Instruction Currently Located at Hope Community Church

                                      Performing Arts Program!!

AWARD WINNING

CAROLINA ACADEMY OF PERFORMING ARTS

CAPA Instructors & Staff

Payton Prince, Singing Instructor, Camp Assistant Director & Choreographer

Payton has been trained by the best our area has to offer.  Now her training continues at Brigham Young University, a nationally recognized musical theatre program.  She’s had the fortune to be directed by tony award winner, Casey Hushion and share the stage with legends, David Ira Wood III and Andrea McArdle. Payton is represented by Terri Dollar and brings an amazing ability to relate to youth as well as grow talent in them. A gifted teacher, her visionary talent to stage musicals makes us fortunate to have her join us each summer as our choreographer and assistant director for CAPA Summer Stock Musical Theatre Camp.

Melanie Prince, Artistic Director, Principal Director of Productions, and Acting Instructor

Melanie Prince has been teaching Acting and Musical Theatre for more than two decades. She earned her BA in theatre with emphasis in Acting and Musical Theatre from California State University Sacramento. Melanie led a Northern CA charter high school theatre program for three years and has also owned and operated a children's performing arts school in Nashville TN.  She also spent three amazing years working with Estes Tarver at Moonlight Stage Company in Raleigh, but realizing the need for strong acting and arts programs in the Southwest Wake Region of North Carolina, Melanie founded Carolina Academy of Performing Arts, “ CAPA”  in 2017. She is the Artistic Director, principal director of productions, and primary acting instructor of CAPA. CAPA boasts many students who are the top talent in their schools with some competing in Triangle Rising Stars and gone on to the Jimmy Awards in NYC. 

Melanie has successfully placed students in musical theatre, and BFA acting collegiate programs as well as guided them to professional representation. Melanie is represented by Terri Dollar of KU Talent, a film actress and film acting coach. Melanie, her children, and students can be seen on the small and large screens. She has spent countless hours on commercial, television and major motion picture sets.  Among her favorite director's credits are Newsies, Oliver and Les Miserables. Growing talent in others and helping her students to raise their ceiling and realize their dreams, is as rewarding to her as performing herself for they, “are such stuff as dreams are made on” (Shakespeare).​

Angie’s most recent directing and writing credits include the music video Ain’t Nobody Sees Them from Finding Patience the Musical, which has won first place at the London International Short Film Festival, the Las Vegas International Film & Screenwriting Festival, the Utah Film Festival and Zion’s Indie Film Festival. She is also in the middle of directing a short film about enduring love called Tomorrow.

Angie’s most recent acting credits include the TV series Out of Touch, the film Trails and several commercials and industrials. Angie has been in numerous regional and national commercials, multiple film projects for the North Carolina Museum of History and various film productions. She is most well-known for her role in You Never Know How Much Good You Do, a short film which has gone viral and international, with over 3.4 million views on YouTube, translated into multiple languages.

Angie has been writing and directing theatre projects between acting gigs for the past 20 years, including the 2017 & 2022’s sold-out theatre musical Finding Patience. In 2018, Angie gave a TEDx talk at Duke University about the power of Local History Theatre and Film. Along with teaching in a classroom setting, Angie is also a private acting coach for both film and theatre. Angie believes that all art can be used for good – to uplift, enlighten, inspire and change the world.

Angie Staheli, Instructor: Film Actors Workshop

Michelle Yousik, Office Manager, Instructor

Michelle began singing along with Olivia Newton John when she was little (she even had the same ONJ haircut for 3 years) to singing in her high school chorus, mixed show choir and in an a capella choir. Michelle played the violin all though elementary, middle & high school and learned to play the cello and viola when needed. She participated for three years in the dance team, performed as one of the brides in "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers", and sang during her HS graduation. Michelle attended San Jose City College in California and while there took art classes that have inspired her ever since.  She has also sang at weddings and performed with a band or two through the years. Michelle uses improv's" Yes, and..?" rule, and it has led her to prop making, to set design & construction and to administration with CAPA where her daughters perform. Michelle believes "CAPA is Saving the Arts!"

Kathleen Black,  Ballet Dance Pro

Alexa Robertson, Dance Instructor

Tanya Quinn, Improv Instructor

Kathleen Black trained at Infinity Ballet and The Raleigh School of Ballet. During summers, she trained at American Ballet Theatre, Harid Conservatory, and on scholarship at both Boston Ballet and School of American Ballet. While attending SAB in 2012, Ms. Black was selected to perform in Peter Walker’s workshop piece created for the New York Choreographic Institute. In the spring of 2012, Ms. Black was invited to become a trainee with Carolina Ballet and perform in Robert Weiss’ world premiere of Beethoven: Symphony No. 9. She was promoted to apprentice in 2014 and full company member in 2015. Black has performed in the annual production of Theatre in the Park’s A Christmas Carol, dancing the featured ballet role. Ms. Black was a competitive Scottish Highland dancer, having won both the National and North American Championships.

https://www.carolinaballet.com/artistic/dancers/kathleen-black 

Alexa Blair Robertson is a professional dancer and aspiring surgeon. She currently attends Duke where she is a Dancing Devil and part of their Ballroom team. She is an actress and Model. She can be seen in Hallmark's “One Summer” with CAPA’s own, Bryant Prince, released fall of 2021.

 

 At age 4, Robertson was diagnosed with a stage 4 Wilms Tumor in which she endured multiple surgeries, chemotherapy, and radiation to defeat. Following her battle with cancer, she moved to Raleigh where she began training with CC & Company Dance Complex under the direction of Christy Curtis. Robertson danced competitively with “The Core” for eleven years. Now cancer free, Robertson has spent a decade working with and learning from the best choreographers.  She dances professionally at Play in LA and Excel Studios in Atlanta.  

Ashley Walker Anderson received her pre-professional dance training from Robb Beaman, Patricia Warren, and Kim Saad, and trained at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Ballet. Ashley attended North Carolina Governor’s School and was invited to dance with the Joffrey Ballet. 

Ashley received a BFA in Dance Education from East Carolina University, and under the direction of Rodger Belman, performed works by Laura Dean in New York City. Upon graduation, she accepted the position of Dance Director at Garner Magnet High School.

Ashley received a ballet teaching certification from the Royal Ballet School in London, is a certified Progressing Ballet Technique (PBT) teacher, and has a certification in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion from Cornell University. She is currently in graduate school working on her Masters Degree in Dance Education. 

Ashley is the Dance Director and choreographer for Carolina Academy of the Performing Arts and has served as a faculty member for private dance studios across the Triangle. She is currently choreographing, teaching, and offering private lessons for students of all levels.

Ashley Walker Anderson, Dance Director & Choreographer

Tanya Quinn is an actress/improviser/director. As a teenager, Tanya's performances made it to the main stage as a member of the Lollipop Guild in "The Wizard of Oz," Chava in "Fiddler on the Roof," and Puck in Shakespeare’s "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Following high school, Tanya attended Utah Valley University where she received a scholarship to study theater. Her professional theatre experience includes roles as Eileen Harper in "Arsenic and Old Lace," Marie in "Scarlet Pimpernel," and Rosalind in "As You Like it." Tanya’s commercial work includes companies such as Sizzler, Intermountain Healthcare, and Verizon. 

Studying and performing improv since 2002, Tanya Quinn has performed with multiple groups including Comedy Sportz of Provo, Thrillionaires of Utah Valley, and Comedy Face-Off of Jackson Hole, WY.

Tanya has experience directing, and teaching and leading improv lessons to children, actors, and professionals in the corporate world looking to improve teamwork and communication skills.

Tanya feels deeply that any experience in the arts is valuable. There is so much more to be gained from experience in theatre than just a path that leads to Hollywood or Broadway. She believes the skills, lessons, and precious memories gained in the theatre will influence and bless their entire life. Of all the roles Tanya has played throughout her life, her favorite has been that of a mother.  Her ability to manage children, while fostering an environment of fun where creativity can flow will be a valuable asset in the theater classroom.  Making theater experiences available to children, as they have so much to offer, is a passion of Tanya's since she has experienced first hand the effect it can have in one's life. Theater helped her confidence and creativity grow, and she is eager and ready to offer that same growth to the students.

Hunter Browning, Music Director, Conductor and Instructor

We loved having the uber-talented Hunter Browning as our Musical Director this summer. Thank goodness he caught the CAPA bug and has agreed to join our regular staff for school-year training!

Hunter moved to North Carolina last August to begin his teaching career as the Chorus and Theatre Teacher at Apex Middle School. He studied choral music education at the University of Delaware and has loved musical theatre practically since birth! His recent credits include The Addams Family (Director), Mamma Mia! (Harry), A Chorus Line (Music and Pit Director), and Newsies (Music and Pit Director).