INSTRUCTORS

THEATER

Kelly Coombs

Hale Youth Artistic Director / Acting Instructor

Kelly Coombs started her acting career at the age of 15 playing a quirky, cheerleader in a Disney Channel Original Movie. By the end of high school, she had nearly 20 productions on her resume including leading roles in The Wizard of Oz, Seussical the Musical, and Beauty and the Beast. Kelly attended Utah Valley University and graduated in Acting Performance in 2012. Since graduation, Kelly has added countless stage productions, tv commercials, and many appearances to her resume. She has found her second passion (acting is her first love) in teaching and loves coaching her students to be the best they can be on and off the stage.

Dallin Bradford

Acting Instructor

Dallin is a full time voice over artist and actor. He first started coaching Shakespeare in 2018, the same year he graduated from David Scott's Applied Art of Acting conservatory program in Dublin, Ireland. He has helped many people get into voice over, and has worked with directors all across Utah. In the last four years, Dallin has produced, directed, or narrated over 100 audiobooks and hundreds of other voice over jobs; and has performed in, choreographed, assistant directed and produced 16 stage productions and 2 short films. He is a regular performer on Hale stages, almost always in rehearsals for something. Recent stage credits: The 39 Steps (Barta Heiner, HCTO) and One for the Pot (Ryan Simmons, HCTS). Recent book credits: Vengeance of the Allies (Ethan Watts), The Cure for Loneliness (Bill Howatt) and The Killing Time (MJ Lee).

Jon Liddiard

Acting Instructor

Jon has been teaching Theatre, Film, Radio Broadcasting and Production Design at Providence Hall High School in Herriman, UT for the last eight years. With an educational and professional background in physical performance, Shakespeare, Improv, and the Alexander Technique, Liddiard has worked, studied and performed in regional theaters across the United States, and in Europe. He has a passion for helping actors become true artists and to discover the stories that only they can tell. Having taught both Secondary and Collegiate classes, Liddiard seeks to help the student feel comfortable with expressing themselves with body and voice, working on a holistic approach to creating character. Students are also instructed in how to analyze scripts and make specific and immediate choices to help them create character and connect in a truthful way to their scene partners. Liddiard’s previous directing credits include Little Shop of Horrors, As You Like It, The Addams Family, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Guys & Dolls, Twelfth Night, Little Women, High School Musical, and Romeo & Juliet. Select performing credits include: Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice at Creekside Theatre Fest, Flince in The Jawbone’s Daughter a World Premiere at the Salt Lake Fringe Festival; Colonel Brandon in Sense & Sensibility at HCTO; Azdak in The Caucasian Chalk Circle at Utah Valley University; Reverend Hale in The Crucible at Utah Valley University; Cholly Lomax in Major Barbara at the Carousel Theatre in Knoxville, Tennessee; Ferdinand in The Tempest at the Santa Cruz Shakespeare Festival; Oliver in As You Like It at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival; Chris Keller in All My Sons at the University of Tennessee; Gentleman Caller in The Glass Menagerie at the Carousel Theatre; Harry the Horse in Guys & Dolls at the Clarence Brown Theatre in Knoxville, Tennessee; and Sylvius in As You Like It at the Clarence Brown Theatre. Awards and Recognition include Faculty Senate award for Best Adjunct of the Year in Performing arts at UVU; Director of the Year, 2017 at PHHS; Teacher of the Year, 2018 & 2021 at PHHS. Jon received his MFA in Performance from the University of Tennessee, his BFA in Acting from BYU, and his AS in Theatre from UVU.

Alex Joyner

Vocal Instructor

Alex is excited to join the team at the Hale Academy. Alex holds a BFA in Music Dance Theatre from Brigham Young University. He has had the opportunity to tour all around the country (California, Georgia, New York, Washington, etc.) as well as internationally with the BYU Young Ambassadors (South Korea). Alex has performed in some of the most popular venues in Utah, including Sundance Summer Theater, Hale Centre Theatre, in Brigham Young University's theatre program, and the Hale Center Theater Orem. Alex has always had a passion for music and singing. He specializes in musical theatre training, acting through song, and sound production. He covers many genres of music as well as skills in studio recording. Alex is thrilled to start teaching at the Hale Academy!

VOICE

Amanda Crabb

Vocal School Director, Vocal Instructor

Amanda joined HCTO's voice faculty in 2005, shortly after having a full time professional performing career. Before that she graduated from The Boston Conservatory with her M.M. in Musical Theater. Amanda has taught at Brigham Young University, Peking University and is currently teaching at Utah Valley University in their Theater Department working with the Musical Theater students. In her spare time, you can find Amanda singing on stage at HCTO in a variety of roles, singing with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir or, her favorite, singing with her beautiful nieces.

Marcie Jacobson

Vocal Instructor

Marcie Jacobsen has a BFA in Music Dance Theatre from BYU where she was part-time music faculty for over ten years. While a student at BYU Marcie toured with the Young Ambassadors and performed in numerous musicals including West Side Story, Evita and Chess. Most recently Marcie played Golde in Fiddler on the Roof (Sundance Summer Theatre), Kala in Tarzan (HCTO) & Dolly Levi in Hello, Dolly! (HCTO) Other favorite roles include Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd, The Narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Audrey II (The Voice of the Plant) in Little Shop of Horrors & the title role in The Drowsy Chaperone. In addition to performing Marcie has directed and/or music directed for HCTO, SCERA, Provo Theatre Company, Actor's Repertory Theatre Company, Centerpoint Legacy Theatre & COPA.

Rachel Ryan Nicholes

Vocal Instructor

Rachel Ryan Nicholes began her love of musical theater from a young age at home in Canada. Since then, she has spent ten years in the United States studying music and theater and performing professionally. She has a degree in Opera from BYU-Idaho and a Masters of Music in Musical Theater from Oklahoma City University. While studying for her masters she completed all three levels of Contemporary Commercial Music (CCM) training from the CCM Vocal Pedagogy Institute at the Shenandoah Conservatory in Virginia and wrote her masters thesis entitled: “Cross-Training in Musical Theater Voice Pedagogy: Co-ordinating Flexibility in Vocal Registration Utilizing Musical Theater Repertoire.” Some of her favorite roles include: The Baker's Wife in Into the Woods, Judy in White Christmas, Adrianna in The Comedy of Errors, and Lucy in Menotti’s opera The Telephone. When she’s not teaching at the Hale Studios in Orem, you can find her teaching voice at the University of Utah and the Piano Place, performing professionally across Utah, or spending time with her husband and puppy.

Brandalee Streeter

Vocal Instructor

Brandalee received a Bachelor degree in Sociology with a minor in dance from Brigham Young University. Besides being a voice teacher at Hale Studios in Orem, she is also Company Director at Utah COPA. Previous musical direction includes The Little Mermaid, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Beauty and the Beast at Center Stage Performing Arts. She has performed at the NY Lamb Theater, Hale Center Theater Orem, Summerlin Theater Las Vegas, Hale Centre Theatre West Valley, and two years with Brigham Young University Young Ambassadors.

Marcie Yactman

Vocal Instructor

Marcie loves teaching and making music. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in music from BYU, and is a credentialed Suzuki voice instructor. What began as an interest and mastery of woodwind instruments, which she has both played professionally and taught, turned to a fascination in ballroom dance in which she earned many bronze, silver, and gold medals. While in college, she learned that she could better express herself through vocal music. She has taught youth and children proper singing technique and expression through Classical and Broadway styles, and the Suzuki method, for over 12 years. Marcie has also arranged and conducted music for soloists, small mixed groups, and choirs. In addition to the private voice lessons she teaches, she also heads the Music department for the Ranches Academy in Eagle Mountain, Utah.

Amelia Rose Moore

Vocal Instructor

Amelia graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Musical Theater from Weber State University and has been training in voice and vocal pedagogy for over a decade, specializing musical theater and pop/belt. She loves teaching students of all ages and helping them find their voice and working together to discover which exercises and techniques works best for them. When she’s not teaching, she performs in musicals and concerts throughout the Utah Valley. Some of her favorite roles include Morticia in The Addams Family, Narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Dorcus in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Belle in Beauty and the Beast, and Adult Sarah in Blink!

Kelsey Mariner Thompson

Vocal Instructor

Kelsey holds a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Utah Valley University and has been teaching young artists since she was a teenager. Throughout her career, she has directed, music directed, choreographed, and worked backstage for youth theaters, community theater, and opera companies alike. Though, her heart belongs to the stage! She has performed on stages in California, Idaho, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah, as well as in the UK and Spain. Some of her favorite roles include: Marguerite St. Just in The Scarlet Pimpernel, Eliza Doolittle (u/s) in My Fair Lady, Fantine in Les Miserables, Anita in West Side Story, Belle in A Christmas Carol, Fiordiligi in Mozart’s Cosí fan Tutte, and Ophelia in Thomas’s Hamlet. When she’s not teaching or performing, you can find Mrs. Thompson going on adventures with her husband, Jake, and baby girl, Kody.

Chelsea Lindsay

Vocal Instructor

Chelsea has been singing since she could talk. Singing is her joy. She received her Bachelor of Music from the U of U in 2012, and her Master of Music from BYU in 2015, both in Vocal Performance. At BYU, she was named Female Singer of the Year and invited as a featured soloist for the BYU Devotional Broadcast. She competed in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions for three years, and was named Utah District Winner and Audience Favorite in 2014. She’s taught all age groups in a variety of settings. As a graduate assistant, she taught ear training, group voice, and private voice. After her degree, she taught elementary music at Welby Elementary while teaching teenagers private voice at Utah Vocal Arts Academy. She’s toured with collegiate choirs to the Pacific Northwest, China, and Israel. She's been a soprano guest artist all over Utah, and as part of a Young Artist Program with Opera Maya in Mexico. In recent years, she's returned to her first love, musical theater. Her favorite roles include Meg March in Little Women, Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray, Cinderella in Into the Woods, and Sister Amnesia in Nunsense. She’s loved performing on the HCTO stage and is excited to join this studio and help your singers grow.

Rex Kocherhans

Vocal Instructor

Rex has been performing on the HCTO stage since he was a teenager, and is thrilled to help students develop their talents at Hale Academy. Favorite roles include Javert in Les Miserables (HCTO), Reverend Shaw Moore in Footloose (Harmon Theater), Georg von Trapp in The Sound of Music (HCTO), and Joseph in Savior of the World at the Conference Center Theater. Rex has been a featured soloist with many premiere music organizations including the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Salt Lake Choral Artists, Utah Baroque Ensemble, and Salt Lake Symphonic Choir. He performed in Europe, West Africa, Australia, New Zealand, and the Middle East with the BYU Singers, including concerts at the Sydney Opera House and Carnegie Hall. He is a founding member of the nationally-renowned quartet Reprise, which won the Gold Medal at the international barbershop competition and has shared the stage with the King’s Singers. Rex’s voice can be heard on numerous television/film/recording projects, including the award-winning Celebrating Wendell Berry in Music, which pairs original recordings of Mr. Berry reading his poetry with choral music and art songs by composer Andrew Maxfield. Rex is passionate about building a thriving music culture in his home state of Utah, co-founding The Consortium Ensemble, a men’s a capella group, and founding and acting as Artistic Director of the Deseret Chamber Singers, a chamber choir based in Salt Lake City.

Brianna Meikle

Vocal Instructor

Brianna is thrilled to join the teaching staff at HCTO! She received her BFA in Musical Theater Performance from Utah Valley University where she developed an even deeper love for the arts and also a love for teaching. Brianna has been seen on stage at Hale Center Theater Sandy, Hale Center Theater Orem, West Valley Arts Center and others. She has also performed and toured with Changing Lanes Entertainment Group as a lead vocalist for the last four years. She has studied voice for over a decade in all different styles and has studied vocal pedagogy from Dr. J Arden Hopkin. She has also worked with One Voice Children’s Choir for the last two years. She has a passion for helping kids grow their confidence in their own authenticity.

Alex Joyner

Vocal Instructor

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