Executive Producer & Artistic Director - Sara D. Avery
Director/Choreographer - Kate Morran
Associate Director - Michael Graham Morales
Music Director - Jonathan Reuning-Scherer
Scenic Designer - Rorie Fitzsimons
Festival Manager - Tyler Lauretti
Producer Emeritus - Haig Shahverdian
Director/Choreographer - Kate Morran
Associate Director - Michael Graham Morales
Music Director - Jonathan Reuning-Scherer
Scenic Designer - Rorie Fitzsimons
Festival Manager - Tyler Lauretti
Producer Emeritus - Haig Shahverdian
Sara Demos Avery - Executive Producer & Artistic Director
Sara Demos Avery has been the Artistic Director of SAF since 2010. Her history with the program includes Best of Broadway ‘96, Anything Goes ’99 (Bonnie), 42nd Street‘00 (Dorothy), My Favorite Year ‘01 (KC Downing), Wonderful Town ‘05 (Stage Manager), Gypsy‘10 (Co-Artistic Director), Thoroughly Modern Millie '11, Hairspray '12, Guys & Dolls '13, and On the Town '14, West Side Story '15, Beauty and the Beast '16, Pippin '17, The Addams Family '18, Legally Blonde '19, and Mamma Mia! '21 (Artistic Director). Sara was the Chair of Performing Arts and Productions at Northwest Catholic High School until 2021, and served as the Director of Theater from 2003-2021. She still teaches English full-time at the school, and holds her CT Professional Educator Certificate in both English (7-12) and Theater (K-12). In the past she served as the Acting Teacher and Staging Director for Summer Vocal Institute: Musical Theater Intensive Jr. program at the Hartt Community Division. She lives in West Hartford with her husband Dan, and her four children, Charlie, Penny, Beatrice and Ruby.
Kate Morran - Director/Choreographer
Kate Morran is celebrating her 18th season with the West Hartford Summer Arts Festival. With 20 years of experience in theater education Miss Kate integrates creativity and mindfulness into every project. Having worked with hundreds of students of all abilities, she is a relationship driven educator and an empathetic leader. Since 2010, she has directed and choregraphed the West Hartford Summer Arts Festival (www.westhartfordsaf.com) From 2004 until spring 2021, Miss Kate was co-director and choreographer of the Northwest Catholic High School Dramateurs where she served on performing arts faculty and developed mindfulness centered leadership training via the nationally recognized LINK Crew Program. She has worked on productions with the Hartt School Community Division, Bay Path University and Simsbury High School. A 2012 graduate of the West Hartford Yoga teacher training program, Miss Kate offers private in-home instruction, corporate mindfulness facilitation and custom mindfulness workshops for young artists. Follow her on Instagram @twogalstheatricals and @misskatewh.
Michael Graham Morales - Associate Director
Michael Graham Morales has been a member of the SAF staff since 2012, after previously appearing as Herbie in SAF’s Gypsy (2010). A member of Actors Equity, he received his BFA in Acting from the University of Connecticut. Past credits include Corin in As You Like It (Connecticut Repertory Theatre), Snug in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Hope Summer Repertory Theatre), Georg Novack in She Loves Me (Opera House Players), The Dancing Kid in Johnny Guitar (The Majestic Theater), and Bert Savoy/Dutch Shultz in Panzy Craze (Hartford Stage)
Jonathan Reuning-Scherer - Music Director
Jonathan Reuning-Scherer serves as Director of Music at Emanuel Lutheran Church in Hartford. A piano performance graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory with a minor in horn, he also holds a degree in choral conducting from the Yale Institute of Sacred Music, where he studied conducting with Marguerite Brooks and organ with Martin Jean. Jonathan also holds degrees in mathematics from Oberlin and a PhD in statistics from Yale where he currently serves as senior lecturer in statistics. From 2000 to 2015, he led GodSong, a Greater Hartford ecumenical choir dedicated to the performance of great choral music in a worship context. From 2010 and 2015, Jonathan produced and directed yearly musicals for the Montessori School of Greater Hartford, and was assistant music director for SAF in summer of 2018. Jonathan frequently accompanies area choirs including those at Bristow Middle School and Conard High School. Jonathan mostly identifies as ‘dad’ and is delighted to have two kids who are past participants in SAF. Jonathan and family reside in West Hartford.
Rorie Fitzsimons - Scenic Designer
Rorie Fitzsimons has been a part of SAF since 2010 and enjoys working with such a talented and energetic team. Rorie served as the Senior Technical Director for Undergraduate Production at Yale University from 2001 to 2018. Additionally, he was the Set Designer/Tech Advisor at Northwest Catholic High School for over 25 years, and his work has also been seen locally at TheaterWorks (Hartford), Hartford Children's Theatre, and Playhouse on Park, Conard High School, and Hall High School, among others.
Tyler Lauretti - Festival Manager
Tyler Lauretti has been a member of the WHSAF staff since 2016 and has been with the WHSAF family since 2012. He is originally from West Hartford and is a proud graduate of Conard High School. At Conard, he participated in many of the plays and musicals including Shrek '14 (Shrek), Peter Pan '13 (Smee), and Beauty and The Beast '12 (Cogsworth). Tyler’s favorite WHSAF credits include Hairspray ‘12 (Mr. Pinky), Guys & Dolls ‘13 (Nathan Detroit), West Side Story ‘15 (Detective Schrank) and The Addams Family '18 (Gomez). Tyler graduated from The UConn School of Business in 2018 where he majored in Management Information Systems and recently received a Masters of Management from The University of Saint Joseph. He currently works at Travelers as an Innovation Architect and at UConn as an Adjunct Professor
Haig Shahverdian - Producer Emeritus
Haig Shahverdian retired from his position as Supervisor of the Fine and Performing Arts for the West Hartford Public Schools in 2012. Haig taught for 12 years at King Philip Middle School before transferring to Hall High School in 1991 where he produced and directed Pops ‘n Jazz for 25 years. He continues with his passion for arts education as a member of the Gifts of Music Advisory Committee and a Trustee of the Ellen Jeanne Goldfarb Memorial Charitable Trust. He founded the Summer Arts Festival in 1977, which he produced and directed for 20 years.