Theatre, Musical Theatre, & Technical Theatre
Nicole Accuardi
Theatre Instructor/Production Coordinator
Nicole Accuardi is an actor and theatre educator in Portland, Oregon. Locally, she has performed with various companies including Theatre Vertigo, The Miracle Theatre, Shaking the Tree, Clackamas Rep, and Lakewood Theatre. Internationally, she has performed and taught improvisational theatre at Impro Amsterdam and Cambridge University, and she is currently working as a founder to open an improv and devised theatre company called Deep End Theater in Portland. She graduated from the Pacific Conservatory for the Performing Arts before finishing her BFA in acting at Point Park University. She then went on to get her MAT from Concordia University, and is currently the full time drama teacher at da Vinci Arts Middle School. Most importantly, she was a CIT and camp counselor at YMA for seven glorious summers. She is thrilled to return to one of her favorite places on earth!
Alyssa Gibson
Musical Theatre Program Co-Director
A Portland native, Alyssa spent her early years pursuing a musical theater career in New York City where she had been lucky enough to enjoy performing opera, musical theater and dance. Recently, she moved to Colorado with her two beautiful children, Elena & Jackson, 2 fur-babies and her husband, Cameron. She has been honored to have been able to music direct and choreograph a variety of local and regional performances including, Sweeney Todd (Gallery Players Theater, McMinnville) and Singing in the Rain (Mask and Mirror, Tigard). Alyssa loves to spend her time with her two beautiful children, Elena & Jackson, and her husband, Cameron. She enjoys dancing, rock climbing, hiking and camping, but she is most excited to be resuming dancing and performing in her new home! YMA is a second home to Alyssa and she cannot wait to see everyone soon!
Mark Sanderlin
Musical Theatre Program Co-Director
Mark Sanderlin is a songwriter, musician, and actor based in New York City. His music has appeared in just about every conceivable setting, from cabarets and Off-Broadway theaters to EDM festivals, from sacred spaces to rock concerts, from modern dance festivals to national television. His song "Heroes" competed on season two of the NBC television show "Songland". An in-demand accompanist and music director, Mark has played for Broadway greats and frequently works as a producer and arranger in the recording studio. He is also an Audie Award-nominated voice actor and has narrated over 70 audiobooks for major publishers, many for kids and teens.
Damon kupper
Theatre Program Director
Damon is a big fan of the YMA program and strongly believes in personal growth through Theatre Arts. He is a drammy award winning member of Third Rail Repertory Theatre, and has appeared in numerous local productions with Artist Repertory Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Corrib Theatre and Profile Theatre and Well Arts Institute. Damon holds a MFA from UC Irvine and a BA from SUNY Buffalo. As an ‘Edu-tainer’, Damon has taught for Pacific University, George Fox University, Portland and El Camino Community College as well as with various youth educational theatre programs through Oregon Children’s Theatre, Stop-Gap Drama Therapy Theatre, HeArts For Youth, Vietnam-American Theatre Exchange and others.
Steve Boss
Theatre Instructor
Steve is the lead educator for the San Francisco Maritime National Park Association Age of Sail. He is an award winning actor, a director, musician and a composer. Locally, Steve has performed with Portland Playhouse, Oregon Children’s Theater, Stark Raving Theater, CoHo Productions, Sowelu Theater, Paula Productions and Defunkt Theater. Other companies include We Players, Campo Santo, Shakespeare & Company, and Shakespeare by the Sea. He was part of Kristy Edmunds’ performance/installation Over There and has done crisis training role-playing for The Department of Corrections at the Oregon State Penitentiary. Steve has been a scribe and actor for The Well Arts Institute Elder Writing Program, and a mentor, actor, composer, musician, director and stage manager with The Haven Project. He was a founding member of the Resident Acting Company for Stark Raving Theatre, and was an actor, the Training Programs Manager and an Education Artist for Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, MA.
Heidi Sprecher
Technical Theatre Director
Heidi Sprecher is a theatre technician and educator based in Portland, Oregon. In her professional life, Heidi has worked locally in many different technical capacities: Stage Management, costume shop, stagehand, and her favorite - stage lighting. Heidi graduated with a BS in Theatre (and yes, she chose a BS over a BA just so she could make that joke) from Portland State University. She went on to get her MAT from Concordia University. She spends most of her days working as a teaching artist and lighting designer at da Vinci Arts Middle School. This is Heidi’s first summer at YMA, and she is beyond delighted to be joining this family of artists!