Musical Theater Workshop

Kathleen West has been a teaching artist with AFYP since 2017. She teaches Acting & Musical Theatre in our Summer Camp  and Saturday Showcase programs.  Throughout her teaching career, Kathleen has had the opportunity to direct her students in many plays, musicals, and musical theatre showcases. When she is not teaching, Kathleen works as a professional actor, and is currently pursuing a performance career in the DC area. Her recent credits include acting in The Mystery of Edwin Drood at the Lorton Workhouse Center and in The Little Theater of Alexandria’s The Producers.  Kathleen graduated Summa Cum Laude from George Mason University, receiving a BFA in Theatre with a concentration in Musical Theatre, and awards of excellence in both academics and performance. 

Kendall is a former AFYP student and has been a teacher with AFYP since 2013.  She is a current theater major at George Mason University.  She has choreographed for AFYP’s showcase programs and for our In-School Showcase programs for several years.  Additionally, Kendall has worked as a director and choreographer at local schools.  Her recent acting roles include Pamela in Head Over Heels, Tracy in Hairspray, Fiona in Shrek the Musical, and Mary Poppins in Mary Poppins.  At Mason’s School of Theater, Kendall has appeared in the mainstage productions Head Over Heels, Rags, Men On Boats, and Footloose.

A graduate of University of Maryland, College Park with a Bachelor of Arts in Theater and Speech Communications, Mary has been working professionally as an actor in the metropolitan Washington-area, Los Angeles, and New York since 1985. She has worked at Washington area theaters including Theater of the First Amendment, Arena Stage, Studio Theatre, and Source Theatre. Television, radio and film credits include ABC’s All My Children, Barry Levinson’s Avalon, Diesel Films’ Dracula’s Mother, the MGM/Lionsgate thriller Hit and Run, and several spots for NPR’s Morning Edition.

Mary founded AFYP in 1997, and has seen the company grow from being its only teacher with a sporadic program schedule in rented spaces to where it is today: a year-round program with a full staff, working in conjunction with Potomac Arts Academy, for which she is Associate Director.

She is a longtime member of Mason’s School of Theater faculty in the areas of Performance and Theater Education. She was named a 2013 “Teacher of Distinction” and was a 2014 TEDxGeorgeMasonU speaker (“Magic Moments: the Transformative Power of  Theater“). She previously taught at the Studio Theatre Acting Conservatory and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Her professional memberships include The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, Actor’s Equity Association, and the Educational Theatre Association.

Mary’s directing credits include An Experiment with an Air Pump and Shakespeare in Hollywood (George Mason University); Still Beating Hearts and A Godless Man (Theater of the First Amendment First Light Festival); Happy Holidays, Charlie Brown, 101 Dalmatians, It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play; Willy Wonka, Jr.; Peter Pan, Jr.; A Seussified Christmas Carol; Alice in Wonderland, Jr. (AFYP).