Wendy Bramlett (Director)
Wendy has enjoyed being in and directing theatre for the last 25+ years. She is a graduate of Texas Woman’s University in Denton, where she worked in the theatre, music and dance departments, graduating with a B.A. in Acting. Ms. Bramlett is the 2013 winner of the North Texas Drama Teacher of the Year Award. Some highlights of her career are directing the Betty Buckley nominated South Pacific, the Betty Buckley and DSMHSMTA nominated Thoroughly Modern Millie for which BNHS took home the award for Best Direction, the DSMHSMTA nominated Addams Family and the Betty Buckley nominated The Drowsy Chaperone. She would like to give a special thank you to all of the student crew heads, for their hard work and dedication. She would like to dedicate this performance to her support system of family and friends; she would be lost without you.
Katherine Engle (Vocal Director)
Katherine Engle is in her fifth year as the Associate Choir Director at Byron Nelson High School and is excited to be directing her 9th musical in Northwest ISD. She has enjoyed directing vocals for The Drowsy Chaperone, The Addams Family, Thoroughly Modern Millie, South Pacific, Mary Poppins, and the NISD Middle School Musicals Disney’s Mary Poppins Jr., Beauty and the Beast Jr., and Lion King Jr. In 2018, Ms. Engle was part of the duo that won the Best Musical Direction Award in the Dallas Summer Musicals High School Musical Theatre Awards. Katherine Engle earned a Bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Oklahoma State University and finished her Master of Music Education degree this summer at the University of North Texas. She would like to give a special thank you to all of the students involved in this production, her awesome colleagues, and the NISD administration for all of their hard work and dedication.
John Sikon (Music Director)
John Sikon is enjoying his eleventh year of directing choirs and musicals at Byron Nelson High School. “Beauty and The Beast” marks the fourteenth opportunity Mr. Sikon has had to conduct a musical production. Conducting the musical at Byron Nelson is one of his favorite times of the school year. Mr. Sikon’s choirs consistently earn Superior ratings at UIL Concert and Sight-Reading Contest. Aside from teaching, Mr. Sikon also performs as a soloist and a section leader for the chancel choir at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church in Dallas. Mr. Sikon holds a Bachelor's degree in Music Education from Louisiana State University where he attended with a full tuition vocal scholarship. He would like to thank his Byron Nelson fine arts colleagues and students for their dedication to this huge collaborative project. He would also like to thank all of the Beauty and The Beast musicians for allowing him the opportunity to sit in front of them and conduct this wonderful music.
James Hammer (Technical Director)
Since 2011, our hard-working technical crews have created the magical worlds in which the talented actors here at Byron Nelson tell their character’s stories. This production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast is using the fabulous Broadway style projections for its scenery. While visually stunning and compelling to watch, the projections create the unique challenge of utilizing set pieces that are versatile, yet don’t interfere with the projected elements. The resulting set design is simple, but supplements the projected images and gives the actors a variety of playing areas and levels. I’d like to thank my wife, Christy, for her support through nineteen years of this high school theatre experience.
McKenzie Graham (Assistant Technical Director)
McKenzie Graham is a recent graduate of Stephen F. Austin State University and is so excited to be starting her career here at Byron Nelson high school. She has been a lover of theatre from a very young age and is grateful for the chance to teach the new generation all about its magic and wonder. Before becoming a teacher, McKenzie was an avid dancer, acting a lead choreographer for her college dance team and choreographing for community theatres. She also prides herself on her knowledge of costuming and hair and makeup design, working as head of costumes for nearly every show at Byron this year. She would like to thank her parents for helping her get here, Wendy Bramlett and James Hammer for making her feel so welcome here, and all of the wonderful students in this department for showing her how much happiness she can find in teaching.
Samantha Howard (Choreographer)
Sam is a graduate of BNHS (class of 2018) and is currently working locally. She has been the choreographer for three NISD middle school musicals including Beauty and the Beast Jr., Mary Poppins Jr., and Frozen Jr. She also choreographed last years’ production of The Drowsy Chaperone, and co-choreographed The Addams Family her senior year alongside Vincent Donato, for which she was nominated for Best Choreography at the DSMHSMTA. Sam is extremely grateful for the opportunities Wendy Bramlett and NISD have given her, and is so lucky to be able to call Wendy Bramlett, Katherine Engle, John Sikon, and James Hammer her friends and THE DREAM TEAM. Sam would like to thank her family for their love for her, her dreams, and her dancing throughout her life. She would also like to thank her loving boyfriend and his family for being the most amazing, supportive people to grace her life. Sam is EXTREMELY proud of this cast and crew and would like to thank them their dedication and for pushing her to pursue this career.
