Jeanne Averill

Jeanne Averill has been a professional actress and singer for more than 40 years She has performed at almost every theatrical venue in Kansas City including Kansas City Rep, Kansas City Actors Theater, the Coterie, and New Theater Restaurant. She has an extensive resume in film and commercials and has appeared with actors such as Martin Sheen, Patty Duke, and John Hurt. But Jeanne's roots and heart are in Lawrence. She holds a BS in education and an MA in theater, both from KU. As a local actress, she has appeared at the Lawrence Arts Center, in Card Table Theater productions, the Victor Continental Show, the Ric Averill Players at Apple Valley Farm, the Seem To Be Players, and at Theater Lawrence back when it was Lawrence Community Theater. She is thrilled to be included among these fabulous Lawrence Divas.

Leslie Bennett

Leslie Bennett received her MFA from Boston University in Movement and Voice and is currently the Movement Specialist for the Department of Theatre, at the University of Kansas. She has taught numerous theatre courses at KU. Her scholarship is rooted in the Michael Chekhov Acting Technique. She has also taught at Boston University and Emerson College. Bennett was heard on National Public Radio as Titania in the University of Kansas production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. At the University Theatre, she performed the same role in the 2010 stage production, as well as choreographing its several dances. Bennett served as director/choreographer for A Grand Night for Singing, The Thirteen Clocks, The Music Man, Really Rosie, Street Scene, The Magic Flute, and George Dandin.  She portrayed Judith Bliss in Hay Fever, and Annie Oakley in Shooting is a Gentle Thing.   She continues to perform concerts and has presented her work both nationally and abroad. Bennett’s operatic credits include Despina in Cosi Fan Tutte, Katchen in Boston Lyric Opera's Werther and Lelia, in the Early American Theatre Company's Satanella and Platform in Boston's A! The Letter in the role of Hester Prynne.

Erin Fox

Two years ago, Erin Fox gave up teaching Communication at Central Michigan University to move to Lawrence. Ever since, she's been a freelance singer/actor, performing in area musicals, in murder mysteries/comedy shows at corporate events and with the TL Travelers on the Kansas Belle Train, and as the jazz vocalist of The Mike Shurtz Trio. Theatre Lawrence performances include Little Shop of Horrors (Audrey), Shrek (Mama Bear/Blind Mouse), Footloose (Vi), The Sound of Music (Maria), and 9 to 5 (Violet). Other area performances include Topeka Civic Theatre's Reefer Madness (Sally), Young Frankenstein (Elizabeth), and Les Miserables and Musical Theatre Heritage's South Pacific.

Teresa Kempf

Teresa Mulinazzi Kempf has worked in the financial services industry since graduating, in 1991, from the University of Kansas with a BS Degree in Business Administration. She is currently a Certified Financial Planner with Ameriprise Financial Services, Inc. When she's not researching Sharpe ratios and Betas of investment portfolios, she has been known to annoy her family while singing spontaneously in the car or in public. Her other notable claims to fame are LHS Summer Showtime 1985 and the KU Marching Band Tuba Bash Queen Runner-Up in 1987.

Sarah Lockwood

Sarah is a former Air Force kid who grew up all over the world until her family settled in lovely Lawrence. She attended WashburnUniversity in Topeka & is employed as an Account Manager with Connex International. Sarah is a veteran performer who is often engagedprofessionally as an Opera Singer, most recently with Lyric Opera o fKansas City, Opera Omaha, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Lawrence Opera Theatre, & Land of Enchantment Opera in New Mexico. In addition to Opera, she enjoys singing Oratorio & Sacred music at various cathedrals in the Kansas City area. She has been the recipient of numerous awards with the National Association of Teachers of Singing, Kansas Music Teachers Association, Topeka Opera Society, & the Crescendo Music Awards in Tulsa, OK. Sarah was recently seen on the TL stage as Lady Thiang in The King and I & Mrs. Brill in Mary Poppins. When she's not on stage, Sarah enjoys cheering on her awesome daughter Haley- who is a star softball player, fundraising for local charities, & relaxing at home with her shih tzu & tabby cat.

Lauren Parsons

Lauren is honored to be a part of Dueling Diva's 2015! This Lawrence native has performed all over the world on both land and sea. After receiving a Bachelors Degree in Musical Theater from the University of Northern Colorado she spent 7 years in NYC balancing "survival jobs" and artistic pursuits. A few of her favorite musicals performed include Les Miserables, Camelot, Smokey Joe's Café, Chicago, and Footloose. She was a part of the east coast premier of Happy Days! A New Musical based on the hit TV show with music by Grammy award winning Paul Williams and can be heard on the original cast recording. When she wasn't performing in and around NYC she was traveling from Panama to Iceland singing on Holland America Cruise Line. Her travels have taught her what a blessing it is to be from a town with such artistic life and she's happy to have her land legs back home in Lawrence!

Amelia Rollings

Amelia Rollings, a multifaceted performer of opera, recital, oratorio, and musical theatre, recently made her role debut as Lady Billows (Albert Herring) as a 2014 Young Artist with the Janiec Opera Company of Brevard Music Center. Ms. Rollings has also performed as the soprano soloist in Verdi's Requiem, Magda Sorel (The Consul), Witch (Hansel and Gretel), Saraghina (Nine), and Pirelli (Sweeney Todd). Ms. Rollings is a Graduate Teaching Assistant and Ph.D. Candidate in Vocal Pedagogy at The University of Kansas.

Carolyn Welch

Artistic Director of the Lawrence Children’s Choir, Carolyn has been teaching singing to area children since moving to Lawrence in 1996. Prior to leaving the Lawrence Public Schools in 2013 to become the Artistic Director of the Lawrence Children’s Choir, she taught vocal music at Langston Hughes Elementary, Southwest Junior High and Free State High School, while also serving as Assistant Director to LCC under the direction of founder Janeal Krehbiel.

Carolyn holds Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in Vocal Performance & Pedagogy from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and a Bachelor’s in Music Education from Minnesota State University. A native of New Hampshire, she spent her youth in Colorado, Texas and Latin America.

Author of “Sing Better Now,” a manual for beginning voice students, Carolyn has also written “Sing the Concepts,” a set of songs for learning basic theory, and “Change One,” a sight-reading curriculum, in use at LHS and FSHS.

Active as a judge and clinician in Kansas, Minnesota and Missouri, Carolyn served on the board of the Kansas Choral Directors Association as Children’s Choir co-Chair from 2005-2008 and is currently serving as the Community Choir Chairperson. She was named the KMEA Northeast District Outstanding Middle Level Teacher Award for Choir for 2013-2014, an honor she also received in 2007. Carolyn is an active member of ACDA, MENC, IFCM and Chorus America.