Franklin School for the Performing Arts

ADMINISTRATORS

Director..........Raye Lynn Mercer

Raye Lynn Mercer is founder and director of the Franklin School for the Performing Arts.   She is a lifelong resident of Franklin and a graduate of Franklin High School.   Raye Lynn holds a Bachelor Degree from Middlebury College and attended the Vienna International Music Center in Vienna, Austria.  In Vienna, she studied piano with Maria-Regina Seidhofer of the Academy of Music.  Her instructors included also the late Guiseppi deLellis of Newton, Diana Fanning of Middlebury, Vermont, and in Boston, Gabriel Chodos and Yoriko Takahashi.  Raye Lynn is director, producer and choreographer of a wide variety of productions.  She has directed the following musicals: Scrooge-The Stingiest Man in Town, The Music Man, 'Tis the Season!, Annie, Oliver, Bye, Bye Birdie, The Sound of Music, The Wizard of Oz - In Concert, The King and I, Anything Goes, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Guys and Dolls,The Pirates of Penzance, The Secret Garden, An Evening With Rodgers and Hammerstein, The Music Gershwin and Porter, School House Rock-Live! and the world premiere of All Through the Night, many dinner theater shows, cabarets and revues, and has five times produced The Nutcracker.  She has also directed and produced shows with the Springfield Symphony and Houston Youth Symphony orchestras, the pro Musica Chamber Orchestra of Columbus, Ohio and the Kenny Hadley Orchestra.  Raye Lynn directs a full schedule of performances at FSPA and is Founder and Director of the Franklin Performing Arts company.   At FSPA, she serves as Administrator, Instructor of Piano and a teacher in the school's Musical Theater Program.  She is director of FSPA's four musical theater troupes and the FSPA Youth Choir which performed five concerts in Vienna, Austria in 1998 and returned in for a 14-day concert tour of Austria and Italy in 2000.

Assistant Director, Dance and Drama......Tracy Lane

Tracy Lane holds a Bachelors Degree in theatre Education from Emerson College and is a Masters Degree candidate in Education at Bridgewater State College.  She has taught both Drama and English on the junior high school level and is currently an Administrator and Instructor of Drama, Musical Theater and Kindermusik as well as Assistant Director of Broadway Light, BLT, Too!, Broadway Bound and Lite Brights at FSPA.   Her background includes training in dance and voice as well as extensive experience performing, choreographing and directing.  Her favorite roles have been "Nellie" in South Pacific and "Bianca" in Kiss Me Kate.   Tracy has directed and choreographed Bye, Bye Birdie, The Wiz, Anything Goes, Guys and Dolls, Fame, A Chorus Line, 42nd Street and FPAC's You Can't Take It With You.  She has served as co-director/producer for all FPAC and FSPA productions since 1995.

  Assistant Director, Music.......Kim Rezendes

An FSPA and Broadway Light alumnus, Kim graduated magna cum laude from Providence college and holds a Masters Degree in Music Education from Rhode island College.  Kim is a certified Kindermusik instructor and serves as Kindermusik Coordinator and Instructor of Kindermusik at FSPA. She has performed in FPAC's 'Tis the Season, Scrooge - The Stingiest Man in Town, Oliver!, The Nutcracker, You Can't Take it With You, An Evening With Rodgers and Hammerstein and numerous dinner theater shows.   She has served as co-producer for FSPA Spring Concerts since 1996 and for all FSPA and FPAC productions.

Assistant Director, Development......Hallie Wetzell

Hallie Wetzell holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theater from Occidental College and Master Degrees in Vocal Performance and Vocal Pedagogy from New England Conservatory of Music. Hallie also serves as the Vocal Director of FSPA where she oversees the voice classes, private voice students and ensembles. Hallie has performed in numerous productions and ensembles in genres ranging from musical theater, to cabaret, to opera to oratori, to straight plays. Hallie is the Vocal Director of the Franklin Performing Arts Company and conducted the debut performance of the FPAC Choir performing the Fauré Requiem.