Performers Theatre Workshop

HOWARD KRAVITZ (Artistic Director) received his BS at the Juilliard School of Music and his MA and Six-year Level degrees from Columbia University. He is certified in the state of New Jersey in both Supervision and Administration. Howard was a teacher and Director of Music in New Jersey public schools for 35 years. He left the public school system in 1992 so he could devote full time to PTW, which continued to expand in both enrollment size and course offerings. Howard's musical compositions and arrangements have been performed worldwide by such notables as Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie, Quincy Jones, and Phil Woods. He has also written arrangements for WABC-TV and the Arlene Francis Show. Howard still writes special arrangements for PTW students, classes, and group performances—all custom-styled for the needs of the individual performers and groups.

DEAN KRAVITZ (Music Director) began his studies at age five on the violin and added piano at age seven. After his piano debut at Carnegie Recital Hall at age 15, Dean studied violin, piano, composition, and scoring at the Eastman School of Music where he won the Duke Ellington Award for Outstanding Arranging and Composition. He graduated with honors from Yale University where he studied Orchestration with Jacob Druckman. Dean has written for several cartoons on Nickelodeon's "Nick Jr.", as well as for a major release motion picture, Congressman. Since starting Dean Kravitz Music (DKM), Dean has been writing for major advertising agencies in NY, Boston, Dallas, and California. Dean has been an active instructor, arranger and director with PTW since 1984. This year he has developed and will be teaching new classes in Music & Computers, Music Appreciation, and Composition at PTW.

RANDY ELMAN (Dance Director) made her stage debut at age three in the Catskills. At age five, she began studying dance and appeared in the role of Baby June in Gypsy when she was eight. At age fifteen, she became a choreographer in the "Bits of Hits" productions at the JCC in West Orange. She was co-choreographer and performer in the Young and Gifted Training Program for aspiring professionals in the Performers Showcase Cafe Company for four years. Randy graduated Montclair State with a degree in Speech Pathology and Audiology. She appeared in the leading role of Ruby in Dames at Sea at Center Stage Dinner Theatre. In 1984 she joined Performers Theatre Workshop as an instructor, teaching Voice Technique and dance.

PETER SLUTSKER (Instructor) was featured in the Broadway and national companies of Showboat, directed by Hal Prince, Stardust, and Tintypes, directed by Jerry Zaks. He created roles in Sunset Boulevard, directed by Trevor Nunn, Singin' in the Rain, directed by Twyla Tharp, and On Your Toes, directed by George Abbott. His Off-Broadway credits include The Cocoanuts at AJT, No Way to Treat a Lady at Hudson Guild, directed by Jack Hofsiss, and Greencard at Ensemble Studio Theatre. Among the items on his regional theatre resumé are John Patrick Shanley's Italian-American Reconciliation at the Cleveland Playhouse, Animal Crackers at the Huntington and Alliance Theatres, Butterfly at the Goodspeed, and Groucho: A Life in Review, La Mirada (DramaLogue Award), and Ugly Duckling at the Bay Street Theatre. He has guest starred on Murphy Brown, Picket Fences, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Knott's Landing, Law and Order, and several movies of the week. Peter may currently be seen in the feature Direct Hit on HBO and Cinemax. He has performed with Peter Nero, conducting several Pops orchestras. As a member of the Manhattan Rhythm Kings, Peter toured extensively with Tommy Tune throughout the Caribbean, to Tahiti and South America, and on Broadway. He is a concert pianist with his degree from the University of Michigan.

BARBARA HOON (Instructor) Barbara is a Juilliard graduate and former member of The Twayla Tharp Dance Company. Her many credits include Broadway's "Singin' In The Rain", "Jerome Robbins' Broadway", the feature film "Amadeus", and appearances on the CBS network hit "Picket Fences". Barbara has been an instructor at PTW since 1995.

JOHN GELLERT (Instructor) Jonathan is very excited to be returning to PTW this fall. He just completed a run Off-Broadway in the hit comedy, "Grandma Sylvia's Funeral". He also recently performed with Michael Cerveris and Brian D'arcy James in a workshop of the new musical "Joe", set to debut Off-Broadway this Fall. Jonathan has performed regionally at such theaters as Syracuse Stage, The Palace Theater in Cleveland and the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Tampa Florida. He holds a BFA in Acting/Directing from Syracuse University and an MA in Theater Education from Emerson College. Jonathan has been teaching theater and directing productions for over ten years at such places as Brookline High School, The Hernandez School, French Woods Festival of the Performing Arts and Emerson College. He has directed more than 40 productions with young people and is currently writing a book on group play creation for high schools. He is a certified teacher of Theater Arts as well as a member of Actors Equity Association and the Screen Actors Guild.

MARY SAIT (Instructor) is a graduate of perhaps the most distinguished drama school in the country, the Yale Graduate School of Drama, where she performed in over 30 productions. Her performances there included Hanna in "Night of the Iguana", Celia in "As You Like It", Margret in "Richard the Third" and The Fool in "King Lear". Mary has worked in regional theaters across the country. Some of her favorite roles were Desdemona in "Othello", Miss Alice in the musical "Christy", soloist in "Jacques Brel", and Varya in "The Cherry Orchard". She has taught acting in Japan, has done numerous television commercials such as Shop-Rite, Ponds, Budweiser, and Sleepy's, and also appeared in the ABC Daytime Soap "Loving". She is a member of the AEA, AFTRA and the Screen Actors Guild.