Through The Glass

Rachel Hanauer (Artistic Director, She/Her)

Stage director, soprano, music educator & yogi. As a director of opera and theater, she has directed Menotti's The Telephone, Barber's A Hand of Bridge, Ligeti’s Mysteries of the Macabre, Vaughan-Williams Riders to the Sea, The Hatmaker’s Wife, Alice in Wonderland, Ned Rorem’s Three Sisters Who Are Not Sisters, Poulenc’s La voix humaine, The Gift of the Magi and more. Her choices of theater projects stem from a deep interest in exposing lesser known works, retelling magical tales in a way that holds a mirror to society, and lifting up Jewish stories. She is the recipient of Best Direction and Production of the Year Motif RI Awards for her production of The Diary of Anne Frank. She directed Hans Krasa's Brundibar and Lori Laitman’s I’ve Never Seen Another Butterfly in a Holocaust Memorial production as professor of the CCRI Opera Workshop. She has worked with groups like Contemporary Theater Company, Berlin Opera Academy, The Arctic Playhouse, Providence College Opera & Musical Theater Workshop, and Newport Children’s Theater. As a performer, Rachel is a champion of new works, whether it be opera or musical theater and frequently premieres new classical art songs. She teaches voice and music at URI, Providence College, Roger Williams University & CCRI.

Ricci Mann (Treasurer, She/Her)

Ricci has always wanted to work in the theatrical arts since she was three years old. At seven, the acting bug took its first bite in a local community theater in Kansas. In high school, Ricci went to a magnet school for acting near Atlanta, GA where she learned acting and directing. By the end of her high school career, she had performed in over 30 productions and still craved more. In college, she went to Otterbein University specializing in directing, stage management, costuming, and play writing. She then transferred to Dean College majoring in musical theater. Ricci continues to perform throughout the state of Rhode Island and Massachusetts. Some previous roles include Wall in The Hatmaker’s Wife, Paige in Belles, Rona In Kennedy’s Children, and Susy in Wait Until Dark.

Kurt Nelson (Secretary, He/Him)

Kurt first became aware of Through the Glass after working with its director, Rachel, as well as other members on previous projects in 2022. He has worked on and off in theater for over 10 years; both onstage and behind the scenes. He also works as a Voiceover Artist, providing voices for commercials and audiobooks. When not working in the theatre, Kurt works as a Direct Support Professional for people with special needs, which he has been doing for the past 10 years.

Olivia M. Sahlin (Artistic Consultant, She/Her)

Olivia is an artist from Massachusetts, living and working in Rhode Island. She has stage managed over a thousand theatrical performances and directed a handful of shows as well. She also enjoys helping to create sets, whether envisioning, building, painting, decorating, or taking field trips to the wonderlands of thrift and consignment shops. As an actor, she has portrayed unhappy brides, unhappy wives, unhappy mothers, unhappy daughters, unhappy girlfriends, unhappy zombies, and also a small menagerie of animals including wolves, half-a-camel, and a loquacious labradoodle. Oh, and one time, she was an anthropomorphic baked good. In December 2022, she performed the roles of Virgin Mary (unhappy daughter) and Green Ball (unhappy ornament) in the modest holiday extravaganza The Naughty List. Olivia is excited to join the Through The Glass board as Artistic Consultant.

Tylar Jahumpa (Associate Artistic Director, He/Him/His)

At a young age, Tylar knew that he wanted a job to wake up to. Years later, he got involved in the arts in his junior year of high school and graduated from Dean College with a BA in Theatre. There, he got the opportunity to learn the ways of a theatre technician backstage but also sharpen his tools as an actor onstage. He’s dabbled into sound design, lighting design and even work in the director’s chair from time to time. Currently, he works as a theatre technician for Brown University’s Theatre Arts and Performance Studies (TAPS) program. Tylar enjoys working with other artists and pushing the envelope on having safe, collaborative and memorable theatre experiences at Through the Glass Theatre Ensemble.

Graham Stokes (Board Member)

Sarah Hargraves (Board Member)