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Erica Washington Teaching & Performing Artist Back

Khaleshia Thorpe-Price As an artist, she co-wrote A Journey with Jazz, an interactive performance experience for young audiences, for the Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning through the Arts. She perform in this production with the Wolf Trap Jazz Trio. She has served as the host for the Music Box Family Concert Series with members of the BSO at the Meyerhoff Symphony Hall and has directed performances in the Folger Shakespeare Children's Festival. She has worked in arts education since 2000. As a teaching artist, she has facilitated residencies and workshops for children and adults for many arts organizations including Wolf Trap, Arena Stage, Young Playwrights Theater, Young Audiences of Maryland, Folger Shakespeare Library, Shakespeare Theater Company and M-NCPP. As an arts manager, she as coordinated workshops and residencies for thousands of students and educators in D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. She has partnered with many organizations including the United States Department of State, the National Portrait Gallery, and ZERO to THREE to provide unique arts learning experiences for all ages. In addition, she has managed enrichment and academic afterschool programs for D.C. Public Schools. She earned an MA in Arts Management from the University of Central Florida and a BA in Theater Arts from Morgan State University. Drama Stories on Stage Back

Khaleshia Thorpe-Price Drama Stories on Stage Back

Nancy Krebs Nancy Krebs started her professional acting career in 1975 with The Tender Trap at the Garland Dinner Theatre in Columbia, Maryland. From there, she was part of the ensemble that won an Emmy Award for the PBS television series, ONCE UPON A TOWN in 1976. She has performed in film, television, radio and on the stage continuously since the mid-seventies. She has worked in summer stock and regional theatre, notably at Center Stage in Baltimore and Alaska Repertory Theatre, traveling all over the state of Alaska before joining InterAct Story Theatre in 1982. Currently, in addition to being a company member of InterAct Story Theatre, she teaches voice production and musical theatre at the Baltimore School for the Arts, is a certified Lessac Instructor (voice), and runs her own studio, THE VOICEWORKS. She has served as the Vocal/Dialect coach for several professional and university productions in the Baltimore/Washington area, as well as serving as the Musical Director/Vocal Coach for all productions in the theatre department at the School for the Arts. Workshops: Songbuilding, Songbuilding Parent-Staff-Child Workshop Music Teaching & Performing Artist Back

Steve Barker Teaching Artist Back

Meet Our Team: Tina Canady We’re so proud of our community of artists who share their skills and talents with InterAct Story Theatre and the communities we serve! Although we can’t gather together and do what we love—performing and creating fabulous art with kids, families, teachers, and community members—we want to take a few moments to celebrate some of the amazing people who make up our merry band of artists and educators. Today, we feature the wonderful and talented TINA CANADY! Meet TINA! Tina Canady is a black, queer theater artist. Since earning her BFA in drama from NYU, Tina has worked with several theaters across Baltimore, including Single Carrot Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage, and Submersive Productions, LLC, where she serves as an artistic associate. Tina is passionate about creating new works, arts integration and continuing to cultivate her black joy! When she's not performing or teaching, she can usually be found playing board games, laughing or buying new wacky socks! 1. What do you love the most about working as a teaching artist? I love sharing my passion for theater making and creative expression. As someone who struggled academically, the arts allowed me to not only feel successful or “smart,” but it created a space for me to be myself. 2. Do you enjoy teaching or performing more? That’s so hard! But I think performing because that’s when I feel the most alive. 3. What is your favorite grade to work with? Early childhood! Early childhood classes leave me inspired because there is consistently a sense of novelty. The students are fearless in their pursuit of joy and self expression. And they remind me how to access parts of myself that too, feel wondrous, magical and limitless. 4. What have you learned from the teachers in the schools you’ve visited as an InterAct teaching and performing artist? Teachers do not get enough credit for the work they do! They create and maintain structure for these kids all while making learning enjoyable and that’s no small task! 5. Favorite story your students have created in class? I had one class create an extension about Anansi, a trickster spider that played tricks on other animals by using a magic flying carpet. That was pretty epic. 6. Favorite moment with a student/young audience member? In InterAct’s touring show “Not My Monkey!”, I played Delia the Dazzler, a bearded lady who sang an awesome song about loving yourself and accepting yourself. And I will never forget the first time an audience full of K-6th graders started singing along with me as they celebrated Delia in all of her beauty. As a queer artist, you don’t always get the opportunity to show up to work with your whole self and that was definitely a moment of pure joy and wholeness. 7. Favorite Children’s Book? I was obsessed with any book about the Berenstein bears. I’ve collected over like 70 of their books! So hard to pick a favorite! I'll say The Berenstain Bears and Too Much Junk Food because I loved to snack! 8. Must-have Quarantine snack? Brownies with vanilla ice cream. 9. Favorite Self-Care Activity? Meditating outside. 10. Something you can’t wait to do when social distancing is over? Visiting my mom and giving her a hug! 11. Dream Role? Hmm, I’m not sure because I can’t even begin to imagine the wondrous roles yet to be written! 12. What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned this year as a teaching and performing artist for InterAct? One of the biggest takeaways I have as an InterAct teaching and performing artist has to do with the intersection of where preparation meets humanity. InterAct has prepared me to facilitate workshops in an academic environment while still encouraging me to bring my humanity to the classroom. I work with a vast variety of kids and they always come with goodwill and their own unique perspectives and my hope is to bring structured lesson plans and poses the flexibility necessary to bask in our shared humanness and just have fun!

Kelly King Dance Teaching & Performing Artist Back

Ashton Schaffer Drama Teaching & Performing Artist Back

Anabel Milton Drama Teaching & Performing Artist Back

InterAct Story Theatre’s Wheaton Family Theatre Series is a free, monthly performing arts series that runs each year fall through spring. Season 11 of Wheaton Family Theatre Series. Scroll Down Wheaton Family Theatre Series Season 11: 2025—2026 To keep up on the latest news about InterAct’s Wheaton Family Theatre Series Season 11 and get reminders about our next program dates, join our mailing list . We also invite you to check out our past seasons 1—10 by clicking on any of the season buttons! Season 11 Season 10 Season 8 Season 7 Season 6 Season 5 Season 4 Season 3 Season 2 Season 1 < Back to Community Page Season 9 The Wheaton Family Theatre Series is a FREE public performing arts series for kids and families celebrating the rich diversity of our arts community. In season 11 of InterAct Story Theatre's Wheaton Family Theatre Series will present a series of interactive family events, for the Wheaton community, in theatre, dance, storytelling and world music completely FREE to the public! Thanks to the partnership support of Highland Elementary School and support from a plethora of community members; and funding from Maryland State Arts Council, Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County, and individual and corporate donors. Dancing Our Way Through Books led by Kelly King Saturday, January 10 at 11 a.m. & Sunday, January 11, 2026 at 2 p.m. Event held at Highland Elementary School - 3100 Medway Street, Wheaton, MD 20902 FREE and open to the public! No tickets or registration needed. Join Kelly King, InterAct Story Theatre teaching artist and founder of Contradiction Dance Theatre and The Movement Movement as we'll explore a kid-friendly story through creative movement and dance. Kids get to practice reading skills while moving, dancing, and sharing stories with our families and friends. No prior dance training needed...just bring your body and get ready to move. What a fun way to dance away the winter blues! Best for ages 3 and up. Books Alive with InterAct Story Theatre's Ali Oliver-Krueger Saturday, February 7 at 11 a.m. & Sunday, February 8, 2026 at 2 p.m. Event held at Highland Elementary School - 3100 Medway Street, Wheaton, MD 20902 FREE and open to the public! No tickets or registration needed. This February, InterAct Story Theatre’s Artistic Director, Ali Oliver-Krueger leads kids and adults in exploring a favorite folk tale together through movement, drama, and song. Everyone’s a part of the story in this Family Arts Workshop! Best for ages 3 and up. InterAct Story Theatre's Jewel the Great Saturday, March 14 at 11 a.m. & Sunday, March 15, 2026 at 2 p.m. Event held at Highland Elementary School - 3100 Medway Street, Wheaton, MD 20902 FREE and open to the public! No tickets or registration needed. A new play for elementary school audiences about positive and negative attention-seeking behaviors and grappling with identity. Jewel is new to the small mountain town of Highview, where she struggles to fit in and make a name for herself. How can she get everyone to see her the way she wants to be seen? And what can she do when nothing seems to work, and everything she tries seems to blow up and make things worse? Students in the audience participate right from their seats, becoming members of Jewel’s community and helping Jewel along the way with problem solving. This fun and heartwarming play connects with social emotional competencies related to Self-Awareness and Social Awareness, and the character education pillars of Respect and Responsibility. Best for ages 5 and up. TAHIRA The Storyteller Saturday, April 18 at 11 a.m. & Sunday, April 19, 2026 at 2 p.m. Event held at Highland Elementary School - 3100 Medway Street, Wheaton, MD 20902 FREE and open to the public! No tickets or registration needed. TAHIRA isn’t just a performer; she’s a tapestry artist, intricately weaving tales and melodies into experiences that ignite hearts and minds. TAHIRA’s high-energy performances are more than entertainment; they’re journeys of human brilliance revealed through laughter, tears, and the unifying power of music. With every song and story, she champions the arts as a catalyst for social change, lighting the way to a brighter future. All ages. KidStory Theatre Festival A theatrical celebration of stories written by kids for kids Saturday, May 16 at 11 a.m. & Sunday, May 17, 2026 at 2 p.m. Event held at Highland Elementary School - 3100 Medway Street, Wheaton, MD 20902 FREE and open to the public! No tickets or registration needed. All year long, InterAct Story Theatre artists create stories with kids, and invite them to share their epic stories with us. This May, we’re choosing some of our favorite stories written by kids, as we present a series of short plays and stories performed by our InterActors. We can’t wait to see what kids dream up each year! Best for ages 4 and up. Past programs: InterAct Story Theatre's Encore Performance Bobtail Bong Bong A Monkey's Tale Saturday, October 18 & Sunday, October 19, 2025 Event held at Highland Elementary School - 3100 Medway Street, Wheaton, MD 20902 FREE and open to the public! No tickets or registration needed. Bob the Monkey is the smartest monkey in the land, and they want everyone to know it! Bob the Monkey wants what they want and they want it NOW! But...why is everyone mad at Bob? Bob didn’t do anything! In this interactive forum theatre experience for kids and families, audiences follow Bob’s madcap misadventures and help Bob figure out where they went wrong and got in trouble monkeying around. Led by InterAct Story Theatre’s Artistic Director Ali Oliver-Krueger, audience members make suggestions about how Bob could do things differently, and watch Bob and friends role play out their ideas. Can Bob flip the script and turn things around? Can Bob make things better by making better choices? Does it work? What happens next? Best for ages 4 and up. Happy Theater: The Light House Saturday, November 15 at 11 a.m. & Sunday, November 16, 2025 at 2 p.m. Event held at Highland Elementary School - 3100 Medway Street, Wheaton, MD 20902 FREE and open to the public! No tickets or registration needed. An interactive storytelling show with shadow puppets. On an island in a faraway sea, a little girl tends a lighthouse and never ever smiles…Until one day, when she must set out for the horizon beyond the sea! With live ukulele tunes, a ticklish octopus, and a little help from the audience, this interactive shadow puppetry tale celebrates kindness, magic adventures, and friendship. Inspired by the artist’s collection of lighthouses, this show by Happy Theater is about finding your own light, and how your light can help even faraway friends through a hard time. Best for ages 4 and up. Mail List

Jordan Brown Performing Artist Back

Evan Simon Performing Artist Back