Valerie Rachelle (she/her/hers) has been a professional Director and Choreographer for the past 23 years. Valerie was born and raised in Eugene, OR and toured the world with her magical parents and their professional illusionist show. Valerie started as a dancer and was an apprentice ballerina with the Eugene Ballet Company. Along with her professional dancing, Valerie is also a classically trained singer. She attended California Institute of the Arts for her BFA in Acting and moved to LA where she co-founded a not-for-profit theater dedicated to producing new works – Lucid By Proxy. Valerie then attended the University of California Irvine for her MFA in Directing. Upon graduation, Valerie spent four years at PCPA Theaterfest where she was Casting Director/Resident Director/Choreographer. Valerie has worked at theaters around the country including Utah Festival Opera and Musical Theater, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Syracuse Opera, Fresno Grand Opera, Glendale Center Theater, Performance Riverside, Lucid By Proxy, Utah Shakespearean Festival, Morgan Wixson Theatre, Summer Repertory Theater, and PCPA Theaterfest. Valerie is currently the Artistic Director at the Oregon Cabaret Theatre in Ashland OR, now in its 34th season. She continues to travel the country doing freelance work as a Director and Choreographer. She also teaches Musical Theatre, Auditioning, and Singing at Southern Oregon University.

Jackie Apodaca (she/her/hers) is a Professor of Theatre and the Head of Performance at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon. She has worked as an actor, director, and producer in theatre, film, and media with companies such as the Roundabout, Denver Center, National Geographic, SRT, The Elephant, Island Shakespeare Festival, ReACT, Modern Media (Head of Production), Venice Theatre Works (Associate Artistic Director), and Shakespeare Santa Barbara (Producing Director). She spent more than a decade at Backstage, where she was a Contributing Editor and her book, Answers from the Working Actor, was published by Routledge in 2018. In Ashland, Jackie runs the Oregon Shakespeare Festival’s Acting Trainee Program and serves as Associate Artistic Director for the Ashland New Plays Festival. She holds a BFA from UC Santa Barbara and an MFA from the National Theatre Conservatory. Jackie is a proud member of AEA and SAG-AFTRA.

Kimberly Carbone (bio forthcoming)

Lauren Blair (she/her) Lauren is a west coast based director, choreographer, and performer who splits her time between Los Angeles and Ashland, Oregon. Originally from Cincinnati, she began dancing at age five. She studied dance, voice, and acting throughout high school before attending Otterbein University as a Vocal Performance major. Lauren later transferred to the renowned design school (DAAP) at the University of Cincinnati to pursue her other love, fashion design. Post graduation she moved to LA to pursue a costume design career, and after 2 years working in the film/television industry, her love of theatre brought her back to the stage. Since 2006, Lauren has choreographed over 60 musicals. Lauren earned her Masters in Theatre Arts and Dance from Cal State LA in 2013, and was employed as adjunct faculty and costume designer at Santa Monica College from 2009-2018. In 2016, Lauren made her directorial debut with Peter and the Starcatcher at the Morgan-Wixson Theatre, which was awarded Best Director and Best Production by the Santa Monica Theatre Guild. She directs and choreographs regularly at the Oregon Cabaret Theatre and Collaborative Theatre Project in Southern Oregon. More information at www.laurenblaircreative.com.