Stages Staff

We believe children deserve a creative outlet where their ideas are not only heard but valued.

Morgan Weitz

Owner & Artistic Director

Morgan’s passion for theatre began at the age of five when her mother put her in a theatre production in hopes that her shyness would decline. She was instantly hooked and her passion, dedication and new confidence grew stronger as she began performing in numerous schools, regional, youth theatre and professional productions, eventually being recognized by the California Thespian Society with it's highest award.  She extended her devotion to the theatre, continuing her education at the Boston Conservatory where she holds a BFA in Musical Theatre with an emphasis in Directing. After graduation, Morgan continued her acting career joining Actor’s Equity and the Screen Actors Guild. Morgan began her teaching career at the age of 18 as a director and faculty member at Stages Performing Arts.  She soon realized that theatre education was her calling. In 2010 Morgan moved to New York where she co-founded Northeast Children’s Theatre Company, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting and serving the children and their families of the Northeast, through educational outreach and professional theatre programming for young audiences. As artistic director, she specialized in training teachers and creating theatre arts based curriculum for after school programs. Morgan worked with composers and writers to develop new works and she directed professional NYC based actors in tours and residencies in New York and Connecticut. The knowledge she gained from her time in NYC was immeasurable, but her dream was to come back home to Los Angeles and bring Stages back to life.  She has always believed that theatre is not merely about performing but about teaching and enriching all aspects of people’s lives.  Through her work with children and professionals she saw first-hand the positive effects that theatre has in fostering creativity and self-confidence in her students.

Janine Molinari

Choreographer

Janine Molinari is an artistic director of Dance Molinari NYC/Chicago/Los Angeles. Now in their 19th year, Dance Molinari (DMO) is a company that trains young professional artists for Broadway, National Tours, Films, TV and the music industry. DMO consists of master class instructors, directors, choreographers, writers, video photographers, editors, cabaret artists and producers.

Some Broadway shows that Janine’s students are currently in and have been seen in include School of Rock, The Bronx Tale, Frozen, The Ferryman, The Hard Problem, Radio City Christmas Spectacular, Finding Neverland, Annie, A Christmas Story, Anastasia, Lion King, Matilda, Annie, Mamma Mia, People In the Picture, Les Miserables, Newsies, Chaplin, Oklahoma, Fiddler On The Roof, West Side Story, Seusical, Finnian’s Rainbow, Billy Elliot, Annie Get Your Gun, Mary Poppins, and many more. Her students can also be seen starring in movies,tv and commercials, and alumni include pop artists Ariana Grande and Nick Jonas.

Janine and the Dance Molinari team perform, teach, direct and choreograph throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia. She represented the USA in Broadway Dance/Tap in Italy’s  televised National Talent Competition  Copa Italia 2018 and will do so again this summer, the Taipei International Dance Festival and at Tokyo’s Broadway Music Theatre. Last spring DMO was honored to choreograph UNICEF’s Kids Power Month in Los Angeles, Atlanta and Chicago, with Pink as their ambassador. They also created the “Munster Stomp” for Cozi TV, NBC’s Today Show and a flash mob in Times Square with 50 Broadway dancers.   Dancemolinari NYC also completed  2 summers in residency at the 92nd Street Y, and 3 seasons  in residency at Broadway In the Mountains.
 

Some NYC, LA and National Tour Credits as a director/choreographer include: Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding, The Totally Tubular Time Machine (starring Debbie Gibson), Blessings In Disguise, Above Hell’s Kitchen, Sub-Terrain at La Mama ETC, The Fantastikids, The Fantasy Party, and regional equity productions of Footloose, Legally Blonde, Jesus Christ Superstar, Next to Normal, Spelling Bee, The Producers, The Taffetas, Smokey Joe’s Cafe, Hair, Buddy Holly, Godspell, last spring’s The Fantastiks, and the world premiere of the original musical, Rock n’ Roll Redemption-the life and music of Dion and the Belmonts. In 2019, Janine will direct and choreograph Tommy, the Rock Opera at the Seven Angels Theatre In CT.
Janine has been and continues to be a choreographer/dance consultant for Disney, multiple commercials, films and music videos. She is also co-creator and producer of an upcoming web series “ Tap Out Of It”, a funny and fictional look at what it takes to train and coach young performers for Broadway.
Janine is a proud member of Actors Equity, Screen Actors Guild, American Federation of TV and Radio Artists and the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.