Meet our Teaching Artists

Darryl Hovis is an actor, director, and designer, resident artist and Education Director at Chance Theater. He earned his MA in Theatre Production at Central Washington University and studied acting at the Professional Conservatory at UCSD under Anna Shapiro (Steppenwolf) as well as South Coast Repertory under Karen Hensel. He is the co-founder and artistic director of the Culver City Academy of Visual and Performing Arts, where he developed an intensive arts program for high school students in theatre, film, music, and art, and has gone on to develop theatre programs at other Southern California high schools, as well as Theatre International at Leysin American School in Leysin, Switzerland. He has directed a multitude of productions, some of his favorites being Therese Raquin (Chance Theater), Rent and The Threepenny Opera (Samohi Theatre), Machinal and Resurrecting Antigone (UniTheatre), and The Miracle Worker and Treehouses (AVPA). He dedicates his work to God and to his wife, Angela, and three children, Dylan, Andrew, and Julia.

Karen O’Hanlon, a Philadelphia area native, is delighted to be a resident artist at Chance Theater. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from East Stroudsburg University and has worked as a teaching artist, actress, and director throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, and Delaware. At the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey, she spent several years teaching and directing for the First Stage program, as well as their in-school residency program. Karen was the regional director for Creative Theatre, where she worked to bring after-school and summer camps to children throughout the east coast. In addition, she has worked with several outreach programs designed to help at-risk youths and teens find their voice through creative expression. In California, Karen taught Theatre at Fairmont Private School, where she produced student-driven new work. Karen is also a coach and judge for the Orange County middle school debate program.

James Michael McHale is an actor, director, Resident Artist, and Literary Manager at Chance Theater. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Performance from California State University Long Beach, completed conservatories with the Michael Chekhov Association and The Actor’s Center (NYC), and multiple intensives at Lesly Kahn & Co in Los Angeles. As a director, he recently won the Orange County Theatre Guild Award for Outstanding Direction of a Musical for American Idiot at Chance Theater, where his directing credits also include the OC Premiere of Edges, A Charlie Brown Christmas, and Fancy Nancy: Splendiferous Christmas among others. He has written and directed a number of storytelling concerts for Pacific Symphony presented at Segerstrom Concert Hall including: Beethoven: Trials to Triumph, A Dream of Tchaikovsky, The Curious Case of the Vanishing Violin, and Music from the Movies and More! James’ acting credits include Much Ado About Nothing at The Old Globe, the National Tour of APOLLO 11 for Troika Entertainment, multiple regional theater productions of the musical Once, and many productions here at the Chance. His teaching artist experience includes a variety of classes at Chance Theater, co-directing Chance’s Speak Up program for Junior High and Highs School, working as a guest director at local middle schools, and directing a number of Elementary School productions for Musical Theater Playground.

Shinshin Yuder Tsai, a dedicated Resident Artist and full-time Staff member at Chance Theater, serves as the Casting Associate. Additionally, he holds the position of Board Member-Elect for OCTG and is the Founding Artistic Director of the AAPI Sketch Comedy Troupe, No MSG Added. His notable directing credits include productions such as She Kills Monsters at Long Beach Playhouse & STAGEStheatre, The Hatmaker’s Wife, LOVE/SICK, Cowboy Vs. Samurai at Long Beach Playhouse, The Pillowman and Almost, Maine at University of California, Irvine, Metamorphoses and Mother Courage, and Her Children at Chapman University, and Kvetcher in the Wry at OC-Centric. Currently, Tsai is directing the 2024 OCTG Award Shows at the Segerstrom Center for Arts. Outside of his professional endeavors, he has lovingly curated a comprehensive list of All-You-Can-Eat restaurants in Southern California.