Academy Teachers
Trevor Barrette (he/him)
Broadway & Beyond Workshop
Trevor Barrette is a queer theatre maker, performer, stage manager and teacher based in Tio'tia:ke (Montreal). Upon graduating from theatre school, 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 directed the Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre's most recent production of The Sages of Chelm and this past summer he was at the Stratford Festival, assistant directing Les Belles-Soeurs. 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!
Alcina Chiu (she/her)
Broadway Stars
Alcina Chiu is an educator, musician, and dancer. After graduating with a Bachelor of Music in Classical Voice from Queen's University, she founded her own studio, Scherzo School of Music and Movement, while continuing with graduate studies at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA. She has collaborated and taught with many schools and theatre companies, including Shakespearience, the Toronto District School Board, Jeunes musiciens du monde, and various seniors centres in Toronto and Montreal. As a performer, her credits include West Side Story (Curtain Call Players), Brigadoon (Onstage), and singing as a Featured Soloist (Gilbert and Sullivan Society, Broadway Melody). Stage credits on the production side include A Hawk from a Handsaw, O For a Muse of Fire (Shakespearience - stage manager, music director), Midsummer Night's Dream (Fieldstone Day School - director), Young Frankenstein, Cabaret (CCP - music director), Legally Blonde JR, Musicville (Montreal Children's Theatre - director and choreographer), and Little Shop of Horrors (Kells Academy - director). She recently finished directing the 90th anniversary production of Beauty and the Beast with MCT with a cast aged 7 to 83. With her studio, she has also had the chance to create original musicals with groups of all ages and conduct and accompany many choirs. Alcina is thrilled to join the team of talented teachers at Segal Centre this year.
Natalie Demmon (she/her)
Broadway Stars
Natalie Demmon is a performer, singer, designer, director, and all-around theatre lover based in Montreal. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Double Honours in Music and Drama from Bishop’s University, where she studied all aspects of theatre (acting, design, technical theatre, directing) and trained in classical voice. Natalie is an avid musical theatre lover and performer who loves to find the magic of storytelling through song. She has been fortunate enough to share this love of storytelling on stage with various groups across the city such as the McGill Savoy Society, D.Y.W.T, Côte St-Luc Dramatic Society, and the Montreal Children’s Theatre. Natalie has also been Head Technician of the Studio Theatre at Segal since 2021, where she has had the opportunity to work with the Academy classes as they move from the classroom into the theatre. Helping bring all the elements of set, lighting, and sound together in the space for the year-end presentations is always a joy and Natalie is thrilled to join the Academy as a first-time teacher.
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 third 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’s 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!
Dr. Edward Enman (he/him)
Broadway Stars
Dr. Edward Enman is a pianist and composer who thrives through the cultivation of creative musical environments. He strives to create encouraging collaborative environments through his performances, his teaching, and in the creation of new works. As a soloist and collaborative performer, he performs regularly across Canada, and his compositions have been performed around the world. Dr. Enman holds degrees in Solo Piano Performance from the University of Montreal (DMus), University of Ottawa (MMus), and Acadia University (BM), and is a dedicated educator and musical collaborator. He is currently based with his family in Montreal as a pianist, composer, collaborative musician, teacher, and adjudicator, and is thrilled to be returning for his seventh season with the Segal Academy. (edwardenman.com)
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’s degree 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 third 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 second school year as a lead theatre instructor with the Segal Academy!
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 seventh year teaching the Young Actors for Young Audiences (YAYA) class at 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 is excited to be taking on the role of 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.