Owner/Director, Sunny Side Theater Executive Director, Azalea City Center for the Arts

In 2002, Chris began a summer drama camp with the idea that drama was fun! By 2008, Chris realized that Mobile needed a Children’s Theater where all students would be welcomed and accepted, regardless of talent. Sunny Side was founded on the principal that everyone has something to offer and it was the responsibility of the director to identify the students’ talents and showcase them! Over the years, Sunny Side has grown to include an Exceptional Arts Special Needs program, Travel Competition Team, Broadway Bound After School, School Outreach, Homeschool & Touring Drama, and its own Voice Studio.

Chris holds a Bachelor’s in Psychology, a Master’s in Elementary Education, and an Administrator’s Certificate. Chris was named a Freddie G Fellow in 2016 and Sunny Side won Best in State in 2019 at the Alabama Youth Theatre Extravaganza.

Chris and his wife Christy have five children, Joey, Matthew, Dominick, Anthony, and Charlie, who are all involved in the arts.

Director, Sunny Side Theater

Lauren began her career at Sunny Side at age 10 in the Halloween play, Ax of Murder. Over her years as a student, Lauren has played Wendy, Jovie, Willard, Dorothy, and Mary Poppins. As a member of Sunny Side’s Competition Team, Lauren won a Junior Theater Festival All-Star award for her portrayal of Gertrude in Seussical Jr. She was also awarded back-to-back Outstanding Student Director Director Awards at JTF. Lauren founded the K-5 Kids Only Musical when she directed Honk! Jr in 2017 and has gone on to direct many shows over the last three years. Lauren is an integral part of Sunny Side’s Exceptional Arts program, School Outreach, and Homeschool Touring productions.

Lauren graduated from the University of South Alabama where she is majored in Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in Business and Theater.

Lauren has a dog named Sunny who accompanies her to Sunny Side everyday.

Music Director/Voice Teacher, Sunny Side Theater

Dylan Farnell is a graduate of the University of Mobile, earning his degree in Theatre Performance. Dylan’s theatre journey began at Sunny Side Theater in 2015. He has performed in multiple Sunny Side shows, as well as, spent multiple years on Sunny Side’s competition team. Dylan now serves on the directorial staff at Sunny Side, where he works on all Main Stage shows, the competition team, as well as, works in multiple schools throughout Mobile County. He also serves as a private vocal coach at Azalea City Center for the Arts.

During his free time, Dylan enjoys performing on stage at local community theaters. Most notable roles include Willard in Footloose, Brik in Escape to Margaritaville, and Ted in Peter and the Starcatcher, all at Joe Jefferson Playhouse.

Voice Teacher, Sunny Side Theater

Lyric Soprano Allanda Small is an award winner of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions (Gulf Coast Region), the NATSAA Young Artist Award and the American Prize Competition. She is a graduate of William Carey University and The University of Southern Mississippi with degrees in Vocal Performance having earned her doctorate in 2007. Dr. Small is a native of Albany, NY, who currently resides in Mobile, AL. She currently is part of the music faculty at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. She has been teaching voice lessons at ACCA since 2014.

Voice Teacher, Sunny Side Theater

Michael Devery is a native of the Alabama Gulf Coast who recently graduated from Arizona State University with his MM in Musical Theatre Performance. He was featured in many a production while at ASU, including The Drowsy Chaperone as Feldzieg, Guys and Dolls as Arvide, and Shrek! The Musical as Shrek. Since returning to Mobile, he has been featured in several community productions, most recently at Joe Jefferson Playhouse in Matilda the Musical as Ms. Trunchbull.

When not performing Michael is an avid reader and TV binge watcher, indulging in such works as Tolkien's The Hobbit and ITV's Poirot starring David Suchet, as well as enjoying the occasional game of Dungeons & Dragons.

Michael has a BM in Music Education with a Dual Concentration in Instrumental and Choral Music from the University of South Alabama. At USA he studied in the voice studio of soprano Linda Zoghby and trombone studio of Dr. Greg Gruner. While at ASU Michael studied voice with bass-baritone Gordon Hawkins.

Voice Teacher, Sunny Side Theater

Faith Hezel is a passionate voice teacher and performer. She has a Masters of Music in Vocal Performance from the University of Mobile and 6 years of private studio experience teaching voice and piano lessons in contemporary, musical theatre, and classical styles. Faith’s goal as a teacher is to help her students foster ease and joy in their singing to aid expressive communication on stage.

Dance Teacher, Sunny Side Theater

Kendall Hall Lee is a Mobile native with a passion for the arts. She began her dance training at the age of three at Sheffield’s School of the Dance. While at Sheffield’s she was a member of their national award-winning competition team. Kendall is a graduate of Davidson HS where she performed with the Kinetics Dance Company. While in this company she was afforded opportunities to participate in master classes at both the University of Southern Mississippi as well as Miami-Dade Performing Art College and New World School of the Arts in Miami, FL. She has choreographed competitively for various dance studio along the gulf coast with many of her students going on to pursue a career in the arts.

Director, Sunny Side Competition Gymnastics Team Gymnastics Instructor, Broadway Bound

Chelle grew up as a gymnast and has taught recreational and competitive gymnastics for over 10 years. She has been with Broadway Bound since its first year in 2017, and she cannot wait to see how far this program will grow. Additionally, Chelle has also been a yoga instructor for the last ten years.

Broadway Bound Teacher

Jeffrey, raised in Greenwich Connecticut, graduated from Greenwich High School and graduated from Bard College with a BA in Theater. He has worked on stage in New York, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and Jupiter, Florida. While in Mobile, he has been in three productions at Joe Jefferson Playhouse – Macbeth, The Graduate, and Sister Act. He has also had the pleasure of working with Bay City Improv on the river boat Perdido Queen. His passion has always been to work with children and families. He has worked in schools, hospitals, juvenile corrections facilities, churches, and in community centers. He is excited to be at ACCA!

Drama Teacher, Sunny Side Theater

Addyson has been student at Sunny Side since elementary school. She has played lots of fun roles including Karen in Mean Girls and a Featured Dancer in numerous productions. She is also a member of the Sunny Side Theater Competition Team.

Drama Teacher, Sunny Side Theater

Alex Portella began their theatre journey in high school, where you may have seen them as Leanne in Puffs or Rosie in Mamma Mia! at St. Luke’s Episcopal! Alex’s first show at Sunnyside was Carrie: The Musical. Soon after, they joined Sunnyside’s Competition Team for their Senior year. Since graduating in 2023, Alex is currently pursuing a BA in English & Anthropology from Vassar College. When not in Upstate New York, Alex assists the directorial team at schools around Mobile County and works with the Exceptional Arts program. Alex is thrilled to have the opportunity to work with so many different kids and talented directors!!

Arts & Crafts Instructor, Broadway Bound Seamstress, Sunny Side Theater

Born and educated in New York City, Linda Paragone holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Spanish from Brooklyn College and a Master of Science in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from Queens College of the City University of New York. She also holds an Alabama Certificate in Leadership and Administration from the University of Alabama.

Mrs. Paragone taught Spanish in Huntsville City Schools and St. John Paul II Catholic HS for 26 years. She was the founder of the Weekend Immersed in Language Development, a statewide program encouraging world language immersion among the high school program participants. Among other teaching awards, she received the Marlin Harris Lifetime Achievement Award from the Alabama World Languages Association in 2019.

Her years as a 4-H leader have helped her to expand her love of arts and crafts and she enjoys encouraging young students to explore their creativity.

Technical Designer, Sunny Side Theater

Vinny has been involved with musical performance for over 35 years as both a volunteer and an employee of multiple school systems where he served as Technical Director and Instructor.

He has provided designs for over 20 shows in both Huntsville and Mobile.

During that time, he has focused on “transportation” and “magic.” He has built carriages, cars, ships and boats. He has also done magic for Mary Poppins, Cinderella, Young Frankenstein, and Matilda to name a few.

For over 20 years he has served an adjudicator for Trumbauer at both the regional and State levels and for the Alabama Thespian Association.