Rachael Fornarotto teaches Acting I. She has been performing major roles since her teens, including as Jo March in a musical adaptation of Little Women, Masha in Platonov at Interlochen Arts Academy, Camille Sanes in Sonnets for an Old Century with the Interlochen Arts Academy troupe at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, as the governess in an experimental, two-actor stage version of the Henry James gothic horror novel The Turn of the Screw, and as a Sister James in Hope College’s production of the searing drama Doubt. In addition to her theatrical endeavors, her vocal studies at Idaho State University allowed her to travel with the Chamber Choir throughout the UK on a choir tour in 2016.

At Hope, Rachael worked to combine her love of arts and ministry into a musical arts and ministry composite major. Rachael also participated in the Emmaus Scholars program during her time at Hope. At the University of Idaho, where Rachael received her MFA, she served on the Graduate Student Advisory Board and Graduate and Professional Student Association. 

In grad school and the years since, she has taken courses and workshops on theatre topics including dance for musical theatre, singer’s diction, dramaturgy, physical comedy, Stanislavsky technique, foundations of stage intimacy, and teaching creative movement for children. She began teaching at Hope in 2024. She also works with Magic Carpet Theatre, a Christian drama ministry based near Detroit. 

AREAS OF Expertise

• Acting
• Movement
• Voice 

EDUCATION

• MFA, theatre, University of Idaho, 2023
• B.A., theatre, musical arts & ministry, Hope College, 2020

AWARDS

• Distinguished Achievement Award for dramaturgy script adaptation, Macbeth: Alba Gu Brath, Kennedy Center American Theatre Festival, 2022

Selected Performance Credits

• Mary, in Surrender, Magic Carpet Theatre, 2024
• Assistant director, Mr. Burns: A Post Electric Play, 2023
• Dramaturg, Macbeth: Alba Gu Brath, University of Idaho, 2022
• Her Sister, one-act play by Kendra Phillips, commissioned and directed by Jennifer Hughes, 2022

Outside the College

Rachael composes music and continues to explore worship and movement — how we, as temples of the Holy Spirit, give glory to God through movement. She loves to spend time outside and is continually learning how to have childlike faith.