Zach Theater Names New Leader of Advanced Training Program and New North Campus Manager

Zach Theater has revealed two new leaders for its advanced training programs. Charles Swan has been named Associate Director of Advanced Training to oversee musical theater and acting advanced training programs across both the Downtown and North campuses, while Julia Chereson has been appointed Zach North Manager, where she will also direct the Acting Conservatory.

“These appointments mark an exciting new chapter for our advanced training programs,” said Nat Miller, Director of Youth Programming at Zach Theater. “Charles and Julia bring the right combination of artistic vision, educational expertise and commitment to student growth. Their leadership will help us expand opportunities for young artists and ensure our students are fully prepared for the next step in their journey.”

Swan, a Houston native, earned his BFA in musical theater with an emphasis in dance from Sam Houston State University. He launched a career performing across the country before turning to education, including eight years leading the musical theater program at Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts and most recently teaching at the Dreyfoos School of the Arts in Florida. His students have gone on to appear on Broadway in Hamilton, The Prom, Kimberly Akimbo, The Lion King and more, as well as earn national recognition from the YoungArts Foundation and the August Wilson Monologue Competition.

In addition to his classroom work, Swan has directed and choreographed Off-Broadway and regionally, including The Young Man from Atlanta, BEAU: A New Musical and Grey Gardens starring Betty Buckley. He has performed at Theatre Under the Stars, The Alley Theatre and Houston Grand Opera, and trained at the Lincoln Center Directors Lab and Broadway Theatre Project.

“This role combines my passions for artistry and education, and I am thrilled to join the Zach community,” Swan said. “My goal is to help students become confident, market-ready performers while also equipping them with transferable skills that will serve them in any field.”

Chereson holds an MFA in acting from Pennsylvania State University and a BA in theatre from the University of Mount Union. She has trained at Chicago’s Black Box Acting Studio, Victory Gardens Theatre and the Second City Conservatory. Most recently, she served as theatre director at Somerset Community College in Kentucky, where she revitalized a program that had been dormant for two years following the pandemic.

Her directing credits include Hand to God at Southwestern University, Native Gardens at SkyDome Stage Company, Steel Magnolias and Waiting for the Host at Somerset Community College, and assistant director for Sweeney Todd at Flashback Theater Co.

“As an extension of what Zach Theater is known for, I want Zach North to be a place where students feel supported to take risks and grow as artists,” said Chereson. “By making training accessible and inclusive, we can create an environment that helps young people discover their voice and build confidence on and off the stage.”

Since 2013, Zach’s Pre-Professional Company has enrolled more than 600 students, with alumni appearing in Broadway productions such as The Notebook, & Juliet, Real Women Have Curves and A Light in the Piazza. In 2018, Zach expanded advanced training with the launch of its Zach North Cedar Park campus and Zach Academy, further solidifying its reputation as one of the strongest youth training pipelines in the country.