“SWEENEY TODD” CREATIVE TEAM
DIRECTOR
Kayla Stefansson
Kayla Stefansson began her journey in the performing arts at the South Bay Conservatory in 2010. She performed in over 30 musicals with the company from 2010-2020 where she had the opportunity to assist the directors, choreograph numbers, and run rehearsals. She assistant directed two musicals at Our Lady of Guadalupe School, has been involved in the planning of numerous variety shows for different groups, and is deeply involved in the arts in the City of Torrance.
Kayla’s artistic education includes training in multiple vocal genres, acting techniques, and dancing styles. She most recently studied Shakespeare and modern acting in Oxford, England with the British American Drama Academy. She was a student at the Stella Adler Academy of Acting in Los Angeles, where she studied Adler’s technique in depth. She most recently studied music in El Camino College’s Applied Music program where she served as president of the El Camino College Chorale Club. She has received numerous performing opportunities with the school and was gifted three substantial music scholarships. Kayla will be studying vocal performance with the Berklee College of Music this fall.
Some of her most recent stage work includes playing Amélie in the El Camino College Theater department’s production of “Amélie” the Musical, singing the “Les Miserables” solo with the ECC Orchestra, playing Yasha in “The Cherry Orchard” with the British American Drama Academy, and playing Mary Poppins in the musical “Mary Poppins” with the South Bay Conservatory.
MUSIC DIRECTOR
Dr. Anthony Moreno
Dr. Anthony Moreno began studying music at El Camino College with Professor Hedley Nosworthy and was able to perform solos with the ECC Symphony Orchestra, ECC Community Choir, and ECC Chorale. He also performed in Austria and Italy with Daniel Ho and Ars Nova Sinfonia run by Dr. Liam Doyle and served as President of the ECC Society of Music, an organization created by students to fund raise and help support the music program at El Camino College.
After ECC, he became a Bob Cole Scholar and a student of Shigemi Matsumoto at California State University of Long Beach. He made his operatic debut at CSULB in Massenet's Cendrillon as Pandolfe and was the baritone soloist in Brahms' Ein Deutches Requiem. In 2012, he received the California State Senate CertiNicate of Recognition in Performing Arts and was a regional Ninalist in the 2012 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. He also performed the roles of Count Almaviva and Antonio in CSULB’s production of Le nozze di Figaro by W. A. Mozart and performed the title role of Mozart’s Don Giovanni.
He went on to complete his Master of Music Degree at the University of Southern California, continued to work with Shigemi Matsumoto and performed the roles of Ottone in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea, Don Alvaro in Rossini’s Il viaggio a Reims, Tom in Henze’s The English Cat and Oreste in Gluck’s Iphigé nie en Tauride. He was also a member of Cantos de Taos during the Taos Opera Institute’s 2014 season and performed Mozart arias with the Downey Symphony Orchestra in its 2014/2015 Season. He concluded a successful tour of Austria and Italy in 2015, performing various modern works with the South Bay Camerata ensemble as well as world music pieces with Dr. Liam Doyle and Daniel Ho.
He recently obtained a Doctor of Musical Arts Degree at USC while studying with Rod Gilfry. During his doctoral studies, he performed in USC’s productions of Frau Schindler, Ariadne auf Naxos and Postcard from Morocco. Since graduating, he has performed with LA Opera, LA Master Chorale and with various small opera companies including New Opera West and LtD Opera. He currently sings with Tonality, an award winning professional choir representing the diverse cultures and ethnicities of the Los Angeles area whose mission is to deliver authentic stories through voice and body in order to incite dialogue, understanding, and positive change.
Dr. Moreno has brought his experiences full circle and now proudly teaches as an adjunct faculty member and applied voice teacher at El Camino College and Fullerton College.
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
Michael Stefansson
Michael has been with the South Bay Conservatory (SBC) for over twelve years in various capacities. He started as a parent volunteer when his daughters performed on stage. Eventually, he got more involved as a production assistant, helping the directors and producers with everything from the rehearsal schedule, sets, props, music, and video production.
On stage, Michael has performed in thirteen musical productions with SBC as well as the Huntington Beach Playhouse. His most notable roles were Gomez (The Addams Family), Shrek (in Shrek) and The Captain (Dames at Sea), Scarecrow (Wizard of OZ), and Geppetto (My Son Pinocchio).
Michael’s first opportunity to direct a musical was SBC's production of “Thoroughly Modern Millie.” Unfortunately, the show never reached the stage due to the Covid-19 pandemic.