Dana Alvarez
Dana Alvarez is a certified teacher and local musical theater performer. She is the Director of Theatre Education at the new Belle Theatre in Cape Coral. Most recently, she was the Theatre Director of Melody Lane Performing Arts Center for 5 years. She also began the Oasis Arts program where she taught at Oasis Charter Elementary.
A storied theater veteran, Alvarez is intimately familiar with both sides of the footlights. As a performer, she appears as Jack’s mom in Belle Theatre’s production of Into the Woods. Her prior stage credits include the roles of Olive in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors, Gertrude in Seussical, 
Marian in Music Man, Emma in Jekyll and Hyde and Nellie in South Pacific, all at Cultural Park Theater, where she will appear next in the part of Olive Ostrovski in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee.
On the other side of the boards, she has directed more than 35 major musicals, including three Disney pilot productions. Her most recent directorial projects include Cats, Newsies the Musical, School of Rock, The 25th Annual 
Putnam County Spelling Bee and Peter Pan.
Dana holds a B.A. in Elementary Education from FGCU as well as certification in Drama, Grades 6-12. At the Junior Theater Festival in 2020 with MLPAC, Dana was honored with a Freddie G Teaching Fellowship in New York City, an award that is only conferred on six teachers each year out of hundreds of applicants worldwide. Go here to hear more about this on WGCU.
As an elementary teacher, 
she was named the Chamber of Commerce Teacher of the Year in 2013 and Charter School Lighthouse Teacher of the Year in 2014. In High School, she represented Southwest Florida in the International Shakespeare Competition, performing at Lincoln Center, NYC.
One of her most exciting life experiences was being on (and winning) Wheel of Fortune in 2020!
February 20, 2022; revised August 19, 2022.
RELATED POSTS.
About the Author
Tom Hall is both an amateur artist and aspiring novelist who writes art quest thrillers. He is in the final stages of completing his debut novel titled "Art Detective," a story that fictionalizes the discovery of the fabled billion-dollar Impressionist collection of Parisian art dealer Josse Bernheim-Jeune, thought by many to have perished during World War II when the collection's hiding place, Castle de Rastignac in southern France, was destroyed by the Wehrmacht in reprisal for attacks made by members of the Resistance operating in the area. A former tax attorney, Tom holds a bachelor's degree as well as both a juris doctorate and masters of laws in taxation from the University of Florida. Tom lives in Estero, Florida with his fiancee, Connie, and their four cats.