Staff
617 S. Olive Street, Suite 812
Los Angeles, CA 90014
Tel: 213.488.8488 Fax: 213.488.8498
admin@theunusualsuspects.org
Sally Fairman - Executive Director
Sally has 17 years theatrical experience as actress, writer, director, and producer in NY and LA. From 1987-1997, she taught ESL at Columbia University and City University of New York (CUNY), including a theatre workshop in which immigrant students created and performed original stories. She studied acting at The Neighborhood Playhouse in NYC. In 1997, as a first-time writer, she co-won the Jury Award, short play category, HBO Comedy Arts Festival, Aspen. The award brought her to LA, where she met with people from Showtime (and others), and eventually landed a job at a clothing boutique, where she had several celebrity sightings and ultimately met the Founder of Unusual Suspects (US), actress Laura Leigh Hughes. In 1999, she started volunteering as grant writer for US, and got a job at Hitech Systems, a public safety software vendor. At Hitech, she managed customer service and inside sales for emergency centers in the USA and Mexico. Since becoming Executive Director of US in 2005, Sally has lead a 500% expansion of the organization’s budget and programs and developed multiple community, government and school partnerships with probation, state youth corrections, and local title one schools. She has created re-entry opportunities for US alumni through the organization’s summer alumni program, expanded programming to include elementary through adult-age participants, implemented sequential learning opportunities, and overseen the organization’s unique, participant-driven community building initiative, which uses audience interaction and discussion to explore solutions to intractable local issues and develop leadership opportunities for youth and adults.
sally@theunusualsuspects.org
Melissa Denton - Program Director
Melissa Denton is an actor, director and arts administrator with over 15 years of arts education experience including 5 years as Project Coordinator with The Roundabout Theatre Company in New York, managing 20 teaching artists at Bronx Theatre High School. Her duties included site liaison, curriculum design, and serving as production manager for all theatrical performances. Prior to her time with US, Melissa received a B.S. in Speech Mass Communication from SDSU and later received an Arts-in-Education certificate from Manhattan Marymount College. She has worked as a teaching artist for various arts organizations in NYC including ENACT and the Guggenheim Museum. Melissa began working with The Unusual Suspects in 2006 as an event and program coordinator. Then in early 2008 became Program Director overseeing programming implementation and development, teacher training and curriculum development. Her directing credits include Buzzworks Theatre Company's Invasion of the Minnesota Normals, produced in 2008, Only You, awarded Pick of the Week by Back Stage West, Cabin Pressure, co-written by Maile Flanagan, and the world premiere of Pete's Garage by Joe Keyes. Her TV credits include Seinfeld, Mad TV, and Sex and the City and has provided the voices for the Oh Yeah! series on Nickelodeon.
melissa@theunusualsuspects.org
Frances
Carley – Development Director
Francy has more than seven years of experience in nonprofit
fundraising and program coordination for organizations that focus on
children, the arts, and social justice issues, both as a staff member
and a volunteer. In Los Angeles, she was a fundraiser for the Natural
History Museum and for the Violence Intervention Program, which serves
children and families affected by domestic abuse. As a volunteer, she
is currently a mentor for Writegirl, a group that pairs teen girls
with writers, encouraging them to express themselves through writing.
In 2002, she received a BA in anthropology from CU-Boulder and in
2005, a master's degree in public policy from UCLA. Her background
also includes theater production, creative writing, and the cello.
Francy first worked with US as a consultant from 2004 to 2006,
completing the organization’s first three program evaluations.
francy@theunusualsuspects.org
Amy
Ellenberger - Communication & Outreach Coordinator
Amy is an actress, educator, and arts administrator. She has
performed with various theatre companies on the east and west coast
including the La Jolla Playhouse, Chautauqua Theatre Company,
Contemporary American Theatre Co. in Columbus, OH, and Six Figures
Theatre Company in NYC. Amy is a member of the improv comedy group the
Mutiny, stars in the web series Lost Angeles, and co-hosts the
internet radio show, Worst Show on the Web. She has administrative and
production experience with such noted organizations as the Barrow
Street Theater and the Los Angeles Philharmonic. She received her
B.F.A from Otterbein College and recently her M.F.A. from the
University of California San Diego. Amy is a founding member of Chalk
Repertory Theatre.
Amy@theunusualsuspects.org
Rebecca
Sigl - Program Assistant
Rebecca Sigl is an actor and company member of Theatre of NOTE in
Hollywood where last year she was lucky enough to be a part of the
award-winning play "He Asked For It" by Erik Patterson. Other LA
credits include Bianca in "Taming of the Shrew" and Salarino in
"Merchant of Venice" for Shakespeare-by-the-Sea. She holds a BFA in
Acting from Boston University. While in Boston she directed a program
with high school students in which they wrote and performed their own
one-act plays. Rebecca joins The Unusual Suspects after having spent
the past year at the Children's Hospital Los Angeles Foundation where
she worked in Operations/Donor Services and gained a priceless
understanding of what it takes to keep a non-profit organization
running. She believes wholeheartedly in the power of theatre and the
mission of The Unusual Suspects and is honored to be a part of the
administrative team.
Rebecca@theunusualsuspects.org
David
Guerra - Outreach Coordinator, Pacoima
David Guerra was born and raised in Los Angeles where he attended
Bell High School and later graduated from East LA College. He
transferred to the University of California, Santa Barbara receiving a
Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Theatre. Upon returning to LA he
resumed his acting career and also became a teaching artist, mentoring
and working with youth and adults in public schools and community
centers. His film and television credits include: Cargo, La Rosa y El
Gato, Flor de Naranja, Diagnosis X and Untold Stories of the ER. He
served as a Teaching Artist for the second half of the program at Camp
G in the Fall 2008, working as an acting coach for the youth
performance of Belly of the Beast: The Quest for the Unsolved Mystery
of the Tiger Suit.
David@theunusualsuspects.org
