Shannon Clark
Shannon Clark holds an MFA in Scenography from UNCG. Currently, he manages the Fine Arts auditorium at Cary Academy. He has been a freelance designer for the past seven years and has designed locally for Raleigh Ensemble Players, The Justice Theatre Project and Applause! Cary Youth Theatre, as well as for Opera Festivals nationwide. Shannon enjoys working with young artists and the energy they bring to creating theatrical environments. He also serves on the Board of Directors for Stillwater Theater Co. in residence at Meredith College.

Betsy Henderson
Betsy has an MFA in Acting from UNC-Greensboro and a BFA from the University of Southern Mississippi, and is currently on the Fine Arts Faculty at Vance Granville Community College where she was their 2005 Teacher of the Year. As an actress, Betsy has worked professionally with Raleigh Ensemble Players, Deep Dish Theatre Company, Burning Coal, North Carolina Shakespeare Festival, Theatre of the American South, and Justice Theatre Project. In addition, Betsy has toured nationally with performances of Miracle Worker and The Diary of Anne Frank. She serves as President of REP’s Board of Directors, and as a faculty member for Cary’s Applause! Youth Theatre. She has also served as guest director for Granville Little Theatre’s Broadway and Beyond summer camp for the past three years. Betsy lives in Raleigh with her husband David, son Mac, and four-legged children, Bailey and Rudy.

David Henderson
A Morehead Scholar graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill with a degree in English and performance studies, David is a member of the Burning Coal Theatre acting company and serves on the board of directors for Theatre in the Park. He has appeared in film, television, and theatre throughout the South, New York and Los Angeles.

Barbette Hunter
Barbette holds a BA from NC State University (1990). She has taught creative drama for 6 years and has directed and acted professionally for over 20 years. Her professional credits include theatre, film, television and radio. She was recognized for her work as an actress by Independent Magazine in the category of Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical in the 2001 Triangle Theatre Awards. Although she has performed in numerous theatrical productions, three of her productions were recognized in the article "Best of Theatre 2000-2009": A Lesson Before Dying, Holy Hell (part of the 10x10 Annual Play Festival), and The Old Settler. In addition to Applause! Youth Theatre, she is a member of the youth education faculty at Raleigh Little Theatre. She is currently the drama instructor and drama club adviser at Immaculata Catholic School in Durham, NC. Barbette has served on the board of directors for the Raleigh Ensemble Players, North Carolina Theatre Conference, Raleigh Little Theatre, Arts Access and Encore! Theatre.

Patty Kelley
Patty has a BS in Home Economics from Eastern Illinois University. She has been in the field of education since 1994, and has taught a whole array of classes including kindergarten, 1st grade, Art, Home Economics, Music, Dance and Drama. Patty currently teaches Special Education with Wake County Public Schools, and preschool/kindergarten classes for Applause!. Patty enjoys the fun, laughter and creativity within the exciting world of theatre!

Julya Mirro
Julya is the founder and Artistic Director of Free Association Theatre Ensemble (FATE), a Cary-based professional theatre. In addition to FATE, she currently teaches around the Triangle at Wake Tech Community College, The Youth Performing Arts Center in Carrboro, and of course Applause!. Outside of teaching, she directs staged readings and full productions, is a participant with the Playwrights Roundtable and the PlayGround Lab, and runs BriarPatch, the only all-youth improv troupe, which is comprised of kids from all over the Triangle. She has a double bachelors in Theatre & Sociology, and an MFA in Theatre Pedagogy with a dual focus on Acting Technique and Black Theatre.

Virginia O'Brien
Virginia O’Brien is drama/teacher at Salem Middle School in Apex. She received her Bachelors (Kean University of NJ) and Master's Degree (NC State) in Education and is certified in several teaching areas including theatre arts. Before teaching she worked as both a singer/actress and director. While teaching at both West Cary and Salem she has directed and produced 12 full scale musicals and approximately 50 plays. She appeared in Cary Parks, Recreation & Cultural Resources’ Broadway Love Songs in 2001 and was its musical director for the encore in September 2003. She has also music directed for Applause!'s productions of Once On This Island Jr. and Schoolhouse Rock Live Jr.

Carnessa Ottelin
Carnessa received her MFA in directing from UNC-Greensboro where she studied and worked in film and stage. Regionally, she has worked with North Carolina School of the Arts and Actors Theatre of Louisville. Locally, she has directed for Meredith College, Peace College, Burning Coal Theatre, Justice Theatre Project and Applause! Cary Youth Theatre. She currently sits on the Board of Directors for Theatre in the Park. Carnessa’s other endeavors take place at Duke University where she serves as Manager of Graduate Medical Education.

Mary Floyd Page
Mary has an MFA in Acting from the professional theatre training program at the University of South Carolina at Columbia. Her love for teaching began with her graduate teaching experience and grew while working with students at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey. There she served as the assistant director of the Junior Senior Corp and co-directed various Shakespeare productions performed by the students. In addition, Mary has taught ages 5-18 for Applause since 2006 and directed The Time Machine in 2007. Mary is also a professional actor and director in the Triangle.

Annika Pfaender
Annika holds an MFA in Theatre for Youth from UNCG. She has worked extensively with children in theatre education, including Arts Together in Raleigh, The Vineyard Playhouse in Vineyard Haven, MA; The Arts Center in Carrboro, NC; Chatham Hall School in Chatham, VA.; Opera North in Hanover, NH; and the Seattle Children’s Theatre. She has designed costumes for Applause! and Deep Dish Theatre and she has assistant directed several shows for Applause!.

Joshua Purvis
Joshua Purvis received a BFA in Theatre Education and an MFA in Acting from UNC-Greensboro. A member of Actors’ Equity Association and a licensed theatre educator, he has worked throughout the Triad and the Triangle in both capacities, as well as teaching/directing from 2000-2004 at Myers Park High School in Charlotte. His passion lies with enriching the lives of his students through the arts and helping them find their voice while working as a member of an ensemble.

Steven Roten
Steven is a professional actor and member of the Actor’s Equity Association. He is Artistic Director of Stillwater Theatre, a professional company in residence at Meredith College, where he is a faculty member in the Dance/Theatre department. Steven is also a member of New River Dramatists, an organization to foster and promote playwriting. He holds a BFA in Acting from Western Carolina University and an MFA from UNC Greensboro.

Jeff Stanley
Jeff Stanley received his MFA in Theatrical Directing from Rutgers University where his credits include Reckless, Lessons & Carols (new play), The Rise and Rise of Daniel Rocket, Lobby Hero, Imagining Brad and The Siren Song of Stephen Jay Gould. In New York, Jeff worked in various venues including the 78th Street Theater Lab, The Flatiron Playhouse and the Sanford Meisner Theater (among others) directing productions such as Women of Manhattan, Emily, Blue Window, The Baltimore Waltz, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Top Ten (new play) and in three New York International Fringe Festivals. Jeff served as assistant director to Michael Wilson for Hartford Stage’s Cat On A Hot Tin Roof in 2005 and has directed at the University of Iowa and Fordham University’s College of Lincoln Center, his undergraduate alma mater. Since moving to the Triangle in 2008, Jeff has assistant directed Life (x) 3 at Theater in the Park, appeared in Stillwater Theater’s production of The Grinning Man and served as assistant director on All My Sons at PlayMakers, where he also serves as Company Manager. Jeff originally hails from Atlanta, GA.

Canady Thomas
Canady has been singing and acting professionally for over 13 years. Growing up in the south, both Patsy Cline and Aretha Franklin were her earliest musical influences. Canady attended The University of Southern Mississippi for Theatre Performance. After college she moved to Nashville to pursue a music career. When she was asked to be a guest artist in Raleigh Ensemble Players’ production of Handler, she decided to make her home here. Apart from her many appearances with REP she has also been a part of productions with Justice Theatre Project, Burning Coal Theatre and Hot Summer Nights.

Zach Thomas
Zach got his start acting in his hometown of Charleston S.C. He worked with the local professional company, Chopstick Theatre, where he developed a touring children's show and performed in several plays. From there, Zach attended the NC School of the Arts and Wright State University. In addition to performing on college plays, Zach also worked professionally with The Human Race Theatre Company, and taught gifted young actors at the Northwestern University High School Institute "Cherub" summer program. Locally, Zach has performed with Raleigh Ensemble Players and Stillwater Theatre, and has taught classes as well as directed Dracula for Applause!.

Steve Whetzel
Steve Whetzel has been teaching Stage Combat for over five years. As a member of “The Shadow Players” stage combat group, he travels the US performing in live sword-fighting shows and works closely with Capitol Opera Raleigh and other theatre and film companies around North Carolina. As a member of the Society of American Fight Directors, Steve stresses the importance of 'Safety First' in this exciting and unique art form and is honored to teach for the Town of Cary.