Mission - Provide outstanding live and online training for creatives worldwide. ActLiveNow is an outstanding group of world-class directors, performers, and industry professionals with decades of collective experience, helping to take your creative skills to the next level. We believe that accelerating your acting skills, by defining the text, creating compelling characters, delivering the truth and experiencing public performance will give you the edge you need to reach your artistic goals.
TONY CALABRESE - Award Winning Comedian/Director/Producer/Teaching Artist. A native of San Diego, Tony Calabrese has been performing comedy for the past 25 years. He talks about life, world events, marriage, kids, grandkids, the corporate world, and the trials and tribulations of not staying in top physical condition. Tony performs regularly at The Comedy Store, The Comedy Palace, The Madhouse Comedy Club and other San Diego and L.A. clubs and venues. Tony won the “Ultimate Laff-Down” at Flappers Comedy Club and is a two time finalist in the World Series of Comedy in Las Vegas. His DryBar Comedy Special was released earlier this year and can be seen on Drybarcomedy.com
STEPHEN CARPENTER - Director/Actor/Screen Writer/Teaching Artist. Stephen Carpenter was born in Weatherford, Texas, and raised in Kansas City, Missouri. He graduated UCLA Film School, and has written screenplays for hit movies OCEAN’S ELEVEN, BLUE STREAK, and SOUL SURVIVORS, which he also directed. Mr. Carpenter also created the hit Emmy-nominated series, GRIMM, for NBC. He has lectured often at USC Film School on screenwriting and pitching for studios and networks. Carpenter has published seven novels, including KILLER, the first of his Jack Rhodes Mystery series, which was Number One on Amazon’s bestselling Mystery list, and dubbed a “blockbuster debut” by Entertainment Weekly. Carpenter is currently developing a one-hour TV series based on his Jack Rhodes Mysteries. and just completed a major film script to go into production next month.
DEANNA DRISCOLL - SAG/AFTRA/ACTORS EQUITY Award Winning Actor/Director/Producer/Teaching Artist. DeAnna is a recipient of the San Diego Critics Circle award and the BACKSTAGE magazine’s Garland award. Most recently DeAnna was seen in the award winning production of The Quality of Life with Intrepid Theatre. Previous to that she was seen in Moxie Theater’s ‘Mud Blue Sky’’ and just before that she performed in ‘Bethany’ at The Old Globe Theater. Other theaters include: NSC Black Box (NY), Cockpit Theater (NY), Diversionary Theater, The Old Globe Theater, The San Diego Repertory Theater and more. Favorite roles include: Jeanette in Quality of Life, Frankie in Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, Grace in Bus Stop, Haley in Bad Dates, Eve Ensler in The Good Body, and Regan in King Lear. Television and film credits include: “Lincoln Heights”, “Point Pleasant”, “Veronica Mars”, “Decaf”, “Nixon Baby”. Commercial credits include: Union Bank, Pepsi, Sunny Delight, and AT&T.
D. CANDIS PAULE, CSA - Actor/Casting Director/Producer/Teaching Artist CANDIS Is the owner of Candis Casting. Since 2003 she has been the premiere San Diego casting director and has worked on such projects as Pitch, Terriers, The Ex List, Point Pleasant, and all three seasons of Veronica Mars. Along with many telenovellas for Fox’s My Network, she has been the primary or local casting director on a wide variety of pilots and features. She has worked on hundreds of union and non-union commercials, print jobs, voice over projects, and industrials. Her educational background is in the dramatic arts and life sciences. Ms. Paule is also an award-winning actor, director and private coach.
HANNAH RYAN -Actor/Director/Producer Broadway Resident Director of Hamilton. Founding collaborator of Nettelworks: a creative collective Director: Confidence and The Speech (Theatre Row) All Dressed Up (Redhouse Arts Center) Riot Song (The Drama League: Joe's Pub) Every Path (La Jolla Playhouse & Moxie Theatre) Still Life (Keller Gallery) The Guys (Davenport Theatre) Ascended (Zoetic Stage) New York Theatre Workshop Gala (Plaza Hotel)
Jo Jo Caldwell - Music Director Originally from San Francisco, Jo Jo has sung all her life and started playing the violin at age 3. She sang with the acclaimed San Francisco Girls Chorus for 12 years and participated in over 10 productions of the San Francisco Opera. She has a BA in Voice Performance/Music Literature from UCSD, and has performed locally with Pacific Camerata, Cappella Gloriana, Bach Collegium, sacra/profana, among others. She has performed in local productions of The Wizard of Oz (Vanguard Theater), and The Adventures of Patty Cat and Kittle (Coronado Playhouse). Jo Jo is currently a cantor at the Immaculata Church at USD, and a bilingual national anthem singer for various local events. Jo Jo is also an IT project manager, sushi chef, triathlete, Thai boxer, and a busy mom of 2 children who will both be participating in this year’s production.
MEREDITH GARRETSON - Stage/Screen Actor/ Teaching Artist/Activist. Meredith is committed to making art that is anti-racist, anti-capitalist, inclusive, and reflective of the society we wish to build. Catch her heavily recurring role as Kate Hawthorne in RESIDENT ALIEN on Syfy.
THOMAS HAINE -Actor/Director/Teaching Artist Tom, a founding member of the San Diego Shakespeare Society, has extensive acting and directing credits which include Tartuffe, Romeo and Juliet, King Lear, Hamlet, Macbeth, Hedda Gabler, Much Ado About Nothing, The Tempest, Merchant of Venice, Julius Caesar. He has received formal training in directing from the Berkeley Rep and from Cambridge University in the UK. He has also trained with the Old Globe’s Jonathan McMurtry, Dakin Matthews, and Brendon Fox and with the San Diego Rep’s Todd Salovey and Sam Woodhouse. He is a graduate of the British American Drama Academy Mid-Summer Oxford Program (BADA) in 2010 and practices immigration and criminal law in his spare time.
JEANETTE KNIGHT - SAG/AFTRA/Actors Equity/Director/Choreographer. Jeanette has played over twenty roles, ranging from Rose in The Woolgatherer at the Tony award winning Victory Gardens Theatre in Chicago, to Shen Te/Shui Ta in Brecht’s Good Person of Szechuan to Roberta in Going to a Place Where You Already Are. But her most demanding role was Louise in Always, Patsy Cline, which played to sold out audiences in 2011 and 2013. From 1997-2006, she worked full time as the Education Program Director for the McCallum Theatre, supervising a faculty of fourteen teaching artists and helping coordinate and judge the English Speaking Union’s Shakespeare Competition. She served as the Executive Director for the Beaumont Actors Studio. She has been teaching acting and directing at the Idyllwild Arts Academy since 2006, where she directed several highly lauded productions. Other theaters/venues she has directed for include the Indian Wells Theatre, Arthur Newman Theatre, Palm Canyon Theatre, Truckee Meadows Community College, Brewery Arts Center, Coachella Valley Repertory and the Green Room Theatre, directing Hamlet. In 2014, as Artistic Director for the Indio Performing Arts Center, she conceived of and carried out the first Coachella Valley Improv Festival, which has been re-branded as the Joshua Tree International Improv/ Comedy Festival, now in its fifth year. In 2017, she received the Most Inspirational Award from the Desert Theatre League.
JORDAN MILLER -Actors Equity, Actor/Producer/Director/Teaching Artist Jordan holds a BFA Acting, North Carolina School of the Arts. Winner: 2013 Craig Noel Award, Best Ensemble "Les Miserables" Nominee: 2013 Craig Noel Award Best Featured Actor in a Musical, "Enjolras, Les Miserables" Winner: 2009 San Diego Craig Noel Award, Best Featured Male in a Musical "Volodya, Bed and Sofa" Winner: 2008 Inland Circle Theater's Guild Excellence in Theater Award, "Frank Butler, Annie Get Your Gun". Jordan has taught lessons for children, teens and adults in acting, Shakespeare, musical theater, stage combat, and opera aria performance. Jordan has worked in all acting industries including live theatre, regional musical theater, film, television, commercials, live action stunt shows, radio and the occasional international cruise ship! He served as resident director for Point Loma Opera Theatre from 2015-2017, and has directed for several professional theaters including Lamb's Players Theatre, where he currently serves as resident Fight Director. His background enable him to teach in-depth acting craft and stage techniques for beginner through advanced based on the philosophies and techniques of Stanislavsky, Uta Hagen, and primarily from his Alma Mater's Dean and mentor: Gerald Freedman, whose methods are outlined in "The School of Doing" acting instructional book by UNSCA alum Isaac Klein.
KEVIN MAHONEY -Director/Actor/ Shakespeare Workshop Teaching Artist. Kevin earned his Master’s of Fine Arts in Acting from West Virginia University’s conservatory program, where he also taught acting classes and directed student plays. While attending WVU Kevin performed in numerous University productions, including Three Sisters (Vershinin), Comedy of Errors (Antipholus S & E), Angels in America (Joe Pitt), Our Country’s Good (Harry), and Boys Next Door (Klemper). After graduate school Kevin earned scholarship to study at HB Studio. While at HB he studied acting technique with William Hickey; Performing Shakespeare with Uta Hagen, and a Master Class led my Herbert Berghof. Kevin later attended master classes in NYC with Michael Beckett and Michael Howard. His professional theatre credits include the Old Globe’s production of Bus Stop (Carl); Arcade Theatre (LA) True Believer (lead); East Lynne Theatre’s (NJ) productions of Anna Christy (Matt Burke), Rain (O’Hara), and You And I (Maitland); Tribeca Theatre (NYC) El Salvador (lead); and the Princeton Repertory’s production of Comedy of Errors (Antipholus S). Kevin also performed in numbers films, including Exorcist Chronicles (Netflix); Backgammon (NY Film Festival) *best comedy, A Darker Silence AFI (LA Directors Film Festival), Exodus (History Channel, and Nazi Terror (History Channel).
ROBERT NICKEL - Actor/Director/Writer/Teaching Artist Robert, has deep roots in the Point Loma Theater community. He discovered his lifelong passion for theater in productions at Sunset View Elementary, Correia Jr. High, and Point Loma High School, where he appeared in numerous shows and was a member of the PLHS Thespian Society. He earned his B.A. in Theater from Stanford University, where, among other accomplishments, he was a founding member of the improv troupe Spontaneous Generation, served on the Board of Directors of the of Ram's Head Theatrical Society, and chaired the on-campus Undergraduate Lighting Project. Following graduation, he held the role of creative director for two Northern California faith-based theater companies, at First Congregational Church Palo Alto and at Menlo Park Presbyterian. Since relocating back to Point Loma, he has performed with the Red Brick Players at Point Loma Presbyterian; served from 2016–2019 with Christian Youth Theater in the roles of acting teacher, sound designer, and production team member; and, most recently, appeared at Point Loma Playhouse in Glorious!, playing the role of Cosme McMoon.
SEAN MULVIHILL Actor/Writer/Director/Teaching Artist Sean has been acting professionally since the age of 16 when At age 18, Sean moved to Los Angeles and went to USC to get a BFA in Acting. I had my first exposure to improv training with the great Dan O’Connor and Eric Trulles. After graduation, I was a founding member of the acclaimed Blue House Theatre Company alongside present-day stars Patrick J. Adams and Chris Pine. I went on to act professionally on many regional and international stages from Tuacahn Ampitheatre in Utah to the Venetian Macau. I’ve appeared on TV and streaming channels like: RAI Italia “Questo Nostro Amore”, CBS “Next”, GSN “Baggage” (a dating show hosted by Jerry Springer), Amazon Prime, and am the voice of a Sony PlayStation game called “Loading Human.” I studied at UCB, the Magnet, and the PIT. My studies led me to direct a feature film called ACT SOCIAL starring Colin Mochrie of “Whose Line is it, Anyway?” The film won the “Film Heals” Award at the 2021 Manhattan Film Festival.
CHARLES PETERS Actors Equity - Actor/Director/Writer/Teaching Artist Charles Peters is an award-winning actor and director. He began his professional career at the age of ten when he was cast in a television pilot. He studied for two years at the Dallas Film Actors Lab with the legendary Adam Roarke. Later he moved to Los Angeles where he landed roles in feature films and television shows (General Hospital) with such stars as Robert Loggia, Tim Daly, Kelly Preston, and Roseanne Barr. Charles has appeared in over 50 films. On stage, Charles toured nationally with the hit comedy Triple Espresso for five years and totaled over 2,000 performances. Charles has also acted in over 100 plays and musicals. As a director, Charles has directed over 30 plays, musicals and variety shows. He served as the associate artistic director at OnStage Playhouse and Scripps Ranch Theatre. Charles is also a writer and has written over 20 short stories which are published online and 3 full length plays. He began teaching acting 15 years ago. His extensive experiences on stage and backstage provides Charles with a unique way to communicate with actors. His next project is White Guy on the Bus by Bruce Graham which opens May 30th at OnStage Playhouse.
NANCY ROSS - International Vocalist/Theatre Director/Teaching Artist It all began at one of San Diego’s most loved children’s music schools: Nightingale Music. It was there, in 2016, that Nancy began developing her childhood education philosophy which would later be know as Movers & Groovers. (Shaking & Peace-Making are still implied, but lost the battle against the laws of effective branding.) Nancy graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a B.F.A. in Musical Theatre. Since then, she has performed in musicals and plays across the country, and has taught music, theatre, and dance since 2012
DAVID SEIN - Managing Director ALN, Director/Producer/Playwright. David has been producing, directing and writing plays for the past 35 years. Productions include; Love/Sick, A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking, Kimberly Akimbo, America's Finest City, Cafe Risque, Steel Magnolias, Sylvia, Tuna Christmas, Fuddy Meers, Driving Miss Daisy, Romantic Fools-PLAT, The Obiturist,-Northpark Playhouse, A Midsummer Night's Dream-NTC, An Honest Arrangement-New Perspectives Festival, Only In New York- PLAT, Greater Tuna,-PLAT, Polish Joke-PLAT, Food For Thought-PLAT, Goodbye Charlie- Cabrillo Playhouse, Belle of Amherst-La Jolla MOCA Theatre.
GABRIELA SOSA - Actor/Director/Producer/Teaching Artist. Gabriela studied The American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco and taught at the Strasberg Institute in LA. She’s also studied with legendary acting coach Larry Moss and Casting Director, Chris Game from Actors Creative Workshop, amongst others. Gabriela’s specialty is transferring Method Acting from the stage to the screen. Each week, all actors receive on-camera training and exercises which all get to watch and discuss at the end of class. Be prepared to take your acting to the next level to book the job.
GABY LEBARON -Choreographer Gaby is a recent UCSD graduate and she majored in Theatre and Dance. She has been dancing since she was 4 years old, and began doing musicals when she was 15. She was on her highschool dance team, Maroon Magic, and has always loved performing. Some of her favorites musicals she has been in are Bring It On The Musical, Legally Blonde, and Mamma Mia. She found a passion for teaching when she started giving ballet classes at a local dance studio a few years ago, and is excited for her first role as choreographer in this production of Seussical!
MERANDA LONG- Music Director, Actor, Teaching Artist Meranda Long grew up performing in Boulder, CO and has been an actress since she was 8 years old! She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater and Original Works from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, WA, and went on to follow a career as a film actress and teaching the arts to all age groups. She spent the last 6 years in Southern CA teaching yoga, music, dance and acting in camps, theatrical schools, and working with young actors on various film and commercial sets. You can find her on screen in films such as “Fall City” or “The Last Laugh” on Amazon Prime, and soon on her upcoming film “His Monster.”
JENNIFER HEDAYAT - Director/Teaching Artist/Stage Manager Jennifer has directed, produced, and choreographed over thirty plays and musicals during her tenure as a Drama and English teacher. She loves to add her unique spin to productions, once turning Carlo Gozzi’s commedia. The Love of Three Oranges, into a modern musical, and staging Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window with film sequences to interact with live actors. Her love of improv flourishedduring fifteen years coaching Comedy Sportz, a competitive high school league inspired by the methods of Viola Spolin, the mother of improvisation. Jennifer writes, produces, and co-hosts a senior-care-themed podcast called Sandwiched. Newly relocated from Los Angeles, she, her husband and two dogs enjoy empty nesting in charming Point Loma.
COCO SEIN - Producer, Production Manager Coco has been working for the Point Loma Playhouse since 2008 on the technical crew and the hospitality committee. Currently she is working as a Production Manager. She believes the most important responsibility of the Production Manager is the development of a highly motivated and collaborative team. Coco’s Production Manager experiences included; Tally’s Folly, Circle Mirror Transformation, A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking, Clever Little Lies, Building The Wall, Wally’s Cafe, and LOVE/SICK. Coco has been a Treasurer of Point Loma Playhouse since 2017. Coco is Production Manager for ActLiveNow Jr. Seussical and Annie Jr.