Camille Playhouse STAFF
BRANDON BINDER • Artistic Director
Brandon was born and raised in Brownsville, Texas where he attended Pace Early College High School. There he began his musical training under the direction of Will Armour, who trained him for the TMEA All-State auditions where Brandon received chairs in the Men’s Choir for two years. This is also when Brandon began his adventure on the Camille stage as he auditioned for the upcoming production of Bye, Bye, Birdie under the direction of Ben Agresti where he was casted as part of the ensemble.
Brandon continued to take part in shows at Camille as he began his studies at the University of Brownsville, now the University of Rio Grande Valley, where he studied Music Education and Vocal Performance. He joined the University’s Master Chorale and the Bravo Opera Company where he continued to perform on many stages. While studying, he auditioned for many other programs and was accepted to the Spotlight on Opera program in San Marcos, Texas as well as the Accademia Vocale Lorenzo Malfatti in Lucca, Italy. Brandon has performed at the Harlingen Community Theater as Quasimodo in their production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame as well as in the production of The Wizard of Oz as The Cowardly Lion. He has also had some performance opportunities as a singer and featured vocalist at the TEXAS Outdoor Musical in Canyon, Texas as well as being a company actor at the Texas Renaissance Festival in Todd Mission, Texas.
At this time, Brandon also began to take on a larger role at the Camille as Choreographer for multiple shows (9 to 5, Big Fish, White Christmas) and Vocal Director for others (Next to Normal, Tarzan, Beauty and the Beast) as well as assisting backstage and even assisting with the set construction. He has also been a part of the Summerstock series that was held here at the theater and was seen on the stage in Ghost, Newsies as Joseph Pulitzer, and was the choreographer for the production of Mulan. Brandon also stepped in as a director for the recent productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Jekyll and Hyde, Lucky Stiff as well as the Summer Workshop these past two years. Brandon has also been invited to be a choreographer, vocal director and consultant throughout many school districts.
PAULINA BINDER • Office Manager
Paulina Binder is a Brownsville native who has spent most of her life in the Rio Grande Valley. While attending university she worked in South Padre Island at the former Schlitterbahn Beach Waterpark leading their Admissions and Accounting team. After graduating with a B.A. in History Education from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley in 2016, she moved to San Antonio for two years and joined the financial team at Six Flags Fiesta Texas. She did move back to Brownsville with her partner, Robert, in 2019 to be closer to their families and since then has worked a variety of jobs, including a bartender, a prep cook, and all sorts of positions at a movie theatre. Paulina has always enjoyed working places that bring joy and happiness to anyone who visits, even if it wasn’t your typical entertainment role.
Paulina has been visiting the Camille Playhouse with her family since she was in elementary as both a patron and as a volunteer. Her first time on the Camille stage was in the Summer Youth Workshop production of Seussical the Musical Jr. when she was in high school. And that was it until she was cast as part of the ensemble (and Fastrada u/s) for the Season 59 opener, PIPPIN. She was also in the orchestra for Sweeney Todd, a variety of her personal costume pieces have been onstage, and she has helped backstage for various shows throughout the years alongside her siblings.
Paulina was thrilled to have been selected for the office manager position here at the Camille Playhouse and is looking forward to making each season even better than the last!