Jesse Collett
Jesse is a lifelong theatre artist and dedicated arts educator who serves as the Dance, Film, and Theatre Arts Coordinator for Jeffco Public Schools. In this role, Jesse is passionate about empowering educators, elevating performing arts programming, and expanding creative opportunities for students across the district.
Jesse holds dual Bachelor of Arts degrees in Musical Theatre and Theatre Education from the University of Northern Colorado, a Master of Arts in Directing from Roosevelt University in Chicago, and an Administrative License through CU Denver’s Executive Leadership in Education program.
Beyond his district leadership, Jesse remains deeply active in the local performing arts community. He teaches adult theatre classes at the Arvada Center for the Arts and Humanities, teaches youth camps and directs with Northglenn Youth Theatre, and serves as Executive Board President and IT Coordinator for Colorado Thespians to advocate for theatre education statewide.
Outside of education and theatre, Jesse enjoys home improvement projects, birding, gaming, reading, and traveling with his wife, Gina, and their dog, Sulley.
Andre Rodriguez
Andre has spent more than 15 years training actors—from students stepping onto a stage for the first time to advanced and professional performers. His approach balances classical training and technical skill with creativity and play: learn fundamentals, develop trust in the technique, understand the framework, and then find the freedom to unleash creativity.
Andre approaches teaching much like a coach, knowing when to encourage, when to challenge, and when to push or pull just enough to help each actor grow. His expectations are simple: come prepared, respect the process, be curious, work hard, take risks, support one another, and be joyful in rehearsal. The rehearsal room is a place to play and have fun, but it is also a place to work—to practice, refine, fail, try again, and hone the craft.
Andre holds a B.A. and M.A. in Theatre Education from the University of Northern Colorado. His work as an educator, director, and fight director spans voice and movement, stage combat, and both classical and contemporary texts. His career has included work with the Denver Center for the Performing Arts and more than a decade supporting theatre education across the nation.
Some of his directing credits include RENT (Bobby G. Award for Best Direction), Just Like Us (True West Award), The Laramie Project, Bright Star, Holes, Peter and the Starcatcher, She Kills Monsters, In the Heights, Avenue Q, Eurydice, Almost, Maine and many more.
Above all, Andre sees theatre education as a vehicle to inspire more connected, kind and creative communicators. He hopes to see you in the studio.
Adrienne Asterita
Adrienne has over 20 years of experience teaching all areas of performing arts, with a focus in Musical Theatre. She has been working with NYT since 2023 teaching classes, camps, private coaching, and directing. Adrienne is originally from New York and has a BFA in Drama from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts where she trained in both acting and directing at the Playwright’s Horizons Theatre School. While in NYC, she was the Director of a musical theatre summer camp for 10 years at The Little Red School House in Manhattan. While living in NJ, she was a Teaching Artist at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, and Paper Mill Playhouse.
Adrienne also performs and directs professionally in Colorado, working with: Phamaly Theatre, Vintage Theatre, The Candlelight DT, The Denver Fringe Festival, and others. Adrienne just loves teaching, and especially loves helping students to discover their talents and strengths, believe in themselves and each other, and most importantly…have fun! Adrienne also loves having adventures with her family of 5, including twins, who keep her very young at heart.
Learn more at: www.adrienneasterita.com
Brandon Price
Brandon is thrilled to continue working with the Northglenn Youth Theatre Academy!
Brandon has been teaching and directing theater for over 15 years. He spent 4 years on tour with Missoula Children’s Theater (2008-2012). He has taught theatre at Westwood High School and North Middle School and is currently teaching theater at Manhattan Middle School of the Arts in Boulder.
He has been teaching and directing with the NYTA since 2020. He has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Theater Performance, and International Theatre Production from Ohio Northern University, a Master’s in Theater Education from Emerson College, and an Ed.S in Leadership for Educational Organizations from UC- Denver.
Brandon is currently the Vice President of the Upstart Crow Community Theatre, where he has been seen onstage as Bert in Inherit the Wind, the Nurse in Romeo and Juliet, and Valere in Tartuffe.
Mel Schaffer
Mel is a local teaching artist with performing credits in Colorado, New York, Los Angeles, and the UK. While mostly a theatre actor and director, they have also appeared in short films, audiobooks, and video games.
Mel has over a decade of experience teaching young artists and particularly loves being able to find and hone the unique talents of each student. Mel holds both a BFA from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) as well as a BA in English/Anthropology from the University of Puget Sound.
Outside of theatre, Mel loves to write, read, hike, cook, and spend quality time with their fiancé and cat.
Melissa Leonard
Melissa Leonard received her BFA in Music Theatre from Metropolitan State University of Denver. Her heart is in her teaching and the students that come across her classroom. She believes she is a learner at heart and hopes to harness vulnerability, love and kindness within the classroom.
Aubrey Vaughn
Aubrey has been with Northglenn Youth Theater for almost a decade, first as a student and now as an NYT alum and Teaching Artist. Beyond NYT, Aubrey is excited to pursue her passion of dance as a choreographer for Reel Kids in Boulder this fall and continue her work as a freelance writer, editor, and aspiring youth fiction author.
Aubrey began her artistic training as a dancer and musician, focusing on ballet at Premier School of Dance and studying the cello before starting theater at NYT. She graduated this year from Evangel University with a Bachelor of Arts in English with an emphasis in Writing and a minor in Theater where she served in roles such as Dance Captain, Assistant Choreographer, and Secretary for the Alpha Psi Omega theater honor society.
Aubrey plans to become a full-time choreographer and author and spends most of her time either in a theater or writing. Outside of theater and writing, you can find Aubrey with her husband Jackson–another NYT alum whom she met while performing in her first musical at NYT. Together, they enjoy spending time at church, reading, or playing board games.
Adrianna DelPercio
Adrianna is a Director, Choreographer, Actor, and Theater/Dance instructor based in Denver, Colorado. She spent 3 years working with Pied Piper Youth Theater in South Carolina as a Director and Choreographer before relocating to Colorado over two years ago. She has been an Acting and Dance instructor with the Northglenn Youth Theater and Academy ever since. She looks forward to another exciting season working with your students.
Adrianna holds a BFA in Acting with a minor in Directing from Oklahoma City University, an institution she is deeply proud of. Her recent performance credits include Macbeth (Porter/Hecate), King Lear (Gloucester/Cordelia), Bright Star (Mama Cane), and Little Shop of Horrors (Audrey 2). Some of her recent directing credits include Mean Girls, The Addams Family, Legally Blonde, and Puffs: Or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic.
When she is not performing or teaching, Adrianna enjoys painting, writing, and reading fantasy literature. She also loves spending time with her partner, John, and her cat, Hamilton.