Staff
Producing Artistic Director/Education Director
Janet Lazarus
Janet Lazarus is one of the original founders of Sierra School of Performing Arts. She has been guiding SSPA and creating great theater for us since 2005.
Janet received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the State University of New York at Binghamton, and her Master of Fine Arts degree from UCLA. She has worked and performed in stage, film and/or television in New York, Los Angeles, Rome, Italy, Honolulu, Lake Tahoe and Reno. In 1988, while living and working in Los Angeles, she co-wrote and co-starred in a critically acclaimed two-woman comedy that garnered rave reviews and was featured as a “critic’s pick” in the L.A. Times.
She has taught acting and movement classes since 1990 at various schools and colleges throughout California and Hawaii, and has taught theater, acting and stage make up classes in Reno (at UNR, Bishop Manogue Catholic School, Sage Ridge School and Doral Academy) since 2008. Since coming to Reno, she has performed with Reno Little Theater, Bruka Theater, Tahoe Players, the Nevada Shakespeare Company, and Take 2, and has been producing and directing Broadway Bits, full-length classic Broadway musicals, and youth productions for SSPA since 2005.
Janet received her Bachelor of Arts degree from the State University of New York at Binghamton, and her Master of Fine Arts degree from UCLA. She has worked and performed in stage, film and/or television in New York, Los Angeles, Rome, Italy, Honolulu, Lake Tahoe and Reno. In 1988, while living and working in Los Angeles, she co-wrote and co-starred in a critically acclaimed two-woman comedy that garnered rave reviews and was featured as a “critic’s pick” in the L.A. Times.
She has taught acting and movement classes since 1990 at various schools and colleges throughout California and Hawaii, and has taught theater, acting and stage make up classes in Reno (at UNR, Bishop Manogue Catholic School, Sage Ridge School and Doral Academy) since 2008. Since coming to Reno, she has performed with Reno Little Theater, Bruka Theater, Tahoe Players, the Nevada Shakespeare Company, and Take 2, and has been producing and directing Broadway Bits, full-length classic Broadway musicals, and youth productions for SSPA since 2005.
Administration and Social Media
Melina Hollinger
Melina, who received her Bachelor's Degree in Theater Design and Technology from the University of Nevada, Reno, considers herself a jack-of-all-trades in the theater. She is a lighting designer/technician, sound technician, stage manager, director, and actor. She has been involved with SSPA since 2019 in many capacities including lighting designer (A Year With Frog and Toad and Peter Pan Jr., and Little Mermaid, Jr.), assistant director (All Together Now!), production manager, stage manager (Into the Woods) and Lighting Technician (The Addams Family, Annie, Guys and Dolls).
As a member of SSPA's staff, Melina performs a wide variety of administrative tasks, using her mobile and desktop technology skills. She also is responsible for social media updates.
As a member of SSPA's staff, Melina performs a wide variety of administrative tasks, using her mobile and desktop technology skills. She also is responsible for social media updates.
