Solano Theater Faculty Bios
Dyan McBride: Acting/Directing
Dyan works regularly throughout the Bay Area and California as an actress, director, singer and educator. She has worked with such notable companies as 42nd St. Moon (20 years as a company member), Woodminster, Center Repertory Theatre, Diablo Theatre Company, Sacramento Theatre Company, Lucky Penny, Ray of Light, Marin Theatre Company, Laguna Playhouse, New Conservatory Theatre Center, Broadway by the Bay, California Theatre Center, Utah Musical Theatre and Performance Riverside. Multimedia work includes Polycom, Remedy, Yahoo, Nintendo, Progressive Auto Insurance, Comcast, Lien on Me (web series) and the rock documentary, Springsteen and I. She is a full-time faculty member in theatre at Solano College, where she has taught many acting classes for stage and film, and also directed the plays and musicals. She is currently the Education Director for 42nd St. Moon. Awards and nominations include the Theatre Bay Area, BATCC, Dean Goodman, Arty, Shellie, Elly, Broadway World, Backstage West, Irene Ryan/Kennedy Center. BA -Cal. State Fullerton (Musical Theatre). MFA -UC Davis (Acting). Member-SAG/AFTRA and AEA. Represented by Boom Models and Talent.
Darsen Long: Technical Director, Full-Time Technical Instructor
Darsen Long has been involved in the performing arts since 1976. He is a graduate of Diablo Valley College with an Associate of Arts degree in Drama and he earned a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre with a Technical Option at California State University, Hayward. He also has a California State Community College Instructor Credential in Technical Theatre and Related Technologies from Dominican University of California in San Rafael. Currently, Darsen is the full-time Technical Theater instructor at Solano Community College. His teaching philosophy is to get the technical theatre students involved by actively engaging and directly involving them in Solano College Theatre productions. His goal is to offer support and guidance with opportunities for career and educational advancement. Darsen has been a professional Technical Director/Coordinator/Instructor for more than 25 years. While working as a Director of Operations for the Mondavi Theatre in Davis he was responsible for many productions from around the world. Elsewhere, he successfully technical-directed many productions and performances, to his credits including, Chris LeDoux, Toni Tennille, Jose Feliciano, Don McLean, The Kingston Trio, Pablo Cruise, John Cafferty, Tom Chapin, the Coasters, Dave Mason, Chuck Negron, John Amos, John Astin, Crystal Gayle, the opening and closing General Sessions for the annual California Parks and Recreation Convention in Sacramento, the Annual Arty Awards, and many other local performing arts group events and productions. Darsen also has worked on many memorable, high-profile shows and events in the greater SF Bay Area, including The Rolling Stones, Earth Wind & Fire, Jimmy Cliff, The Cars, San Francisco 49ers Super Bowl Celebrations, the San Francisco Papal Visit, and numerous car premiers. He has designed lights for the world premiere of Western Star, Scrooge, way too many Nutcrackers, Pump Boys and Dinettes, Death of a Salesman, Harvey, Play It Again, Sam, The Grapes of Wrath, The Heiress, The Glass Menagerie, The King And I, The Foreigner, West Side Story, The Will Rogers Follies, My Fair Lady, The Three Musketeers, A Golden Fleecing, and Of Mice and Men. Darsen is proud and grateful to have the opportunity to train tomorrow’s technical theatre professionals as a contributing faculty member at Solano Community College.
Darcia Tipton: Set Design & Property Design
Darcia has been involved in the theater world for over 25 years. She has built props, costumes and scenery for more than 120 productions at Solano beginning with Carousel in 1995. Her award winning designs include Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, My Children My Africa, As Bees in Honey Drown, Jekyll and Hyde, the Musical, Assassins, Jesus Christ ,Superstar, Avenue Q and most recently, Moon Over Buffalo. Darcia would like to thank the supportive team of faculty, the stagecraft students whose skills bring her designs to life and The School of Liberal Arts at Solano Community College for continuing to allow her to do the work she loves.
Rebecca Valentino: Costume Design & Make-up/Hair Design
Rebecca Valentino, holds a BA in Theatre with an emphasis in technical theatre from The University of California, Santa Cruz (1991) and a MFA in costume design from the University of Michigan (1995). As a professional costume designer Rebecca has worked in many local and regional theatres including: The B St. Theatre (Sacramento), The Aurora Theatre (Berkeley), 42nd St. Moon (San Francisco) Livermore Valley Opera (Livermore), West Virginia Public Theatre (West VA), The Purple Rose Theatre ( Chelsea, MI), The Michigan Shakespeare Festival (Jackson, MI) and the Performance Network of Ann Arbor. Rebecca has an Elly and a Arty Award for her Costume Design for Much Ado About Nothing (Solano College Theatre, 2010) and an Arty Award for Intimate Apparel (Solano College Theatre, 2008) In addition to her design work, Rebecca worked as a Costume Crafts Artisan at The Utah Shakespeare Festival, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park and The University of Michigan. She was the costume shop manager for The Solano College Theatre Association from 2005 to 2014.
Carla Spindt: Acting/Directing
Carla, a professional actress, director and instructor, has performed with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland; the Alley Theatre in Houston; American Conservatory Theatre, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, Magic Theatre and Eureka Theatre in San Francisco; TheatreWorks in Palo Alto; Aurora Theatre in Berkeley; Marin Theatre Company and numerous other professional theatre companies. She directs Shakespeare, farce and contemporary works throughout Yolo, Solano, Napa and Sonoma counties. Carla founded Free Shakespeare at the Suisun Harbor teaching students from Solano Community College to present and learn by performing Shakespeare's plays. At Solano, Carla taught Beginning Acting, Intermediate Acting, Shakespeare, Acting Styles, Farce, Voice for the Actor, Auditioning, Dialects, International Phonetic Alphabet, Advanced Scene Study, Introduction to Theatre and Theatre History 1 & 2. She received her MFA in Directing from UC Davis and BA in Drama from San Francisco State University. She is a member of AEA, SAG/AFTRA.
Joseph DeLorenzo: Acting and Directing
Joseph has been teaching at Solano College since 2006. Courses include Acting, Audition Technique, Chekhov, Shakespeare, Theatre Appreciation, and Theatre History I. Solano directing credits include Rhinoceros, Always…Patsy Cline, and The Underpants. As a faculty member for Santa Rosa’s Summer Repertory Theatre, he served as Director, Fight Choreographer, and Production Stage Manager. As a CSU-Stanislaus Guest Artist, he taught Shakespeare intensives that explored voice, and stage violence construction through text/character. As a founding member of both GREX Theater Company in Seattle, WA, and UPSTART THEATER in Racine, WI, Joseph's responsibilities included artistic leadership, directing, acting, scenic design, and public relations. As an actor, he has worked with the Polytechnical Theatre of Tblisi (Georgia, Russia), American Player's Theatre (Spring Green, WI), and Theater Schmeater (Seattle, WA), among others. Joseph received an M.F.A. from the conservatory actor training program at Southern Methodist University, and a B.A. in Dramatic Arts from the University of Wisconsin. He has been a member of Dueling Arts International, Inc., and the Society of American Fight Directors.
