WORKSHOPS & CAMPS

Charlotte Von-Adler spent years touring with Missoula Children’s Theatre and Bright Star Touring Theater, traveling across 47 states to teach, direct, and perform. In this time, she directed over 45 week-long camps resulting in a full-scale, hour-long musical starring up to 65 students, ages 5-17. She also performed in seven different interactive two-man plays for audiences of all ages. Charlotte’s recent onstage credits include Fregley/Manny/Company (Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Musical) and The Musician (The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane). When she’s not teaching, Charlotte is likely to be found ecstatically dancing or enjoying a sweet treat!

Shelby McNulty-DeCaro is so thrilled to be returning as TA for TOY’s wonderful workshops! After receiving her BFA in Performance Studies from Niagara University in 2022, Shelby began her theatrical career in Buffalo. Shelby has worked in technical positions at Road Less Traveled Productions, Musicalfare, Theatre of Youth, and Buffalo State University Theatre Dept., as well as front of house positions at numerous theatre companies across Western New York! Shelby is the production stage manager of Just A Girl Productions, a touring production company that brings the joy of performance to communities across the country!

On stage in Buffalo, Shelby has performed with Theatre Of Youth (Diane U/S, Anne of Green Gables), Drunk Theatre Buffalo (John/Curly, Drunk Peter Pan), and Deadly Delights (various “murder mystery” characters, Ace’s Last Scam, Murders’ Afoot, and Deadly Delights).

Carly Meaney is thrilled to be joining Theatre of Youth this summer! She holds a B.F.A. in Theatre Performance from Niagara University (2018) and has spent her career blending her passion for the arts and education. From 2018-2020, she toured across the U.S., Canada, and parts of Europe as a Tour Actor Director with the Missoula Children’s Theatre. Discovering a deep passion for education, she returned to Buffalo in 2020, pursuing her M.S.Ed. grades 1-6 with a Birth-grade 2 extension at SUNY Buffalo State University, which she completed in 2022. Her journey in education took her to Pittsburgh from 2022-2024, teaching Kindergarten during the school year and leading workshops and camps at the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust’s Arts Education program during the Summers. This work focused on theater performance, production, and STEAM. Now, as an English as a New Language (ENL) teacher K-4 at the Buffalo Academy of Science Charter School, she continues to foster creativity, confidence, and a love of learning in young students. She is constantly inspired by the incredible talents of children and is excited to bring her passion for teaching and performance to TOY this summer!

Stefanie Warnick is an actor, director, and fight director. She holds a BFA in Acting and a minor in Stage Management from Oklahoma City University. Stefanie is a certified Advanced Actor Combatant through the Academy of Fight Directors of Canada. She is also the artistic director for The Brazen-Faced Varlets, Buffalo’s feminist theatre company, for which she directed their Artie nominated production of The Convent. Favorite recent fight direction credits include: Our Lady of 121st Street (Road Less Traveled Productions), Monsters of the American Cinema (Buffalo United Artists), Scenes from a Marriage (Torn Space Theatre), Hamlet, Titus XX, Desdemona: a play about a handkerchief (Brazen-Faced Varlets), and The Play that goes Wrong (Amherst Central High School). Favorite local acting credits include: Mediocre Heterosexual Sex (Artie Nominated, BUA), The Comedy of Errors (Shakespeare in Delaware Park), Hamlet and Anton in Show Business (Brazen-Faced Varlets), Foxfinder (New Phoenix Theatre), and She Kills Monsters (Subversive Theatre).

Sue McCormack is a teacher and an actress. She teaches 9th and 10th grade English at Cheektowaga Central High School. She is also a Teaching Artist with SDP, Theatre of Youth, and Second Generation. Sue has an MFA in Acting from the New School for Drama in New York City and a BA in Theater from Buffalo State. She’s performed most recently in The Bard is in Our Yard with Shakespeare in Delaware Park and Oregon Trail at Alleyway Theatre. 

Alexandria Watts is thrilled to be teaching at TOY. She graduated from University at Buffalo in 2016 and has been a Teaching Artist in various schools, teaching a number of workshops and classes for Theatre of Youth and Second Generation Theatre, including Theatre Dance, Acting Games, Acting Through Song, and Audition Preparation for students. She’s also Directed and Assistant Directed shows for middle and high school students, including Suessical, Shrek, Xanadu, The Wizard of Oz, and many more. Favorite regional credits include: The Wanderers (Sophie), Merrily We Roll Along (Mary Flynn), The Prom (Alyssa Greene), Little Women… Now (Jo March), Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley (Mary Bennet)  While not onstage, you may recognize her in your favorite hardware store’s commercials. Gratitude and love to her circle, endless love to her parents xoxo

Alex Montesano is very excited to be working with TOY this summer at a variety of camps. Alex is a high school science teacher who has performed locally at the Lancaster Opera House, TOY, and SDP. In addition to performing, Alex directs the fall play at Amherst Central High School and choreographs the musical at Cheektowaga Central High School. In her spare time, Alex loves to spend time with her dog, Joey. She is very excited to meet all the campers this summer!

Ryan Adam Norton is a Western New York theatre artist who loves all theater elements. As an actor, Ryan has been seen in Brandon in The Folks at Home (Alleyway Theatre), Will in American Idiot: The Musical (Belissima Productions), and as Herr Zeller in The Sound of Music (Lancaster Opera House). On the production side, he has served as the Assistant Director for Wipeout (Alleyway Theatre), Assistant Stage Manager for The Day I Learned to Fly (First Look Buffalo), and as a playwright for Peace in the Mist (Inclusive Theater of WNY) and Wrong Way! and Standard of Care (Mercurie Studios). Ryan graduated from SUNY Fredonia in 2017 with a B.A. in English and Philosophy.

Chris Kelly has worked as an actor, director and educator for the last 30 years. He has directed at T.OY. extensively including work on shows such as Robin Hood, The Jungle Book, The Shakespeare Stealer (Buffalo Spree award -Best Production Of A Contemporary Show)The Outsiders and most recently The Hobbit. Chris has also worked extensively at MusicalFare, directing such productions as Peter and the Starcatcher, Oliver!, Hair, West Side Story, Nice Work If You Can Get It and Something Rotten! He has appeared numerous times with Irish Classical Theater company, where he currently is a director in residence. Performances include The Importance of Being Earnest, All My Sons, Sea Marks, The Beauty Queen of Leenane, Shining City and Dancing at Lughnasa. ICTC’s directing credits include A Little Night Music, Sense & Sensibility and this past fall, Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors. He has also worked with The Kavinoky,The New Phoenix Theater,Second Generation and recently directed Romeo and Juliet for Shakespeare in Delaware Park. He holds two Buffalo Spree Best of Buffalo awards for his direction of The Drowsy Chaperone and for acting in ICTC’s The Beauty Queen of Leenane. Chris has the good fortune of winning Artie awards for directing, acting and writing. He has worked part time as the Drama teacher at Global Concepts Charter High School, and taught workshops classes at TOY, for the past 10 years.

Christy Francis is a multidisciplinary teaching artist offering paintings, art prints, and photography. Her work is in a number of private collections within (and beyond) Western New York. In 2016, she founded her first art business, Avery & Harlow, now Howling Woman Studio.

Her clients are individual and commercial, including Meet & Eat Charcuterie, Magic Bear Beer Cellar, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Martin House, Trocaire College, Canisius University, and TEAM VIA (New York City Real Estate Advisors). 

Christy is​ a former instructor (specializing in business and marketing) for the Arts Management Program at University at Buffalo, and a marketing consultant.