About Me
I like to be called Katy and use she/her pronouns. I earned my MFA in Acting from Florida Atlantic University, and now live in the Eastern Iowa Corridor with my husband Bill and our son Jack. Before marriage, my last name was Slaven.
About My Work
I collaborate with people at all levels of experience to spark creativity, inspire confidence, cultivate empathy, build community, and engage in the greater conversations of life. My primary field of study is performance with specializations in voice, speech, and movement for the actor, and additional expertise in musical theatre, Shakespeare, dialect study, new play development, and theatre for social change. I focus my work on serving diverse learners and underrepresented groups.
In addition to teaching theatre at the University of Northern Iowa and Coe College, I work professionally as a director, coach, workshop leader, youth instructor, and actor for stage, screen, and voice over projects. I dedicate my life to the arts because I have seen how they expand our minds, connect our hearts, wake up our bodies, and heal our souls…in short, make us better people.
“Growth as an actor and as a human being are synonomous.” – Stella Adler
Acting Résumés
Theatre Résumé (8×10 PDF)
On Camera/Voice Over Résumé (8×10 PDF)
Contact me about availability for 2020.
Recently finished…
Uncle Vanya
Written by Anton Chekhov
Translated by Richard Nelson, Richard Pevear, and Larissa Volokhonsky
Directed by Adam Knight
Riverside Theatre
Iowa City, IA
September 13-October 6, 2019
Press for Uncle Vanya:
Gazette Review
Little Village Review
Press Citizen Article
Daily Iowan Article
Quigley Jeep Adventure Days spot – Mudd Advertising, 2018
Headshots
by Alisabeth Von Presley
Representative Photos
Curriculum Vitae (PDF)
Current courses I am teaching…
UNI Department of Theatre
Fall 2019: Foundations of Theatre Experience
Coe College Department of Theatre Arts
Fall 2019: Introduction to Theatre, Voice and Diction
Directing Résumé (8×10 PDF)
Contact me about availability for 2020.
Current and upcoming productions I am directing…
The Wolves
Written by Sarah DeLappe
Directed by Katy Hahn
Cornell College, Mt. Vernon, IA
Kimmel Theatre Stage
December 12 – 15, 2019
CRITIC’S PICK!
“The scary, exhilarating brightness of raw adolescence emanates from every scene of this uncannily assured first play by Sarah DeLappe.”
– The New York Times
Left quad. Right quad. Lunge. A girls indoor soccer team warms up. From the safety of their suburban stretch circle, the team navigates big questions and wages tiny battles with all the vim and vigor of a pack of adolescent warriors. A portrait of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for nine American girls who just want to score some goals.
“The Wolves is a delightful meditation on society, sex, and soccer…DeLappe’s dialogue is hilarious and idiosyncratic, moving swiftly from gross-out humor to pain […] She offers us ninety minutes in a smart, sympathetic, female world. It’s a patch of Astroturf I would gladly set foot on again.”
– The Village Voice
For more information, visit Cornell Theatre’s website.
Legally Blonde the Musical
Book by Heather Hach
Music and Lyrics by Laurence O’Keefe and Nell Benjamin
Based on the novel by Amanda Brown and the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer motion picture
Directed by Katy Hahn
City Circle Theatre Company, Coralville, IA
Coralville Center for the Performing Arts
May 1-10, 2020
Harvard’s beloved blonde takes the stage by pink storm in this fun, upbeat story of self-discovery based on the adored movie. Legally Blonde The Musical follows the transformation of Elle Woods as she tackles stereotypes and scandal in pursuit of her dreams. Action-packed and exploding with memorable songs and dynamic dances, this musical is so much fun, it should be illegal.
Tickets go on sale March 3, 2020 at noon. For more information, visit City Circle’s website.
Dialect Coaching Résumé (8×10 PDF)
I believe dialect study is the most successful when the teacher/coach is able to come from the perspective the student/actor finds most fascinating, thus I divide my approach to coaching dialects into what I call “five points of fascination,” which includes the mechanics, phonetics, words, music, and vibe. When I coach students/actors, I provide an array of tools and techniques and tailor the work to each individual’s particular strengths, tastes, and needs.
Coaching Services:
Contact me about availability and pricing. Initial consultations available free of charge. We can customize your package based on your needs and budget.
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Current and upcoming productions I am coaching…
Cabaret
Lyrics by Fred Ebb
Book by Joe Masteroff
Directed by Amy Osatinski
University of Northern Iowa
Strayer-Wood Theatre
Cedar Falls, IA
November 20-December 8, 2019
The Seafarer
Written by Conor McPherson
Directed by Jason Alberty
The Foundry Performance Laborator
Shores Event Center
Cedar Rapids, IA
Stones in His Pockets
Written by Marie Jones
Directed by Dr. Deanna Downes
Coe College
Dows Performing Arts Center
Cedar Rapids, IA
February 7-15, 2020
A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder
Music and Lyrics by Steven Lutvak
Book and Lyrics by Robert L. Freedman
Directed by Angie Toomsen
Theatre Cedar Rapids
Cedar Rapids, IA
February 7-23, 2020
You Can’t Take It With You
Directed by Jim Bray
University of Northern Iowa
Strayer-Wood Theatre
Cedar Falls, IA
March 11-29, 2020
Kinky Boots
Music and Lyrics by Cyndi Lauper
Book by Harvey Fierstein
Directed by Lisa Kelly
Theatre Cedar Rapids
Cedar Rapids. IA
May 1-24, 2020
DECEMBER 2019
Angie Toomsen
I have chosen to feature the magnificent Angie Toomsen to round out 2019. I first met Angie in 2011 when she played Lenny and I played Babe in Crimes of the Heart at Theatre Cedar Rapids. I have not yet had the privilege of acting with Angie since then (somebody please cast us in something!), but I have been directed by her in Much Ado About Nothing (Fourth Room Theatre, 2014) and Detroit (Riverside Theatre, 2018), and I saw her do brilliant work as an actor in There is a Happiness That Morning Is (Mirrorbox Theatre, 2018). I have also dialect coached several projects that Angie has directed, and more are on the way!
Angie is one of my favorite collaborators. She is a fabulous lioness. She is a fiercely compassionate, intelligent, talented leader who chooses to use her powers to raise the bar for the Corridor theatre community. Hundreds of artists in Iowa have grown under her guidance, and she continues to challenge herself and everyone around her to be better artists and better human beings. I have the utmost respect and admiration for this woman.
From the Theatre Cedar Rapids website:
“Angie is proud to be the artistic director of Theatre Cedar Rapids. She directed for TCR: THe Hunchback of Notre Dame, Shakespeare in Love, My Fair Lady, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, The Diary of Anne Frank, Grease, Billy Elliot the Musical, Next Fall, Calendar Girls, Next to Normal, Clybourne Park, A Chorus Line, For Colored Girls, and Five Woman Wearing the Same Dress. She has represented TCR at AACTFest and won Best Director at both state and regional levels. Other directing credits include: Men on Boats (summer 2019), Detroit, Circle Mirror Transformation, Dancing Lessons, The Taming, and the National New Play Network rolling world premiere of Relativity for Riverside Theatre; August: Osage County for both Urban Theater Project and the University of Northern Iowa; Cymbeline, Much Ado About Nothing, and Closer for Fourth Room Theatre; Rabbit Hole with Urban Theater Project; The Price, Lombardi, and God of Carnage for Old Creamery Theatre; and Stravinsky’s A Soldiers Tale with Orchestra Iowa. Angie studied theater at the University of Northern Iowa, Circle-in-the-Square in NYC, and has been fortunate to have studied/workshopped with great directors and acting teachers both in New York and in the Midwest.”
Angie on her approach to her work:
“To me, the process of creating theatre with others is both a mysterious adventure and a bit of a miracle. I strive for clarity, conceptual depth, articulation, immediacy and a timely resonance in the stories we tell. Whether I am working with professional or volunteer actors, my objective is the same: to create transformative experiences for both audiences and artists. I believe every actor – regardless of experience level – brings a universe of humanity to share, accessible through compassion and imagination. I try to maintain a “beginner’s mindset” and to allow the process to root in the needs of the production and inspired by the minds and hearts in the room.”