Laura is thrilled to be back at NYTE for its fabulous third year! Laura spent most of her musical theater career in various touring productions out of New York, most notably the Radio City Christmas Spectacular and 4 years with Chicago the musical. She has numerous regional credits and will soon add ‘Cabaret’ at middle Tennessee’s Studio Tenn to the list. Her favorite role is mommy to Hank and wifey to Morgan. 

DEON RIDLEY is a Musical Theatre veteran performer who has performed both on and off Broadway. His Broadway Credits includes The Lion King and A Christmas Carol starring Frank Langella at the Theatre at Madison Square Garden and the Broadway tour of Chicago the Musical ! In 2001 Deon performed with the King of Pop Michael Jackson at Madison Square Garden along with a line of celebrities including Whitney Houston, Usher, Jill Scott, Mya, Missy Elliott, Monica, Al Jerau, Deborah Cox and Gloria Gaynor for Michael Jackson's 30th Anniversary Celebration. Internationally Deon has performed in many shows internationally including Cats in Hamburg, Germany and has been featured in shows throughout Europe and Asia. On tour Deon has been seen in shows such as Damn Yankees the Musical and Fame the Musical. In 2003 Deon was featured as leading dancer and Dance Captain for Grammy Award Winning Legendary singer Celine Dion in her Las Vegas premiere show called A New Day at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas with Director Franco Dragone and Emmy award winning choreographer Mia Michaels. His most recent credits includes Guys And Dolls at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at Maltz Jupiter Theatre, the world premiere of Secondhand Lions the Musical at 5th Ave Theatre in Seattle with Emmy award winning choreographer Joshua Bergasse. Other credits include The Wiz, Spamalot, Five Guys Named Moe, The Lion King Las Vegas, Shake Rattle and Roll in Monte Carlo ,Monaco His work as a choreographer include having choreographed several music videos for recording artists in the entertainment industry and most recently Hairspray the Musical for Maltz Jupiter's Conservatory for the Arts and for events throughout Las Vegas with Marketing Entertainment Company Freestyle Xpressions choreographing for events such as opening night gala for Michael Jackson's This Is It movie Premiere at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas and will be seen as dancer for Netflix's original musical series The Get Down. Other television appearances include The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Oprah Winfrey Show ,Last Week Tonight show with John Oliver, and Westworld on HBO

Tommy is so excited to work with the students of the National Youth Theater Experience!

Select credits include-Tours: Jesus Christ Superstar [50th Anniversary Tour] (Peter), Roundabout Theater Company's Cabaret (Max/Herman, Cliff u/s), American Idiot [1st National] (Swing), A Year With Frog & Toad (Snail); Regional: Urinetown (Bobby Strong), Hairspray (Link Larkin), Grey Gardens (Joe Kennedy, Jr/Jerry), Once (Eamon), Jersey Boys (Nick Massi), The Duck Commander Musical (Jase). Thank you to NYTE for giving me an excuse to visit one of my favorite cities and my sister who lives in it!

JODY REYNARD has been performing almost non-stop for almost 35 years!! He has taught musical theatre dance classes at dance studios and educational institutions around the country. He caught the eye of the late Ann Reinking at an open audition and made his Broadway debut in Fosse, dancing featured specialties such as "From the Edge,"

"Rich Man's Frug," and the "Take Off with Us" adage. Other credits include the Broadway companies of Thoughts of a Colored Man, Summer: The Donna Summer Musical, Legally Blonde, Taboo, Saturday Night Fever and the national touring companies of Camelot, Kiss Me Kate, My Fair Lady, Memphis and Chicago. Jody has also worked as dance captain and/or assistant for Broadway choreographers Denis Jones, Josh Prince, & Alex Sanchez and

international theatre choreographer, Darren Lee. He can also be seen dancing behind six-time Tony Award winner, Audra McDonald, in the movie musical, Hello Again! Some of his favorite roles include Darren in Take Me Out, Paul in Kiss Me Kate, Happiness in Thoughts of a Colored Man, Ken in Smokey Joe's Café. Jody is also a proud Core Company Member of Quick Silver Theatre Company and instructor of dance at the Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts.

Shawna Hamic is a multifaceted artist with a body of work which spans over multiple decades. As a performer, Shawna has been seen on TV most notably as C.O. Ginger on the groundbreaking Netflix original show Orange is the New Black. Recent appearances include portraying 'Pat Ast' in Ryan Murphy's HALSTON on Netflix and 'Homegrll Tammy' on That Damn Michael Che on HBOMax. She has also been seen on such shows as Russian Doll on Netflix, The Time Travelers Wife on HBO, New Amsterdam on NBC, Bull on CBS, Watch What Happens Live on Bravo, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon & Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, also on NBC. Shawna's first major motion picture role was in the feature film Bruised starring and directed by Halle Berry on Netflix. Later this year will see the release of Shawna's first starring role as Peggy Kuntzman in the short film F$&k Truck. Shawna has performed on stages around the world and recently returned from performing the lead role of Ursula in Unfortunate: The Musical which played in London off-West End and then toured the UK for almost a year. On Broadway she played Richard Henry Lee in the gender bending revival of 1776 with Roundabout Theatre as well as touring with the show later that year. She originated the role of Mrs Dees in the musical The Last Ship, written by rock icon Sting. Sting even wrote a song to open the second act (titled Mrs Dees Rant) just for Shawna. She's toured the country as Madame Thenardier in the 25th Anniversary production of Les Miserables and as Trish in Kinky Boots. Once crowned the winner of the New York Musical Theater Festival's Next Broadway Sensation, Shawna won a solo cabaret show produced at the famed Joe's Pub in NYC. As a photographer, Shawna has been published in Time, Rolling Stone, Elle, Dance, & Arrive magazines. As a visual artist Shawna creates works called Altered Books, recycling hardback books into original works of art. You can explore Shawna's work via her website:

www.ShawnaHamic.com or connect with her via IG: @ShawnaHamic.

TODD BUONOPANE is an award winning actor, singer, cabaret artist, director and teacher. On Broadway, he starred as Jean-Michel in Cinderella, Amos in Chicago, Roger in Grease, and many characters in ...Spelling Bee. He appeared Off-Broadway in The Butter & Egg Man, Henry & Mudge, and The New Yorkers at Encores! Touring audiences have seen him in The Play That Goes Wrong, Godspell, & Chicago (which he also performed in Tokyo, Seoul and Dubai.) Regionally, he has performed at the Alliance, The Old Globe, Asolo Rep, MUNY, Signature, Pasadena Playhouse, 5th Avenue, Ordway, Papermill Playhouse, Goodspeed, Maine State, the Argyle, North Shore and Barrington. TV credits include "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt", "Grey's Anatomy", "Braindead", "Law & Order:CI", and "30 Rock" (as Weinerslav). His cabarets have sold out rooms in New York City, Los Angeles, Provincetown and even at sea! Todd is also a director, having directed productions of The Prom, Urinetown, Legally Blonde, Spelling Bee, along with the new musicals Hay Fever and Curses. As an educator, Todd currently teaches at the University of Michigan and Long Island University.

Tripp Fountain, a Colorado native, has been based out of New York City since first moving there to attend NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, where he received a BFA in Drama.

Tripp's performance career has taken him across the country and at sea, as well as on the National Tours of EVITA, CATS, and the most recent revival of HAIR, which was also his Broadway debut. Behind the table, Tripp has focused most of his time recently as a director for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, which has taken him around the globe. He has also directed productions ranging from The Fantasticks to Cabaret, from The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee to Oklahoma!. One of Tripp's favorite things is being involved in the creation of new works, where he is able to bring his energy into the room to play with new characters and stories.