Arena Stage Academy

NATHAN BEARY BLUSTEIN

NATHAN BEARY BLUSTEIN is delighted to return to the Arena Stage Academy this summer! A D.C. native, Nathan currently teaches musical theater history and performance in the Department of Performing Arts at American University where he has served as a music director for productions including Carrie, Pippin, Assassins and Little Women. He is also a PhD candidate in music theory at Indiana University, where he is writing a dissertation on the music and lyrics of Stephen Sondheim.

DAVID ROWEN

DAVID ROWEN is a Helen Hayes Award-nominated actor and musician based in New York City. Originally hailing from Northern Virginia, he has performed at many DC area theatres, including Signature Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Studio Theatre, Olney Theatre Center, Adventure Theatre MTC, and Toby’s Dinner Theatre. He appeared Off-Broadway in Bob Marley's Three Little Birds, and he was in the world premiere production of Barry Levinson and Sheryl Crow's musical, Diner, helmed by Tony Award winner, Kathleen Marshall. David is the producer of the music YouTube channel, davidrowen/creative, which features his unique arrangements and covers of pop and Broadway songs in music video form. His work as been praised by Playbill, Broadway.com, BroadwayWorld, and award-winning composer, Stephen Schwartz. David is a classically trained singer and pianist, and a self-taught guitarist. He regularly freelances as a music director, accompanist, music producer, and video director/editor. He specializes in a cappella and piano/vocal arrangements and transcriptions, his a cappella arrangements have been featured on the Best of College A Cappella, and Voices Only compilation albums. David performs worldwide with the USO Show Troupe, and he sings in the a cappella trio, Iris, who won Varsity Vocals' 2018 International Championship of A Cappella at Carnegie Hall. He has also been a soloist for the El Paso Symphony Orchestra and Firelands Symphony Orchestra.

ERIN WEAVER

ERIN WEAVER is five time Helen Hayes Award-winning actress as well as having two additional Helen Hayes Awards for Best Ensemble (Sense and Sensibility at the Folger Theater) and Best Musical Adaption (The Gift of Nothing commissioned by the Kennedy Center- award shared with Patrick McDonnell, Aaron Posner and Andy Mitton). At Arena Stage, she won a Helen Hayes Award for Kattrin in Mother Courage and Her Children directed by Molly Smith, starring Kathleen Turner.  Locally, she has also performed at Signature Theatre , Folger Theatre, Roundhouse Theatre, Theater J,  Imagination Stage, and Adventure Theatre. She played Young Cossette/Young Eponine in the first National Tour of Les Miserables  in Philadelphia and has performed at various regional theaters across the country. She has taught and created education programs for theater companies including Arena, Two River Theatre, 1812 Productions, and People’s Light & Theatre. Erin has a BFA in acting from the University of the Arts and she has also completed the NYU Steinhardt School of Education Drama in Education (England) and Community-Engaged Theatre (Ireland) summer abroad programs. She lives locally with her husband, director and playwright Aaron Posner, and her fabulous seven-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Maisie.

JESSICA WU

JESSICA WU has been a theatre educator, performer, and creator for over 15 years and is thrilled to bring her knowledge and passion to a third summer at Arena Stage’s Musical Theatre Academy! Originally from Canada, Jessica has taught theatre movement and dance extensively throughout the US as choreographer for StudentsLive! International Musical Theatre Program, as a master-class teacher for Beyond the Stars, and as a guest instructor at numerous programs and studios across the country. You may have seen her on stage at Arena in Carousel, The Music Man, and Oklahoma! Other performance credits include the Broadway Revivals of Miss Saigon and A Chorus Line, The Music Man at the Kennedy Center, The Radio City Spring Spectacular, productions at Lincoln Center, Shakespeare in the Park, BAM, Signature, Paper Mill, Goodspeed, Sacramento Music Circus, TUTS, PCLO, KC Starlight, MUNY, and Baltimore CenterStage, and National Tours of Dr. Dolittle, The King and I, Miss Saigon, The Wizard of Oz, and A Chorus Line.Jessica is the Associate Artistic Director of Royal Family Productions, a small off-Broadway theatre in Times Square, and is a proud NYU Steinhardt alumni. Let’s dance!