Staff at Play

Sarah Kay Peters grew up on goat farms in Wisconsin and Colorado, and music was always central to her family gatherings. Sarah received her degree in Theatre Acting/Directing from Mesa State College in Grand Junction, CO. While in Chicago working as a theatre actor, she taught several early childhood music programs at the Old Town School of Folk Music. She is a founding member of Song Weavers, an a capella song/chant group that has performed in Sebastapol, CA, New York City, and the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Sarah brings guitar, bodhran (an Irish frame drum), flute, and a love for world music into her parent-and-child music classes. Sarah has been teaching at Play since it opened in Fall 2005. When not teaching, she can be found playing capoeira, a Brazilian martial art. Sarah's CD, Rest My Love, lullabies from around the world, is available at Play and on iTunes.

Keith Colacicco began his musical career as a 7-year-old when he performed the song "Wild Thing" on his electric guitar for classmates and faculty at his elementary school. The experience began a lifelong fascination with musical performance and an appreciation for the role that music can play in child development. Keith grew up in Huntington, New York, in a family that fostered creative expression in the arts. As a teenager, he studied guitar with industry professionals and playing at local venues. A passion for the arts led Keith to the University of Southern California, where he studied both music and film. Keith has been teaching music classes at Play since January 2007, and can also be found making a name for himself in the local music scene of his adopted hometown of Venice, California.

Angie Engelbart is a transplant to southern California from the midwest, and has been teaching at Play since March of 2009. A native of Iowa farm country, she most recently lived in Kansas City, where she was the soprano apprentice with the Kansas City Lyric Opera. She appeared as Papagena in that company's production of Die Zauberflöte in the spring of 2008 and has a broad resume of opera and musical theater roles to her credit, including recent stints at the Hawaii Performing Arts Festival. Besides stagework, Angie has several years of experience teaching private voice and piano lessons, and maintained a studio of undergraduate voice students at the University of Kansas. She also particularly enjoys working with young children and has worked (and played!) extensively with them at music schools in the Kansas City area. Angie received her B.A. in music from the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, MN, and her masters of music from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. When she's not tackling musical endeavors, Angie can be found hiking, cooking, or flying home to Minneapolis to nurse her inner farmgirl and play in the snow with her family.

Born and raised in Canoga Park, CA, Mariko discovered her love of art and its power to inspire when she visited a museum for the first time in high school. It was then that she knew working in the arts was her dream, and she went on to receive her B.A. in Art History at CSUN while volunteering and working at the Japanese American National Museum. Later, she moved to New York to go to grad school for Art History at Pratt Institute. While in NY, Mariko worked as a Museum Educator at the Noguchi Museum in Queens, where she led public and private tours and family programs such as Art for Tots. Mariko loves working with children and her aspiration is to foster a nurturing environment where children can experience art and share empowering moments with their parents or guardians. In her free time, she loves to travel and try new foods. Some of her favorite memories and meals are from visiting Koh Phangan, Tokyo, and beautiful Big Sur.



A dancer and performer at heart, Diane first began teaching dance and art to young children while in high school and found a passion for working with kids. Diane is a recent graduate from UCLA, where she earned her BA in World Arts and Cultures/Dance and a minor in Visual and Performing Arts Education, specializing in early childhood and kindergarten. While at UCLA, Diane taught art and dance classes for families and children at local schools and facilities, including Free Arts in Monterey Park, UCLA Community School, Fowler Museum, and the Corinne Seeds Lab School. She strongly believes that art is a powerful outlet and encourages children and adults alike to explore different mediums of expression. When she’s not busy mixing paints at Play, you might spot Diane riding her scooter around the streets and beaches of LA.

Susan began reading stories at Play when they opened their doors in 2005. Originally from the East coast, she studied Art History at Boston University and worked for a historical print dealer for several years. After moving to New York to study acting at the Gately-Poole Studio, she co-founded and became co-artistic director of Six Figures Theater Company. She produced, wrote, and acted with the company for ten years before moving to Los Angeles with her family. In addition to facilitating Stories & Art at Play, Susan is the Preschool Licensing Coordinator for PLAY Music, and the mother of Owen, Lucie, and Finn.

..started Play in 2004. They are music and art enthusiasts, and parents of 9-year-old Jack--an ice hockey player, origami maker, and 4th grader (among other things).