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Meet Our Educators
 Director of Education – MEG HEIMSTEAD has been a professional actress, director and teacher for over 10 years. Prior to becoming the Director of Education, Meg was a Teaching Artist with American Stage. She taught playwriting and acting to children and adults throughout Pinellas County, focusing on at risk/special needs populations. As an actress, she has worked with the California Shakespeare Festival in Berkley, CA, Summer Repertory Theatre in Santa Rosa, CA, PlayMakers Repertory Theatre in Chapel Hill, NC, The Gorilla Theatre and Jobsite Theater in Tampa, freefall Theatre, and The Backlot Theater in Sarasota. Most recently, Meg was seen as Karen in American Stage’s production of August: Osage County. She is also the Managing Director for A Simple Theatre. Meg holds a B.F.A. in Theatre Performance from the University of Evansville in Evansville, IN. She also attended the Professional Actor Training Program at University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill.
 Lecturer (Mainstage Lecture Series) – DEDEE ALECCIA Professor Emerita Dedee Aleccia received her Bachelor’s degree in English from Rosary Hill College and her two Masters’ degrees (in English and Art History) from SUNY Binghamton. For her Master’s degree in Art History, Dedee conducted on-site research on the Thomas Becket window cycle at Canterbury Cathedral in England. Dedee has held professorships at Broome Community College and Montgomery College and has served as adjunct professor at SUNY Binghamton, the University of Baltimore, and Eckerd College. Among the many literature subjects she has taught are world literature, British literature, the Bible as Literature, 19th century literature, modern drama, and Shakespeare. In art history she has taught such subjects as world art, Greco-Roman art, medieval art, Renaissance art, and 19th century art. She has served as director of Montgomery College’s Honors Program and has taught several honors courses. Awarded the opportunity to serve as a Smithsonian Fellow, she researched images of labor in 19th century art.
 Teaching Artist – SELENA AMBUSH grew up in sunny St. Petersburg and attended Pinellas County Center for the Arts. Just before moving to New York City, Selena worked for a season in Stage Management at Meadow Book Theatre, Michigan’s largest professional theatre. Off- Broadway, she has directed several new works including the world premieres ofButchus Homosexualis by D.S.A. Deen at WOW Café Theatre, A Black Spell by Aurin Squire at the Bank Street Theatre, Fantasy, Girl by LyaNisha Gonzalez for the 2006 New York City Fringe Festival and Martin Luther: the Musical! by Kirsten Major. Selena holds a Master of Fine Arts in Directing from the Actor’s Studio Drama School at New School University. Her professional associations include the Cherry Lane Theatre, LaMama, the Mid-Atlantic Theatre Conference and The Actor’s Studio. Selena’s articles as a freelance writer of theatre previews and reviews have been seen in such publications as The Village Voice, ‘L’ and Pod Magazine. She has been on the Faculty of The College of New Rochelle, Bronx Community College and, most recently, Selena spent two years as part of the Theatre Department Faculty at Pennsylvania State University-Altoona campus.
 Teaching Artist – JEAN E. CALANDRA started her professional career on stage as an Equity actor and singer with the St. Louis Municipal Opera Company. She received her BFA in Theatre and Music, and her MA in Theatre and Speech from the University of Nebraska. Her teaching experience includes assignments at the University of Regensburg in Germany; Middlesex University in London, where she taught the Drama Diploma Course offered jointly by Middlesex and the Royal Academy of Music and Drama; adjunct instructor at USF in the Communications Department and the School of Theatre and Dance; and drama/speech instruction in private and public schools in the Tampa Bay area. In addition to a long and diverse career as an Equity actor Jean has participated in professional workshops led by Robert Cole (Michael Chekov Technique), Augusto Boal (Forum Theatre), Peggy Loft (Voice for the Professional Actor), and Marge Barstow (Alexander Technique), which has enhanced her scope and practice as a performance teacher for students of all ages.
 Teaching Artist – KATIE CASTONGUAY is an Eckerd College graduate with a BA in theatre arts. She has performed in three of American Stage's past school tour productions including Sideways Stories from Wayside School, Charlotte's Web, and The Wind in the Willows. She has been a teaching artist at American Stage since 2007. Recent acting credits include William Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew at Jobsite Theatreand Eckerd Theatre Company's touring production of I Never Saw Another Butterfly. Katie also recently completed shooting a short film entitled The Bedford Devil.
 Teaching Artist – STEVE GARLAND is a professional actor with a Bachelor’s in English from UC Davis. He is pleased to rejoin the American Stage Education Department in his fifth year as an instructor. Regional appearances include work with Asolo Rep (The Life of Galileo), Gorilla Theatre (Bug, Bach at Leipzig), The Studio@620 (Just As I Am,Grace), Gypsy Productions (Sordid Lives, The Eight), Jobsite Theater (Creative Loafing’s Best of the Bay for his work in The Pillowman), and American Stage, where he recently appeared in August: Osage County. Other credits include The Rover for Circle X in Los Angeles, as well as Waiting for Lefty, Trifles, and Key West, all in San Francisco. Steve is a proud member of Actor’s Equity.
 Teaching Artist – GAVIN HAWK may be known to American Stage audiences as one half of Hawk and Wayne, who have performed their long-form improv showsThe Dumb Show and 321 as part of First Sunday Improv in the cabaret space for the past two years. Other acting credits include Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (freeFall Theatre), Hate Mail (The Studio@620),Circumference of a Squirrel (The Studio@620), Love, Bukowski(California Repertory Company), Cider House Rules: Parts I & II (California Repertory Company), Gross Indecency (Huntington Theatre), Over the Tavern II: King O' The Moon (Studio Arena/Pittsburgh Public), and Refuge (Soho Repertory). Recently he formed his own non-profit theatre company called A Simple Theatre, and directed their inaugural production of Death and the Maiden at The Studio@620 in early September. In addition to acting and directing, he is an Assistant Professor of Theatre at Eckerd College. He holds a Diploma in Acting from The Juilliard School Drama Division, and an M.F.A. in Acting/Directing from California State University, Long Beach. He is a proud member of the Actors Equity Association.
 Teaching Artist – LOGAN MECKLENBURG has over two decades of experience in the arts. In 2002, she earned her BFA from University of the Arts. She has since performed on stage and television, directed theatrical events, and completed an internship with the prestigious Mike Lemon Casting company.
 Teaching Artist – TODD OLSON is in his 9th season as Producing Artistic Director at American Stage Theatre Company. He has directed over 120 plays, musicals, and operas, including My Way, A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra, (which he co-created) at the Actor's Theatre of Louisville. For American Stage Todd has directed several plays which have been recognized by Creative Loafing as “Best of the Bay” Awards for “Top-10 Productions of the Year” and “Best Director,” including Stones in His Pockets, A Moon for the Misbegotten, Much Ado About Nothing, and Anna in the Tropics. Other American Stage credits include Suddenly Last Summer, Crowns, Three Days of Rain, The Exonerated, I Am My Own Wife, Coronado, The Pirates of Penzance, Betrayal, Dinner with Friends, This Wonderful Life, and The Seafarer. Recent guest directing credits include Mozart’s Cosi Fan Tutte for St. Petersburg Opera, The Mystery of Irma Vep at Wellfleet Harbor Actor’s Theatre on Cape Cod, and Dracula for Arkansas Shakespeare Festival. Todd received his M.F.A. from The University of North Carolina, and is a graduate from the Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard. He was a Teaching Fellow at Harvard, and has taught classes at Vanderbilt, Boston University, University of North Carolina, among others colleges.
 Teaching Artist – BETTY-JANE PARKS is a professional actor in the Tampa Bay area. Favorite area productions include The Drunken City and Six Degrees of Separation (both with the Gorilla Theatre), Embedded (Jobsite), Incorruptible (HatTrick), Battledrum (Eckerd Theater Company), and Another Evening Wasted with the Songs of Tom Lehrer (Economic Stimulus Productions). She also has road managed and performed in three consecutive American Stage Theatre Company’s educational tours. Betty-Jane has been seen at American Stage in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf? and Barefoot in the Park. A graduate of Eckerd College, Betty-Jane has been working for American Stage’s Education department since 2006.
 Teaching Artist – SOOLAF RASHEID is a graduate of the University of South Florida holding a Bachelor’s degree in Theatre Arts. She has served the theatre community as an actor, stage manager, touring artist and an educator. As a freelance artist, she was able to perform in several shows, conduct theatre outreaches in underserved communities and focus on her other passion; playwriting.
 Teaching Artist – TONY VALENTINE has been a professional actor since 1985 and an acting teacher since 1998. Tony has appeared in numerous professional plays and on television in Cybill (CBS), Night Court (NBC) and Days of Our Lives (NBC). He currently teaches theatre and communication courses at St. Petersburg College. Tony has also taught at Texas Tech University, University of South Florida, and Hillsborough Community College. In addition to an M.A. in communication and performance, he is completing his Ph.D. in acting, directing and arts management.
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