HUDSON VALLEY IMPROV HOUSE TEAM

Tina (Polacco) Chambers is a Kingston native with 2 adult children.  She has worked in the advertising/marketing business for over 26 years,  and has recorded many radio commercials for several local businesses,  so she may sound familiar.  When she exercises she likes to take boxing classes, and when she cooks she rarely uses a recipe so nothing she makes can be replicated easily! Tina is also a squirrel nut collecting anything with a squirrel on it, much to her dog's annoyance.

Patrick is from New Paltz, NY. He started acting, improving, and LARPing in high school. He studied Human Services and Creative Writing in college and graduated with a BA from SUNY New Paltz. Patrick runs on the four cylinders of work, karate, improv, and D&D. He does social work-y things for a living and is an instructor at the New Paltz Karate Academy, where he has studied for over 20 years. He discovered HVI one night, and after one of their shows decided to jump in!

Philip performs and directs on the HVI House Team. He began his acting training at LaGuardia School of the Arts.  He has done community theater, television commercials, sung at Carnegie Hall and was recurring on PBS's Live From Off Center. He created  The Truth About Splatter which ran in the Hudson Valley and was a member of Uncle Cannibal.  A licensed social worker, Philip provides direct counseling and  systems work in health care settings. He relies on his husband and 2 daughters for sanity.

 Lynda received a B.F.A. in theatre from Ithaca College and an M.S. from SUNY New Paltz. She played classical piano, plays folk guitar and most recently, the ukulele. Lynda was a preschool teacher, a floral designer, an acting teacher, and a special ed teacher. She co-produced two short play festivals. Several of her short plays have been produced locally and she has acted in many area productions. Lynda is happily married and has two talented adult children and one amazing grandchild. 

James began his acting career in Kingston, NY as Santa Claus in the JFK Elementary School 4th Grade Holiday Play and then immediately retired from acting.  36 years later he "un-retired" and joined HVI’s training program in 2017.  James has sung in Carnegie Hall with Ulster Choral Society and St. Cecila Chorus & has acted in several scripted plays in Hudson Valley STICKY  and in HVI's The Truth About Splatter. James lives in Saugerties, NY with his amazing wife Jen.

Cyndi Stew is a Hudson Valley kind of gal who loves having adventures. She hiked a thousand miles of the Appalachian Trail, taught English in South Korea for a year, studied art and philosophy in Tibet, and worked as a maid in hostels across New Zealand before returning to NY to become a grown up, kind of. Cyndi Stew is a project manager and has a master’s degree in mental health counseling from SUNY New Paltz. She appreciates being  part of Hudson Valley Improv which gives her a creative outlet

Michael is original company member of HVI. Acting and directing credits include Half Moon Theatre’s 10-Minute Play Festival, 20-Year Gala, and A Christmas Carol, All My Sons/VOICE Theatre, Hudson Valley STICKY & new works for Howl Writer's Group. He is a company member of The Voice Theatre. While studying design and acting, he began performing at the Summer Repertory Theatre “After Show Cabarets”.  He was also a member of The Baker’s Dozen Improv Troupe , directed by Samantha Jones.

Raffaela minored in Theatre and Communication and then obtained a Master’s of Science in Communication Disorders from SUNY New Paltz.  She's a Speech/Language Pathologist in Cornwall, NY.  She's performed in multiple live improv shows and HVI's production, The Truth About Splatter. She's worked in film and appeared as herself in a recent episode of  The Doctors on CBS. She now uses it improv in therapy with her students and clients and while raising her actress daughter Victoria.