Mary Poppins

In his 25th season as Artistic Director at CMT, Kevin has led the nation’s premier theater company for youth in taking on increasingly challenging and professional-quality productions. His innovative approach to productions includes incorporating modern techniques and technology, culminating in recognition of artistic excellence from the National Endowment for the Arts in the form of ten grants. Kevin was an Honorable Mention for the 2016 Tony Award for Excellence in Theatre Education, an honor given to only twenty educators throughout the entire nation. A recipient of the prestigious Lin Wright Special Recognition Award by the American Alliance for Theater and Education, he’s been the guest speaker at the International Association of Theater Educators Conference in Washington D.C., and the Education and Technology conference in New York City. Kevin has collaborated on productions in a variety of venues all over the world. He’s staged ice shows, magic shows, musical revues, industrial shows, corporate parties, television specials and book musicals for a variety of companies, including Tropworld (Atlantic City), Harrah’s (Reno), Six Flags Parks (nationwide), and Royal Viking Cruise Lines (worldwide). Some of the unique productions Kevin has worked on include You’re in the Movies (MGM Grand) in Las Vegas, World of Wonders (Everland) in Seoul, South Korea, and a special Easter Celebration (The White House) in Washington D.C. Kevin has appeared several times as a guest artist with the San Jose Symphony, and has served on the Exhibits Committee at the Tech Museum of Innovation.

Paula Mulcahy-Keane is a proud alumni of CMTSJ. She performed in over 15 productions beginning with her first show in the early 70’s! She continued her education at UCLA as a theater major. Paula has over 30 years experience as an accomplished vocalist and actress, performing all over the world. She signed her first European record deal with RCA in 1988, where she recorded two albums and had two top-ten hits – including I’ve Got This Feeling from the movie Dance Academy, in which she also co-starred. In 1990, she recorded another album for Virgin Records with Giorgio Moroder (Flashdance), which included the 1990 World Cup theme song To Be Number One. Back In Los Angeles she continued to sing on many soundtracks, commercials, and in the studio with artists such as Celine Dion and Julio Iglesias. Notable commercials include NIKE, directed by David Fincher and Folgers, starring Randy Travis. On TV and Film she has worked with Tom Hanks in That Thing You Do, Bette Midler in For The Boys and Ray Romano in Men Of A Certain Age. She was a featured vocalist for Disney Special Events for five years where she performed at The Hollywood Bowl, and Disney Hall and Carneige Hall.

While raising her 3 children in L.A., she co-created an afterschool enrichment program (Picadilly), which provided public elementary school children the opportunity to explore their creativity through acting, singing and dancing. She is a coach for College To Career Acting with Wendy Kurtzman and focuses in on “acting the song” for a summer acting program at UCLA. She continues private coaching in both acting and voice from her studio in Tarzana, California.

After many years, Paula returned to the CMT stage as Donna in Mamma Mia and most recently Kinky Boots, where she also was Vocal Director. This summer, she was Vocal Director for  the Mainstage production of Spongebob the Musical.

Sarah Bylsma (she/her) is a Bay Area native who grew up singing and dancing. She received a BA in theater with a minor in dance from Millikin University in Decatur, IL. She has been teaching dance to all ages at various studios and organizations for the past 15 plus years. Last season she choreographed and performed in Kinky Boots, as well as being on the dynamite artistic staff for The Little Mermaid. When she is not performing or teaching, her full time job is an account executive at NFP Insurance.

Amie Jan graduated from Rice University with a Computer Science degree, and briefly worked as a software programmer and IT consultant before she decided that she simply needed to have more music in her life! She moved to California, and began her second undergraduate degree at San Jose State University, double majoring in Violin Performance and Music Education, subsequently earning her teaching credential in Music. In her spare time, Amie performed as a freelance violinist/violist all over the Bay Area, which led her to discover another passion: musical theater. Since moving to California in 2003, she has played in over fifty pit orchestras all over the Bay Area, and has musical directed over fifty more – most of them here at CMTSJ. Amie is currently Orchestra Director at Lincoln HS, and is also a certified Suzuki violin instructor with a small private studio of young violinists and violists. Among her exciting gigs as a freelance musician, Amie has performed in concerts with Josh Groban, Kanye West, and Smokey Robinson.