Meet more of YMTC’s alumni
For more than eleven years, YMTC has dedicated itself to raising the next generation of artists and art appreciators. YMTC graduates have gone on to study music and theater at some of the most prestigious conservatories in the country and abroad, including NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, UCLA’s School of Theater and Film, and Carnegie Mellon University. We proudly support the lifecycle of the artist and are thrilled to welcome many of our alums back as teaching artists, directors, designers, and adult guest artists. We invite you to follow the successes of our alumni, find out what they have to say about their experience with YMTC and what they’ve been up to since graduating.
Meet Marnina Schon (Wirtschafter)
As an actor in TV and theater in LA, I have to say that YMTC spoiled me.
Each of the productions I did with YMTC remain among my most challenging and rewarding theater experiences. I’ll never forget the thousands of reps of “One Midnight Gone” Dave Malloy led us in while rehearsing Into the Woods. I’m still in disbelief I was ever able to dance the original Chorus Line choreo (while singing the soprano line, woof). Thanks to a meaningful cast discussion Jennifer Boesing prompted, I will always connect the Paris Uprising of 1832 with the student protests of the Arab Spring that we witnessed while rehearsing Les Miserables.
When I learn a new piece of music, I hear Dave Möschler reminding our West Side Story cast that we have to respect the full length of a note because the characters’ emotions demand it. And I’m forever grateful that YMTC entrusted us as high schoolers to tackle the very real themes of racism and antisemitism in Parade. Portraying Lucille Frank, one of my heroes as a Jewish woman, inspired me to be a braver activist. And as an actor, I learned that an emotional breakdown where you let it all out is not as powerful as one where you try your best to hold it in. And through all this serious training, we were still shameless goofballs. Backstage and onstage, I formed some of the closest friendships of my life.
I majored in Communications and minored in Theater at UCLA, where I also found the joys of sketch comedy and scrappy student theater. After graduating, I was working full-time as a program coordinator while taking improv classes and doing the odd show, student film, or internet video. It took me two years to decide to take the leap and make acting a priority, and absurdly on cue, the net appeared! I booked Once at South Coast Repertory, a dream show for an actor-singer-violinist like myself. I thought nothing would ever take as much practicing at home as the Chorus Line choreo, but mastering the simultaneous violin and vocal parts of the Once score and pre-show music topped it.
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| Left: In More Guns! Top right: Marnina as Eponine in YMTC’s Les Miserables. Bottom right: Marnina as Lucille Frank in YMTC’s Bay Area Premiere of Parade | ||
Since Once, I have performed as a member of Actors Equity in Anne, A New Play (Outstanding Featured Actress in a Drama), Frederick (nominated for Ovation Awards), We Three Sisters (its creators were largely inspired by Dave Malloy’s Great Comet), Eight Nights (benefit for HIAS), Ballad (A Noise Within benefit for Project Sister), The Crazy Ex-Girlfriend Cabaret (hosting debut!), and for well over a year, I’ve played the liberal teenage daughter of an NRA lobbyist in the long-running musical comedy More Guns!
My manager and agent found me at Second City Hollywood playing that role, and from an audition my manager set up, I shot my first TV co-star opposite Kat Dennings on Hulu’s Dollface – my first gig as a member of SAG-AFTRA!
What’s not on my resume is the submissions and auditions that don’t pan out, and the struggle between and even during work. But when I reconnect with what I learned at YMTC about why storytelling matters and look around at my beautiful community of artists that I’m lucky to have assembled through this journey, there’s no way I would go back to my office desk (even though there were always snacks).
More Guns! not only gave me my representation, but it’s also giving me my Bay Area homecoming at Z Space in San Francisco! The hilarious script and catchy tunes play on the absurdity of the “woke” left and of course the NRA and its co-conspirators. But it’s surprisingly heartfelt and hopeful, and that’s what makes it work even when we’ve had a week of gun violence tragedy.
More Guns! runs Thursday, 1/30 to Saturday, 2/1. Limited tickets left at zspace.org/more-guns.
You can follow Marnina at: https://www.marninaschon.com
Meet Mark Metzger
Whenever I’m talking with friends and colleagues about theatre and YMTC comes up in conversation, the first thing I say is YMTC is the most professional, exciting, and adventurous theatre company that I’ve worked with, bar-none. The theatrical opportunities and risks that YMTC is taking season after season are unheard of, let alone with a youth theater company. How many people can say that they’ve performed in Sunday in the Park with George before they graduate high school? Sung with a full orchestra as a standard for each production, whether 5 pieces or 33? Developed a brand new musical with one of the hottest composers in NYC? None that I know of, other than YMTC.
Working with the company allowed me to explore a different kind of musical theatre, material of a higher art and deeper meaning than anywhere else I had worked before.
Growing up in Martinez, CA I had only heard of YMTC through the grapevine. I remember that I was doing a production of You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown (which, don’t get me wrong, I love) and I heard that some company in Berkeley was doing Parade, and I was like, “…What?! I want to be doing that!” So, when I was a bit older and able to drive myself, I took the leap across the tunnel and auditioned for YMTC, and never regretted a day of it.
The training I received at YMTC not only prepped me to work as a professional, but the company also helped develop and mature who I was as a person. I took everything I learned into my time at college, where I studied Musical Theatre and Film Studies at UC Irvine. Since then I have worked at Signature Theatre in Washington DC, serving as an Assistant Director, Assistant Music Director, and Music Preparation on 3 different projects. I have been living in New York City for the past year now, and summer of 2019 worked at Broadway at Music Circus in Sacramento, CA as their Assistant Music Director and Music Copyist.
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| From left: Mark performing in Dave Malloy’s “Ghost Quartet,” as Bobby Strong in YMTC’s Urinetown (2013) with Caitlin Cobb-Vialet, and as Enoch Snow In YMTC’s Carousel (2016). | ||||
With YMTC, I was able to perform in Urinetown, Sunday in the Park with George, and Carousel, but one of my favorite experiences at the company was developing and performing a new musical by Dave Malloy and Krista Knight called Don’t Stop Me. This was a particularly amazing experience because it gave me the opportunity to work directly with two amazing artists, particularly Dave Malloy, who was YMTC’s first music director. We started work on this musical about a year after Dave had his first run of Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, so he had been gaining some traction but still was relatively under-the-radar for the most part. So I didn’t really know what he was all about until that first development lab of the show. Right away he changed my perception of theater. The harmonics that he was using in his music were so engaging, intricate, and innovative, and he was mixing classical techniques with popular music techniques in a way that made my head whirl in the best way. It was both intellectually stimulating and homey simultaneously, and the way that he writes is one of the most engaging out there.
Dave continued to put out more work while in the development process, including Ghost Quartet and Preludes, and ultimately The Great Comet having a Broadway run. His name began to circulate more and soon it became apparent that I was working with one of the best composers in contemporary musical theatre.
I returned to YMTC in the summer of 2015 to mount the full production of Don’t Stop Me, reprising my role from the workshops as Roger. It was the first time that I had helped develop a show through multiple workshops, from seed to production, and that’s an incredible experience that most companies cannot offer. The collaboration on the show was amazing, and I could not have asked for a better experience. And working with Dave Malloy has been a huge inspiration in my work. I try to emulate the communal approach that he brings to theater, and I’ve since been doing a production of his Ghost Quartet over the past year and a half, touring it to different venues around California, including a performance at YMTC’s campus in September, 2019.
Stay in touch with Mark and his adventures at: https://www.mark-metzger.com
Meet Z Hansen
For a quiet, introverted 14 year old, YMTC was the perfect setting. I was encouraged to talk to the other students just because of how nice and open they all were. The friendships that I saw happening at YMTC allowed me to come out of my shell for the first time in a public setting. I began in the ensemble as a cut dancer in A Chorus Line, and continued working with YMTC for 10 more productions. I recently graduated from California State University, Chico, with a B.A. in Musical Theatre. During my college years, I took some time off to work professionally. I spent one summer working for the Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre, in Mars Hill North Carolina, performing the title role in Bat Boy: The Musical. I also spent a summer/fall at Berkeley Playhouse—in Fiddler on the Roof directed by Jon Tracy (Sasha/Bottle Dancer), and then as the male swing and assistant stage manager for one of my favorite musicals Avenue Q, directed by Danny Cozart. In Chico I performed with the Chico Theatre Company, playing Don Lockwood in Singing in the Rain and Frederic in The Pirates of Penzance. I also worked with California Regional Theatre’s production of Hello Dolly, playing Barnaby, with Theatre on the Ridge in Paradise, CA in the role of Don Price in Big Fish, and as Jehan/Ensemble in the recent Bay Area Musicals (BAM) production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame directed by Matthew McCoy.
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| Left: As Pontius Pilate in YMTC’s “Jesus Christ Superstar,” (2011). Right: As Anthony in YMTC’s “Sweeney Todd,” 2013 | ||
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| As St. Jimmy in California State University, Chico’s “American Idiot,” 2017 | ||
Chico State gave me many performing opportunities, and great training on and off the stage. Favorite roles include: Moritz in Spring Awakening; Cinderella’s Prince in Into the Woods; Nicky in Avenue Q; Merv Masterson in Our House by Theresa Rebeck; St. Jimmy in American Idiot; and Gaston in Beauty and the Beast. Coming back to YMTC has been a long awaited occurrence. The guidance and dedication to learning that Jennifer Boesing and Dave Möschler model are truly inspiring. Being given the opportunity to play Jean Valjean is an experience like no other I’ll have in my life. I have been brought home to where my theatre journey began, and will be forever grateful for this experience, and all I’ve learned at YMTC. Z is on Instagram @zdoesmusicals.
Meet Aya Newman
Being a part of the YMTC family is the gift that keeps on giving! Performing with YMTC gave me some of the best memories I have of my high school years, as well as preparing me to take on a Bachelor’s degree in Theatre Arts at Drew University. One example of that preparation is participating in the world premiere of Don’t Stop Me. Working on a new musical gave me the tools I needed to help devise and perform in an original work in partnership with Tectonic Theater Project my senior year. I also participated in the TAAP program with YMTC, which showed me the excitement of working backstage. I expanded on that initial experience in college by working as a dramaturg, playwright, composer, and sound designer. Working with Jennifer, Dave, Pam, Janet, and all the other wonderful people at YMTC shaped how I conduct myself as an artist and as a person. They champion hard work, professionalism, and respect, which are equally as important in art-making as they are in life. They also encourage individuality; I never felt like I had to change anything about myself to be in a YMTC show.
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| Aya was featured in YMTC productions of (from left) Carousel (Mrs. Mullin) and Fiddler on the Roof (Fruma Sarah). | ||
One of the best things about YMTC is the community that it fosters. I have met so many people whom I consider close friends through the company, and I make new friends with every show I work on. As I venture into my post-college life, I know that YMTC will always be a place where I can find family. If you’d like to keep up with me as I charge into the void of adulthood, follow me on Twitter @ayanewman and Instagram @aya.the.tiger!
Meet Celeste Kamiya
Performing with YMTC was one of the great joys of my teenage years. I have never felt more loved and supported than I felt by the YMTC community, and I still consider the training YMTC offered to be some of the best I have ever received! Since graduating from high school, I have continued to perform and study theatre – in many different forms. I studied Theater at Eugene Lang College at The New School in New York City, where I fell in love with different forms of performance, like devised theatre, solo performance, and educational theatre. I also spent a year at the British American Drama Academy in London, studying acting, and immersing myself in the performing arts and the theatre-loving British culture. Since graduating from college, I have returned to the Bay Area to perform, teach, and continue my theatre education. I have been working on many projects since returning home, including performing in the first ever YMTC+ production, working on my latest solo performance piece, applying to graduate acting programs, and, most recently, rehearsing for the Bay Area premiere of the musical Allegiance at Contra Costa Civic Theatre. Performing in Allegiance, a musical about the Japanese internment during World War II, feels so important, so relevant, at this moment in history – and it reminds me so much of my years with YMTC, doing shows that really mattered and spoke to their audiences.
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| Celeste was featured in YMTC productions of (from left) Sunday in the Park with George, Ragtime and Next to Normal. | ||
I have been lucky enough to have learned from so many wonderful theatre teachers, including and especially Jennifer and Dave at YMTC, and these wonderful experiences with have inspired me to pursue a career in theatre education. I am so ecstatic to now be working at YMTC as the Production Stage Manager – not only is it a new area of theatre that I am excited to dive into, I am coming full circle, working with dedicated, talented teenagers that inspire me every day. I have loved watching this company grow and thrive and become what it is today: the Bay Area’s leading training ground for young performers. I am thrilled to be a part of continuing that journey.
Meet Derek Luscutoff
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YMTC changed my life for the better! The organization gave me so many opportunities and helped guide the trajectory of my career. When working on my first production back in 2010, I was reminded how much musical theatre means to me, especially dancing! I loved performing in Anything Goes, Ragtime, and West Side Story; co-choreographing Wonderful Town, Cabaret, Fiddler on the Roof, and 13; and teaching several classes/workshops. 
Since graduating from UC Berkeley and heading to New York, I’ve enjoyed performing with companies like Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Norwegian Cruise Line, and Oceania Cruise Line. These jobs have taken me to Virginia, Florida, Canada, the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, and Northern Europe! One of my favorite projects was dancing in a cruise ship adaptation of the Broadway musical Swing! with the original Broadway choreography. I also loved being a singer/dancer while sailing through Europe and creating my own cabaret, entitled “Swing, Standards, and Sinatra: A Big Band Tribute.” 
More recently, while healing a dance injury, I’ve been studying acting and playwriting at Berkeley Rep; I wrote a play through the program and will present it for further development via staged reading! Going forward, I’m excited to keep traveling, learning, and performing. When I start the inevitable transition away from athletic dancing someday, I look forward to integrating my intellectual and artistic passions, especially as a writer/director of new works. YMTC helped me understand that the best art not only brings people joy, but also moves people to contemplate the important issues of our time and take action! Learn more about Derek here. Above: From YMTC’s West Side Story
Meet Shelby Stewart
I earned a BFA in Theatre Performance from Chapman University in 2016. Since graduation, I have been working in the Bay Area as an actor and teaching artist. 
I am currently playing Ado Annie (right) in Oklahoma! at Altarena Playhouse. In the last year, I performed in The Taffetas at Altarena Playhouse, Grease at Contra Costa Musical Theatre, and Hair at Mountain Play. Hair was particularly fun because I reconnected professionally with both Dave Möschler and David Crane! I was also an understudy at Bay Area Children’s Theatre where I performed as Gertrude, Mayzie, and Sour Kangaroo in Seussical. I currently work as a teaching artist for Bay Area Children’s Theatre teaching children from kindergarten through 5th grade. 
Training with Jennifer, Dave, and Pam was a huge blessing. During my three years at YMTC, I performed in nine musicals. Under Jennifer’s direction, I not only learned how to be a thoughtful and engaged actor, I also learned directing skills. I use Jennifer’s “stage picture” directing style everyday in my work at Bay Area Children’s Theatre. Dave is a musical genius. I learned how to sight-read and how to be a better musician by singing under Dave’s direction. Pam’s choreography helped me become a better mover and dancer. I feel especially lucky that I learned the original choreography in A Chorus Line. I grew as a performer because Jennifer, Dave, and Pam treat the students like professionals. 
The best way to learn and grow is to push yourself and YMTC helped me do just that. YMTC helped me become a versatile actor by performing in a variety of genres of musicals from Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along to rock musical Jesus Christ Superstar (left) to the beautiful epic, Ragtime. My current and upcoming shows in the Bay Area cover a wide range of characters from playing the flirty Ado Annie in Oklahoma! to Berkeley protester Regina in Rock of Ages!
Meet David Crane
“My years at YMTC completely set the stage for my life as an artist in the theatre. The professional, playful and joyous atmosphere of those productions and workshops are what made me fall in love with this art form and this community. Without YMTC my life would be fundamentally different (and I probably wouldn’t be an actor!) 
“After graduating from high school, I migrated south to study musical theatre in UCLA’s School for Theater Film and Television (TFT). After graduating, I continued my education, studying Viewpoints with Steppenwolf Classes West and Clowning at The Clown School, while simultaneously joining the great huddled masses of LA Actors pursuing a career in Film/TV/quirky internet videos. “After (very moderate) success in that realm, I decided I missed the theatre too much and have since spent the majority of the last two years gypsying across California from production to production, including a stop as the evil DJ in YMTC’s Don’t Stop Me. 
“Some other recent credits have been Sacramento Theatre Company (I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change and The Glass Menagerie) and the Mountain Play of Marin (West Side Story and Hair). Coming up, I’ll be appearing as Aaron in the world premiere of The Prince of Egypt at Theatreworks Silicon Valley! “F
or details on that production and any more of my goings on, visit my website at www.davidtcrane.com”
Meet Jacob Basri
“During high school, I performed in seven shows with YMTC. I grew so much both as an artist and a person, and I can’t imagine that period of my life without YMTC. 
“I went on to study theater at Sarah Lawrence College returning to the Bay Area in the summers to train with Berkeley Rep’s School of Theatre and American Conservatory Theater’s Summer Training Congress. After spending my junior year abroad at the British American Drama Academy and a summer as an acting apprentice at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, I began to consider directing. “After graduating, YMTC offered me my first professional experience when Jennifer invited me to assistant direct YMTC’s production of Sweeney Todd. I learned so much from watching the professionalism, care and rigor Jennifer puts into every show. I’ve taken these lessons into every project that’s followed. 
“Since returning to YMTC as an assistant director, I have gone on to work alongside a number of directors across the country including Joy Carlin at Berkeley’s Aurora theatre; Estelle Parsons at The Actors Studio in New York City; Adam Arian at the New York Musical Festival; and Lila Neugebauer at The Juilliard School. I have worked as the director on shows at Jimmy’s No. 43, Writtopia Festival, and TinyRhino. 
“I am currently living in New York City and am serving as assistant to Hal Brooks on his production of Public Enemy at The Pearl.” Right: Jacob as Thenardier in YMTC’s production of Les Miserables, 2009
Meet Dean Linnard
“YMTC taught me professionalism and introduced me to the beautiful, playful collaboration that theater can be at its truest. It was never about ego or glory at YMTC, but rather about the craft, the work, and honoring these amazing stories with care and compassion. The sense of family and community, so central at YMTC, is something I look for and try to create in all of my current professional theater workplaces. 
“YMTC gave me the foundation that all of my subsequent theater education and experiences built upon and expanded. Since YMTC, I have attended New York University and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. 
“I spent most of last year touring the musical The Lightning Thief to 25 states. I have additionally acted for Sleep No More Off-Broadway as well as several Shakespeare festivals around the country.” Learn more about Dean’s exciting work at DeanLinnard.com. 
Right: Dean as the Baker in YMTC’s production of Into the Woods, 2008