“The Little Theatre youth and adult programs  are a wonderful way to expand horizons.”

ADULT CLASSES & WORKSHOPS

For a full listing of adult classes, workshops,
and for secure registration please click the button below.

NEW – FALL 2024 SESSIONS (in-person)
NEW – FALL 2024 SESSIONS (online)
** The $15 registration fee will be waived for members.
Please notify Kim Smith-Salmon in the Business Office at kim@thelittletheatre.com.

PRESCHOOL & YOUTH

For a full listing of youth and preschool classes and workshops,
and for secure registration please click the buttons below. 

NEW -FALL 2024 CLASSES (in-person)

** The $15 registration fee will be waived for LTA members.
Please contact Kim in the Business Office at kim@thelittletheatre.com.

YOUTH & ADULT CLASS / WORKSHOP REFUND POLICY

All tuition is due at the time of registration. If on an installment plan, the final payment must be made within seven days of the start of class. Cancellations made fourteen days prior to the first class or workshop taking place, will receive a full refund, minus a $15 cancellation fee. Cancellations submitted within seven days will receive a 50% refund of the total tuition, minus a $15 cancellation fee. Funds can also be credited to your Active Network account to use towards a future registration at LTA.

Cancellations requested after the second class, but prior to the third class occurring will receive a prorated refund, minus a $15 cancellation fee and the cost of any classes that have taken place before the request was submitted. Refunds WILL NOT be granted after the third class. If registered for a workshop, no refunds will be given if a cancellation request is received within 3 days of the date the workshop is scheduled to take place.

If a class or workshop is cancelled by LTA owing to low registration, a full refund or credit will be issued.

If the class for which you are registered is an in-person class and conditions warrant that the theatre be closed prior to the start of the session, a full refund will be issued. If conditions warrant closure after the session has started, LTA reserves the right to postpone the class to a mutually convenient date.

Note: We are unable to refund Active Network service fees. Questions regarding refunds or credits, can be directed to the LTA Business Office Manager, Kim Smith-Salmon, at kim@thelittletheatre.com.

A limited number of partial scholarships are available through the generosity of The Council of The Little Theatre of Alexandria. For details email LTA’s Governor for Education, Heather Sanderson at bardsplay@gmail.com

 If you are a current or past student at LTA, most likely you are already on our email list.  However, if you are new or think you have fallen off the list, email Kim at kim@thelittletheatre.com and we can get you added!

Phone assistance is generally available Mondays through Fridays from 1 pm to 5 pm. Should you need to come to LTA during business hours, Monday thru Friday from 10 am t0 5 pm, please schedule an appointment with our Business Manager, Kim Smith-Salmon (kim@thelittletheatre.com).

OTHER OPPORTUNITIES

HIGH SCHOOL SCHOLARSHIP AWARD

The Little Theater of Alexandria recognizes outstanding high school students by awarding annual academic scholarships to deserving students. Through generous donations, LTA is able to offer a maximum of two annual one-time awards of $1,000 each to local students. These General High School Scholarship Awards were introduced in 2015, and talented high school juniors and seniors who have taken part in at least one Main Stage production, or have been actively involved as volunteers, are nominated annually by LTA Producers, Directors, and Committee Chairs who submit their nominations throughout the year to the Governor of Education. From the list of nominations, the LTA Scholarship Selection Committee will select two recipients.

Students awarded these scholarships are not required to select Theater as their field of study.

Eligible students must exhibit the following criteria:

  1. Be a high school senior or rising junior from a Northern Virginia/Alexandria school.
    2. Be a U.S. citizen, or legal resident, and plan to use the scholarship for college tuition assistance.
    3. Maintain a high school scholastic GPA of 3.0or greaterthroughout their junior/senior year.
    4. Must attend college or technical school following high school graduation.
    5. Must have been a volunteer with The Little Theatre of Alexandria in the area of acting, technical, or general theater craft on at least one main stage LTA production, within 18 months of this application, or have completed at least 20 hrs. of voluntary service at LTA.

Nominees and acceptable applications will be automatically submitted for consideration. 

Completed applications can be submitted to the Governor for Education through the Business Office or be mailed to LTA:
Governor for Education
The Little Theatre of Alexandria
600 Wolfe Street
Alexandria, VA  22314

Applications must be postmarked or registered with the LTA Business Office no later than June 1.

Application Form:
A scholarship application form can be downloaded by clicking  HERE.

STUDENT AMBASSADOR PROGRAM

High Schoolers who have previously participated in two or more LTA youth classes or camps are invited to apply to become Student Ambassadors for LTA. The mission of group is to provide support for and to help promote LTA, e.g. help with set building, opening night parties, costume closet organization, ushering (Junior and Seniors only, following Front of House training), participate in parades and events, and assist with pre-school and elementary age classes and workshops. Participants will receive community service hours, plus extracurricular leadership credit for college resumes. There is no charge for this program, however, all participants must become junior members of LTA ($30). To apply, fill out the Student Ambassador Program Application here and email to Heather Sanderson at bardsplay@gmail.com.

TEACHERS

RICH AMADA

RICH AMADA is an award-winning dramatist, published book author, and Emmy-winning former TV journalist. His plays have been produced around the country, including in Washington, D.C., New York City, Maryland, Virginia, Florida, Ohio, and Arizona. Among his multiple playwriting awards are a Playwriting Fellowship from the Arizona Commission on the Arts and an Individual Artist Award in Playwriting from the Maryland State Arts Council. Rich served as D.C./Baltimore Regional Representative of the Dramatists Guild for five years, and he has also been a member of the professional writers’ section of D.C.’s Playwrights Forum as well as twice president of Tucson’s Old Pueblo Playwrights. He also directs and acts. Additionally, he is an attorney whose practice has included counseling and representing people in the arts.

MIKE BAKER, JR.

MIKE BAKER, JR. is a seven-time Emmy Award-winning TV host, reporter and producer. He has also garnered six National Telly Awards, five Videographer Awards and a Marcom Creative Award. He hosted and produced a talk show on the Bravo Cable Network for seven years. Mike’s work has also appeared on Tempo Television, NBC, PAX-TV, Bravo International, Voice of America, RTE, and 178 PBS stations. Mike has garnered multiple awards for his performances in musical comedy and dramatic theatre. He has worked in New York as an actor and voice over artist and has sung at The Kennedy Center, Wolf Trap, and The White House. Mike directed A Christmas Carol (Best Director), Red, White and Tuna and Anne of Green Gables: The Musical at LTA in the last 4 years. He has appeared in 30 LTA productions.

BEVERLEY BENDA

BEVERLEY BENDA, a professional singer by trade, retired after 30 years as a classical soprano with The United States Army Band “Pershing’s Own”, and Programming NCO and Script Writer for their Public Affairs Office.  She has performance and teaching degrees from James Madison University, Eastern Illinois University, and The Eastman School of Music, and has appeared in a variety of musical productions including Brigadoon, Carmen, Carousel, Oklahoma!, Kismet, The Pirates of Penzance, Dialogue of the Carmelites, My Fair Lady, The Music Man, Hollywood Pinafore, It’s A Grand Night for Singing, and the first revival of Call Me Mister.  As a private voice teacher and vocal coach, her class at LTA is the longest-running in the theater’s history. She is also on the LTA Board of Governors and is an award-winning costumer.

CAROL JEAN CLARK

CAROL JEAN CLARK attended The American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA) in NYC for musical theatre. After performing, recording music, and producing benefit concerts with Broadway stars in NYC, she now lives and works in VA performing, directing, music directing, and choreographing. She is also on the board of a local theatre company and works with several others in the area. Carol teaches private vocal and piano lessons as well as audition prep and acting coaching. In her free time she rides horses, plays pool competitively, and spends time with her horse, two dogs, two turtles, and a dove.

DONA DAVIS

DONA DAVIS earned a Masters of Education from Lesley University in the Creative Arts in Learning program. She received a Certificate in Puppet Arts from the University of Connecticut where she studied puppetry history, puppetry materials, shadow puppetry, and hand puppetry. Dona taught at St. Stephens and St. Agnes School and other schools for twenty-two years, bringing arts into her classroom at every opportunity. She also ran drama clubs and puppet clubs at her schools. She is one of the artists featured on Artstravaganza Day at St. Stephens and St. Agnes School. Recently she helped middle school students create big puppets for their production of Finding Nemo the Musical at  St. Stephens/St. Agnes. Dona loves nothing more than helping children express their creativity and having fun with them.

CHRISTION TY EDWARDS

CHRISTION TY EDWARDS (He/His) is an alum of James Madison University’s School Of Theatre And Dance, where he majored in Theatre Studies and Performance, with minors in Music and Dance. Ty is an actor, director, singer, physical theatre artist, mask and clown performer, and teaching artist. Forever a student, Ty is a candidate for certification in Voice Body Connection, the VanBoxtel Method of teaching singers, SSN Transform, Yoga and Meditation teacher training, and constantly strives to better his artistry with training in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, as well as Consent and Trauma-Informed creative practices. Ty debuted his original solo show, The Sad Life Of A Happy Man, at the 2023 Hollywood Fringe Festival in Los Angeles which earned him the Producer’s Encore Award. Previous credits include: STAGE: Keegan Theatre; Shakespeare In Love (Peter), Flying V Theatre; The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Dr. Scott), Forbes Center for the Performing Arts; Equus (Harry Dalton). Southern Appalachian Historical Association; Horn in The West (Rev. Sims). FILM: Foreign Mindset Productions; Coffee & Yellow Roses (Thad), J. Cubed Productions; Sharp Dressed Men (Mitch).

ASHLEY HAMMOND

ASHLEY HAMMOND graduated from the University of Kentucky with a B.F.A. in Acting. She toured professionally and taught children’s theatre for many years, traveling all over the eastern part of the country. She has been teaching acting at LTA and in the DC metro area for over 10 years.  In addition to teaching, she is also the Managing Director of Educational Theatre Company.

JOANNA HENRY

JOANNA HENRY has directed more than 70 productions over the years, most recently Freaky Friday, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged), the female version of The Odd Couple and the award-winning 33 Variations at LTA. She also directed Rabbit Hole (Ruby Griffith Award for Best Production of a Play) and a multitude of musicals, including Into The Woods, Gypsy, Company, and The Music Man (all at LTA). Other directing stints include three benefits (BC/EFA, the Olney Theater, and the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society) and an acclaimed regional production of W;t on the Eastern Shore. In addition to receiving LTA’s Deborah Dunstan Rosewell Memorial Award for Directing (Into the Woods), Joanna has earned two ACT awards as best director, three WATCH nominations for directing, and an Alex Award for Education in the Arts nomination. Four of her productions have received Ruby Griffith awards. Joanna previously has taught Audition and Acting classes at LTA and currently does private acting coaching. She has attended several three-day workshops in NYC for theater teachers/directors, focusing on sessions with working Broadway professionals on auditions, scene work, directing, song interpretation, and choreography.

SARAH HOLT

SARAH HOLT launched LTA’s improv classes back in 2001. A graduate of The Groundlings training program in NYC, she performed with various groups there before moving down to the nation’s capital and joining a then-fledgling troupe of nine members called Washington Improv Theater (WIT). She now performs with LTA’s house troupe The Retros. Sarah brings her extensive resume as a storyteller and actor to her classes, encouraging students to play real and let funny happen. Her classes at LTA include improv, cold readings, and monologue research. She’s been on stage at The Little Theatre of Alexandria, The Keegan Theatre, the Folger Theatre, Nextstop Theatre, and the Source Festival.

KEELY KIRK

KEELY KIRK began her improv career with Mental Floss, a Miami-based improv/sketch troupe. She went on to be a principle performer for over ten years with Laughing Gas Comedy Improv – Miami’s longest- running improv theater company. Keely relocated to the epicenter for improv, Chicago, and trained with iO (formerly Improv Olympics) and Second City. Currently Keely teaches, develops and delivers fun, fast-paced, interactive training and unforgettable events using theater improvisation techniques. Through her company, Playing OUTSIDE the Lines LLC, she has provided team building workshops for businesses, law firms, accounting firms, schools, as well as numerous Fortune 500 companies. She consults with businesses and training facilities in the Washington D.C. and Northern Virginia area. In addition to teaching, Keely also performs with various improv groups around the country.

MICHAEL PAGE

MICHAEL PAGE has been teaching theatre, dance, and music in the DMV for over a decade. He has worked in community theatre for 18 years in many roles; actor, singer, dancer, set designer, light designer, choreographer, and director. He has been working with LTA’s Education department for over 15 years and counting. He has a BA in Theater Studies from Christopher Newport University where he focused in lighting, dance, musical theatre and directing.

DOUG SANDERS

DOUG SANDERS grew up with a camera or microphone in his hands.  He won multiple state and international media fair awards before entering college as a radio/TV/film major, eventually settling on a degree in economics. Doug obtained a law degree and honed his storytelling flair as a criminal and civil trial attorney. He then entered the ranks of the Senior Executive Service in the Federal Government where he has further perfected the art of storytelling via public speaking engagements. Seeking to reinvigorate the creative aspects of his youth, Doug took LTA’s Voiceover Artistry Class taught by Emmy-Award-Winner Mike Baker, Jr.. From there, he delved into the world of audiobooks.  As Doug soon learned, this branch of voice artistry was much more than narration and characters—he had to technically produce the audiobook as well.  Conquering how to record, edit, and master audio files brought Doug back to many of the things he enjoyed in his youth.  His narration and production of the sci-fi horror/thriller Doctor Mosquito, written by Richard C. Dellinger, garnered him a number of national awards.

HEATHER SANDERSON

HEATHER SANDERSON studied classical theatre at RADA in London and prior to moving to Alexandria acted extensively in the San Francisco Bay Area. As “Miss Heather”, she is known locally for instilling a love of theatre – in particular Shakespeare – into the hearts of children. Her youth Shakespeare troupes have performed in D.C. and in the U.K. and her privately coached monologue students have performed at the Shakespeare Theatre, the Ford’s Theatre and numerous community and children’s theatres in the area. Heather may be familiar to fans of British television programs through her Tea with Heather segments on Maryland Public Television’s Afternoon Tea, which ran 2002-2020.

FRANK SHUTTS

FRANK SHUTTS has been teaching acting since 1985 and has worked with the theater department of McLean High School, The Madeira School, and Bishop Ireton High School.  He has directed 35 main-stage shows at LTA alone and currently serves as the stage director for the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington (GMCW).  A member of the Educational Theater Association, Frank also serves as a mentor with the CAPPIES program of the National Capital Area.  A native northern Virginian, Frank returns to the education program at LTA where he previously taught Acting I and II, Shakespeare, and Acting in Comedy.

KEVIN SOCKWELL

Kevin Sockwell is a veteran actor, director and teacher, who brings humor, energy and enthusiasm to every theatrical endeavor. He has worked in many professional and community theatres, locally and out-of-town and has over 80 directing credits; plays, musicals and films. His time at LTA, as both a performer and director, spans back to 1992. At LTA, he has been nominated three times as an actor, winning once for Best Supporting Actor in a Musical. He is also a WATCH nominated director and actor and won a WATCH award for Best Actor in a Drama, as Hoke Colburn in LTA’s Driving Miss Daisy.

RUBEN VELLEKOOP

Ruben Vellekoop (he/him) is a theatermaker and musician based in the DMV. Select directing credits: Bulleketroet, The Cemetery Club, Park Bench, The Last 5 Years, In Her Golden Years, FaceTime, The Audience. Sound design credits: Misery, The Nacirema Society…Hundred Years, The Cemetery Club, Jesus Christ Superstar. Intimacy credits: Perfect Arrangement, Prelude to a Kiss, A Daughter’s a Daughter, Love/Sick. Training: The Barrow Group, Studio Acting Conservatory, Intimacy Directors International, The Acting Studio

MONA WARGO

MONA WARGO has been a volunteer in the DMV community theater for many years. From 1998-2007 she painted countless sets for Dominion Stage. In 2004 she also painted for Foundry Theater in WDC. She joined LTA in 2015 at the encouragement of the late Roland Gomez, and has since become a WATCH award and 3 time LTA award winner. She has also painted for Aldersgate Church Community Theater since 2019. She continues to teach painting at LTA for both adults and teens as well as work on various shows painting and leading her crew.

LINDA WELLS

LINDA WELLS is a private vocal teacher/coach, working primarily with children and teens.  She has appeared in many musical theatre productions in professional and community theatres locally and elsewhere including The Music Man, Sweeney Todd, The Sound of Music, 1776, The Most Happy Fella, Side by Side by Sondheim, Brigadoon, George M!, Fiorello!, Guys and Dolls, and Godspell.  Linda is also a professional church soloist and pianist.  She was the Children’s Vocal Coach for The Little Theatre of Alexandria (LTA)’s Scrooge: The Musical, and the Musical Director for LTA’s A Christmas Carol (ten times) and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (twice); for Aldersgate Church Community Theatre’s Mulan, Jr.; and for Mount Vernon Community Children’s Theatre’s Narnia.