Artistic Director

Carolyn  has been involved in theater and teaching for over 40 years. She grew up involved in her local community theatre and later studied at Lynchburg College in Virginia under a Westover Fellowship. She graduated from Fordham University with a BS in psychology and later from Pace University with a Master’s Degree in Teaching. She began her teaching at the preschool level and in Special Education. An internship with Habitat for Humanity led her to spend a year in the Mississippi Delta, where she also worked as an administrator for Head Start. Carolyn returned to the Northeast, where she originated classes and intergenerational programming for a Junior League-sponsored preschool in Connecticut. 
Upon her return to the New York area, Carolyn’s passion for theater was reignited as a vehicle for building community. She served on the board of her local Community theater and in multiple roles both on stage and off for 13 years. 
Carolyn has taught theater for preschools, elementary schools and after-school programming in Westchester Putnam and Dutchess counties.
As the Artistic Director at Pied Piper Youth Theater, Carolyn’s focus is to inspire her students to be conscientious, empathetic members of a supportive community that expands beyond the walls of the theater. Her programming includes “theatre for a purpose,” where each cast contributes to social, environmental, or local causes during the course of their production. Having two sons with developmental delays who have benefited tremendously from the arts, Carolyn strives to provide a variety of programming that includes any individual who has the desire to express themselves through the arts.  

Isabella Filosa is an actor, comedian, and director passionate about guiding the next generation of performers. Based in New York City, she graduated from Emerson College, where she studied directing and writing for stage and screen, comedic writing and performance, led a female-centered sketch comedy troupe, and hosted her award-winning radio show, Brunch Date!. Her work includes Off-Broadway performances as well as commercial and indie film appearances. Isabella also serves as writer, performer, and Creative Producer with Fresh Out the Box, an Off-Broadway comedy group at The Players Theatre in Greenwich Village. At White Pond Community Arts, she shares her experience and insights to help students develop confidence, skills, and a love for the stage.

Director 
Christine is a graduate of the SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Theatre Arts and Film and is a member of Actor's Equity.  She has enjoyed performing many roles throughout the region and has performed at the Westchester Broadway Dinner Theatre, The Broadway Theatre, Shakespeare on the Sound, American Theatre of Actors, and many more!
As a director, she has worked at Yorktown Stage, Tarrytown Music Hall, and at numerous high schools in Westchester and Fairfield counties. 
She is best known around town as Miss Chris from the Kent Public Library. 

Deanna Prekpalaj is ecstatic to be a part of the Piper family. Deanna graduated from SUNY Oneonta with a degree in Theatre and Media Studies. She has been performing for over 15 years and has always loved working here at White Pond Community Arts. After graduating college she moved to California and continued performing. Then she decided to move to Texas and start working as a middle school theatre teacher before finally returning back to New York, and back to the Piper family. Outside of theatre Deanna loves to crochet and read. 

Monica Robinson is a New York based vocal instructor with over 35 years of teaching experience. She has studios in NYC and Westchester/Putnam counties. She has taught voice classes at the Professional Performing Arts School in Manhattan, Master Classes for arts councils in Westchester County, New York, and at the University of Hartford’s Hartt School of Music, and continues to conduct her popular “Break Through!” audition workshops in Manhattan and Westchester. Her students are currently performing on Broadway, National Tours, off-Broadway, regionally, and appearing in commercials, television and movies.  Alumni include:  Laura Bell Bundy, Lea Michelle,  Scarlett Johannson and Ashley Tisdale.

Kelly is a Broadway dancer, national champion soloist, and dynamic performer whose stage credits include A Chorus Line (10 years!), 42nd Street, and Cabaret. She trained on a dance scholarship at Adelphi University and has lit up both stage and screen ever since. Her on-camera credits include And Just Like That (as the real estate agent), Law & Order (as Kelli Giddish’s stand-in), and she’s doubled for stars like Cameron Diaz. She’s also the lead dancer in The Material List, starring Dakota Johnson and Chris Evans.

Sam Bass is an award-winning actor who has been performing throughout New York and Connecticut on stage, and in experimental theater, as well as in films and television. He teaches improv in Connecticut and New York to teens and adults, and adults with disabilities. 

Musical Director 

Michael  is a native of Indianapolis with a BA from Butler University’s Jordan College of Fine Arts in Music Theory and Composition. After graduating, Michael worked as a Piano Accompanist, Choir Director, and as a Music Director/ Vocal Coach for Indianapolis’ Civic Theater. In addition, Michael served as Script-Writer and Composer for Kid Connection, an award-winning touring children’s theater company. In 2000 he moved to NYC, after being selected to be a participant in the prestigious BMI Musical Theater Workshop. Since moving to NYC, Michael has performed in numerous regional theater productions and was Accompanist for "Steps on Broadway" and the Broadway Dance Studio. Additionally Michael has worked as a Teaching Director and Performer for NYC’s ArtsConnection and the Theater Arts Workshop in Armonk. Presently, he works as an accompanist for the Musical Theater Program at City College and teaches private voice and piano locally, as well as in Manhattan. He continues to write and compose and has been published by Oxford University Press.

Allison Sanel is an actor, music director, and singer who is excited to be returning to Piper Theater! Allison has been a passionate theater artist for the past 14 years. In 2024 she graduated with a B.A. in Theater and a minor in Cinema from Binghamton University. Allison has Music Directed multiple productions including Pippin, Head Over Heels, We Will Rock You, and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Allison brings her experience in voice, music, and childhood arts education to create a meaningful and fun environment in which to learn musical theater.

Choreographer

Lexi is a choreographer, actor, director, and screenwriter based in New York. Lexi grew up training in musical theatre and dance, and in 2022 she studied at the Royal academy of dramatic art in London. In 2021/2022 she choreographed both Chicago and Directed and Choreographed Heathers at Piper Theater.  Lexi has choreographed and taught dance to students of all ages.

Joel Weber Knopf is thrilled to be joining Piper Theater this season! He is a composer/lyricist whose musical The Last Ibex was produced at the Colorado New Music Festival (Wellspring Theater) and was developed at Off-Off-Broadway Theater The Tank in New York City.  He was recently seen playing guitar in the pit in The Last Five Years (Studio Theatre in Exile) and performing in a dinner theater cabaret with Theatre in the Woods. A participant in the 2022-23 BMI musical theater workshop, Joel’s music has been featured on NPR’s The Uncertain Hour podcast. He also won a $1.7 million Creatives Build New York grant for the arts organisation Creative Muse. Before coming to New York, Joel served as music director for Agile Rascal Bicycle Touring Theater, composing music for a new environmentally themed show created as Artists-in-Residence in the Everglades. Joel holds a JD from Harvard Law but is definitely not a lawyer. @joelknopf 

Debbie Feinstein is the Founder and Artistic Director of The Actors’ Studio of Westchester which opened in 2011. There she has taught acting classes and produced and directed shows such as “Sweeney Todd”, “Pippin” and “In The Heights”. Ms. Feinstein has also taught musical theater classes at TADA!-Katonah Arts Center, Cavalier Camp at The Harvey School and Northern Westchester Center for the Arts as well as directed SummerStage at Little Village Playhouse. In New York City, Ms. Feinstein served as assistant to director Geraldine Fitzgerald at the Hudson Guild Theater. . She is a member of Actors’ Equity Association and has performed in numerous plays and musicals throughout the country. Most recently, she directed a Stephen Sondheim tribute concert at Whippoorwill Hall in Armonk, NY. Ms. Feinstein has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Drama from New York University/Tisch School of the Arts where she trained at the Stella Adler Conservatory, and has a Masters in Social Work from Columbia University. She is currently a therapist in private practice in Mount Kisco, NY.

Dance Instructor

Marie Carstens graduated from the University of Missouri-Kansas City with a BFA in Dance, received her Master of Science in Dance/Movement Therapy from Hunter College and continues to pursue her passion for expressive movement and its transformative power through the realms of dance performance as well as dance movement therapy.  As a dancer/ choreographer and therapist Marie's philosophy is that dance is a celebration of life. https://www.mbodiedartsandtherapies.com/

Dan Conniff, President

Mary Grgecic

Nicole Audia

Patricia Vetterman

Susan Dowling

Monica Chaves