Plenary Session
Las Vegas Behind the Scenes
Sunday, June 24 • 2:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.REGISTER NOW
Presenters: Tom Lipps, Doug Carpenter, Rochelle Collins, Jamie Hosmer, Richard Oberacker, Zipporah Peddle
Introduced by: Linda J. Snyder
Location: Trinidad 1–3
The performing arts industry in Las Vegas offers a wide variety of diverse opportunities for the professional singer. Join this expert panel of performers, music directors and leaders in the Las Vegas performing community as they share with us the many ways singers are employed in the area and how diverse their fields are.
About Tom Lipps
Tom Lipps is a keyboardist, musical director, arranger, and music systems programmer based in Las Vegas. A former voice student of NATS President Linda Snyder at the University of Dayton, he graduated Summa cum Laude in 1999 with a B.M. in Music Education, specializing in Choral and Liturgical Music. He also received advanced training in Jazz and Classical Piano Performance at the Jazz Arts Studio. Since moving from Ohio to Nevada in 2005, Tom has had the opportunity to play, record, musically direct, program, and conduct for a wide variety of artists and production shows. His credits include Cirque du Soleil’s Corteo and KÁ, Mary Wilson of The Supremes, Sarah Brightman, Lady Gaga, Shania Twain, Tim McGraw, Debbie Gibson, Donnie and Marie Osmond, as well as Broadway shows such as Monty Python’s Spamalot, Disney’s The Lion King, Mamma Mia, and Phantom, the Las Vegas Spectacular. Tom lives in Las Vegas with his wife and four children, and currently serves as keyboardist and musical director for The Voice: Neon Dreams, opening soon at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.
About Doug Carpenter
Currently playing Gatsby in Baz: A Musical Mash-up at the Pallazo, Doug Carpenter played Nick in the Broadway production of Beautiful and Billy in the National Tour of Dirty Dancing. Regional credits include Cable in South Pacific (Papermill Playhouse), Joey in The Most Happy Fella (Goodspeed, Dallas Lyric), Lancelot in Camelot (Pasadena Playhouse), Curly in Oklahoma! (Penn Shakespeare Festival, FCLO), Tony in West Side Story (FCLO), Thief in See What I Wanna See (Blank), Prince in Cinderella (CLOSBC), Chris in Miss Saigon (Moonlight), Curtis in Summer of Love (MTW/Ogunquit), and Billy in Carousel (MTW). The only singer to win both the American Traditions Competition (2011) and the Lotte Lenya Competition (2013), Doug holds degrees from UNLV and UCLA, and is an alumnus of Las Vegas Academy of the Arts.
About Rochelle Collins
Rochelle Collins is honored to be participating in the 2018 NATS National Conference in Las Vegas. Hailing from Seattle, she’s been singing professionally with Cirque du Soleil for 16+ years, both Mystere and KÁ, respectively. During that time, she’s performed locally in several of Richard Oberacker’s original works: Dracula, Parenting Project, and Ace. Some favorite Northwest regional stage credits also include Le Nozze di Figaro (Susanna), Orpheus in the Underworld (Eurydice), Into the Woods (Cinderella), Oklahoma! (Laurie), Fiddler on the Roof (Tzeitel), and The Fantasticks. (Louisa).
About Jamie Hosmer
Vocalist, keyboardist, and songwriter Jamie Hosmer has been performing professionally since age 15. He began playing locally in his hometown of Springfield Massachusetts, then hit the road shortly after high school. He performed throughout the United States in various “Top 40” and “Show Band” formats and in Europe with the Dirty Dancing Concert Tour in 1988. Since 2000, Jamie has made Las Vegas his home, performing in many different shows and formats. Currently Jamie performs with Michael Cavanaugh, who played the lead role on Broadway’s Movin’ Out. He also plays keys and sings with “The Rock Pack,” a live concert featuring classic rock singers including Lou Gramm (Foreigner), Mickey Thomas (Starship), Bobby Kimball (Toto), Steve Augeri (Journey). Jamie contributes to the lead vocals, keyboards, and also songwriting and producing for Santa Fe and the Fat City Horns, a 15-piece horn band that has been performing in Las Vegas every Monday night for the last 18 years.
About Richard Oberacker
Conductor, composer, lyricist, and librettist Richard Oberacker is the musical director for Cirque du Soleil’s KÀ in Las Vegas. Prior engagements include those of conductor, arranger and contributing composer for Cirque’s world tour of Dralion, conductor of the national tours of Disney’s The Lion King, Harold Prince’s revival of Show Boat, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s symphonic concert tour Music of the Night, and Cats. Broadway credits include Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake and Miss Saigon. He has performed with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and the Bolshoi Symphony in Moscow. As a composer and lyricist, Oberacker’s original musicals include A Little Theater, In That Valley, Dracula, and The Gospel According to Fishman. With co-lyricist and co-author Robert Taylor, Oberacker has collaborated on several new musicals including Ace, originally commissioned by Clear Channel Entertainment and presented as part of the 2005 National Alliance for Musical Theater New Works Festival in New York. Oberacker and Taylor’s newest collaboration Bandstand opened the 2015 season at The Paper Mill Playhouse and premiered on Broadway in 2017. He recently composed the score for a new musical adaptation of The Great Gatsby which premiered in Tokyo.
About Zipporah Peddle
Zipporah Peddle has been a singer, voice teacher, and music director for 18 years, nine of which were in Las Vegas. She spent six years as lead vocalist in Cirque du Soleil's top selling production show, O, played Kate Kavanaugh in 50 Shades: The Parody at Bally’s, and played Lilli Vanessi/Kate in Nevada Conservatory Theater’s Kiss Me Kate. Additionally, she has performed in numerous concerts, variety shows, and recitals at venues throughout Las Vegas. She has presented musical theater workshops for the Las Vegas Performing Arts Initiative, One Big Fish Productions, and the Super Summer Theater performing arts program. Zipporah most recently appeared in the world premiere of La Sorgente, a collection of art songs for soloists and orchestra based on poetry by Pope John Paul II composed by Victor Vanacore, at the Ford Theatre in Los Angeles. She is currently project vocalist supervisor for Princess Cruises and maintains a private voice studio in Los Angeles. Originally from Newfoundland, Canada, Zipporah has a Master of Music degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
