ABOUT US

Teaching Artist

Jasmin Abernathy

Jasmin Abernathy is an actor, spoken word artist, and youth educator.
Originally from New York City, she began performing when she was a child. Acting was an outlet for her to share her emotions and connect with others in a deeper way. During high school, she was selected to be a part of Roundabout Theater Company’s first youth division, called “Voices.” The Youth Division wrote, directed, produced, and acted in original plays. She and the other members performed the original works at Roundabout’s Black Box Theater. Her love for acting and working with young people inspired her decision to pursue the field of teaching. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology with a Minor in Theater from Lehman College, graduating magna cum laude. She is also a SAG-AFTRA member. She is passionate about working with the youth and helping them with the process of authentically expressing themselves, through the performing arts and beyond.

Teaching Artist

Precious Alfaro

My name is Precious Alfaro; I am a Gay, Black, Mexican, and Native woman from Highland Park, Los Angeles. Struggling with a speech impediment, I often felt too embarrassed to speak; so I wrote poetry. Little scribbles in a notebook. Studying theater is high-school changed my life. It gave me hope and allowed me the confidence to pursue writing as a playwright.

My whole life, I felt as if I needed to swallow the sensation to create and instead continue with the ebb and flows of mundane life. To swallow, in fear that I would be unable to provide for myself and follow in the footsteps of my parents Instead, it only grew inside me; it became a world of its own. I grew trees, forests, oceans, even slums inside this 5’5 frame. My bones are a city, each it’s own feeling. Everything that I write is me; it pulls from those roots and expands through the pen.

Teaching Artist

Blythe Baten

Blythe graduated with a B.A. from Colorado College and received her graduate training at the New Actors Workshop conservatory program where she studied with renowned directors Mike Nichols, Paul Sills and Geoorge Morrison. She was chosen to participate in master classes taught by Michael Howard and Wynn Handman. She began her professional career in theatre playing Anne Frank in multiple regional productions and went on to understudy the Broadway production starring Natalie Portman. Blythe worked extensively Off-Broadway with The Irish Repertory Theatre before moving to Los Angeles. Since then she has worked in commercials, voiceover, film and television. She worked as a teaching artist with ENACT theatre company in NYC and has been the lead Teaching Artist and Program Manager for Los Angeles Repertory Theater for 15 years. She is very excited to be working with USTC and in having the opportunity to make an impact on the communities it serves.

Teaching Artist

Christopher Baker

Christopher Baker, the rising star in the entertainment and theatre industry. With a BFA in Acting and a Minor in Education, Christopher has honed his craft through years of experience in community, regional, and educational theatre. Originally from Florida, Christopher’s passion for storytelling led him to Los Angeles where he’s making waves as a resident teaching artist at Dramatic Results, The Advot Project, Improv it Up, and recently joined the team of The Unusual Suspects. His dedication to his craft and infectious enthusiasm have gained him a reputation as one of the most personable and talented performance artists in the industry. Keep an eye out for Christopher Baker, as he continues to make his mark on the entertainment world.

Teaching Artist

Daniel Bisuano

Daniel Bisuano is an actor, writer, poet, and advocate. He continues to pursue his dreams and goals to pursue his creative goals while also empowering his community through his advocacy work. Daniel has been an advocate for seven years and has worked with and been a part of organizations like; Homeboys Industries, Arts for Healing Justice Network, California Justice Leaders, and Inside OUT Writers. Daniel continues to strive to not only better himself but also the community around him. Having spent seven years in the justice system as a youth he has a strong passion for the empowerment and advocacy of the formerly incarcerated community. Living as a former foster youth. Daniel believes that many different communities intertwine and have a strong passion for creating awareness and change amongst each one. Currently Daniel is on the board and committees of different community advocacy organizations like; Reproductive Health and Equity Project for Foster Youth, Integrated Health community with the Los Angeles Regional Reentry Partnership, and the BUS ambassador program with U.C Berkeley.  He also served a term as a Youth Commissioner for District 3 and, along with his different engagements with advocacy, Daniel is a part time student at Cal State University of Los Angeles majoring in English. Daniel continues to explore different ways to help the community through his work as well as different ways to share the stories of people impacted by the various barriers associated with being involved within the justice system.

Teaching Artist

Ayla McCarthy Combes

Ayla McCarthy Combes (they/them) is a multidisciplinary artist, poet, and educator. Their teaching philosophy is primarily rooted in an exploration of bell hooks’ idea that “education is an act and practice of freedom”. Ayla approaches hooks’ liberatory belief by striving to create spaces in which the individual and collective voices of students are celebrated through play, writing, and performance. They recently completed their MFA in Creative Writing at CalArts, and received professional training from the Stella Adler Studio of Acting in New York City and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, England. They have had the pleasure of being a teaching artist with Yo Re Mi in New York City, and leading workshops that bridge their ever-evolving explorations as a tarot reader, astrologer, and somatic sound-work practitioner with their love of teaching performance and writing. Ayla is thrilled to join the USTC team as a teaching artist with the Youth Theatre Conservatory. 

Teaching Artist

Chris De La Cruz

Chris De La Cruz is an Afro-Latino comedian, storyteller, and educator. He’s hosted for The Moth, SoulPancake, and Spotify’s morning show “The Get Up”, but the only thing his students care about is that he once handed a bunny to Kevin Hart on The Tonight Show. In 2021, he won the Yes, And Laughter Lab with his show “Getting Schooled with Chris De La Cruz,” the news satire talk show for young people about what’s wrong with school and what they can do about it. Outside of his work in comedy, he has taught theater and storytelling in every borough of New York City, was a Keynote Speaker at SXSWEdu, and was a high school teacher at South Bronx Community Charter High School. Now pursuing acting and comedy in Los Angeles, he was featured in the HBO Max Pilot Presentation “Sherlock Homies” and is a regular performer at the UCB Theater.

Teaching Artist

Erik Escobar

Erik Escobar is a professional comedian, actor, and teaching artist born and raised in Los Angeles. He began his journey with The Unusual Suspects in 2010 as part of the Los Angeles County Arts Commission’s Internship Program, and has been a regular teaching artist with the organization since 2012, providing in-depth theatre-arts education and mentorship to middle- and high-school students, as well as incarcerated and system-engaged minors. During this time, Erik has also taught with a variety of additional local arts organizations and schools, such as Center for the Arts Eagle Rock, University of Portland, and Spokane’s The Blue Door Theater. He is a comic who currently performs all over the United States at clubs, colleges, and festivals, both individually, with the Almost Asian Comedy Tour, and opening for acts such as Rex Navarette and Jerry Seinfeld. You can hear him tell jokes on NBC’s Last Comic Standing, Comedy Central, and Vh1. Erik has a B.A. in Film, Theatre, and Management from Whittier College and is currently working toward his M.F.A. from Goddard College.

Teaching Artist

Jeanette Godoy

Jeanette Godoy is an Interdisciplinary Artivista (Actor, Costume Designer, Director, and Social Justice Educator). She was raised in Inglewood, California, and received her BA in Liberal Studies with a Specialization in Chicana/o Studies from San Diego State University.  In addition, Jeanette holds a BCLAD Multiple Subject Teaching Credential and an MFA in Theater with a double focus in Acting and Costume Design from UCLA’s School of Theater, Film, and Television. Jeanette is the founder of TIZAPAPALOTL Productions, which works with community and professionals in film, television, and theatre to create content that promotes healing through the understanding of cultura (culture), community, and decolonization in order to create social and systematic change, and owner of LA PACHUCADA, which specializes in vintage and recycled clothing. You can follow her work via IG: @misskahlo.

Teaching Artist

Bonnie Kaplan

Bonnie S. Kaplan is an educator, poet, and artist born and raised in the San Fernando Valley. She is thrilled to begin her journey with The Unusual Suspects in the VIP Program. Bonnie has over two decades of experience working full-time as a teacher with programs of parole and probation in California. She believes art and acting are central to healing in individuals and communities. She has studied improv and storytelling with Ann Randolph and character-based comedy with Steve and Barb North. She has performed comedy with the Valley Rep at LA Connection and produced and starred in a series for Public Access Television. She holds an MFA in Performance Art from California College of the Arts (formerly CCAC, Oakland). As a Writer in the Schools for Redhen Press, she currently teaches poetry to middle schoolers.

Teaching Artist

Christina Kroell

Christina Kroell (she/her) is a Los Angeles-based actor, artist, and educator originally from Tucson, Arizona. She began her teaching artist career in New York City working with Atlantic Theater Company’s Staging Success Program, acting with STAR Theater for Social Change, and serving as the drama teacher for Kids Creative and The Boys & Girls Club Virtual Program. She has a background in physical and devised theatre and is passionate about original thought-provoking work. She was a founding member of the Journalists Theatre Company in NYC and since transitioning to LA has been a part of many independent films, and the A Light in Dark Places play festival advocating for mental health awareness. Christina aims to instill a sense of creative authority in her students and encourages them to be bold in their storytelling. She enjoys baking, thrifting, and walking her dog Finn, and is currently writing her first feature film. She believes in the healing power of art of all forms, and wouldn’t be who or where she is today without access to arts education at a young age. She is thrilled to be a part of The Unusual Suspects!

Teaching Artist

Katharine Lerner

Katharine is an Actor and Teacher in Los Angeles. Katharine has taught with Youth Academy of Dramatic Arts, A Noise Within, Treasure Trunk Theatre, and Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival. Katharine trained at the Upright Citizens Brigade, Maggie Flanigan Studio, received her BFA from Marymount Manhattan College, and studied at the British American Drama Academy. Katharine loves teaching children and opening their imaginations to all the possibilities of creation and joy.

Teaching Artist

Gloria De Leon

Gloria De Leon is an actress and writer, from Santa Paula, CA. She graduated from UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television with a degree in theater and has performed bilingually in Spanish and English in LA and Ventura counties. She is a founding member of the sketch comedy team FATCH, and you can hear her voice-over work on Netflix’s El Chapo, Gentefied, and Nailed It!. Gloria LOVES the DRAMA, and she is the producer and host of Noveleando, a podcast all about telenovela fandom.

Teaching Artist

Ali MacLean

Ali MacLean is a writer/actor/director and mental health advocate who has 25 years of professional experience in TV, radio, film, web, print, and theater. She cut her theater teeth at the Miami University Actor’s Studio and the LaJolla Playhouse Acting Conservatory where she trained with Tony-winner Des McAnuff and the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Tony Church.

Ali has worked as a TV comedy writer, stand up and sketch performer, radio and TV host, and characters in teen movies she was way too old for. Her acting has been nominated by Method Fest, Broadway World, and the Monologue SlamFest at the Arcola Theatre in London. Ali is the winner of the David Sedaris Humor Prize. She is a Coverfly endorsed writer whose
screenplays have earned fellowships from Stowe StoryLabs, Writers For Writers, RespectAbility Disability Lab, 1in4 Coalition, and Black Magic Filmmakers Collective, to name a few.

Ali’s plays have won and placed in over 60 different competitions, and are published by Applause Books and Smith & Kraus. She is a member of EST/LA, The Dramatist Guild, Honor Roll, and has participated in several professional playwright labs, fellowships, and workshops, including Citadel of Playwrights (Resident Artist), Playwrights Realm, Dramatist Guild’s Footlights, and locally, Cloud Factory, Antaeus Theatre Lab, The Road’s SPF, SheLA Arts, and Ensemble Studio Theatre LA’s Playwrights Unit.

Ali teaches playwriting, acting, and public speaking. Her goal is to help each student find their own unique voice and develop the skills to get that voice on the page and the stage.

Teaching Artist

Natasha Mercado

Natasha Mercado is an actress, director, producer, writer, and theatre arts educator. She moved to Los Angeles, became a clown and the rest is history. You can see her on Adult Swim, Amazon, HBO, TBS, and stages across LA. She created “Send in the Clowns”, the first monthly clown show at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre and is currently touring her award-winning solo show “Tree” —which was called “one of LA’s
Top Ten Shows” and “a must-see” by Stage Raw and the Times Colonist.  She has virtually taught adults and children at Stomping Ground Comedy Theatre along with a workshop called “Playful Mindfulness” sponsored by the National Alzheimer’s Association to implement improv into the world of caregiving. In 2020, she was named
an “Emerging Content Creator” by the National Association of Latino Independent Producers. She was a director and producer for branded events at UCB and brought customized comedy programs to groups across the country including improv, sketch, storytelling, and public speaking intensives.

Teaching Artist

Nabra Nelson

Nabra Nelson is a community organizer and theater creator from Egypt, Nubia, and California. As a teaching artist, playwright, director, dramaturg, and consultant she works with theaters, schools, universities, and community organizations across the nation to strengthen community and amplify under-heard voices. She is a founding company member of the Seattle-based MENA theater company, Dunya Productions, a founding company member of the Milwaukee-based womxn-of-color performance troupe Heard Space Arts Collective, leads the Nubian Foundation for Preserving a Cultural Heritage, and is the co-host of the Kunafa & Shay Theater Podcast (produced by HowlRound Theatre Commons). Previously, she was the Director of Arts Engagement at Seattle Rep, and the Community Engagement Associate at Milwaukee Rep. She is a professional DEI consultant with Avent Diversity Consulting and a graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is a voracious reader, enjoys cooking and eating equally, and has a lovely dog named Ashriya!

Teaching Artist

Marie Osterman

Marie Osterman (they/she) is a multidisciplinary theatre artist and teacher based in LA, and thrilled to be part of this team! After graduating from UCLA’s acting and directing program, they have stayed in Los Angeles, working as an actor, movement director, and teaching artist. They are also a longtime collaborator and associate managing director of Project Nongenue. Marie’s generative art combines her classically-trained background in theatremaking and her contact improvisation practice with the mission of facilitating intimate and playful creative spaces. They believe in a generous theatrical space that has room to hold what needs to be held and ignite conversation and community. Marie’s dream is a kind of artmaking that allows us to shed learned ideas and sense that magic within and between us– or just have some fun!  Other passions include birds, making silly shapes with their body, and looking at the moon.

Teaching Artist

Leonardo van Schermbeek

Leonardo van Schermbeek is a Venezuelan-born artist with over 20 years of experience in the theater world. He has worked as an actor, as well as a creative and artistic director. His notable contributions include his roles as an actor and General Producer in the International Theatre Festival of Caracas (FITC) and the National Children’s Theatre Festival (FESTÍN, 2002). Throughout his career, he has collaborated with a variety of theater groups and production companies. In 2015, he won 1st Place at the Young Directors Festival, awarded by Teatro Trasnocho.

After relocating to the United States in 2016, Leonardo developed several performances, including Las Medias de Los Flamencos and El Cangrejo Volador, both children’s plays that toured within Miami-Dade Public Schools, promoting Spanish language and culture within South Florida’s Hispanic community. These projects were collaborations with Fundación CuatroGatos. Additionally, he was part of the Miami cast of Piaf: The Musical at The Colony Theater and the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. Teaching drama to children, combined with arts and storytelling, is another one of Leo’s passions. During the pandemic, he shared his storytelling sessions with kids and families worldwide through social media.

Before joining The Unusual Suspects Theatre Company as a Teaching Artist, Leonardo co-founded and served as the Creative Director of the IMAGO Theatre Group, based in Miami, Florida, for five years. This was a formative space where he fostered an environment of exploration and creativity. He directed four original plays written by a select group of Venezuelan women playwrights, including Karin Valecillos and Xiomara Moreno.

Together with his partner Jefferson Quintana, Leonardo creates powerful and imaginative visual solutions through conceptual and innovative performances. Their most recent project, The Piñata Guys, is a creative studio whose portfolio is as diverse as it is dazzling. Their work includes enchanting books, eye-popping brand identities, mesmerizing magazines, awe-inspiring sculptural art pieces, show-stopping costumes, dreamy set designs, whimsical puppets, mind-bending photoshoot concepts, and, of course, the ever-essential piñatas. They have collaborated with institutions such as The Bass, Miami Beach’s contemporary art museum.

Teaching Artist

Dani Schlenker

Dani has been a dedicated teacher of the performing arts for the last year and a half, working with companies like Theatre 360 in Pasadena and STAR Education in Santa Monica and Marina del Rey. While studying theatre and biology at Whitman College she had the opportunity to expand her education at the National Theatre Institute, and later worked as an Associate in their Theatremakers program. She’s thrilled to be a part of the Unusual Suspects Theatre Company!

Teaching Artist

Julian Smith

Julian Smith is a Los Angeles-based actor, writer and singer. He is originally from Daytona Beach, Florida, and has developed his résumé working in film, television, community, regional and educational theatre. After receiving his Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre, he moved to Los Angeles to make an impact in the entertainment industry. When Julian is not performing, he is a resident teaching artist in the Los Angeles area, where he shares his knowledge, experience, and passion for theatre with children and young adults.

Teaching Artist

Monique Sypkens