ABOUT ACTING UP!

MEET OUR INSTRUCTORS

Anne MacKenna

Owner/Artistic Director 

Anne has over 35 years of performance and teaching experience. A graduate of Studio 58 and a classically trained singer, she has focused her career primarily on musical theatre. Some of her favourite roles include Sarah in “Guys &  Dolls”, Laurey in “Oklahoma!” and Kitty in “Where’s Charley” for Theatre Under the Stars, Richmond Gateway and many other local theatres and companies. She also spent several years performing at the Theatre Royal in Barkerville, BC where she developed her love for children’s theatre.

Anne started her teaching career with the SDA Studio where she taught musical theatre classes for children and adults. After taking some time out to become a mom, she started teaching a very successful musical theatre program for children with the Vancouver Community Centres. She then went on to help create and run the Summer Children’s Musical Theatre Program at Capilano University. She spent 6 years as the Artistic Director for Encore Musical Theatre, teaching summer camps and directing full scale musicals for children including “Annie”, Oklahoma!”, “Honk!”, “Beauty & The Beast”, “Hello Dolly!” and “Seussical”. She was also the Director & Facilitator for the “Take to The Stage” Summer Musical Theatre Program for UBC Camps, 2012.

Anne is a private singing teacher, training students in proper vocal techniques, acting, song performance and audition preparation. Her students are regularly cast in musicals for their schools as well as for companies such as Metro Theatre, Theatre Under the Stars, Richmond Gateway and Royal City.  She also has a number of students who have gone on to pursue careers in the arts and have been accepted to acting and musical theatre programs across Canada and the United States.

Anne is thrilled to be able to continue sharing her love of musicals through her company, Acting UP! Musical Theatre. Her goal is to provide a fun, positive and supportive environment where children can learn to sing, dance, act and of course….discover their own “Unique Potential”!

Tess Munro

Choreographer – Senior Company

Tess has been with Acting Up since 2014. Tess has always had a love for musical theatre, especially anything by Andrew Lloyd Weber. She hopes to share this passion with the students at Acting UP!

Tess trained with Essence of Dance in South Surrey, where she performed in modern, ballet, lyrical and hip hop. She also competed for 5 years with Poise Performing Company, in multiple styles and was able to travel to competitions around the Lower Mainland and even Seattle. While in elementary school, Tess performed in nearly every talent show and school production she could, often performing for anyone who would watch her dance. In high school, Tess was a dancer for her school’s production on “Grease!” and also competed on her school’s dance team. Tess continues to practice dance recreationally and is always learning as many new moves as possible to bring back to her students.

Tess began working as an assistant choreographer to Jennifer Kuhl in 2014/15 for Acting Up’s production of “Honk!”, and went on to become lead choreographer for our production of “Seussical” in 2015/16. Since then she has worked on “Beauty and the Beast,” “Hello Dolly”, “Mary Poppins,” and “The Little Mermaid,” Tess has also had the pleasure of working on several years of summer camps with Anne. In addition to her teaching role, Tess is also an amateur costume designer, having made a number of costumes for past performances and currently designing for her friends and family.

Tess works to challenge her students in new styles and to push them to perform at their best. She has been amazed and delighted at how far our students always progress in their dance abilities and is always looking to expand on some of the styles we’ve tried in the past, including ballet and interpretive!

Lauren Newell-Madu  

Choreographer – Senior Company

Lauren has been with Acting Up since 2014 when she first played the Ugly Duckling in “Honk Jr.”. Lauren began as a student of Anne’s over 10 years ago and transitioned from performer to choreographer. She has a passion for music, dance, and theatre and looks forward to sharing her love of the arts with her students. 

Lauren has played roles including Lina Lamont in “Singin’ in the Rain” (Encore); Miss Flannery in “Thoroughly Modern Millie Jr” (Encore), Patty Simcox in “Grease” (WPGA), Lorraine Sheldon in “The Man Who Came To Dinner,” Ugly in “Honk” (Acting UP!) as well as multiple roles in “Oliver”, “Hello Dolly,” “Seussical Jr.” and a variety of commercials and screen acting features. She also trained in ballet, jazz, and contemporary dance throughout elementary and high school and continues to enjoy taking classes recreationally. 

Lauren began working as a choreographer for the Junior Company & Summer Camp Programs and later became an assistant choreographer on “Hello Dolly” and “Mary Poppins”. After taking a short break to return to graduate school in the United States, Lauren is back as a lead choreographer on “The Little Mermaid.”

Lauren believes that the arts are a beautiful way to unlock creative expression and imagination and is grateful to be a part of that journey with her students!

Ben Bouguerra

Production & Stage Manager

Ben has been involved with Acting UP! since its beginnings in 2012, working on a variety of jobs during rehearsals & performances. At the theatre, he can be found coordinating life backstage, organizing props, moving sets, and helping to keep the cast calm before the shows! 

Currently a student at BCIT studying Broadcast Journalism, Ben has added his commanding voice to our pre-show announcements and was the voice of the Narrator in “Beauty & The Beast”. Also a previous Communications major at SFU, Ben plans to bring his experience to our publicity and social media presence in the coming months.

Ben has always had a passion for music, playing piano, violin and singing in choirs. With these skills he helps the students learn harmonies during rehearsals and supports them by singing from the wings when needed. 

Ben is looking forward to working on this year’s Productions alongside the cast and the rest of the production team. 

JOIN OUR TEAM

Do you have a background in singing, dancing or acting? Are you studying to be a theatre technician? Do you love working with children? Part of our mandate at Acting UP! is to provide mentorship for young people who are studying to be a part of the theatre community… both onstage and backstage.

If you are interested in any of the positions, please contact us at actingupmusicaltheatre@gmail.com

**All volunteers must be at least 16 years of age and have a current criminal record check (or be willing to obtain one).