Instructors

CLICK ON AN INSTRUCTOR NAME TO READ THEIR BIO


Robert Michael Sanders
Chief Operating Officer / Education Manager

Robert Michael has worked in all capacities of theatre and theatre education for the last twenty five years and is excited to be heading up the growing THAC Educational Program.  He has developed programs and curriculum for all ages that teach life skills through theatre education. Robert Michael believes that theatre should be an all-inclusive safe place where kids can be themselves while they discover and explore.

For the past twelve years Robert Michael has worked consistently as a resident instructor and director at THAC where he has directed over twenty youth theatre musicals and numerous classes and interactive programs. In addition, he has taught at many area high schools, colleges, and most professional theaters here in Denver, CO.  He has been honored to direct several critically acclaimed Equity, and Non-Equity productions around the state, and has been recognized with several accolades including multiple True West, and Marlow Awards. Robert Michael serves on the THAC Concert Committee where he has been responsible to select bands, artists, shows, and other small main stage musicals. He is also a former owner of the Academy of Theatre Arts.

Professionally, Robert Michael’s career includes over twenty five years of entertainment experience as an educator, instructor, touring musician, writer, producer, actor, director and talent agent.  

Robert Michael has produced and directed the Denver Actors Fund annual fundraiser MISCAST for the last six years, and has helped to raise over forty-thousand dollars for the fund. He is also the co-director of Annual Henry Awards, as well as being a regular director for most area theaters. He has five albums to his credit, multiple films, commercials, theatrical awards and Grammy credits.

Robert Michael is a member of ASCAP,  Actors Equity Association, Colorado Theatre Guild, and The Recording Academy.


LuAnn Buckstein
Education Assistant

LuAnn Buckstein has a B.A. in Theater. She has been involved in the arts for over twenty five years. You may have seen her performing with the improvisational comedy groups  Chicken Lips and Plastered in Paris. Or perhaps on Stage playing Ms. Hannigan  in Annie, and Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn, in Music Man at Town Hall Arts Center.

She is an experienced performer, director and teacher of theater and Improv Comedy. LuAnn has over thirty years of stage experience and has taught at THAC for ten years. She also directs the 7-13 year old performance summer camp. She loves the creative enthusiasm of kids of all ages.


Brekken Baker

Brekken is a small town Wyoming girl that loves theater! She traveled with world with the international non profit group Up with People, studied musical theater at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in NYC, and is currently performing all over the Denver area. She is thankful for the opportunity to peruse her passion in the performing arts as well as her love for working with children’s theater.


Pamela Clifton

Pamela Clifton has been acting and directing professionally for over thirty years and has graced just about every stage in the Denver area.  Throughout the years she has become a mainstay in children’s theatre…writing, acting, directing and teaching in various theatres and venues all over Colorado; and has had her own touring company, The Playmakers, which has been bringing the performing arts in the form of educational workshops and performances to the schools since 1984.  Pam has her BA in theatre and has directed and developed programs at The Arvada Center, Boulder’s Dinner Theater, South Suburban Parks and Recreation and the University of Denver.  She spent six years as the Education Coordinator for Town Hall Arts Center.


Andrew Fischer

Andrew has taught vocal music full-time at Heritage High School for ten years. Having studied Music Education at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Andrew enjoys tutoring music theorists and vocal coaching, as well as singing and playing for weddings and special events.


Stephanie Hesse

Stephanie has a B.A. in both Theatre and Dance from Colorado Mesa University.  Stephanie has performed with Cleo Parker Robinson Dance Ensemble, Avatar Movement Dance Company, and in several musicals in the Denver area including 9 to 5, Into The Woods, Mary PoppinsThe Producers42nd Street, and Crazy For You. She was also seen on the Town Hall stage in West Side Story and Legally Blonde. Choreography credits include: A Gentleman’s Guide To Love And Murder, Hello Dolly!, She Loves Me, 13: The Musical, Jungle Book Jr. and Disney’s Mary Poppins Jr.


Lynzee Jones

Lynzee has been teaching and directing children’s theatre since 2010. After receiving her B.A. in Musical Theatre from the University of Northern Colorado, she moved to Los Angeles where she taught elementary theatre for a non profit organization for two years. She is now happily back in Colorado and has been teaching, directing, and choreographing at Town Hall Arts Center since 2018! Lynzee is also a nanny by day and an actress at night, and is so lucky to combine both of those passions through teaching!


John Mackey

John has been involved in the Denver theater scene for approximately ten years, teaching at Town Hall for the last five. He grew up as a competitive figure skater, and a dancer in the areas of tap, jazz, ballet, and hip-hop from age three onward. With his performance background, he found a love for theater during his college days and has not been able to stop doing musicals since! Although usually a very introverted data analyst for the federal government, he thoroughly enjoys letting his theatrical side take over. He’s had the privilege of performing throughout the Denver Metro Area, including the Aurora Fox, Lakewood Cultural Center, PACE Center of Parker, Vintage Theater, Magic Moments Inc, Center Stage in Evergreen, and nearly twenty productions right here at THAC. In addition, he has also been very fortunate to have the opportunity to be a part of the Town Hall teaching staff for the last several years, fueling his passion for teaching and mentoring kids in the world of musical theater and dance. He loves the opportunity to share his enthusiasm for theater with the next generation of performers.


Rebekah Ortiz

Rebekah has been working professionally in the Denver Metro theatre community for ten years. She was bit by the theatre bug in High School doing Fiddler on the Roof and then more severely in college with The Fantastics. She so enjoys finding the human in every character she portrays whether or not the world sees them as good or bad. This has lead to an extreme case of empathy for everyone she encounters. Over the years she has played with the Arvada Center, Starkey Theatrix, BDT Stage, Town Hall Arts Center, Aurora Fox, Southern Colorado Repertory Theatre, Candlelight Dinner Theatre, and Ignite. She holds a B.F.A. in Musical Theatre from Metropolitan State University of Denver.


Jenna Moll Reyes

A full-time Actor, Director, and Teaching Artist. You may have seen her on stage at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts’ Off Center/Educational Tour, the Arvada Center, Curious Theatre, Local Theater Company, Aurora Fox, Miners Alley Playhouse, Vintage Theatre, and more. Most recently she has directed at Denver School of the Arts and Toto Too Theater Company, and assistant directed at Miners Alley Playhouse, Boulder Ensemble Theater Company, and Benchmark Theater. She teaches Musical Theater and Shakespeare at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts and in the DPS district. She is proudly represented by the Actors Equity Association and Radical Artists Agency. Outside of work, Jenna loves to mess around with photography, eat pizza, and use the Oxford Comma.


Jessica Swanson

Jessica has been working on the stage and in the dance studio since she was very young.  She has trained in dance for her entire life specializing in tap, jazz, ballet, and contemporary.  She has worked with several different theatre programs in the Jeffco Public School District and education departments from Evergreen to Colorado Springs. She grew up in Town Hall education program and has been on the teaching staff for 5 years now. You can also see her performing professionally for various theatre companies in the Denver area taking her to stages such as Ellie Caulkins Opera House. Even though she loves performing, she finds the most joy in working with children and sharing her love for the theatre to the next generation.


Megan Van De Hey

Locally, Megan has performed with Arvada Center, Curious, The Aurora Fox, Town Hall Arts Center, The Avenue Theatre, Miners Alley, and Little Theatre of the Rockies. Megan has been a multiple Henry, Ovation, True West and Marlowe award winner since relocating after spending seven years doing theatre in Chicago, where she was a 3-time Joseph Jefferson Nominee. Megan is a proud member of AEA and feels lucky to have been embraced by such a talented theatre community here in Denver.


Christopher Willard

Christopher has worked as a producer, director, and actor in the Denver area for twenty years. He has a passion for children’s theatre and loves to create inspiring, challenging, and rewarding theatre experiences for actors of all ages. During his tenure as Artistic Director at the Breckenridge Backstage Theatre, he founded the award-winning Backstage Children’s Theatre (professionals performing for children) and the highly successful Student Theatrical Enrichment Program (S.T.E.P.) providing musical theatre performance opportunities for students grades 3-12. He has directed dozend of youth actor shows including School of Rock, Heathers, Lion King, Mary Poppins, Dear Evan Hansen, and Matilda. He believes you’re never too young to tell a great story.