Alumni & Staff Spotlight: Jordan Hue, James Crichton, and Russell M. Dembin

At the start of this school year three of Long Island’s biggest high school theater programs — Hauppauge High School, Calhoun High School, and South Side High School — welcomed three new teachers: Jordan Hue, James Crichton, and Russell M. Dembin, respectively.

Besides all having grown up on Long Island and having a strong love of theater, they all have one other lasting thing in common: Usdan. Jordan just finished his eighth summer teaching at Usdan and Russell spent five summers as a student. James is both an alum and a Theater teacher. Each of them attribute landing these impressive new roles in large part to Usdan.

“I think that Jordan, James, and Russell realize that were it not for this space that Usdan provides to all of its students and all of its faculty they would not be where they are today,” shared Jim Incorvaia, Usdan’s Senior Chair, Theater & Lead Producer.

Jordan, James, and Russell are replacing three legendary theater educators. Jordan is taking over for Ruthie Pincus, who not only shaped the Hauppauge program to be what it is today but also started the acclaimed Stage the Change conference and taught for many years at Usdan. In a twist of fate, Pam Seiderman, who for 23 years ran the theater program at South Side High School, would teach her successor Russell Dembin at Usdan when he was a student in the early 2000s. James also follows in the footsteps of his own high school theater teacher, Sal Salerno, taking up Sal’s post who served as the Director of Calhoun High School’s On Tour Company for almost 40 years.

Recently, Usdan’s media team sat down with Jordan, James, and Russell to speak with them individually about Usdan, teaching, and their love for their community that made them stay on Long Island into adulthood.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

James Crichton and Jordan Hue on their first day of teaching at Usdan.

Jordan Hue

Theater Faculty Member, Usdan 2017-Present

Theater Teacher, Hauppauge High School, 2024-Present

What does it mean to you to be taking on this role at Hauppauge?

I think the high school theater teacher is such a pivotal role because it’s not just that you are in class with these students. You are providing them with all the opportunities for them to be able to express themselves and connect with their passions. You are giving them a space where they can be themselves and providing them with events that can engage them. It is a really important role.

My predecessor Ruthie Pincus was so wonderful at figuring out where the intersection was between a child's need to belong somewhere and the opportunities for learning. So I have big shoes to fill.

How has Usdan prepared you for this new role?

At Usdan, because we are held to a standard of excellence both by the camp at large and by our department leader Jim Incorvaia, we are used to people expecting a good deal from us and maintaining an environment that is welcoming and fun and where kids feel like they belong. A lot of my years at Usdan felt like the runway for this role.

What makes Usdan such a special place?

It is not just that kids attend Usdan to do theater and have a good time. They are returning to a place where they feel like they belong and where the work they are doing is important. So, it is more than just being fun, it is something that is bringing them back to themselves. We have students that tell us that the only time that they feel like themselves is when they are at Usdan. That is pretty important.

What do you think Usdan’s environment provides that is so special for students that they can’t get during the school year?

Usdan is so beautiful. When you are working at Usdan, whether you are literally working outside or working in a space that is half indoor, half outdoor, you feel this connection to nature that you don’t feel anywhere else. You feel a connection to something that is bigger than yourself. Also, when you are walking from class to class you hear all the other work happening on campus. You hear the music reverberating throughout the trees. You hear Shakespeare coming out of a building, the Troupe rehearsing. You hear all of that other work going on and that attaches you to a community that is both outside of yourself and something you’re a part of. That is something that you can only get at Usdan.

Jordan holds a B.A. in Drama and English and an M.S. in Secondary Education from Hofstra University. He is also a graduate of Adelphi’s Educational Theatre program and was previously a theatre teacher at Long Beach. In addition to teaching at Usdan Summer Camp for the Arts and Hauppauge High School, he serves as the Artistic Director for the Carriage House Players, a theater company located in Centerport, NY. Jordan grew up in Lindenhurst on Long Island.

James Crichton as a student at Usdan.

James Crichton

Usdan Alum

Theater Teacher, Usdan, 2017-Present

Theater Teacher, Calhoun High School, Bellmore-Merrick District, 2024-Present

Tell me about your time at Usdan.

I started at Usdan in 2002 as a Musical Theater Major and spent six years as a Musical Theater kid. Usdan became a place where I met so many like-minded individuals who saw the world the same way I did. For me, Usdan was place that I felt really valued and all the things that I cared about were cool.

I returned after high school as a Discovery Counselor for 5 years, and then I have been back as a Theater teacher since 2017. I think in total this past summer was my 19th go-around.

What brings you back to Usdan each summer?

First and foremost, the students. Each year, in come fresh-faced fourth, fifth, and sixth graders who are just as passionate as I was, and I see myself in them. It is so fun to continue to expand their worlds to make sure they are feeling the same openness and acceptance that I felt at their age.

I am always inspired by Usdan when I’m there. I love my colleagues; I love the people I work with. I’ve known Jim [Incorvaia] since I was in fifth grade. He has given me so many opportunities. I didn’t seek out being a Theater teacher at Usdan. I was acting and doing plays. Jim called me, and he said, ‘I think you would be a great Director and I would love for you to come to Usdan and try it out.’ And I said, ‘I’ve never done that, I can’t.’ And he said, ‘No, I think you can.’ And I came and he let me do my thing. The way that he respected me and guided me, he really let me figure out my own path. My returning to Usdan in 2017, I think single-handedly is one of the major reasons for how I found myself here at Calhoun in that it gave me so many opportunities to work in an educational setting.

What do you love about teaching at Usdan?

What I love about Usdan and teaching there is that it is education but fully disguised, facilitated, and presented as fun.

Can you share more about your new role?

The district I work for is called the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District and our main district program is called the On Tour Company. Students zoned for any of the high schools in the Bellmore-Merrick district can audition to come to Calhoun to take drama as a class during the school day. Because it is a district-wide program there are a significant number of after school programs. There are four shows a year. In addition to that, we offer performances and concerts for the community.

Sal Salerno had been running the company since the mid-80s. He served in this capacity for almost 40 years. I was one of his students; I graduated from Calhoun in 2009. He built a curriculum that is on par with a college curriculum.

What does this role at Calhoun mean to you?

I never thought I would be here in this capacity, by any means. For me, it means a lot, because I know the responsibility that this position holds. I know the expectations of me, and I don’t take them lightly because I know how much it means to the community at large and to the alumni.

It is almost like you’re saying this role is actually your dream job, you just didn’t realize it until quite recently.

I learned I had two major loves and, by putting aside acting for a moment, by no means am I squashing a dream, I am just allowing myself to step into a dream that I didn’t even realize was a possibility.

This job is hard. Teachers have a lot to do, but every day I wake up and get ready to go to Usdan and Calhoun, I am excited to do so. My brain gets to be used in a way in both locations that I feel like I’m getting to use all of myself.

James Crichton holds degrees from Hofstra University and Adelphi University and is a proud member of Actors' Equity Association. He is the host and creator of the podcast Actors: On Process, and previously served as an Adjunct Associate Professor of Musical Theater at LIU Post & Marymount Manhattan College. As an actor he most recently appeared in the New York premiere of “Unknown Soldier” at Playwrights Horizons, directed by Trip Cullman. He currently teaches at Usdan Summer Camp for the Arts and is the Director of the On Tour Company at Calhoun High School. James grew up in Merrick on Long Island.

Russell Dembin with his future best man, Aaron Stanton, during rehearsal for the 1998 junior production of “Carousel” directed by Carolyn Popadin. Aaron played Mr. Snow, and Russell played Jigger.

Russell Dembin

Usdan Alum

Theater Teacher, South Side High School, Rockville Centre, 2024-Present

When did you go to Usdan? What was your experience like?

I attended Usdan from 1998-2002. In 1998, I was in the Jr. Musical Theater group. I was working with Carolyn Popadin; we did ‘Carousel.’

I met my oldest and best friends at Usdan that summer and the following summer. In fact, Mr. Snow from that production of ‘Carousel’ and I were each other’s best man at each of our weddings. I’m still in touch with everyone. They are some of my favorite people on this planet.

One of the most rewarding experiences I had at Usdan was my fourth year when I was in ‘Guys and Dolls’ directed by Pam Seiderman. After that summer, I would wonder periodically, where is Pam. Is she still doing theater? Is she still on Long Island? Is she still in the education world? I didn’t know the answers to all of those questions was yes, until a couple of colleagues gave me the tip that she was retiring from South Side High School in Rockville Centre. This was really special because I had left the K-12 world and to be honest I didn’t expect to come back. In Summer 2023, it clicked that it was time for me to come back to K-12. I did a bunch of subbing on Long Island and then there was this crop of openings for theater teachers, which is so rare. I didn’t imagine this was going to happen. This was my dream coming out of high school and college.

What made you decide to pursue a career in theater education? Did Usdan have a part in that?

People in educational theater have been role models for me. People in theater tend to be among the most thoughtful and inclusive people, among the most compassionate. I think arts teachers in general tend to build this incredible strong bond with their students. I looked up to people like Pam Seiderman and my high school drama teacher, Sal Salerno.

Usdan is very much a big part of who I am as a human being and definitely informs who I am as a theater educator.

How has Usdan informed who you are as an educator?

During my time at Usdan, there was a really good balance between the fun of making theater and being serious about it. Carolyn [Popadin] and Pam [Seiderman] did such a great job of making the experience both enjoyable and artistically fulfilling. We took it seriously, but it was also a lot of fun. I’m very mindful that the experience needs to be fulfilling to the students, and it also needs to fit into the bigger pictures of contributing to them as individuals who are going to go about the world who may or may not be involved in theater after high school. It needs to fit in with their lives as human beings who are growing, learning, and participating in a rigorous program at school.

South Side High School is the only public high school in Nassau County to offer the courses in International Baccalaureate (IB) theater. The IB program is very rigorous and there are many classes that the students have to take as part of the program. The balance that was modeled so well at Usdan informs what I do in considering what students need.

Russell M. Dembin holds a Ph.D. in Performance as Public Practice from the University of Texas at Austin and an M.A. in Theater History and Criticism from Brooklyn College. From 2015 to 2020 he was on the editing staff of American Theatre magazine and AmericanTheatre.org, most of that time in the role of managing editor. In addition he has served as associate director of the Bellmore-Merrick Central High School District’s On Tour drama program in Merrick, New York, and he has also taught courses at SUNY New Paltz and UT Austin. Russell grew up in North Bellmore on Long Island.