Kristin Vandenberg- Technical Theatre

Kristin Vandenberg is originally from Tallahassee Florida where she graduated from Florida State University with a BFA in Technical Theatre – Lighting Design. After college she worked in regional theatre and national tours until beginning to work as the Production Coordinator / Operations Manager running all crews and coordinating all scheduling for a 12,000 seat arena complex in Tallahassee. After almost 20 years there, she and her husband and four children moved to Austin five and a half years ago to handle the grand opening of the Performing Arts Center at Texas State University where she worked until deciding to move into secondary education at McCallum. She is very excited to be spearheading the Technical Theatre program at the Fine Arts Academy and wants to thank her husband for supporting this surprising change in career paths!

Bonnie Brookby - Performance Theatre

Bonnie holds a BA in Theatre from Trinity University with concentrations in Acting/Directing and Theatre History/Dramatic Literature. She also holds an MA in Teaching from Trinity and an MFA in Theatre from UT Austin with an emphasis in community-based theatre, youth theatre, and applied theatre. Passionate about educational theatre, she has taught and directed in Texas middle and high schools for over a decade, including six years at Tom C. Clark High School in San Antonio, where she served as director of the Theatre Arts department. Bonnie has also served as director of several community-based non-profit youth programs, including Teatro Alas at Say Si in San Antonio and Changing Lives Youth Theatre Ensemble at SafePlace in Austin. Her directing credits include: The Crucible, Twelfth Night, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Rhinoceros, Dancing at Lughnasa, Bye Bye Birdie, A Clearing in the Woods, The Diviners, The Sound of Music, Oklahoma, Antigone, and She Kills Monsters. This is Bonnie’s third year on the McCallum Fine Arts Academy team and she is honored to be a part of it.

Robert Carrasco - Performance Theatre

Robert joins the McCallum Fine Arts team with a diverse career as a professional musical theatre performer, opera tenor, classical concert soloist, choral singer, stage & music director, movement & stage combat choreographer, and a highly trained vocal instructor. He earned a BM in Music Education-Vocal from Chapman University and was awarded a Graduate Fellowship at the University of Illinois at Champaign/Urbana where he worked on a MM in Voice Performance. He’s trained in Estill Voice (Levels 1 & 2), Holistic Vocology and learned vocal pedagogy under Tom Burke. Inspired by his sister Roxane Carrasco (B’Way- Chicago) and with no formal theatre training, he spent eight years living in NYC pursuing an ultimately successful musical theatre career. After NYC, he moved to Kauai, HI where he worked with the Kauai Performing Arts Center program as director for four area schools and as the interim KPAC Head Director. Since relocating to Austin, TX, he has helped singers, actors, dancers and public speakers successfully audition for prestigious universities, regional theatres, Zach Theatre main stage productions and PPC programs, the Heller Awards Select Ensemble, and placement in the Lamar Middle School and McCallum Fine Arts Academies. Robert served as an adjudicator for the Heller Awards (formerly known as GAHSMTA), taught stage combat with the Texas Arts Project, and was the summer camp coordinator, guest stage & musical director, and musical theatre voice teacher for the Triple Threat Pre-Professional Program at TexARTS in Lakeway, TX. Last year, as the Theatre Arts teacher at Bedichek MS, he guided his cast to advance to the UIL One-Act Play Contest district finals and was honored as an AISD Teacher of Promise. Favorite credits include: The Drowsy Chaperone National Tour (Aldolpho); Shrek The Musical (Shrek); [Title of Show] (Hunter); Avenue Q (Gary Coleman); Miss Saigon (Chris); Les Miserables (Javert); The Barber of Seville (Count Almaviva) in Europe; The Elixir of Love (Nemorino); Los Angeles Opera Chorus (1st tenor) with Placido Domingo.

Natalie Uehara- Musical Theatre Dance

After earning a BFA in dance from Marymount Manhattan College in NYC, Natalie danced professionally at theme parks and on international cruise lines for many years. During her time in NYC and beyond, she trained and worked under some of the most prestigious names in the Musical Theatre industry, including Ann Reinking, Chet Walker and Gregory Hines. Natalie relocated to Austin in 2016 from Honolulu, HI where she was the director of Castle DanceForce for over 8 years. There she worked hard to develop and expand the dance department at the internationally recognized Castle Performing Arts Center (CPAC). Furthermore, she was the resident choreographer for CPAC, working on at least 4 musical productions per year. For 10 plus years, she directed theatre education programs and choreographed shows at Diamond Head Theatre, most recently, the Hawaii premiere of Matilda in 2019. In 2010, she won a Hawaii State Theatre Council award for choreography for her work on the Hawaii premiere of the musical, Zombie Prom. At McCallum Fine Arts Academy, she is a Dance Director and Resident Choreographer for MAC Theatre. She has received multiple nominations for the Heller Awards (Greater Austin High School Musical Theatre Awards), winning the award for best choreography in 2019 for 42nd Street. Additionally, she is the Musical Theatre Director for Dance Discovery & Avery Ranch Dance and co-choreographer for the AISD Summer Theatre Series. Natalie is married to Chris and together they have two beautiful children, Kobe & Giabella.