Actor’s Portfolio: Milla Dobrovolska-Ivanova

Actor’s Portfolio: Milla Dobrovolska-Ivanova

Milla Dobrovolska-Ivanova as Hope Cladwell in Sewickley Academy’s Senior School Musical “Urinetown” running on March 3rd-5th 2022.

Milla is a senior and this is her first high school production. She performed with the Junior Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh in 2019 and Beauty and the Beast and Les Misérables outside of SA.

She will be attending the University of Chicago in the fall to study Biology and Global Studies. Congratulations, Milla!

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Actor’s Portfolio: Sajen Schuchert

Actor’s Portfolio: Sajen Schuchert

Actor’s portfolio: a headshot and show action photos.

Sajen Schuchert as Bobby Strong in Sewickley Academy’s Senior School Musical “Urinetown” running on March 3rd-5th 2022.

Sajen is a senior at Sewickley Academy, participating in his 3rd high school production. He will continue performing arts at William & Mary next year. Congratulations, Sajen!

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City Break in Savannah, Georgia: October 2021

City Break in Savannah, Georgia: October 2021

I’ve always wanted to visit Savannah, in fact since childhood when I read about it in a few books, but when we moved to America, there have always been more famous sights to see: New York City, Grand Canyon, the Niagara Falls, California, Pacific Northwest, the Great Lakes and so on - a very long list of all the beautiful national parks and cities in the US

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City Break in Washington DC: October 2021

City Break in Washington DC: October 2021

I finally have time to go through our vacation photos! Here are a few from the city break to Washington, DC, back in October 2021. We just wandered around our favorite spots: the French bakery Paul, the National Mall, and a couple of hidden gardens we keep discovering with every visit.

We visited the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. I think it opened just recently, so we were curious to see what was inside. The Soviet Union/Russian section was really well-represented and we learned something new as we’d hoped. We had a very interesting conversation with one of the volunteers who all but gave us a private tour of the features in the astronaut suit.

And the crown jewel of the Washington, DC, visit was the hockey game at the Capital One Arena. The Washington Capitals played the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Caps lost… at least cameras were allowed and both Dmitry and I clicked away during the pre-game skate and even the game itself.

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Christmas at New York City: a portrait session with Shania Shields

Christmas at New York City: a portrait session with Shania Shields

Day 5, Part Two of photography workshop with Joe McNally in a New York City studio.

I was looking forward to this part of the workshop most of all as this involved photographing a professional dancer in a studio.

Shania Shields is a 2021 graduate of the New York University Tisch School of the Arts and she is a professional dancer, singer and actress who received her BFA studio training in the drama department at Playwrights Horizons, Atlantic Acting School and Stonestreet Studios. @shania.aprill

Shania’s stage experience was greatly appreciated by everyone in our group and it was mostly up to our skills as photographers to work fast enough to capture every graceful pose and elegant move. Anyone who had ever modeled for a photography session would agree that posing is not an easy matter. You are asked to freeze and keep the pose or repeat a movement over and over, maintain precision in your position and perfection in your moves and while doing all that, your face needs to express ease and happiness at all times. Kudos to Shania for being a perfect model.

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Alena plays the violin

Alena plays the violin

We really enjoyed the end-of-term Christmas concert organized by Leah Givelber of Center of Young Musicians at Edgeworth Club in Sewickley.

Hearing Alena perform her beautiful and complex musical pieces she’s preparing for an ABRSM diploma exam got us thinking that it’s probably time to upgrade her violin.

So we paid a visit to Phillip Injeian, a master violin maker, one of the many hidden jewels of Pittsburgh. He helped Alena navigate through a variety of instruments and choose the right fit for her and he even performed a short piece for us saying that “you shouldn’t trust a mechanic who doesn't drive a car himself”!

Thank you, Phillip, for this memorable experience.

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Actor’s portfolio for Ben Heavner

Actor’s portfolio for Ben Heavner

“A great photo shoot experience with Karina - your company’s name is very fitting to what you do with your clients- pure joy and playfully capturing the unexpected !❤️

Amazingly fun way to create a cinematic effect by blending colors - you aced this one!

What a great outcome from something unexpected! Thank you , Karina for creating a fun album for Ben!”

~ Rina Heavner, mother

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Joe Jackson in “12 Angry Jurors”
Sewickley PA, On Stage Karina Sewickley PA, On Stage Karina

Joe Jackson in “12 Angry Jurors”

“...My path to this play was by no means direct. I set out two summers ago to find a show that would challenge our students creatively, but one that also reflected our school’s mission and core values. With a pandemic raging and racial tensions at a peak, I struggled to find the right show... But I still searched throughout the year, reading many scripts, trying to find the ‘right’ one for this fall. Then, by a stroke of luck, I came across the title while conducting a search on a licensing company’s website. Just by seeing the title, I was flooded with vivid memories of the movie, and knew immediately that I needed to read it as soon as possible!”

Joe Jackson, Director of Theater Arts at Sewickley Academy

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Luke Miller in Sewickley Academy’s Fall Play “12 Angry Jurors”

Luke Miller in Sewickley Academy’s Fall Play “12 Angry Jurors”

Luke Miller is a Stage Manager in Sewickley Academy’s Fall theater play “12 Angry Jurors” running October 21st-24th 2021

Luke is a senior at Sewickley Academy and has been working on the tech crew for 7 years. He is excited to wrap up his SA theatre journey with 12 Angry Jurors, his 6th show as a stage manager. He will greatly miss his fellow crew members and actors but is looking forward to a new chapter in life.

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Caroline Sanfilippo in Sewickley Academy’s Fall Play “12 Angry Jurors”

Caroline Sanfilippo in Sewickley Academy’s Fall Play “12 Angry Jurors”

Caroline Sanfilippo as Juror 4 in Sewickley Academy’s Fall theater play “12 Angry Jurors” running October 21st-24th 2021

Caroline is excited to be finishing her time at Sewickley Academy in 12 Angry Jurors. Though this is her second theatrical production, she has participated in Shakespeare Monologue and Scene Contests for the past five years. Outside of school, Caroline enjoys photography, cheerleading, and spending time with her family and friends.

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Spencer Krysinski in Sewickley Academy’s Fall Play “12 Angry Jurors”

Spencer Krysinski in Sewickley Academy’s Fall Play “12 Angry Jurors”

Spencer Krysinski as Guard in Sewickley Academy’s Fall theater play “12 Angry Jurors” running October 21st-24th 2021

Spencer is a junior at Sewickley Academy and is very excited to be performing on stage once again.  Spencer has taken part in many productions over the years, including The Lion King, Les Miserables, and many more. 

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Alaina Ohr in Sewickley Academy’s Fall Play “12 Angry Jurors”

Alaina Ohr in Sewickley Academy’s Fall Play “12 Angry Jurors”

Alaina Ohr as Juror 11 in Sewickley Academy’s Fall theater play “12 Angry Jurors” running October 21st-24th 2021.

Alaina is a sophomore at SA this year, and excited to be doing her second fall play of her highschool career. She has previously performed in War of the Worlds: The Panic Broadcast, as well as all of the musicals in middle and lower school and PAC since third grade. She wants to thank everyone for coming and enjoy the show!

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Alex Wang in Sewickley Academy’s Fall Play “12 Angry Jurors”

Alex Wang in Sewickley Academy’s Fall Play “12 Angry Jurors”

Alex Wang

as Juror 5

in Sewickley Academy’s Fall theater play “12 Angry Jurors” running October 21st-24th 2021

~

Reserve your free ticket here:

https://www.sewickley.org/arts/theater/theater-tickets

~

Alex is a sophomore at SA. In middle school, Alex acted in the middle school musicals Annie and Bye Bye Birdie. After a year-long theatre break, Alex is excited to be in this year’s play! Alex enjoys playing basketball and tennis, playing the oboe, and spending time outdoors.

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Julia Glance in Sewickley Academy’s Fall Play “12 Angry Jurors”

Julia Glance in Sewickley Academy’s Fall Play “12 Angry Jurors”

Julia Glance as Juror 2 in Sewickley Academy’s Fall theater play “12 Angry Jurors” running October 21st-24th 2021

Julia is a sophomore at SA. This is her first play at Sewickley. She has participated in middle school productions such as Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, The Velveteen Rabbit, and The Lion King. Out of school, Julia plays piano and golf, and does cheer and track.

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Logan Carlson in Sewickley Academy’s Fall Play “12 Angry Jurors”

Logan Carlson in Sewickley Academy’s Fall Play “12 Angry Jurors”

Logan Carlson as Juror 7 in Sewickley Academy’s Fall theater play “12 Angry Jurors” running October 21st-24th 2021

Reserve your free ticket here:

https://www.sewickley.org/arts/theater/theater-tickets

Logan is a sophomore at SA and is going to be in his second fall play at the school. He was involved in last year’s play, War of the Worlds, and musical, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. Other than theater, he participates in soccer and tennis. Now, he is excited to show all of the cast’s and crew’s hard work to the community!

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