Tom Burmester
Executive Director

Ally Heatherly

Connectivity Director

Andrea St. Clair

Education Director

Melissa Cunha

Theatre Operations Manager

Anna Walton

Box Office Manager

Denise Miles

Production Coordinator/Resident Costume Designer

Karen Vinyard

Box Office

Spencer Alexander

Operations and Administrative Assistant

Gala Erdman

House Manager

Rebecca Greb

House/Concessions Manager

Janie Linarez

Concessions Manager

Christopher Olvera

House Manager

Andrea St. Clair
Education Director

Director/Choreographer – Broadway Bound, Dance Instructor

email Andrea

A.stclair@woodlandoperahouse.org

Originally from the Bay Area, Andrea has been dancing for the majority of her life, though initially she fell into dance after being diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. With a background in tap, ballet, contemporary, jazz and musical theatre, Andrea danced competitively for many years with Schumacher’s School of Dance under Dolly Schumacher-James and Wendy James as well as technical training with Dance Arts Center with Berle Davis.  It was under Berle where Andrea grew to truly appreciate tap and jazz technique and credits his tutelage for her love of the craft.  In addition, Andrea has had the privilege of studying both in San Francisco and NY under the likes of Cecelia Marta, Michael Raine, Tony Stevens, Marilyn D’Honau, Sam Weber, Frank Hatcher, Kobi Rozenfeld, Terrill Mitchell, and Meghan Way Stinson.

Andrea holds her BA in Theatre Arts from San Jose State University and is an alumnus of the CAP21 Summer Professional Intensive. A proud member of Actor’s Equity Association, Andrea has performed in musical theatre up and down Northern California, including holding Dance Captain credits in many shows. She has previously performed with the likes of Tony-Award Winning Actor James Monroe Iglehart, Adrian Zmed, Arielle Jacobs, Dirk Lumbard, and more. Back in 2008, Andrea was featured in Scott Alan’s Monday Nights, New Voices cabaret where she was coached by and sang the songs of Georgia Stitt at the Duplex Cabaret Theatre in New York.  She is also a veteran of many commercials and industrials.

She previously taught, choreographed, and managed the studio at Capitol City Dance Academy in Sacramento where her choreography for their competitive companies took top honors at many national competitions.  In addition to teaching dance, Andrea previously taught the teen acting class at Studio24 and through workshops in the WOH’s Outreach Program; she was also a certified substitute teacher for several public school districts and charter schools for almost a decade. Andrea has also completed training with the iTheatrics Summer Teaching Academy and with TIE for Theatrical Intimacy Coordination.

For the Woodland Opera House, Andrea has directed and choreographed My Fairy Lady, Shrek, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (Elly Award for Best Production), Elf the Musical, Young Frankenstein (Director, Chesley Award – Favorite Production), and School of Rock as well as Godspell JR and Roald Dahl’s Matilda the Musical JR for our Rising Stars education musical series.  She has also choreographed for the WOH for productions such as The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Curious George and the Golden Meatball.  The current director for the Broadway Bound training and performance group, Andrea – along with Music Director Lori Jarvey – led the 2022 & 2023 members to win “Excellence in Ensemble Work” at the Junior Theatre Festival in Sacramento.  She has also choreographed for Musical Mayhem Productions, Folsom High School, and Cosumnes Oaks High School.  Her work has earned her an Elly Award and multiple nominations. Visit Andrea on Facebook. 

Staci Arriaga
Dance Instructor

Staci has been teaching dance for over 20 years and choreographing musical theatre for the last 18 years. She spent 10 years dancing with The Lisa Clark Dancers and spent 20 years on their faculty teaching tap and jazz. Ms. Arriaga’s choreography has been seen in Solano, Contra Costa, and Sonoma Counties as well as the San Francisco Bay Area. She has earned two Dean Goodman Awards, one Elly Award and several Arty Awards as well as a Bay Area Critics Award nomination for her work.

Crystal Rea
Ballet Instructor

Crystal Rea comes to the Woodland Opera House Dance Education program with 10 years of teaching experience, emphasizing classical technique, strength, and performance skills. Crystal has over 20 years of ballet training with Hanneke Lohse and has garnered solo performances in such full-length ballets as Coppelia, Napoli, and as Clara in The Nutcracker.

Erik Catalan
Hip-Hop Instructor

Erik has been a performing artist in music, theater and dance in the greater Sacramento area for over 25 years and has been featured in Woodland Opera House productions since 2007. As an actor in the Opera House’s Theater for Families, Erik’s performances have been nominated for three regional Elly Awards and winner of two local Chesley Awards. In 2023, he made his debut as a Director (The Lightning Thief) and 2024 will mark his debut as Choreographer (The Descendants). As a dance instructor, Erik brings an eclectic style, with experience in hip-hop, jazz, tap, ballet and modern dance.

Jeff Teague
Adult Workshops – Dance and Fitness Instructor, School Outreach

Jeff Teague has been involved in most areas of the performing arts but has found choreography to be his true passion. He is the resident choreographer for Lincoln Theater Company, Placer Pops Chorale and the Davis Senior High School Choirs. Jeff has Choreographed/ Directed with companies throughout California including Alameda Civic Light Opera, Contra Contra Costa Music Theater, Diablo Light Opera Company, The Bracebridge Dinner in Yosemite, Bay Area Educational Theater Company and Inland Valley Repertory. Favorite productions include CHICAGO (Inland Valley Repertory-Outstanding Production of a Musical and Best Choreography-LA Stage and Screen), RAGTIME (Diablo Light Opera Company/Shelly Award), HAIR, AIDA and EVITA (Alameda Civic Light Opera), and DAMN YANKEES (Contra Costa Music Theater-Shelly Nomination). He was Executive/Artistic Director at ACLO and Associate Artistic Director at IVRT. Jeff also taught at the Westlake School of Performing Arts in Palo Alto and Lamorinda Theater Arts Academy in Lafayette. As a performer he worked for 4 years at the Curtain Call Dinner Theater in Tustin, Ca, toured with the Young Americans and danced at Disneyland. Other productions include No, No, Nanette (LaMirada Civic Light Opera) starring Susan Egan, Babes (RK Productions) starring Stephanie Block, Pajama Game (California Music Theater) starring Pat Harrington, Mary Jo Catlett, and Patti Colombo and The Man Who Came to Dinner (Inland Valley Repertory) starring Nedra Volz. Other favorite roles include (The Snake, Balleader) and Narrator (The Apple Tree) and Scarecrow (The Wizard of Oz.)

Jeff is also the Project Coordinator for Uplift People of Elk Grove, a nonprofit that helps individuals and families break the cycle of poverty. Visit Jeff on Facebook.

Lori Jarvey
Broadway Bound Music Director, Youth Workshops – Music Director

Lori Jarvey, born and raised in Woodland, has played the piano since age 7, and has taught privately for over 25 years. She holds a Bachelor of Music with an emphasis in Piano Performance from University of Redlands. Lori Jarvey has been with the Woodland Opera House since 2005. She began as a teacher/music director of the Show Biz Kidz Summer Camp and branched out from there. She has musically directed several of the Theatre for Family productions including Alice in Wonderland, Aladdin, Mulan, Pinkalicious, and How I Became a Pirate. Her main stage productions include Mary Poppins, Footloose, My Fair Lady, Shrek, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Curious George, and Elf the Musical. Lori also is the Music Director for our Broadway Bound training and performance group.

In addition to her work with the Woodland Opera House, Lori teaches piano at her private studio and also at Musictown Studios, is the Music Director at American Lutheran Church, visits local retirement facilities to lead sing–a–longs, is the accompanist for Douglass Middle School choir, and is the accompanist for the Woodland Chamber Singers under the direction of Lenore Turner-Heinson. This group performs at least twice a year in Woodland and has also performed at Carnegie Hall and in Europe.  When she is not working, Lori spends most of her time with her family, but she also enjoys working out, reading, and puzzles!

Anna Walton
Ballet Instructor

Anna began taking ballet when she was 4 years old and has loved it ever since! She joined the Opera House’s dance program at the age of 13, studying under Mrs. Eva Sarry, and became a teacher’s assistant for the younger classes as a teen. She started teaching her own classes shortly thereafter and has never looked back!

Ania Mieszkowska
Ballet Instructor

Ania Mieszkowska has been teaching ballet in the region for the last 10 years.  As a character dancer she has performed roles such as Dr Coppelius, Herr Drosselmier and Widow Simone.  She previously spent many years teaching acting in England. She was a founding member and the first Artistic Director of the Festival Shakespeare Company in Brighton, England. Ania has been instrumental in directing and developing our annual Nutcracker “Sweet” and Peter and the Wolf productions alongside fellow instructor, Crystal Rea. 

Krissy Schwerin
Tap – Jazz – Musical Theatre Substitute Instructor

By day, Krissy works as a Child & Adolescent Psychiatrist, but she has maintained connections to the performing arts throughout her career. In college, Krissy performed and choreographed for Bodyhype Dance Company and with The Princeton University Players. She also sang a cappella with the Princeton Tigerlilies. In recent years, she has been involved with teaching youth theater throughout the Davis & Sacramento area. Krissy is the vocal director for Davis High School Drama Department’s annual musical, and she is the founder/director of the youth a cappella group “The Davis Local Vocals”. In the recent past, she has served as a teaching artist for Sacramento Theater Company and has directed and choreographed several youth musicals at Davis Musical Theater Company, where she received several Elly recognitions. You also may have seen Krissy on stage in several WOH productions, usually tap-dancing (her favorite genre!). 

Lela Rose
Dance and Musical Theatre Instructor

This is Lela’s third year as an instructor for the Woodland Opera House. She started ballet when she was all but three years old with Hanneka Lohse. Throughout her years, Lela has done everything she could to be dancing, taking dance classes with several companies such as Hanneka & Co. Ballet in Davis, Tiffany’s Dance Academy in Livermore, Sacramento Academy of Dance, and Mirror Image in Davis, as well as some independent modern and tap classes at The Davis Art Center.

After being Hanneka’s teaching assistant for several years, Lela followed Crystal Rea to The Opera House in 2016 to continue her dance education. There, Staci Arriaga helped her get back into tap and jazz and she became a teaching assistant for Anna Walton and her tiny ballerinas to be. She was so excited to start teaching her own classes in the fall of 2019, just in time for COVID!

Lela is so happy to be back in the studio with the Dance Annex staff and her students. She is honored to be helping others grow in their talents and love for the arts and is excited for her choreography to be seen in this year’s dance Showcase, her first one as an instructor!

Naomi Catalan
Hip-Hop Instructor

Naomi Catalan started ballet at the age of 4, and hip hop at age 11. She began teaching dance at the Theatre and Dance Annex in 2019. She has played multiple lead roles for the Opera House’s Nutcracker Sweet, such as the and the Sugarplum Fairy and Gumdrop Fairy. Naomi loves teaching hip hop to TADA students and seeing them become more confident and comfortable in dance. When not at dance, Naomi likes to explore her other creative endeavors, like writing and drawing. She has an Associates Degree from Woodland Community College and is currently enrolled at Sacramento State as an English major and Dance minor.

Brianna Daniels
Ballet Substitute Instructor

Brianna’s journey into ballet began at the age of 7 and has been a constant presence in her life. She started dancing at the Opera House at age 12, later transitioning into teaching for six years. She continued teaching until her graduation from UC Davis, after which she moved to work abroad. Now back, she juggles roles as a substitute ballet teacher and a dedicated student, rediscovering the joy of both teaching and learning.

Karen Fox

Youth Workshops – Acting Instructor

Karen Fox Started her college theater career at the ripe old age of 11 in “A Christmas Carol.” After graduating From Southern Oregon university with a BS in Theater and a Musical Theater Minor, she flew off to Chicago to study improv at The Second City and IO (Improv Olympic). Karen taught Improv at Bay Area Children’s Theater and is a company member of East Bay Children’s Theater where she often plays the Villain! With EBCT she played the Evil Queen in ‘That’s Our Snow White’, Beezer Weasel in ‘The Great and Glorious Mr. Toad’.  She is also Mrs. Claus on The River Fox Train in West Sacramento.  Some of her past shows include: Deb in ‘Elf’, Hannah in ‘Newsies’, Audrey II (voice) in ‘Little Shop of Horrors’, Mae Pollitt in ‘Cat on a Hot Tin Roof’, Cogsworth in ‘Beauty and the Beast’, Betty Grace in ‘The First Supper’, and Nikky Puppeteer in ‘Avenue Q’. She is currently a High School theater program director For CORE Butte High School, and she is very excited to join the WOH team!

Cheryl Watson
Youth and Adult Workshops – Acting Instructor