Dana Alvarez
Dana Alvarez is a certified teacher and local musical theater director and performer. She has been the Theatre Director of the Melody Lane Theatre Department since 2017. Under her direction, MLPAC’s JTF Teams have won Outstanding Production twice, as well as Excellence in Acting, Ensemble, and Music. At the Junior Theater Festival in 2020 with MLPAC, Dana earned a Freddie G Teaching Fellowship in New York City, which enabled her to study with Broadway greats. The Freddie G award is only given to a six teachers out of hundreds of applicants worldwide. Go here to hear more about this on WGCU.
Dana has directed more than 35 major musicals, including three Disney pilot productions. 
Her most recent directorial projects include Les Miserables, Cats, Newsies the Musical, School of Rock, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Peter Pan. She is currently co-directing Mean Girls High School Edition.
As a performer, Alvarez last appeared as Jack’s mom in The Belle Theatre’s production of Into the Woods. At Cultural Park Theatre, audiences have enjoyed Dana in a number of roles, including that of Olive Ostrovski in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors, Gertrude in Seussical, Marian in Music Man, Emma in Jekyll and Hyde and Nellie in South Pacific.
As an elementary teacher, 
she was named the Chamber of Commerce Teacher of the Year in 2013 and Charter School Lighthouse Teacher of the Year in 2014. She also began the Oasis Arts program where she taught at Oasis Charter Elementary.
Dana holds a B.A. in Elementary Education from FGCU as well as certification in Drama, Grades 6-12. In High School, she represented Southwest Florida in the International Shakespeare Competition, performing at Lincoln Center, NYC.
One of her
most exciting life experiences was being on (and winning) Wheel of Fortune in 2020!
February 20, 2022; revised June 22, 2023.
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About the Author
Tom Hall is both an amateur artist and aspiring novelist who writes art quest thrillers. He is in the final stages of completing his debut novel titled "Art Detective," a story that fictionalizes the discovery of the fabled billion-dollar Impressionist collection of Parisian art dealer Josse Bernheim-Jeune, thought by many to have perished during World War II when the collection's hiding place, Castle de Rastignac in southern France, was destroyed by the Wehrmacht in reprisal for attacks made by members of the Resistance operating in the area. A former tax attorney, Tom holds a bachelor's degree as well as both a juris doctorate and masters of laws in taxation from the University of Florida. Tom lives in Estero, Florida with his fiancee, Connie, and their four cats.