2019 Instructors
FM Michael Chin
Michael G. Chin is a professional actor (AEA, AFTRA, SAG) as well as a sanctioned Master instructor and choreographer with the Society of American Fight Directors. He serves as fight director in residence for both The White Horse and Pan Asian Rep in NYC. He has taught/choreographed/consulted in the New York area on Broadway as well as The Mint, Murder-To-Go, Theatreworks USA, La Mama ETC, National Asian American Thea Co, Ma-yi, The Public, Negro Ensemble Company, The Vineyard, NYU, Henry St Settlement, Baruch College, The Drama League, Classical Theatre of Harlem, Montclair State Univ, New York Renaissance Fest and The NY Fringe Thea Festival . Nationally he has worked at The Barter, Celebration Barn, Burt Reynolds Inst for Thea., Muhlenberg Summer Festival, Univ of Tulsa, The Crossroads, Brown Univ, Cape Cod Community College, BYU, The Hangar, Dickinson College, Louisiana Tech, NY State Theatre Inst.,Tennesee Rep, Merrimack Theatre, Off The Square Thea in Wyoming, Gainesville Theatre Alliance, Univ of Northern Colorado, IUP and Yale School of Drama. Mr Chin currently teaches at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA, as well as at Brooklyn College,Pace University, Juilliard and teaches privately for Fights4 all in New York City. He is a student of Northern Style, Shaolin Long Fist Kung Fu.
Michael G. Chin is a professional actor (AEA, AFTRA, SAG) as well as a sanctioned Master instructor and choreographer with the Society of American Fight Directors. He serves as fight director in residence for both The White Horse and Pan Asian Rep in NYC. He has taught/choreographed/consulted in the New York area on Broadway as well as The Mint, Murder-To-Go, Theatreworks USA, La Mama ETC, National Asian American Thea Co, Ma-yi, The Public, Negro Ensemble Company, The Vineyard, NYU, Henry St Settlement, Baruch College, The Drama League, Classical Theatre of Harlem, Montclair State Univ, New York Renaissance Fest and The NY Fringe Thea Festival . Nationally he has worked at The Barter, Celebration Barn, Burt Reynolds Inst for Thea., Muhlenberg Summer Festival, Univ of Tulsa, The Crossroads, Brown Univ, Cape Cod Community College, BYU, The Hangar, Dickinson College, Louisiana Tech, NY State Theatre Inst.,Tennesee Rep, Merrimack Theatre, Off The Square Thea in Wyoming, Gainesville Theatre Alliance, Univ of Northern Colorado, IUP and Yale School of Drama. Mr Chin currently teaches at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA, as well as at Brooklyn College,Pace University, Juilliard and teaches privately for Fights4 all in New York City. He is a student of Northern Style, Shaolin Long Fist Kung Fu.
FD Michael Johnson
As a fight director, Michael has worked in NYC at the Epic Theatre, Fluid Motion, Sonnett Rep and the Lady Cavalier Theatre Company. His national work includes productions at the Arena Stage, South Coast Rep, The Shakespeare Theatre, The Kennedy Center, Woolly Mammoth,Theatre at Lime Kiln and most recently, Off Square Theatre Company where he was a company member for a year. His university work includes productions at Northwestern State University of Louisiana, Georgetown University, Catholic University, University of Maryland, and his alma mater, University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
Michael created the stage combat program at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts in DC and taught there for 11 years. He has been a regular teacher at the NY Summer Sling and the Cincinnati workshop formerly known as March Madness. He has also taught at the Philadelphia and Chicago regional workshops, as well as the SAFD national workshops in Las Vegas and North Carolina. Michael is currently a faculty member at Boston University instructing in Movement and Stage Combat and directing multiple productions throughout the season.
Michael is the creator of the Knife discipline for the SAFD. When teachers of the British Academy of Stage and Screen Combat wanted to create their own Knife discipline, they invited Michael to London to teach and advise them. Michael was both honored and humbled that the Governing Body and the College of Fight Master voted to make him the SAFD's first Fight Director Emeritus, and is also thankful to them for allowing him to return to full-time status. It's great to be back.
As a fight director, Michael has worked in NYC at the Epic Theatre, Fluid Motion, Sonnett Rep and the Lady Cavalier Theatre Company. His national work includes productions at the Arena Stage, South Coast Rep, The Shakespeare Theatre, The Kennedy Center, Woolly Mammoth,Theatre at Lime Kiln and most recently, Off Square Theatre Company where he was a company member for a year. His university work includes productions at Northwestern State University of Louisiana, Georgetown University, Catholic University, University of Maryland, and his alma mater, University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
Michael created the stage combat program at the National Conservatory of Dramatic Arts in DC and taught there for 11 years. He has been a regular teacher at the NY Summer Sling and the Cincinnati workshop formerly known as March Madness. He has also taught at the Philadelphia and Chicago regional workshops, as well as the SAFD national workshops in Las Vegas and North Carolina. Michael is currently a faculty member at Boston University instructing in Movement and Stage Combat and directing multiple productions throughout the season.
Michael is the creator of the Knife discipline for the SAFD. When teachers of the British Academy of Stage and Screen Combat wanted to create their own Knife discipline, they invited Michael to London to teach and advise them. Michael was both honored and humbled that the Governing Body and the College of Fight Master voted to make him the SAFD's first Fight Director Emeritus, and is also thankful to them for allowing him to return to full-time status. It's great to be back.
CT Darrell Rushton
Darrell Rushton is currently an Assistant Professor of Theatre at Frostburg State University. He has been a Certified Teacher since 2007, a Theatrical Firearms Safety Instructor since 2010, and a SAFD member since his first workshop; the 2000 NSCW. He has taught stage combat regionally and across the country at the Rumble in the Rockies, Seattle Sockeye, Winter Wonderland Workshop and the NSCW. He has been Fight Director for numerous productions at Frostburg State, Ball State University (Assistant Professor of Movement and Acting), the Cumberland Theatre, and National Tours with Windwood Theatricals. Union Member of AEA, AFTRA and SAG, with acting credits in New York, Washington, DC, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Florida and Maryland.
Darrell Rushton is currently an Assistant Professor of Theatre at Frostburg State University. He has been a Certified Teacher since 2007, a Theatrical Firearms Safety Instructor since 2010, and a SAFD member since his first workshop; the 2000 NSCW. He has taught stage combat regionally and across the country at the Rumble in the Rockies, Seattle Sockeye, Winter Wonderland Workshop and the NSCW. He has been Fight Director for numerous productions at Frostburg State, Ball State University (Assistant Professor of Movement and Acting), the Cumberland Theatre, and National Tours with Windwood Theatricals. Union Member of AEA, AFTRA and SAG, with acting credits in New York, Washington, DC, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Florida and Maryland.
CT Mike Speck
Mike Speck is an SAFD-Certified Teacher, based in Minnesota. He has taught stage combat and other classes for Saint Mary's University of MN and several other schools in the Midwest. He earned his MFA in Acting from Western Illinois University, and degrees in Arts & Cultural Management and in Project Management from St. Mary's.
While he served for nearly a decade as a Regional Rep and a GB Member Rep for the SAFD, his primary contribution to the Society has been as a founder and coordinator of two regional workshops: Carnage in the Corn and the Brawl of America.
He has also served on staff at the Winter Wonderland Workshop, the Lincoln Assassination, the University of Wyoming Stage Combat Workshop, the Cincinnati Cease & Desist, the A-Town Throwdown, Destruction in Decatur, and the National Stage Combat Workshops.
Mike Speck is an SAFD-Certified Teacher, based in Minnesota. He has taught stage combat and other classes for Saint Mary's University of MN and several other schools in the Midwest. He earned his MFA in Acting from Western Illinois University, and degrees in Arts & Cultural Management and in Project Management from St. Mary's.
While he served for nearly a decade as a Regional Rep and a GB Member Rep for the SAFD, his primary contribution to the Society has been as a founder and coordinator of two regional workshops: Carnage in the Corn and the Brawl of America.
He has also served on staff at the Winter Wonderland Workshop, the Lincoln Assassination, the University of Wyoming Stage Combat Workshop, the Cincinnati Cease & Desist, the A-Town Throwdown, Destruction in Decatur, and the National Stage Combat Workshops.
CT Kevin Inouye
Kevin Inouye is a SAFD Certified Teacher and Theatrical Firearms Instructor, SAG-AFTRA stunt performer, and a Certified Teacher with the National Michael Chekhov Association. He moved to Cleveland last year, where he serves as Assistant Professor of Movement, Acting, & Stage Combat for Case Western Reserve University and the CWRU/Cleveland Playhouse MFA Program. In addition to serving as resident fight designer for several local companies, Kevin runs prop weapons rental company Fight Designer, LLC and is a published author; In addition to articles and a book chapter, his first book, The Theatrical Firearms Handbook, is well into its second print run, and he is under contract for a new title on screen combat. Kevin has been active in both the SAFD and the International Order of the Sword & Pen since 1998, and has worked in MD, VA, DC, WA, WY, ID, OR, OH, IN, and taught stage combat and other topics around the US and in Canada.
Kevin Inouye is a SAFD Certified Teacher and Theatrical Firearms Instructor, SAG-AFTRA stunt performer, and a Certified Teacher with the National Michael Chekhov Association. He moved to Cleveland last year, where he serves as Assistant Professor of Movement, Acting, & Stage Combat for Case Western Reserve University and the CWRU/Cleveland Playhouse MFA Program. In addition to serving as resident fight designer for several local companies, Kevin runs prop weapons rental company Fight Designer, LLC and is a published author; In addition to articles and a book chapter, his first book, The Theatrical Firearms Handbook, is well into its second print run, and he is under contract for a new title on screen combat. Kevin has been active in both the SAFD and the International Order of the Sword & Pen since 1998, and has worked in MD, VA, DC, WA, WY, ID, OR, OH, IN, and taught stage combat and other topics around the US and in Canada.
2019 TA/Intern team
Nancy Cantine
Andrés Lopez
José Perez
Nell Blackwoodson
Andrés Lopez
José Perez
Nell Blackwoodson
Coordinators
Tonya Lynn
Gretchen Breslawski
Tonya and Gretchen comprise two thirds of Eclectic Mayhem, the producing entity behind the Allegheny Alley Fight.
Gretchen Breslawski
Tonya and Gretchen comprise two thirds of Eclectic Mayhem, the producing entity behind the Allegheny Alley Fight.
Staff Emeritus
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Michael Hood helped to found the Allegheny Alley Fight out of IUP, then helped move it to Pittsburgh proper. The workshop would not exist without his continued work and dedication and we wish him the best retirement!
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CT Michael Hood
Michael Hood, BA magna cum laude Arizona State University, MA/MFA University of New Orleans has worked professionally as actor, director, and fight arranger. He was a member of the faculty of the department of theatre at the University of Alaska Anchorage for 22 years, and served as department chair for 10 of those years and was associate dean of Arts and Sciences for another 6. A one-time UNO club sabre fencer, he has choreographed fights for the theatre since 1975. In addition to numerous university productions, he has done fights for the New Orleans Opera, the Alaska Repertory Theatre, the Sakhalin International Chekhov Centre and the Khabarovosk Theatre for Young Audiences, both in Russia and for Unseam'd Shakespeare in Pittsburgh. He currently resides with his wife Kitty in Indiana, Pennsylvania, where he recently retired as Dean of the IUP College of Fine Arts. Michael serves on the Board of Trustees and as past President of the National Theatre Conference and is a member of the College of Fellows of the American Theatre. He has been happily and proudly active with the SAFD since 1979.
Michael Hood, BA magna cum laude Arizona State University, MA/MFA University of New Orleans has worked professionally as actor, director, and fight arranger. He was a member of the faculty of the department of theatre at the University of Alaska Anchorage for 22 years, and served as department chair for 10 of those years and was associate dean of Arts and Sciences for another 6. A one-time UNO club sabre fencer, he has choreographed fights for the theatre since 1975. In addition to numerous university productions, he has done fights for the New Orleans Opera, the Alaska Repertory Theatre, the Sakhalin International Chekhov Centre and the Khabarovosk Theatre for Young Audiences, both in Russia and for Unseam'd Shakespeare in Pittsburgh. He currently resides with his wife Kitty in Indiana, Pennsylvania, where he recently retired as Dean of the IUP College of Fine Arts. Michael serves on the Board of Trustees and as past President of the National Theatre Conference and is a member of the College of Fellows of the American Theatre. He has been happily and proudly active with the SAFD since 1979.
