Adult Acting Classes

Kathryn Newbrough Osborne is a New York-based actor/director/teacher with deep Texas roots.  She started her career in Houston with Houston’s Shakespeare, Shaw, Jewish Theatre Festivals, and The Alley Theatre.  Kathryn has been an AEA and SAG/AFTRA performer for over 35 years, working in the arts and entertainment industry in the New York area, both off Broadway, as well as regionally in theatre.  She has worked in film, TV, cable, industrial films, commercials, voice-overs, and print venues.  Kathryn received her BFA  in acting from the University of Texas and graduated Summa Cum Laude with her MA from Caldwell University in New Jersey.  Kathryn has studied with Eli Wallach, Jeff Corey, Joan Vail Thorne, Avra Petrides, John Basil, E. Katherine Kerr, Arethra Sills, and Tommy Tune. Kathryn is also a dynamic theatre director. She has directed and/or produced over 50 productions for children aged 5 to 90 in various venues, including local school settings, community theaters, regional theaters, and off-off-Broadway. Kathryn has written two plays that have been produced off-off-Broadway in New York.  She currently teaches in Austin at The Actor’s School, The Palace Theatre, CYT, and coaches acting privately for children and adults.

Rick had been acting & directing for 30+ years.  He has directed over 40 productions, including Beauty & the Beast, Footloose, and The Spongebob Musical for Magnolia Musical Theater. Other directing highlights:  Urinetown, The Glass Menagerie, The Cherry Orchard, The Importance of Being Earnest and Fiddler on the Roof, Rocky Horror Show, Doubt. Acting Credits:  ZACH SCOTT THEATRE:  The Wizard of Oz (Uncle Henry, Prof Marvel, The Wizard), Xanadu (Danny), Christmas Carol (Fezziwig), All the Way (Eastman & Levison), Mad, Beat, Hip & Gone (The Father). AUSTIN PLAYHOUSE:  Man of La Mancha (Quixote), Other Desert Cities (Lyman), She Loves Me (Maraczek), Amadeus (Salieri), The Importance of Being Earnest (Lady Bracknell). PENFOLD THEATRE:  I’m Proud of You (Fred Rogers). AUSTIN SHAKESPEARE: Twelfth Night (Orsino & Toby Belch), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Oberon), The Tempest w Austin Chamber Orchestra (Prospero), Richard III (Lancaster), The Mahabharata (Krishna). Rick received his PhD in Theatre Theory, History & Directing Styles from UCLA and is the author of Charles Ludlam and the Ridiculous Theatrical Company. He is Professor Emeritus at Southwestern  University where he was Chair/Artistic Director of the Theatre Department at Southwestern University for 15 years and now teaches all levels of acting at The Actor’s School. 

Johanna Whitmore has worked in the Austin area as a teacher, director, and actress since 1986. She grew up in the state of Maine, where she recently returned to direct a production of MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. Johanna won the B. Iden Payne and Critics Table Awards for Best Actress for SCENES FROM AN EXECUTION, and has been nominated many times for acting and directing. While running the Theatre Department at Round Rock High School, a position from which she is newly-retired, she directed over a hundred plays and musicals, winning Best Production of a Musical for producing SWEENEY TODD in 2024, and her production of AMADEUS appeared at 6A UIL State in 2023. Johanna holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s in Theatre/Acting from the University of Maine, as well as Teacher Certifications in Theatre and English from the University of Texas. She was awarded a full scholarship to the Globe Theatre, London’s “Teaching Shakespeare Through Performance” program in 2004. With a special passion for Shakespeare, she has performed in many of his plays, including HAMLET, MACBETH, OTHELLO, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR, JULIUS CAESAR, and was a three-year member of The Shakespeare Encounter when she performed and conducted workshops throughout Texas. Other favorite roles over the years include those in CHILDREN OF A LESSER GOD, THE CHERRY ORCHARD, CLOUD 9, and most recently, ‘NIGHT, MOTHER with Alchemy Theatre.

Rina is an Austin-based professional soprano, voice instructor, conductor, composer, actor, and arts administrator. She performs regularly as a soloist, and as a singer for various ensembles: the GRAMMY®-winning choir Conspirare, the voice-trumpet-piano trio Tatsulok, the piano-voice duo Kapwa, to name a few. 

Notable accomplishments include awards from the Eisenberg-Fried Competition at the Manhattan School of Music, the National Music Competition for Young Artists in the Philippines, and the Gerda Lissner International Vocal Competition in the Wagnerian Division; and performances at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, Merkin Hall, Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, and the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Most recent stage credits include The Tree at the Center of Everything in VORTEX Rep's MotherTree, Minnie in scenes from La Fanciulla del West with The Metropolitan Opera Guild and Charma in Felix Starro for MaYi Theater Company in New York. 

She is passionate about music education, especially in adults. She has taught students ranging from complete beginners to working professional musicians, and children and adults with special needs. She has given vocal workshops in the high school and collegiate levels, community and church choirs, and various community-led events.

Rina holds vocal performance degrees from the University of the Philippines College of Music (B.M.) and the Manhattan School of Music (M.M., P.S.). She is the Artistic Director and Conductor of Inversion Ensemble, an Austin-based music organization comprised of 3 vocal ensembles that focus primarily on new music.