Michael is a Senior Talent Advisor for ServiceNow and holds a bachelors degree in business administration from Letourneau University.  Since 2011, he has casted and participated in the design of over 40 shows since 2014. Past direction credits include Cabaret, The Three Musketeers (Broadway World Award Best Direction), Damn Yankees,Oliver! and Bonnie and Clyde, the Musical, Christmas Carol, the Musical. 

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After earning a BA in Biology at University of St. Thomas and an MS in Population Genetics at University of Houston, Lisa expanded her horizons to include theatre. With over 20 years of experience in community theater in Houston, she was a founding board member of Houston Family Arts Center. She has directed dozens of plays and church performances and also has over 50 scenic design credits. Currently serving on the Board of Directors of Stageworks Theatre in Houston, she is also a lead volunteer in the Technical Arts Resources Department at Salem Lutheran Church in Tomball, TX. She and her husband Mario reside in Cypress, TX.

Amy Hohulin is originally from South Florida, where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from Florida Atlantic University. After moving to Houston, she began teaching at YES Prep North Forest. There, she pioneered their theatre program, creating and delivering middle and high school theatre curriculum. She also started their first after school theatre program and directed numerous productions including You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown, Antigone Now,  and Almost, Maine. Amy first came to Stageworks as a cast member in their production of  Les Miserables, and shortly after began teaching and directing in the academy. Some of her favorite academy productions include Seussical, Into the Woods Jr, Pirates of Penzance, Honk! Jr, and The Addams Family. In addition to her work at Stageworks, Amy is a Teaching Artist for the TUTS Community Engagement Program where she has the opportunity to guest teach at HSPVA, and develop and deliver various programming throughout Houston for children and young adults. She also provides private acting lessons, specializing in audition prep, acting through song, and monologue work. While teaching is her main passion, she still finds time to perform once in a while, and has appeared on the stage with Stageworks in their productions of Damn Yankees, and A Christmas Carol, as well as with Bayou City Concert Musicals in their production of Bells are Ringing.

Sean’s passion for theatre stretches back to his stage debut in 1971 at the age of 6. He formed The Houston Underground Players in 1997, produced and directed the Houston Gridiron for several years, and has been the artistic director of Points North Theatre (formerly UpStage Theatre) since 2012. He has served on the boards of The Country Playhouse (2002-2004), the Houston Press Club (2011-2017), The Players Theatre Company (2017), and Stageworks (2017-present).

He joined Stageworks as an actor in 2015. Two years later he was appointed Shakespearean director for Stageworks Academy where he’s directed a successful series of teen-acted productions. He has also directed and acted in several Stageworks productions, and emceed the inaugural Stage-a-Thon.

Adam W. Delka started performing with the Superior Thespians, in his hometown of Superior, NE. He is a graduate of the musical theatre program from the American Musical & Dramatic Academy (AMDA) of NYC. Adam also holds a Bachelor of Arts, music (BA) and a Master of Arts in Education, music (MAT), both from Austin College in Sherman, TX. Adam is a full-time teacher, director, choreographer and performer. The 2020-2021 academic year will mark Adam’s 15th year in education. He is beyond excited to start his new journey and pursue his passion for theatre education at Bridgeland High School. This is in addition to teaching private voice lessons, teaching classes at the Stageworks Acting Academy and the Tribble School for the Performing Arts, and maintaining a professional performance and directing career in the Houston theatre community. Adam received the BroadwayWorld Houston award for 2013 Best Choreography with MJR Theatricals Little Shop of Horrors. He directed the HFAC/Stageworks production of Les Misérables, which received the award for 2014 Best Musical. He was awarded the 2015 award for best Choreography award for Evita, and was nominated in several categories in both 2016 and 2017. In 2020, Adam also received the first-ever Thespis Award from the Texas Thespians Association for his work as a full theatre Director and performing artist.

Dru Wiser is originally from NW Arkansas before moving to Houston with her family. She moved to Houston in 2013 and has been enjoying choreographing and directing at StageWorks for the past 7 years. She started shaking her butt since she was born and has found it equally as fulfilling to help others find the joy in shaking their butt while on stage. Not everyone who walks into an audition has the confidence in labeling themselves as a dancer, but Dru truly believes that we all are performers. Her training comes from the University of Arkansas, Broadway Dance Center of NY, and opportunities she has gained while working professionally on and off stage.  Her work includes dancing and choreographing with the NFL Houston Texans Cheerleaders. While living in LA she worked on an extensive amount of music videos, including Jon Bon Jovi. While in NY she was chosen as one of the finalists for MTV’s Legally Blonde: The Search for the New Elle Woods. She is currently working towards her theater teaching degree. While she is not constructing a show at a theater, you can find her pulling off an epic dance party at home with her husband and their four young sons.

Kristen has taught in our acting academy for six years, working with students on titles that run the gambit from Zombie Prom to Annie, Jr. She has a special love of coaching comedic timing, dialects, and emotional honesty. Acting credits on the Garza Mainstage include: Steel Magnolias (Shelby), Drowsy Chaperone (Kitty), Little Shop of Horrors (Audrey), Amadeus (Constanze), Into the Woods (Rapunzel), and Lend Me a Tenor (Maggie, BWW Best Supporting Actress). She enjoys composing and arranging music, some of which has been featured in Academy and Mainstage productions (1984, The Elephant Man, A Midsummer Night's Dream). Kristen has also been on the Box Office Administrative team since 2018.

Debra has been directing and designing consistently in the Houston area since 2007. She holds a BFA in Musical Theatre, a BA in Telecommunications/Television/Radio, a MA in Film History, Theory and Criticism, and has done post-graduate work in Theatre. As a full-time Drama professor, Debra is responsible for all drama curriculum as well as directing and designing (scenic, costume, lighting, and sound) 2 productions each year.

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When not on college productions, Debra tries to be at Stageworks as much as possible—working as either a Director or a Scenic Designer.  Her Stageworks credits include: Harvey (directing/designing), Cabaret (designing), The Elephant Man (directing), A Few Good Men (directing/designing), Five Women Wearing the Same Dress (designing), and Crimes of the Heart (designing).

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A few of Debra’s other directing/designing credits include:  True West (Country Playhouse), Give/Take (ConeMan Running Productions), and Rodgers and  Hammerstein's Cinderella (StageRight). She has also designed Garden (from House/Garden, ConeMan Running), The Great American Trailer Park Musical (SRO), and Daddy’s Dyin’, Who’s Got the Will? and Children’s Hour (Playhouse 1960).

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Debra enjoys working with the Stageworks family and always strives to provide the audience with the best experience she can!

Katie was born and raised in College Station, TX. She began performing in community theatre when she was seven years old. She graduated from Blinn College with an associate degree in theatre then transferred to Texas State University and graduated in 2011 with a BFA Degree in Theatre Education. She graduated in May 2019 with her Master’s Degree in Theatre Directing from the Chicago College of Performing Arts. she specializes in theatre movement, rasa box work, stage intimacy, and directing. She is currently the head director at Mayde Creek High School. Katie loves directing and working with artists and hopes to cultivate a brave space to enjoy, learn, and perform.

Betsy began playing violin and piano at a very young age and continued them through high school and college. In college, Betsy found her love for singing and theatre, which lead her to get her Bachelor of Music in Musical Theatre. After graduating, she had a theatre internship

at Stageworks Theatre where she got first hand experience running tech for shows, stage managing, music directing, and as the production manager for the Academy at Stageworks.

Since her internship, Betsy built her own music studio for voice and piano while still continuing to music direct with Stageworks and other theatres in the area, such as HITS Theatre, Main Street, Cy-Creek High School, Obsidian and Theatre Under the Stars. At TUTS, Betsy still teaches music in Humphrey’s School of Musical Theatre and works with their Community Engagement going into schools throughout Houston to help combine arts with core curriculum. She currently is the Executive Director of  AMPTomball where she teaches General music 3rd-8th grade, and private piano and voice. While not teaching, Betsy loves to be on the stage. Some of her favorite roles have been Lily in Secret Garden, Grace in The Greatest Christmas Pageant Ever, and Miss Casewell in Mousetrap. 

Software developer and team supervisor by day, William prefers to spend his evenings and weekends on more artistic endeavors. A native Houstonian, William grew up in local community theatre programs, playing roles such as Conrad Birdie in Bye, Bye Birdie, Danny Zuko in Grease, and Curly in Oklahoma!. While attending Klein High School, he additionally played guitar and banjo in the pit orchestras for their productions of Crazy for You and Damn Yankees.

William attended Southern Methodist University and holds bachelor’s degrees in both computer science and music composition with a concentration in vocal performance. While in college, he toured with local church musical outreach programs, musically directed his first theatrical production (Godspell), and performed the supporting roles of Abraham Kaplan and Luiz in Meadows Opera Theatre’s productions of Street Scene and The Gondoliers, respectively.

Since returning to the Houston theatre scene in 2005, William has musically directed, been a pit musician, or otherwise performed in over 55 musicals. A few of his favorites include: [title of show], Next to Normal, and The Who’s Tommy (Broadway World Award winner for Best Music Director) as music director; The Last 5 Years, Tell Me On A Sunday, Avenue Q, Into the Woods, and Songs for a New World as pianist; and the role of Jean Valjean in Les Misérables. Stageworks credits include music director for Academy productions of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Footloose and 2019’s Main Stage production of Cabaret.

Ellen Dyer Smith is excited to direct Peter Pan for Stageworks Theatre Acting Academy this fall! Back in 2014, Ellen developed a musical theatre program at
River Oaks Baptist School where she directed over 120 students each semester in different junior versions of shows. She has also taught jazz, tap, and ballet for River
Oaks Dance for 10 years and developed the award winning dance program at HFAC’s Academy from 2007- 2012. Other venues where she has directed and
taught are: Wildfish Theatre, TUTS’ Humphreys School, Main Street Theater, HITS, and AD Players Performing Arts Academy. As an actress, Ellen has performed regionally at A.D. Players, The Alley Theatre, Theatre Under the Stars, Main Street Theater,Unity Theatre, Island ETC, UH Children’s Theatre Festival, The Match Theatre, and with Broadway producer Stuart Ostrow and composer Jerry Bock. Ellen holds a B.A. from the University of Houston.

Sam, a native of Sioux City, IA, holds bachelor's degrees in vocal performance and in music education from Simpson College in Indianola, IA and a master's degree in music history/ literature from the University of Houston.

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His Stageworks credits: (as director): Into the Woods, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Crazy for You; (as musical director): Bonnie and Clyde (Broadway World Award winner for Best Musical Director), Les Misérables, West Side Story, Beauty and the Beast. Other directing credits (select):  Houston Symphony: Green Eggs and Ham; Theatre Under The Stars/Humphreys
School of Musical Theatre: Scrooge; New York Musical Theatre Festival: Kissless;
Houston Chamber Choir: “Music In The Key Of Joy: An Evening With Jamie Bernstein.”

Acting credits include the title role in Jesus Christ Superstar with Ben Vereen. Sam
is currently the middle school theatre teacher at Second Baptist School and holds
a master’s degree in music history, bachelor’s degrees in vocal music performance
and music education, and is currently pursuing an MBA.