Stephanie Temple (Conservatory Director)

Stephanie Temple, a Central California native, has been at NCTC since 2002, working as an teacher, director and Children’s Playwright-in-Residence. Ms. Temple specializes in curriculum development and creating devised works, and she enjoys mentoring both students and teaching artists. With a Master's in Drama from SFSU and a B.A. from the University of Southern California’s School of Theatre, Ms. Temple is also an actor, puppeteer (most recently seen as Kate Monster in NCTC’s Avenue Q,) and a director/choreographer. Over the past twenty years, she has taught acting, improvisation, dance and musical theatre at NCTC, SFSU, CSU Stanislaus, Merced College, PCPA Theatrefest and currently runs the drama program at Live Oak School in Potrero Hill. As director of the Family Matinee program, Ms. Temple has adapted and developed original plays such as Goldi Locks and the Three Aliens, Sock Puppet Jamboree, Bollywood Sleeping Beauty, The Odyssey, and Rock ‘n Roll Cinderella.

Kathleen Lee (Conservatory Programs Manager)

Kathleen Lee (also known as “Chicken Nugget” to some of her students) hails from sunny Santa Monica, California. Kathleen holds a bachelor degree in drama and education from San Francisco State University. A techie turned teacher Kathleen has experience in stage management, technical theatre, producing, acting, creative writing, and directing. She’s lead workshops in New York City, Miami Florida, Mexico City, Stockholm Sweden and most recently Havana Cuba. Through her work teaching around the world, Kathleen has uncovered a love of travel and teaching and believes being a global citizen promotes a greater appreciation of similarities and differences cross-culturally. Kathleen holds a 200-hour certification as a yoga instructor and specializes in prenatal and kids yoga. Get ready to stretch your imagination! 

M. Graham Smith (Adult Drama Club)

M. Graham Smith is a San Francisco-based Director, Educator and Producer. He is an O’Neill National Directing Fellow, an Oregon Shakespeare Festival FAIR Fellow and a resident artist at SF’s Crowded Fire. Graham has directed at HERE in New York City, and venues in San Francisco including A.C.T., Aurora Theatre, Central Works, Crowded Fire, The EXIT Theatre, PlayGround, Brava, The Playwright’s Foundation, Cutting Ball Theatre, Berkeley Playhouse, Golden Thread, SF Opera, and Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor. He teaches at A.C.T.'s actor-training programs, Berkeley Rep School of Theatre, Occidental College, Colorado College and at Barcelona’s premiere Meisner Technique program in Spain.

Jenny Rosen (Resident Artist)

 A company member at BATS Improv since 2003 Jenny served as Dean of the BATS School of Improv for four years.  She regularly performs long and short form improvisational theater at Fort Mason Center. As a teacher and coach, Jenny has worked with students from ages 2 to 102.  She has taught for StageWrite, Live Oak, Haight Ashbury Cooperative Nursery School and dozens of other schools up and down the Bay Area.  She enjoys using theater games to inspire collaboration, positivity, and creativity in and out of the classroom.  A specialty is the incorporation of classroom curricula into theater training! Jenny has performed in Aspen, Improv Olympic (LA), The MET theater (NYC), The Moth and at the SF Fringe Festival.  She has created original musicals for 64 4th graders at the Cathedral School for Boys, and can make up full length musicals on the spot. Born and raised in the Bay Area, Jenny Rosen lives in Potrero Hill with her husband and two children, Henry and Magnolia.

Marielle Duke (Adult Drama Club, Teen Acting Ensemble)

Marielle has directed with Boomerang Theatre Company, Flux Theatre Ensemble, Manhattan Theater Source, World Theater Day, and Metropolitan Playhouse, among others. She is the Artistic Director of Adaptive Arts Theater Company, a non-profit theater company whose mission is to make theater more accessible to individuals with Invisible Disabilities. With Adaptive, she’s directed a devised adaptation of Goethe's Faust, Mensch’s All Hail Hurricane Gordo, Brecht’s Good Woman of Setzuan, Barrie’s Alice Sit by the Fire, and multiple workshops for their “Autism Initiative” program. As an educator, she has spent close to a decade working with artists from 1 to 80 years old. She has spoken across the country on ways to create accessible theater performance for populations with disabilities. BA in Theater (Directing) and Creative Writing from Drew University and Masters in Educational Theatre from City College.  She recently relocated to San Fransisco to pursue her Masters in Drama Therapy at CIIS. She is thrilled to be joining the New Conservatory Theatre Center team this year! 

April Deutschle (Youth & Teen Musical Theatre, After-School Drama)

April Deutschle holds a BFA in Acting from the Academy of Art University. She has a passion for physical comedy and clown. Having written and performed in her own one-woman show she has a zest for creating and devising interactive work. Having been in NCTC's world premiere of Everything That's Beautiful she is excited to be back and share her knowledge and experiences with the community. 

Francisco Javier Rodriguez (Resident Teaching Artist, Reader’s Theatre)

Francisco Rodriguez is a theatre-maker, primarily as an actor and educator. He has worked with a number of theatre companies and schools within the bay area. Francisco is the founder of Teatro Sublingual; developed while living in Guadalajara, Mexico and the Artistic Director of the Mexican American Conservatory Theatre. His work focuses on spreading and uniting the diverse and rich art of Mexico and Latin America. FranciscoTeatro.com. As a teaching artist at NCTC, Francisco is excited to serve communities in need of arts education.

Chris Morrell (Special Guest Teaching Artist, Puppetry)

Chris began learning puppetry in 2012 and has been teaching groups and classes for the past 5 years. On-stage performances include “Rights of Passage” and four annual productions of “Avenue Q” at NCTC, for which he won Outstanding Performance for a Featured Actor in a Musical at the TBA Awards in 2015. For two seasons, Chris was also one of three puppeteers working on SF Opera’s “puppeteaser” video series. While sometimes teaching classes for private clients like Google, Chris has also trained company members for several theatrical companies, including Killing My Lobster’s “Puppetry of the Lobster”  and several subsequent productions of “Avenue Q”, which he also Assistant Directed for NCTC’s 2018/19 season.

Alicia Piemme Nelson (Drama Explorer)

Alicia Piemme Nelson - is an award-winning SF/Bay Area-based actor, clown, and teaching artist. Originally a ballet dancer, she eventually turned to musical theatre and finally discovered that her heart lies in physical comedy. She is a  graduate of Boston University where she acquired a BFA in Acting. She has also trained in Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy at Accademia dell'Arte where she studied commedia dell'arte, and in Papingo, Greece as an apprentice with One Year Lease Theater Company with whom she studied Greek tragic theatre Alicia is passionate about all things that spark the imagination. She is an avid believer in playing pretend, making a fool of yourself, diving in head-first, and increased diversity in theatre. She hopes to make theatre accessible to its youngest audiences and, in doing so, inspire creativity in the generations to come.

Rachel Garlin (Special Guest Teaching Artist, Songwriting)

Performing singer-songwriter Rachel Garlin has toured nationwide on the indie-folk circuit and recently won accolades for composing the title track for “Out There,” the world’s first musical in augmented reality. With a natural stage presence and an affinity for quirky-intellectual songs (from the melancholy to the rousing), Rachel is a community-minded artist who was recently featured in the SF Chronicle for being “the neighborhood entertainer, comedian, cheerleader and soother all in one” after starting a series of COVID-era concerts from the edge of her garage. Rachel’s latest release “Mondegreens” (April 2020) was produced by Julie Wolf premiered in Curve Magazine and Americana Highways. When not on virtual tour or playing music, find Rachel playing house with her wife and three kiddos.

Remi Majekodunmi (After-School Drama)

Remi was born and raised in England. She graduated from Drama Studio, London and has a post-graduate degree in Acting. Remi is a multidisciplinary artist and has experience in acting, directing, and playwriting. Remi's play 'Sacrificed' is a semi-autobiographical piece featured in London Fringe. Remi is excited to join the cast of characters at NCTC after-school drama explorers! 

Daniel Owens (Music Director of Youth and Teen Ensembles)

Daniel Owens is originally from San Diego and has worked as a performing musician and music educator in the San Francisco Bay Area for nearly 20 years. He received his B.A. in music from Sonoma State University and completed a California single-subject teaching credential in music through SFSU and UCLA. He has taught music to youth at various schools, including Aptos Middle School, Creative Arts Charter School, Live Oak School, and Belmont Oaks Academy. In addition, he has worked at NCTC as both a live performer in The Marvelous Wonderettes and as a music director for Really Rosie. Daniel currently directs the music and drama programs at Marin Preparatory School.

Julia Thollaug (After-School Drama)

Julia Thollaug is an actress and choreographer who has been teaching performing arts in Bay Area public schools for the past ten years. She has taught, among other subjects, elementary school Shakespeare production and high school musical theater dance for mixed-level ensembles. She is excited to join the team at NCTC! 

Alex Akin (After-School Drama)

Alex Akin, born and raised in San Francisco, graduated with a BFA in Musical Theatre from The University of Michigan.  She recently moved back to the Bay Area, having spent the last 5 years performing across New York City in various festivals and shows.  Some of her favorite credits include Fancy Nancy (Vital Theatre Co.) and Merrily We Roll Along (Astoria Performing Arts Center).  She is very excited to be a part of the NCTC's Teaching Artist team!  Having been in many youth arts programs herself, she knows how wonderful and inspiring it can be and she's so thrilled to contribute and go through this creative process with her students.

Caitlyn Tella (After-School Drama)

Caitlyn Tella has eight years of experience engaging youth and adults in theater and performance education. She has worked with the San Francisco Opera Guild, San Francisco Arts Education Project, American Conservatory Theater, and StageWrite, among other organizations to teach theater, physical acting, and to write and direct plays for youth. As an actor, she is represented by NYLO Talent Agency, and she is a theater artist whose work has been supported by Theater Bay Area CA$H Creates, San Jose Repertory Theater Emerging Artist Lab, Hemera Foundation, Elsewhere Studios Artist Residency, and others. She holds degrees in Theater from UCLA and Naropa University.

Michael Houston (After-School Drama)

Mr. Mike, also known as Michael Houston is a Brooklyn, NY native who recently earned his BFA in acting from Academy of Art University. He credits his growing success to all of his teachers with whom he is grateful for.  He hopes to continue to impart his teachings to the world's future leaders. Mr. Mike is also a YouthAware actor- he was in the 2019 production of Real Talk! 

Emily Dwyer (After-School Drama)

Emily Dwyer is a preschool teacher, costume designer and performing theater artist residing in San Francisco. Born and raised in the Bay Area among a community of theater artists, Emily carries a special passion for creating safe, imaginative spaces for young minds. Having played the Alien "Blorp" in NCTC's 2018 YouthAware tour "Let's Get Galactic," Emily is committed to NCTC's devotion to inspiring important conversations through the art of dramatic expression!

Emily Dwyer is a preschool teacher, costume designer and performing theater artist residing in San Francisco. Born and raised in the Bay Area among a community of theater artists, Emily carries a special passion for creating safe, imaginative spaces for young minds. Having played the Alien "Blorp" in NCTC's 2018 YouthAware tour Let's Get Galactic, Emily is committed to NCTC's devotion to inspiring important conversations through the art of dramatic expression!

Sophie Iribarren (Summer Youth Ensemble)

Sophie Iribarren is an NCTC alum who now teaches acting to the next generation of students. As a student, Ms. Iribarren participated in Teen Summerstock, High School Performance Ensemble, Musical Theatre and performed in several Family Matinee productions including, The Wizard of Oz, Anansi, the Clever Spider and the title role in Rock ‘n Roll Cinderella. She is currently a 7th grade Special Education teacher with a BA from UC Santa Cruz and a Master’s in Education from SFSU.