Office: Arts Center
Phone: 585-389-2180
Chair: Lindsay Korth
Office Coordinator: Lindsay Chasse
Mailing Address:
Nazareth College
4245 East Avenue
Rochester, NY 14618
Theatre Arts Faculty & Staff
Lindsay Reading Korth
Chair, Theatre Arts
Professor - Acting & Directing
lkorth3@naz.edu
(585) 389-2780
Education: Master of Fine Arts – Directing, University of Nebraska-Lincoln Bachelor of Arts, Mount Holyoke College Lessac Voice Intensive, University of Colorado at Boulder Internship, The Recording and Research Center, Denver Center for Performing Arts
Instruction: FYS: Introduction to Theatrical Analysis; Fundamentals of Acting; Acting in Comedy; Voice for the Stage; Diction and Dialects; Movement for the Stage I; Play Direction; Styles of Acting
Areas of professional and artistic interest: Ms. Korth is particularly interested in the energy between actors on stage and between the audience and the stage as manifested on the body and the voice. Her favorite stage work is physical theatre a good example of which is the original devised work entitled Grimm.
Matthew Ames
Assistant Professor - Acting & History
mames7@naz.edu
(585) 389-2785
Education: Ph.D., Theater, Louisiana Sate University (1996), M.A.,Theater, University of Maine (1990), B.A., English Literature, Theater Concentration, Acadia University, (1985).
Instruction: Introduction to Theater, Play Analysis, Theater History of Theater I and II, Acting Shakespeare, Styles of Acting, Senior Seminar, Advanced Acting: Characterization, Fundamentals of Acting, New Student Spotlight/ACTF Preparation, Directing
Areas of Professional and Artistic Interest: Solo Performance, Performance Art, Community Theater, Semiotics, Dramaturgy
Dr. Ames is a member of Actors Equity and the Screen Actor's Guild with ten years experience as an actor in New York, having appeared in off-off and off-Broadway work, as well as in commercials and on television shows such as Law and Order and Sex and the City. Since arriving in Rochester in 2007, he has appeared in several readings at Geva Theater Center as well as various other area projects. Dr. Ames also directs both at Nazareth and throughout the Northeast.
Yuanting Zhao
Professor - Costume Designer
yzhao5@naz.edu
(585) 389-2786
Education: BFA Acting, Shandong College of Arts, China
MFA Costume Design, University of Arizona
Courses Taught:
THA 120 Introduction to Theatre
THA 125 Play’s the Thing
THA 230 History of Fashion
THA 332 Costume Design
THA 233 Costume Construction
THA 235 Stage Makeup
THA 360 Chinese Theatre
THA 363 Chinese Religion and Performance
THA 403 Special Topic-Stage Craft
Professor Zhao has been teaching at Nazareth College since 1996. During her time at Nazareth, she has designed costumes or supervised student costume designers for more than 60 productions, as well as designed for Geva Theatre Center, Rochester City Ballet, and other local theatres. She loves costumes, but most importantly, she loves teaching. Working with students on daily bases and see her students making progress is pure joy for her. Even Costume Design is her primary focus, professor Zhao has many other interests. Prior coming to the US, she held a BFA in acting, taught acting and makeup at Shandong College of Arts for six years. She stared in movies and TV movies, and hosted many TV programs.
Allen Wright Shannon
Assistant Professor - Scenic Designer
ashanno8@naz.edu
(585) 389-2788
Courses: Intro to Theatre Analysis
Tech I: Intro to Technical Theatre
Tech II: Drafting for the Theatre
Scene Painting
Scenic Design I and II
Rendering
Styles and Ornamentation for the Theatre
MFA: Minnesota State University, Mankato
BS: Minnesota State University, Mankato and Simpson College
Served as faculty:
Nazareth College -- Rochester,NY
Lon Morris College -- Jacksonville, TX
Grandview College -- Des Moines, IA
Normandale Community College -- Minneapolis, MN
North Dakota School of the Performing Arts -- Grand Forks, ND
The Monique Dance Companie -- Minneapolis, MN
Additional Credits:
Scenic Painter: Sesame Street Live, Muppet Babies, Sesame Street Japan -- Vee Production Services, Minneapolis, MN
Scenic Painter: Times Square Installations for Target Corp. and Motorola -- Atomic Props and Effects, Minneapolis, MN
Choreographer/Instructor of Ballet/Pointe/Costume and Scenic Designer -- The Monique Dance Companie, Minneapolis, MN
Scenic Designer: Merry Go Round Playhouse -- Auburn, NY
Design segments on: HGTV, The Discovery Channel, KARE 11 TV, and Good Housekeeping Magazine
Scenic Designer: Miss Minnesota (America) Scholarship Pagent
Designer/Choreographer: Minnesota Junior Miss Scholarship Program
Scenic Designer: Guest Artist, SUNY, The College At Brockport
Costume Designer: The West Players -- St. Paul, MN
Honors:
12 Certificate of Merit in Scenic Design: The Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival
Winner: The Barbizon Prize for Scenic Design
Don Kot
Director of Music Theatre
dkot4@naz.edu
(585) 389-2708
Departmental Responsibilities:
Director of Musical Theatre
Music Director
Vocal Coach
Conductor
Pianist
Arranger
MTHA 101: Page to Stage
MTHA 260: Musical Theatre Performance I
MTHA 360: Musical Theatre Performance II
MTHA 452: Musical Theatre Senior Seminar and Showcase
MTHA 499: Musical Theatre Senior Comprehensive
Coordinator for Incoming Student Auditions
Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival Coach and Pianist
Producer of Junior Benefit
Resident Music Director at Geva Theatre Center
Education:
Cleveland Institute of Music, MM
Nazareth College, BS
Biography:
Don Kot is known for his work as pianist, vocal coach, conductor, and music director. At The Cleveland Institute of Music, he was awarded the Valedictory Prize and the Madame Gwendolyn Koldofsky Award, recognizing excellence in accompanying. Don has been on the music staff of Lyric Opera Cleveland and was the pianist for master classes with Marilyn Horne, Elly Ameling, Gerard Souzay, Madeleine Milhaud, and Jan DeGaetani, among others. He maintains a performing career as a collaborative pianist and has had performances broadcast over WXXI and WCLV radio.
New York musical theatre credits include The Women’s Culture Project, Roads Traveled, and elegies for angels, punks and raging queens and performances at the Bleecker Street Theatre, Laurie Beechman Theatre, and The Duplex. Professional regional theatre credits include Company, The Music Man, Five Course Love, Sweeney Todd, The House in Hydesville, Cabaret, Urinetown, Our Town, Inherit the Wind, A Chorus Line, Camelot, 1776, Convenience, A Christmas Carol, The Best of Forbidden Broadway, Smokey Joe’s Café, Leader of the Pack, Honk!, and The Most Happy Fella, among others. Don has played for the national touring productions of Fosse, Footloose, Fiddler on the Roof, Mamma Mia, Hairspray and The King and I.
He is the Resident Music Director and an Associate Artist at Geva Theatre Center. In Rochester, he has also performed with Downstairs Cabaret, Blackfriars Theatre, JCC Center Stage, Rochester Children's Theatre, and Rochester Opera Factory, Mercury Opera, among others. Don has been the stage director and music director for Nazareth College Opera Workshop productions (john & jen, The Marriage of Figaro, Sunday Excursion, Sister Angelica, Cox and Box, The Zoo), scenes presentations (Heart and Music; Mozart, Menotti and More) and music director for Nazareth College Theatre department productions (Spring Awakening, Dames at Sea, Babes in Arms, A Little Night Music, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Rocky Horror Show, Side by Side by Sondheim, Sweet Charity, Falsettos, Where’s Charley?, Cabaret, Nunsense, Into the Woods, And the World goes 'Round, Pippin, Baby, Godspell, Little Shop of Horrors).
Don can be heard with singer Linda Foster on Roads Traveled, a CD of cabaret and musical theatre repertoire produced on the Songburst label.
Don is the proud recipient of the 2000 Volunteer of the Year Award through the Education Division of the Rochester Broadway Theatre League.
Beth LaJoie
Assistant Professor - Lighting Designer/TD/Shop Foreman
elajoie0@naz.edu
(585) 389-2789
Department Responsibilities:
Production Manager
Lighting Designer
Technical Director
Scene Shop Foreman
Design the Lighting for all Department Productions
Instructor of:
Stage Lighting Design
Stage Management
Technical Theatre One
Education:
MFA in Lighting Design from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville
BCA in theatre from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Ms. LaJoie also works for the Nazareth College Arts Center as an Assistant M.E. and Light Board Op for the incoming Guest Artists when time permits. Prior to locating to Rochester, she spent many years all over the south and points west doing summer stock, dinner theatre, Regional and TYA Equity tours all the way up and down the East Coast and reaching all the way to California. Some favorite companies include The Nebraska Theatre Caravan, Chico State Court Summer Theatre in Chico, CA, Fourteen seasons at the Cumberland Theatre, an SPTC Equity House located in the beautiful mountains of Western Maryland, the Hollywood Playhouse in Florida, Charlotte Shakespeare Company in North Carolina and at the Clarence Brown Theatre Company where she completed her graduate work. She has also designed for local organizations such as Bristol Valley Theatre, Eastridge High School, Rochester Children’s Theatre, and the JCC. Originally from Charlotte, NC she loves the Rochester area and the most important thing she values at Nazareth College is the opportunity to work with many talented and dedicated students with in the Department of Theatre Arts.
Patti Lewis Browne
Adjunct Instructor - Acting & Directing
pbrowne0@naz.edu
Meggins Kelley
Adjunct Instructor - Dance
mkelley3@naz.edu
Courtney World
Adjunct Instructor - Dance
cworld6@naz.edu
Judy Molner
Adjunct Instructor - Acting
jmolner8@naz.edu
Anne Harris Wilcox
Adjunct Instructor - Dance
awilcox21097@naz.edu
Lindsay Chasse
Office Coordinator
lchasse7@naz.edu
(585) 389-2180
Mary Farmer
Costume Shop Supervisor
mfarmer4@naz.edu
(585) 389-2783
Heather Roffe
Assistant Professor - Dance
hroffe4@naz.edu
(585) 389-2163
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