Talita Archibald
Talita Archibald is an experienced childhood educator with over 11 years teaching performance and drama to school aged children. Talita trained in Music Therapy at the University of Buenos Aires and Colorado State University.

She moved to Wellington 6 years ago where she lives with her husband and two young children.

She brings the flamboyance and enthusiasm for music, dance and drama from her home in Argentina. Her special interest is in developing the best of each child through singing, acting or dancing.
Trudy Dalziel - Drama Tutor
Trudy comes from a "theatrical" family and has been performing since the age of 5. On return from overseas, Trudy taught drama to children in Christchurch, before moving to Wellington where she has been actively involved in many productions, both on and offstage, mainly with Stagecraft Theatre for the past 10 years.

Trudy currently works in early childhood education where she uses her flair for performance to encourage imagination and confidence - it's never too young to start! She has a passion for all aspects of theatre and perfomrance and loves the opportunity Musical Stars gives her to share this passion with the musical stars children.

Trudy mixes the magic of imagination and story telling with technical skills to help give children the confidence to perform. Trudy also enjoys writing scripts for children, some of which have been performed by Musical Stars children over the past couple of years.
Debbie Nielsen-Groves - Dance Tutor
Debbie has had many years of experience in Dance.

She is a Distinguished Graduate of the New Zealand School of Dance.

She received scholarships to study contemporary and jazz styles in London and New York, followed by years of being a professional dancer travelling the world, working in many different styles of dance on stage and television.

She has taught and choreographed in England, Germany and Spain working with beginners to professionals.

Back in NZ, Debbie has been teaching in educational schools as an Itinerant Dance Specialist; teaching dance as part of the Arts in the New Zealand Curriculum, and in private dance schools.

Debbie loves being part of Musical Stars, helping the children to extend themselves and to feel confident in movement and performance.
Karen Beggs - Singing and Drama Tutor

 
Jo Hodgson - Singing Tutor
Music completely fills Jo's busy life. She is involved in a range of musical activities in the community, but is most often found singing with pre-schoolers in her 'Moving 2 the Beat' music classes.

Originally from Nelson, Jo holds Performance Certificates in Voice and Oboe and sings with several high profile choirs. In 2004 she toured NZ in the company of 'Evita', has appeared in several Wellington Musical Theatre productions like 'Phantasmic', 'Les Miserables', 'Beauty and the Beast' and performed in Marshall Stack's 'Smokey Joes Cafe' in 2006.

As vocal coach for Musical Stars, Jo enjoys inspiring and building confidence in the next generation of musical theatre performers.
Anna Sheffield - Dance Tutor

Anna was born in New Zealand but grew up on the East Coast of the United States. She went to a performing arts magnet high school in Atlanta, Georgia where she studied musical theatre and classical choral singing.

She moved to Orlando, Florida to perform at Universal Studios and Walt Disney World for a few years. She lucked into touring with a couple of Disney shows in the 1990s. Her next stop was New York City. There she landed a couple of great children's theatre tours that showed her a bit more of the United States.

In 2003 her parents made it clear that she should get a university degree; so she relocated to Wellington and started on her Bachelor of Music from Massey University. As part of this programme, Anna had the amazing opportunity to do a student exchange at the University of California, Los Angeles for a whole year. She completed her degree in 2007.

Some of her favourite traditions include performing in the Sevens Opening Ceremony (2005, 2007/8, and 2009) and the World of WearableArt Awards show (2005, 2007, and 2008, so far)!

She loves working in the Discovery Centres and StoryPlace at Te Papa and is looking forward to an amazing first year with Musical Stars.


Phone: 04-972-3352e-mail: talita@musicalstars.co.nz