Allison Orr Block | Jill Leberknight | Amy Minor | Julie Slim | Amy York
Allison Block’s career in theatre began at the age of 15, when she studied acting at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia. She continued her performance training at the University of Georgia, and then, California State University, Northridge. Allison spent the next decade immersed in the theatre, voice-over, television and film industry in Los Angeles. After falling in love with a native Texan, Allison was blessed to settle in Austin, Texas. Here, she has earned a Masters of Fine Arts degree in Drama & Theatre for Youth, with an emphasis in playwriting, from The University of Texas. At this time in her theatre career, Allison is focusing on her writing and sharing her theatre experience. Plays that have been produced include: “Normal” (Austin Script Works’ Out of Ink Festival), “The Nerve of Some People” (The Regroup Theatre, New York City), “Packing Memories” (TheatreASAP, San Antonio), and "Waiting for Mother" (New Works Festival, Austin).
A professional actor for more than 20 years, and an equally enthusiastic theater teacher, Jill has taught and performed with some of the top organizations on the east coast, and more recently, in Central Texas. Founder and Director of the Actors Lab of Austin, a private studio that has coached and guided high school students into some of the top pre-professional training programs in the country. Jill currently stars as Buttermilk Biscuit in the locally produced Emmy Award winning Biscuit Brothers PBS TV series. In addition to playing Buttermilk on camera, she plays many roles behind the scenes on the show, including assistant to the director and marketing and development coordinator. Leberknight is a two-time Austin Critic Table Awards nominee and an active participant in the Austin Theater community. She's also a full-time Real Estate Agent, community volunteer, and full time mom to son, Sullivan.
Amy Minor has been acting and teaching since she was 15 years old. She has worked for a professional touring company in Germany, renowned children's theaters in Kansas City (Coterie Theater) and Chicago (Lifeline Theater) and summer stock programs like Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, where she was theater teacher/director by day and actor, learning a different show every two weeks, by night. Amy holds a B.F.A. in Theater from Stephens College. For the last seven summers she has been one of the main teachers/directors at the Georgetown Palace Theater Summer Workshops, as well as free-lance teaching numerous theater workshops along the way. Amy teaches because it fuels her acting, and acts because it fuels her teaching. Amy is married to a very gifted actor and fight choreographer and has two little boys.
Julie Slim has a Masters in Linguistics from the University of Michigan and has taught ESL as well as college English classes before returning to her real passion: the stage. Since finding her way to Austin fifteen years ago, she has performed with the Paramount, State and other local theatre companies and was nominated for a B. Iden Payne award. She has also sung in many musical genres ranging from musical theatre in her cabaret act Cabarageous, jazz with Austin Jazz Workshop, to most recently, Middle Eastern music with Bereket, a UT Middle Eastern ensemble, as well as her own band, Layalina. She has taught music to elementary students in Round Rock ISD for 10 years and has a level III certification in Kodaly Methodology. When not singing her heart out in one of Austin’s venues, she can be found cheering her two wonderful artist daughters.
Amy York has been involved in theater and improvisation for over 15 years, ten of which as a theatre educator. After graduating from Southwest Texas State University with a BFA in Theatre, Amy taught for several years in the public school system before establishing Round Rock Players an improv-based acting programs for younger children. Now in her third year, Amy is expanding her work through Petite Players, for children ages three to five. Amy believes using improvisation encourages student engagement by putting them in the driver's seat and allowing them to make their own choices on stage. Giving the students control in the classroom allows them to be themselves, take risks, and develop self-advocacy skills, which lead to improved self-confidence in any situation.
