Ryan Kasprzak

Ryan Kasprzak comes to JWOB from New York City where he was most recently the assistant choreographer for NBC’s Smash where he was honored to work alongside Emmy winner Joshua Bergasse. He can also be seen as the Sun Drop Guy in the ongoing TV ads for Sun Drop soda. Ryan was Associate Resident Choreographer and dance captain for the 1st national tour of Billy Elliot and appeared on Fox’s So You Think You Can Dance along with his brother, Evan. He continues to create new work with his multi Drama Desk Award nominated company Parallel Exit: Physical Comedy Theater. Their production of This Way, That Way prompted the NY Times to say Kasprzak, “can get laughs simply by breathing” and their comic tap musical Time Step has been seen at the New Victory Theater, Joyce SoHo, Lincoln Center Institute and Cos Festival in Spain. Ryan was nominated for a New York Innovative Theater Award for Outstanding Choreography and served as dance captain for the International Tour of Fosse. He has been honored to work with such legendary entertainers as Gwen Verdon, Ann Reinking, Ben Vereen, and Gregory Hines. BFA Marymount Manhattan College. Much love and gratitude to Family and MSA. www.ryankasprzak.com  @TapDanceKaz

Lindsay Levine

Lindsay Levine, CSA-Current Casting Associate at Tara Rubin Casting- recent projects at Tara Rubin's office include Broadway: Aladdin, Bullets Over Broadway, Scandalous, The Heiress, One Man Two Guvnors (US Casting), Ghost, Jersey Boys, Billy Elliot, Mary Poppins, Mamma Mia, American Repertory Theatre: The Shape She Makes; Philadelphia Theatre Company: Stars of David, Yale Repertory Theatre, the Bandstand workshop with Andy Blankenbuehler; Alice By Heart at Theatre Aspen with Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater; and numerous readings and workshops. 

Prior to joining Tara Rubin's office, Lindsay was the Children's Casting Assistant for the Broadway, Chicago, and National Touring companies of Billy Elliot. She received her BFA in Musical Theatre from the University of Miami and has been a proud Astoria resident since 2005.

Marten Niner

Marten Niner resides in Phoenix, Arizona and has 30 plus years of acting, improv, stand-up comedy, and performing experience. He has directed and performed with Dance Motion, Jester ‘Z Improv Group, Stick Horses in Pants Improv Troupe, Arizona and Colorado Renaissance Festivals, The Oxymoron ‘Z, Phoenix Symphony, and Valley Youth Theatre’s HaHa’s Improvisational Comedy Troupe.  He is also the co-founder of Pantheon Enterprises, an environmental chemical company.  He is the founder and lead guitarist and singer of local funk band JUNK and performs regularly throughout the valley. 

His expertise in Improv Comedy brings him to our faculty where his classes will focus on improvisational ideas and techniques for acting, auditions, job interviews, interpersonal interactions and life in general.  Marten’s teaching techniques also encompass overcoming personal obstacles (self-doubt, fear, drama (not the good kind), confusion and/or procrastination through learning simple techniques with a foundation in improvisational comedy.  

Courtney Rioux

Courtney Rioux has been a professional actor in Chicago for ten years and is represented by Stewart Talent.  A proud member of SAG-AFTRA and Actors Equity, Courtney has been heard and seen in both Global and National commercials for companies like McDonalds, AT&T, KFC, and more.  Her voice was also featured in a Super-Bowl Ad in 2012.  She's been teaching kids and teens on-camera acting at The Green Room Studio for seven years. She also has experience as a voice over coach and demo producer at Sound Advice and Big House Casting in Chicago.  Courtney earned a Bachelor of Arts in Acting from Illinois State University.  She has a true passion for teaching youth and she can't wait to share her knowledge at Just West of Broadway.   www .courtneyrioux.com  @courtneyrioux 

Danny Wooten

We welcome Mr. Danny Wooten to our faculty from Los Angelas, CA.  Acclaimed tap Dancer/Choreographer, Danny Wooten, has performed in internationally celebrated and groundbreaking Tony Award winning shows such as Black and Blue and Riverdance. He made his Broadway debut in Black and Blue on his 15th Birthday. With Riverdance, he performed on Broadway, the world tour and the reunion show with the original cast. As a young dancer he created a cutting edge tap duo group called Toe Jam and had 17 consecutive wins on Star Search and went on to win the grand championship in the dance category. The duo was the youngest ever to win the dance competition and the only ones in the dance category that had 17 consecutive wins. Danny & his partner, Omar Edwards, choreographed their own routines by merging traditional tap, acrobatics and hip-hop and made a name for themselves as innovators in and outside of the tap world. Toe Jam went on to perform in major venues and made many television appearances. Due to his success with Toe Jam and Broadway, Danny went on to perform all over the world and became a sought after performer, choreographer and coach. He’s taught tap workshops across the U.S., London, Paris, Italy, Ireland, Korea, Japan, etc. Some of the celebrities he’s taught are Michael Jackson, Usher, Adriano Celentano (Italian Entertainer) and Park Jin-Young (who’s the Michael Jackson of Korea). Tap also took Danny to television where he became a series regular on Fame LA in the U.S. and Rockpolitik in Italy.

Danny was no stranger to the world of television because he started his career in show business when he was 6 months old in a Pampers commercial and has not stopped working since. He was born and raised in Jamaica Queens, NY and started dancing at age 3. He studied tap at Broadway Dance Center and was coached by tap master/choreographer Henry LeTang, Lon Chainey, Bunny Briggs, Jimmy Slide, Buster Brown, etc. As a child, he acted and danced in many professional productions and booked an average of two national commercials a year. He was in large advertising campaigns with the likes of Michael Jordan, Mariah Carey, James Earl Jones and was sponsored by Nike for many years. Although he’s done over a hundred commercials in his career, TV Guide named him the King of Commercials and featured him in an article for appearing in an unprecedented 48 commercials in a period of 3 years, with an average of 10 national commercials running simultaneously. He’s also worked on many TV and Film productions since childhood but as an adult worked on Robbery Homicide, Providence, Off-Center, Moesha, Something New, etc.

He’s currently developing a theatrical production for Broadway and several film and television projects through his production company Born A King/Phoenix Rising. He has a web series launching in 2013. Danny is also a gifted music producer who’s composing music for film/TV and is due to release a compilation album some time in 2013. A few times a year he holds special commercial workshops for actors and returns to his first love by teaching tap workshops/private lessons for dancers.  @DWoo10BornAKing