The TAFK Team

Leah Arington holds her Masters Degree in Opera from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY.  Leah received her Bachelor Degrees in Vocal Performance and Music Education from Eastman furthering her performance studies at the Royal Northern College of Music In Manchester, England.  

Leah served the University of West Florida as Assistant Professor of Musical Theatre and head of the Musical Theatre BFA Program prior to moving back home to Nebraska where she has taught voice for Nebraska Wesleyan University as well as serving as a Guest Artist for Creighton University.  Leah has also moonlight as a Voice Teacher for University of Nebraska - Omaha. 

Leah has a thriving voice studio in Lincoln where she is also the founder and Artistic Director for Theatre Arts For Kids, a flourishing non-profit musical theatre company for youth.  

Leah's singing, teaching, directing and choreography credits encompass all forms of lyric theatre including musical theatre, operetta, opera, and children's theatre internationally.  Leah moonlights as a playwright with special interest in creating theatre for young artists.

Leah also has two kids, Avi (8) and Aspen (4). 

Lauren Hackenmiller is a versatile artist and is professionally active as a pianist, vocalist, and music director.  Lauren holds her Bachelor of Music Education degree from Simpson College, and most recently attained her Master of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.  Lauren has been actively involved in music and theatre from a very young age, and is a strong advocate for the importance of performing arts for youth.

Lauren enjoys working with youth, and has taken part in numerous programs promoting fine arts.  She serves as the music director for Theatre Arts for Kids and is the executive director of Basement Opera .  Lauren has experience teaching piano and voice lessons to students of all ages. Her extensive vocal background includes both choral and solo singing. She is an active chorister with Opera Omaha, and has performed in top vocal ensembles in locations around the world, including Italy and the UK. As a pianist, Lauren has played numerous recitals and concerts of a wide variety of music, including classical art song, full operas and musicals, and jazz cabarets.  Due to her knowledge and passion for vocal music, she is in demand as collaborative pianist, and has accompanied numerous recitals in the region. She has experience accompanying choral ensembles, including the award-winning Big Red Singers.

Alexis Crist is a 2020 graduate of Lincoln East High School. In May 2024, Alexis graduated with honors from Oklahoma City University where she is double majoring in Vocal Performance and Vocal Music Education and was a student of Dr. Kelly Holst. She is now certified to teach Pre-k through 12 in both Oklahoma and Nebraska. Alexis is thrilled to be returning to Theatre Arts For Kids as an Associate Director!

When Alexis was located in Oklahoma City, she interned at Canterbury Youth Voices, CYV, was a Resident Assistant for Oklahoma City University’s Housing and Residence Life, and was a staff singer at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church.  Through her internship with CYV, she was able to go to Hawaii in December 2021 for the 80th anniversary of Pearl Harbor, which CYV was asked to represent the USS Oklahoma in the celebrations. She also created and operates the OCU Choir Instagram to connect OCU students and provide an inside look into the choral life at OCU.  Alexis also greatly enjoyed creating a safe and enjoyable living environment for the students on campus and remains close with her former residents.  Alexis served as the President of Oklahoma City University’s Collegiate NAfME (National Association of Music Education) Chapter from 2022-2023. She was honored to help make a difference in her chapter by continuing to build up the activities and learning opportunities available to music educators at OCU. 

Alexis made her OCU debut as ‘Second Woman’ in the Fall 2021 OCU OPERAtions performance of ‘Dido and Aeneas’. She will be performing in the premiere performance of a modern rendition of ‘Dido and Aeneas’ titled ‘A Friend of Dolly’ in April 2022. She is set to perform as the understudy for Eliza. Alexis made her international opera debut in Summer 2023, performing in Arezzo, Italy through the program “OperArezzo” under the direction of Joe Fitzgerald (Artistic Director), Silvia Vajente (Music Director), and Giovanni Firpo (Director). She also had the honor of working with Mario Cassi and Lisa Reagan Love during her time in Arezzo. 

Alexis also has competed in the National Association of Teachers of Singing, NATS, since her freshman year of high school. In Fall 2020, she competed in the TEXOMA Regional NATS Classical competition and placed in the top 10 in her category. She was honored as a semi-finalist in the Spring 2021 TEXOMA Regional NATS Musical Theatre Competition. Recently, Alexis was selected to perform in the 2022 Southwestern American Choral Directors Association, SWACDA, in the Collegiate Honor Choir under the direction of Dr. Amanda Quist in Little Rock, Arkansas. 

Alexis has been a member of Theatre Arts For Kids, TAFK, since 2012. She studied voice with Leah until she graduated high school in 2020. Since she began in 2012, Alexis performed in many every TAFK production through 2018. Since then, she has moved into assistant directing, music directing, and teaching whenever she is home over breaks. One of her greatest joys is giving back to the program that changed her life through teaching, bonding with the students, and watching them light up with joy when participating in the activity they love. 

TAFK is excited to welcome our Guest Director for Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Addams Family.  James Kenon Mitchell was born in Rochester, NY and holds a Bachelors Degree in Music Theory from the Eastman School of Music and a Master of Music in Collaborative Piano and Opera Coaching from Westminster Choir College.

Mr. Mitchell has accompanied masterclasses for Susan Ashbaker, Deborah Birnbaum, Dalton Baldwin, Joan Dornemann, William Hobbs, Chuck Hudson, Martin Katz, Kathleen Kelly, Kathryn LaBouff, Ken Noda, Matthew Polenzani, Pierre Vallet, Roger Vignoles and Darren K. Woods.

Before pursuing his Masters in Music, Mr. Mitchell was an Adjunct Professor of Musical Theater at the University of West Florida. He has spent three summers at the CoOPERAtive Program first participating as a Pianist Fellow (2012/13) and then on faculty as Pianist Intern and Young Artist Dramatic Coach (2014). He served as Assistant Conductor for the CoOPERAtive Program's 2013 production of Don Giovanni and as Assistant Stage Director for the 2014 production of La Fille du Regiment. Mr. Mitchell was Assisant to the Music Staff at Sarasota Opera for the winter season of 2015.
Mr. Mitchell has directed Faust for Opera Modo (2013) Madama Butterfly for Opera Forza (2014) and La Voix Humaine and Iolanta at Tri-Cities Opera in Bingamton, NY (2015). The premiere of his first opera libretto, Private Exhibition, with music by John Frederick Hudson will take place in October, 2016 at King's College in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Mr. Mitchell is currently on faculty at West Virginia University as Visiting Assistant Professor and Interim Director of Opera Theatre where he has conducted Porter's Kiss Me Kate, Weill's Seven Deadly Sins, Hindemith's There and Back, and Menotti's The Medium.