The Founder

Lynne Broyles,

Owner/Artistic Director of Kids Theatre Network!

Lynne Broyles a professional singer, dancer, actress of stage, TV & film moved to Southern California in 1993 to focus on her teaching career. Although, she spent most of her life either on stage or camera, her true passion is teaching. As a young teacher, Lynne by the encouragement of her dance teacher, started mentoring her fellow students in prepping them for combination dance and tap competitions – this seeded a passion for teaching. Lynne is extremely proud of her alumni making it big like Adam Lambert who’s on tour with the Legendary Band Queen, Cameron Bond who just finished the touring company of “Finding Neverland” and is now starring in the Broadway musical “Be More Chill,” or AJ Ditty who’s writing and publishing comedy plays in New York – the list goes on. Lynne has lots of student success under her belt, in sharing more successes of her alumni… her students have been in the touring company of Les Miserables, on television/and in the following movies Matilda, The Jersey, The Duke, The Thirteenth Year, Stepsister from Planet Weird, The Days, The Bold and The Beautiful, That’s Life, Stark Raving Mad, The Norms Show, Really Short Reports, Sam Steel and the Crystal Chalice, and Married with Children. And, she is proud to say locally many students have been leads in The Old Globe’s “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” – playing the roles of Cindy Lou Who, Boo Who, Danny Who, Annie Who and Teen Who.

Lynne studied voice with Elaine Reynolds and Dietrich Erbelding (San Francisco Opera) and Coni Lisec (North Bay Opera) and studied tap, jazz and ballet dance with Mason-Kahn Studio in San Francisco.*Please read about Lynne’sinstructors below*

For years Lynne participated in community and professional musical theatre, starring in leading roles such as, Peter in Peter Pan, Annie Oakley in Annie Get Your Gun, Lois/Bianca in Kiss Me Kate, Sally Bowles in Cabaret, Paquette in Candide, Ermengarde in Hello Dolly, Louisa in The Sound of Music, The Old Woman in The Good Doctor, Ms. Hannigan in Annie, Lily in Annie, The Witch in Into the Woods, Amy in Company and many more. For her artistic endeavors, Lynne has received many awards. Her favorites include: Who’s Who in Music for her classical solo performances in High School and The Arty Award (San Francisco’s Emmy Award) for her role as Peter in Peter Pan and Sally Bowles in Cabaret. She has held the following titles for her academic achievements/talents – Ideal Miss, California Miss, Our Little Miss, and Junior Miss. Lynne was presented the “Outstanding Achievement Award” for her contribution to the Performing Arts in Northern California from 1978-1989; this is one of her most cherished honors.

Although, Lynne will at times takes the stage, or goes behind the camera because she feels it’s very important to maintain her ties to those, she knows in the entertainment business. She has an established working relationship with Joey Paul Jenson, casting director for Disney, Universal Studios and Tri-Star/Columbia Pictures, and through this relationship she’s able to conduct professional acting workshops locally, giving her students invaluable exposure to the television and motion picture industry. She is proud to say that some of her students have been scouted from these workshops and have gone onto television and motion pictures work in the industry.

Lynne has produced and directed over 100 musical productions, plays and revues, such as Annie, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Bugsy Malone, Grease, Fiddler on the Roof, Bye Bye Birdie, Les Miserables, Into The Woods, School House Rock, Oliver, Peter Pan, The Wizard of Oz, The Wiz, Alice In Wonderland, Beauty and the Beast, High School Musical, High School Musical 2, Aladdin, Pinocchio, Junie B. Jones, Legally Blonde, Seussical, Willie Wonka, Aristocats Kids, Cinderella, Fame, Elf, Hairspray, The Lion King, The Little Mermaid, 101 Dalmatians Kids, Shrek, Sleeping Beauty Kids, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Frog and Toad, and more… Lynne loved her years in the amateur and professional circuit as a performer, but her love for teaching voice, tap dance, acting and musical theatre performance to youth is the strong hold. She is driven and dedicated to guiding the talents of her many students and she strives to help each of them reach their highest potential and future successes whether it be in the entertainment industry or in their community.

Background of those who trained Lynne

DIETRICH ERBELDING, Vocal Coach/Owner & Principal at Pocket Coach Publications

Dietrich Erbelding started his musical training at the piano at age four and first concertized with the Heidelberg Symphony at age seven. He toured Europe and the Middle East as a concert pianist and accompanist for five years. He earned a Doctorate at Heidelberg University in Philosophy while conducting in Regensburg. He has coached many renowned opera stars during his coaching career, including Eva Molnar, Ingeborg Hallstein, Erika Köth, Fritz Wunderlich, Sona Cervena, Gerhard Stolze, Sylvia Anderson, and Janis Martin. He has appeared as guest conductor all over Europe, in Caracas and Maracaibo, Venezuela, as well as in the United States.

Dietrich taught opera and lieder classes at the Mannheim Musikhochschule in Germany, then founded and taught at the Academia della Musica in San Cristobal, Venezuela, at which time he translated Bizet’s Carmen into Spanish. He also taught at the Musashino University in Tokyo, Japan and in Iceland. He was chorus director of the San Francisco Opera. In California, and taught at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, the University of California, Santa Cruz, Crestmont Conservatory, and currently teaches voice in his private studio in Hayward, California. In 1980 he founded Pocket Coach Publications (www.PocketCoach.com), which produces comprehensive coaching CDs, translations and music books for classical singers and choruses. With his Virtual Orchestra, a computerized interactive orchestral system used in productions of Strauss’ Die Fledermaus, Wagner’s Die Walküre with R.W. Productions in Fairfield, California and Humperdinck’s Hänsel und Gretel and Wagner’s Die Walküre with Golden Gate Opera in San Francisco. This past spring, Mr. Erbelding performed seven performances of Die Zauberflöte using the Virtual Orchestra with Opera Virty in Almaty, Kazakhstan, to great acclaim. Presently, he is directing the Lakeside Opera’s Così fan tutte Opera Workshop and a German Lieder Workshop in Oakland, California.

CONNIE LISEC, Retired Opera Singer and Founder of North Bay Opera

An article on Connie Lisec by Tony Wade. The British band Queen bridged the gap between opera and rock ‘n’ roll with their 1975 song “Bohemian Rhapsody,” but if one were looking for a local link between those two musical worlds, it would have to be longtime resident Connie Lisec. The retired Solano Community College voice teacher and co-founder of the acclaimed North Bay Opera (now closed), Lisec trained voices that continue to delight fans of both genres locally and around the world. Born in Springfield, Ohio, Lisec vividly recalls the moment when music grabbed her.

“At Back to School Night, my junior high music teacher performed a duet from ‘La Bohème’ and I thought it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever heard. I was hooked. Connie and others launched North Bay Opera in 1986 when they tired of driving to the Bay Area to indulge their passion. Their first full-stage opera, “Madame Butterfly,” was presented at Solano College in 1989. “I remember sitting in the audience and being brought to tears,” Lisec said. “We created something out of nothing, and it was very satisfying and exciting.” Lisec in the early 1980s was asked by Gordon’s Music and Sound owner Clifford Gordon to teach local rock ‘n’ rollers to sing. She told him she didn’t know anything about rock but would give it a try.

Her work with popular Fairfield bands CP Krunt, Laser Boy and others turned out to be “a joy beyond belief.” However, the first time CP Krunt singer/guitarist Greg Adams came to her home, there was a bit of culture shock. “My husband was an Air Force colonel from a totally different background. I opened my front door and there was Greg with long hair, jeans, a black tuxedo jacket, a top hat and barefoot,” Lisec recalled, laughing. When it came to her teaching techniques, Lisec stressed that the most important thing is to provide a safe haven for singers to experiment, to fail and to try again. Connie’s last major role as a performer was about 10 years ago in a production of “The Sound of Music” in front of nearly 3,000 people in New Zealand. But, The challenges of a 22-hour flight, time differences and other factors made her decide to call it a career. “It was a magnificent production, but instead of just being fun to sing, it was work.” Lisec said. “That’s when I decided to quit while people are still asking me to stay as opposed to them asking, ‘Why are you still singing?” Lisec describes herself as “78 going on 30” and is still in love with the sound of the pure human instrument that is on one level mere vocal cord vibrations and yet so much more. “It is a very satisfying thing to see a voice come to fruition,” Lisec said.

ELAINE REYNOLDS, Bay Area Voice Teacher and Retired Professional Singer (Info to Post Soon)

Mason and Kahn Dance Studio in San Francisco.

Stan Kahn, a tap dance master, choreographer and teacher who influenced generations of tappers. For more than 45 years, he and his wife, Patsy Mason, operated the Mason-Kahn Studios at 1125 Market Street over the Embassy Theater. Until the Loma Prieta earthquake forced the building to be vacated, their studio was a center of learning and artistry for professional tap dancers. Mr. Kahn was known for developing Kahnotation, a system for notating tap dancing that he copyrighted in 1951 and used in his classes to simplify the teaching of steps and movements. The Mason-Kahn Studios was an important stop for dancers visiting San Francisco in touring Broadway shows. Visitors included Tommy Tune and Michael Smuin, former director of the San Francisco Ballet who coached students with Mr. Kahn.