Classes

Acting for Adults (Age: High Schools Students and Above)
In partnership with Shoreline Adult Education
Tuesdays, 6:00 PM-7:30 PM, September 24-November 5 (6 Weeks, no class 10/29)
Location: Branford High School, 185 E Main Street, Branford
Instructor: Julie Fitzpatrick
Explore the wide world of acting, escape into other characters, build performance and presentation skills and play a little! Adult Acting will broaden your horizons with scene work and improv exercises designed to ignite your creativity and grow confidence in a new way. The class will explore the basics of acting technique focusing on communication, authenticity, physicality, humor, vulnerability, and passion. The class is open to high school students and above. Very little experience is necessary!

Adult Improv (Age: 18+)
In partnership with Shoreline Adult Education
Tuesdays, 6:00 PM-7:30 PM, September 24-November 5 (6 Weeks, no class 10/29)
Location: Branford High School, 185 E Main Street, Branford
Instructor: Mary Lou Lauricella
Enjoy the exploration of improvisation in 6 weeks of fun and engaging exercises and scenes. Let yourself play again while improving your spontaneity, listening skills, and ability to be more present through the art of improvisation.

Create Your Own Solo Show (Age: 12+)
In partnership with Shoreline Adult Education
Wednesdays, 6:00 PM-7:30 PM, September 25-November 13 (8 Weeks)
Location: Branford High School, 185 E Main Street, Branford
Instructor: Julie Fitzpatrick
Over the course of this small class limited to six students, we will explore our life stories and dramatize a moment or happening within them focusing on a ten-minute excerpt which will be staged in the final week of class. Open to ages 12 and above.

Intro to Toddler Time! (Age: 2-3)
In partnership with Branford Parks and Recreation
Saturdays, 9:30-10:00 AM, October 19-December 7 (7 Weeks, No class 11/30)
Location: Joe Trapasso Community House, 46 Church Street, Branford
Instructor: Chelsea Dacey and Nick Fetherston
A stimulating and engaging theatre, movement, and music class, designed for toddlers, with a new theme explored each week such as Rainbow Day, Silly Outfit Day, Under the Sea Day, and Disney Day! Engage in creative play with ribbons and scarves, enjoy singing familiar songs, and learn age-appropriate choreography in a nurturing and supportive environment. 
Note: Parents must stay throughout class.

Toddler Time! (Age: 4-5)
In partnership with Branford Parks and Recreation
Saturdays, 10:00-10:45 AM, October 19-December 7 (7 Weeks, No class 11/30)
Location: Joe Trapasso Community House, 46 Church Street, Branford
Instructor: Chelsea Dacey and Nick Fetherston
A stimulating and engaging theatre, movement, and music class, designed for toddlers, with a new theme explored each week such as Rainbow Day, Silly Outfit Day, Under the Sea Day, and Disney Day! Engage in creative play with ribbons and scarves, enjoy singing familiar songs, and learn age-appropriate choreography in a nurturing and supportive environment. 
Note: Parents must stay throughout class.

Elementary Theatre (Grade: K-2)
In partnership with Branford Parks and Recreation
Saturdays, 10:45-11:30 AM, October 19-December 7 (7 Weeks, No class 11/30)
Location: Joe Trapasso Community House, 46 Church Street, Branford
Instructor: Chelsea Dacey and Nick Fetherston
For elementary school ages, this theatre class is for those beginning or looking to hone their theatre craft. Each week will explore a different theme of musical theatre perfect for those learning to explore the stage from singing, movement, acting and improvisation. Week themes include Singing, Acting, Dancing, and Improv. No prior experience needed. 

Elementary Theatre (Grade: 2-4)
In partnership with Branford Parks and Recreation
Saturdays, 11:30 AM-12:15 PM, October 19-December 7 (7 Weeks, No class 11/30)
Location: Joe Trapasso Community House, 46 Church Street, Branford
Instructor: Chelsea Dacey and Nick Fetherston
For elementary school ages, this theatre class is for those beginning or looking to hone their theatre craft. Each week will explore a different theme of musical theatre perfect for those learning to explore the stage from singing, movement, acting and improvisation. Week themes include Singing, Acting, Dancing, and Improv. No prior experience needed. 

Musical Theatre Dance (Grade: 2-6)
In partnership with Branford Parks and Recreation
Saturdays, 12:15-1:00 PM, October 19-December 7 (7 Weeks, No class 11/30)
Location: Joe Trapasso Community House, 46 Church Street, Branford
Instructor: Chelsea Dacey
Students will dive into musical theatre songs and explore how to connect to their songs in meaningful ways.

Intro to Improv (Grade: 5-12)
In partnership with Branford Parks and Recreation
Saturdays, 12:30-1:30 PM, October 19-December 7 (7 Weeks, No class 11/30)
Location: Joe Trapasso Community House, 46 Church Street, Branford
Instructor: Nick Fetherston
Enter the exciting world of improv with this introductory class! Engage in fun exercises and scenes to explore self-expression and build confidence on stage. Great for beginners!

Chelsea Dacey — Chelsea’s teaching experience ranges from: Director, Fairfield Summer Stage (Frozen Jr., Lion King Jr., Finding Nemo Jr., and Little Mermaid Jr.); Director, Independent Day School (Shrek, Singing in the Rain Jr.); and Music Teacher, Independent Day School and many more. At Legacy Theatre, Chelsea’s teaching experience has included teaching Toddler Time (theatre and music class for toddlers), Fairy Tale Musical (theatre class where students create their own musical), and an audition preparation class. Her Legacy Theatre performances include: Rapunzel/Book and Music (A Princess Tea), Piglet (The Tales of Christopher Robin and Winnie-the-Pooh), Choreographer (You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown), Silly Dilly: The Musical, and Belinda (The Tales of Custard the Dragon). Other experience includes Off Broadway (Piggy Nation) and regional theatre shows. She is also a narrator on Audible (Romany Romance). ChelseaDacey.com

Nick Fetherston — Nick is an actor operating out of the New Haven area. He is a graduate of Quinnipiac University with a degree in Theater Studies and is also an alumnus of The National Theater Institute at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. His Legacy Theatre credits include playing Johathan in The Play That Goes Wrong, Lysander in A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Rosencrantz in Hamlet. Other credits include playing Don John/The Sexton in Much Ado About Nothing (Capital Classics), Albert in Goldfish (New Haven Theater Company), and Mr. Bingley in Pride and Prejudice (The Little Theatre of Manchester). Nick is also a standardized/simulated patient for Yale University and Quinnipiac University, where he uses his acting skills to assist in the training of medical students. He has also taught Improv at The Foote School in New Haven as part of their Horizons summer program. Website - nickfetherston.com

Julie Fitzpatrick — Julie Fitzpatrick is delighted to be teaching Acting and Writing Your Solo Show with Legacy Theatre. Julie is a poet, playwright, performer and teacher who has worked locally with St. Martin de Porres Academy in New Haven, Madison Arts Barn, GreenStage Guilford Live Arts, Moses Gunn Theater Company, Drama Works, Shoreline Arts Alliance and Wheel Life Theatre Troupe. Her acting credits run the gamut from Off-Broadway to regional theater and her Film/TV work includes Law & Order and The OA. Julie is a member of the Guilford Poets’ Guild, The Playwrights Circle and Ensemble Studio Theatre in NYC. Her play 77 U-Turn is published by Next Stage Press and can be purchased here. More info can be found at juliefitzpatrick.com. Julie lives with her favorite guys: her husband Pete and her sons, Fitz and Gracen.

Keely Baisden Knudsen — An award-winning director, Keely has performed, directed, and choreographed internationally in plays, musicals, operas, and dance companies in hundreds of theatrical productions and has performed in 48 of the United States and in the UK. Realizing her vision of a new theater company on the Connecticut Shoreline, Keely’s ideals of inspiring, inclusive work that uplifts the human spirit and connects communities formalized in the creation of the Legacy Theatre with Co-Founder Stephanie Stiefel Williams, a performing colleague and dear friend. Keely has directed, choreographed,  and taught a myriad of performing arts courses at such institutions as Quinnipiac University, Yale University, Fairfield University, Hartt School of Drama, Southern Connecticut State University, Westminster College, and was the Director of Education of New Haven's acclaimed Elm Shakespeare Company for several years. Additionally a composer/lyricist and playwright, she is currently collaborating on two musicals and is a member of ASCAP. Her directing has been heralded by the Arts Paper as “…visually striking, emotionally moving” and “captivating” and of her direction of Hamlet it was said, “Knudsen has made the notoriously difficult Shakespearean language accessible.” Her creation of the Wheel Life Theatre Troupe has been an especially rewarding program as she acts and directs with those who ambulate with crutches and wheelchairs. Her BFA is from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, at which she graduated first in the class, and she received her Masters Degree in Drama on full scholarship from The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow. Keely, her husband Brian, and five children (Saviah, Liviana, Wynter, Emery, and Reeves) reside in Guilford, CT, where she thoroughly enjoys running the Legacy with a tremendous staff and community support.

Mary Lou Lauricella — Mary Lou Lauricella has worked as a professional actress in regional theatre before becoming a registered drama therapist. She holds a B.A. in Theater and English from Washington College and a Masters in drama therapy from NYU. She is trained in both Meisner (Neighborhood Playhouse) and Method acting techniques. She has been the director of the Veterans’ Homefront Theater at VA Connecticut, an outpatient PTSD theater group for over 20 years. The group was an improvisational theater group creating original works that were performed within the veteran and civilian communities. The group was the subject of a documentary film “No Unwounded Soldiers” created by award-winning filmmaker Rebecca Abbott. The film was screened at the Vail Colorado Film Festival, the Connecticut Film Festival and was aired on Connecticut Public Television. She has partnered with Quinnipiac University’s Theater for Community, the Clifford Beers Clinic and the Connecticut Coalition for End of Life Care facilitating theater workshops at the MacDougal maximum security prison and the prison Volunteer Bereavement and Hospice program. She has co-chaired the North American Drama Therapy Conference, presented at the Expressive Therapies Conference, NER-AMTA Music Therapy Conference.

Elizabeth Bolster — Elizabeth Bolster has been the Wardrobe Supervisor at the Yale Repertory Theatre since 2002 where she enjoys working backstage and training student work study crews. Outside of her job at Yale she is a Costume and Scenic designer whose work has been seen at Elm Shakespeare Company, Yale Baroque Opera Project, and Trinity College Hartford. Previous Legacy credits include costume designs for Deathtrap, Just Desserts, The Last Five Years, and You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. Professional training: MFA in Costume Design from The Conservatory of Theatre Arts and Film at SUNY Purchase, and a BFA in Performance Production from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, WA.

Colleen Callahan — Colleen Callahan is thrilled to be returning to the Legacy Theatre Team! She is a recent graduate of Western Connecticut State University with a degree in Theatre Arts. Her previous performance experience includes WCSU’s Noises Off (Dotty Otley), WCSU’s The Resistible Rise Of Arturo Ui (Betty Dullfeet), and WCSU’s In the Open (Devon). Her previous backstage experience includes Legacy Theatre’s The Musical of Musicals (The Musical!) (Props Designer & Assistant Stage Manager), Legacy Theatre’s Beauty and the Beast (Assistant Props Designer & Wardrobe Supervisor), Yale Opera’s The Rape of Lucretia (Run Crew), Legacy Theatre’s A Christmas Carol (Assistant Stage Manager & Wardrobe Assistant), and WCSU’s Hand To God (Assistant Costume Designer).

Abigail Copeland — Abigail Copeland is a scenic designer and professor residing in New Haven, CT.  She especially relishes the challenge of designing for new work, devising with collaborators from different places, and working in non-traditional ways. Since 2014, Abigail has primarily worked in Connecticut and Florida. She is Associate Professor of Theatre Design and Director of the Theater Program at Quinnipiac University. She is also a frequent collaborator with MoonAmie Productions in Miami, FL. In her home state of Indiana, Abigail worked with The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis (Lilly Theatre), The Indiana Repertory Theatre, The Booth Tarkington Civic Theatre, Indianapolis Opera, QArtistry, NoExit Performance, and Hoosier Bard, the performance arm of the New Oxford Shakespeare Project. Abroad, she was a founding member of stella* performance collective and worked with seven sisters group in London.

Adam Jackson — Adam Jackson has worked on over 50 productions as an actor and designer. He has done technical theatre design work for Walsh Intermediate School, the Branford High School Fall Play and Spring Musical, Ivoryton Playhouse, WCSU Opera, and Elm Shakespeare Company. He is also the resident technical supervisor at Shoreline Theatre Company where he particularly enjoys working on the summer camp shows. Adam recently graduated from Western Connecticut State University with a BS in Music Education and a concentration in classical trombone. He runs sound for The River Church in Danbury and occasionally has the pleasure of being invited into theatre classes to speak to students about the joys of technical theatre!

T. Rick Jones — T. Rick has 35 years of theater experience and he graduated from London’s Mountview Theatre School in 1998. Although he is primarily a Stage Manager, he is also a Lighting Designer, writer, and journalist. He worked in the lighting department of Goodspeed Musicals for two years and also created designs for, among other things, English pub theater productions of Dear Willie, Dear Maude, Molière’s The Hypochondriac, Nantucket the MusACKal, and, most recently, Legacy’s productions of A Princess Tea and The Tales of Christopher Robin & Winnie-the-Pooh. He has worked as a Stage Manager all over Connecticut and in Massachusetts and New York and has been the Resident Stage Manager for White Heron Theatre Company in Nantucket for 6 years.

• Toddler Dance, Storytime, and Drama

• Emerging Actors Acting Class: Ages 7-9

• Young Apprentice Class: Acting (Ages 6-11)

• Young Professionals Acting Class: Ages 10-12

• Young Professionals Class: Acting (Ages 12-17)

• Acting for Teens

• Shakespeare for Teens

• Shakespeare Pops!

• Shakespeare and the Veteran’s Journey

• Adult Acting

• Adult Improv

• Intro to Improv

• Improv: Advanced Performance Workshop

• Cabaret Class for Adults

• Musical Theatre Performance

Kiersten Bjork has been the Theatre Manager at Legacy for the past three seasons and is excited for all to come in 2024! She is a 2021 graduate of Fairfield University, graduating summa cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with degrees in Theatre and English.

Kiersten has performed with companies such as Legacy Theatre, Seven Angels Theatre, Shoreline Theatre Company, Theatre Fairfield, and more, having worked on dozens of productions both on and offstage. Favorite performing credits include Footloose (Ethel McCormack), The Spitfire Grill (Percy), Disney’s Beauty and the Beast (Enchantress, Madame D’Arque), [title of show] (Susan – BroadwayWorld Award Nomination: Best Performer in a Musical), Joan Joyce! (Young Joan Joyce/Teen Joan Joyce – BroadwayWorld Award Nomination: Best Performer in a Musical), Chicago (June/“Squish”), A Christmas Carol (Fan/Mrs. Fezziwig/Others), and A Princess Tea (Evil Queen). Kiersten has also worked on numerous productions from the creative and technical sides, with favorites being Rabbit Hole (Scenic Designer), The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime (Master Carpenter), and I Do! I Do! and The Last Five Years (Assistant Stage Manager).

In addition to her work with Legacy, Kiersten is also the Marketing and Communications Specialist for the Branford Community Foundation, an a cappella ensemble singer with the Royal Court Singers, a Book Reviewer for Booktrib, and a Theatre Critic with the Connecticut Critics Circle. You can read her theatre reviews at whitebirchblog.com. She also does freelance theatre wor

Allison Thomas Lee is a San Francisco native and has appeared in the original Broadway productions of The Addams Family, In the Heights, Tarzan, and Aida, as well as the First National Tours of Aida and Wicked. Favorite roles include "Anita" in West Side Story (Westchester Broadway Theatre) and "Carla" in In the Heights (Broadway). Allison has also performed in The Metropolitan Opera's The Merry Widow and various other theatre productions including Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (Starlight Theatre) and Oklahoma (Austin Music Theatre). Other credits include Law and Order SVU, Law and Order: Organized Crime, Are We There Yet?? (TBS), Alien Dawn (Nickelodeon), The Tomorrow People (CW), and SNL as well as numerous independent films, shorts, and web series. She has a deep passion for teaching and loves sharing her knowledge and experience with students of all ages and backgrounds.

Moira Malone — Originally from northern NJ, she currently resides in Cheshire and has performed locally as an actor, director, singer, dialect coach, acting coach and voice coach. She holds a Master of Drama from the Royal Scottish Academy of Music & Drama (Glasgow), a certificate in Acting Shakespeare from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (London), and a BA in Anthropology with a Vocal Performance minor from the University of Vermont. She teaches most recently in the Drama Dept. at Quinnipiac University and Wesleyan, and is a mother of two boys. She performed in Legacy Theatre's 2021 musical Joan Joyce and is on the original show recording.

Sarah Pero — Born and raised in New Haven, CT, Sarah has been involved with local community and professional theatre for 20+ years. Acting at the age of 10, and directing at 16, Sarah received her BFA in Theatre, with a concentration in directing from the University of Rhode Island. Right after college, Sarah was a part-time drama teacher in New Haven Public Schools and also taught theatre classes with Performing Arts Programs (South Windsor, CT). Sarah then worked at the Music Theatre of CT (Norwalk, CT) School of Performing Arts, wearing many hats as Administrative Manager, Teaching Artist, Director, Music Director, and Choreographer for the school. Sarah also managed the Box Office and was the Resident Sound Designer for MTC’s Professional Main Stage. Following MTC, Sarah worked as Administrative Manager at the Downtown Cabaret Theatre (Bridgeport, CT). As a Production Stage Manager for various Theatre Productions in Rhode Island and Connecticut, some of her favorites include: Tick, Tick Boom; Little Women: The Musical; and You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown. Most recently, Sarah served as the Production Stage Manager for multiple Legacy productions in the 2021, 2022, and 2023 seasons, including I Do! I Do!, A Princess Tea, The Great Gatsby: A Live Radio Play, and more . Sarah started Stage Managing at Legacy Theatre in 2021 and officially joined the team as the full-time Production Manager in 2022.

Cathyann Roding was the Director of Choral Music at Branford High School for 32 years before retiring in June 2017. Before that, she taught both in New York and South Carolina. She received her Bachelor’s Degree from Long Island University and received her Master’s at Hartt School of Music here in Connecticut. Over the years, her choral groups performed in many highly esteemed places, such as Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Kennedy Center as well as various festivals and performing tours of England, France, Italy, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, Scotland, Spain, and the Czech Republic. When it was not a trip year, Cathyann and her choirs took on a big project and tried to raise money for worthy groups in town. Some well-known projects that spread good will while raising a lot of money were Rock and Roll over Beethoven, Bach to Rock, The Prayer Cycle, and The Peace Project. In addition to Choral Music, Cathyann was the Musical Director and Choreographer of Branford High’s Spring Musical. Some of her favorites include productions of Phantom of the Opera, West Side Story, Beauty and the Beast, Fiddler on the Roof, Anything Goes, Aida, In the Heights, Les Miserables, and Titanic. She was known for her complicated tap numbers and intricate choreography. Over the years Cathyann has received some wonderful awards and honors that she is proud of including Branford’s Citizen of the Year, Branford’s Teacher of the Year, New Haven’s Woman of the Year, and Parade Marshall of our town holiday parade. She was inducted into the Branford Education Hall of Fame in April 2008. Since her retirement, she has enjoyed accompanying groups and playing for productions at Walsh Intermediate School and Branford High School. Cathyann was recently the Music Director of I Do, I Do!, The Tales of Custard the Dragon, and You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown at Legacy Theatre.

David Rosenthal is an actor based in New York and Boston. He has taught workshops in New York and New Jersey, and he is so excited to be in his hometown of Branford CT a guest Instructor. Credits include Broadway: Matilda the Musical. Regional: As You Like It (Taub), Bad Jews, Diary of a Wimpy Kid the Musical, The Addams Family. TV& Film: Late Night with Seth Meyers, Up the Stairs, Limitless, Growing Up Smith. He is currently receiving his BFA in Musical Theatre from The Boston Conservatory at Berklee. www.davidrosenthal.net @davidrosenthal_