Meet the actOUT! Team!

Breanna MacLeod

Breanna is our current General Manager, a UW alumni with a BA in Psychology. Breanna attended the Integrated Arts program in Peterborough and spent many years backstage at high schools and community theatres working on productions such as Me and My Girl, Bye Bye Birdie, Into The Woods, Grease, Dancing at Lughnasa, Plaza Suite, Rashomon, No Exit, and more. She hopes to share her love of theatre with the children of Waterloo Region. She learned about actOUT! through her two children, joining the Board in 2016 and sitting as Chair 2020-2024.

Danika Sigvaldason

Danika Sigvaldason is a long time actOUT! participant and volunteer. She is joining us in the 2024-25 season as Stage Manager for our miniKIDS musical Frozen KIDS.

Gabriella Bell-Divincenzo

Gabriella Bell-Divincenzo is a KW-based performer, private music teacher, and director. She completed her Honours Bachelor of Music and Diploma in Opera at Wilfrid Laurier University.

Recently she has performed in various operatic and musical theatre productions. Most recently she performed as Cinderella in Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods and will be performing as Hansel in E.Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel in November 2024. Gabriella began her directing journey with actOUT in spring of 2024 with their production of Matilda Jr. and is excited to be returning to direct Into the Woods JR Fall 2024!

Helena Ciuciura, B.A., M.F.A

Helena is a KW born creative: she completed her BA in Performance Studies at the Marilyn I Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts in St. Catharines Ontario, then moved to London, England to complete her MFA in Acting. There she was in A Winter's Tale (The Globe), worked with ABBA at Mamma Mia the Party, and performed in a series of London based shows with a variety of international directors. Now back in KW she is spending large amounts of time with her doggies after choreographing Elf Jr in 2022 and Newsies JR in 2023. Helena is returning to actOUT! for our 2024-25 season as choreographer for Into The Woods JR!

Katie Kearns

Katie will be continuing with us as a Class Instructor for 2024-25.

Olga Denisova, B. Econ., B.A., MEDI

A music director, independent music instructor and vocalist, Olga holds an Advanced Diploma from School of Arts (Russia), majoring in piano, choir and conducting, as well as a B.A. with Intense Music Specialization from the University of Waterloo.

Olga has been music director of actOUT!'s performances of Beauty and the Beast JR, Fiddler on the Roof JR, and Disney's The Lion King JR and most recently The show Must Go Online and the Claw. She took the helm as director of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang JR and is presently the director of Elf The Musical JR.

Music education has always been Olga’s passion and she has taught music since 2013. She has taught at the Ontario Conservatory of Music, the Guelph Academy of Music and the KSM School of Music, to name but a few.

In addition to volunteering as Vocal Ensemble Director at Community Music School of Waterloo Region she has spent a few terms as a Choir Director Assistant in Chapel Choir and the University of Waterloo Community Choir.

Olga’s Motto:100% of Success = 10% Talent + 90% Practice

Rhys Roberts

Rhys Roberts writes obdurate poetry and plays experimental music. His work can be found in literary journals, as well as live, on occasion, and on whichever algorithm finally decides to give ‘Ambient/drone’ its day. He is currently a student at the University of Guelph.

Rhys directed the Spring Play of 2024: Marian, or the True Tale of Robin Hood.

Special Thanks

Nick Oddson and James R Noble

Stage Combat Instruction and Fight Direction

Nick and James provided our youth with their expertise and support in our first foray into Stage Combat for Marian, or the True Tale of Robin Hood in June 2024. It was a fantastic experience for our cast. We are grateful for their contributions and hope to have the opportunity to work with them again!

Past Artistic Faculty

Todd Vercoe, B.A., M.A.

Artistic Director Emeritus

A lifelong student and teacher of games, play, and theatre, Todd has instructed or lectured in games, play and drama for the Toronto Board of Education, South Korea's Inje University, and the University of Waterloo. A graduate of the York University Department of Theatre, where he studied directing and playwriting, he earned his Masters degree at Teachers College, Columbia University. He is the founding Artistic Director of Toronto's Open Mind Productions and was faculty advisor to Research for English Drama at Inje University over ten seasons. Todd was Artistic Director of actOUT! KW Children’s Drama Workshop for seven and a half years from 2017- 2024. On his retirement from actOUT! he was named Artistic Director Emeritus. Todd's directing credits include: Dark Ages Romance, The Takeover Clause, The Gray Zone, Theatre of the Film Noir and A Talent for Murder. Some of the student productions he has supervised include: Othello, West Side Story, The Crucible and The Importance of Being Ernest. With actOUT! he directed Les Misérables (School Edition), A Midsummer Nights Dream, The Tragedy of Macbeth, Sherlock Holmes, She Kills Monsters: Young Adventurers Edition, 12 Angry Jurors, The Claw, The Lottery, Newises JR, Seusical KIDS (at Elora Festival) , Willy Wonka KIDS (at Elora Festival), and many other productions. A member of the Playwright’s Guild of Canada, he wrote actOUT!’s Box: The Empathy Project. Other plays written before and after actOUT! include; The Scheme of Things, Wake Me Gently, and The Petition Against Coffee.

Alex Gouchtchina

Alex was ecstatic to join the actOUT! team and return to her passion for directing and teaching. After spending nine years at art schools in Toronto learning how to act, sing, and dance she started directing in play festivals and putting on her own shows. A student at the University of Waterloo, her love of the creative arts has never left her side. Directing Box: The Empathy Project proved her value through her ability to turn the collective creation to one of actOUT!’s first films. Alex last directed our 2023 mini-kids production of Willy Wonka KIDS.

Ankita Prakash, B.M.E., M.M.E.

Ankita was extremely excited to join the actOUT! team. She is an engineer by profession but has always had a passion for arts. Apart from work, she is pursuing her interests in dance and volunteering. Having recently moved to Canada, being part of this team has provided her an opportunity to meet new people and help give to the community. After cutting her teeth with actOUT! on The Play That Goes Wrong she stage managed Willy Wonka KIDS and is looking forward to next season.

Kessem Erez

Kessem Erez is excited to join actOUT! as the choreographer for The Wizard of Oz. Currently pursuing her studies in Community Music at Wilfrid Laurier University, Kessem is a graduate of Randolph College for the Performing Arts. Proficient in a diverse range of dance forms such as ballet, jazz, tap, and acro, she's been involved both onstage and behind the scenes. Other notable choreography credits include Legally Blonde The Musical and High School Musical: The Musical, in collaboration with Laurier Musical Theatre.

Madie Lawrence

Madie Lawrence is currently a third year student at Wilfrid Laurier University studying under the direction of Guy Few.

Madie has competed as a soloist in many competitions, and holds the title of National Gold Medalist from the Royal Conservatory of Music, as well as the 1st place award from the American Guild of Music, and is an International Music Festival and Competition Gold Medalist.

In addition to trumpet, Madie also has completed the Level 8 RCM exams for theory and piano.

Some of their most recent performance experiences include Mackenzie Music’s “The Wizard of Oz”, Laurier Musical Theatre’s “Fame”, RCM National Celebration of Excellence, and as a member of the Hannaford Youth Band, Laurier Wind Orchestra, and the National Youth Band of Canada. As part of the National Youth Band of Canada, Madeline participated in the world premiere of Cait Nishimura's new piece "Echoes of a Northern Lake".

In the past decade, Madie has performed at a number of venues around the GTA including the Meridian Arts Center (formerly the Toronto Center for the Arts), the Richmond Hill Center for the Performing Arts, Richmond Hill United Church, the Church of the Redeemer, the Maureen Forrester Recital Hall, and has recorded at CBC Recording Studios."

Yansshi Rughani, B.M.M.C.

Yansshi Rughani is a creative and communication enthusiast hailing from Mumbai, India. She completed her Bachelor's degree in Multimedia and Mass Communications, which fuelled her passion for the industry. Currently, she is pursuing a postgraduate degree in Strategic Marketing Communications at Conestoga College.

Apart from her studies, Yansshi has joined actOUT!, where she can merge her interests in drama and production. This opportunity has been an incredible experience for her, and she is grateful to pursue her passion in such a meaningful way. She is excited to explore new avenues and see where her journey takes her next.

Safety First

At actOUT! we believe in fun and games, but never without a thought to safety. Our program is designed with the safety and security of the children in our care in mind.

All games and activities are age appropriate and designed with the assurance of safe practices. Nobody wants drama with their drama.
All of actOUT!'s program staff, instructors, leaders, and volunteers 18+ must go through rigorous checks and training including a Police Vulnerable Sector Safety Check.
ActOUT's instructors and staff are all regularly certified in first aid.