SUMMER ON STAGE 2017: MEET THE SUMMER CAMP TEACHERS

LAURA HAYDEN

*Laura Hayden is a Lead Primary Teacher at The Tree House Episcopal Montessori School in Santa Rosa Beach, FL. She holds both Infant/Toddler and Primary Montessori Credentials. Laura has been teaching young children for over 25 years and has taught numerous Parent Educations classes. Laura and her husband Chris, have been married for almost 25 years, and they have a son named Jake. Laura looks forward to leading the Emerald Coast Theatre Company Little Rascals summer camps at the Cultural Arts Alliance of Walton County.

LIZ CAIN

*A Veteran performer in hundreds of live Stage Shows, Films and Technical/Crews, Liz brings decades of experience to the performance arts. She was a dance instructor in ballet, jazz, tap, ballroom, production line, ethnic and choreography for 20+ years. Maybe from being a Military Brat living all over the world her forte is comedy and repartee with the audience. Having engaged audience members one-on-one in various live plays and dinner theatres across the globe. Her people skills also serve her well in administrative and production offices from Warner Bros. to Paramount Pictures, network TV and cable.Liz has written, produced and acted in two Musical Comedies, “Redneck Riviera” & “Redneck Rendezvous” which ran for a couple of years along the Gulf Coast. Now she looks forward to producing her latest comedy, "Roadkill, New Mexico".In each endeavor Liz has learned from the ground up how to present a successful product starting with Administrative duties to Crew and Technical skills resulting in a sparkling professional production as an Actor, Singer and Dancer onstage.

DARLA BRIGANTI

*Originally from Orlando, Florida, Darla Briganti attended the University of Florida on a full acting scholarship and received a BFA in 1982. Her career in the entertainment industry spans 30 years where she has worked as an actor, singer, dancer, director, choreographer throughout the southeast. Her most treasured roles to date include the title roles in The Unsinkable Molly Brown and Mame, as well as Mama Rose in Gypsy and most recently on the ECTC stage as Dorothea in Eleemosynary.In addition to her professional acting career, "Miss" Darla founded her own award-winning youth acting troupe, Our Gang Players, which gave her a chance to share her passion with the next generation of theatre enthusiasts. Upon moving to the Emerald Coast she immediately began working for Oz Children's Theatre where she had a successful 8-year run, directing over 30 productions with young actors ages 4 - 18.Currently, Miss Darla is in her third year with ECTC's educational theatre programs and also enjoys teaching professional film acting to students of all ages at her acting school, A Class Act Studio in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Many of her current and past students are successfully pursuing their careers in larger markets including Atlanta, New Orleans, New York, and Los Angeles.

REBECA LAKE

*Rebeca Lake is an Assistant Professor of Theatre at the University of Mobile where she teaches a wide variety of theatre classes, designs sets, and is production manager for their season. Her collegiate education began at Northwest Florida State College where she appeared in productions like Camelot, Annie Get Your Gun, and Aida and was a member of the Soundsations Show Choir and the Madrigal Singers. She went on in 2009 to receive two Bachelor of Arts from the University of Mobile, one in Theatre and one in Music. During her time there some of her favorite roles were Martha in Arsenic and Old Lace and Clairee in Steel Magnolias. She recently graduated with her MFA in Technical Theatre with an Emphasis in Scenic Design, during which time her design work was nominated for and received awards from the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. In the summer of 2013 she worked as an Education Intern at Lexington Children’s Theatre, and in the summer of 2015 she was the Assistant Props Master at Chautauqua Theatre Company in New York. She was the charge artist for Southern Arena Theatre in 2014 and 2016. She is delighted to have the opportunity to perform and teach at Emerald Coast Theatre Company!Fun fact: She was a stand-in on a movie starring Drew Seeley and Ashley Boettcher.

BRIDGETT BRYANT

*Bridgett Bryant is a graduate of the Professional Actors Training Program in Chattanooga, TN where her focus was Acting, Stage Management and Improv. She has worked as the resident Stage manager and production manager the past 5 years with Chattanooga State Theatre and Professional Actors Training Program. Some favorite past productions are That Other Woman’s Child, Fiddler on the Roof, Love Labour’s Lost, Xanadu and Somewhere in Between. She also enjoys acting on stage in her spare time, past credits include Dusty and The Big Bad World (Karen), The Scarlet Letter(Pearl), Three Sisters (Irnia), The Velveteen Rabbit (Mouse) and The Nutcracker Christmas Carol (Cindy Lou-Who.) When not at the theatre she enjoys spending time with her wonderful family and friends.She is very excited to join Emerald Coast Theatre for the summer.