2017 Director’s Bootcamp Instructors
David J. Tatu (Lighting Design), is currently with Kennesaw State University serving the Department of Dance as the Production Manager, Resident Lighting Designer and teacher of Dance Production. Previously, he was the Director of Production and Resident Lighting Designer for Atlanta Ballet. David was also the Production Stage Manager and assistant lighting designer at Ohio Ballet where he worked closely with Tony Award winning lighting designer, Thomas R. Skelton. He graduated from North Carolina School of the Arts with a BFA in Technical Direction. Learn More>>
Jon Summers (Sound Design), the 2017 Shuler Awards sound designer, has a plethora of sound designs, some award-winning, under his belt and has worked with such companies as Theatrical Outfit, Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company, Actor’s Express, and many more. He also has served as the Cobb Energy Centre’s head of audio for the past 3 years. His favorite designs include: Fly, The Rocky Horror Show, and Cotton Patch Gospel.
Kenneth Green (Choreography), originally from San Bernardino, California, graduated from the United States International University with a B.F.A. in Musical Theater Dance and an M.A. Dance from California State University Long Beach. He has been on faculty at the University of California Irvine, University of California San Diego, and Spelman College in Atlanta, where he taught jazz, tap, and choreography. Ken has produced eight choreography and teacher training videos for Statler Records and Video. He has performed with Donny Osmond, Stephanie Mills, Donna Summer and David Copperfield. His professional choreography includes Ain’t Misbehavin', Guys and Dolls, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Target Stores with Vanessa Williams, Adidas, Wendy’s Hamburgers and Walt Disney World Christmas Special. Most recently Kenneth served as casting director and diversity champion for Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, where he was responsible for identifying and maintaining talent for their global partners. Kenneth was the 2017 Shuler Awards Choreographer. Learn More>>
Leigh Ann Cannady (Music Direction) is an Atlanta native with extensive background in professional, community and educational music and theatre. She has worked as an accompanist, arranger, musical director, vocal coach and consultant for schools and theaters all over north Georgia and metro Atlanta for the last twenty years. Leigh Ann holds a degree in music education from Shorter College and is a certified K-12 music specialist as well as having completed postgraduate work in sound engineering through the Berklee School of Music in Boston. Leigh Ann has been the Musical Director of the Georgia High School Musical Theater Awards since 2013. She is the owner and Artistic Director of Forsyth Academy of Performing Arts in Cumming. Learn More>>
Lee Shiver-Cerone (Set Design) discovered his passion for theatre at the age of 7 when he played Don Gato the cat in his 4th grade play. He has been lucky enough to follow his passion through elementary school, North Springs High School and Furman University, where the philosophy was to graduate “theatre generalists”. This served Lee well, as he returned home to Atlanta and found employment with: Costume Crafters, Six Flags Over Georgia (2 years as technician and 2 seasons as performer), Costume Architects and the Arts Alliance Box Office. Lee’s designs for local theatres include costume, sets, props and lighting and have been seen at: Neighborhood Playhouse in Decatur, Dunwoody Stage Door Players, Onstage Atlanta, Georgia Perimeter College (where he spent 15 years as the technical projects manager and designed over 75 productions), The Aurora Theatre, Habima Theatre, Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre, The Gwinnett Ballet Theatre, Georgia Ensemble Theatre and The Southeastern Savoyards (now The Atlanta Lyric Theatre).
Matthew Miller (Sound Design) is no stranger to the technical arts, having literally grown up in and around television studios and production houses. He has been fortunate enough to be in many different technical environments over the past 20+ years. Whether it be thousands at concert setting in an arena, a hand full of folks in a small recording studio in someone's basement, a house of worship, or a nationally broadcasted television show seen by millions; Matthew’s standard of excellence is exactly the same. He says often, “every show is Super Bowl Sunday,” and “if we take care of the process, the product will work itself out.” He is a sought after conference clinician, music adjudicator, college classroom guest speaker, audio engineer, producer and director and worked on the 2017 Shuler Awards as an audio consultant. Outside of his freelance opportunities, Matthew spends his days as a television director at The Weather Channel, where he is currently the lead live show director for the weekday morning hours. When not working, he resides in his metro-Atlanta hometown and spends his time with friends and family, travels often, has never met good food that he did not like, and cheers on his struggling Atlanta Braves.
Maria Quintero (Makeup Design) is the manager of Norcostco Atlanta Costume as well as a professional costume designer in the Atlanta area. She graduated from the University of West Georgia summa cum laude with a BA in Theatre in 2009. After graduation, Marie quickly found work freelancing as a costume designer and stitcher working for Georgia State University, Theatre in the Square, Georgia Ensemble Theatre, Aurora Theatre, Theatrical Outfit, and her Alma Mater the University of West Georgia. In 2012, she became the costume rental manager at Norcostco and advanced to Branch Manager in 2013. She enjoys working with educational theatres, films, and photographers as well as travelling the country attending trade shows and conferences where she often teaches workshops on stage makeup.
