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Meet the Impro Theatre Team!
Mike Rock
Artistic Director
Mike Rock has performed as a guest artist with Impro Theatre for over 5 years before joining the Main Company in January 2017. He is also a faculty member at the Impro Theatre School and has worked with the Educational Theatre Association and International Thespian Society for many years, presenting improv, acting and voice over classes at festivals and schools all over the U.S. native whose TV credits include Black-ish, The Goldbergs, Modern Family, Chelsea Lately, After Lately, The Mentalist, Monk, Conan O’Brien, Law & Order and many commercials & voiceovers. Mike’s extensive background in theatre, improv and sketch comedy includes being the former Artistic Director of Madison, WI TheatreSports and co-founding/co-producing the NYC sketch group The Bert Fershners, seen on Comedy Central, MTV, VH1 and Ch4 UK.
Leanna Dindal
Artistic Director
Leanna Dindal is a writer, performer, and musical theater choreographer from LA. She began improv training in 2008, graduated from The Second City Conservatory, and studied with Impro Theatre. She is now a member of Impro Theatre's Ensemble and is currently serving on the Artistic Director team. Leanna has taught hip hop classes to children throughout the LA area. She choreographed theTRIBE’s productions of Hair and Cabaret in San Francisco, as well as numerous Second City shows. She writes professionally for television animation (Rapunzel’s Tangled Adventure, The Wonderful World of Mickey Mouse, Firebuds).
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William Ruiz Morales
Sidney Edwards
Studio Manager
William Ruiz Morales is a Cuban creative producer and dramaturg. William has produced festivals such as Living Away in 2019 and 2020 to support and present the work of artists from his community - Cubans and the Caribbean diaspora- in New York. Moving to Miami in 2020, William worked with FUNDarte, an organization focused on producing, presenting, and promoting music, theater, dance, film, and visual arts, emphasizing Latine arts and culture. William graduated from Theater Sciences at the Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana in 2007 and completed the Research Cycle at P.A.R.T.S. in Brussels in 2016. As an artist, William has an interdisciplinary performance practice that draws for contemporary dance, theater, music, and installation funneled through his expertise as a dramaturg. Some of his recent pieces are “Derrotero” (2022) and the site-specific series “Bojeo” (2017-2021).
School Program Coordinator
Sidney Edwards is an actress (AEA), singer, dancer, and director currently based in Los Angeles, California. She has a BFA in Musical Theater from William Peace University and an MFA in Theatre Arts from the University of Louisville. She received the Distinguished Actor award at KCACTF for her performance in Miss Ida B. Wells, performed at the National Black Theatre Festival in Kirsten Greenidge's Baltimore, and toured with Missoula Children's Theater. Favorite credits include Amneris in Aida (Karamu House Theatre), Sally Bowles in Cabaret (Leggett Theatre) and Squeak in The Color Purple (Justice Theatre Project). Sidney was a teaching artist at The Cleveland Play House and now does similar work at Geffen Playhouse. She has served as theater faculty at Baldwin Wallace University, and The University of Louisville, where she was the Director of the African American Theater Program.
Board of Directors
& More Staff
Bookkeeper: Tricia Bohren
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Cheryl Faris
President
Retired/Attorney
Dan O'Connor
Founder, Vice President
Actor/Writer/Producer
Andrew Pearce
Secretary
Dreamworks, Vice President of Global Technology
Wayne Brady
Television host, comedian, actor, and singer
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Nancy J. Ehrmann
Development Director
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Cooper Bates
Entrepreneur, Small Business Owner, Writer, Producer, Actor
Michael Blaha
Law Offices of Michael R. Blaha/ Entertainment Lawyer
Juliana Gondek
University of California Los Angeles/Associate Dean
Distinguished Professor
Ted Cannon
Yard Otter Productions, President
SAG-AFTRA, Actor
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Nick Massouh
SAG-AFTRA, Actor, writer