The University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music’s (CCM) Musical Theatre program is a conservatory program that works to provide individualized training centered on the skillsets of our students, with a focus on all things music and theatre. The program follows the “multi hyphenated artist” model (creator–performer–producer–etc.) and advocates for multiple artistic outlets whenever possible. 

With an emphasis on imagination, analysis and technical skill, the program provides the craft to master a popular art form, to capture in sound and movement those universal emotions that have made the musical America’s most visible contribution to world theatre. Established in 1968, the Musical Theatre program at CCM was the first of its kind in the country. It was used as a model by the National Association of Schools of Music and Theatre in establishing guidelines for accrediting musical theatre programs.

Diane Lala has taught in the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM) Musical Theatre Department, where she has trained numerous Broadway, TV and film performers for the last 34 years. She serves as Professor of Musical Theatre and teaches all levels of musical theatre jazz dance, directs and choreographs shows, and teaches Pilates and choreography classes. An award-winning director and choreographer, she is often engaged by regional theatres to direct and choreograph shows. She also teaches masterclasses and has taught nationally in New York City, Atlanta, Florida, New Orleans and Cincinnati. Internationally, she has taught in Munich, Germany; Kharkiv, Ukraine; and Beijing, China. Lala has also been seen onstage in a variety of shows, including A Chorus Line, Gypsy, Chicago, and Into the Woods.

She directed and choreographed CCM’s musical theatre students and guest soloists in the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra’s Patriotic Broadway special in 2003 and Take Me to the River in 2006, both of which were televised on PBS.

Some of her favorite works at CCM are Something Rotten, Singin’ in the Rain, Jesus Christ Superstar and Carousel. A certified Pilates instructor since 2001 who studied with Romana Kryzanowska, Lala is also an associate member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.

Ian Axness is a conductor and collaborative pianist for lyric theatre, concert music and experimental performance. As a music director he has led productions at Juilliard, Mannes, Oberlin, NYU Abu Dhabi and the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM), where he is currently on faculty. Selected credits include Sweeney Todd (Barrow Street), A Little Night Music (Opera in the Ozarks), I Married an Angel (New York City Center Encores!), Kurt Weill’s Zaubernacht (Knickerbocker Chamber Orchestra), Pericles (Rinde Eckert/Two River Theater), Candide (Carnegie Hall), Carousel (NY Philharmonic), and the New York City premiere of Beardo by Dave Malloy and Jason Craig (Pipeline Theatre, Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Music). Axness is a proud graduate of CCM and Oberlin College.