Faculty Gallery

Daniel’s acting credits include the New York Shakespeare Festival, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Shakespeare Festival of Dallas, North Carolina Shakespeare Festival, George Street Playhouse, 12 Miles West Theatre, Kitchen Dog Theatre, Warehouse Theatre, Wordbridge Playwright’s Lab, and South Carolina Repertory Company. He has taught and directed at North Carolina Central University, Coastal Carolina University, Wofford College, Dallas Theatre Center, Playwrights’ Theatre of New Jersey, and Perry Mansfield Arts Conservatory, as well as in prisons, group homes, and homeless shelters in the most challenged areas of New Jersey. As a fight director, he has choreographed stage violence for productions at theaters and universities throughout the southeast, including The University of South Carolina and The University of Georgia. In 2011, he was recognized as a U. S. Presidential Scholars Distinguished Teacher in the Arts.

A Governor's School founding faculty member, Daniel’s students have been selected as YoungArts finalists, become Presidential Scholars in the Arts, and earned scholarships to every major theater school in America. They have appeared as leads in regional theaters, on Broadway, in network and cable television series, and in major motion pictures. They have also been nominated for and won some of the most prestigious awards in the entertainment industry, including the Tony Award.

Dan holds a B.A. in History from North Carolina State University, where he was a four-time Atlantic Coast Conference Scholar-Athlete, and is also a graduate of Southern Methodist University’s MFA Acting Program. He has been certified by Fight Director’s Canada and completed the Yoga Alliance teacher certification program. An active endurance athlete, he has competed in scores of triathlons, cycling events, and running events, including the Boston Marathon. Daniel has been a proud member of Actor’s Equity since 1995.

"The most gratifying thing about working at the Governor's School is watching our students achieve their dreams. They come in hungry, talented, and inexperienced and graduate with a clearer awareness of themselves, art, and the world. From here, they go on to amazing experiences that many of them couldn't even conceive of before they arrived. They email, phone, return as guests—it's stunning to watch it continuously unfold."- Daniel Murray

Ben Weston is a Certified Associate Drumming Instructor with Tam Tam Mandingue Djembe Academy (TTM) Winston-Salem, a branch of the TTM international school of West African drumming. Locally, he runs classes, conducts workshops and presentations, and performs. At the Governor's School, he plays for West African and Modern dance classes.

Over the last 25 years, Alisa Caldwell has created and perfected an amazing blend of African dance, contemporary movements, and creative choreography, performed to the captivating power of drum rhythms. This technique exercises both mind and body, and also feeds the spirit. She has a strong personal and professional desire to share the beauty, culture, and passion of West African dance. In 1988, Alisa began her primary dance training at the Imani School of Dance in Greenville, South Carolina, where she eventually began instructing and choreographing creative and traditional African dance routines. She performed in the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. She also trained with Chris Thompson and the Cultural Ensemble and Nubian Roots Cultural Center under the direction of Gerri Chisolm in Charlotte, North Carolina. Having the desire to perfect her art, Alisa continued her training with The Larocque Bey School of Dance Theatre under the direction of Master Dancer/Drummer Baba Jerome Hunter in New York, New York. Alisa has performed in numerous cultural and international festivals and has served as instructor, choreographer, lecturer, and judge at various dance conferences, workshops, and competitions. Through her extensive experience in African, Creative, and Liturgical dance, she is now a much sought-after teacher, performer, and choreographer.

Candace Dickinson, soprano, received her Master of Music degree in Voice Performance from the University of Colorado in Boulder, CO where she studied with Julie Simson. She also holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Voice performance from Converse College where she studied with Dr. Beverly Hay. Candace made her professional debut as Hermione in Strauss’ Die Ägyptische Helena at the Santa Fe Opera in 2001 where she later returned as a guest artist in Gilbert and Sullivan’s Pirates of Penzance. She has worked with such conductors and as Alan Gilbert and Martin Isepp. Her opera roles include Nannetta in Verdi’s Falstaff, Barbarina in Marriage of Figaro, Micaëla in Bizet’s Carmen, and Lia in L’Enfant Prodigue by Debussy. Her concert work includes being the soprano soloist for Faure’s Requiem, Bruckner’s Te Deum, and John Rutter’s The Mass of the Children. Regionally, she has performed with the Opera Company of North Carolina, the Greater Anderson Musical Arts Consortium, The Greenville Chorale, The Foothills Philharmonic, The Greenville Pops Orchestra, The Augusta Choral Society, and GLOW. In addition to being a singer and a singing teacher, Candace is also a voice for the actor instructor and she studied with Patsy Rodenburg at Michael Howard Studios in New York City where she completed all levels of Shakespeare’s Heightened Language workshops taught by Rodenburg. She frequently performs in recital and in collaboration with other musicians. She serves on the faculty of the Drama Department at the South Carolina Governor’s School for Arts and Humanities in Greenville, SC.

Rhonda Allen-Murray received her early training in Auckland, New Zealand, and upon her arrival in the United States continued her dance training at the Dallas Ballet Academy and Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. She studied with master teachers such as Flemming and Vivi Flindt of the Royal Danish Ballet, Dennis Marshall, Lily Weiss, Milton Myers, Max Stone and Anna Donovan. In 1990 she joined Ballet Dallas as a soloist, and later danced as a principal for both the New Jersey Ballet and Carolina Ballet in Raleigh, North Carolina. Throughout her career she has worked with many world-class artists such as Christopher Wheeldon, Elaine Kudo, Johann Renvall, Keith Roberts, and Lynne Taylor-Corbett. Her numerous leading roles include such ballets as Don Quixote, Romeo and Juliet, Coppelia, Giselle, La Bayadere, Flower Festival de Gennaro, La Fille Mal Gardee, Robert North’s Death and the Maiden and Entre Dos Aguas , Balanchine’s Serenade, Valse Fantasie and Who Cares?,  Johann Renvall’s Tango, and Christopher Wheeldon’s Movement Poem. She has also performed in a gala performance for Prince Charles and Princess Diana with the Royal New Zealand Ballet, appeared in The Nutcracker on NBC’s Today Show and proudly danced with other artists in a Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids benefit. In addition, she originated one of the leading roles in Elaine Kudo’s Hush Little Baby, which appeared on PBS’s Great Performances. Ms. Allen-Murray is currently pursuing a degree as a Physical Therapist's Assistant.
 

Jayce is a professional actor, director, playwright, and designer from the Seattle area of Washington state. He came to South Carolina in 1990 and earned his MFA from USC in 1994. While at USC, Jayce studied voice and speech with Ralph Zito. While in Columbia, Jayce was a staff member of TRUSTUS Theatre where he served as actor, director, assistant artistic director, and technical director. He has served as a resident vocal coach at The University of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee, and for the South Carolina Shakespeare Company. Jayce is also a founding member of The We’re Not Your Mother's Players comedy improvisation group and is currently the Co-Artistic Director of the Distracted Globe Theatre Company.