Instructors

Maria Maddox is a local voice instructor and a former BEAT Children’s Theatre student and director. She recently earned her Master’s Degree in Choral Conducting from Central Washington University, with a Master’s Cognate in Vocal Performance. Maria brings both professional training and a lifelong connection to theatre and music to her work with young performers. As a former BEAT student herself, she understands the unique experience of growing as an artist in a supportive youth theatre environment. Today, she enjoys sharing her passion for vocal music with students throughout the Central Oregon community, helping young singers develop confidence, technique, and a love of performing.

Ann is so happy to be a part of this amazing community of dedicated youth and families! Ann is grateful partner to Kurt and proud mama of Ella and Viola. She directed, performed and choreographed theatre and dance in Chicago for many years and taught movement and devising original theatre at Columbia College Chicago before moving to Bend to be close to family. Ann currently teaches art making with a focus on process, is training to teach yoga at Namaspa and loves caring for a small herd of hooved and feathered friends.  

Bandana Suzanna began writing songs in 2023, inspired by her grandchildren to bring music and rhyme to life. Since then, she has expanded into videos, books, poems, and plays.

With a lifelong love of music and theatre, she weaves songs, rhymes, and stories into her workshops to spark creativity, build confidence, and make learning joyful. Learn more at www.bandanasuzanna.com.

From the bright lights of the stage to survival swim lessons in Hawaii, to schlepping shopping bags up steep driveways and immersing myself in the classroom, I’ve worn a lot of hats—sometimes wigs! I’ve played everything from a penny-pinching miser in The Miser to a donkey-headed dreamer in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Nick Bottom, if you know your Shakespeare). I’ve even popped up in music videos, narrated musical adventures across Europe with Up With People in the ’90s, and worked behind the scenes in the German film industry—earning an MBA from the University of Cologne along the way.

Eventually, I swapped film sets and red carpets for palm trees and baby diapers, raising my kids and running a survival swim school for infants and children in Hawaii.
Since 2015, I’ve been based in beautiful Bend, Oregon, reacting to life’s topsy-turvy twists and turns and keeping the family boat afloat one gig at a time—substitute teaching, Uber-ing, Instacarting—and most importantly, sharing my love of theater with the next generation of performers. Let’s play!