Faculty

Abra Pilar Flores

Office:   T17
Phone:  654-6400, ext. 3231
Email:    aflores@vcccd.edu

Background:
Abra Flores is the resident costume designer at Ventura College. She received her Bachelor of Arts form Portland State University and a (MFA) in Costume Design from the California Institute of the Arts. She teaches the Costume and Design and History class, the Make-up Artistry class, and Fundamentals of Costuming. Abra designs the productions for both the Theatre department as well as the productions for the Opera Workshop. The collaborative process that takes place for every production is one of the most important aspects of her job. To enable students to be part of that process, whether it is learning how to make the costumes, how to design and build a show, hat making, or the design and application of the makeup for the plays, she encourages active participation and teamwork. Working with the students to create the costumes for the plays is pure enjoyment for Abra.

Besides being the resident designer at Ventura College for the past ten years, Abra has designed productions at the Rubicon Theater Company, the Burbage Theater, Los Angeles Theater Works, Access Theater, Ensemble Theater, Santa Barbara Dance Theater, and Santa Barbara Civic Light Opera. She has also worked on several video and film projects. Please feel free to contact her if you have any interest or questions about how to participate in the very exciting process of costume design.

Jay F. Varela

Office:   G131
Phone:  654-6400, ext. 3194
Email:    jvarela@vcccd.edu

Background:
Jay Varela received his Bachelor of Science in English Literature at Loyola Marymount and his Master of Arts in Theatre Arts at the Unversity of California, Los Angeles. Mr. Varela taught for six years at Pierce Community College before beginning a professional career in acting, directing, and writing in theatre, television and film. He has been an associate professor at Ventura College for the last fifteen years. Twelve years ago, he began the Student One-Act Play Festival, to give students the opportunity to write, direct, act and engage in all aspects of play production.

Judy Garey

Office:   G132
Phone:  654-6400, ext. 3236
Email:    jgarey@vcccd.edu

Background:
Judy Garey holds a Bachelors degree fromt he University of Maryland, a Master of Arts in Theatre from the University of Illinois, and a Ph.D. in Education from the University of California, Santa Barbara. In addition to acting and directing, Judy's interests focus toward using theatre in the teaching of other disciplines, and her work as a 2000-2001 Carnegie Scholar highlights a collaborative curriculum project between Theatre Appreciation, African American History, and Women in Literature. Productions Judy has directed at Ventura College include: Deathtrap, The Normal Heart, The Destiny of Me, Noises Off, The Memorandum, A Streetcar Named Desire, and the Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), to name a few. She is an active member of the Association of Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) and the American College Theatre Festival (ACTF). For the American College Theatre Festival, she serves as a regional production adjudicator and received national recognition as a director when her 1988 production of Biloxi Blues was presented at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.