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Allison Mishkin (Lottie Child) is a sophomore from New York City double-majoring in Computer Science, Technology, and Society in Engineering and Theatre Arts in the College. Although she has no clue what she plans to do with her life, she hopes to make use of her extensive knowledge of random theater trivia. Allison is also the treasurer/webmaster for Stimulus Children's Theater and serves on the boards of the Women in Computer Science Club and the Advancing Women in Engineering group. With Penn Singers, Allison has appeared in Iolanthe and served as the assistant director for Ragtime. Other favorite roles include You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown(Snoopy), High School Musical(Sharpay), and The Wizard of Oz(Lion). In addition to working on the Penn Singers site, she runs a small web design company for actors and other theatrical organizations. A self-proclaimed William Finn-atic, Allison loves musical theater history, frozen yogurt, and baking for Penn Singers. |
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Lauren Amira is a sophomore in Wharton who hopes to someday use her business education to further her ultimate goal of owning Broadway. Although this is her first show with Penn Singers, Lauren is also a member of West Philly Swingers. Her favorite roles include Li'l Abner (Daisy Mae), Little Me (Belle), Grease (Rizzo), Girl Crazy (Molly), Cabaret (Kit Kat Girl), Into the Woods (Rapunzel), City of Angels (Mallory), Applause (Eve Harrington). Lauren loves sewing and City of Angels. She has experience in latin, ballroom, and swing dance. |
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Amanda is so excited to be doing her first Singer's show. She is a Wharton freshman from sunny California. Recently, she was in Footloose, Good News, The Real Inspector Hound, and Babes in Arms. Recently she played Claire in the Quadramics production of Fuddy Meers. |
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Freshman Caitlin Costello has the biggest smile in Singers and is rarely seen without it. She hails from Frederick, MD and plans to major in Romance Languages and dreams of being an interpreter. Caitlin's favorite roles include Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Violet Beauregard in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Cinderella in Into the Woods. She is a champion typist and can do a mean impression of a cowgirl galloping on a horse. Although she loves Singers, her heart will always belong to ballroom dancing. She also has experience in theatrical jazz, ballet, and tap. |
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Veronica Decker is a sophomore in The College with a major in English and a minor in Theatre Arts. She's not sure where her academic focus will take her after Penn, but she hopes to someday write, publish, edit, perform, and maybe direct. Favorite roles include Kim McAfee in Bye Bye Birdie, Lorraine Flemming in 42nd Street, Mrs. Mayor in Seussical, Cyndra in High School Musical and an ensemble member in Godspell. Veronica has studied voice for 5 years and piano for 9, and spends her summers working as the Music Director for Yorktown Stage's Summer Theatre Workshop. Veronica hails from a large family in Westchester, New York and is not ashamed to admit that she tore her ACL while dance-fighting to a Michael Jackson dance medley. Jazz experience-5 years, Ballet experience-4 years, Tap experience-3 years, dancing in prior shows-priceless. |
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Gaby Esensten is a sophomore in the college from Pasadena, CA. She is a member of the a cappella group The Inspiration as well as the Tabard Society. Previous Penn Singers performances include Ragtime (Little Girl) and Iolanthe. She has studied voice for five years and piano for 10 years. She has experience in tap, jazz, ballet, and pointe. Favorite roles include Rusty in Footloose and the Jester in Once Upon a Mattress. She would like to thank her lovely family and friends for keeping her happy and sane!! |
 | David Freeland is a senior from Baltimore majoring in PPE who plans on going into finance. He is also involved with Pennpals. David has previously been in the Singers productions of Ragtime, HMS Pinafore, Candide and played the cop with the Charlie Chaplin walk in Pirates of Penzance. Outside of Singers, his favorite roles include Oliver in The Music Man and Mike in Oklahoma. His hobbies include film and swimming. David managed to bike over 100 miles in one day to get to the Westvleteren Abbey-where they brew the best beer in the world. |
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Zac Gross is an exchange student from Melbourne, Australia who hopes to possibly be an agent in her Majesty's Secret Service. He is also a member of the parliamentary debate team. Although this is his first show with Penn Singers, back in Oz he has been in Cabaret, The Witches of Eastwick, Do or Die!, Fame, and the Pajama Game. Although he has no formal dance experience, he is a big fan of High School Musical. |
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Lauren Guststein is a senior English major hailing from sunny California who will someday be a wandering gypsy. Her other activities include Pennpals, Soccer, Samba, and repping Gregory College House. With Penn Singers Lauren has appeared in Iolanthe and Ragtime. She has also been seen in Fiddler on the Roof, Into The Woods, and Pride's Crossing. Lauren believes that he life can be told through haiku. "Crazy curly hair; Singing all day and all night; Where will she go now." |
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Joan Heider, a sophomore International Relations major, is proud to be the 2nd Singer from Pittsburgh. She will someday save the world in high heels and is making strides towards that goal through her work with Big Brother, Big Sisters and the IAA. She has previously been in Evita, Cats, Oliver, Godspell, Once on this Island. Her favorite musicals include Evita, Crazy for You (even before this year!) and Rent and she likes spinach and mushrooms on her pizza. |
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Misha Hill is a junior in the college. |
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Kristen Kinstrey is a Wharton freshman who plans on concentrating in Arts Management. On Penn's campus she is involved with Penn Irish and Wharton Women. Although she is new to Penn Singers, 6 of her favorite past shows include The Pajama Game, Stage Door, Big! The Musical, The All Night Strut, Oklahoma! And Seussical. Kristen used to train llamas to jump through hoops. Kristen danced for 8 years, until high school, and is excited for her first foray back into the crazy world of dance. |
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Johnny Lloyd is a sophomore International Relations major from Asheville, NC. He serves on the board of iNtuitons Experimental Theatre and is a peer adviser. He has performed with Penn Singers in Iolanthe and Ragtime; Johnny also played Man #1 in iNtuitons production of Songs for a New World. On the technical side, he was the business manager/props designer for Twelve Angry Jurors and the assistant producer for Quills. He likes to think of himself as a small town boy, riding the midnight train going anywhere. |
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Sarah "Smarcus" Marcus is a junior is the college double majoring in English with a Drama Concentration and Communications. She hopes to work on Broadway in either advertising or merchandise design. This is her first show with Penn Singers but she is no stranger to Penn theater. She is the vice chair of Stimulus Children's Theater and the Head Costumer/Graphic Designer for Bloomers. She has worked on a total of 30 shows at Penn and has performed in Wizard of Oz (Dorothy), Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Charlie), You're a Good Man Charlie Brown (Schroeder). A fan of the color pink, she has an almost obscene knowledge of Disney trivia. She is proud to have a Grammy nomination with her name on it for being a production assistant on the Drowsy Chaperone Cast Recording. She has experience in tap, jazz, hip hop, modern and pointe, although she focused on ballet and lyrical. |
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Casey McQuade is a freshman bioengineering major from Clarion, PA. He plans to become doctor, cure cancer, propel the newfound fame into a successful run as President and happily retire to Walt Disney World. This is his first singers show but has appeared in Honk! as the Bullfrog and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat as Potiphar and Pharaoh. Casey enjoys working on cars, golfing and songwriting. He was born on Christmas! |
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Tyler Morgan-Wall is a senior Physics major from Horsham, PA. He hopes to be a student forever, or at least until he gets his PH.D. He is a member of the Philomathean Society and Penn Ballroom. He has previously been in the Singers production of Iolanthe and has also performed in Cinderella and Guys and Dolls. His hobbies include Theremin building and his slight resemblance to a certain fictional boy wizard. |
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Leah Mintz is a sophomore from Wyomissing, PA majoring in International Relations. Upon graduation, she plans on working in international law or the foreign service. Although this is her first show with Penn Singers, she can also be seen tapping her troubles away with Soundworks Tap Factory. Some of her favorite past shows include Mame, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Les Miserables, The Secret Garden, Anything Goes, Chess, Children of Eden, 42nd Street. While not serving as dance captain, Leah enjoys crocheting and learning Portuguese. She has experience in tap, jazz, ballet, pointe, and lyrical. |
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Jonathan Rivera is a junior BBB major from Houston, TX who dreams of becoming a plastic surgeon. In addition to being the social member-at-large, he is a member of Penn Players, PHINS, and he is a peer advisor. With Penn Singers he has been in Ragtime(Harlem Ensemble) and Iolanthe. At Penn, Jonathan has performed in West Side Story(Moose), Angels in America(Belize), Spring Awakening(Ernst), and Reefer Madness. His other favorite roles include Bye Bye, Birdie(Albert Peterson), The Wiz(Scarecrow), and Honk(Ugly). Audience members might be surprised that he has never had any formal dance training although he gained invaluable experience from shaking his junk on the dance floor and dancing along with Britney videos.
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Jackie Tartell is a sophomore psychology major from Great Neck, NY. She serves on the Penn Museum Student Advisory Board and also did tech work for other productions this semester. She joined Singers in Spring 2008. After being shown, literally, a "smashing" good time, she went on to play a dainty little fairy in the production of Iolanthe. When it comes to musicals, her favorites are the same as your grandmother's: West Side Story, Les Miz, The Fantasticks, and My Fair Lady. However, she is probably the only Singer whose iPod completely lacks show tunes.
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Brian Tran is a junior in Wharton concentrating in Media and Entertainment. In addition to being a fabulous publicity chair, he is involved with Kite and Key, Wharton Ambassadors, and the Wharton Media and Entertainment Club. With Penn Singers he has performed in Iolanthe, the Pirates of Penzance, and Candide. No stranger to Penn theater, he has also been seen in Bat Boy (Quadramics), Urinetown (Penn Players), and Spring Awakening (Theatre Arts). Brian's favorite musicals include Sweeney Todd and Company. His hobbies include filmmaking and piano, which he competed in on an international level. He wants to thank his family for their unconditional love and support.
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Kristine Villapando is a senior from New Jersey and is the only nursing student in Penn Singers. After doing everything she can in the nursing field, she plans on fronting a gothic metal band. At Penn, Kristine is involved with 4/5 Nursing groups: SNAP, MNO, OSNR, and PUSH. With Singers, she has been in Ragtime, Candide, Spindrift, and Kiss Me Kate. In high school, Kristine performed in Crazy For You, Damn Yankees, and Grease. Kristine serves two main purposes in Penn Singers: she is able to lift heavy things and easily sings Toni Braxton. |
Shane Valenzi is thrilled to be working on his fifteenth production here at Penn. Previous directing credits include Twelve Angry Men (Theatre Arts Council 08), Grease (Quadramics 06), Candide (Penn Singers 06) and Ragtime (Penn Singers 07). A senior Theatre Arts major and chair of the Student Theatre Arts Board, Shane has been honored by the American College Theater Festival as the 2008 Region II Directing Winner at the Kennedy Center, where he directed a reading of Well Plotted, the winner of the Mark Twain Prize for Comedic Playwriting. In addition to directing, Shane has performed leading roles with the Penn Players and the Theatre Arts Program, as well as the Penn Singers, where he acted as associate director and lead patter baritone for the past three years under the late Bruce Montgomery. Upcoming projects include his senior directing thesis production of Camelot for the Theatre Arts Program in April of 2009. Shane is a proud Associate Member of SSDC. For Monty.
Lydia Nassima Abdo is a senior double majoring in Music and English ith a concentration in Literary Theory and Cultural Studies with a minor in Modern Middle East Studies. Upon graduation, she plans on going to law school. With Penn Singers she has performed in Iolanthe(Phyllis), Pirates of Penzance(Kate), Spindrift(Maggie), Kiss Me Kate(Lois/Bianca), and Candide. Other favorite roles include Chicago (Go-To-Hell Kitty, Mona, Dancer), Into the Woods (Sleeping Beauty), Cinderella (Stepmother), Fiddler on the Roof (Tzeitel), Othello (Bianca), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Hermia), Richard III (Queen Elizabeth), Brighton Beach Memoirs (Nora), The Raven (The Raven). Lydia is also a member of Penn Glee Club, Law School Light Opera Company, University Choir, Choral Society, Chamber Singers, The Soapbox, and Sigma Tau Delta.
Elena Blebea is a junior from Villanova, PA double majoring in Health and Societies and Hispanic Studies. She is spending the semester abroad in Sevilla, Spain. With Penn Singers, Elena has been seen in Ragtime(Little Boy), Iolantha(Fleta), The Pirates of Penzance(Isabel), and Candide. She has also been in West Side Story(Anita), Guys and Dolls(Adelaide), Oklahoma, and South Pacific. Elena is also a member of Alpha Phi and the International Affairs Association.
Rebecca Cook is a sophomore in the college majoring in Biology. Despite her scientific inclinations, she dreams of being that voice that gets looped in the background of free-style techno songs from the 90's. Rebecca can be seen belting her heart out with Counterparts, Penn's jazz and pop a cappella group. She is currently playing a Homeless Lady in A New Brain and previously has been in the Singers' productions of Ragtime and Iolanthe. Favorite roles include Thoroughly Modern Millie (Muzzy), The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Princess Puffer), Mame (Patrick). She can wiggle her eyeballs and enjoys designing prototypes for useless and impractical inventions. Be warned... she has an irrational fear of oompah loompahs.
Caroline Harrison is a junior in the College.
Nadia Mikhail is a senior in the College.
Mario Miranda is a sophomore in Wharton.
Reza Mirsajadi is a double major in BBB and Theatre Arts from Delaware and Maryland. He is half-Persian and half-hillbilly. At Penn, he can be seen lending his vocal stylings to the Glee Club, Penn Pipers, Counterparts, and the Penn Players. Reza is also involved with Penn Model Congress. With Singers he has performed in Iolanthe and at Penn he has been in Elegies and A New Brain(Minister). Reza's other favorite roles include Fame(Nick Piazza) and The Wiz(The Wiz). He enjoys jamming showtunes on the piano and [title of show]. He
really enjoys [title of show].
Kevin Rodden is a senior Political Science major who serves as the chair of the Theatre Arts Council on the executive board for the Performing Arts Council. With Penn Singers, Kevin has appeared in Ragtime(Willie Conklin), Iolanthe, Pirates of Penzance, Candide, Spindrift, and Kiss Me Kate. On Penn's campus he has performed in West Side Story, Bat Boy, The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?, Gallows Humor, and Rhinoceros.
Lizzy Schmutter is a senior in Engineering.
Corey Singer is a junior from New Jersey majoring in PPE who dreams of becoming an entertainment lawyer. He is currently abroad in London. Corey serves on the Penn Player board, performs with Quadramics, volunteers with Kite and Key Club, and is a member of the John Marshall Pre-Law Honor Society. With Penn Singers, Corey has appeared in Ragtime and Iolanthe. At Penn, he has been seen in Reefer Madness(Jesus) and Urinetown(Mr. McQueen). Other favorite roles include Pippin(Leading Player) and Grease(Roger). Corey's favorite musical is RENT. He believes that, out of the hundreds of musicals that he has seen, no other show can come that close to being edgy yet personal, as classic yet fresh, and, most of all that RENT reminds us all that "there's only now, there's only here, give into love, or live in fear."
Lauren Stewart is a junior in the College.
John Campbell is a senior in the College.
Billy Etter is a sophomore in Engineering majoring in Electrical Engineering. Upon graduating, he hopes to be a civilian engineer in the US Air Force. Billy is also a member of Penn Curling. His hobbies include computers, sailing, skiing, snorkeling, target shooting, photography, and paintball. Billy is skilled at taking apart electronics, but not necessarily putting them back together. He enjoys ridiculously scary movies. He attempted to become a famous rapper, but decided engineering would be more feasible.
Liz Wordell is a sophomore in the College.
Tyrus Lloyd (Orchestra) is a junior from Montana. He is majoring in CTE in Engineering. Upon graduating, he hopes to go to graduate school and get all of his computer certifications. Tyrus plays the clarinet in the Singers Orchestra and has done so for Iolanthe, Ragtime, and The Pirates of Penzance. He also plays in the Penn Wind Ensemble and is a member of the Penn Aikido Club and the Science and Technology Wing. While not playing the clarinet, he is a big fan of computer games and Magic: The Gathering.
Anastasia Piliouras (Orchesta) is a sophomore in Engineering majoring in Systems Sciences and Engineering. In addition to playing in the Penn Singers orchestra, she also performs with Counterparts. Anastasia has played in the pit for Ragtime, and Iolanthe. Past shows include Into the Woods, Man of La Mancha, Crazy for You(twice!), Seussical, The Boyfriend, Grease, and The Music Man. If engineering doesn't work out, don't be suprised if she becomes a pastry chef.
