Our Creative and Production Teams come to you from the commercial stages of Broadway, Off-Broadway, and nationally renowned regional theaters to work with the young theatermakers in our summer program.
We are professional actors, directors, choreographers, musicians, stage managers, technicians, and designers. We know what it takes to put up a professional show, and we have the years of blood, sweat, and sequins to prove it. During the year, we are still working professionals in the field. Our continued experience onstage and behind the table allows us to lead young theatermakers from a place of empathy, as we have a deep understanding and respect for what they experience in the process of making theater.
We understand that no matter what we strive to teach this next generation, they’re also watching how we work, so we practice what we teach (pun intended) by modeling inclusivity, empathetic leadership, and enthusiastic collaboration.
Meet our team of Teaching Artists below!
Meet our Artistic and Production Teams for our Summer Programs.
Founder/Producing Artistic Director/Director-Choreographer
Erin Thompson
ERIN THOMPSON is the Founder and Producing Artistic Director of The Upper Peninsula Summer Theater Institute, as well as an award-winning Director, Choreographer, Equity Performer, and Theatre Educator. She is a passionate advocate for providing accessible, pre-professional theater education to the next generation of theatremakers. She hails from the Midwest, and is currently based in New York City.
Erin received a BFA in Musical Theater from The Boston Conservatory of Music in 2003. She spent the next 15 years performing professionally in commercial musical theater at nationally renowned regional theaters all over the country. Amidst her experience on over 40 professional shows, she served as Dance Captain and Assistant/Associate Director/Choreographer to notable artistic and production teams on several of the shows, which would groom her for her latter career as a Director-Choreographer. She draws on her many years of experience onstage to bring empathy to her leadership in the rehearsal room.
Following several years of working in the professional theater scene in Chicago, she moved to New York City in 2011, and has since taught and worked with (and for) many of the wonderful humans of Broadway. She has been mentored by Randy Skinner, Jim Corti, and Wendy Hall. She is a proud member of Actors Equity Association, and was awarded mentorship with Lonny Price and Josh Rhodes on the development of a world premiere musical for Roundabout Theatre through the Stage Directors and Choreographers Foundation (2018-19 Observership class).
Erin most recently earned an MFA in Performing Arts Management from Brooklyn College (class of 2023), where she also served as a Teaching Fellow to undergraduate students. Before the pandemic, she taught at Steps on Broadway, Mark Fisher Fitness, Flywheel Sports, and at various Yoga studios.
Her hope is to continue to break down barriers and co-create an exciting and visionary space for the next generation of theatermakers, and to help facilitate a more inclusive landscape in the American Theatre. It is her joy and her privilege to be a theatermaker in this lifetime.
Musical Theater Lead Teaching Artist
Stephane Duret
STEPHANE DURET was last seen in the Tony Award Winning Musical KINKY BOOTS on Broadway, and is also the Founding Director of KAISER’S ROOM, a non-profit that offers arts programming to individuals with cognitive and developmental delays in NYC. Stephane started his Musical Theatre training at the New World School of the Arts in Miami, Fl, now holds a B.F.A. in Musical Theatre from the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, and is thrilled to call NYC home. Previous credits include Off-Broadway: THE FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE, The Public Theatre; THE BISCUIT CLUB, and HARD TIMES, the cell theatre. International: PARADE, Jerusalem, Israel. ZORRO, Shanghai, China; Regional: VIOLET, Waitsfield, Vermont; AIDA, HOT MIKADO, RAGTIME, CABARET, CURTAINS, SWEET CHARITY, THE PRODUCERS Chicago, Il. A proud member of A.E.A.
Musical Theater Teaching Artist/Director-Choreographer
Sara Brians
SARA BRIANS is an award-winning director, choreographer and educator based in NYC. Sara’s Broadway credits include MATILDA, BILLY ELLIOT, 42nd STREET, WHITE CHRISTMAS, THE TERMS OF MY SURRENDER and AFTER THE NIGHT AND THE MUSIC. Sara’s directing and choreography credits include CABARET, SPRING AWAKENING, GODSPELL, FOLLIES (NYIT Award), CITY OF ANGELS, ROCK OF AGES, MAN OF LA MANCHA, THE FULL MONTY, BIG FISH, CHICAGO, RING OF FIRE, MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG, ANYONE CAN WHISTLE, PIPPIN, THE TROUBLE WITH DOUG, NEWTON’S CRADLE and many more. Additionally, Sara was a Rockette and she has worked at The Kennedy Center, Goodspeed Opera House, Asolo Repertory Theatre, The Alley Theatre, The 5th Avenue Theatre, Theatre Aspen, ACT of CT, Transcendence Theatre, Joe’s Pub, The Duke, The 92nd Street Y, Town Hall and Merkin Hall. She is currently on faculty at Pace University and Broadway Dance Center, and has been on faculty at Manhattan School of Music, Duke University, AADA and more. Visit www.SaraBrians.com
2020 Musical Theater Teaching Artist
Khori Petinaud
KHORI PETINAUD made her Broadway debut in Aladdin (Original Broadway Company) and is currently in Moulin Rouge (Original Broadway Company). Some other credits include In the Heights (Kennedy Center), The Color Purple (Nat. Tour), King Kong, American Dance Machine, Freddie Falls in Love ( Signature Theater: Al Blackstone) and Roman Holiday (San Francisco). Tv credits include: Rent: Live (FOX) , The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon) ,Vinyl (HBO), The Knick (Cinemax), and Z:The Beginning of Everything (Amazon). Khori is Dance Faculty at Broadway Dance Center.
MUSIC DIRECTOR/GUEST TEACHING ARTIST
Brigitte Rottman
BRIGITTE ROTTMAN is a Pianist, Accompanist, and Vocal Coach currently residing in Coatesville, PA. She has been performing professionally since her teen years when she took the opportunity to play for Prince of Fundy Cruise Lines as the stage show pianist for audiences traveling through the North Atlantic. From an early age, Brigitte is grateful to have studied with many influential professors of piano and voice at both West Chester University and Westminster Choir College. Currently, Brigitte is on staff at the Center for Performing and Fine Arts (CPFA) of West Chester, PA as the Musical Theater accompanist and music director. She is also working with SALT Performing Arts of Chester Springs, PA to foster and encourage the love of theater in the youth of her area. Brigitte has music directed professional theater for The Phoenix Theatre of Chester Springs and Resident Theatre Company of West Chester, and music supervised the showcases of senior classes at University of the Arts in Philadelphia. Some of her most recent projects include directing and performing in the pit orchestra for Into the Woods, Mamma Mia, Godspell, City of Angels, Little Shop of Horrors, and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and playing Orff's Carmina Burana for The Brandywine Ballet. What Brigitte is most proud of is her family- her SIX (!) tremendous children and her supportive husband Matthew who loves to dream with her.
2020 Musical Theater Teaching Artist
Diane Phelan
DIANE PHELAN is a Broadway actor, director and teacher based in New York City, passionate about making art that redefines what it is to be American, now. As a performer, she has covered the roles of Tuptim in The King and I on Broadway and Patty in School of Rock on Broadway. She was the standby for the role of Imelda Marcos in Here Lies Love at the Public Theatre and for Adela in Bernarda Alba at Lincoln Center. Other Favorite Roles: West Side Story (Maria – 50th Anniversary Tour), Oklahoma (Laurey, BTG) Pirates of Penzance (Mabel, CRT) Carousel (Julie Jordan, NAAP). As a director, she recently directed Cheeyang Ng’s Maya and Me for the Soundbites 6.0 Festival in NYC and served as associate director of Confidence and the Speech at Theatre Row under Hannah Ryan (Hamilton). She is the Founder for Broadway Diversity Project, a platform on social media that celebrates and encourages diverse casting on Broadway, and was a member of the 2018 SDCF Observership Class.
Community Outreach and Marketing/Guest Teaching Artist
Kirsty Fuller
KIRSTY FULLER is a WestEnd Performer, Educator and Teacher, originally from London UK, now based in New York after being awarded her US Artist Visa for ‘Extraordinary Talent’.
Kirsty was in the West End Revival of 42nd Street at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London (Swing/1st Cover Anytime Annie). She most recently performed in the 2021 European tour of White Christmas.
Previous Credits: Off Broadway: Broadway by the Year 20th Anniversary (Dancer, Town Hall, New York). UK Regional: Sleeping Beauty (Dance Captain/Ensemble/Cover Beauty, Lichfield Garrick), Chapel Choir (Soprano, The Royal Albert Hall, London), Night of Stars (Ensemble, Off West End, London Cabaret club), West End Has Faith Christmas Concert 2019 (Featured Vocal Soloist, Off West End Regent Hall, London). UK Television: BBC Strictly Come Dancing: It Takes Two (Teacher of the Celebrity/Dancer), ITV This Morning, BBC The ONE show (Dancer). Cruise: Lead Vocalist and Dancer (Voyage of Discovery), Lead Vocalist (Minerva Swan Hellenic) Cast before COVID 19: US Regional: 42nd Street (Dance Captain/Onstage Swing, Lyric Opera of Chicago), Annie (Associate Choreographer, Dance Captain, Ensemble, New Bedford Festival Theatre).
Kirsty is the Co-founder of Theatre Tap London, teaching at Pineapple Dance Studios London and hosting online interviews with International Tap Masters, creating an inspirational learning environment to engage, learn and study tap dance, its history and context. @theatretaplondon
ARTISTIC ASSOCIATE/ASSISTANT MUSIC DIRECTOR
Carlos Adan Ortega
CARLOS ADAN ORTEGA grew up in Hart, MI and currently resides in Chicago, IL. Carlos studied at West Shore Community College (WSCC) where he was a part of the Theatre Program and the Wind Symphony Percussion Ensemble. Favorite roles include Andrew Carnes in Oklahoma!(2014), The Baker in Into the Woods (2014), Motel Kamzoil in Fiddler on the Roof (2015), Roger in Grease (2017), Stage Manager for Love, Loss, and What I Wore (2018), Ronnette in Little Shop of Horrors (2019), The Creature in Frankenstein (2019), and Sky in Mamma Mia! (2020). Music Direction includes Music Man (2019), The Wizard of Oz (2019), and Little Women the Broadway Musical (2021) at Hart High School (HHS). In addition to Music Directing at HHS, Carlos has played in the orchestra for Beauty and the Beast (2015), Once Upon A Mattress (2016), Bye Bye Birdie (2017), The Little Mermaid (2018), Shrek: The Musical (2019), and The Wizard of Oz (2019). Carlos served as Production Assistant alongside Erin Thompson at the 2021 Ramsdell Summer Theatre Camp. You can see him perform drag under the stage name Ada LaMoxy in Grand Rapids, MI.
Tech Director/Audio and Sound Design
Chris Treviño
Chris Treviño is an American field recordist and sound designer for video games, theater and other linear/interactive media. Chris was born and raised a Yooper in the rural Upper Peninsula of Michigan. His most ambitious field recording project to date, “The Japan Sound Effects Collection”, was a Kickstarter-funded solo 3-month backpacking trip throughout Japan to record regional soundscapes.
During the summer of 2012, he interned at The Detroit Chop Shop with Ric Viers, author of the Sound Effects Bible, and helped record and edit commercial sound effects libraries for BlastwaveFX. Since then, he’s continued to collaborate with Ric and his interns.
Chris joined Michigan Tech staff in fall of 2019. Prior to coming to the Rozsa, Chris worked as the Technical Director at the Calumet Theatre in Calumet, MI from 2017-2019. He earned a BA in Sound Design from Michigan Technological University in 2015 and earned a Japanese language certificate from the Japan Center for Michigan Universities in Hikone, Shiga in 2014.
In addition to his responsibilities in the department, Chris continues to work as an audio engineer. He is the founder and head of “The Sound Archivist”, a sound production company that specializes in field recording and producing commercial sound effects libraries for use in theater, video games, and movies.
Musical Theater Teaching Artist
TBA 2022
Costume Designer/Costume Shop Supervisor
Mary Cyr
MARY K. CYR is a Lecturer and Costume Shop Supervisor in the Department of Visual and Performing Arts at Michigan Technological University. Originally from Indiana, she previously held the position of Assistant Professor/Head of Costumes, Wigs, and Make-up and Co-Director of Costume Construction Technology in the Indiana University School of Music. She supervised costumes for over 60 operas and ballets while at Indiana University. She has designed costumes for the Brown County Playhouse, the Indiana Repertory Theatre, the IU Opera/Ballet Theatre, the IU Early Music Institute, the World Premiere of A Bird in Your Ear for the Bard College Conservatory of Music, the Boston Playwrights’ Theatre, the York College Music Division, The Ohio State University, and most recently for the Michigan Tech Department of Visual and Performing Arts.
Technical Director
Kent Cyr
KENT A. CYR, Assistant Professor, is the Technical Director at Michigan Technological University in Houghton, MI. He teaches courses in Technical Construction, Stagecraft, Rigging, Stage Mechanics, and Properties Artisanship. He is a member of the USITT Tech Expo committee and active in the Technical Production commission, Education commission, and the Emerging Creatives Showcase. In KCACTF region III, he is the Festival Technical Director, and a respondent to the technical load-in process. He has worked at Spoleto Festival USA, Bard Summerscape, The La Jolla Playhouse, Cyco Scenic, and continues to work professionally with Technical Theatre Solutions. Cyr holds an MFA in Technical Production from Boston University.