Empowering Families.
Elevating Performers.

Karen Coleman, AEA, co-Founder of Act One Lab and Consulting, is thrilled to share her love of dance, music, and entertainment coaching with families. With more than 20 years of teaching experience, Karen has performed on a national tour, worked in casting, and contributed both on and off Broadway, where she discovered her true passion: working with children.

On Broadway, Karen worked for the companies of Miss Saigon, Tommy, The King and I, and the original company of The Lion King. Collaborating with award winning directors and choreographers continues to inspire her work with young performers today.

After returning to San Diego, Karen opened a successful vocal coaching studio and is currently on staff at West Coast Dance Complex, teaching tap and musical theatre. Her training includes San Diego Dance Centre, Steps on Broadway, and Broadway Dance Center in New York.

She has had the privilege of working alongside Christopher Gattelli, a Tony Award winning choreographer and friend, Tony Stevens, and Stephen Terrell to name a few. Karen is passionate about helping each performer become the best version of themselves in every audition and professional opportunity.

Her proudest accomplishment is her wonderful marriage to her husband, Michael, and raising three smart, funny, and brave young women who make her proud every day.

Patricia Haskel Freund, founder and director of Songbird Voice Studio, brings a wealth of professional theatrical experience and a lifelong passion for singing and performance to her work as a voice teacher and coach. Some of her earliest memories are of singing and dancing for anyone who would listen, and that love of music has remained the guiding force throughout her life.

Trish devoted more than 25 years to the study of voice, theater, and dance. She attended Northwestern University's School of Speech before graduating from the Acting Program at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, where she studied at the renowned Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute. She continued to study with many respected teachers, including Dee Marquit, Deborah Lapidus, Colin Romoff, Larry Moss, Craig Carnelia, and Joanna Gleason, among many other distinguished artists.

Her vocal studies also took her to Italy, where she studied opera at the Scuola di Musica di Fiesole and continued her training in Florence with noted opera teachers Franco Pagliazzi and Sarina Raussa.

Patricia has performed in theaters in New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, as well as on stages throughout the United States. Among her most memorable roles were Rhetta Cupp in the national touring production of Pump Boys and Dinettes and Hodel and Tzeitel in touring productions of Fiddler on the Roof. She has also performed in cabaret venues in New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, Rome, and Florence, and spent two summers on the Cabaret Stage at the renowned Williamstown Theatre Festival.

Patricia began teaching voice at the Bernstein School of Musical Theater in Bologna, Italy, where she discovered her passion for mentoring young performers. She went on to coach students privately in Florence, Regensburg, and Hamburg during her years abroad.

Today, Patricia is the proud owner of Songbird Voice Studio in North County San Diego, where she works with singers and performers of all ages to develop strong technique, authentic artistry, and a joyful connection to their voice.

Come and sing!