Who We Are

Meet the StrawHat Producers

KIRSTI CARNAHAN (Executive Producer) a member of Actors Equity Association since 1983, originated the role of Marta in Kiss of the Spider Woman, playing in Toronto, London, and on Broadway with the legendary Chita Rivera and later with Vanessa Williams. Other Broadway/National Tour credits: King David, Baby, The Three Musketeers, Les Miserables, Cats, and Annie.

Regional appearances include the Williamstown Theatre Festival, Goodspeed Opera, Connecticut Repertory Theatre, Arvada Center for the Arts, St. Louis Repertory Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, and New Harmony Theatre. Other credits:  Ouizer in Steel Magnolias, Marge  in The Bridges of Madison County, Rose in Gypsy, Donna in Mamma Mia!, Daisy in Driving Miss Daisy, Dolly Levi in Hello, Dolly!, Vera Charles in Mame; she received the New Hampshire Professional Theatre Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her portrayal of Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd at the Weathervane Repertory Theatre, with additional roles in the WVT alternating rep season of Sister Aloysius in Doubt, Carmen Bernstein in Curtains, Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit, the Female Authority Figure in Hairspray, and Hold Me-Touch Me in The Producers. In 1986 she received a Helen Hayes Award nomination for her portrayal of Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors, while in 1998 she received the Upper Bucks County Critic's Honorable Mention for Best Actress for her work in Painting Churches. 

Ms. Carnahan has been the Managing Director of StrawHat Theatrical Services, LLC, the organization which produces the StrawHat Auditions, since 1996. She teaches annual Audition Technique Master Classes at Pace University, and has led classes at Emerson, NYU, Coastal Carolina University, Syracuse University, and others. To request Ms. Carnahan as a Guest Lecturer or Master Teacher, please contact us at [email protected].

Liz Bealko (Associate Producer) has been a part of the StrawHat family since she auditioned for SH in 2013. She soon moved from auditioner to intern and now associate producer. She is originally a farm girl from Oklahoma and is a director, choreographer, and performer in New York. In 2021, Liz directed the premieres of two new plays in NYC, Dead Babies at the Chain Theatre One Act Festival, and The Art of Peaking Too Soon at NY Summerfest. She finds her passion in directing and choreographing musicals. Her favorite acting credits include, The Drowsy Chaperone (Janet VanDerGraff), Xanadu (Melpomene), and The Last Five Years (Cathy). Liz values giving back to the theatre community and in 2017 she started a theatre program in her hometown to create more opportunities for students in the performing arts. Her production of Zombie Prom in 2019, and most recently Oklahoma, 2021, are still being raved about. In 2018 that program received the R.I.S.E. America Grant through NBC and the Educational Theatre Foundation, and received additional donations from Jeremy Hayes and Kristin Chenoweth. At StrawHat, Liz’s goals are for everyone to have the best experience possible, Theatre companies and Auditioners alike. This is a weekend for everyone to show their many talents and create lasting relationships along the way. You can always find Liz seeing and creating theatre around the city, experiencing what New York has to offer, and drinking way too much coffee.

JAY SPADONE's extensive theatrical background ranges from General Manager for the Montclair TheatreFest on productions such as The Rink, Dames At Sea, and To Gillian on Her 37th Birthday, to five seasons as a musical director at Williamstown Theatre Festival. As a musician and composer, his credits range from Off-Broadway to regional productions, jazz and pop studio work (keyboards and electric bass), and he has composed original scores for world premier productions working with such luminaries as Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller. His vocal arrangements have been sung by the Colgate 13, on national television, and by high school a'cappella groups in New York and Connecticut. During his stint as a talent manager, Jay's clients included Emmy and Academy Award nominees as well as several popular daytime and prime time television personalities. In addition, he served for many years as associate editor of Theatrical Index, working with the legendary Price Berkley. Mr. Spadone has been the Associate Producer of the StrawHat Auditions since 1994.

We look forward to seeing you.