CO-FOUNDER
FACULTY & MASTERCLASS TEACHERS
RAQUEL SUAREZ GROEN
Known for her “fresh and clear” sound and her versatile performances of complex characters, Raquel Suarez Groen is a force to be reckoned with on both Opera and theatre stages. Ms. Suarez-Groen made her Broadway début in the iconic role of Carlotta Giudicelli in The Phantom of the Opera which she has performed close to 1000 performances in her 2.5 years with the company, and continues to be seen nightly at The Majestic Theater.
Raquel holds a Master of Music degree and Certificate of Professional Studies in Opera Performance from the Manhattan School of Music. Additionally, she earned high honors in various vocal competitions including the Louise Peckham Todaro Award in the Florida Grand Opera/Young Patronesses of the Opera Competition 2015, and a grant from the prestigious Giulio Gari International Vocal Competition 2015. Ms. Suarez Groen was also a recent Finalist in the New York Lyric Opera Competition at Carnegie Hall 2015 and is a Full-Scholarship recipient of the International Vocal Arts Festival (IVAI) and the iSing! International Young Artist Festival 2014 & 2015. She co-wrote My Infinite Agenda which is an elegant and dynamic vision-board planner with a purpose. Check out www.myinfiniteagenda.com for more information.
www.raquelsuarez.com
DANA GUERRERO, LCSW
CO-FOUNDER
Dana Guerrero, LCSW is a Psychotherapist and Meditation/Yoga instructor who has been in private practice for over 25 years in the Greater New York Metropolitan area. She holds an undergraduate degree in Family Studies, and a Masters in Social Work from New York University (NYU) where she was trained using Object Relations and Psychodynamic Theory to understand human behavior.
Dana is a highly interactive and dynamic clinician who works with adolescence, adults, couples, and families. She utilizes a blend of mind/body techniques and practical applications to help her clients strengthen, heal, and move forward in their lives. Dana’s greatest joy is taking the deep transformative work which she conducts in the privacy of her office and bringing it to a larger, more accessible platform with Empower Voices Now.
Dana’s vision has always been to raise the consciousness of the next generation to be more secure, loving, confident and mindful as they work to reach their goals. In her free time, Dana enjoys practicing yoga & meditation, hiking in nature, stand-up paddle boarding, long distance running, and spending time with her family and puppy, Harley & Leo!
SIERRA BOGGESS
MASTERCLASS TEACHER
SIERRA BOGGESS is an Olivier nominated actress, best known world-wide not only for re-inventing the coveted role of ‘Christine Daae in Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera, but for Lord Webber himself going on record to say that “she’s the best, the best Christine certainly.” Boggess portrayed the role in the Broadway, West End, and the televised 25th Anniversary concert productions of Phantom.
Sierra made her Broadway debut as Ariel in Disney’s The Little Mermaid, receiving Drama Desk and Drama League Nominations, as well as the Broadway.com Audience Award for Favorite Female Breakthrough Performance. Her additional Broadway credits include Master Class, It Shoulda Been You, The Phantom of The Opera, and School of Rock. Boggess’ Off-Broadway credits include Love, Loss, and What I Wore and Music in the Air, alongside Kristin Chenoweth, for New York City Center’s Encores! Series. In the West End, Boggess has appeared as Fantine in Les Miserables and originated the role of Christine Daae in Love Never Dies, the critically acclaimed sequel to The Phantom of the Opera, receiving an Olivier Award Nomination for her performance
BEN CRAWFORD
MASTERCLASS TEACHER
Ben Crawford is currently starring as The Phantom in “The Phantom of the Opera” on Broadway. He was born and raised in Tucson, Arizona and received a BFA in Music Theatre from The University of Arizona.
His Broadway credits include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (Mr. Salt), the titular character in Shrek The Musical, Big Fish (Edward Bloom u/s, Don Price), Les Misérables (Javert/Valjean u/s) and On the Twentieth Century (Bruce Granit u/s). Phantom marks Ben’s sixth Broadway show and he is beyond grateful to be able to jump into this iconic role. Ben has also starred in over twenty regional theatre productions ranging from Che in Evita (Studio Tenn), Starbuck in 110 in the Shade (Ford’s Theatre), Luther Billis in South Pacific (Ogunquit Playhouse), Frederick Barrett in Titanic (MUNY) and Jud Fry in Oklahoma! (Fox Theatre).
ALI EWOLDT
COACH & MASTERCLASS TEACHER
Ali Ewolt was born outside Chicago and raised 45 minutes north of New York City in the small town of Pleasantville, Ali has loved performing for as long as she can remember. She made her Broadway debut as Cosette in the 1st Broadway Revival of Les Miserables and is currently starring as Christine in The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway.
Ali has starred as Maria in the 1st National Tour of West Side Story directed by Arthur Laurents and David Saint and played Luisa in the The Fantasticks Off-Broadway, the world’s longest running musical. She has been featured on The Michael J. Fox Show, the short film Yield and DRAMA: The Webseries and has performed at Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall and Town Hall, and across the country and world!
Ali also has a BA in Psychology from Yale University, which has proved surprisingly relevant to her career.
https://aliewoldt.com/
KALEY ANN VOORHEES
COACH & MASTERCLASS
Kaley Ann Voorhees will assume the role of Christine Daae, the innocent young soprano who becomes the object of The Phantom’s obsession in the world tour of “The Phantom of the Opera” in Tapei. Ms. Voorhees was a previous principle Christine Daae,, a role she’s played off and on for several engagements since her PHANTOM and Broadway debut in September 2014. At the age of 20, she became the youngest actress to play the role in the Broadway production. She now becomes the twenty-first actress to be cast as the Principal Christine.
Ms. Voorhees previously appeared in the original Broadway cast of Prince of Broadway, the career retrospective of PHANTOM director Harold Prince. She also performed in the musical’s world premiere in Japan and made her opera debut in Mr. Prince’s production of Candide at New York City Opera last winter. She hails from Aurora, OH and has a BFA in Musical Theatre from Point Park University.
COOPER GRODIN
ACTING COACH
Cooper Grodin is an actor, singer, musician and composer born and raised in New York City. He received his Masters Degree from the Manhattan School of Music. Title role in Phantom Of The Opera National Tour, Les Miserables National Tour, The Bands Visit Lab directed by Hal Prince, Shakespeare In The Parks Into The Woods, Annie at Paper Mill Playhouse, Carbonell nominated Best Actor in the Carbonell winning Best Musical Sunday In The Park With George, Drama Desk Nominated The Golden Land, Henry Award winning Best Musical Oklahoma! at the Denver Performing Arts Center, NBC’s The Blacklist, ABC’s Deception. Cooper’s Original album “It’s The Little Things” is available on iTunes. @CooperGrodinOfficial
DAN MICCHICHE
COACH & MASTERCLASS TEACHER
Dan Micciche is a true Wizard of the Ozdust, in his post as the current music Director/Conductor of Wicked on Broadway! He’s been with the show for 6 years and counting, including the National/International tour. For his first 6 years of living in New York, Dan started out as an actor and played Mary Sunshine in Chicago for 2000 performances on Broadway as well as the National/Asian Touring companies. He’s also performed at Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, and 54 Below. A graduate of The Boston Conservatory of Music, Dan loves meeting students and fans for coachings and classes to make them Broadway-ready!
POLLY BAIRD
DANCE COACH & MASTERCLASS
Polly Baird has been a member of the cast of Phantom of the Opera since her junior year in high school, and is the Dance Captain for the Broadway cast. She recently was on the National Tours of the Lincoln Center revival of My Fair Lady, as well as An American an in Paris. She is very passionate about helping to develop new works including: Marie, Dancing Still (most recently at Seattle’s 5th Avenue Theatre, directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman), as well as The Right Girl (recorded on Zoom in isolation, also directed by Susan Stroman).
Polly grew up in New York City, and studied for ten years at The School of American Ballet. She has a degree in Psychology and Dance from SUNY.
LAIRD MACINTOSH
ACTING COACH
Laird Mackintosh made his Broadway debut in 2011 in the role of George Banks in Mary Poppins at the New Amsterdam Theater in New York City. In 2013 he played John Utterson in the Broadway production of Wildhorn's Jekyll and Hyde. Mackintosh began his career as a dancer in the National Ballet of Canada (1990-1992).
In 1993 he joined the Toronto (LivEnt) production of Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera in the role of Porter/Marksman and subsequently went on to play the leading role of Raoul for three years and also to understudy the role of the Phantom. He performed with Toronto's Opera Atelier between 1997 and 2002. In 2002, Mackintosh joined the company of the Stratford Shakespeare Festival appearing as Freddy Eynesford-Hill in My Fair Lady. He remained with the company for eight seasons, playing many leading roles. He has also played Robert in The Drowsy Chaperone (Vancouver), Phil Davis in White Christmas (Halifax), Prince Charming in Ross Petty's Cinderella (Toronto), Gustl in The Land of Smiles and Algernon Moncrieff in Earnest, the Importance of Being (Toronto Operetta Theatre).
On August 26, 2013, Mackintosh joined the Broadway cast of The Phantom of the Opera as Monsieur Andre and understudy for the Phantom. In December of 2019, he joined the U.S. tour of My Fair Lady in the role of Henry Higgins.
JOAN LADER
GUEST TEACHER & MASTERCLASS EXPERT
Joan Lader received a special Tony Award in 2016 for her work as one of the most sought-after vocal coaches and voice therapists on Broadway. For more than thirty years, Broadway stars have looked to her to help them keep their vocal instruments in good health. However, singers of all kinds, including stars like Patti LuPone, Hugh Jackman, Sting and Madonna, among many others, have relied on her legendary expertise and advice.
In addition to her professional practice, Lader is a member of the Artistic Advisory Board for the Manhattan School of Music new Musical Theatre program and a guest lecturer at colleges and universities that include Columbia University, Pace University, Yale, The Voice Foundation in Philadelphia, The Pacific Voice Foundation in San Francisco and Berklee College of Music.
NATALIE WEISS
MASTERCLASS TEACHER
Natalie Weiss gained an international following from her performance videos and popular YouTube web series, "Breaking Down The Riffs". As a private vocal coach and master class teacher, she trains performers across the US and throughout the world. Natalie guides singers with her trademarked method to break down riffs & runs from pop icons and often refers to her mission as “Pop Singing For Dummies.”
Natalie is one of the most sought-after voices among new musical theatre writers and is a soloist on several albums by numerous new musical theatre composers. She just completed a run of the off-Broadway show, Emojiland, as Construction Worker. She is part of the vocal ensemble on the acclaimed soundtrack for The Greatest Showman, can be heard on the Original Broadway Cast recording of Dear Evan Hansen as one of the Virtual Community Voices and is one of 4 singers on the main jingles for The Incredibles 2. Other credits include Everyday Rapture on Broadway, national tours of Les Miserables and Wicked and regional productions of Ghost and Chess. Natalie received her BFA in musical theatre from Penn State University. She has plans to develop an online riff course within the next few years. For more info, visit natalieweissofficial.com. (@thenatalieweiss)
