Jann Van Dyke

“Jann’s an Off-Broadway production” according to her parents.  Her mother was playing harp for various Broadway musical shows while her father was writing symphonies and teaching music at the College of New Jersey.

​

Jann grew up in Pennington, New Jersey, where she studied ballet, theater, and learned to play the viola. During her teen years, she rebelled against her classically trained parents by learning to play the guitar.  She majored in Elementary Education at Lebanon Valley College and received her Master of Education from The University of Southern Mississippi.

 

After marrying Buzz Van Dyke, Jann began the exciting nomadic life of an Army wife. For 30 years she taught school by day, and performed leading roles in community and regional theaters at night, all the while moving to a different state, or country, every three years!  Although she performed in over 100 live theatre productions, her favorite roles were Adelaide in Guys and Dolls, the (very wicked) stepmother in Cinderella, Golde in Fiddler on The Roof and Penelope Pennywise in Urintown.

​

Since retiring from teaching, Jann has been able to devote her full time to an acting career. Thanks to her extensive training with Andi Matheny Acting Studios, she was able to seamlessly transition from live theatre to on-screen work. She has had roles in film, TV, commercials, and music videos.   A few of her favorite roles are Rosie in Hallmark’s Holiday Ever After, Kate in Killer Grannies and Teresa in The Box in the Attic.  She especially enjoys working with independent and college directors and production companies.

​

Best of all, Jann often gets to perform with her husband and best friend of over 54 years. (And he thought he was just going to play golf in retirement!)