Valerie Shondel is the Interim Director of Music at First Presbyterian Church in Caldwell. In her role at FPC, she conducts the Chancel Choir and the Chancel Bell Choir and is Organist and pianist for the church. Additionally, she is Director of Caldwell Broadway Arts.
Valerie Shondel has had a long and distinguished career as an organist, pianist and conductor in the New York City Area. She has brought her unique skills to her positions to build premier and highly successful organizations.
Ms. Shondel was Director of Music at the St Paul the Apostle in New York City and at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Morristown. She continues to work as a freelance conductor, organist and pianist New York City and New Jersey. Most recently, she appeared in concert at Carnegie Hall.
Valerie Shondel earned degrees in Piano Performance and Musicology with a minor in harpsichord from the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. She continued with doctoral studies at New York University and organ studies with Harriet Dearden and Vincent Carr. Valerie has held faculty positions at Wake Forest University, Greensboro College and Eastern Music Festival. She was also involved in arts management with The International Society of Bassists, The Greensboro Symphony, Kindermusik and The Cincinnati Chamber Orchestra. A highlight of her career was to perform as Organ Soloist at the Cathedral de Notre Dame in Paris, France. Valerie Shondel is a member of the New York City and Northern New Jersey Chapters of the American Guild of Organists.
Valerie leads a life filled with her passions both at work and at home. She is blessed with three married sons and 5 grandchildren. Her hobbies include cooking, gardening, time with family and yoga.
Valerie Shondel - Director
Sarah Solie - Artistic Director / Voice Instructor
Sarah Solie is a nine-time Broadway veteran, appearing in the original casts of Beauty and the Beast, Steel Pier, High Society, Anne Rice and Elton John’s Lestat, the First National Touring Company of Titanic and the 2012 revival of Annie, as well as in favorites such as Cats, Mary Poppins and South Pacific.
Her starring roles in theaters around the country include Kathy Selden in Singin In the Rain, The Beggar Woman in Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd, Anna Leonowens in The King and I and Muriel Eubanks in the comedy Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
In the studio, Sarah has recorded multiple Disney soundtrack and original cast recordings and appeared twice at Carnegie Hall with the New York Pops as a founding member of the vocal quartet Monday Off.
As a teacher, Sarah has maintained a private voice studio for the past 12 years, and has taught classes in voice and musical theatre for performing arts schools in the Central New Jersey area. Sarah is thrilled to be a co-founding director of Caldwell Broadway Arts.
Linda Talcott Lee - Dance Instructor
Linda Talcott Lee is an Emmy-Award-winning choreographer and Broadway veteran. Linda was an original cast member of Jerome Robbins’ Broadway, The Goodbye Girl and Beauty and the Beast, and joined the cast of Seussical shortly before it ended its Broadway run. Since relocating to the Minneapolis-St Paul area, Linda has performed at the Guthrie Theater (My Fair Lady, She Loves Me, Roman Holiday), Ordway Theater (A Christmas Story, Cinderella), Chanhassen Dinner Theater (West Side Story, Mary Poppins, Swing, Cats and The Prom), and at the Fitzgerald Theater (Wild Party).
As a choreographer, her theatrical credits include: Beauty and the Beast at the Ordway, Romeo and Juliet at the Guthrie, Matilda, Cinderella, Mulan and How the Grinch Stole Christmas at CTC, Baker’s Wife, Thoroughly Modern Mille, Next to Normal and City of Angels at Artistry, and A Servants’ Christmas and Hormel Girls at the History Theater. Most notably, Linda earned an Emmy Award for her work in The Comedy Hall of Fame with Jason Alexander.
Jonathan Hadley - Acting Instructor
Jonathan Hadley appeared on Broadway as “Bob Crewe” in the hit musical Jersey Boys, a role he performed over 2000 times on both the National and International Tours. He was previously seen on Broadway in A Class Act and Off-Broadway in The Great Divorce, Caesar and Cleopatra, Widowers’ Houses, Rothschild and Sons, Finian’s Rainbow and Theda Bara and the Frontier Rabbi. Tours include The Bodyguard (with Deborah Cox), Into The Woods (with Cleo Laine), Joseph... (with Donny Osmond), Fiddler on the Roof (with Theo Bikel) and Forbidden Broadway in the US and Australia.
Favorite regional credits include leading roles in The 39 Steps, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Dirty Blonde, Born Yesterday, Yiddle With A Fiddle (Boston Herald Award), Loves Labors Lost, Call Me Madam (starring Leslie Uggams), The Secret Garden and Tammy Faye’s Final Audition. TV and Film credits include “Succession”, “Another World”, “Sex and the City”, “After Ella”,(Official Cannes Selection) and “Due Season”. Jonathan is a director and teaching artist with Camp
Broadway, TADA!, the Yip Harburg Foundation’s “Rainbow Troupe” and BRAVO’s “On With the Show”.
Jonathan’s Directing credits include “Something Rotten” at the U of Iowa, “Much Ado About Nothing” for NYC’s Sonnet Rep and two seasons as the Producing Artistic Director of the Depot Theatre. He is currently the Theatre Teacher at Saint David’s School in New York. Jonathan holds a BFA in Acting from the University of the North Carolina School of the Arts and an MFA in Directing from Brooklyn College.(www.jonathanhadley.com)
Ginny Stephens - Accompanist
Ginny Stephens is a piano teacher, collaborative artist / vocal coach and choral accompanist. Most recently, she toured the UK with an award winning choir and performed in cathedrals in Scotland and England. She is an adjunct professor at Montclair State University where she accompanies and coaches musical theater and classical voice students. She performed The Beautiful Bridegroom by Dan Shore with the MSU opera last fall. She holds a Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance from Bob Jones University and a Master of Music Degree in piano performance from Colorado State University. Some of her other favorite musical experiences include working for the Virginia Opera as the opera chorus accompanist and performing art songs in concert with baritone, John Lueck.
Ginny lives in Wayne, NJ with her husband Karl. They have three adult daughters.
Jaclyn de Nicola - Center Stage Instructor
Jaclyn de Nicola is a professional dancer represented by MSA Agency in NYC. As a Radio City Rockette, she has performed for millions of people both onstage at Radio City Music Hall in The Christmas Spectacular and in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade for the past four years. Jaclyn is frequently featured across the Rockettes’ official social media platforms, participating in trends and dancing alongside celebrities - most notably, The Backstreet Boys & Jennifer Garner. Outside of the Christmas season, she has performed at some of NYC’s most iconic venues, such as The Javits Center, the Park Avenue Armory, and alongside comedian, Heather McMahon back at Radio City Music Hall.
Jaclyn graduated magna cum laude from Alvin Ailey / Fordham College at Lincoln Center with her BFA degree in Dance. Recently, she worked on set as a dancer in Marvel’s Daredevil, set to premiere on Disney+ in March 2025. Currently, she is continuing to audition and work in NYC and loves sharing her passion for dance with students whenever she gets the chance!