Ticket Information

ACE (After Class Enrichment)

What is ACE?

ACE stands for After Class Enrichment. We are currently contracted with the Irvine Public Schools Foundation and bring musical theatre to the Irvine schools after school program.

What do we provide?
Musical Theatre is a class in which students are given basic training in the fields of acting, singing and dancing. We will teach the students the proper skills needed to produce an abbreviated version of a popular musical such as Aladdin, Grease and Seussical. All of this occurs over an 8-10 week course, which will end with a final costumed performance for all friends and family to see. We offer 1 ½ hour sessions as well as 1 hour sessions.

Who can participate in Musical Theatre?
Our classes have been designed to accommodate students in both the lower
(K-3) grades and the upper (4-6) grades, and just recently, the middle schools.
Are you looking for an “all school” musical or a 6th grade show? One that would encompass a full semester, or year, we can accomodate your needs!

What will each student receive?
During the 8-10 week session, each student will go through an audition process, be given a role in the musical and spend their time rehearsing that role. They will receive instruction from working actors and directors who live in or around Orange County. A script and a music cd will be provided on the first day of class for all students to practice with at home.

Musical Theatre is a fun way to build a child’s confidence, self-esteem, and memorization skills. For costs and more information on how to bring this class to your school, call Musical Theatre Academy of Orange County at (949) 955-3737.

ACE SHOWS:

1. ALADDIN
2. ALICE IN WONDERLAND
3. ANNIE
4. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST
5. DISNEY MUSICAL REVUE
6. GREASE
7. HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL (coming spring)
8. THE LION KING
9. SEUSSICAL
10. SNOW WHITE
11. THE SOUND OF MUSIC
12. TWISTED BROADWAY (new!)
13. WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY

Note: We are always working on new shows and are open to suggestions!

Jimmy Hippenstiel

Artistic Director

Jimmy Hippenstiel has many roles at MTA, including Artistic Director which involves him in overseeing the artistic aspects of all MTA productions and classes and working with all directors/instructors to ensure that MTA continues to offer both positive learning experiences and accomplished productions and classes.  Jimmy has been with the Academy for many years as an outstanding director and choreographer as well.    Jimmy’s background includes a BA in Musical Theater from Cal State Fullerton, as well as an AA in Music and Conducting from Citrus College in Azusa. He was a three year member and Student Conductor of the prestigious Citrus singers, traveling throughout Europe and Hawaii. Prior to that, Jimmy toured nationally with “The Young Americans” and Columbia Artists Recordings. As a ten year employee of the Walt Disney Company, Jimmy toured extensively throughout the world, performing at such exciting venues as New York’s Lincoln Center and Radio Center Music Hall, as well as The Hollywood Bowl. Jimmy also spent ten years as a dancer and guest entertainer on Princess Cruise Lines.

Director/Choreographer

Jimmy is the resident director/choreographer for the Musical Theatre Academy of Orange County. Jimmy has choreographed and directed many programs extensively throughout the O.C. area. Jimmy’s dancing background has taken him around the world with Princess Cruises, and with the Walt Disney Company. Highlights include performing at New York’s Lincoln Center, Radio City Music Hall and the Hollywood Bowl.

JASON LIVESAY

Private Voice Teacher

Not only is Jason an accomplished performer, but a composer as well. Besides a huge musical theatre background as a performer, musical director and conductor, Jason has been the opening act soloist for concerts of Cheryl Crow, Huey Lewis, Starship, Smashmouth, and more, as well as corporate shows for IBM,Toyota and others. Jason also is an accomplished composer with credits extending into television, motion picture features and trailers, with 20th Century Fox, Nickelodeon, Dreamworks, ABC Family, Walt Disney and many other medias and companies too numerous to list here. Jason attended Azusa Pacific University and UCLA and received his music degree. He has a great website that’s fun to visit and will give you more details: http://jasonlivesay.net

ERIN SEARS

Private Voice Teacher

Musical Theatre Academy of Orange County is pleased and excited to introduce to our family, Erin Sears.  Erin received her B.A. Degree in Vocal Performance and Music Education from Vanguard University and will receive her M.A. in Choral Conducting from Azusa Pacific University in Spring 2010. Erin enjoys musical theatre and has performed prominent roles in shows such as Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Narrator), The Sound of Music (Leisel), Working (Housewife), Bye Bye Birdie and Fiddler on the Roof. She has performed in many of the most prestigious venues in the world, including Carnegie Hall, St. Peter’s and St. John’s Basilica in Italy, St. Paul’s Cathedral in New York, the Honda Center, and Beijing Performing Arts Center. Erin has sung on numerous recording sessions for film scores and movie trailers and has shared the stage with The Ralph Carmichael Big Band, and Linda Eder. She regularly performs with the award-winning quartet Hypnotic, and the two-time Sweet Adeline International Chorus Champions the Harborlites. Erin as been teaching music in Orange County for five years. Check out Erin’s website:    www.erinelizabethsears.com

Holly Bisaha

Production Vocal Director

Tiny Tot Theatre and Elementary Stars Instructor

Holly Bisaha attended Catawba College for the Performing Arts in North Carolina, on a Performing Arts scholarship. She then went on to join the critically acclaimed group, The Young Americans, where she had the opportunity to perform nationally and internationally. Holly continued her career as a headliner for Princess Cruise lines, toured extensively around the world as a vocalist with such artists as Stevie Wonder, Frankie Valli, and Huey Lewis. She also works as a session singer at BrokenWave Studios in Burbank.

Her acting credits include roles in Anything Goes, Oklahoma, Me and My Girl, and Grease to name a few. For over 12 years Holly worked in the lead role of Miss Annie in Wild Bill’s Wild West Extravaganza (owned by Legends in Concert of Las Vegas), and sang with several large event bands, with high profile clients such as Disney, Mitsubishi, Coca Cola, and the Mighty Ducks. During this period, Holly was the director and featured performer for a number of professional production companies - Irwin Productions of Las Vegas, Bollotta Entertainment and Sam Trego Productions. She has also filmed numerous commercials and videos, the latest for Chandon Champagne.

In more recent years, Holly directed an original Rock Opera titled ‘Destiny Faire’, produced by ‘Trick of the Tale’ Productions. The show received rave reviews, filling up Escondido’s Performing Arts Center.

Stephen Reifenstein

ACE Director

(After Class Enrichment, in the Irvine School District)
Stephen has been involved in Musical Theatre for over 17 years, acting in and directing a number of shows and reviews. His acting credits have included roles in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Anything Goes, Working, Oklahoma and many others with theatres such as Musical Theatre West, Elizabeth Howard’s Curtain Call Dinner Theatre and Main Street Players. For over 7 years, he has been directing productions such as Annie, Bye Bye Birdie, Aladdin and Cinderella with Orange County Children’s Theatre, La Habra Depot Theatre, Broadway on Tour, Yorba Linda Civic and the newly formed Musical Theatre Orange County. Stephen is dedicated to building the confidence and social skills of our youth. He feels the ACE program is a wonderful opportunity for all involved. By day, Stephen is a Cost Analyst for a company in Orange.

Deborah Mathews

Acting Class Instructor

Production Assistant Director

Deborah is a member of Actors Equity. Just recently moved back from NYC where she worked as an actor and a director. She is a graduate of American Center for Musical Theater in New York. She has trained with Joanna Gleason, E. Katherine Kerr, and Deborah Lavine. Deborah has appeared on stage in roles as diverse as Mary in “Merrily We Roll Along,” April in “Savage in Limbo” and was one of the original cast members of the Curtain Call Dinner Theater. Deborah grew up doing children’s theater where she met her life long friend Jimmy Hippenstiel.

Sharon Frazier

Production Vocal Director

Sharon Frazier has been a vocal director for Musical Theatre Academy of Orange County since 2003. She has also musically directed for the Depot in La Habra, Buena Park Youth Theater, Trilogy Playhouse, and Currie Middle School in Tustin. Sharon has performed in theater across California, and most recently could be seen at Disneyland as a Dickens Caroler. Other roles have included Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance, Martha Jefferson in 1776, Frenchy in Grease, and Sister Mary Amnesia in Nunsense. Other highlights have been in H.M.S. Pinafore, Into the Woods, Children of Eden, Robin Hood & The White Arrow, South Pacific, Joseph…, Something’s Afoot, and West Side Story. Sharon is an alumnus of “The Young Americans” and a graduate of Azusa Pacific University with a B.A. in Music. Sharon is currently a 3rd grade teacher at Tustin Ranch Elementary School.

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Liesa Smith

Yoga Instructor

Liesa Smith, RYT - Yoga Alliance Registered Teacher, Erich Schiffmann Certified Yoga Instructor, White Lotus Certified Yoga Instructor. Liesa began practicing yoga in 1999 to enhance her martial arts background. Benefiting from the balancing effects of yoga she began her formal teacher training in 2001 with Erich Schiffman so she could share her passion with others. Her education continued with many work shops and retreats including working with the guidance of Patricia Walden and Gabriella Giubilaro in Tuscany, Italy. She also obtained certification through the highly regarded White Lotus Foundation in Santa Barbara, California with Ganga White and Tracey Rich.

Combining creativity and compassion, Liesa teaches a heartfelt vinyasa flow style embodying the principles of breath, strength, and flexibility. Her classes range from gentle and restorative to invigorating and challenging. Liesa currently teaches at multiple south Orange County locations.

John Blaylock

A graduate of Chapman University, John taught creative writing at Orange County High School of the Arts (OCHSA), as well as writing and directing for local community theatres around Orange County. Now living in New York, John comes back to Orange County from time to time to teach or direct in the area. Directing credits include Honk, A Christmas Show, Anything Goes, Little Shop of Horrors, The Wizard of Oz, Grease, Annie Get Your Gun, and A Christmas Show, for which he also wrote the book and music. Other writing credits include a one act children’s musical called The Adventures of the Big Bad Wolf, the theme song for the America’s Kids patriotic video, the lyrics and music for a kids show called The Twelve Dancing Princesses, and the music to a USC short student film called Women: The Musical. He was last seen performing in Joseph and the Technicolored Dream Coat as “Levi.” Other roles include “Captain Hook” in Peter Pan, “Albert” in Bye Bye Birdie, “The Tin Man” in The Wizard of Oz, “Paul” in Carnival, “Baily” in Barnum, and “Lewis” in Pippin. John also performed with Sesame Street Live’s Elmo’s Coloring Book as their live character, Professor Art. This show toured the United States for ten months, playing cities like Sacramento, San Antonio, and New York. John would like to thank his wonderful family for their constant love and support.

Ed Bangasser

Stage Combat Instructor

Learn what it’s like to fake throw a punch, take a rough tumble, or participate in a Pirate Sword Fight or a Medieval Jousting Tournament in this one-of-a-kind class! You will learn from a real working stuntman and award winning fight choreographer, ED BANGASSAR, currently performing in “Pirate’s Dinner Adventure” in Buena Park.

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