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Rebekah Hellerman has been directing youth theatre productions for ten years. Favorite directing projects include Beauty and the Beast, Oliver!, and The Sound of Music. She received a B.A. in Elementary
Education and a teaching credential from Biola University. After founding and building a successful theatre program at OCF Church, Rebekah established Haven Academy of the Arts. Under OCF Youth Theatre, she organized and directed four successful Summer Theatre
Camps, produced well-known family musicals, and facilitated
outreach programs in inner-city Los Angeles. During Haven’s first
year, she taught 2nd grade at Hermosa Valley and 3rd/4th grade
at First Lutheran Venice. Rebekah believes strongly in applying
educational theory and child development to directing children. She is
consistently blessed by the amazing opportunities God has given her
to work with these talented young people.
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Margy Emmons is the Director of Worship at OCF. Her Bachelor's degree was in Piano Performance with a voice minor and she earned her Master's degree in Accompanying at USC. Ever since the 7th Grade, Margy has been an accompanist for soloists and ensembles, performing a full range of vocal and instrumental styles from rock to Broadway to classical to opera to musical theatre. During college she added vocal coaching, composing and arranging while traveling to various countries with touring groups. At OCF, and with Haven Academy, Margy has found that all this experience has paid off in truly rewarding ways.
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Aki Onouye is a multi-talented musician and composer. She enjoys composing electronic music and trying out new sounds, adding and mixing tracks to create original compositions. Aki was born in Japan and came to the United States in 1987. She began playing piano at age four, and started singing at age ten. She has received numerous awards for her musical talent. Aki has been involved with several musical theater groups as a musical director and live musician. As a music therapist, she is also an expert in early childhood music education and special needs education. She tutors many private music students in her spare time. Aki strives to make the world more meaningful and spiritual with her music. She enjoys being at Haven Academy with its talented stars.
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AJ Anderson originally comes to Haven Academy from Manchester, NH. He resides in
Hawthorne with his beautiful wife, Debbie of 20 years and his 16-year old son, Cory. AJ has always had a flair for acting on stage and film. He has co-directed a drama group called The Messengers. He graduated from the Van Mar Academy of Motion Picture and Television Acting in Hollywood, with an emphasis on cold reading and method acting.
AJ has also been a puppeteer for 25 years. He has co-directed
a live performance of Journey to Bethlehem at the Journey of Faith Church in Manhattan Beach with a cast of over 170! He has also worked on many shows, such as Annie, Music Man, The Wiz, Grease, Into the Woods, and Seussical, to name a few.
Although very involved with directing, videography and editing, in his spare time AJ enjoys working with youth through Awana and the Jr High group at church. He also greatly enjoys Geocaching.
AJ is thrilled to be part of Haven Academy and is very grateful to Rebekah for allowing him to be part of this awesome group.
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Rachel Hellerman is a student at Biola University's Conservatory of Music where she is currently studying Vocal Performance. In addition to her involvement in various shows, she has both worked and performed in Haven Academy's past productions. Previous choreography with Haven Academy and OCF Youth Theatre include Honk!, Beauty and the Beast, The Jungle Book, and The Music Man.
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Marie Madera Gleerup began her passion for theatre in a church version of Godspell long ago. The creativity and support offered by that first musical cast was a refreshing change from anything she'd experienced with hobbies or activities before, and she was hooked! Dance classes followed, along with an introduction to the audition process in the Southland's musical theatre circuit. After trying a number of times, Marie was cast as a chorus dancer by the Downey Civic Light Opera, and was a member of the cast in 17 of their musicals in a row!
Her love of dance and teaching led her down the path of choreography. First, as a dance captain and assistant choreographer, Marie's first choreography show was Rodger's and Hammerstein's Cinderella, where she taught 18 people how to waltz. She has continued to choreograph community theatre productions for both South Bay and Orange County theatres. Favorite shows include
Pippin, Sweet Charity, The Pirates of Penzance, Grease, Oklahoma, Bye Bye Birdie, Carousel,
and, most recently, The Producers at the James Armstrong Theatre, where she also performed alongside her willing husband, Rich.
Marie also choreographs youth and children's productions, and has been on staff for Les Miserables, Children of Eden, Aida, Once on This Island, The Mikado and The Wiz. She looks forward to continuing her involvement with Haven Academy, and appreciates the faith and support managing director, Rebekah Hellerman, has given her.
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Carly Persons has had a passion for theatre since a very young age and is incredibly blessed to have been a part of the Haven family since its beginnings. Carly's role as performer, student, director, and teacher, both in and out of Haven Academy, has allowed her to experience and witness the great impact that the performing arts has on the personal growth of children and teens. Carly will graduate in June from the University of California, Santa Barbara, with a B.A. in Theatre Studies and plans to spend her life using her gifts to glorify God and making a difference in the lives of others.
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Lia Abinante graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from UCLA with an emphasis in Education. Her private vocal teachers include Elaine Martin, Ellen Cooper, and the late legendary jazz artist Dini Clarke. She has been deeply influenced by the teachings of Dr. Morton Cooper, international voice expert, and currently studies with Annette Warren Smith, known best for her voice-over work for the late Lucille Ball. Lia regularly performs in home concerts and on stage at The World Stage in Los Angeles. Lia has been a private voice instructor for over 15 years. She has developed and taught vocal classes for children and adults throughout her community. Currently, she is a vocal instructor for Haven Academy in El Segundo, Encore Entertainers in Torrance and Milestone Preschool in Inglewood. Having known no greater joy than to see her students blossom, she is eternally grateful to her most supportive husband and five children for being the most powerful goad toward expanding the depth and breath of her knowledge of music and vocal performance.
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Curtis Miller is thrilled for the opportunity to work with the talented students at Haven Academy. He believes that the challenging art of improv helps performers of all ages discover teamwork, focus and confidence. Curtis graduated from UC Riverside, where he trained in acting, playwriting and directing, and has studied drama in England at the University of London, Royal Holloway, and improv in Los Angeles with the fun-loving crew at Monkey Butler Comedy. He has, directed, produced and/or performed in an odd assortment of theatre projects, from sketch comedy shows in tiny theatres to performances of new plays, (including one or two of his own), to lesser-known works, adaptations, Shakespearian comedies, and performance workshops for local students through UC Riverside’s Gluck Fellows Program For the Arts. Curtis is preparing to teach full-time and would encourage Christian artists to be brave and confident in their calling to write, direct, perform and design.
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Ashley Krouse is originally from Scottsdale, AZ. She started dancing with the
DanceMotion competitive performing company when she was 2 years old, auditioned and made it into the company when she was 5 years old. She continued with that company for 12 years while also continuing to dance with Ballet Arizona, West Coast Dance Explosion, Tremaine, Dupree, Millennium studios, The Edge Studios, as well as others, through her early 20’s. She has been assisting master classes and teaching many forms of dance since she was 15. She was also privileged enough to take part in the MTV Music Awards as well as some industrial shows and music videos for the music artists. Through her school years, Ashley was also a part of Step on Stage show choir as well as 4 years in the 1st chair alto position in the Arizona All State show choir. Music, dance and performing have been a huge part of Ashley’s life is still are. As she lives and works in El Segundo, running her own fitness facility, she also continues with her singing and performing as a soloist on her church’s worship team as well as doing some studio vocal work for independent song writers and artists in the Greater Los Angeles area. For Ashley it is a privilege to be able to help grow young performers, and looks forward to being a part of the Haven Academy Family.
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Krissy is so excited to be part of the Haven Academy program! She has worked with children for many years and loves teaching. Krissy received her B.A. from Hope International University in Liberal Studies with a minor in Human Development and Biblical Studies. She is currently attending University of California Los Angeles working on her certificate of Early Childhood Education. She plans of using her passion and education to teach at a preschool and eventually open one of her own. She is looking forward to being part of Haven Academy and seeing how God works on the students through the arts.
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Andra Taylor is an aerospace engineer by training, but a teacher at heart. She loves the inquisitive nature of children and enjoys teaching in almost any forum. Prior to teaching home economics for Haven, she has taught various forms of martial arts to both children and adults, been a tutor for math and science, taught Sunday school, and taught a series of introductory cooking lessons for children with special needs. Her approach to home economics is an integrated "economy of the home" model which includes nutrition, meal planning, shopping strategy, budgeting and money management, care of the kitchen and equipment, and basic mending. She is very excited to be teaching at Haven Academy.
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Katie Cadle has actively been involved in the performing arts since childhood when she started performing in children's theater. She is a graduate of Loyola Marymount University where she earned a B.A. in Theater. While at LMU, she ran the student run theater company, The Del Rey Players, where she had the opportunity to direct The House of Blue Leaves and A Piece of My Heart as well as design the lights for over 10 productions. Since graduation Katie has continued to stay involved in the arts and has stage managed several professional productions throughout Los Angeles including the world premiere of Seven Santa's at the Open Fist theater company.
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