Amber Ryan – Artistic Director

Amber Ryan Developed a love for the performing arts at an early age and believes magic happens in the theater. With a Performing Arts Certificate from NYU TISCH School of the Arts, Amber has over 15 years of experience working with youth theater. She has directed over 40 productions and started multiple youth theater programs, throughout the Valley, that have each achieved high levels of success. Ambers’ work has been recognized by the Arizoni Theater Awards of Excellence for Overall Production for a youth play and Director of a youth play, two years in a row!

Amber also has extensive business and management experience. For 24 years she operated her own profitable business. Her balance of leadership and interpersonal skills lead to the company’s long-term stability and success. Prior to that, she was a General manager of a multi-million dollar franchise, overseeing 17 locations and 100+ employees.

As the Artistic Director, Amber brings the perfect blend of business management, theater experience and creative vision to Actors PLAYground Theater Company.

Rachel Cummings

“Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” -Albert Einstein

Rachel has always had a passion for the fine arts and helping kids nurture their imagination through theatre. Rachel earned her B.A. in Theatre from Grand Canyon University and continued to Liberty University where she received her M.A. in Strategic Communication. During this time, she participated in many productions, including some of her favorite roles: Yvonne in The Dinner Party, Shelby in Steel Magnolias, Gwendolen in The Importance of Being Earnest, Grace Bradley in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, and Kara in The Price of Destiny (ariZoni nominee, Best Actress). She is also signed with the Deborah Maddox Agency and can be seen in several commercials – most notably for “Parker and Sons.”

Rachel recently celebrated her twelfth wedding anniversary and has two beautiful children. She took a brief theatre hiatus to be a stay-at-home mom, but returned in 2018 to co-direct a production of James and the Giant Peach at Stage Left Productions. She found her passion and continued to direct and teach classes for Stage Left for five years. She directed seven shows in that time, earning herself two ariZoni nominations for Best Director.  Nothing brings Rachel greater joy than seeing kids have fun while gaining self-confidence and skills that will help in every part of life. Rachel is so excited to see what plans the Lord has for her as she continues to pursue her love for youth theatre at Actors PLAY ground.