Teaching Artists

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  Jason Michael Webb

  Broadway Music Director, Arranger, and Composer
  Jason Michael Webb

  Broadway Music Director, Arranger, and Composer

  Biography:

  2019 Special Tony Award recipient and Drama Desk winner, Jason Michael Webb is a composer, lyricist, musical director, producer and arranger. From conducting orchestras in Broadway pits to writing and arranging music for a President’s inauguration, Jason has dedicated his life to using music to heal, uplift and encourage. 

  Mr. Webb’s early musical training consisted of formal classical study, playing in small churches and listening to pop music. By 21, he had a degree in classical piano, played in the biggest churches in New York City and made his orchestral solo debut with the Queens Symphony. 

  He then went on to become Musical Director of the six-time Grammy Award-winning Brooklyn Tabernacle, for whom Mr. Webb co-wrote and produced four albums for The Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir, leading to two Stellar Award nominations and a Dove Award win. His arrangement of BTC’s “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” was featured at the 2013 inauguration of President Barack Obama and simultaneously heard by over one billion people worldwide.

  Mr. Webb wrote music and lyrics for Kenny Leon’s production of Much Ado About Nothing, running currently in Central Park (Shakespeare in the Park, The Public Theater) (also Music Supervisor/Incidental Music). His writing can also be heard on the hit TV series “Empire” (Fox), Netflix film “Juanita” (starring Alfre Woodard), recording projects and original musicals, including the new South African musical “WiLDFLOWER” (currently in development with NBT/Apollo Theater).

  Mr. Webb will receive a 2019 Special Tony Award for his "outstanding arrangements" in Tarell Alvin McCraney’s breathtaking play “Choir Boy” (MTC). He is also a Drama Desk nominee for Outstanding Original Music. 

  He served as Musical Director of the gorgeous Tony-, Emmy- and Grammy-winning 2016 Broadway Revival of "The Color Purple", directed by John Doyle and based on the timeless novel by Alice Walker. Mr. Webb is now currently Music Director/Arranger for Cynthia Erivo, who won a 2016 Tony Award as Celie in the Broadway Revival.

  Other credits include Associate Production Music Supervisor for The Greatest Showman (20th Century Fox); Musical Director and Arranger/Adaptor for Disney’s “Frozen: Live at the Hyperion” (Anaheim, CA); and Associate Musical Director of Broadway shows including Berry Gordy’s “Motown: The Musical”, Alan Menken’s “Leap of Faith” and Jeanine Tesori’s “Violet” (also Additional Arrangements).

  Mr. Webb has appeared as a Pianist onstage with Dame Shirley Bassey, Michael Bolton, Cece Winans, and Chaka Khan. He has conducted live and recording orchestras from New York to LA, including internationally acclaimed pianist Lang Lang’s 2016 love letter to NYC, “New York Rhapsody” (PBS), which featured performances by Rufus Wainwright, Regina Spektor and Suzanne Vega.

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  Katie Pohlman

  Featured Instructor
  Katie Pohlman

  Featured Instructor

  Biography:

  Katie Pohlman is a professional dancer, actor, and singer from Omaha, NE. She graduated from Oklahoma City University with her Bachelor of Performing Arts in Dance Performance and trained in New York City at Broadway Dance Center in their Professional Semester program. Katie has spent the past several years performing around the country at Music Theatre Wichita and The Muny. She was most recently seen as the swing and dance captain on the first national tour of Bandstand. Katie is over the moon excited to be sharing her passion and knowledge of dance with the musical theater students in Nebraska!

  
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  Q Smith

  Lied Center Triple Threat Broadway Intensive Instructor
  Q Smith

  Lied Center Triple Threat Broadway Intensive Instructor

  Biography:

  Q. Smith was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska! She attended Fontenelle Elementary School, Brownell Talbot Prep, North High School, UNO, and then graduated with a MFA in Musical Theatre from Ithaca College in Ithaca, NY.  Q. was a part of the original cast of the Tony Award winning (for Best Director) show, Come From Away playing the role of Hannah. It is currently streaming on Apple Plus.  Before Come From Away Q. was last seen on Broadway as the first African American actress to play a leading role in Disney’s Mary Poppins. Also on Broadway Q. was in the 1^st revival of Les Miserables and Off Broadway she has performed and recorded the soundtrack for  Fame: On 42^nd Street.She has toured with the North American Broadway show- A Night With Janis Joplin playing the roles of Aretha Franklin and Nina Simone.  Other noted credits include Abyssinia: A Gospel Celebration with Wynton Marsalis at the Lincoln Center, Showboat in concert at the renowned Carnegie Hall, guest soloist for Hillary Clinton’s Vital Voices awards at the Kennedy Center and a guest soloist Barack Obama’s inaugural ceremonies representing the state of Nebraska. She has shared the stage with Gladys Knight, Rita Coolidge, and Gary U.S Bonds in Smokey Joe's Cafe' amongst others and has traveled the world with various productions; including Central America, Germany, and the entire US. Television credits: The Good Fight, The Black Box, FBI Most Wanted, and multiple voice over commercials and campaigns.  Not only is she an entertainer, but a passionate educator.  Q. and her husband conduct workshops and masterclasses for groups as well as offer private coaching sessions for all ages! She has been developing a curriculum entitled Comprehensive and Restorative Art Conditioning, which helps children with behavioral problems and learning disabilities maintain their curriculum through the arts. Her goals are to build a performing arts school integrated with the juvenile system, open a bed and breakfast in Hawaii, travel the world, and finish her book Queens of the Theatre! For more information go to: QdotSmith.com