Staff
Liz Nelsen - Founder & President
Founder and President of Sunnyside Productions. Liz has been involved in theatre since her first show at age 5. After becoming a mom, she started working behind the scenes. Cloud Nine Costumes was founded in 2012, supporting local theatre companies and schools. After seeing a need in San Leandro, Sunnyside Productions was co-founded with the encouragement of long-time friend and actor Terry Tracy. Looking into the future, she hopes Sunnyside Productions will evolve to produce shows all year.
Erin Reis - Director/Vocal Director
Erin Reis is a bay area vocalist, actress, director and private vocal instructor with 18+ years of performance experience in Musical Theatre, and over a decade of experience in teaching music. She holds her Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre Arts and Music from San Francisco State University and runs a private vocal studio in the East Bay. Over the years Erin has performed in over 50 Musical Theatre productions in the San Francisco Bay Area and has worked with a wide variety of Theatre companies, including DMT, SBMT, PCRT, Stage1, Tri-Valley Rep, The Victoria Theatre and GSTP.
Erin has received recognition for such roles as Luisa in The Fantasticks (Outstanding Actress in a Leading Role, Stage1 Theatre), Miss Dorothy in Thoroughly Modern Millie (Outstanding Actress in a Supporting Role, Stage1 Theatre), The Argus Award for Outstanding Chorus Member in a Musical (2003) and Best Solo Vocalist in Disney’s Magic Music Days (2004). In 2017, she had the pleasure of portraying Eliza Doolittle in South Bay Musical Theatre’s production of My Fair Lady and most recently Erin was in The Douglas Morrisson Theatre’s production of Hello Dolly as Irene Malloy. When she is not onstage she is most likely behind the scenes directing, vocal directing, building sets, or running sound for local youth theatre programs. In her free time she enjoys traveling, rescuing dogs, reading, eating good food, and going on adventures with her two dogs Jiminy and Walter.
Sophia Luo - Choreograper
Sophia Luo started dancing when she was four years old and spent most of her time at Ms. Wei Dance in San Leandro. She is a Sunnyside alumna and now attends UC Berkeley majoring in molecular biology where she is a member of Fei Tan Dancers and Cal Wushu. We are excited to have her choreographing her first show this year.
Alex Miranda - Improv Teacher
Alex Miranda studied under Dov Hassan at Chabot College. He has done a lot of acting, mostly improv and a short running radio show. He enjoys video editing writing and doing stand up comedy at a open mic. He hopes to continue having the arts in his life somehow. Currently he is also teaching after school at Vannoy Elementary in Castro Valley.
In Improv class your child will learn to think on their toes. They will learn to shed stage fright and be able to immerse themselves into the part they are playing and believe in themselves by developing skills to deal with any mishap a live show can bring.
Sue Ellen Nelsen - Director
Born and raised in Hawai'i, Sue Ellen started her career after falling in love with ballet. After receiving a B.A. in Dance and Theatre from Mills College, she became a dancer with Oakland Ballet. Married to Ron for nearly 6 decades, he is still her favorite set and prop designer/builder. She has choreographed over 50 musicals. She was also the founder and Artistic Director of The Lilliput Players, a touring educational theatre company. After teaching and directing in the Bay Area for community and regional theatres, she has received many awards including the Dean Goodman Award for Outstanding Direction for Sullivan and Gilbert (DLOC), Rated First in S.F. Chronicle’s Ten Best Shows of 2003 for Ragtime (DLOC) Six Shellie Awards for Ragtime including Best Direction & Production for Ragtime Nominated for two Bay Area Drama Critics Circle Awards for The Music Man (DLOC) Numerous other Outstanding Direction and Best Production Awards. For Sunnyside Productions, she directed Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid and Nunsense.