with The York this summer. She is also a recent graduate of Pace University earning her Bachelors in Stage Management and a minor in Arts and Entertainment Management. She has previously worked for TADA! Youth Theatre as a Teaching Assistant and Education Intern, Aruba Productions as a General Management Intern, The Count Basie in Red Bank, New Jersey as an Education Intern and the Atlantic Theatre Company as a General Management and Finance Intern. She looks forward to pursuing a career in non-profit theatre education post graduation.
MICHAEL UNGER (Associate Artistic Director, Director of Education)
Michael is the Associate Artistic Director and Director of Education for The York Theatre Company. He is also the Producing Artistic Director of NewArts – a performing arts and character development initiative started by a local father in response to the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting, for which he had directed a dozen productions. Credits for The York include You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown, Big: The Musical, Milk and Honey, and Knickerbocker Holiday. Other directing credits include: A Christmas Carol (McCarter Theatre – 18 years); Two Point Oh (Off Bway, NYT Critics’ Pick); Time Stands Still (Cape Cod Chronicle Best 2015), My Sister in this House (Deaf West – Ovation Recommended); Grease (Paramount Theatre); Crimes of the Heart (Theatre Aspen); new versions of The Happy Time and The Rink. World premieres include Caligula (NYMF – Best of the Fest), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and A ROCKIN’ Midsummer Night’s Dream (featured in the documentary film, “Midsummer in Newtown”). Michael has directed 15 operas around the world, two of which are available on DVD. He is married to actress, Janet Metz; their favorite collaboration: twins, Phoebe and Nathaniel.