LEADERSHIP
ELLEN LETTRICH
Ellen Lettrich, M.S., CCC-SLP is a nationally certified speech-language pathologist, musical theatre-specialized voice teacher, audition vocal coach, and professional production vocal coach. She has more than three decades of voice care experience across Broadway, off Broadway, educational theatre, and private practice. Her special passion is working through vocal health and technique challenges with middle and high school students. In her first career she was a full-time high school social studies teacher for seven years, during which she directed both full productions and musical reviews with the goal to include as many students onstage as possible. The challenges of managing large productions with busy students led to her becoming fascinated with both performer and teacher vocal health. Prior to becoming a teacher, she performed in regional musical theatre in both California and Pennsylvania, playing roles including Little Red (Into the Woods), Petra (A Little Night Music), and Sister Robert Anne (Nunsense).
Ellen’s passion for singing and vocal health led her to earn a master’s in speech-language pathology at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, adding clinical knowledge to her "musical theatre nerd" analytic ear. She practiced clinically both at the UPMC (Pittsburgh) Voice Center and NY Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Voice Center (now called Sean Parker Institute for the Voice). During her 15 years in NYC, she worked as Assistant Production Vocal Coach on Matilda Broadway and solo Production Vocal Coach for the Tony nominated play Hand to God as well as working with individual performers in the Broadway productions of Wicked, The Book of Mormon, The Crucible, School of Rock, Mean Girls, Aladdin, Cinderella, and others.
Ellen is the Founder and for many years was the Director of MTCA, a New York City-based, internationally-known team of teaching artists who specialize in preparing students for the ultra-competitive college musical theatre and acting audition processes. In 2019, she founded The Fund For College Auditions, a national nonprofit organization that provides full artistic and financial support to under-resourced student preparing to audition for college musical theatre and acting programs. After heading The Fund For College Auditions for its first 7 years, Ellen now serves as Director of Education.
As Co-Founder of Cornerstone Creative Arts in Petersburg, Virginia, Ellen is excited to connect her Broadway community colleagues, including many who are her former students to the beauty, history and creative energy of Petersburg!
RYAN SHAPIRO
Ryan Shapiro is a performing arts educator, producer, choreographer, technical director, and community arts leader with nearly two decades of experience creating opportunities for young and emerging artists to learn, perform, produce, and grow.
Throughout his career, Ryan has worked across nearly every side of the production process—from choreography, show design, technical direction, and stage management to program development, event production, arts administration, and organizational leadership. That experience shaped a philosophy that has become central to Cornerstone Creative Arts: the production is part of the education.
As Founder and former Owner of a performing arts studio as well as Founding and Directing performing arts non-profits, Ryan developed and led performing arts programs that served hundreds of students and families. His work focused not only on developing stronger performers, but also on creating environments where young artists could build confidence, discipline, collaboration, leadership, and a deeper understanding of everything required to bring creative work to life.
Ryan has also worked with schools, arts organizations, educators, and creative professionals throughout the region and nationally, including serving as a Stage Manager for Heart of America Entertainment's national show choir events. His experience producing large-scale performances and events has reinforced his belief in the extraordinary number of artists and professionals—onstage and behind the scenes—required to transform an idea into a shared experience.
Today, Ryan brings those experiences together as the Co-Founder of Cornerstone Creative Arts in Petersburg, Virginia.
Cornerstone Creative Arts represents both a continuation and an evolution of his work: creating pathways for performers, musicians, designers, technicians, stage managers, producers, educators, and creative leaders. Ryan believes that arts organizations should do more than produce great work. They should develop people, create opportunity, encourage conversation, strengthen communities, and leave behind a stronger creative ecosystem than the one they inherited. His vision is to help build a place where someone can walk through the door without knowing exactly where they belong and leave having discovered a skill, a collaborator, a mentor, a career path, or an entirely new possibility.
Every artist needs a foundation. Through Cornerstone Creative Arts, Ryan hopes to assist in building one.
TEACHING ARTISTS
ALLISON BECKETT
Allison Beckett moved to Richmond in 2014 after receiving a Master of Arts in Theatre Education from New York University. While in New York City, Allison was a teaching artist for various organizations, including Wingspan Arts and the Lower Manhattan Arts Academy. In Richmond, Allison served as the theatre director at Glen Allen High School from 2014–2019, where she directed numerous productions, developed and taught a five-level theatre curriculum, and led students to state victories in the VHSL one-act competition with student-written work.
In 2019, Allison transitioned out of the classroom and began focusing on creative youth development in the Richmond community, working part-time with SPARC. This transition allowed her to continue working with young artists through theatre while also spending more time with her two children. Some of Allison’s favorite SPARC projects include directing for the statewide New Voices playwriting competition and directing the mainstage productions of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (2023) and Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella(2026). She currently directs SPARC’s Touring Ensemble and loves every minute of creating professional experiences and lifelong memories for the next generation of artists.
CHANDLER JAMES PETTUS
Chandler James Pettus is a Richmond, Virginia native and is thrilled to be back home and making theatre in the community that first inspired his love of performing. He earned his BA in Musical Theatre from Christopher Newport University and, since graduating, has spent the past several years traveling and performing professionally at regional theaters across the country—the last year spent on the road with the Broadway National Tour of CHICAGO.
After years of performing, Chandler has discovered that he loves being on the other side of the table just as much as he loves being onstage. Locally, he has choreographed at SPARC for its Touring Ensemble and several mainstage productions, including Urinetown (2023), Hadestown (2024), and Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (2026). He’s happy to have found this love for choreography and the creative process that comes with bringing a story to life through movement.
MEET M
M
WILL REYNOLDS
Will Reynolds has worked on Broadway, Off-Broadway, touring, regionally, and in film/TV. He can currently be seen in the new Off-Broadway musical Copperfield!, at the Duke. Favorite credits include the NYC revival of Sondheim’s Passion directed by John Doyle, and the Off-Broadway production of Daddy Long Legs. Broadway tour: Mamma Mia! Will is also co-founder of the award-winning musical theatre open mic Broadway in Beacon. As a composer, he received the Fred Ebb Award and released the studio cast recording of The Violet Hour with collaborator Eric Price, which has received over 2 million streams and is working its way to Broadway. His music has been recorded by 6-time Tony-award winner Audra McDonald and featured on AppleTV+’s Central Park. As an educator Will has been on faculty at some of the top BFA musical theatre programs including Pace University, Marymount Manhattan College, and Molloy College/CAP21, and Will is the creator of the Inspired Actions Method™- a results-based storytelling system that rewires performers by rooting their artistry to service.