LLBT Staff and Faculty
A community is its people, and the theatre community at U of T Scarborough has benefitted from the leadership, expertise and heart of its faculty and staff decades. In this “scene” collection of materials from the archive, you’ll find images of the people who have made – and continue to make – this place special for generations of students.
The old TV Studio turned theatre was not well resourced in the early years and relied on copious amounts of volunteerism and passion to run. Mel Gornik staffed the old TV Studio in the early years, joined later by Ken Jones, who would go on to be the campus photographer at U of T Scarborough until the mid 2000s. Seeing how busy the space became by the 1990s, Prof. Paula Sperdakos convinced the campus to hire a full time Technical Director, Kevin Wright. In the 00s Kevin would be joined by a second staff member, first Scott Dutrisac, and later Colin Harris. Today these staff members are succeeded by capable LLBT staff Alicia Ho and Samantha Alonzo. These individuals have been critical to all the work that happens here.
While there have been many teachers in this space, some spent many years of their career here. Prof. Michal Schonberg founded the program, directed more than a dozen productions including several original adaptations with original scores by Music Prof. Alexander Rapoport; he also co-founded and led the Prague-Toronto Theatre Project (1999-2006) and retired in 2010. Leigha Lee Browne directed 20+ large productions in only 12 years. Prof. Paula Sperdakos taught and directed more than a dozen incredible, ambitious productions over a nearly 30-year teaching career, retiring in 2017. Prof. Trisha Lamie joined in 2004, teaching acting and devising inventive productions with students up to her retirement in 2022. Prof. Barry Freeman, first an undergraduate student here in the 1990s, still teaches and directs in the program. Today we are fantastically lucky to be joined by Profs. Elliot Leffler, Desirée Livingstone, Carla Melo and Scott Mealey who carry this long legacy forward. You can find a full historical list of the theatre’s faculty and staff here.
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