Meet Our Artistic Staff

Check back soon for 2024 Artistic Staff Updates!


Margot de la Barre
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Margot de la Barre has appeared on Broadway in South Pacific, Evita, Anything Goes, Irving Berlin's White Christmas, and Promises, Promises. She has performed on the Tony Awards, Good Morning America, and The View. She was also part of NBC's Sound of Music Live! starring Carrie Underwood. At Acting Manitou, Margot has directed Anything Goes, Once Upon A Mattress and The 39 Steps.


Monica Flory
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Monica is a collaboration-loving playwright, director, and teacher. She is thrilled to spend her eighth summer with our camp, where she most recently directed Anon(ymous) and The Winter’s Tale. Monica is the education director at Philly PACK, Where, in the fall, she wrote and co-directed Brown-Eyed Rapunzel, Frankenstein, and Mary Shelley. She lives with her family near an amazing soft pretzel bakery in Philadelphia.


Adam Fleming
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Adam Fleming joined us in 2017 as a director and choreographer. His work at camp has included a production of Mamma Mia! and Tuck Everlasting, as well as Spring Awakening and Pippin as choreographer. In 2016 Adam taught master classes in Broadway Rep featuring choreography from Wicked, a show he opened in Chicago and subsequently performed in on Broadway. Adam has also performed on Broadway in the original company of Hairspray with Harvey Fierstein and in the off-Broadway favorite, Bare: A Pop Opera.


Dara Malina
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Dara is a director of theater, performance, opera, and film. She often makes politically driven, art-forward, collaboratively-created or playwright-driven performance, and reinvents classic works while investigating avant-garde movements through a contemporary feminist lens. Currently, she is developing an opera adaptation of Clarice Lispector’s THE PASSION ACCORDING TO G.H. with composer Lacy Rose. Earlier this year, she and playwright Alexis Roblan received a grant from the NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theatre to premiere Roblan’s play, SAMUEL, which they plan to produce in 2021. Dara is a graduate of the MFA program in theater directing at Columbia University, and is a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre, New Georges Jam, and Commitment Experiment.

 

Zack Elkind
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Zack Elkind is a director, associate artistic director, and teaching artist based in New York,
interested in reimagined classics, new plays and musicals, and devised work.

I’m the Associate Artistic Director of Bedlam, an Off-Broadway theater company, led by artistic director Eric Tucker.
Recently: Persuasion, The Crucible, Uncle Romeo Vanya Juliet. Previous: Saint Joan & Hamlet, Sense & Sensibility, Pygmalion.

Most recent projects include Richard II for my company the Enemies, which premiered in NYC spring 2022 and later transferred to Luna Stage in NJ. The NJ Arts Maven raved “Taut, compelling, inventive […] a trail-blazing production”, and New Jersey Arts said it “hits you like a whirlwind […] With its speed, its energy and its unconventional staging, this is a consistently engaging production.”

In 2021, I directed Mary Stuart for Bedlam — with each act recorded in a single take, and four actors playing twelve roles, all in my actual Brooklyn apartment. The New York Times called it “audacious” and “bold”, noting in it “the same playful quality the scrappy and always inventive Bedlam is known for,” and commenting that “the four actors give generous performances, directed by Zachary Elkind with a snappiness that allows for each to contain multitudes.”

Other recent work includes directing a reading of Eleanor Burgess’s Sparks Fly Upward; curating Bedlam’s new works program, developing work with Pulitzer finalist Zora Howard, Julian Hornik, Emily Gardner Xu Hall, Stefani Kuo, Zuzanna Szadkowski, Talene Monahon, Eleanor Burgess, a.k. payne, Emily Breeze, and Zack Fine; directing Les Misérables and Jesus Christ Superstar at Ghostlight Theater Camp; and directing virtual adaptations of classic texts for Bedlam.


Nellesa Walthour
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Nellesa Walthour’s theater credits include Disney’s The Lion King (national tour), Ragtime (Kennedy Center’s production), Once on This Island (Andrea), and Pippin (Fastrada u/s). She trained on full fellowship at the Alvin Ailey School and danced with companies that include The Metropolitan Opera, Dallas Black Dance Theater (DBDT), Patricia Kenney Dance Collection, and Nathan Trice Ritutals.

She has had the pleasure of working with such choreographers as Ron Brown, Hope Clarke, Sean Curran, Louis Johnson, Alonzo King, Donald McKayle and Earl Mosely. Nellesa has choreographed works for DBDT, NYMF’s Trav’lin (associate), Boston’s Jazz Dance Recovery Project, benefits and solo projects. She has also performed the works of Milton Myers, Elisa Monte, David Parsons, Talley Beatty, José Limón and Donald Byrd.


Mary Tomei
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Mary Tomei (she/her) is an early career director based in New York. Most recently, she worked as the script assistant on the new musical STARSTRUCK by Beth Malone, Mary Ann Stratton, and Emily Sailers (learn more here). Recent directing credits include Jordan Knitzer’s Itchin’ for an Itch: The Mosquitical, awarded BEST PRODUCTION SHORT at New York Theater Festival, and assisting on King of Pangaea by Martin Storrow (directed by Richard Israel) at NAMT’s 34th Annual Festival of New Musicals and then the Dramatists Guild Foundation. She is currently a Screening Sub-Committee Member for NAMT’s 35th Annual Festival of New Musicals.

Mary received her B.A. in Theater from Northwestern University, where she directed the 78th Annual Dolphin Show, the largest student-run musical in the country and was the Artistic Director of Purple Crayon Players, a nationally acclaimed Theater for Young Audiences organization.

She is interested in creating accessible theater that challenges all audiences, primarily through new work and musical storytelling. She is dedicated to empowering her collaborators and fostering artistic community that invites people to show up with the fullness of their identity.


Kyra Tantao
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Mary Tomei (she/her) is an early career director based in New York. Most recently, she worked as the script assistant on the new musical STARSTRUCK by Beth Malone, Mary Ann Stratton, and Emily Sailers (learn more here). Recent directing credits include Jordan Knitzer’s Itchin’ for an Itch: The Mosquitical, awarded BEST PRODUCTION SHORT at New York Theater Festival, and assisting on King of Pangaea by Martin Storrow (directed by Richard Israel) at NAMT’s 34th Annual Festival of New Musicals and then the Dramatists Guild Foundation. She is currently a Screening Sub-Committee Member for NAMT’s 35th Annual Festival of New Musicals.

Mary received her B.A. in Theater from Northwestern University, where she directed the 78th Annual Dolphin Show, the largest student-run musical in the country and was the Artistic Director of Purple Crayon Players, a nationally acclaimed Theater for Young Audiences organization.

She is interested in creating accessible theater that challenges all audiences, primarily through new work and musical storytelling. She is dedicated to empowering her collaborators and fostering artistic community that invites people to show up with the fullness of their identity.

 

Catherine Moore
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Catherine Moore is a pianist, vocalist, educator, and arts administrator currently based in Ann Arbor, MI. A passionate advocate for diversity in the arts, equity and inclusion is central to her work as a performer and educator. She is a fierce believer that music education and arts access is the ultimate medium for social justice and community building.

Catherine serves as the Choir Director, and teacher of general music and piano at Mendham Township Middle School in Brookside, NJ. At MTMS, her students have received top scores at regional honors ensemble auditions. With over 5 years of private lesson teaching experience, Catherine additionally teaches a private lesson studio of 12 piano students of all ages and abilities, virtually and in-person. Her students have competed and received excellent ratings at Solo & Ensemble festivals, and have performed across their communities as ensemble members and soloists. She has accompanied and directed rehearsals of numerous musical theatre productions, and has coached singers for auditions, performances, and recordings.

As a professional singer, Catherine currently serves as an Alto section leader at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Summit, NJ, and formerly at the First Presbyterian Church of Ann Arbor, MI. Choral highlights include multiple performances at Carnegie Hall, touring across the Baltic States, performing in a staged concert recording of Craig Hella Johnson’s “Considering Matthew Sheppard” that was produced in partnership with Detroit Public Television, and singing with the Game of Thrones National Touring production at the Little Caesars Center in Detroit, MI.

As an arts administrator, Catherine has served as a Program Assistant for the newly launched Detroit Harmony Initiative, a city-wide collaborative effort between the Detroit Symphony Orchestra and other arts nonprofits, schools, community organizations and city leaders. She has worked for non-profit arts organizations like Creative Washtenaw, Connecticut Summerfest Contemporary Music Festival, and Song of America. She has interned in Education and Community Engagement with the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra and University Musical Society in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Catherine was named a 2020 21st Century Artist Intern, a prestigious internship sponsored by the University Musical Society.

Catherine has been named a Grand-Prix winner of Music-Fest’s “Rising Talents” piano competition, for which she played in Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall in April 2018. She is a Scholarship Recipient of the Westfield Music Club, The College Women’s Club of Westfield, and the Maplewood Men’s Glee Club. She was a third prize winner for Great Composer’s International Chopin Competition. She has attended summer programs at the Eastman School of Music, Westminster Conservatory, and Rutgers Mason Gross School of the Arts.

Catherine graduated with Honors from the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre, and Dance, where she studied Choral Music Education and Arts Management. She studied piano with Dr. Matthew Bengtson, and voice with Dr. JoAna Rusche. At Michigan, she sang with the GRAMMY-nominated Chamber Choir, under the direction of Dr. Eugene Rogers, and was featured as a soloist in the ensemble. She was a recipient of the William J. Branstrom Freshman prize and was a James B. Angell Scholar.

Outside of her life in music, Catherine is a die-hard Michigan fan (go Blue!), and loves to travel, write, knit and craft, and spend time with her family and loved ones.

 


Matthew Vala
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Matthew Vala and his work can be found at the convergence of innovative performing arts education, multi-faceted artistic leadership, and the development of inclusive environments for social and personal growth. Dr. Vala is currently Instructional Assistant Professor teaching music, theatre, musical theatre conducting, and artistically directing operatic and musical theatre productions. 

As an award-winning and innovative educator, Dr. Vala has established and cultivated performing arts education for youth/teen Young Artists to university/pre-professional students throughout Central Illinois. Matthew was the Founder and Education Director of Hoogland Performing Arts Education (HPAE) in Springfield, Illinois for a decade. HPAE provided innovative education with unparalleled youth productions and fostered inclusive environments for the positive growth of future artistic leaders. Highlights of his residency at the Hoogland Center for the Arts include direction/music direction and design of Rodger + Hammerstein’s Cinderella, Seussical the Musical, Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, The Wizard of OzPeter PanJames and the Giant Peach, Tarzan, the 2014 Hoogland Gala production of La Cage Aux FollesGrease, and the 2011 Hoogland Gala production of Ahrens & Flaherty’s Ragtime

As a sought-after vocal director and conductor, Matthew has led Smokey Joe's Cafe, The Fantasticks, Nunsense, Fiddler on the Roof, Gypsy, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Stephen Sondheim’s Company, and the Central Illinois premieres of both Disney High School Musical and High School Musical 2.

In 2022, Dr. Vala founded MV Studios, a gathering place for Young Artists to collectively build their gifts in performing arts. Through MV Studios, Young Artists participate in performance-based coursework, community outreach projects, and presenting fully-staged musicals. For more information, visit: mvstudios.org

Matthew’s versatility as a performer and his creative leadership can be seen nationally in the United States. Favorites include Lyric Stage’s Sweeney Todd, Watertower Theatre’s Urinetown, John Adams in 1776, Shrek in Shrek the Musical, the Beast in Disney Beauty and the Beast, and the villainous Agatha Trunchbull in Tim Minchin’s Matilda. His infusion of crossover training can also be seen in his onstage work as Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls, Jamie in The Last Five Years, Martin in Aaron Copland’s The Tender Land, and Mary Sunshine in Chicago. For full bio: matthewvala.com

Dr. Vala holds his Doctor of Music in voice performance and vocal pedagogy from the University of North Texas, Master of Music in voice performance from Illinois State University, Master of Public Administration with certification in nonprofit management from the University of Illinois, and a Bachelor of Music in voice performance from the University of North Texas.


John Paul
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Since leaving the field of Psychology and Counseling in the mid-eighties for a career in Theatre, John has designed or built over 200 shows and projects.  Although his first love is theatre, he has designed for opera, dance, themed entertainment, trade shows, commercials, retail spaces and feature films.  He especially enjoys design for original work. 

He has designed scenery for numerous productions at Creede Repertory Theatre in Colorado, which was named by USA Today as one of the 10 best summer regional theatres in the country.  He has also designed for the Cape Repertory Theatre on Cape Cod, MA, as well as many theatres in the Midwest.  John was Chair of Design, Technology and Management for the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, Region V, which encompasses seven Upper Midwestern States. He has served on the faculty of the California Institute of the Arts, Chapman University, College of the Canyons, Northwestern College, and Dordt College; and is currently the scenic design professor at Minnesota State University in Mankato, Minnesota.

 


Erin Thibodaux
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Erin Thibodaux is a theatre director, lighting designer, writer, and most importantly, a storyteller. She is interested in exploring the different ways of harnessing the elements of a theatrical production to best tell the story. As a lighting designer, she has always believed that light is an essential character in that story.

Erin has a BFA in Theatre Design/Tech: Lighting Design and a BA in English from the University of Colorado Boulder. Previous work experience includes Artistic Director for The Royal Players’ Guild, Technical Director at the Dairy Arts Center in Boulder, CO, and Assistant Lighting Design Resident at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre.

 

Crystal Wilkerson-Diaz
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Crystal joined Ghostlight Theater Camp in 2023 as costume designer.


Dakota Newark
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Dakota joined Ghostlight Theater Camp in 2022 as props designer.


Liz Woolford
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Liz joined Ghostlight in 2023 as a teaching artist, leading classes in devising and interventional theater. Liz is a theater-maker, teacher & environmental advocate. I make strange & boundless plays. She teaches kids and young adults how to imagine wildly & tell meaningful stories. She creates collaborative communities. I believe in magic. 


Christian Delcroix
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Christian Delcroix has been seen on Broadway in The Book Of Mormon, Follies (Young Buddy), South Pacific (Professor) Tours: Seven Brides...(Gideon) Regionally he was Curly at Goodspeed in The Great American Mousical, directed by Julie Andrews and also has worked at Kennedy Center, Paper Mill, Trinity Rep, Actors Theatre of Louisville. At Acting Manitou, Christian brings his comedic character development process to teach campers and works with our CITs on college audition prep.