We rely on our seasonal staff and older students to help keep our ship afloat! If you are in 8th grade or higher, and are currently registered for a show or have done a show with us in the past year, please consider applying to be a counselor for one of our younger programs. For the Junior level (grades 5-8), counselors must be in 11th grade or older. All counselors MUST be available for all rehearsals (or camp days) and all performances. If you have a conflict, we will look forward to having you apply for a future program!
Additional Season Staff Members
Mrs. Mary Jo Springer, Owner and Artistic Director, Set and Lighting Design
Michael Ronca, Stage Manager
Michael is an actor, writer, director and teaching artist based in NYC and the Greater Philadelphia area. As an actor: Off-Broadway: Ode to the Wasp Woman (Swing), Amélie (Dufayel), Sprawl (Ricky/Swing), Off-Off Broadway: Assassins (John Wilkes Booth), Matilda (Miss Trunchbull). Regional: Assassins (Arden Theatre Company). As a writer: Sprawl (National Playwrights Conference Semi-Finalist, SoHo Playhouse), Poser (Nashville Film Festival Finalist). As a director: 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Facetime Theatre), Dark Match (Playwrights Horizons Downtown), Nine Muses Lab Fellow. Member of the Dramatist Guild. BFA Drama/Dramatic Writing NYU Tisch.
Michael is a massive extrovert always looking to collaborate with artists from diverse backgrounds. He loves teaching and is currently pursuing an MFA. In his spare time he obsessively watches Survivor, listens to Stephen Sondheim, and, unfortunately, plays Fortnite. He is thrilled to join the TSSYT staff this summer and looks forward to producing some fantastic shows with these talented kids!
Mrs. Springer never imagined she would own a youth theater program. She began singing before she could talk and dancing almost before she could walk. She began performing in 5th grade in musical productions at her elementary school which then grew into a passion for musical theater in high school. Past amateur and professional credits include Oliver! (Beth), The Music Man (Marian Paroo), The Boyfriend (Polly Browne), Pippin (Ensemble), A Funny Thing…Forum (Philia), Willy Wonka (Mrs. Gloop) and Footloose (Ethel McCormack). The Springer Studio Youth Theater was born out of a desire to keep a community together when St. Basil the Great Parish was forced to close the school, where Mrs. Springer had been the choir and band director, classroom music teacher and Musical director for 7 years. In an effort to keep the students involved in each other’s lives, she began a summer program that rehearsed in her basement! In March of 2020, The Springer Studio Youth Theater that we know today opened with a GRAND celebration of fun, friends and music. Only 6 days later, the pandemic closed our doors. Our first LIVE show in our new facility was NEWSIES in the summer of 2020 and we’ve never looked back. She has Directed, Music Directed and produced 67 shows to date, with 35 of those occurring here at her own theater space.
Ms. Tessa Cadieux-Petrie, Choreographer, Administrative Assistant, Social Media Coordinator
Miss Tessa is super excited to be back at The Springer Studio! She grew up dancing in West Chester at Harrison’s Dance Studio. After graduating high school, she moved to New York City to be part of the inaugural class of The Institute for American Musical Theater. Some previous credits include dancer at Busch Gardens Williamsburg, Minnie/Associate Choreographer in West Side Story at the Orpheum Theater, Swing for Broadway Dance Lab, production cast dancer on the Norwegian Gem, Heather in Footloose and Elements Dance Captain on the Norwegian Joy, and Aerial Captain on the Norwegian Spirit.
Hope McGinnis, Assistant Director, Costume Design, Music Director
Miss Hope is a performer who holds a BA in Musical Theatre from West Chester University. Her favorite acting credits include: Into the Woods (Baker’s Wife), Spring Awakening (Ilse), Pride and Prejudice (Mrs. Gardiner), and Charlotte’s Web (Sheep). She has worked as a director (Rocky Horror Picture Show), assistant director (Aristocats KIDS, Jungle Book KIDS) and a music director (High Street Harmonix A Cappella, WCU BC/EFA Benefit Concert, Something Rotten, Mary Poppins JR). She is a Springer Studio alumni, performing in Les Miserables (Eponine) and Freaky Friday (Katherine Blake), and is thrilled to be back at the studio working with such an amazing team!
Charlie Bensinger, Lighting Design, Asst. Director
Charlie Bensinger has been a member of The Springer Studio Youth Theater’s staff intermittently throughout the past year. He joined our creative team during “A Christmas Story” as a teaching artist and returned as Assistant Director for “Into the Woods” in the Winter of 2024 and also “The Little Mermaid Jr.” in the Spring of that same year. During the summer of 2024, he spent his days working hard to create incredible sets and epic lighting design for our 3 summer shows. Charlie was introduced to Musical Theater by Mrs. Springer, who gave him his first ever role in a musical called School House Rock LIVE Jr. in the 4th grade. Since then, he graduated from Temple University with a degree in Musical Theater and has performed in numerous productions in Regional Theaters, such as Gretna Theatre, Candlelight Theatre, and the Fulton Theatre. He continues to pursue his passions towards a fulfilling career as an actor, teacher, and storyteller.
