“Emotionally astute...gripping...stellar...inventive...stalwart" is how critics describe Christine's directing. She is a member of the 2019-20 Stage Directors & Choreographers Society Foundation Observership Class, Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab (NYC), Directors Lab West (LA), Directors Lab North (Toronto), and Cleveland Play House Directors Gym.
Christine has worked with everyone from students to Grammy-winners and was a co-founding, producing co-artistic director of the critically-acclaimed classical theatre company, Mamaí Theatre (2010-2017). In 2017, The Cleveland Critics' Circle honored Mamaí and her production of A DOLL’S HOUSE at Playhouse Square with two Superior Achievement Awards.
Her acting work(stage, film, and voice over) has been described as “delicious” and “wonderful.”
As an educator, Christine was named a U.S. Presidential Scholars Program’s Distinguished Teacher and a Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers. She has received grants and fellowships to study Shakespeare in performance from The Globe Theatre in London, the National Endowment for the Humanities’ National Institute on Teaching Shakespeare, and The Juilliard School.
Currently she is an adjunct faculty member at Baldwin Wallace University’s Department of Theatre & Dance and an instructor at the Houde School of Acting. For 16 years, she taught theatre and film and served a stint as chair of Shaker Heights High School’s nationally-recognized and award-winning theatre arts department. She holds a BA in Comparative Literature and Writing from Columbia University and an MFA in Acting from Kent State University.
Christine continues her acting and directing training with companies such as Shakespeare & Company, Bedlam, and Red Bull. Member AEA-EMC & Stage Directors & Choreographers Society.
Directing in 2019-20:
Entanglement, by Les Hunter, Playwrights Local/Radio on the Lake
Basement Play by Mara Layne, Playwrights Local
TBA, Rubber City Theatre
Recent Directing
Tribunal, by Mark Milo Kessler, Playwrights Local
Romeo and Juliet, Rubber City Theatre
Telemann’s Funeral Cantata for a Dead Canary, Apollo's Fire
As You Like It, Baldwin Wallace University
The Critique of the School for Wives, Baldwin Wallace University
BrainWorks, (AD) Nine Network Public Media; Seth Gordon, Director
The Nether, (AD) Dobama Theatre; Shannon Sindelar, Director
Professional Development:
Stage Directors & Choreographers Society Foundation Observership Class 2019-2020 Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, August 2019
Directors Lab North, Toronto, June 2019
Bedlam Theatre's Uncle Romeo Vanya Juliet, observed rehearsals; directed by Eric Tucker, 2018
Directors Lab West, 2018
Reviews & Honors
2017 Cleveland Critics Circle Awards: A DOLL'S HOUSE & Mamaí Theatre Company
Cleveland Plain Dealer Year in Review 2017: A DOLL'S HOUSE is a standout on
Cleveland Scene's The Best of Cleveland Theater in 2017: A DOLL'S HOUSE
A DOLL'S HOUSE is #1 of the Top Ten Most Memorable Theatre Moments in Cleveland Theatre, 2017
Recent Acting Roles
Nike, BEGINNINGS commercial
Voice Over for City of Shaker Heights
Mother in A Frame of Mine, a CIA Short Film
Kate (lead) in Podcast, "The Mystery of Easter Island"
All Boy, Mrs. Norman, 419 Productions
Disappeared (Season 9), Tina, Discovery Investigation (NBC Universal)
Farmer’s National Bank TV commercial (Prodigal Company)
Multiple roles in LOVE, LOSS AND WHAT I WORE, Mamaí Theatre
Company/CSU AHA! Festival/Playhouse Square
Eunice in A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, Mamaí Theatre Company
Nike/LeBron James, TOGETHER Commercial
Publishing
"The Long Way Home" an essay in Car Bombs to Cookie Tables: The Youngstown Anthology