About Us

InterAct's staff members are respected professional actors who are experienced educators. This unique mix of skills enhances the impact of our programs and products. As one administrator said, "The artist's wealth of experience as a teacher and as a professional actor really made the presentation exceptional... Teachers left wanting more."


Lenore Blank Kelner,
Director of InterAct Story Theatre
Lenore Blank Kelner is an actress, theatre director, playwright, teaching artist, educator, and author. Since 1981, Lenore has shown thousands of teachers in the U.S. and abroad how to make teaching fun, exciting and effective. She is a frequent presenter for the John F. Kennedy Center's Arts in Education Program. Her book, The Creative Classroom, was published by Heinemann. Lenore's second book and videotape, Creative Drama in the Special Education Classroom, was published by Therapy Skill Builders. Recently, Lenore co-authored her third book with Dr. Rosalind M. Flynn, entitled, A Dramatic Approach to Reading Comprehension, published by Heinemann, 2006.

Lenore Blank Kelner is the recipient of the 2004 Creative Drama Award from the American Alliance for Theatre and Education for outstanding work in the field of Creative Drama.

Lenore Blank Kelner is a teacher's teacher in the best sense of the word. Her workshops motivate, inform, excite and involve teachers in a hand-on, interactive way that does not fail to inscribe her philosophy. She believes that every child's learning needs can and must be reached; that the arts provide tools that every teacher can use to address those needs; and that, in reaching into and developing his or her own creativity through the arts, every teacher can become an effective advocate for the arts and education.
- Regina Gil, Executive Director of the Great Neck Arts Center

Lenore Kelner is a real pro! Her work with teachers demonstrates her thorough understanding of both creative drama/theater and the needs of young people. After working with Ms. Kelner, teachers are empowered to work with students in ways that capture students' imagination and stimulate their learning.
- Lynne Silverstein, Senior Program Consultant, The Kennedy Center