Faculty: William Church
Interlochen Arts Academy Instructor of Theatre Arts and Motion Picture Arts

Bill has been working with the Interlochen Arts Academy since 2005. His areas of expertise include acting, directing and acting for the camera.  M.F.A, American Repertory Theatre/Moscow Art Theatre School Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University; B.F.A. (Magna Cum Laude), Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University; Interlochen Arts Academy (class of 1989). Performed or directed in theatres from West Africa to Russia and all over the United States. Previously Education Director for the California Theatre Center. Other teaching: Drama Instructor for the New Art Center (MA); Artist in Residence for Arts in Progress (MA) and TheatreWorks (CA); Young Company Instructor for The Publick Theatre (MA). Member of Actors' Equity Association, SAG and AFTRA.

Bill's stage performance experience includes American Repertory Theatre; California Theatre Center; Hope Summer Repertory Theatre; Illinois Shakespeare Festival; Market Theatre; North Shore Music Theatre; Publick Theatre; Repertory Theatre of St. Louis; Stoneham Theatre; and the Worcester Foothills Theatre Company. On-Camera experience includes work in film, television, commercials, museum installations and industrial training videos. 


Faculty: Laura Ames Mittelstaedt
Interlochen Arts Camp Instructor of Theatre Arts

Laura received her M.F.A. from Penn State University in 2003.  Her professional acting credits include Proof (Catherine) at New Paltz Summer Repertory, A Mid-Summer Night's Dream (Helena) and King Lear (Regan) at Illinois Shakespeare Festival and Romeo and Juliet (Juliet) with the Trinity Repertory Summer Shakespeare Project in Providence, Rhode Island. 


Laura has taught Fundamentals of Acting to undergraduates at Penn State University. She currently teaches locally at the Traverse City Children's Theatre, adult acting classes at The Old Town Playhouse and as a guest artist at the Interlochen Arts Academy.


Master Class Faculty: Dr. David Montee
Interlochen Arts Academy Director of Theatre Arts Division 

Ph.D. in Theatre History and Literature, University of Kansas; M.F.A. in Acting, Wayne State University; B.F.A. in Drama Education, University of Oklahoma.  Directed and acted in over 150 stage productions; New York acting credits include work at Town Hall, Queens Theatre-in-the-Park, Tribeca Repertory Theatre and First ACT Theatre; regional acting credits include work at the Hilberry Theatre, Chamber Theatre of Boston, Boarshead Theatre and Newburyport Theatre.  Former Artistic Director of the Arts Encounter Theatre in Lansing, MI.  Performed in feature films and industrials throughout the country.  Published in Theatre History Studies, The Uncommon Reader and Teaching Theatre.

Dr. Montee has received educational awards from every institution at which he has taught in his 25 years of instruction.  He has been cited numerous times by Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers and named as a Presidential Scholars Distinguished Teacher by the U.S. Department of Education in 2001.  In 2004, he was awarded the Coca-Cola Distinguished Teacher in the Arts from the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts.  His former students from Interlochen have performed over their subsequent professional careers in leading Shakespearean roles with prestigious companies throughout the United States and internationally, including the Public Theatre’s Shakespeare in Central Park series at the Delacorte Theatre, the Acting Company, the Williamstown Theatre Festival, the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, the Seattle Repertory Theatre, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Utah Shakespeare Theatre and Royal Shakespeare Company venues in both London and Stratford. 

Faculty: Maurine K. Slaughter
Interlochen Arts Academy Chair of the Liberal Arts Division, Instructor of English
Interlochen Arts Camp Literary Director, 2008 Shakespeare Festival 

M.A.T., Oakland University; B.A. with High Distinction, Phi Beta Kappa, The University of Michigan. 2006 participant in NEH Teaching Shakespeare Institute, Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C. Participant in 2003 Project Zero "Teaching for Understanding" Institute, Harvard. Participant in NEH summer seminar, Louisiana State University. Additional graduate study through collaborative program offered by NEH and Central Michigan University. Named an Outstanding Teacher of the Year, Grand Traverse County, 1992. Sabbatical Awards, 1992 and 2005.

Guest Faculty: Justin Flagg
Interlochen Arts Academy Alumni (2001)

Justin is an Interlochen Arts Academy graduate (2001) who trained at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Scotland.  Justin relocated from London to New York in the fall.  UK credits include: How to Steal a Diamond (Vox Motus), Tales from Hollywood (Perth Theatre) and Arabian Nights (Watermill Theatre).  Justin recently made his New York debut in a new musical, The Devil and Tom Walker (Metropolitan Playhouse), and can be seen in the upcoming feature film, Death Defying Acts.  Justin is a proud member of Actors' Equity.

Return to Interlochen Theatre Workshop Home Page