Michael Wehrli, Artistic and Education Director
Michael has worked as a theatre professional since 1989. His wide ranging experience includes directing, teaching, acting, producing, and theatre administration. A graduate of Texas Christian University with a BFA in Acting & Directing, Michael has been Artistic and Education Director for New Moon Productions since its inception. He has taught over twelve thousand hours worth of workshops, summer camps, and classes to youth actors. His directing credits include over 125 plays performed in many venues in Portland, Oregon, Frankfurt Germany, and the Dallas/Fort Worth area in Texas. Also a playwright, Michael has written or adapted hundreds of plays (his ). He currently works as a theatre teacher, playwright, director, and administrator.
Pamela Stringer, Co-Founder
Pamela received her MBA in accounting from the University of North Texas and taught accounting at the University of Texas at Arlington. She has acted at many theaters in the Dallas/Fort Worth area and performed with Murder Mystery Players and Cowtown Mystery Players. She also taught drama classes at Dallas Children’s Theater, Creative Arts & Theater School, and NMP. Her one-woman show about her early life as a Beatle Maniac was performed several times in Texas. Since moving to Oregon, Pamela appeared in and in Wizard of Oz. Pamela has worked as the fiscal manager for several non-profit organizations and also sees clients on a consulting basis. She is the co-founder of NMP and continues on as a consultant.
Sara Kennedy Adams, Instructor, Program Consultant
Sara received her BA in Theatre Arts at Southern Oregon University. She is the principal and owner of . She has also been a theatre instructor for Oregon Children’s Theatre, and New Moon Productions. Sara has directed several variety/talent shows and has written original scripts for public schools in the Portland area, as well as directed plays at Multnomah Arts Center through a partnership between New Moon Productions and Portland Parks & Recreation. Sara has sung in various choirs and performed as the lead vocalist in a jazz band, Whetsell Adams. She strives to demonstrate how theatre can expand children’s self-confidence and imagination; improve their vocalization, physicality, creativity, and ability to improvise, meet deadlines, and work as a team all the while inspiring them to use these skills in their day-to-day lives. Rosalind has worked with NMP off and on since 2003.
Rosalind Fell, Program Consultant
Rosalind grew up in England and went on to work as a jazz dancer and actress in theatre and television in London. She performed at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, as well as many other venues in and around London. She has appeared in many BBC productions for television including Eastenders, Silent Witness and Waking the Dead as well as industrial videos for their training department. She currently is a dance instructor at Northwest Academy in Portland. Her choreography credits include Jungle Book, Seussical and Alice in Wonderland and theatre credits include work at New Moon Productions, Lakewood Theatre, and Quintessence Theatre. Rosalind has taught theatre and dance Spotlight Theatre Arts School. Rosalind has worked with NMP off and on since 2008.
INSTRUCTORS, Past and Present:
Akitora Ishii, Instructor
Akitora Ishii is an Actor, Educator, and Technician based in Portland, OR. He received his Bachelor’s in Theatre Arts from Portland State University and completed PETE’s year-long Institute for Contemporary Performance program. Onstage he has worked with local companies such as Shaking the Tree and Third Rail Repertory, and regularly works as a production technician at CoHo Productions. As an educator, he has taught with Portland Playhouse for both their theatre summer camp and the Fall Festival of Shakespeare, as well as with companies like Acting for Kids and Teens and the Music Box Creative Arts Studio. He is excited to join the team at New Moon Productions in using the tools of theatre and ensemble to help kids develop a sense of community and cultivate their own self-expression.
Amber Gotlib (Green), Instructor
Amber is thrilled to be included in the roster of talented theatre teachers at New Moon Productions. Classically trained as a dancer, singer, and actor with a BA in Acting and Performance from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, WA, she has performed internationally and up and down the West Coast for over twenty years. Some of her favorite roles have been Mrs. Peacock in Clue (Experience Theatre Project), Callie Pax in Stop Kiss (Seoul Players), and Effie Perrin in Maltese Falcon (Lakewood Theatre). Amber returned to Oregon in 2019 after spending a decade in South Korea, living out numerous dreams while also teaching English and Drama. She was Board Member, Artistic Associate, Producer, Director, and Actor with the English Speaking Expat Theater, Seoul Players. She was lead singer of several rock bands, femme fatale in NJ Calder’s indie movie Fear Eats the Seoul, Assistant Director for Seoul Film Club, and worked as a voice-over artist for animation, educational videos, and commercials. Amber is excited to be able to share her love of acting, play, and performance with students with the belief that story telling and art are vital to a healthy community and an amazing way to unite people from all walks of life.
Amy LaRosa, Instructor
Amy has been teaching theater since 1994. She graduated from the University of Southern Maine with a major in theater and a minor in music. She was a company member of The Theater Project in Brunswick, Maine where she both taught and performed and taught theater and music for Bar Harbor Maine’s Summer Festival of the Arts. Her love of rainy nights brought her to Seattle where she taught for Youth Theatre Northwest, Seattle Pubic Schools and performed with Live Girls! Theater. Her husband brought her to Portland where she now teaches and directs for New Moon Productions, Portland Public Schools, and Oregon Children’s Theater.
Chelsie Thomas, Instructor
Chelsie received her Master of Arts in Teaching Theatre at Concordia University, and her Bachelor of Arts in Theatre at Southern Oregon University. Chelsie is a local actor, who has worked with companies such as: Well Arts, Sojourn Theatre, and Curious Comedy. Chelsie is currently a teacher at Oregon Children’s Theatre, and a substitute teacher for Portland and Beaverton Public Schools. Chelsie has also worked for Northwest Children’s Theatre, Growing Seeds, Maverick MainStage, as well as directed a one act for Wilson High School. Chelsie won Portland Metro Parent’s Best Acting Teacher ( for the pint size) for 2015.
Danielle Pecoff, Instructor
Danielle is a graduate of Southern Oregon University’s Theater Arts program. She has worked on a variety of projects as an actor, singer, dancer and director. Her credits include Lisa Morrison in Collected Stories, Percy Talbott in The Spitfire Grill, and Lt. Cdr. JoAnne Galloway in A Few Good Men. She holds a Master of Arts in Teaching from SOU and works as a teaching artist.
Dug Martell, Tech Theater, Instructor
Dug has been involved in the Portland performing arts scene for over two decades. He has worked with New Moon since 2005. Dug continues to work as an actor, director, sound tech, master rigger, and producer. He is currently the lead technician at the Chapel Theatre and an electrician at Portland Center Stage.
Jody Read, Assisting Instructor, Costumer & Prop Master
Jody is an interdisciplinary artist whose current interests lie in amplifying the absurd nature of modern societal expectations and encouraging audiences towards action via immersive theatrical performance, clown as protest, and surrealist graphic art. She has a vested interest in the ways in which theatre making can be made more ethical for performers, designers, technicians, and audiences alike. Jody often finds himself balancing a love for intense theatrical spectacle with a want for art that allows participants to process its message. Some of their recent work includes her original play Exemplar which was co-produced and co-directed with collaborator L Stevens for Fertile Grounds Festival of New Works 2025; acting roles in the plays of Mikki Gillette; and creating visual works as Uncomfortable Nonsense. Jody is excited to teach kids with New Moon Productions, along with doing intensive training with the Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble (PETE) as a member of ICP.
Gabrielle Bosso, Instructor
Gabrielle (Gabby) has been working as an actor and theater educator in the Portland area since graduating from PSU Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor’s degree in Theater Arts. Her studies emphasized movement, acting, and voice. Acting has been Gabrielle’s passion since she was young, and she has done several short films and professional productions since graduating. She was most recently seen as a Fairy in Theatre Berk’s Production of Midsummer Night’s Dream. She has been teaching after-school acting and musical theater through New Moon Productions at Llewelyn and Cottonwood schools. She teaches Theater, Musical Theater, Vocal Technique, Improvisation and The Music Box. With New Moon, she has also choreographed and been an assistant director. She loves to dance and study movement, focusing on modern techniques and growing her classical skill.
Kristen Pechacek, Instructor
Kristen has been teaching, performing, and choreographing for over 20 years. Raised in the Midwest, she obtained her Bachelor’s in Theatre from Truman State University in Missouri before heading to New York City where she performed Off-Broadway. She followed this up with a move to Los Angeles where she acted professionally, was a motion-capture artist for several animated television series, and taught theatre and dance. It was at this point Kristen fell in love with arts education – leading to 10 years as a high school drama instructor in LA. Kristen now brings that same energy and passion to Portland where she teaches theatre, music, and dance at several studios and choreographs for Oregon Children’s Theatre.
LeeAnn Ducker, Instructor
LeeAnn completed her MA in Theatre this last spring at Texas Woman’s University where she also received her BA in Theatre with an emphasis in Acting and Directing. She has a lifelong relationship with theatre began her journey with classes and summer camps growing up. She started teaching with Ludlam Dramatics as part of her high school internship and was hired on as an instructor shortly after graduating. She spent the bulk of her college career teaching extracurricular and afterschool theatre classes at various schools around North Texas. Outside of teaching she works as an actor, stage manager, and aspiring director.
Lindsay Spear, Instructor
Lindsay is an actor, writer, director, and Portland native. A graduate of Western Oregon University’s (WOU) acting program (BFA), she has been involved with theatre her whole life. She has worked with Northwest Children’s Theater (NWCT), Staged!, Enlightened Theatrics, Portal Theatre, and Stumptown Stages. Lindsay’s passion for directing and teaching started when she assistant directed a devised show (Why Cross Chaos) at WOU. She has worked as a music director at Blanchet Catholic School, and is currently teaching with Spotlight Musical Theatre Academy, and NWCT. She has toured a show that she devised and wrote music for, in various Fringe Festivals all over the world including Scotland and Canada. Her passion for theatre started when she was 3 years old, and she is excited to encourage that passion in other young performers with New Moon Productions.
Maya Galvin, Assisting Instructor
Maya holds a BA in Theatre Arts from Reed College with a focus on directing and producing innovative theatre that challenges the status quo. She wrote her senior thesis on subversive casting practices regarding race and gender and directed a production of Mindy Kaling and Brenda Withers’ Matt & Ben as a practical exploration of this concept. In addition to directing, she has acted in numerous productions – both in her hometown of Santa Cruz, CA and here in Portland – and has led community workshops in performance devising. She is inspired to share her love of performing arts with her students, whom she leads with empathy while encouraging curiosity and collaboration.
Megan Haynes, Instructor
Megan is an actor and costumer in Portland, Oregon. Originally from West Virginia, she received her BA in Theatre from Miami University of Ohio in 2015, where she worked in the theatre department’s costume shop for nearly four years, creating costumes for five (or more!) productions each year. She also received a Certificate of Acting from Portland Actors Conservatory in 2018. Her work can be seen throughout the Portland metro area. Recently, she designed costumes for Kryptic Films’ production of The Most Massive Woman Wins, and she can be seen performing this August in Oregon Adventure Theatre’s As You Like It.
Molly Gilbert, Instructor
Molly is a teaching Artist, Actor, and Director, specializing in Ensemble-Devised creation, Shakespeare, and K-8 Education. She received a Bachelor’s in Theatre Arts from the University of San Diego, and founded Student Lab Theatre still in existence today. Molly received a Masters in Theatre Education from Emerson College, focusing on Applied Theatre, Theatre for Young Audiences, and Voice Work. She has trained extensively with Shakespeare and Company in Lenox, MA, and was trained in the Linklater Voice technique. As an actor in the Bay Area, Molly was a member of the Ragged Wing Ensemble of Oakland, CA where she performed in and co-created multiple devised shows, and also taught with their High School program. Most recently she Co-Directed an original production called The Fear Project with Open Theatre Project. Now back in the great Northwest where she is teaching with New Moon Productions, Northwest Children’s Theatre & School as well as Oregon Children’s Theatre.
Myriel Meissner, Instructor
Myriel is an educator, director and performer with a broad background in Children’s Theatre. She received her B.A. in Theatre from Lewis and Clark College and continued her education at The Institute for Contemporary Performance, where she received extensive training in experimental composition methods, Suzuki, Viewpoints and Clowning practices. As an educator, Myriel has previously worked with the Oregon Children’s Theatre and as a summer teacher at Cole’s International Preschool and Kindergarden (Innsbruck, AUT). Since 2013, Myriel has worked as a teaching assistant and tutor at Lewis and Clark College, where she also taught the German Conversation Class in Spring 2015. Myriel is an accomplished classical guitarist, three time winner of the Austrian music competition Prima La Musica and receiver of the Evan’s Music Performance Scholarship. In her free time she enjoys to hike, ski and dance.
Sam Schultz, Instructor
Sam received his BA in Theatre Performance from Western Washington University. After college he moved back to the Portland area to pursue acting and teaching. Sam has performed with various companies throughout the Portland area including Experience Theatre, Broadway Rose, and Lakewood Theatre Company. Sam is also a classically trained singer and works as a voice and acting teacher. He has works for Spotlight Musical Theatre Academy as well as teaching private lessons. Theatre changed Sam’s life, and he is passionate in sharing that with people of all ages. He firmly believes that what a student learns about performing is not nearly as important as what they learn about themselves in the process.
Sarah Pitz, Instructor
Sarah is ecstatic, to be teaching theatre at New Moon Productions. She earned her BFA in Theatre from Western Oregon University (2022) and her Master’s in Cinema and Media Studies from NYU(2025). With experience as an actor, stage manager, and producer, Sarah brings a well-rounded perspective to the classroom. She loves working with kids and believes theatre should be fun, welcoming, and a place where every student can grow in confidence and creativity.
Sophie Schoenfeld, Instructor
Sophie has been working with New Moon for several years, starting as an intern, then moving up to teaching and assistant director positions. She is a graduate of Emerson College in Boston where she studied screenwriting and media theory. She has been acting on the stage since age seven, and is involved with many short films at her college both behind and in front of the camera, including TV studio work and voice acting.
