Academy Teachers
Trevor Barrette (he/him)
Academy Workshops
Trevor Barrette is a queer theatre maker, actor, director, stage manager, writer/composer, and teacher based in Tio'tia:ke (Montreal). Upon graduating from John Abbott College, he founded the award-winning KaleidoscopeMTL, for which he directed their ten productions, including several of his original works and the Fringe hits: Captain Aurora, Captain Aurora II: A New Dawn, and Memento Mori. As a performer, he has had the pleasure of performing with the National Arts Centre, the Segal Centre, Centaur Theatre, Repercussion Theatre, Geordie Productions, and Scapegoat Carnivale, among others. He has directed the Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre's The Sages of Chelm and The Great Divide and recently assistant directed Les Belles-Sœurs at the Stratford Festival. Trevor has proudly served his community as President of the Montreal English Theatre Awards and Vice President of the Quebec Drama Federation. Trevor has been working with Academy students for many years and created their Musical Theatre Creation course.
Erin Berger (she/her)
Broadway Stars
Erin is a Montreal-based performer, voice teacher, and performing arts educator, equally at home in both musical theatre and opera. Her performing career has taken her across Canada, the United States, and Europe. She holds a Master of Music (Opera and Voice) and a Bachelor of Music (Voice Performance) from McGill University’s Schulich School of Music, and has been teaching the performing arts to students of all ages since 2007. Erin has worked as a voice teacher and musical director for Stagecoach Performing Arts, Hudson Theatre Works, and the West Island Theatre Association (WISTA). She works closely with Overture with the Arts (OWTA) through various workshops, and is the musical director for their summer Musical Theatre Camp program. Erin is thrilled to be returning to the Academy for a fourth year!
Aaron Delaney (he/him)
Broadway Stars
Aaron Delaney is a director, musician, and stage manager, who is currently based in Montreal (Tiohtá:ke), originally from Calgary, Alberta. Aaron found a passion for the arts through high school theatre and chose to pursue theatre professionally in Montreal whilst also studying for a BFA in Concordia University's Performance Creation program. Recent credits include: Rocky Horror Picture Show (Co-Director, 2023), and Cornflake (Stage Manager, 2024), Into the Woods (Music Director, 2024), and La Vida Es Sueno (Stage Manager, 2024). Aaron is thrilled to be working with the Segal Academy this year.
Natalie Demmon (she/her)
Broadway Stars
Natalie Demmon is a performer, singer, designer, director, and all-around theatre lover based in Montreal. They hold a Bachelor of Arts Double Honours in Music and Drama from Bishop’s University, where she studied all aspects of theatre and trained in classical voice. Natalie is an avid musical theatre lover and performer who loves to find the magic of storytelling through song. They have been fortunate enough to share this love of storytelling both on stage and in the classroom. This past Montreal season, she starred as Cinderella in CSLDS’ production of Into the Woods, and directed Once Upon a Mattress with the Segal Academy Broadway Stars 6 class. They are beyond thrilled to return to the Academy to bring two new shows to life with students, The Pirates of Penzance Jr. (BStars 6) and The Drowsy Chaperone Jr. (BStars 7).
Laurie Dumont-Bal (she/her)
Broadway Stars
Laurie Dumont-Bal is a bilingual performer, director, writer, and theatre teacher. She is a Performance Creation graduate from Concordia University (Theatre Department, BFA with Distinction) as well as an Acting graduate from John Abbott College’s Professional Theatre program. Her continuous love of storytelling inspires her work as a theatre teacher for children, teenagers, and adults across Montreal. When she isn’t teaching, Laurie is a playback theatre performer with Promito Playback, a form of improvisation in which audience members are invited to share personal stories and watch the performers play these stories back on the spot. Laurie is overjoyed to be returning for her fourth year with the Segal Academy!
Zoe DuPont-Foisy (she/her)
Broadway Stars
Zoe is a versatile Montreal pianist, singer, conductor, and composer/arranger. She has a Bachelor of Music in Performance (voice) and a Master in Conducting from McGill University. As a singer, she was a member of the McGill Opera and the Université de Montréal Musical Theater Company. From 2013 to 2017, she was the musical and artistic director of the Phoenix Musical Company. Her accomplishments as a pianist/musical director include Wicked, Once Upon a Mattress, Beauty and the Beast, The Wedding Singer, Next to Normal, the Quebec Musical Theatre Festival, Shrek, The Wizard of Oz, Rent, as well as several children's musicals she has composed. She currently conducts the South Shore Children's Chorus. Zoe is also a piano and voice teacher. Zoe has been working with the Academy for many years!
Michelle Heisler (she/her)
YAYA
Michelle’s performance career has taken her across Canada, the United States, and Europe. A graduate of McGill University and the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York City, she has worked on the stage, and on the big and small screens in English, French, and Yiddish. She played opposite Fyvush Finkel in Fineman’s Dictionary (Place des Arts, Montreal), and appeared in Nikila Cole’s award-winning NFB short, My Father Joe. She has lent her voice to such cartoons as Caillou, Mona the Vampire, Arthur, and Miss Mallard Mysteries (Cinar). Michelle expanded her career into the realm of directing at the Segal Centre for the Performing Arts where she worked alongside former Artistic Director, Bryna Wasserman. Their production of No More Raisins, No More Almonds, was the recipient of the 2010 Virginia Beach CAB Award (Communities Against Bigotry). In 2017, she directed her first DWYT production of A Bintel Brief. She has also toured as lead singer of the klezmer-funk band, Magillah. Michelle continues her work at the Segal Centre today as a teacher and director for the YAYA program. In 2017, she earned a Master in teaching and learning and is currently a Drama, English, and Ethics teacher at Miss Edgar’s and Miss Cramp’s School. Michelle has been working with Academy students for over 14 years!
Eric Elliot Lee (he/him)
Broadway Stars, Broadway & Beyond
Eric is an up-and-coming musical theatre composer, lyricist, music director, and actor. Originally from Waterloo, Ontario, Eric has worked with dozens of companies including The Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre, Contact Theatre, the Côte St-Luc Dramatic Society, and Penumbra Theatre. He loves working with kids and has helped to put on over a dozen Segal academy shows over the last few years. Eric has a BFA in Music specializing in Composition from Concordia University and has studied the art of musical theatre writing with Jonathan Monro and the Canadian Musical Theatre Writers' Collective. Eric believes that musical theatre is the most all-encompassing art form in the world and is absolutely ecstatic to be teaching the next generation of Montreal musical theatre performers. This is Eric’s fourth year as a musical director for the Academy.
Katrine Mangin (she/they)
Broadway Stars
Katrine Mangin is thrilled to be joining the Academy for the first time this year. She is a bilingual performer, director, and writer from Chelsea, QC. A graduate of SLC's Music Theatre Performance program, past shows include Be More Chill, GlenMary KateMoss, Nine, 9 to 5, The Wizard of Oz, Avenue Q, Seussical, and Legally Blonde. In 2022, they originated the role of Lady Heartell in the Netflix/Shondaland/Fever show The Queen's Ball: A Bridgerton Experience, performing in the workshop, as well as the Montreal and Toronto productions. She is a big believer in the power of storytelling to help us understand ourselves and the world around us and loves to share that transformative experience with theatre makers of all ages!
Madeleine Scovil (she/her)
Broadway Stars
Madeleine Scovil is an actor, director, singer, and theatre educator based in Montreal. She has a B.A in Theatre Studies and a B.Ed with a specialty in Artists in the Community from Queen’s University. She has taught and directed youth for over a decade at various educational institutes such as the Stratford Shakespeare School, Queen’s University, Launch Point Academy and in schools and libraries across Ontario. She believes that children are natural performers and focuses on guiding their impulses as a way to increase their confidence and abilities. She recently completed her final year in the Acting Program at The National Theatre School of Canada. She is thrilled to be returning for her third school year as a lead theatre instructor with the Segal Academy!
Adrian Smith (he/him)
Broadway & Beyond
Adrian is a director, stage manager, and educator. Having graduated from Concordia University in Communication and Video production, he has a background engaging in the production side of television series and films. Adrian has worked on a variety of musical theatre shows throughout the years, including the Segal Centre’s Academy productions of As You Like It (Dir. Naomi Krajden); Disaster the Musical, Alice in Wonderland, Xanadu (Dir. Jonathan Patterson); The Lyric Theatre Singer’s annual productions from 2016-2019 (Dir. Bob Bachelor & Cathy Burns); and The Montreal Children’s Theatre’s Legally Blonde (Dir. Alcina Chiu). Adrian had an absolute blast directing the Segal Centre’s production of Urinetown last year and is excited to be returning as Director for Broadway and Beyond this year. He loves working in a collaborative space with young people as they explore their skills, passions, and interests.
Kyla Smith (she/her)
YAYA
Kyla Smith is a music educator, voice instructor, and theatre lover of all kinds. With a B.Mus and B.Ed in Music Education from McGill University and a BFA in Composition from Concordia University, she is currently the high school music teacher and musical director at St. George’s School of Montreal. Trained in both classical and jazz voice, Kyla has been teaching private voice lessons since 2014. She has worked as musical director for West Island Theatre Association (WISTA), Verdun Elementary School, Royal West Academy high school, and Broadway Academy Westmount. This is Kyla’s eighth year teaching the Young Actors for Young Audiences (YAYA) class at the Segal Academy.
Veronika Washington (she/her)
Broadway Stars
Veronika Washington is a dancer and musical theater enthusiast. Currently studying at McGill University, she grew up in countless programs and shows for both theatre and dance, a passion she is carrying into her professional life. She loves working with kids and has connected with them as a dance teacher at Ontario School of Ballet in Toronto and as a camp counselor for many years. In 2023-2024, she worked as the Technical Director for McGill’s Arts Undergraduate Society’s production of Legally Blonde. At Segal Centre, she assisted with an Academy production in the 2023-2024 season and is returning to lead her own class. She is filled with excitement to bring her own flair to the development of the kids’ confidence, self-expression, and joy of theatre.
Patricia Yates (she/They)
Broadway Stars
Patricia came to Canada, from West Yorkshire, UK, to continue her study of the vocal arts, and her pursuit of a performance career. Having graduated from her Master of Music at McGill University’s Schulich School of Music in 2024, she continues her studies there with John Mac Master, completing her Post Graduate Artist Diploma. As a performer in opera and classical music, Patricia’s recent operatic credits include Elvino La Sonnambula, Count Almaviva Il barbiere di Siviglia, and many others. She also appears frequently as a concert soloist and recitalist. As a pianist and musical director, Patricia has worked with various amateur choirs and theatre groups in her native Yorkshire, including Halifax Light Opera Society Juniors, Hebden Bridge Light Opera Society, Calder Valley Youth Theatre and Calderdale Singers Initiative. Patricia also appeared regularly as an assistant tutor and guest conductor for the Yorkshire Youth Choir and Halifax Young Singers. Patricia is excited to be joining the Academy for the first time this year.