Ben Dicke
Ben Dicke holds a Master of Fine Arts in Theatre Performance from the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Education from Sterling College. He is the chair of the Theatre Department.
He has worked as a professional actor for twenty years in regional markets throughout the country including the Arvada Center, Aurora Fox Theatre, Court Theatre, Long Wharf Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare, American Theatre Co., among many others. His directorial work is very diverse, ranging from large-scale musicals to Fringe Theatre productions. Some of his favorite directing projects include Xanadu, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, Brighton Beach Memoirs, The Bald Soprano, Hamlet, Once On This Island, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Oedipus, and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.
Ben’s Awards and Honors include True West Award Winner: “Colorado Theatre Person of the Year” (2012), Henry Award nomination: “Outstanding Supporting Actor,” Sancho, Man of La Mancha (2013), Denver Post Ovation Nomination: “Outstanding Lead Actor,” Robbie Hart, The Wedding Singer, Aurora Fox (2011), Jeff Award Winner: “Best Ensemble,” Man of La Mancha, Court Theatre (2007), Denver Post Ovation Nomination: “Outstanding Supporting Actor,” Henry, The Skin of Our Teeth, Aurora Fox (2009), Jeff Award Nomination: “Outstanding Ensemble,” Assassins, Porchlight Theatre (2008), After Dark Award Winner: “Outstanding Ensemble,” Kabuki Lady Macbeth, Chicago Shakespeare (2005), Klon Mathews Endowed Scholarship in Education Winner (2000), and four-time Evans “Actor of the Year” Award Winner (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001).
Ben also has an extensive teaching resume, which includes Theatre Instructor at the Ricks Center for Gifted Children in Denver, Colorado, Artist/Educator Residencies at Colorado College, Sterling College, and Court Theatre Chicago, Co-founder of the Wagon Wheel Jr’s Theatre Education Programs, as well as teaching and directing for myriad camps and workshops throughout the country. Ben is a two-time finisher of the Leadville 100 Mile Trail Run and a member in good standing with Actor’s Equity Association: the Union for Professional Actors and Stage Managers.
Timothy Kennedy
Timothy Kennedy is a Stage Director, Music Director, Performer, Playwright and Teaching Artist. He has served as the Resident Director for Loveland Opera for eight years and has also directed for Pensacola Opera, Louisiana State University, University of West Florida, Evergreen Chorale, Evergreen Players, Southern Colorado Repertory Theater, and Candlelight Dinner Playhouse . Kennedy’s varied international performance career includes musical theater, operatic, and concert performances. He has performed with Pensacola Opera, Loveland Opera, New Opera Festival di Roma, Natchez Opera, Southern Colorado Repertory Theater, Spotlight Theater, Equinox Theater, Candlelight Dinner Playhouse. In concert, Kennedy has performed with the Colorado Symphony, Shreveport Summer Music Festival, and High Point University and has sung the Brahms’ Requiem with the Arvada Chorale as well as the Northwest Florida Symphony Orchestra, and the title role in Mendelssohn’s Elijah for First Baptist Church in New York City. He also performed as the baritone soloist in Haydn’s Paukenmesse in Austria on the Graz Music Festival and the Linz Choral Festival and sang Mozart’s C Minor Mass and Copland’s Old American Songs with the Amarillo Symphony. He has Shreveport Summer Music Festival and at High Point University. As a playwright, Timothy has written the libretto for seven new children’s musicals including Stone Soup, The Empty Pot, The Brementown Musicians and The King’s Reflection. Kennedy also serves as the Director of Music and Worship Arts for Arvada United Methodist Church and the Artistic Director for R.E.A.L. Performing Arts.
Before moving to Colorado, Timothy lived in Pensacola, Florida. While living in Pensacola, he served as the Adjunct Professor of Musical Theater at the University of West Florida and the Director of Education and Community Outreach for the Pensacola Opera Co., which became the fastest growing opera company 3 years in a row during his time in this position. While there, he developed the Two Worlds project which served as an artistic outlet of expression for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing of Northwest Florida for four years. He also developed the From Words to Music Project which has helped over 4,000 students create and perform their own operas in the classroom setting. While on faculty at the University of West Florida, Timothy served as the music director for numerous productions including She Loves Me, Guys and Dolls, As You Like It, Christmas Carol, and Into the Woods. He was nominated for a Music Direction award by the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival for his work on Into the Woods. Kennedy also served on the Opera America Education Committee and was a panelist and presenter at a number of their conventions.
Janice Vlachos
Janice Vlachos is currently in her twenty fifth year as a choral director. Thirteen years ago she returned “home” to Fairview High School, where her love of music began when she was a student, and later a student teacher, with Ron Revier. She received her B.M. at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee. Before returning to Fairview, Ms. Vlachos taught at Wheat Ridge High School and Chatfield High School. Ms. Vlachos is a member of CMEA and ACDA and has served as the COACDA R & S Chairs for High School and Women’s Literature and she served as the Southwest Regional ACDA R & S High School Chair for Women’s Literature for 6 years. She is currently serving as the SWACDA R & S chair for Contemporary Commercial music. At Fairview, Janice directs five choirs, teaches Zumba, is Fine Arts department head, and is the director/producer of the fall musical and the Pops Show. Under Ms. Vlachos’s direction, 15 choral groups have been selected to perform at CMEA. Age of Guinevere, a women’s jazz ensemble she started nine years ago, won the Downbeat Award for Best Large Vocal Jazz Ensemble and was selected to sing at the National Choral Directors Conference in Dallas, TX. Ms. Vlachos resides in Boulder with her husband, Dean, and their two children, Eleni, 19, and Nikolos, 18 years old.