About Us

Summer Dey Cacciagioni - Artistic Director

Summer is a longtime director and performer, with degrees in Theatre from El Camino College and Chapman University. She also has her teaching credential from Long Beach State. She is the former director of the El Segundo Jr. Drama program and has worked in many local schools, with StarLight Productions, the Metropolitan Educational Theatre Network, and has taught thousands of children all over the state. Some of her over 50 directing credits include: Les Miserables, Seussical, Into the Woods, Guys & Dolls, Peter Pan, Beauty & the Beast, Guys & Dolls, Quilters, Joseph, Grease, Annie, and Oliver! and many, many more. In her college career, she received several Meritorious Achievement Awards in both directing and producing from the American College Theatre Festival. As a performer, Summer has been in over 100 stage productions throughout California, and done international tours to both Russia & London. She is also the recipient of an Irene Ryan Nomination for excellence in acting. She is grateful every day for her entire Encore family!

Email: Summer@EncoreEntertainers.org

Jennifer DiBenedetto - Choreographer

Class Instructor: Jazz/Tap Combo I & II

Jennifer starting performing at the age of 4 as a mouse in Cinderella and from then on she could always be found on stage. At age 10, she launched her professional performing career in South Bay Civic Light Operas production of Annie. She has a Bachelors Degree from The American Music and Dramatic Academy. Jennifer has been in over one-hundred shows, among her favorite are Quilters (Daughter), Wizard of Oz (Jitterbug, Talking Tree), Titanic (Bellboy), Meet Me in St Louis (Agnes), Oklahoma (Laurey), Secret Garden (Mary) and Little Women (Meg). Right out of high school, she was fortunate enough to work as a Dancer for Huis Ten Bosch in Nagasaki, Japan. This trained her for her next dancing job, which was as a parade performer at the Happiest Place on Earth. She has choreographed ten shows in three years and loves passing on the wonderful world of theater to others.

Email: Jen@EncoreEntertainers.org

Patrick Hallahan - Director/Assistant Director

Patrick Hallahan has been a teacher and director since age sixteen. Working for the non-profit group Children's Theatre Network of California, Patrick worked on dozens of classic musicals (everything from Music Man and My Fair Lady to West Side Story and Into the Woods) to put himself through college. After graduating from UCLA's School of Theatre, Film, and Television with a BA in theatre, Patrick was accepted to The Juilliard Drama Division, where he graduated in '00.

Patrick worked as an actor in New York for six years before moving to Southern California to work as a casting associate for Lien Cowan Casting (now known as Broad-Cast), when the teaching and directing began in earnest. Since returning to California, he has worked for the Metropolitan Arts (MET2) group, Arts Northridge, AMDA in Hollywood, the Southern California Musical Theatre, and Upstage Schools, where he has done everything from directing productions, running workshops and classes, to staging showcases for graduating conservatory students.

Email: info@EncoreEntertainers.org

Mike Walker - Musical Director, Conductor, Keyboards

Mike Walker has enjoyed a long career in the entertainment field.  He has worked as a singer, pianist and actor in the United States and in Europe since 1984.  His acting experience encompasses film, television and stage.  As a musician, he has worked as a solo artist and has also backed several name acts.  Mike's credits as Musical Director include:  Footloose, Beauty And The Beast, Anything Goes, Little Shop of Horrors, The Scarlet Pimpernel, Damn Yankees, Once On This Island, Assassins, The Wiz, Batboy The Musical, and many others . Directorial credits include Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella, Gilbert & Sullivan's The Mikado and, most recently, Les Misérables.  Upcoming projects include Bye Bye Birdie, My Fair Lady, yet another production of Les Misérables (with Encore Entertainers, so don't miss it!) and Elton John and Tim Rice's Aida (directly following Les Mis, so don't miss that one, either!). Mike is a proud member of S.A.G, A.F.T.R.A. and B.M.I.

Email: pianomike@aol.com

Jessica Barron - Assistant Director & Choreographer

Jessica just recently moved back to California after attending a university in Georgia. Her favorite part of moving back though, hands down, was when Summer asked her to come and be a part of the Encore family! Jessica has taught dancing and acting all over the South Bay area since high school and has been dancing herself since she was 2. She has performed in many productions over the years, but some of her favorite roles include portraying Belle in Beauty and the Beast and playing the role of Grace Farrell in Annie. Once you get a taste of the stage there is just no going back!!! She is also currently going to school up in Hollywood to achieve her doctorate in Chiropractic; between school and Encore, Jessica thinks she has found her niche!!!

Email: info@EncoreEntertainers.org

Christian LeMay - Staff Director/Lighting Designer

Christian is very proud to be the newest ENCORE staff member. He received his Certificate in Entertainment Lighting from El Camino College, and began working as a Lighting Designer and Assistant Designer. In June, he graduated from UC Irvine with his B.A. Drama. Recent design credits: The Sweepers (International City Theater - Assistant Designer), Biloxi Blues and Frozen (The Chance Theater), Psycho Beach Party (El Camino - Associate Designer). Playwriting credits: New York, New York (UCI Playwriting Festival). Directing credits: Adaptation (El Camino), A Time for Farewells (El Camino), The Love of A Lie (UCI).

Email: info@EncoreEntertainers.org

Les Wilson - Vocal Director

Les is a graduate of Cal State Long Beach with a degree in vocal performance. He has performed with several professional music groups in his hometown of Phoenix as well as his present home in Los Angeles. Some of his credits include musical director of You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, Quilters, America 76, God's Country as well as musical revues of Guys & Dolls, Oklahoma, Fiddler on the Roof, The Music Man, and South Pacific. He is an active member of Rolling Hills Covenant Church's sanctuary choir as well as a guest soloist along with his beautiful wife Linda. Les is excited to be teaching his craft of music as well as sharing his love and experience of musical theatre.

Email: Les@EncoreEntertainers.org

Aki Onouye - Music Director

Aki studied music and earned her degree in Japan.  She has been playing the piano since she was 4 years old and has won several music competitions. She currently teaches piano, and gives private and group voice lessons. Aki also teaches rhythm and fun at a local pre-school for "mommy and me."  She has been the musical director for several different youth groups. She enjoys performing at weddings and other special occassions. She has recently been studying electronic music and enjoys composing her own pieces as a single orchestral musician. Some of her work could be heard in a production of Suessical the Musical. She really enjoys working with Summer and her own three wonderful children. She especially enjoys the opportunity to play music for them in the pit.

Email: info@EncoreEntertainers.org

Carly Persons - Production Assistant

A recent graduate of the University of California Santa Barbara, Carly is thrilled to be using her Theatre degree as the newest member of the Encore team! After many years performing in youth theater here in the South Bay, Carly now divides her time teaching, directing, and stage managing for a few local youth theater companies.

Tamra Glaser - Vocal Instructor

Class Instructor: Voice Study I and II

Tamra has performed internationally in musical theatre, opera, and in concert. She starred as "Christine Daae" opposite the legendary Sir Michael Crawford in Sir Andrew Lloyd Weber's, THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. She was also in the National Tour of CAMELOT with Richard Harris. Other favorite roles include, "Eliza" in MY FAIR LADY, "The Mistress" in EVITA, "Tuptim" in THE KING AND I, "Lilli" in CARNIVAL, "Marsinah" in KISMET, "Maria" in WEST SIDE STORY, and "Hodel" in FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. Opera performances include starring as Cio-Cio-San in MADAMA BUTTERFLY and Nedda in I PAGLIACCI. Tamra worked with renowned composer Daniel Catan in FLORENCIA EN EL AMAZONAS as "Rosalba" at the Ford Ampitheatre and was recently cast as Sondra in the West Coast Premiere of AN AMERICAN TRAGEDY (commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera) by Tobias Picker at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica. She was also founder and co-owner of the Equity TYA touring company "Storybuilders."

Mrs. Glaser is a graduate of the University of Michigan School of Music and is a member of the Screen Actor's Guild, Actor's Equity Association, and the National Association of Teachers of Singing. She is a soloist at Rolling Hills Covenant Church and resides in Torrance , California with her husband Bruce and daughters, Rebeccah and Abrianna.

Lia Abinante - Vocal Instructor

Class Instructor: Group Vocal Class

Lia Abinante graduated in 1989 with a Bachelor of Arts degree from UCLA and an emphasis in Education. Her private vocal teachers include Elaine Martin, Ellen Cooper, and the late legendary jazz artist, Dini Clarke. She has been deeply influenced by the teachings of Dr. Morton Cooper, international voice expert, and currently studies with Annette Warren Smith, known best for her voice-over work for the late Lucile Ball. Lia regularly performs in home concerts and on stage at The World Stage in Los Angeles. Lia has been a private voice instructor for over 15 years. She has developed and taught vocal classes for children and adults throughout her community. Currently, she is a vocal instructor for Haven Arts Academy in El Segundo, Encore Entertainers in Torrance and Milestone Preschool in Inglewood. Having known no greater joy than to see her students blossom, she is eternally grateful to her most supportive husband and five children for being the most powerful goad toward expanding the depth and breath of her knowledge of music and vocal performance.

Alison Schiller - Student Choreographer

Class Instructor: Jazz/Tap Combo I and Basic Movement for Boys

Alison has been performing since the age of 5 and has been part of Encore since the very beginning. While performing has been a passion, she also spent 11 years as a competitive gymnast prior to devoting her spare time to choreographing. Some of her favorite past roles include Belle (Beauty & the Beast), Peter Pan (Peter Pan) and her all-time favorite, Eponine (Les Misérables). She sings with the South Bay Children’s Choir and studies private voice with Anne Walsh as well as studying ballet, jazz and lyrical dance at Dance 1 and El Camino College. Recently Alison had the opportunity to perform with Broadway legends Sutton Foster, Adam Pascal, Anthony Rapp, Kerry Butler and Karen Olivo in Broadway Memories, a benefit concert for the Alzheimerís Association. This is Alisonís second year as an Encore Student Staff Choreographer. Although, she has been assisting with choreography for the past three years, and assisted on Safety Kids, You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown, How To Eat Like a Child, and Seussical. Last summer, she worked as the lead choreographer for Encore’s Summer Junior Drama Program production of Willy Wonka. This year, she will be working as the co-choreographer with Ms. Jen on both Joseph and Annie, as well as directing and choreographing Encore’s Charity Outreach student assembly production Safety Kids.

Marcelo Cacciagioni - Technical Director

Class Instructor: Tech Theater I and II

Marcelo has been involved in the technical side of theatre for the last 15 years. He has done tech for more shows than he can count. Marcelo spent almost 10 years in the entertainment industry working as a technician and traveling around the globe working for different rock bands, such as, Neil Diamond, Ben Harper, N Sync, Britney Spears, The Goo Goo Dolls, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and the Foo Fighters. Marcelo was also the Lighting Director for Green Day's American Idiot tour that won the Grammy Award for best new rock album! (If you want to know more you can look him up on imdb.com.) The last few years he has helped tech, run, build, design, and light shows for youth productions that his wife directed. Marcelo is truly at home in the Theatre. Marcelo is extremely excited to be a part of this great new adventure with his lovely wife!

Email: Marcelo@EncoreEntertainers.org