Author: STAGES Youth Theater

Robbie is a scientist-turned-artist currently living in Greater Portland with their wife of many years and a small fish.

Robbie worked at STAGES for several seasons in a variety of design and classroom support roles before joining the office team in late 2023. They co-directed the 2024 Acting Ensemble, and currently oversee production operations at STAGES.

Louise Ambler is a theatre maker based in Portland, ME. She frequently works as a lighting designer, but can also be seen performing, directing, devising, and stage managing.

She recently graduated from Vassar College with a degree in Theater and History. Since moving to Portland, she has designed at Mad Horse Theater and Lyric Music Theater.

She is thrilled to be at STAGES, getting to share the joy of creativity with young people!

Although Connor was never in a STAGES show, he has been in many-a-show since he was but a mere middle schooler.  He joined for the snacks, but stayed because it turns out it’s actually pretty fun.

Connor has played many roles on stage and backstage, as he tries his best to be able to do anything he’s asked of. He has a knack for playing odd characters, but can also design and put together a pretty mean set.

He’s currently a creative writing and visual arts double major at the University of Maine at Farmington, and writes a lot of scripts that will forever stay in his desk drawer. He used to be the Drama and Music program director at Ketcha Outdoors, and he is so excited to be at STAGES this summer.

Connor joined the STAGES team in 2023 as part of the front of house and box office team, and will be reprising that role, as well as co-directing the PLAYVenture daycamp programs this summer!

Alyssa Forcier is excited to be part of the Stages crew!

She graduated from The University of Southern Maine with a Bachelors Degree in Theater back in 2015. Recently she has worked with theaters in the area including Schoolhouse Arts Center, Portland Players, Lyric Music Theater, Biddeford City Theater, and Studio Theater at Portland Stage. Additional education includes Fitzmaurice Voice Work and Archetypes workshop with Josh Chenard, NMCA Michael Chekhov Training with Lisa Dalton, Camera Technique with William Steele, Vocal Training with Jackie Grigg and Joseph Hitchcock at Center Stage Vocal, Jazz Vocal Training with Taylor O’Donnell, Musical Theater Dance with Vanessa Beyland.

When she’s not busy wearing many hats in her theatrical element, she loves to explore and hike the trails of New England alongside her husband and dog Baxter Browne with their camera.

Alyssa began working at STAGES in 2024, where she is part of the PLAYVenture teaching team, and is a Teaching Artist for STAGES in the Schools, presenting workshops and other theater education programs in classrooms around southern Maine!

Maiya grew up at STAGES! She took part in many toddler classes and early childhood camp programs before graduating to the mainstage as a farm girl in OKLAHOMA, and ending her STAGES time playing Dot in SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE in 2018.

While growing up in Portland, she also performed with local theater companies including Portland Players, Lyric Music Theater, Maine Playwrights Festival, PortFringe, and Mad Horse Theatre Company. Maiya has been featured in several films made by Maine independent filmmakers, and has worked as a voice actor since age 10 with many audio drama, commercial, and audio book credits to her name.

Maiya is currently a creative writing and drama student at Bennington College, and has taken part in several field work/internships, including most recently with Florida Repertory Theatre in Fort Myers, FL. In her spare time she is a Dungeons & Dragons game master, a cos-player & make-up designer, an international music fan, and an avid video gamer.

Maiya joined the STAGES Team in 2023 as a member of the Summer Camp directing teams for kids ages 5-9. She also creates the original artwork and logos for the STAGES PET VETS program.

Beth Somerville (She/Her) has been making theater in the Portland area since 2012 when she started taking classes with Acorn Productions. She is a director, teacher, actor, and stage manager who loves nothing more than collaborative theater-making. She has recently returned home after earning her Master of Letters and Master of Fine Arts in Shakespeare and Performance from Mary Baldwin University in Staunton, Virginia.

Locally, Beth has acted and stage managed with Acorn Productions, The Maine Playwright’s Festival, and with several artists during PortFringe. She has directed several Shakespearean productions, including a recent production of Much Ado About Nothing as part of Shakespeare & Company’s 35^th Fall Festival of Shakespeare. Beth is very excited to be working with STAGES for the first time, and even more excited to share just how fun the Bard can be!”

Beth joined joined the Teaching Artist roster in 2024 and is developing and teaching a new Shakespeare program for middle school and high school students.

Alicia Fournier (she/hers) is so happy to be back at STAGES in a teaching role. She was a student here since the very early days and cherishes her memories of growing up a “STAGES kid”. She recently graduated with her early childhood education degree and is still very active in all aspects of theater. 

Alicia spent several summers after high school interning and working with our youngest summer camp students, and joined the Teaching Artist roster in 2024. She is currently teaching and directing students enrolled in STAGES programs taking place at Breakwater School in Portland.

Karly is an OG Stages student! She was in the very first STAGES production in 2007 and has been extremely fortunate to be a part of this amazing family ever since. She performed with STAGES until she graduated high school and continued to work at STAGES through college. After graduating with a degree in Theatre from Dean College she moved to New York City where she worked professionally as an actor (including a stint as a zombie nurse in an immersive theatre production) for several years before spending some time in Europe and then returning to Maine in 2018. 

She can be seen performing/directing around the Portland area now. Theatre and the arts are truly invaluable and along with teaching performance skills, gives students of all ages the power to be creative, express their emotions, learn to problem solve, work as a team, and countless other crucial life skills that will serve them long after they leave the rehearsal room. STAGES gave Karly the opportunity and experience to cultivate the passion she always had for performing/creating but had no idea what to do with. The staff members became family and the theatre became a second home. She can confidently say without STAGES her life would look very different, and feels extremely proud and grateful to still be a part of this wonderful team. It means the world that she can try to give back to today’s young artists some of what she was given. 

When she’s not involved in a production you can find Karly among the shelves of bookstores, thrift shops and flea markets, reading in cafes, or hanging out with her husband, Mike and her cat, Harper Lee. 

Karly joined the STAGES team as a student intern in 2008, and has stayed involved for over 15 years! She currently serves as a Director/Choreographer and Teaching Artist in the Musical Theater Ensemble program, and supports almost every STAGES production in various design, run crew, and front of house tasks.

Bio Coming Soon!

Robbie joined the STAGES team as a Teaching Artist in 2022, and currently is the co-director of the 2023-24 Acting Ensemble production of THE CHERRY ORCHARD. They also keep office hours on the STAGES staff where they work on production oversight and program development.

 

Allison is a figure skating coach and choreographer, a filmmaker, and an activist at the intersection of sports and the performing arts. She grew up in Maine spending most of her time on the ice, practicing for competitions and (her favorite) ice shows. But she couldn’t resist the stage and also made time to perform in musicals and stage manage for community theatre and concerts.

Moved by curiosity, Allison has dabbled in yoga, politics, crisis work, mountain biking, and beyond but youth and community development has been a thread through it all. She studied Leadership at USM with a focus on performance artists as community leaders then spent most of her 20s in New York City working with social justice activists in the wellness industry. Allison went on to coach and direct figure skating programs in Brooklyn and Harlem, getting the chance to choreograph programs for Prospect Park, Rockefeller Center, and Reebok, before finding her way back to Maine. 

She continues to sit on the Laureus: Sport for Good Leadership Council in NYC but Maine is her home and happy place. Allison loves the space to play with her dog, the community she’s found as a member of the PortFringe committee and Maine Film Association, coaching skaters aged 3-103 at the local rinks, and now teaching at Stages!

Allison joined the STAGES team in 2023. She is a Teaching Artist, co-leading The Hero’s Journey – the STAGES 2023-24 Young Performers Ensemble.