Roy W. Backes

Mr. Backes is the Production Manager for Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia, PA. Originally from Pittsburgh, Roy is a graduate of Point Park College's Theatre program. He began his career as the Prop Master for "Mr. Roger's Neighborhood" on PBS with the late, great Fred Rogers. Mr. Backes spent the next 2 decades as a Production Stage Manager, working with Pittsburgh Public; New York's Roundabout Theatre and the Philadelphia Drama Guild, among others. On Broadway, he was a stage manager for Guys and Dolls with Nathan Lane. Roy was also Production/General Manager for the Prince Music Theatre and Freedom Theatre in Philadelphia.

Christine Emmert

Ms. Emmert has worked in theatre as both a writer and actress. Most recently seen in the Provincetown Fringe Festival in her own piece, Red Rose, she also did double billing in various pieces at The Last Frontier Theatre Conference in Alaska, debuting her play, "Fishers of Men". Locally she has worked with Hedgerow, Barnstormers, Footlighters, and The Lion Theatre Company. Trained in the Moscow Theatre Acting style, Ms. Emmert has also taught acting, playwrighting, and theatre arts. In Colorado where she lived for 23 years she started Cedar Bear Productions which was devoted to Native American Themes.

Marta Kiesling

Ms. Kiesling is the Founder and Executive Director of Village Productions. Prior to leaving the business world to commit full time to Village Productions, Ms. Kiesling was a consultant and benefits attorney with over 16 years of experience in the large consulting firm, law firm and corporate environments. She holds a 1986 Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University Law Center (graduating Cum Laude) and a B.A. in Sociology and American Studies from Dickinson College (graduating Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa, with the Senior Prize in Sociology). Ms. Kiesling has vast production and performance experience in both theater and music, performing with many area theater companies. Past production credits include "Iolanthe", "Little Mary Sunshine", "The Mikado", "The Telephone", "The Impresario", and with Village Productions: "The Secret Garden", "My Fair Lady", "Romance Romance", "Sweeney Todd", "Bat Boy the Musical", "Óliver!", as well as numerous concerts, readings, and events. Performance credits include multiple lead roles such as Mabel in "The Pirates of Penzance", Adelaide in "Guys and Dolls", Fiona in "Brigadoon", Eliza in "My Fair Lady", Lucy in "The Telephone", Christine in "The Phantom of the Opera", Katisha and Pitti-Sing in "The Mikado", and Lily in "The Secret Garden", as well as solo work in concerts and recitals. Ms. Kiesling has been responsible for supervising the production of all Village Productions events since the organization's inception.

Maggie Moliterno

Ms. Moliterno, dramatic coloratura soprano, has been applauded by audiences in the United States and Europe for her refined vocalism and powerful stage presence. This past summer, she sang the “Queen of the Night” in Mozart’s The Magic Flute to critical acclaim at the 2006 Pine Mountain Music Festival. In 2005, Ms. Moliterno made her concert debut singing Violetta and Queen of the Night with the Pottstown Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Rosalind Erwin. A versatile actress, she has appeared in principal roles in opera, operetta, and musical theater, such as the Countess Almaviva in The Marriage of Figaro, Laurie in Oklahoma, and Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors. Her specialized operatic repertoire includes the roles of Violetta in La Traviata, Lucia in Lucia di Lammermoor, Anne Truelove in The Rake’s Progress, Konstanze in Die Entführung aus dem Serail, and Königin der Nacht in Die Zauberflöte. Ms. Moliterno won first place in the Irma M. Cooper Opera Columbus Vocal Competition, was a Scholarship Winner in the Bel Canto Scholarship Competition two years in a row, was a finalist in the Philadelphia Orchestra Albert M. Greenfield Competition, and has received an Encouragement Award from the Metropolitan Opera National Council. Maggie Moliterno is represented by Pinnacle Artists’ Management (Uzan Division) in New York City.

Mark Moliterno

Mr. Moliterno, bass-baritone, has performed throughout the United Stated, Canada, Great Britain and the Far East, with the San Francisco Opera, Arizona Opera, Central City Opera, New York City Opera National Company, Santa Fe Opera, Tacoma Opera, and L.A. Music Theatre. He has starred in festival productions of Verdi’s Falstaff at the Banff Festival of the Arts and Albert Herring and Così fan Tutte at the Aldeburgh Festival. Among his most successful roles are: Falstaff in Falstaff, Escamillo in Carmen, Germont in La Traviata, Count Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro, Marcello in La Bohème, Sharpless in Madama Butterfly, Leporello in Don Giovanni, and Falke in Die Fledermaus. Mr. Moliterno is a frequent soloist on the concert stage and has appeared with symphony orchestras nationwide. His concert repertoire covers a wide range of eras and composers. In New York’s Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall, he appeared frequently as baritone soloist with the Masterwork Chorus and Orchestra in Händel’s Messiah, Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, Brahms’ Requiem, and Mozart’s Requiem and C-Minor Mass. He has twice appeared on the New York Philharmonic Chamber Music Series in Merkin Concert Hall, singing Samuel Barber’s Dover Beach and Charles Martin Loeffler’s Songs with Chamber Accompaniment. He has also been heard as soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra, The Honolulu Symphony, and the Toledo Symphony. Mr. Moliterno’s recital credits include an all-Mozart concert with Murray Perahia in Aldeburgh, England, the War Scenes of Ned Rorem (with the composer as pianist), and the world premiere of Drum Taps, a song cycle by American composer Richard Pearson Thomas at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall. He has recorded Otto Leuning’s No Jerusalem But This for C.R.I. and is featured on the CD project Middle Voices: Chamber Music for Clarinet and Viola, singing music of Loeffler and J. Mark Scearce. Since 1997, Mr. Moliterno has developed a reputation of excellence as a teacher of singing. He has held faculty positions at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and Bowling Green State University and Indiana University. He is currently an Adjunct Associate Professor of Voice at Westminster Choir College of Rider University in Princeton, NJ. In addition, Mr. Moliterno is also a gifted yoga teacher, specializing in yoga for singers. Drawing upon his understanding of vocal physiology, breath mechanics, and the art of classic Hatha Yoga, Mr. Moliterno has developed a system of yoga practice specifically geared toward developing and improving the singer’s physical instrument. He has taught yoga for singers at the Pine Mountain Music Festival and at Westminster’s CoOPERAtive Program. During the school year, Mr. Moliterno also teaches yoga classes at Westminster in cooperation with the Counseling Services program and works privately as a yoga/body awareness coach. He is currently working on a book entitled, The Yoga Voice.

Denise Sheffey-Webb

Ms. Webb graduated from Westchester University with a degree in Music Education and a concentration in Voice. While at West Chester, she ranked first place in the 1997 and 1999 National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) competition and was a member of the highly prestigious Concert Choir. Currently, Ms. Webb teaches General Music and directs the choir at Graystone Academy Charter School in Coatesville, PA, and teaches private voice and piano lessons. She is a familiar performer on the Village Productions stage, playing the roles of Nancy in "Oliver!", Martha in "The Secret Garden", Josefine in "Romance, Romance", the Beggar Woman in "Sweeney Todd", and appearing in numerous concerts and other performances.

Jenny Shoeman

Ms. Shoeman is an accomplished actor, director, and playwright, and a multiple recipient of playwrighting grants from the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts. After graduating from Temple University with a BA in Theater Arts, Ms. Shoeman earned a Master of Education from Arcadia University in 2004. Her acting career includes performances in film work, community theater, and Off-Broadway in New York City. She currently heads the Drama Department at Renaissance Academy in Phoenixville, PA where she teaches Theatre Arts to students in grades 1-12.

Michael Shoeman

Mr. Shoeman is a professional actor and life coach with 15 years of acting experience both on stage and on camera. He's performed with the Act II Playhouse, City Theater Company, Montgomery Theater and as part of Theater Catalyst's Eureka Theater Project. As Artistic Director and Founder of the Life Artist Production Company, Mr. Shoeman has co-produced 6 performances dedicated to original works. He's also produced full-length improvised dramas as well as sketch and comedy presentations. He has taught children's and master acting classes through the Harrisburg Opera Company, Pennsylvania Council of the Arts, Upper Merion Township, Village Productions, Renaissance Academy, and Cumberland Valley School of Music. He is an acting coach who employs the Meisner Technique and original forms of Creative Improvisation.

Janet Stimson

Janet Stimson, veteran singer and actor of stage and television, began performing and directing in the 1960's with her sister Deborah where they ran a barn theater called “The Patch”. She went on to study drama at The University of Washington and dance with Karen Irving at The Cornish School of Allied Arts. In voice, she was fortunate to work with Roberta Manion and George Fiori of The Seattle Opera. Janet turned pro when she played daughter Chava with Kurt Kazner in Fiddler on the Roof in the 70's. She played Eliza Doolittle opposite Noel Harrison (Rex Harrison’s son) in My Fair Lady and Nimue to Howard Keel's King Arthur in Camelot. Other roles include Kate Hardcastle in She Stoops to Conquer (Conservatory Theater, Seattle, WA), Mona Kent in Dames at Sea and Polly Peachum in Three Penny Opera (Skid Road Theater, Seattle, WA), Vera Claythorne in Ten Little Indians (Tacoma Actor’s Guild, Tacoma, WA), Mrs. Jaffet in Noah’s Flood (Seattle Opera), and Lady Larkin in Once Upon a Mattress (Wade James Theatre, Edmonds, WA). Apart from performing and directing, Janet has composed many songs with collaborators Deborah Snow and Karen Janes amongst others, and her Penny Songs are available through Alberta Keys Publishing. Over the years, Ms.Stimson has directed several children's shows as well as many Opera in Miniature productions. As some of her favorite comedic roles were Ado Annie in Oklahoma and Carrie in Carnival, Ms. Stimson is happy to be part of a Rodgers and Hammerstein production once again.

Deborah Stimson Snow

Ms. Snow is Artistic Director for Village Productions and maintains a private voice studio in Blue Bell and Pottstown. She attended the Music Academy of West in Santa Barbara, received a Bachelors of Music from the University of Washington, and a Masters Degree from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. Her vocal awards include first place in local and regional National Federation of Music Clubs competitions, first place in the New Jersey National Association of Teachers of Singing competition, and third place in the East Side Music Festival of Seattle. She has performed numerous roles in operas, oratorios, and musicals, including most recently the role of Mrs. Lovett in Village Productions' "Sweeney Todd". In the opera arena, Ms. Snow's experience includes directing and adapting Humperdink's "Hansel and Gretel", Mozart's "Marriage of Figaro" and "The Impresario", Menotti's "The Telephone", and numerous operatic scenes. Ms. Snow has directed a variety of Broadway musicals as well, including "Side by Side by Sondheim", "The Fantastics", "Free to Be You and Me", "Romance Romance", "Oliver!", and a Gershwin and Porter Review. Ms. Snow was Director of Music for the Unitarian Universalist Church of Delaware County and for the Media Chamber Chorale for many years. She also has conducted major choral works such as Faure's Requiem, Dvorak's Mass in D, Rachmaninoff's Vespers, and Haydn's Creation. She has also taught Music Appreciation and Piano at the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia.

Copeland Woodruff

Mr. Woodruff holds an M.M. in Vocal Performance from the University of South Carolina and an M.S. in Stage Direction from Indiana University. Primarily a stage director (credits: New York City Opera, Lincoln Center; Yale University; Opera Theatre of Northern Virginia; Atlantic Coast Opera Festival; Santa Fe Opera; Michigan Opera Theatre, Prince Music Theater, et al), Mr. Woodruff has been the resident director and acting coach for the Harrower Opera Workshop in Atlanta, GA (one of two workshops funded by the Goldovsky Foundation) for the past eight years. He is currently on the faculty of the Opera Department at Temple University where he teaches the undergraduate and graduate Opera Workshop and directs on the main stage. Still an active performer, Mr. Woodruff has been seen on numerous stages in the Philadelphia area, most recently in the role of Fagin in Village Productions' "Oliver!". This fall he will direct a new edition of Offenbach's "The Tales of Hoffmann" edited by musicologist, Michael Kaye, for Temple University Opera Theatre, before its professional American premiere.