About Us...
Hannah Brown, Co-Founder, Director of the Dance & Movement Program
Hannah is co-founder of Theatre Source for Kids and SparkSource.
Her lifelong love of teaching began at age 15 when she had the opportunity to assistant-teach a dance class...and, she has been hooked ever since!
She has choreographed more than 20 full-scale musicals, taught numerous musical theatre dance workshops, and managed after school programs and summer camps throughout Denver.
Hannah studied vocal performance at the Lamont School of Music at the University of Denver, where her passion for performing turned into a career in teaching. She found a home alongside Roberta working in the after-school theatre program at St. Mary's Academy, where, during her 17 years there, some of her most cherished shows were Peter and the Starcatcher, Beauty and the Beast, Seussical, the Musical, The Wizard of Oz, Little Women, and The Little Mermaid!
Hannah has also taught with the Performing Arts Academy and just finished choreographing Mary Poppins for the Wesley Players Theatre Company's 25th Anniversary Season.
Hannah's love of children inspired her to develop a theatre curriculum for pre-schools using fairy tales and children’s literature to introduce children to the magic of theatre and to instill in them the principles of listening and team work through theatre concepts.
Hannah has also performed in dozens of shows with numerous theatre companies such as Performance Now Theatre Company, The Wesley Players Theatre Company, and The Aurora Fox. Some of her favorite shows have been 42nd Street, Into the Woods, Bye, Bye Birdie, and The Secret Garden.
Recently, she has directed, choreographed, and performed on the iconic stage at The Historic Elitch Theatre.
As her passion for movement and health evolved, Hannah received her Bachelor of Science in Human Nutrition & Dietetics and is working toward her teaching certification in Essentrics, a movement philosophy that believes 'success should be measured in one’s ability to move freely, live actively and without pain.'
She is grateful to her husband, Doug and her son, Hudson for all of their love and support!
Roberta Hamilton-Griggs, Co-Founder, Director of the Voice, Piano, & Acting Program
Roberta has been performing in and directing musicals, plays, commercials, and operas since she was a child in her backyard, telling her sisters where to move and how to sing to Jesus Christ Superstar!
Some of her favorite performances have been Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors, Viola in David Amram’s opera, Twelfth Night (conducted by composer David Amram), Maggie in A Chorus Line, Laetitia in Menotti’s Old Maid and the Thief, and Mother in 'Night, Mother. Just recently, she played 9 of the 60 roles in The Dining Room at The Historic Elitch Theatre.
Other memorable performance experiences include working as a singing telegram artist (ask her about having Ben Vereen sing to her while she was wearing a yellow bird costume!) and busking on the streets of Europe for three months with her (at the time, soon-to-be) husband, Patrick Griggs.
She has enjoyed a career of performing and developing amazing life-long friendships at Littleton Town Hall Arts Center, Country Dinner Playhouse, The Arvada Center, Boulder’s Dinner Theatre, and Aspen’s Crystal Palace. She has also directed and produced well over 100 plays, musicals, and operas, including Starmites, Seussical, the Musical, Fiddler on the Roof, Peter and the Starcatcher, Beauty and the Beast, Dear Edwina, Annie, and Little Women, the Musical.
Just last fall, Roberta had the honor of directing and producing the first major musical back to the Historic Elitch Theatre after a 33-year hiatus: The Secret Garden. Since the last major musical on this stage was the 1991 production of The Robber Bridegroom, in which she performed, the completion of this full circle made her very happy.
With a degree in musical theatre from Colorado Mesa University and a master’s degree in vocal performance and pedagogy from The University of Denver's Lamont School of Music, Roberta studied stage managing, directing, choral studies, and performance. Since then, Roberta founded the Ensemble Experience, co-founded The Performing Arts Academy, EyesofWonderJourneys.com, TheatreSourceforKids.com, The Historic Elitch Theatre Theatre Education Division, and SparkSourceco.com.
Throughout her fulfilling career as a performing arts educator, she has taught in private and public schools, K-college, and now teaches private acting, piano, singing, and audition lessons for people ages 5-85. She also leads workshops and retreats as a certified Drama Well-Being Practitioner.
Roberta is the proud mom of two amazing daughters, a member of the National Association of Teachers of Singing, the American Choral Directors Association, the Historic Elitch Theatre board, and is the Artistic Director for the Wesley Players Theatre Company.
SparkSource develops young students into professionals, and professionals into powerful visionaries
A dancer wearing a black leotard points to the ceiling as lights sparkle around her.
