Newport Children's Theatre
Past Production & Faculty
Broadway/Professional Credits include: Grease, Broadway 2007-2009 [Musical, Comedy, Revival] Marty - Replacement Patty Simcox - Replacement Cha-Cha Di Gregorio - Replacement Swing: Ashley Arcement - Replacement Flashdance The Musical [US Tour] National Tour, 2013
Matt's has an extensive theatre background starting with his training right here in Rhode Island at Brown University. He has a busy career playing regional theatre houses, off-broadway theatres and NBC's Saturday Night Live. His credits include performances at NYC's City Center Encores!, Peccadillo Theatrre, and The Muny, to name a few!
Kristine Bendul - Original Broadway Cast: Roger’s and Hammerstein’s Cinderella (asst. choreographer-partnering consultant), Twyla Tharp’s Come Fly Away, Swing, On The Town. Other Bway credits: Movin’ Out (Helen Hayes nominee- Outstanding Supporting Performer), Man of La Mancha and The King and I. Favorite TV credits: NBC’s Smash, Baz Luhrman’s The Get Down, David Letterman, the Tony’s and the Academy Awards. Kristine has created works for Broadway, immersive theater, music videos and the short films Fourth Position and 2 of Us (BEST CONCEPT award-Buddha International Film Festival). She directed and choreographed The Blues Brothers cine-immersive experience at Radial Park (2021) and she wrote, directed and choreographed The Color Iz at the iconic Stonewall Inn (2019) receiving a rave review on broadwayworld.com. She is currently the Associate Choreographer on The Remarkable Journey to Tianguo (Calgary 2023). Kristine is the author and illustrator the children’s book Noodles Needs a Nap which is based on a character she created in Cinderella.
Morgan Capodilupo is thrilled to be back at Newport Childrens’ Theatre as a teaching artist! After years of starring in NCT shows (who could forget her performance as the Queen of Hearts, screeching her way through the Bird Sanctuary in a feather boa?!), she followed her passion for directing and performance to Emerson College in Boston, where she holds a degree in Theatre Studies. Since graduation, Morgan founded Seaside Stage Society, a summer theatre company in Newport for adults that focuses on site-specific productions, and has also performed in several shows throughout Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Her favorite credits include Into The Woods (Little Red Ridinghood), Pippin (The Leading Player), and Ragtime (Evelyn Nesbit). She is so excited to bring acting magic to NCT, and can’t wait to get started!
JT Cunha earned a BFA in Theatre Directing & Acting and a BA in Public Relations from The University of Rhode Island. He served as Assistant Director for a production of Eurydice, directed a one-act play, and acted in many shows while at URI. His role as Lucio in Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure earned him a nomination for the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship. JT performs regularly throughout RI. He and his castmates from The Rocky Horror Show won a Motif Award for Best Ensemble. He was also nominated for a Motif Award and a BroadwayWorld.com Regional Award for his performance. JT has been with NCT for over 15 years, acting in shows since he was eight. His favorite NCT shows to act in were Rumplestiltskin, Peter Rabbit, The Canterville Ghost, Next of Kin, Oliver!, and Mystery on 13th Street. He has directed three main stage shows and teaches the Prep4Rep class.
Kathy Deitch's credits include the Broadway productions Footloose & Wicked, the regional production of Silence! The Musical, the European Tour of Hair, andthe National Tour of Wicked. Kathy also has an extensivelist of credits in TV and Film including, The Big C ,Co- Star (Showtime) Law & Order Guest Star (NBC/Universal TV), Cupid, Guest-Star (ABC Television), and Going the Distance, Proud Mom (New Line Cinemas). Kathy was seen in the musical Chess at the award-winning company Musical Theatre Guild in Los Angeles, California. Most recently, Kathy has been seen in American Horror Story as Young Ethel (Fox) and Magic Mike XXL.
Shane Farrell is a Rhode Island native whose training started at a family-owned dance school in North Providence, RI. Under the direction of Cheryl Trottier, he received diverse dance education. But it was in his first ever performance of the Nutcracker, re-staged by Myles Marsden (former principal dancer with the Yugoslav National Ballet) that his love for ballet began. He trained under Richard Marsden, Elizabeth Reilly Donabedian and Karla Kovatch before attending the Brae Crest School of Ballet – the official school of the State Ballet of Rhode Island – and performed with the company from 2004-2008. In 2009, Shane joined the Island Moving Company (IMC), a classically trained contemporary ballet company in Newport, RI. During his ten years at IMC, he performed in several national tours and two international tours to Kazakhstan. Shane danced in many amazing venues with IMC’s site specific repertoire: Newport Nutcracker at Rosecliff Mansion, Dracula at Belcourt Castle, and Second Star To The Right: A Tale of Hook and Pan aboard the Oliver Hazard Perry tall ship. He has also performed in collaboration with Pasadena Dance Theatre, Missouri Contemporary Ballet, Owen/Cox Dance, Surfscape Contemporary Dance Theatre, Staycee Pearl Dance Project, Houston MET, and Samruk Dance, and danced as a guest artist with companies throughout the northeast. Outside of the concert dance world, Shane has appeared on MTV’s Made, Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance, and the 2010 film Hachi starring Richard Gere. Shane choreographed six world premieres for IMC and three additional original works for their summer intensive program during the Newport Dance Festival in 2018, 2019, and 2021. His work has been presented nationally and internationally, most notably at the Abay Opera House in Almaty, Kazakshtan. Shane has additionally choreographed for Wheaton College, Salve Regina University, Providence College, Sacred Heart University and is currently on faculty at Dean College in Franklin, MA.
NCT Credits: Grease. Matthew Kilgore considers himself a multi-hyphenate artist of many disciplines. After a successful 20+ year career in musical theater that included Broadway, Off-Broadway, National and International Tours, Regional Theater, Film, and Television, Matthew now spends his time backstage. He is currently a two-time Emmy Award winning Costume Designer and Tailor for The Drew Barrymore Show. His credits include: Spinning Gold (Tailor), Tina: the Tina Turner Musical (Stitcher), CBS Mornings/Saturday Mornings (Wardrobe), Hamilton (Dresser), Frozen (Dresser), The Iceman Cometh (Dresser), and Broadway Backwards (Costume Designer). Matthew believes deeply in teaching and mentoring the next generation of artists and credits his success with the many mentors who guided him along the way.
His dance career has led him to dance with, and opposite, some of the dancing world's premiere dance talents including Chita Rivera, Bebe Neuwirth, Anne Reinking, Charlotte D'Amboise, Caroline O'Connor, Ben Vereen, and Usher. James Patric recently choreographed LACHSA'S award winning production of Chicago his other choreography credits include Hair, Rent, Hairspray, and numerous music videos. He has also appeared dancing on such shows as Nikki, Dancing With the Stars, and America's Got Talent.  James Patric has extensive credits in theatre TV and film, and we are thrilled to have him join the Upstage family. In theatre he has appeared on Broadway, and in National and International tours. His roles include Fred Casely in the Tony Award winning revival of Chicago, Riff in West Side Story, Bobby in A Chorus Line, and Lank in Crazy for You. His TV and film credits include Ghost Voyage, Charmed, Mad-TV, Guiding Light, Jack and Jill, The Grasslands, Scent of a Woman, and Malcolm X.
Abbey has performed in the Broadway musicals Spamalot and Pal Joey. She performed in Mack and Mabel at Lincoln Center and has been seen in the TV shows Smash and The Apprentice.She also worked as a Radio City Rockette! Abbey has choreographed for numeruos regional theatres, and most recently she choreogrphed for Waitress and Jagged Little Pill on Broadway.
Timothy is a London-based actor whose professional work has taken him from London's West End to New York City's Broadway stage and around the world on national and international tours. Some of his credits include, Caroline or Change, Motown the Musical, Annie Get Your Gun, Mack and Mabel, Jersey Boys, The Full Monty, Jesus Christ Superstar, On The Town, West Side Story, and Footloose.
NCT Credits: Annie, Grease. Amy Spanger is a Drama-Desk-Nominated Broadway star, television and film actress, solo artost, musical theatre teacher, and vocal coach. Broadway credits include: Sunset Boulevard, Chicago, Kiss me Kate, The Wedding Singer, Urinetown and Matilda. She also created the rold of Ssan in Jonathan Larson's tik. tik ...Boom off- Brodaway and played Maureen in the first National Tour of Rent. She played Gwendolyn in The Importance of Being Earnest at Williamstown directed by David Hyde Pierce. Television and film credits include: Six Feet Under, Bored to Death, Royal Pains, Law & Order:SUV, The Blacklist, Chicago Med, Synecdoche, NY and Reefer Madness: The Movie Musical.
NCT Credits: Alice in Wonderland
After acting extensively in the busy Newport theatre scene in the early 1980s, Linda J Vars turned her full attention to children's theatre, something she had enjoyed since high school. She joined NCT in 1986, six years after the company's founding as a division of community theatre group Newport Player's Guild. Linda has been a teacher, director, playwright, Resident Director and co-Artistic Director, before being named Artistic Director, a position she held from 2001-2010. She was the founder of NCT Rep in 1992, and directed at Portsmouth High School from 1992-1996. Linda's passion for sharing her love of theatre with young people has resulted in lifelong friendships with her students, some now in their forties. These days, Linda directs the Winter show. Some of her favorite productions with NCT include The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Neverending Story, and The Prince and The Pauper (twice!).