Faculty Bios
Goldner Conservatory faculty members are professionally trained in their area of discipline, They are “professionals teaching the profession,” as actors, directors, dancers and designers. Our artists undergo an interview process, as well as background checks, including criminal, sex offender and work history, conducted in compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act and other legal requirements.
Summer Production Guest Directors
Sarah Crane
(Guest Director) Sarah Crane is a director, choreographer, performer, and teaching artist originally from Miami, FL, now based in New York City. Recent directing and choreographing credits include Jersey Boys (Associate Director/Choreographer) at Actors Playhouse, Newsies (Choreographer) at Mayo Performing Arts Center, and Legally Blonde (Associate Director/Choreographer) at Actors Playhouse. Sarah served as the dance consultant for the First National Tour of Mean Girls, directed and choreographed by Tony Award-winner Casey Nicholaw. As a performer, Sarah was part of the first national tours of Mean Girls (Dawn Schweitzer, u/s Janis) and The Prom (ensemble, u/s Shelby). In addition to her work in theater, Sarah is a passionate educator. She teaches regularly in the New York area at Broadway Dance Center, Marymount Manhattan College, and National Dance Institute, and has also taught at Boston Conservatory and Interlochen. Sarah takes great pride in cultivating strong, supportive relationships with her students to help them grow both artistically and personally. For more information, visit www.sarahcrane.net or follow her on social media at @sarahcraneofficial.”
BRUCE LINSER
(Guest Director) Bruce is a freelance director and actor here in South Florida. Favorite directing projects include Woody Guthrie’s American Song, The Spitfire Grill, and the world premiere of The Science of Leaving Omaha at Palm Beach Dramaworks, as well as numerous productions with MNM Theatre Company including Man of La Mancha, Avenue Q, Little Shop of Horrors, The World Goes ‘Round, and Side by Side by Sondheim. As an actor, Bruce was recently seen as Bob Cratchit/Ghost of Christmas Past in A Christmas Carol at Maltz Jupiter Theatre, Bill Fordham in August: Osage County, Juror Twelve in Twelve Angry Men, and Evan Reynolds in the world premiere of The Cancellation of Lauren Fein at Palm Beach Dramaworks, and John/James in Love! Valour! Compassion! at Island City Stage. He is an associate member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society and a member of Actors’ Equity Association. brucelinser.com
Faculty
Kim Cozort Kay
(Director of Education) A multi-award-winning actress, (Metrolina Theatre Best Actress, Curtain Up and 3 Carbonell awards,) Kim is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association and Screen Actors’ Guild. Kim has bachelor and master degrees in music education with a concentration in vocal performance. She has shared the boards with Broadway veterans Charles Nelson Reilly, Hal Holbrook, Rachel Bay Jones, Alison Fraser and Richard Kind. As Education Director at the award-winning Blowing Rock Stage Company, Kim produced productions of High School Musical, High School Musical 2 and the tours of Sleepwalk and Bang, Bang, You're Dead. Credits also include music direction: Bak Middle School of the Arts, Kravis' Disney in Schools Program as well as directing STAGE AWAKENINGS at the Kravis Center. Kim resides in Jupiter with her husband, actor/director/teacher Kenneth Kay. Together, they formed their own production company (Kay-Squared Productions) in anticipation of the world premiere of Kim’s one-woman show, Silver Shadows; Dark Side of the Mountain, which garnered her the 2022 North Carolina Society of Historians Award of Excellence for a Theatre Performance.
Briley Crisafi
Briley Crisafi is a lifelong performer who is passionate about the arts’ capability to positively impact culture. Crisafi has been trained in classical ballet, contemporary, and various forms of competitive dance; and has a richbackground in voice and musical theatre. In recent years, she has enjoyed writing and directing full-length stage plays for students through local organizations. She is very excited to now be working with the Maltz Jupiter Theatre in order to share her joy and knowledge with the upcoming generation of performing artists.
Kayla Grammerstorf
Kayla Grammerstorf is a dance performer, choreographer, and educator originally from the Philadelphia region. She is a recent graduate of Muhlenberg College where she pursued degrees in Dance Performance and Accounting. Kayla has been trained in Classical and Contemporary Ballet, Modern, Jazz, Pointe, Tap, and Hip-Hop. She was involved in a tap company based in Philadelphia called Footwerx and had the opportunity to perform at the Wilma Theater, Arts Bank Theater, and Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts. At Muhlenberg College, Kayla had the chance to work with artists Heidi Cruz-Austin, Karen Dearborn, Natalie Gotter, Randall Anthony Smith, guest artist Melanie George, and several student choreographers. Kayla has choreographed five musicals for the Phoenixville Area Middle School and multiple dance pieces for studios in the Philadelphia area. As a choreographer and educator, she strives to create an environment for dancers to grow and find their voice in her movement. Kayla is very excited to be joining the Maltz Jupiter Theatre faculty as they prepare for these upcoming projects.
KENNETH KAY
Kenneth Kay made his professional acting debut in 1978. Since that time, he has gone on to produce, direct or act in over nearly 300 professional stage productions throughout the southeast and on national tour. A Vietnam era-veteran of the US Navy “Seabees,” Mr. Kay received an AA in Arts Education from Lake-Sumter State College, a BA in Theatre Arts from the University of West Florida in 1978 and an MFA in Acting & Directing from Florida Atlantic University. He earned his Equity card after completing a one-year professional internship at The Burt Reynolds’ Institute for Theatre Training. During his internship there he regularly studied with acclaimed teachers/actors Charles Nelson Reilly, Julie Harris, Stuart Vaughan, Jose Quintero, Dom DeLuise, and Martin Sheen. More recently, Mr. Kay served as the Producing Artistic Director of the Blowing Stage Company in North Carolina. During his nine-year tenure he produced and/or directed seventy full-length plays including sixteen regional and world premieres. Many of those plays have since been published and are now available for licensing through Dramatic Publishing. Under his leadership BRSC was named the Best Professional Theatre in North Carolina for 2007. His teaching credentials include adjunct or advisory positions at Palm Beach Atlantic University, Florida Atlantic University, Dreyfoos School of the Arts, Appalachian State College, and Davidson College. Currently, he is a Resident Teaching Artist with the Maltz Jupiter Theatre’s Goldner Conservatory.
Avery Sommers
Avery Sommers has appeared on Broadway in Ain’t Misbehavin’, Show Boat, Chicago, and Platinum, in addition to national tours of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas with Ann-Margret, and Chicago with Chita Rivera and Joel Grey, and featured roles in 10 independent films, all shot in South Florida. She continues to perform at south Florida leading live music venues while also serving on the boards of directors for the Carbonell Awards and the Maltz Jupiter Theatre, and on the Honorary Board of Advisors for The Society for the Preservation of the Great American Songbook.
RACHAEL LAGASSE
Rachael Lagasse is floored with excitement and appreciation to be a part of teaching young minds the art of creativity. She is a New World School of the Arts Alumni, there she earned her BFA and Conservatory degree in Theatre. Her love for acting has been with her for many, many years, but she has had a new found love of working with children in just the last year. She discovered this during her time of being a teacher assistant at Center For Creative Education where she works alongside children daily in helping them to better understand how to connect the arts to their learning.
MARY STUCCHI
Mary Stucchi graduated from Palm Beach Atlantic University in 2007, where she studied theatre and communication. Since then, her dedication to education, performance, and photography has led her down multiple entrepreneurial paths. Stucchi owns a portrait photography business, and has worked extensively in performance and production roles for companies such as The Palm Beach Shakespeare Festival, MOD27 Improvisation, and StoryMakers. Mary’s most treasured teaching experience involved homeschooling 4 girls in Kilimanjaro, East Africa for one year. She has led many workshops for arts camps and global education programs locally and internationally. Most Saturdays, you can find Mary at the Kravis Center, where she manages De George Academy, a scholarship-based performing arts school for economically disadvantaged students. Mary is thankful for every student she meets, because they inspire her to keep learning with them.
Randall Swinton
Randall Swinton is an Actor and Stage Manager here in South Florida. He is happy to be back with Maltz Jupiter Theatre as an instructor in the Goldner COnservatory. Some of his favorite credits as an Assistant Stage Manager are G7:2070 (WJLH Productions), Disenchanted! (MNM Theatre), Oliver! (Maltz Jupiter Theatre), Sweet Charity (Maltz Jupiter Theatre), Jersey Boys (Maltz Jupiter Theatre), The Drowsy Chaperone (Wick Theatre), The Amparo Experience (Broadway Factor) and A Christmas Story (Slow Burn Theatre). He is grateful to his friends and family for all of their love and support.
Kristen Vencel
Kristen is a performer, choreographer, and filmmaker who serves as Artistic Director of Demetrius Klein Dance Company. She earned her BA in dance at Palm Beach Atlantic University and has enjoyed cross-cultural studies in dance internationally in Russia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Panama. She has appeared in productions across South Florida, USA with the Palm Beach Symphony, the Downtown Development Authority of West Palm Beach, the Cultural Council of Palm Beach County, the Natural Movers Foundation, Christ Fellowship Church, Future Commerce, and more. In addition to dancing, with experience in many styles of dance including modern, jazz, ballet, hip hop, salsa, and musical theater, Kristen provides support and strategic feedback to students studying dance in local college and studio settings. Dance is part of her expression, her worship, and the depths of who she was made to be. You can connect with her on social media @iamkristenvencel