The Theatre Department of Barbara Ingram School for the Arts offers the distinction of a conservatory-style approach to training students in the craft of the dramatic and theatre arts. In our program, students communicate as active creators and interpreters, designers and builders. Their tools range from the body as an instrument to the lighting and soundboard as a workbench. It is our goal to nurture our student’s creativity and to let each one know that what they are pursuing as storytellers is foundational to their artform and paramount to the human experience. The actor-centric training is an immersive deep-dive with opportunities to delve in music, voice, dance and production techniques. Through physical training and performance, every aspect of the actor’s instrument is engaged, instilling a lifelong confidence that they will carry with them throughout their highly-adaptable, professional lives. Designer, director, builder, performer, our multi-discipline theatre training, will become the tools to turn ideas into reality. Taking classes alongside future architects, veterinarians, entrepreneurs and Oscar winners, we want our students to graduate from the BISFA Theatre program, recognizing that their options go well beyond the audition room.
FACULTY
DAVE RYAN
David Ryan’s fascination with theatre blossomed at a young age when his parents took him to see their local high school’s production of GODSPELL. Ever since, he is thrilled to say theatre has remined a daily component of his life. David received his Bachelor of Arts degree in acting from Shenandoah Conservatory of Music and his Masters in Theatre Education from Fairmont State University. He began teaching theatre in Hardy County West Virginia where he resided for three years as their guest Artist In Residence. He then moved to Seattle Washington where he spent nearly ten years performing in and around the Puget Sound region. After returning to the East Coast, he resumed teaching theatre at Martinsburg High School where he spent 18 years. During this time, he was honored to serve as Berkeley County’s Teacher of the Year and West Virginia’s Theatre Teacher of the Year. David is thrilled to be joining the BISFA family. “Go Phantoms!”
Dale Stein
Theatre Adjunct Teacher
Dale Stein’s work has focused on writing and performance in professional theatre for over 30 years, both in New York City and Washington, DC. She was an invited member of New York Theatre Workshop’s Usual Suspects; an arts collective supporting and developing new work in theatre. She was a founding member of Smallbeer Theatre; a professional company for new plays in Wash, D.C. Dale performed her original material with Garrison Keillor’s live radio show at Lamb’s Theatre, Manhattan Punchline Theatre, West Bank Theatre in NYC and The National Theatre and Blues Alley in DC. Her one-person show, A FRESH OF BREATH AIR, directed by Christopher Ashley (currently Artistic Director at La Jolla Playhouse) was nominated for two 1991 Helen Hayes Awards (Outstanding New Play and Outstanding Lead Actress). Dale performed A FRESH OF BREATH AIR at venues 1991-2004 including New York Theatre Workshop, The Kennedy Center, The National Theatre, Baltimore’s Theatre Project, Playhouse 125, Metro Stage, Round House Theatre and on tour. Dale is recipient of a Maryland State Arts Council Solo Theatre Performance Grant (top award). She wrote and performed for the Maryland Public Television comedy series “Crabs”, Village Gate Late Night Comedy and for WPGC morning drive radio. She was writer for two Helen Hayes Awards Shows presented at the Kennedy Center. STEP UP TO THE PLATE is a one-act play for young audiences Dale co-wrote with Jacalyn Kalin, published by Pioneer Drama. Most recently, Dale has performed A FRESH OF BREATH AIR at The Washington County Museum of Fine Arts and Barbara Ingram School for the Arts; Wellfleet Preservation Hall, Wellfleet, MA; and, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA.
Dale’s teaching includes acting workshops presented in conjunction with A FRESH OF BREATH AIR. She taught theatre-related workshops for Montgomery County, MD’s Phoenix program for at-risk students. Dale worked with Fairfax County, VA’s Office for Children where she designed and implemented theatre workshops for adults and a multi-disciplinary Artist-In-Residence series for children. Dale taught acting at George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, and also developed and implemented a multi-disciplinary arts program for the George Mason University Summer Academy. She consulted and taught with the Comedy Club of Col. E. Brooke Lee Middle School, Silver Spring, MD. Dale was an adjunct teacher for the Barbara Ingram Creative Writing program (2015-2016) and continues to coach acting privately.
Dale received her BA from Pennsylvania State University. Additional studies include Acting with Franchelle Dorn in Wash. DC, Acting with Wynn Handman in NYC and Voice with Margaret Riddleburger in NYC. Dale is a member of SAG/AFTRA, Equity and The Dramatists Guild.
Nicole Ruark
Theatre Adjunct Dance Teacher
Nicole Ruark has had the honor of performing and choreographing throughout the country as well as internationally. Her performance credits include roles in The Will Rogers Follies, A Chorus Line, Crazy for You, How to Succeed and Sweet Charity. She has extensive experience as a director and choreographer for universities, regional, and touring companies including such productions as: Urinetown, Little Shop of Horrors, Swing It! (national premiere), and Once on this Island. Having staged ballets for professional companies world-wide, Ms. Ruark’s work has landed her several awards including Top Honors and Outstanding Choreography at the Youth American Grand Prix in New York and Outstanding Contemporary at the Prix de Lausanne in Switzerland as well as gold and silver medals at the New York City Dance Alliance. Recently, she traveled to St. Petersburg, Russia as the choreographer for the international premier of Jane Martin’s Talking With.
Ms. Ruark is also a sought after instructor, teaching workshops throughout the country. She is on the faculty of the reknowned Broadway Theatre Project under the direction of Ben Vereen and a teaching artist at Imagination Stage in DC. She currently oversees the musical theatre program and student acting company at The Mid Maryland Performing Arts Center in Frederick.
Having graduated from The American University with a Bachelors of Arts in Theatre, Ms. Ruark was a scholarship student at The Joffrey Ballet School and is the recipient of the Herbert R. Brent Scholarship, the Herb Edelman Acting Award, American University’s Outstanding Musical Theatre Performer award, and the Greenberg Scholarship for the Performing Arts.
Ed Schubel
Theatre Adjunct Teacher
Ed Schubel sings with Pratt Street Power, an award-winning, internationally-acclaimed barbershop quartet based in Baltimore, MD. Considered to be one of the Barbershop Harmony Society’s premier vocal quartets, the group came together in early 2016 with the intention of entering the International Youth Barbershop Quartet contest in Nashville, TN. In their first contest together, they were crowned the 2016 International Youth Quartet champions and labeled by the Harmonizer magazine as one of the BHS’s “young powerhouses of today.”
Pratt Street Power has been invited to lead numerous youth camps across the country, and has worked with the Harmony Foundation to support their mission of enriching lives through singing by attending youth outreach events for young singers and encouraging young people to sing. Beyond their participation in these events, the quartet has also experienced international competition success. In 2019, they entered the BHS International Open competition in Salt Lake City, UT and placed 8th in the world. Later that year, they competed in the Mid-Atlantic District competition and won 1st place.
Ed holds a BFA in Theatre & Vocal Performance from the University of Kansas where he was a student of mezzo-soprano Joyce Castle. In addition to teaching and performing with his quartet, Ed is a freelance vocal arranger specializing in barbershop, jazz, and a cappella styles.