HALEY MURPHY is the director of Dodgeball Theatre, and the co-director of the Teen Ensemble. She has worked in theatre for over 20 years. After majoring in directing at Bennington College, she continued to work with all aspects of theatre, from management to technical. She has taught drama to every age, from preschool to adult. Locally, she has directed and/or taught for Taking Flight Theatre, Encore Theatre, Mount Vernon Community Children's Theatre, Reston Community Players, Source Theatre, The Arlington Players, Fairfax County Department of Recreation, and a wide variety of elementary schools- including Forestville Elementary in Great Falls, where she and Heide Zufall began teaching Performance Workshops together. Haley also currently directs for the Rangeley Friends of the Arts Summer Drama Camp in Maine. She is a two-time WATCH award nominee, and winner of Best Director of a Musical in 2007.
About our instructors
HEIDE ZUFALL, co-director of Teen Ensemble and Yoga Workshops Instructor. Heide began performing at age 5 in the Princeton Ballet’s Nutcracker. She received a BFA in Dance from SUNY Purchase and subsequently both performed and taught with a modern dance company based in New York. Most recently, she choreographed for local groups including The Children’s Theater, Mount Vernon Community Children’s Theatre, The Arlington Players, and Reston Community Players. She also began studying yoga and is certified in Hatha yoga instruction. Together with Haley Murphy, she now teaches workshops and classes on creative movement and improvisation under the newly formed Dodgeball Theatre.
JOHN WALDRON, Elementary Education Director. John has been working as an actor, instructor, and director for nearly 20 years. He received a BFA in Theatre from Virginia Commonwealth University. John has toured with the National Players and Theatre IV and performed with Adventure Theatre, Classica, and Murder Upon Request. John has directed at numerous theatre camps and workshops, as well as at Mount Vernon Community Children's Theatre.
SALLY CUSENZA, Stage Makeup Workshop /Character Study Instructor. Sally has worked as actor for 30 years in Detroit, New York City, Boston and the Washington, DC area. She can be seen on episodes of The Wire, Homicide: Life on the Street, andLaw and Order. She has also worked on the movies SALT, SYRIANNA, THE VISIT and many other productions. Mostly though, she enjoys working with many area local theaters, both community and professional in a wide variety of roles. She has received several nominations for Washington Area Theater Community Honors (WATCH) awards and received a best actress award for her work in the Maryland Community Theater Festival . She is a member of AFTRA/SAG and has a degree in Speech, Communications and Theater from Albion College. She has also taken Master classes at the Washington Shakespeare Theater with Floyd King and Ed Gero.
NATALIE V SAFLEY has directed over 30 productions throughout the Washington DC metro area. She holds a M.A. in Directing from Roosevelt University in Chicago, as well as a M.A. in Theatre Education and a B.A. in Theatre both from Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon. Currently, Natalie is an Assistant Professor of Communication Studies and Theatre at the NOVA Loudoun Campus wh ere she also serves as the Program Head for theatre.
ASHLEY BATTEN recently earned her BFA in Vocal Performance from Carnegie Mellon University. She is currently pursuing work in musical theatre, voice over, television and film. Credits: Music Theatre of Wichita: Les Misérables (Cosette), My Fair Lady, Big River, All Shook Up. Kennedy Center: KT for Prez! (Mom) at the Page-to-Stage Festival, WNO Institute for Young Singers recital on Millennium Stage. Signature Theatre: Overtures program in '05 & '06. Americans for the Arts: BCA Ten with Matt Bogart. Charter Theatre: KT for Prez!, workshop/reading of The Coward and the Glory (Mary). Carnegie Mellon: Nine (Giulietta), Street Scene (Jenny/Mae), L'Incoronazione di Poppea (Amor), Bus Stop Opera (Phyllis). Other: Oklahoma! (Laurey), Ragtime (Evelyn Nesbit), Guys & Dolls (Sarah), and You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown (Sally). TV/Film: MSNBC's Witness to the Kidnapping of Patty Hearst (Angela Atwood), Hard to Be Me (pilot episode), The FellowsHip: Rise of the Gamers. Online: Approva website personality (Sarah), voice over for the Department of Transportation. Ashley received the National Foundation for the Arts' youngARTS Award for classical voice and a merit award for musical theatre. Visit www.ashleybatten.com for more information.
KEVIN KING began his amateur theatrical career over 18 years ago running a spotlight for his middle school’s production of Oliver. Since then he has designed sets and/or lighting for over 30 productions in High School, College, and local productions. Some of his favorite scenic designs include: Flight of the Lawnchair Man, Tick! Tick! Boom!, bare: a pop opera, and Batboy: The Musical. Some of his favorite lighting designs include Batboy: The Musical and Jesus Christ Superstar. He graduated from Virginia Tech in 2004 with a degree in Systems Engineering and spends his day as an analyst supporting the Federal Aviation Administration.
JENNY GIRARDI received her B.A. from George Mason University with a concentration in Theatre Performance and is currently working towards a teaching certificate. While at GMU, she participated in the Kennedy Center's Page to Stage Festival and spent a summer abroad studying Theatre in London's West End. In New York, Jenny studied under Maggie Flanigan at The Maggie Flanigan Studio and was accepted into William H. Macy's Atlantic Acting School's conservatory program before moving to Italy where she ran workshops for artists on the Amalfi Coast. Jenny spent her youth performing all over Northern Virginia with the The Arlington Players, The Elden Street Players and Reston Community Players where she won a best actress award. TV credits: The Good Wife, Boardwalk Empire, Gossip Girl and 30 Rock.
