Teaching Artists

Many of the Playground Stage students already know "Ms. Leslie" through after-school classes. Leslie Putnam (she/her)  grew up in the Buncombe County school system, earned a BFA in Musical Theatre from Western Carolina University. She has worked professionally as an actor, director, administrator, choreographer, costumer, and an array of other hats throughout her career. Her theatre education career began while she trained under the education department at Wayside Theatre in Middletown VA. She then served for six years as the Head of Early Childhood Development at Adventure Theatre in the Washington DC area. She continues to be an active teaching artist with Wolf Trap Institute for Early Learning through the Arts. Leslie has taught theatre to hundreds of children and has devoted her life to theatre education.

Michelle (she/her) holds a BFA in Musical Theater Performance with a minor in Teaching Artistry from Columbia College Chicago. She has worked for the past 6 years as an actor, teaching artist, director, and choreographer in both DC and Chicago. Michelle enthusiastically believes that theatre is an effective - and super fun - way to empower young people and teach them critical life skills. In Fall 2020 Ms. Michelle is currently working towards receiving her Masters of Science in Early Childhood Education with a concentration in Social and Emotional Learning from the Erikson Institute in Chicago, a graduate school for child development.

 Madeline (she/her) is a theatre educator, administrator, and accessibility specialist. Working with learning of all ages, she enjoys facilitating programs focused on beginning through advanced acting, audition technique, boundaries and self-care for actors, creative drama, improvisation, sensory drama, Shakespeare, and multidisciplinary approaches to core class material. Madeline moved to Asheville from Minneapolis, MN in the fall of 2021 and serves as the Asheville Program Director for Arts For Life. She is a proud member of Ring of Keys and grateful to bring her training with Intimacy Directors & Coordinators into her work. Madeline is certified in Youth Mental Health First Aid by the National Council for Behavioral Health and has Autism Direct Support Certification from The Autism Society of Minnesota. In collaboration with learners and fellow educators, Madeline is passionate about asking questions and striving to increase the accessibility of and equity in theatre education and experiences.

  Chris (he/him) comes to Playground Stage merging his extensive experience in education and his professional theatre career. By day, Chris is a Kindergarten Instructional Assistant and Bus Driver at Hominy Valley Elementary. By night, he is an active stage manager, actor, writer, and board operator in the Asheville theatre community. He has stage managed shows for Montford Park Players, The Magnetic Theatre, Anam Cara, and Attic Salt. He is a regular contributor to the Asheville Fringe Arts Festival.  We are excited to have Chris onboard to share his love of both backstage and onstage theatrical arts with the students at Playground Stage. 

 Andrew (he/him) graduated from Liberty University with a BA in Theatre Production as well as a BA in Arts and Administration. He is a North Carolina native who now resides in Washington DC where he is a stage manager at many regional houses such as Shakespeare Theatre Co. & Toby's Dinner Theatre. He discovered his love of children's theatre through working on many productions at Adventure Theatre with Ms. Leslie & Ms. Michelle. Andrew's creativity and can-do attitude is infectious and inspiring to all of the students he teaches.

Morgan (she/they) is a proud N.C State and Circle in the Square Theatre School Alumna.  

 Morgan moved to Asheville from New York, NY in the fall of 2021 to serve as the Art Education Coordinator for the Arts Council of Henderson County. She has worked as an actor, teacher, director, and choreographer up and down the east coast. Morgan finds fulfillment bringing joy and compassion to art education.