JENNIFER DAVIES
RANDY LESLIE
Named Kelowna's Best Teacher in 2013, Randy is the Artistic Managing Director of Kelowna Actors Studio and the driving force in KAS’s educational programmes. with many of his students going to Sheridan College in Toronto, The American Academy of Dramatic Arts in L.A. and the Juilliard School in New York City.
Randy has over 150 directorial credits in Toronto, Ottawa and Kelowna. He was the Director of Programming and Marketing for the St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts in Toronto for 13 years.
He has directed, produced, and starred in various local productions as a professional actor in Toronto for over 10 years and held positions on various local cultural boards before focusing 100% of his attention to KAS. Randy was the recipient of the first ever Okanagan Angel Award for his contribution to the local arts scene and received the Civic Award for Honour in the Arts - City of Kelowna in 2009. His home theatre group in Toronto, Ontario has an award named in his honour.
Randy has an incredible rapport working with both children and adults and is known for getting people to perform to their highest level. He is the central force behind the implementation of our creative and challenging drama and music programs for all ages including the Broadway Jr. Series with such shows as, Music Man Jr. , Winnie the Pooh, Les Miserables and Aladdin Jr. His specialties include acting, musical theatre, improv, voice, mask work, script writing, scene study, choreography and directing. In Kelowna he has directed such productions as ‘My Fair Lady’, Evita, Nunsense, A Streetcar Named Desire, Into the Woods, Miracle Worker, Sweeney Todd just to name a few.
He is looking forward to 2013 when he performs the role of Jean Valjean in Les Miserables.
Jennifer has been dancing most of her life starting as a student at the Canadian School of Ballet in Kelowna at the age of 6. She spent many summers at various dance training programs including, The Banff Center of Performing Arts and The Royal Winnipeg Ballet Apprentice Program, before continuing her training at Arts Umbrella in their post-secondary Grad Program and Company on Granville Island. In her two years there she was fortunate to work alongside many great choreographers including: Roberto Campanella (ProArteDanza), Shawn Hounsell (Les Grands Ballet Canadiens de Montreal), Joe Laughlin (Joe Ink), and Wen Wei Wang (Wen Wei Dance) to name a few. She was also fortunate enough to travel to Japan to collaborate and perform with a company of Japanese dancers for two weeks and performing at Expo ’05 in Aichi. Jennifer has taught various types of dance at Aberdeen Hall Prep School, Arts Umbrella Children’s classes, Canadian School of Ballet, and is excited to continue teaching in the following year through KAS.Jennifer has been choreographing shows for KAS since 2009. In that time she has choreographed and assisted with dance in 10 productions including “Sweet Charity”, “White Christmas” and “Annie”. As well as performing in many productions including “Sweet Charity”, “The Producers”, and “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat”.
Shaun grew up in Kelowna where he had his first theater experience performing Weird Al songs for his elementary school. He has been performing with various small theater and improv groups around the Okanagan and Fraser Valley ever since. Shaun joined KAS in 2012 and has performed in Miracle on 34th Street: the Musical (JudgeMartin Group), 9 to 5: the Musical (Dick/Tinsworthy), Shrek (Pinnochio), Cat in the Hat (Cat), Music Man (Charlie Cowell) ad can be seen this fall in the upcoming play Crimes of the Heart.
Shaun as been working with kids since he was a teenager in positions such as; children’s librarian, summer camp coordinator, and program planner for the Boys and Girls Club. In 2006, Shaun received his Bachelor of Education from TRU. He then taught with the Chilliwack School district for 6 years before finally moving back to the Okanagan in 2012. He is currently teaching drama at Studio 9 School of Performing Arts
Although he loves the stage, Shaun’s true love is the classroom. Shaun is a skilled teacher with a talent for motivating and encouraging his students. He has a knack for helping kids discover what they can do, and helping them do it. Over the years, he has helped countless children discover they are capable of great things.
Shaun Purves
OUR INSTRUCTORS
Margaret has a BFA in Acting from the University of Alberta. She has worked as an actor and director in Edmonton, Vancouver and Toronto, co-founding a theatre company in Toronto. She has also worked in Arts Administration for the Tarragon Theatre, the Toronto Fringe Theatre Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival and the Abu Dhabi International Film Festival.
Here at the Actors Studio she is in Development - helping to build the Kelowna Actors Studio Academy Foundation.
On stage for KAS she has directed My Son Pinnochio, Annie, Shirley Valentine, co-directed South Pacific and performed as Mickie in The Odd Couple: Female Version. She has also outfitted several KAS shows with their props.
Norene is a singer, teacher, and choral conductor with a Bachelor of Music (Performance) from the University of Manitoba and a Master of Music (Performance) from the University of Arizona. She is originally from Winnipeg and has taught voice/choral music and music theory at various institutions including Penticton Academy of Music, Algoma University College and Conservatory, the Universities of Manitoba and Arizona, Mennonite Brethren and Steinbach Bible Colleges. She has also worked as a festival adjudicator, a workshop clinician, and as a performer and vocal/stage director with various theatre companies in Manitoba, Ontario, and BC. Currently, she has a private voice studio in Kelowna.
While Norene’s main outlet for creative expression has always been in music, over the years she has developed skills in other areas that ultimately brought her to KAS, where she has had the opportunity to create, play, and teach since 2008. She has been involved in over 25 productions both on stage and off. This involvement includes three seasons as head of the set décor department, the creation of specialty props and costumes for main stage and student productions, as well as music directing for Sweet Charity and the student production of Les Misérables. This summer and fall she will continue work as music director for the student productions of Fiddler on the Roof and Rent.
As a performer at KAS, Norene has been on stage in 9 productions. Favourite roles include Bloody Mary in South Pacific and Molina’s Mother in Kiss of the Spider Woman
NORENE MORROW
MARGARET GOBIE
Karlisa Hiebert
Over the past 30+ years, she has had extensive training in dance, music and theatre. Her career in musical theatre began at a very young age and she has received much recognition for her accomplishments in performance in the Vancouver Performing Arts community. She has had the opportunity and privilege to train with some of the most renowned vocal coaches and musical directors in British Columbia. (Including Simon Isherwood, Pat Waldron and Lloyd Nicholson).
Mrs. Hiebert has been a member of the Canadian Actor’s Equity Association as well as the Association for Canadian Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA union) for the past 20 years.
In 1991, Karlisa became a cast member of the Toronto Company of Les Miserables. Where she had the great privilege of performing for “Lady Diana:. After 1 year and approximately 500 performances in the Ensemble and as an understudy, she was selected By Claude Michel Schonberg to play the lead role of Eponine for the Canadian National Touring Company, which toured for over 1 ½ years. Other Favourite roles include, Fantine in Les Miserables for Kelowna Actors Studio, Zeitel in Fiddler on the Roof, Diana in Anne of Green Gables and Rizzo in Grease.
Karlisa Hiebert has worked as an instructor for the Lindbjerg Academy of Performing arts and as a private vocal/acting coach for the past 20+ years. She has also run summer theatre programs for youth in both Port Moody, B.C. and Kelowna. Many of her former students have gone on to work as professional or amateur performers in the Vancouver Performing Arts Community. For the past 12 years she has worked as the performing arts teacher at Studio9 School of the Arts in Kelowna as well as being school principal for the past 5 years.