STORYTELLERS IS A UNIQUE, FULL-SCALE, QUALITY THEATER ARTS ACADEMY THAT OFFERS PROFESSIONAL TRAINING AND PERFORMANCE OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. WE ARE COMMITTED TO TEACHING AND PRODUCING MEANINGFUL AND EXCELLENT THEATER BY INVESTING DEEPLY IN YOUNG ARTISTS IN A WHOLESOME, ENCOURAGING, AND CHALLENGING ENVIRONMENT. THIS WILL BE DONE IN ORDER TO EXPAND THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF OUR STUDENTS, TO IMPACT OUR AUDIENCES, AND TO ENRICH THE ART OF THEATER FOR GENERATIONS TO COME.
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STAFF
Artistic Director, Co-Founder, and Board Member: Terry Sweet Bouma As an actor and singer, Theresa Sweet Bouma has performed music theater roles, opera roles, and concerts with companies that include Washington Repertory Company, Petrucci's, Washington Summer Opera, Charlottesville Symphony, Concert Artists of Baltimore, and many others in Baltimore, Washington DC, and up the east coast. She was also the 3rd place winner of the national Metropolitan Opera competition earlier in her career. Her education includes an undergraduate and graduate degree in voice and opera performance from Oberlin and Peabody Conservatories respectively, and a Master's of Science in Psychology from Loyola University of Maryland. Most recently, Terry has devoted much of her creative energies to inspiring, training, and supporting young performing artists. Her acting and voice students have been accepted as performing arts majors at schools such as Catholic University, Belmont, Elon, AMDA, Ithaca, University of Maryland, University of Hartford, James Madison, and also for agency representation. Terry has served as musical director and vocal coach for many musical productions in the DC/Baltimore area, including working as a teaching artist and musical director with Imagination Stage in Bethesda. Her stage directing credits include You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, The Pirates of Penzance, Into the Woods, StoryTellers Cabarets, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, Les Miserables, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, The Comedy of Errors, Hamlet and Tuck Everlasting. She currently serves StoryTellers: a Performing Arts Academy, as co-founder and Artistic Director, providing opportunities for students and young adults to train as actors and singers, and to participate in professional level stage productions. Her most meaningful journey in this life, however, will always be getting to be mom to Jenna and Alyssa, Muha, and Ryan, and Gigi to Aria and Kaia.
Production Manager, Co-Founder, and Vice-President of the Board: Alyssa Neely Alyssa’s theater management experience includes serving as the Assistant Producer for Chasing Rainbows: The Road to Oz on Broadway for a developmental lab production, Off-Broadway at New World Stages, and regionally at Flat Rock Playhouse: The State Theater of North Carolina, The Goodspeed Opera House, and Paper Mill Playhouse. Alyssa has been the Producer and Vice President at Storytellers since 2016. Additional theater production credits include: Company Manager for Chasing Rainbows at Flat Rock Playhouse, Director/Producer at Rebel Theater Company (NYC); and Production Stage Manager for Amahl and the Night Visitors at Arts at Rez; and Producer for Tuck Everlasting, Halmet, Comedy of Errors, Beauty and the Beast, Much Ado About Nothing, Les Miserables, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Into the Woods at Storytellers. Acting credits include Into the Woods, Much Ado About Nothing, Tartuffe, Pride and Prejudice, Cymbeline, and Comedy of Errors. Alyssa also owns a photography business focusing on weddings, engagements, and theater production photos. www.capturedbyalyssa.com
Assistant Director, Co-Founder, and Secretary of the Board: Alexander Foley Alex’s Storytellers creative members include Into the Woods (associate director, teaching artist), Midsummer Night’s Dream (assistant director, set designer), Twelfth Night (assistant director, set designer), Les Miserables (assistant director, set designer), Beauty and the Beast (set designer, teaching artist), The Comedy of Errors (set design/teaching artist), Hamlet (set design), Tuck Everlasting (Set Design) and a Jones Elementary and Storytellers production of The Little Mermaid Jr (director, set designer). Alex’s Rockbridge Academy credits are Your’s a Good Man Charlie Brown (associate director) Pirates of Pezance (assistant director and teaching artist), and the Little Mermaid (set design). He has worked on Annapolis Shakespeare Company’s Twelfth Night (assistant director), Comedy of Error (associate director), and Much Ado About Nothing (properties master) and has served as the properties master to Firebox Theater Company’s production of Red Flamboyant and Son of a Gun.
Resident Music Director: Chris Pinder Chris is a music director and performer throughout the Delmarva area. After studying for two years at Anne Arundel Community College, he studied music education and percussion performance at East Carolina University. Chris has worked for theaters locally to include Annapolis Summer Garden Theatre, Colonial Players, 2nd Star Productions, Heritage Players, Children’s Theatre of Annapolis, Anne Arundel Community College and Red Branch Theatre Company. Chris recently Music Directed and Orchestrated the world premier of a brand new musical, Moonrise, at Shenandoah University, which will have its first professional reading this fall. He is entering his final year of pursuing his masters in Musical Theater Conducting at Shenandoah under Broadway legend Patrick Brady. Later this month Chris will be making his New York City music direction debut at 54 Below.
Artistic Associate and Director: Ryan Neely Ryan Neely is an Actor and Director. Theater credits include: Roland in King Lear with Patrick Page at Shakespeare Theatre Company (dir. Simon Godwin); Swing in Much Ado About Nothing at Shakespeare Theatre Company (dir. Simon Godwin). Don Pedro in Much Ado About Nothing; Soranzo in Tis Pity She’s A Whore; Son/Clown in Winter’s Tale (STC Academy). NEWYORK: Hamlet (L+F), Romeo and Juliet (Secret Theater), The Book of Z…(Manhattan Rep), A Piece ofMy Heart (Infinite Variety) REGIONAL:Merchant of Venice, Our Town (STC), Title role in Hamlet (StoryTellers Theater), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival), Pride and Prejudice (Classical Theater of Maryland), East of HeartMountain (Wyoming Theatre Festival, Dir: Giovanna Sardelli), House For Sale (RTC, Dir: Daniel Fish) INTERNATIONAL: Twelfth Night (Shakespeare’s Globe, UK) TV: One Life to Live, MonumentalMysteries, A Day Late and Ten Pounds Overweight. Training: STC Academy at George Washington University Rutgers University: MFA in Classical Acting; Mason Gross School of the Arts: BFA in Acting.
www.youtube.com/adaylateandtenpoundsoverweight; www.ryanmichaelneely.com
Board of Directors
Max Cripe- Treasurer
Lisa Parker- Member at Large
Irma Cripe- Member at Large
Alexander Foley- Secretary
Alyssa Neely- Vice President
Theresa Bouma- Member at Large
To get in touch with us, email information.storytellers@gmail.com. For matters specific to the board of directors, email board.storytellers@gmail.com