Musical Theatre

Choreographer: Can-Can, Bye, Bye Birdie, Oklahoma!, Oliver!, Bawdy: Off-Broadway's Biggest Little Vaudeville (Triad Theatre, NYC – 10 year run), The Boys from Syracuse, 1776, Annie, Kiss Me Kate, Fiddler on the Roof, The Pajama Game, the ballet Prelude A L'apres-Midi D'un Faune .

Assistant Director/Choreographer: Hello, Dolly!, Evita, West Side Story, The New York Idea (Off-Broadway, Lucille Lortel Theatre; Atlantic Theatre Company), Working (Atlas Theater, NYC), the Bulova Birthday Celebration (Macy's 34th Street, NYC), Evita, City of Angels, The Golden Books National Tour & Read-In, The Save the Children Benefit (Bellagio, Las Vegas), Tisch Gala’s (Lincoln Center, Avery Fisher Hall, Broadway-St. James Theatre, NYC's Town Hall, Madison Square Garden, The Plaza Hotel).

Performance: National/International Tours: Hello, Dolly!; Crazy for You; The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas; Regional (over 60, including): A Chorus Line, West Side Story, Cats, Cinderella (Paper Mill Playhouse), The Music Man, Anything Goes, Chicago, The Fantastics, Peter Pan, Mame, Gypsy, She Loves Me, Annie, Fiddler on the Roof, Beauty and the Beast, Seussical, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Oklahoma!, The Most Happy Fella, Carousel, The Secret Garden, Will Rogers Follies, My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music, Singing in the Rain, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Footloose, Guys and Dolls, Joseph..., South Pacific, Jaques Briel..., A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Mousetrap. Ballets: Little Women, The Nutcracker.

TV: The Quest; and various voice-overs;  National Public Radio.

Dance Faculty: New York University, Tisch School of the Arts, Undergraduate Drama; Molloy University; New York University, Tisch School of the Arts, Graduate Acting Program; Pittsburgh Musical Theater.

Education: Interlochen Arts Academy; B.F.A., NYU, Tisch School of the Arts.

Proud member of AEA.

NYC-based actor, singer, and voice teacher. As a performer, he has appeared in concert at Feinstein’s/54 Below, (le) poisson rouge, The Metropolitan Room, and The Astor Room. He received his graduate degree in vocal pedagogy and music education from Teachers College, Columbia University. He graduated from Ithaca College, summa cum laude with a bachelors of music degree in voice and acting, a specialized degree requiring advanced coursework in acting technique, literature, and movement in addition to the complete curriculum required to receive a vocal performance degree. He has also trained extensively in theater, film, and tv techniques at the Michael Howard Studios and The Barrow Group. Additionally, he holds a Distinguished Voice Professional Certificate through the New York Singing Teachers Association (NYSTA) for the successful completion of their Professional Development Program. He is currently pursuing an advanced Masters of Education (Ed.M) from Teachers College, Columbia University in music and music education, focusing on adult education and educational leadership. He is also on the Board of Directors for the NYC Chapter of the National Association of Teachers of Singing.  

In addition to maintaining a private studio of professional singers, Chris currently serves as the Head of Voice and Music in the BFA Theatre Arts program at Molloy University/CAP21 and is an Adjunct Professor of Voice in the BFA Musical Theater program at Pace University and in the Vocal Performance program at NYU, teaching musical theater, contemporary music, and graduate vocal pedagogy students. He was an associate teacher for Mike Ruckles Voice Studio from 2016-2021.  

As a passionate advocate for training voices of developmental age, from 2018-2021 Chris also served as the Assistant Director of the Singers’ Workshops @ Teachers College, a group designed to help young singers build confidence and vocal technique as they navigate their developing voices to prepare for a lifetime of singing. He is also part of the core faculty teaching private voice and vocal pedagogy at BroadwayEvolved, a training intensive for college-bound students, founded by Broadway star, Betsy Wolfe.  

A lifelong learner and self-professed voice “nerd,” Chris continues to be mentored and supervised by singing voice specialists, Dr. Jeanne Goffi-Fynn and Richard Lissemore at Columbia University. He has also participated in the NATS NYC Mentor Teacher Program, where he had the opportunity to work with and learn from notable musical theater pedagogues, such as Mary Saunders-Barton. He has continued his education at the Singing Voice Science and Pedagogy Workshop, The Vocal Pedagogy Professional Workshop (Boston Conservatory), and The New CCM Vocal Pedagogy Institute (Shenandoah University). His research interests include comparative vocal pedagogy, voice teacher preparation and mentorship, assessment in the applied voice studio, and perception of aesthetics and vocal quality.  

As an educator, Chris believes in a student-centered approach to teaching and strives to honor the diversity that each student brings into the voice studio by prioritizing critical thinking, student agency, and creativity and problem-solving in the voice studio. Above all, Chris strives to learn something new about the voice every day.  

Additional details: chriscitera.com

Helen Farmer (she/her) regional credits include: Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, The Stratford Festival, Crossroads Theater, The Classical Theatre Lab, Shakespeare in the Rough, Theatre and Co, Dorset Theatre, and Co-Lab Arts. New York theatre includes work with Ensemble Studio Theatre, Project Y Theatre, Boundless Theatre Project. Recent projects include: the US premiere of Kotryna Gesait’s Cocoon and the audio pod cast series "The Lovely Dark". Originally Canadian, Helen was trained as an improviser at Keith Johnstone’s Loose Moose Theater, worked at Toronto’s Second City and is a veteran of several Fringe Festival shows. A Meisner trained actor Helen received an MFA in acting from Rutgers University’s MGSA.  Helen is also a trained Meisner teacher. Helen comes to CAP after 9 years at Rutgers teaching in both the BFA and MFA programs. In addition to teaching acting Helen is a certified Alexander technique teacher and has taught privately as well as at NYU and MGSA.

Melissa Firlit (director) is a director, actor, producer and educator. Previous performance projects for Molloy/Cap21 are the Devising Project, Cabaret, 9 to 5, An Axemas Story and others. In 2022, she directed and produced Marrow, with her theatre company Resolve Productions. Marrow ran at 59E59 in NYC, followed by a month-long engagement at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival where it received many rave reviews and accolades. 

In 2019 her production of Jekyll & Hyde was nominated for 3 Henry Awards by the Colorado Theatre Guild. She directed the Ireland National Tour of Misterman by Enda Walsh. Melissa’s work has been seen nationally at 59East59, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Mile Square Theater, New Light Theatre Project, The Princeton Festival, Creede Repertory Theatre, Pagosa Springs Center for the Arts and more.

As part of her personal commitment to collaboration with playwrights, Melissa is the Artistic Director for the Thingamajig Playwrights Festival which provides a workshop residency to two playwrights. Melissa’s work is strongly influenced by Uta Hagen and Frantic Method.

She is currently on faculty at Molloy University/Cap 21 Theatre Arts Program. Training: MFA Directing Rutgers University, BA Theater The University of Hartford and National Theater Institute. Member SDC. www.melissafirlit.com At Molloy/Cap21 she teaches Devising, Directing, Comedy and mainstage.

Aimee Francis is Director of Conservatory Logistics for the Molloy/CAP21 BFA Program. She has been with CAP21 since 1998. She is also a Co-Founder and Artistic Director for Dirty Minds Theatre Company, a not-for-profit theatre dedicated to raising funds for NYC based LGBTQ charitable organizations. (www.dirtymindstheatrecompany.com) 

Aimee hails from Michigan and is an alum of Western Michigan University where she studied Directing and Theatre Administration. Aimée has worn a variety of hats including Director, Teacher, Actress, Tour Manager and Administrator with such companies as The Augusta Barn Theatre (MI), Top Hat Productions (MI), Kidstuff Touring Musical Theatre (MI), Pennsylvania Stage Company (PA) and Jean Cocteau Repertory (NYC).

As a teacher for CAP21, courses have included Musical Scene Study, Acting Scene Study, Vocal Performance and Script Analysis. Some favorite past directing experiences include Head Over Heels, Andrew Lippa's, The Wild Party, Cry-Baby, CABARET, Into the Woods, Children of Eden, A Quiet End, The Frog Prince and Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune. Aimée also directed and co-authored an original musical piece entitled Hardback Fantasies and Paperback Secrets.

Peter Marciano (Head of Voice & Speech) is a New York-based actor and teacher from Syracuse, NY. He currently teaches in the MFA program at Pace University and also serves as the Head of Acting for the Musical Theatre program and the Head of Voice for the Acting For Film program at The New York Film Academy where he has taught since 2015. He is a Designated Linklater Teacher, having studied voice and Shakespeare under master teacher, Kristin Linklater, in Orkney, Scotland. He trained with Louis Colaianni and is a Certified Colaianni Speech Practitioner, specializing in phonetics and dialects. He has most recently performed in St. Lucy of the Eyes, If Stars Are Lit, and Twelfth Night. He has taught voice, movement, and acting at the MFA program at University of Southern California, American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Molloy University, and KIMEMP University in Almaty, Kazakhstan. Peter has coached actors appearing on Broadway, off-Broadway and National Tours, and in the television and motion picture industries. He is a Co-Founder of Purple Ribbon Shakespeare, a NYC-based nonprofit theatre company that supports survivors of domestic violence. He holds an MFA in Acting from The Actors Studio Drama School.

 Chris O'Connor

Associate Professor

Chris is an Associate Professor of the Molloy University/CAP21 BFA program. Recent professional directing projects include Billy Bishop Goes to War, Two Gentlemen of Verona, and Good People at Franklin Stage Company. As Founding Artistic Director of the New Jersey regional theatre Mile Square Theatre, he received an Award of Excellence from the New Jersey Theatre Alliance. Chris produced 19 seasons for MST, including the Off-Broadway transfer of Erin Mallon’s The Net Will Appear. He directed over 30 plays at MST and has directed at theatres and universities across the country.
As an actor he has performed Off-Broadway and regionally in such theatres as Franklin Stage Company, Mile Square Theatre, Seattle’s A Contemporary Theatre, The Culture Project, Soho Rep, The Ahmanson, Gloucester Stage, Provisional Theatre of Los Angeles, Maltz Jupiter Theatre, The Ohio Theatre, The Bathhouse Theatre, Seattle Children's Theatre, and at City Theatre in Pittsburgh. TV credits include Magic City and Burn Notice, and he appears in the indie thriller Depraved.
Chris holds a BFA from Carnegie-Mellon University and an MFA from Rutgers University.

Kristyn Pope (Professor of Practice; Head of Dance) is grateful for Molloy University/CAP21's creative space and collaborative opportunities. As an educator and teacher, Kristyn has led classes and/or workshops for such organizations and studios as Broadway Dance Center, the Rockette Experience, the A1 Conference, Steps on Broadway, The Growing Studio, Broadway Theatre Connection and Motivated Movers and Pure Barre. Currently on faculty at Molloy/CAP21, she is grateful for the opportunity to share what she continues to learn from and discover about the musical theatre industry. She hopes to support and encourage artists as they cultivate their work in preparation for an endless possibility of paths within the creative world. Kristyn's NYC performing credits include: Radio City Christmas Spectacular (Rockette/Swing), Irving Berlin’s White Christmas, and the Thoroughly Modern Millie Reunion Concert, as well as the City Center Encores! productions of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Lady Be Good, and The New Yorkers. Kristyn has recently choreographed the following productions: Pirates of Penzance, Anything Goes & Cabaret (Molloy/CAP21); Disney's Frozen & 42nd Street (Maltz Jupiter Theatre); Singin’ in the Rain (Ogunquit Playhouse); Miracle on 34th Street, Rocky the Musical, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Mary Poppins (Fireside Theatre); Beehive: The 60s Musical (Florida Repertory Theatre). Kristyn holds a BA in Psychology from Northwestern University. “…We will only understand the miracle of life fully when we allow the unexpected to happen.” ~Paulo Coelho. Ps100.

Shannon Michael Wamser is a New York City based Actor/Writer/Fight Director. As an actor he has been seen on some exceptional stages around the US including The Public Theatre, Orlando Shakespeare Theatre, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Playhouse on Park, Northern Stage and several Shakespeare festivals. Recent credits include Fight Directing and playing the role of Thomas Collymore in The Play That Goes Wrong at Theatre Raleigh (Nominated for best choreography and best supporting performer, Broadway World Raleigh Awards). Film/TV credits include "Interior," CBS's "Blue Bloods," "The Thing Before the Thing" (co-writer/actor/executive producer) available on Amazon Prime, and several award-winning short films. 

As a producer/director he co-founded two theatre companies in the New York City area, Stages on the Sound and tax-deductible theatre, and in Los Angeles he founded an independent media production company, Some Assemble Required. His work as a director and writer has been seen in New York City, the Edinburgh Fringe and with Teatre Polski in Poznan, Poland. He is a recognized stage combat instructor and Advances Actor Combatant with Dueling Arts, International. Fight directing credits include Theatre Raleigh, The Secret Theatre, 59E59, Playhouse on Park, Laguna Playhouse, Flux Theatre Ensember, New York Theatre Workshop. 

As an arts educator he has worked Center Theatre Group, A Noise Within, Laguna Playhouse, The Pasadena Playhouse, BAM, The Shakespeare Society, The Professional Performing Arts School, Stevens College, University of Hartford and The University of Miami. He holds a B.B. from DeSales University and MFA from Ohio University. He has continued his training with Padova Arts in Padua, Italy, with Movement Theatre Studio (NYC), Upright Citizens Brigade, the SITI Company, and with Grotowski experts Erica Fae and David Prete. He is a member of The National Alliance of Acting Teachers, SAG-AFTRA, and AEA.