FACULTY
ANGELA PERI, Casting Director As a former actress and stand-up comedienne,Angela knows the challenges of finding just the right person - both for her clients and for her actors. As part of a 5-year stint in Italy, Angela was involved in the casting of countless films, including the Academy Award winning Cinema Paradiso. She moved her business to the U.S. in 1990, creating Boston Casting. Since then, Angela has worked on hundreds of local, regional and national projects, from major motion pictures to corporate industrials and commercials. Her enthusiasm, honesty, sense of humor, commitment, and insight into show biz has made her New England’s leading casting agent. JULIE ARVEDON, Director of Marketing, Casting Director Julie has been involved in casting, marketing, advertising, public relations, and video production in the Boston area for over 20 years. Prior to joining Boston Casting, she was Communications Manager at North Shore Music Theatre and worked as a video producer for WHDH-TV, New England Financial, and Liberty Mutual. She was also Vice President and Casting Director at Crewstar. A past president of the Boston Chapter of the International Television Association (ITVA), Julie currently serves on the board of the Massachusetts Production Coalition and is a member of the Board of Visitors for SpeakEasy Stage Company and Boston Women Communicators. ANN BAKER Working in film, television, and theatrical communities, Ann is a seasoned casting director with over 30 years of experience. From 1982 to 1990, she served as the New England casting liaison for ABC-NY, and was the casting director for the ABC-TV series “Spenser: For Hire,” the feature film Mr. North produced by John Huston, the Emmy Award winning PBS series “Concealed Enemies,” a CBS movie of the week First Affair, and The Gathering Part II for NBC. For 11 years she ran her own full-service organization, Ann Baker Casting Company. She is a recognized leader in the development of the industrial film market and has worked with producers from Digital, General Electric, Raytheon, and the AMA. Ann specializes in Presentation Coaching as well as beginner and advanced on camera commercial technique. PETER BERKROT Peter is a prominent acting coach working in Boston and on the North Shore. His acting, film, voice, and playwriting classes have been offered at the New York Film Academy, Northeastern University, Bradford College, Boston Casting, Kevin Fennessey Casting, Outcasting, The Tannery in Newburyport, and at his own studio, New Voices-New Visions. Peter has an extensive list of credits including principal roles in Caddyshack, “America’s Most Wanted,” “Unsolved Mysteries,” and “Waterfront,” and has performed extensively in New York and regionally at such theatres as Ensemble Studio Theatre, New Dramatists and the Jewish Repertory Theatre. Directing credits include projects for New Hampshire Public Television and numerous theater productions, including Sarajevo: Voices of the Siege and Romeo & Juliet. He is an audio book reader for the Library of Congress, recently voicing American Brutus and The Fifth Vial, and is a regular contributor to the WGBH new series “Frontline.” His independent productions include radio ads for The 99 Restaurant and a host of video games. His articles and essays have been published in American Theatre Magazine, Parenting, Seacoast Sunday, and The Seacoast Times. LORNA J. BRUNELLE, Teacher, Casting Associate, Producer, Actor, Singer In 1993, Lorna graduated with a B.F.A. from The Boston Conservatory. In 1995, she opened The Burt Wood School of Performing Arts in Middleboro. In 2000, Lorna joined the staff at Boston Casting. As a casting director, she has worked on Fever Pitch, The Game Plan, and Deal or No Deal. In 2007, she launched the Boston Casting satellite program at The Burt Wood School. She has created theatre curricula and taught voice and acting for schools, worked as a Shakespeare consultant for the Mass Depart of Ed, and designed a theatre arts program for physically challenged children at the Mass Hospital School in Canton. Her teaching style has helped hundreds of students achieve success in commercials, films, college auditions, pageants, and live theater. Recently she has received the following honors: 2006 Middleboro Person of the Year for her outreach work, 2008 Miss Mass Woman of Achievement for her humanitarian, educational, and community work, and The 2009 Joyce Feeley Award for her impact on the children of the Chernobyl region. In the fall of 2009, she was inducted into the National Association of Teachers of Singing and was appointed the official voice teacher of the Miss Massachusetts Pageant where she also serves as consultant and state approved judge. She has directed and produced over 80 projects in the past fifteen years. ARLYNN DAVIS POLLETTA Arlynn is an experienced performer, acting coach, director, and theater educator. She holds an M.A. in Theater Education from Emerson College and a B.A. in Dance, Theater, and English Literature from Manhattanville College. Arlynn has worked in professional theater companies as well as educational settings. She served as the Director of Educational Programming for the Helen Hayes Theater in New York and is currently the director of the Middle School drama program at The Brimmer and May School in Chestnut Hill. Arlynn has also taught at a number of theater companies in the Boston area, including Wheelock Family Theater, The Center for the Arts in Natick, and Enter Stage Left Theater. SONNY DUFAULT Sonny has been in the voice-over business for 36 years. He started out as a DJ for two local radio stations, before becoming a production engineer at Continental Recording Studios, where he also began doing voice work. In 1981, he joined Soundtrack Studios as chief production engineer and manager, eventually leaving to concentrate on his VO business. He currently owns and operates his own ‘in-house’ studio where he voices and produces radio spots, commercials, and industrials as well as producing demo tapes for aspiring voice artists. He is also a booth announcer at WBZ Radio. MICHAEL FENNIMORE Originally from New York, Michael has spent the past 20 years performing in the Boston area. Since 2001, he has proudly served as the president of the New England Screen Actors Guild. His television and commercial credits include “Spenser: For Hire,” “Against the Law,” “Unsolved Mysteries,” New England Toyota, Brooks Pharmacy, Stop and Shop, Boston Gas, McDonalds, and the New England Patriots. He joined the company of the Charles Playhouse’s Shear Madness in 1986 and currently is the artistic director. He has also performed and directed Shear Madness at the Allen Theatre in Cleveland, Broward Art Center in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. and at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Michael teaches acting at UMass Boston. KATE KELLY Kate, a member of the Screen Actors Guild and Actors Equity Association, has been a professional actor and teacher for over fifteen years. She holds an M.A. in Theater Education from Emerson College and has worked as an actor all over New England. Kate has performed at theaters including The American Repertory Theatre, The Publick Theater of Boston, Worcester Foothills Theater Company, Raven Theatricals, and The New Playhouse at Hampton. She has also appeared in videos and industrials for clients including Ann Taylor, Barnes & Noble, Sheraton Hotels, and PBS. Kate is the former director of member services for StageSource in Boston, and is currently an associate professor in Theatre at Curry College and a drama specialist for the Waltham Public Schools. M. LYNDA ROBINSON Lynda has been working in theatre, film, and TV for the past 30 years as an actor, director, producer, teacher, and playwright. On stage she has performed in many theaters in the Boston area including the Publick, Nora, Lyric, Wilbur, W.H.A.T., Huntington, Provincetown Rep, Merrimack, Gloucester Stage, Shear Madness, Stoneham, Wheelock Family Theatre, and New Rep, among others, and at the Studio Theatre & Kennedy Center in D.C. She was honored with the Outstanding Boston Actress Award at the 1993 Elliot Norton Awards. Lynda attended the Masters Program in Playwriting at B.U. and is a published playwright. She is the recipient of many Playwrighting Awards, and her work had been performed in both festivals and full theatrical productions, including several at the Boston Playwrights’ Theatre. Lynda has performed in hundreds of commercials, corporate videos, live trade shows, and voice-overs, as well as performing principal roles in film and TV. On film she has appeared in: “On Broadway,” “Johnny Slade’s Greatest Hits,” “Dead Silence,” “With Honors,” “Treading Water,” “The Retreat,” “Screamplay” & “Massholes.” Her TV work includes: “The Brotherhood,” “Law & Order,” “Unsolved Mysteries,” “Another World” “The Guiding Light,” “Miller’s Court,” “Kid’s Guide to Parenting,” “The Carrie White Show,” and for WGBH “The Great Whodunit,” and “English as a 2nd Language.” She has been a teacher and private coach for camera and stage for 25 years, and has also taught at Emerson, Boston Casting, Kevin Fennessey Casting, the West End Theater, and Blackburn Performing Arts. She has been a guest instructor at Rollins College, Gordon College, and U. Mass; has adjudicated at the Mass High School Drama Festival for 6 years, and mentored with the Huntington Young Playwrights Program, and Massachusetts Young Playwrights Program. She is also a 2010 Arts Learning Distinguished Arts Educator Advocate Award in the field of Theatre recipient. JENNIFER SALVUCCI Jennifer is a member of the Screen Actors Guild and holds a BFA in Theatre Performance (Emphasis in Acting for the Camera) from Chapman University. She has been an actor and children’s acting coach in both Los Angeles and the greater Boston area for over nine years. Jennifer has collaborated on many original children’s musicals as well as served as director, vocal coach, choreographer, and acting coach at such well-known companies as Watertown Children’s Theatre, Arlington Children’s Theatre and Harwich Junior Theatre on Cape Cod. In addition, she is the Middle School Drama Teacher at Cambridge Friends School and continues to private coach in the greater New England area, specializing in audition preparation, on-camera technique, and the business of acting. Whatever your needs, Jennifer can help you navigate your way in the ever-changing climate of acting in New England. Jennifer is also an accomplished actress, with film projects screening at the Cannes, Comic-Con, and South by Southwest Film Festivals among others, as well as extensive television, industrial and theatre credits. Her newest project, “The Weathered Underground,” is set to debut worldwide on March 2, 2010. FRAN WEINBERG Fran Weinberg has taught Boston Casting’s scene study class for the past six years. She is one of the Boston area’s best-known private acting and audition coaches, as well as a teacher, workshop leader, and an award-winning director. Fran’s clients attend and are graduates of the country’s top undergraduate and graduate performance programs. They can be seen on-and off-Broadway, in films and television, and on stages throughout New England and across the country. She received her Masters degree in Theatre from Emerson College where has been a member of the performing arts faculty, as well as at Stonehill College, where she also served as a guest director. Fran directs and teaches the teen acting intensive program at Wheelock Family Theatre and has taught at Stoneham Theatre and Riverside Theatre Works. Fran received the Best Director Award from the Independent Reviewers of New England for her productions of Tennessee Williams’ “Orpheus Descending,” at the Huntington Theatre’s Studio 210 and “Marvin’s Room” at the Theatre Cooperative. Her productions of “27 Wagons Full of Cotton” and “The Lover” for the Poet’s Theatre received the IRNE’s Best Ensemble Award and she also directed the critically acclaimed production “Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune.” Fran has directed numerous productions of new work; most recently, “Val’s Story” in the annual Tennessee Williams Festival in Provincetown. Her show, “A Blessing and A Curse,” played to sold out houses at Boston Playwrights Theatre, and was the highly successful production of two world premiere plays by award-winning playwright Ginger Lazarus.