Roy Hudson
Director of Theatre
Roy Hudson (Director of Theatre) is well-known throughout Alabama and the Southeast as an educator, director, playwright, designer, and actor. His professional writing credits include productions Off-Broadway, at the Dallas Theatre Center, NASA, the Virginia Samford Theatre, Magic City Actors Theatre, Town and Gown Theatre, among others. He has had more than eighty productions of his plays performed throughout the country and won numerous writing awards. His musical The Birdseed and the Blockbuster was produced Off-Broadway at the Music theatre Works in New York City. His script of The Night Visit was listed as one of the top new plays of 1978 by the Theatre Communications Group, and two productions of his plays (Jerry the Katler and The Storyteller Fables) were invited to perform on Main Stage at the International Thespian Festival in Lincoln, Nebraska. A production of Dance of the Grizzle was listed as one of the top fifteen one-act plays of 1997 by the International Thespian Festival, and two other plays (Meteor Boy and Happily Never After) have represented the state of Alabama at the Secondary Play Festival at the Southeastern Theatre Conference.
Roy Hudson holds an M.F.A. in directing, playwriting, and design through the professional apprenticeship program at the Dallas Theatre Center and Trinity University, an M.A. in Education from the University of Alabama in Birmingham, and a B.S.E. from Midwestern State University. He is the 2008 Shades Valley High School Teacher of the Year and a finalist for the 2008 Jefferson County Secondary Teacher of the Year. He was named to the Alabama Educational Theatre Association Hall of Fame in 2006 and was the Midwestern State University College of Fine Arts Outstanding Alumnus in 2004. Other honors include the Outstanding State Thespian Troupe Sponsor in 2003, the Shades Valley Rotary Club Teacher of the Year for 2001-2002, the Dorothy Schwartz Outstanding Educator’s Award in 2001, the Jefferson County Secondary Teacher of the Year for 1997-1998, the Shades Valley High School Teacher of the Year for 1997-1998, and Who’s Who Among Teacher’s in American High Schools for 1998-2008.
He is the past Director of the Secondary School Theatre Division for the Alabama Conference of Theatre, a post he held for eight years. He is a founding member of the Virginia Samford Theatre’s STARS Youth Workshop, the Summerfest Cabaret Theatre, the Summerfest Youth Workshop, and the Little Theatre Players. He is a past Artistic Director of Summerfest Musical Theatre, a former technical director for the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, and has played an active role in many Birmingham-based theatre companies, arts organizations, and Birmingham City Stages.
In May of 2008, Roy Hudson was honored to be selected as the Alabama State Teacher of the Year.
Jamie Zarrilli Grimes
Director of Dance
Jamie Z. Grimes (Director of the Dance Program) has been teaching for ten years in various cities throughout Alabama and is a member of the Alabama Dance Council. She started her dance training at the age of three in Huntsville, AL at Performing Dance Arts. In August 2004, she received a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in Dance and a minor in Theatre from the University of Alabama. At the University, Jamie was a member of the Alabama Repertory Dance Theatre and Dance Alabama. With the company, she performed various soloist roles in classical ballets and modern dance pieces, including Paquita, Raymonda, and Divertissement.
She also enjoyed numerous roles in musical theatre productions such as Jesus Christ Superstar, Ragtime, and West Side Story. Jamie received four work-study scholarships for the American Ballet Theatre Summer Intensives, the SFA Dance/Theatre Gift Scholarship, and the Dancer Award for excellence. In 2004, Jamie was selected to be a guest artist at the "Sharing the Legacy" concert held at Hunter College in New York City where she performed original choreography by Isadora Duncan and Anna Sokolow.
In Birmingham, Jamie has enjoyed performing and choreographing with CenterStage Productions, including dancing the lead role in 42nd Street in June 2005. She also has worked extensively with the Exclusively Ballet and Dance performing company. In April of 2006, Jamie's company jazz piece,"The Complex", was selected for the Panoply Choreography Competition finals and also received a gold award at the West Coast Dance Explosion convention. She has also had professional work experience in event planning, office management, marketing, and accounting. Since joining the Shades Valley Theatre Academy, she has created original choreography for the world premiere for Time Dream and co-directed and choreographed Pump Boys and Dinettes which was named Best of Show at the 2007 State Trumbauer Festival.
Janice Sanders
Director of New Students
A native of Long Island, NY, Janice has a background in theatre with training in New York and a degree in English Literature from Wheaton College. Janice has been a proud member of the Shades Valley Theatre family since 1999. Prior to arriving at the Academy, Janice, her husband Pete and two children lived the nomadic existence of an Army family. During twenty years of Army life, Janice found herself involved with local theatre wherever they were stationed.
Janice teaches basic and advanced theatre classes and is an award-winning director and costumier. Recent plays she has directed are Fools, Eleemosynary, Proof, To See the Stars, and Happily Never After. Happily Never After won the District and State Trumbauer awards for Best Play and was selected to represent Alabama at the Southeastern Theatre Convention in Tennessee. In addition, Happily Never After was selected to perform on the Mainstage at the International Thespian Festival in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Janice’s work as the Company Costumier has won both state and regional awards. Her costume designs for Forever Plaid won Best Costumes at District Trumbauer. Her costumes for Jerry the Katler won Best Costumes at District and State Trumbauer and at the State Thespian Festival. Her costume design for Happily Never After won not only District and State honors but also won Best Costume Design at the Southeastern Theatre Convention.
Janice has served as a member of the Alabama State Thespian Board and currently is a curriculum consultant for the Jefferson County Board of Education. Janice teaches area workshops on “costuming on a budget” and she visits area middle and high schools as the recruiter for the Academy.
Alyssa Crisswell Instructor of Acting and Scenic Painting
Alyssa Crisswell holds a BA in Theatre Education with an emphasis in Acting and a minor in Psychology. She attended Emerson College in Boston, MA, but originally hails from Calera, AL. She is pleased to be back home in the South.
Ms. Crisswell has taught theatre workshops for elementary, middle and high school students and has directed numerous plays and musicals in both Boston and Alabama. She has been acting for 8 years and has appeared in over 30 plays. Favorite credits include A Dolls House (Nora) , Romeo and Juliet (Juliet), Fool for Love (May), The Shape of Things (Jenny), Our Town (Emily), and Bedtime (Tina). Ms. Crisswell is also pleased to have appeared in, developed and directed a number of new plays by local playwrights in the the Boston area. She has additionally worked in technical theatre as a scenic painter for the past four years. She has painted over 30 full scale productions in Boston, Providence and in the Birmingham area.
Ms. Crisswell is thrilled and honored to work with the faculty and students of the Shades Valley Theatre Academy in their 2008/2009 season.
