MARIANA PETERSEN
Mariana relocated to Minneapolis after living in Los Angeles and Buenos Aires. She completed her studies as a musician (piano and voice) at the Conservatory of Music of Buenos Aires and dance (jazz and ballet) at the Instituto Universitario Nacional de Arte. She has taught piano, dance, English, Spanish, and theater to children and adults. She was a bilingual musical theater performer in the children’s theater company “The Performers” and toured around Latin America in recent years. She also works as a Spanish teacher for “Chispa Language Services”, as a theater coach for “Hollywood Academy of Performing Arts”, and as a dance instructor for “Heart of Dance MN”. Mariana loves teaching and is thrilled to bring her knowledge and enthusiasm to the team!

TYLER ELISASON

Ashland Productions: Heathers, Guys and Dolls. Bunce Performing Arts: Newsies. Prior Lake Players: 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. River Valley Theatre Company: Shrek. Hometown: Bloomington, MN. Occupation: Music/Choir Teacher at United Christian Academy. Education: Bachelor of Music in Vocal Music Education, Concordia College- Moorhead, MN. Theatre Scholar at Concordia and did 2 shows a year during my time at Concordia. I switch from Directing to Acting and to Music Directing for my school and theaters in the area. I’ve also done Choreography for a few productions as well.

MARION ALVET BANGOURA
is going into their third year at Augsburg university; studying theater with a concentration in dramaturgy, playwriting, and directing. With that being said, their true passion resides on the stage. They’ve been a professional actor since age 19 and has/continues to find a lot of fulfillment though it. They aim to use their experience and education to be become a full time theater educator in the future. All in all, they really enjoy the collaborative aspect of theater and hopes to continue to find new ways to create art.

CORTNEY GILLIAM
(she/her) was born and raised in Dallas, Texas and holds a B.F.A. in Theatre Arts from Howard University. She has enjoyed fellowships at AT&T Performing Arts Center, Children’s Theatre Company, and Ordway Center for the Performing Arts. Outside of performing arts, she loves painting, making purses and candles, pyrography, and digital design.