Director of the Theatre Conservatory

Guinea Bennett Price is a proud graduate of The Booker T. Washington High School of the Performing and Visual Arts (Class of 1989) and holds a BFA in Theatre from Howard University in Washington D.C. She is a co-founder and Artistic director of Soul Rep Theatre Company where her acting and directing credits include The Freedmans, Her Stories, Spunk, In the Blood, Once on this Island and Dreamgirls.

Ms. Bennett Price has had the pleasure of directing Most Valuable Player and Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry at the Dallas Children’s Theater and the honor of portraying Calpurnia in To Kill a Mockingbird, Mrs. Slocum in Best Christmas Pageant Ever and the title role in Senora Tortuga. She works continuously as a teaching artist with various organizations including The Dallas Public Library, Dallas Theater Center, West Dallas Community Centers, Big Thought, Junior Players and the Bermuda Union of Teachers.

Her transition as a full-time educator at the Wilmer Hutchins Performing Arts High School in 2004 led to five successful years at Greiner Exploratory Arts Academy and four years of innovative arts integration at George Washington Carver Creative Arts Learning Center. She welcomes the opportunity to continue the standard of excellence in arts education by joining her esteemed Alma Mater as a staff member in the Theatre Department.

gubennett@dallasisd.org | 972-925-1291 | Room 180

Assistant Director of Theatre Conservatory / Plays and Playwrites / Acting Problems / Comedy / Senior Directing

Lisa has been fortunate to spend her years working alongside some of the best Regional Theatre directors, actors, and educators in the nation. She has been actively involved in the DFW Theatre Community for over twenty five years. After graduating with an extended major in theatre, she served as directing intern at Theatre Three under Jac Alder and Larry O'Dwyer. Lisa was part of a small group of theatre artists that worked through the 1990s and early 2000s to re-establish the fractured theatre community in the Dallas area. For many years, she was Artistic Director of small, but highly revered theatres, a freelance director and choreographer, receiving numerous Directing Awards.

Lisa began teaching in 2000, and has been an integral component of the Tony Award winning and National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award winning Dallas Theatre Center's Education Department ever since. In 2006, she received the Bayard H. Friedman Award for Theatre Education.

Within Dallas ISD, Lilsa is a Distinguished Teacher and A Master Mentor Teacher. She has spent her teaching career working to break down foundational acting methodologies into diagestible pieces for beginning actors, emerging artists, and budding collegiates and professionals. "I want to ignite a fire for theatre in my students that will burn brightly throughout their lives; whether they pursue a career in the arts or become life-long patrons..."

lcotie@dallasisd.org | 972-925-1268 | Room 246

Assistant Director of Theatre Conservatory / Mime & Movement / Stage Combat / Integration of Abilities / Portfolio / Mime Troupe

Charlton has worn many hats during his tenure here at Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. He is so excited to be leading the Mime Troupe and teaching movement for the Theatre Conservatory.  He is a Stage Combat instructor having reached the level of Advanced Actor Combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors. 

Charlton is also a light designer, creating works around the metroplex including for Soul Rep Theater, Rotunda Theater, and African American Repertory Theater to name a few. He is the resident light designer for Avant Chamber Ballet.

cgavitt@dallasisd.org | 972-925-1270 | Room 272

Film Instructor

toholloway@dallasisd.org | | Room 231

Costume Construction I-III / Intro Technical Theatre - Costumes / Beginning Design / Intermediate Design  Advanced Design I-II

renjones@dallasisd.org | 972-925-1273 | Room 174-176

Musical Theatre, Acting, Stage Management, Pedagogy

Jeffery Miller who is hailing all the way from Virginia, is a graduate of Christopher Newport University with a Bachelor's degree in Theatre Studies and Directing and Dramatic Literature and a minor in Dance from Christopher Newport University and a Masters in Entertainment Business from Full Sail University. Currently he is pursuing his Masters of Fine Arts in Directing and Theatre Pedagogy from the University of Idaho. Some of Jeffery’s professional credits include being a performer/dancer at Walt Disney World, Performer with Virginia Musical Theatre, Theatre Director at French Woods Festival of the Arts, end a variety of professional and regional companies in NYC, Florida, and Charlotte. Jeffery comes from Newport News Public Schools, in Newport News, Virgina, where he was an IB theatre teacher and theatre director. Jeffery in his free time is a competitive/social ballroom dancer and loves to play video games Jeffery lives with his wife( Who also teaches with Dallas ISD) and 1 cat, Mirage, and is so excited to join the team and work with everyone!

jefmiller@dallasisd.org | 972-925-1248 | Room 274

Technical Theatre / Classical Acting

Maxim Overton grew up in Dallas and is a proud DISD alum, graduating from W.T. White High School before joining the University of Texas at Austin in the Liberal Arts Honors program. While studying the classics, writing, and working on his English degree, Maxim also founded Foot in the Door theatre, where he was Technical Director, while also directing and acting in shows during his four years at UT. Through connections with the Shakespeare at Winedale program, Maxim went on to join Mary Baldwin College in association with the American Shakespeare Center, working on his two Master’s degrees: a Master of Letters and a Master of Fine Arts. 

After graduating, Maxim left academia and joined with Beyond: Lighting, Sound, and Video to produce live events around the metroplex. A few years later, he joined the Pocket Sandwich Theatre as a lighting and scenic technician, as well as an actor and box office manager. At this time he also worked freelance, designing lights and sets for Pegasus Theatre, Rover Dramawerks, the Margo Jones theatre, and more. He also taught part-time for ACE Academy and St. Mark’s School of Texas. Later, he joined Theatre Three full time as their Production Manager and Master Electrician, before he returned to academia at Uplift Atlas Middle School, and finally here at Booker T. Washington HSPVA.

Maxim has a beautiful wife, Sydney Daly Overton, and a young son, Archer Overton. In his free time, he likes to play video games and go for walks with his big lovable dog Frankie.

moverton@dallasisd.org | 972-925-1296 | Room 076

Stage Design

pvilar@dallasisd.org | 972-925-1298 | Room