Nancy Fitzgerald-Metzler

Director of Education & Outreach

Conservatory Director

Nancy has been directing theater on the peninsula for over 20 years, working with such companies and schools as Hillbarn Theater, Broadway by the Bay, San Mateo High School, Aragon High School, Bowditch Middle School, Peninsula Youth Theater, Palo Alto Children's Theater, Peninsula Center Stage, and more. Nancy directed Hillbarn's highly successful mainstage productions of CHICAGO and OKLAHOMA.  Nancy began her career in television and film after studying at UCLA, and currently shoots and edits video through her own production company, Brave Monkey Productions.

Karen Byrnes (Acting, Scene Study)

Karen Byrnes has directed over 100 productions in the last 30 years with youth at a variety of schools. For the last nine years she has taught drama, musical theatre and improvisation classes for Hillbarn Theatre’s Conservatory in addition to writing and directing A Foolish Fairy Tale, Dreamquest and More Broadway Legends. She co-directed Damn Yankees and Grease. Karen directed Holes, Defying Gravity, which won the Subscriber’s Choice Award for Favorite Presentation of a Play in 2009 and The Secret Garden. Since 2002, she has directed for NDNU’s Fall Festival.  In 2010, she wrote Between Yesterday & Tomorrow: Correspondence with an American Soldier in Vietnam, 1968 that was presented as part of the Readers Stage Series. Karen received her BA in Theatre Arts from NDNU where she performed in several shows including Lenny in Crimes of the Heart. In 2004, she served as an Arts Commissioner for the City of Belmont. Karen is also a LEAP artist.

Beth Covey (StarTots, StarShiners, Dance, Beginning Acting)

Beth has been with the conservatory program since 2008.  She started performing at a young age and studied dramatic arts at Cañada College.  She has directed numerous plays including The Mouse Trap, The Memory of Water as well as choreographed Godspell.  Her on-stage credits include Mary Warren in The Crucible, Elma in Bus Stop, and Myrtle Mae in Harvey.  Besides acting and directing, her passion is sharing what she knows with the kids at Hillbarn.

Lauren Wong (Stage Manager, Teaching Assistant)

Lauren Wong discovered her passion for stage management during her second year of college and has been doing it ever since! Her UC San Diego credits include: New Directions ‘11, A Man, His Wife, and His Hat, The Hot l Baltimore, Kasimir & Karoline, winterWORKS ’09, Fall for Dance. Following a stage management internship at La Jolla Playhouse, Lauren moved back to the Bay Area and was welcomed in by the Hillbarn family. She is thrilled to be working with Hillbarn’s Youth Conservatory and as Assistant Stage Manager for several main stage productions. She holds a BA in Psychology with a Minor in Theatre from UC San Diego.

GUEST INSTRUCTORS

Virginia Musante (Director/Improv/Acting) received a BA in Art and Theatre and earned a Secondary Credential from San Francisco State University.  Virginia has been teaching and directing Middle School students for the past 30 years and was named the San Mateo Foster City School District Teacher of the Year in 1989-1990. Virginia’s father was a professional musician and music teacher and her mother, her greatest role model, was a wonderful storyteller who also enjoyed performing in local community theatre.  In 2004, Virginia completed the Masters of Education program with an emphasis in Theatre at Notre Dame de Namur University.  Her Masters Thesis was research in creating ways to teach students with special needs through Drama and it now serves as a handbook for many Bay Area teachers.   Virginia was ultimately hired to teach Children’s Theatre for the Theatre Department at Notre Dame de Namur where she still teaches and finds the challenge rewarding.  She recently was part of the directing team of the well-known Notre Dame tradition of A Christmas Carol, The Musical.

Martin Rojas- Dietrich (Director/Vocals/Audition Technique) is overjoyed to be working at Hillbarn Theatre. Martin has performed with Broadway By The Bay, Bus Barn Stage Company, Coastal Repertory Theatre, Foothill Music Theatre, Menlo Players Guild, San Jose Stage Company and TheatreWorks. He was named Best Supporting Actor for his work as King Herod in Jesus Christ Superstar by Keith Kreitman/Inside Arts and received a 2005 Dean Goodman Choice Award for his portrayal of The Beadle in FMT's Sweeney Todd. Martin is a graduate of both Canada College and Notre Dame de Namur University where he received a degree in Vocal Performance.  Proud member of Actor's Equity Association.

If you are a Perfoming Artist with a background in arts administartion or education and are interested in working with us on SummerStage and ongoing educational workshops, please send your resume to:

backstage@hillbarntheatre.org

EOE/Competitive Salary-DOE.