Mean Girls – Creative Team

DIRECTOR – Chelsea Haberlin

Chelsea is thrilled to be directing at Theatre Under the Stars for the first time! She is the Artistic Director of Neworld Theatre and Artistic Associate with ITSAZOO Productions. As a director she has worked with: Theatre Replacement (directing two years of the East Van Panto), ITSAZOO Productions, Neworld Theatre, Arts Club Theatre, Firehall Arts Centre, Theatre SKAM, Pacific Theatre, and many more. She has an MFA in directing from UBC and a BFA from UVic. She is the recipient of the Sydney J Risk award in directing, the Ray Michal award for outstanding body of work by an emerging director and a two-time winner and five-time Jessie Richardson Award nominee for Outstanding Direction.

CHOREOGRAPHER – Amanda Testini

Amanda is an Italian-Canadian choreographer and director based on the unceded and ancestral territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations, whose work spans opera and theatre across Canada and the U.S. During her childhood and teenage years, Amanda performed for 6 seasons at TUTS, then returned in 2016 to assistant choreograph and swing in Beauty and the Beast, where she was presented the Rising Star Award, and in 2017 to assistant direct Mary Poppins. It feels full circle to return to this special place in the park 10 years later to choreograph Mean Girls!  Amanda has worked with companies like Vancouver Opera, the Cultch, Detroit Opera, Theatre Replacement, Toronto City Opera, Pacific Opera Victoria, Arts Club, Bard on the Beach, Banff Centre, the Glimmerglass Festival in New York and Edmonton Opera. She is a graduate of Studio 58 and a Jessie award nominee.  For more information visit www.amandatestini.com.

MUSIC DIRECTOR – Eliza De Castro

Eliza De Castro (she/her) is a music director, vocal coach, and performer originally hailing from Brisbane, Australia. She has served as music director for Theatre Under the Stars’ productions of Legally Blonde and School of Rock, and as the BIPOC music directing fellow for The Prom. Her other notable music directing credits include Pippin (Play on Words Productions), Heathers: The Musical, Into the Woods (Studio 58 – Assistant MD), and Spring Awakening (Millennial Productions). IG: @elizajdecastro