In the summer of 2021, Cara directed Scalia/Ginsburg for Chautauqua Opera and the world premiere of Our Trudy for the Ad Astra Music Festival. In the Spring of 2021, she directed the chamber opera season at Grand Rapids Opera, which included Penny, an opera film, and Second Nature. In January of 2021, Cara directed and edited Bernadette’s Cozy Book Nook; a world premiere opera film for Fort Worth Opera, composed by Joe Illick with a libretto by Mark Campbell. In 2020, Cara directed Scalia/Ginsburg for Opera Carolina and Opera Grand Rapids, and the world premieres of The Leader and Kassandra for Opera in the Heights. She also wrote, directed and produced For the Love of Friends, a music-theater play produced at The West End Theatre in NYC. Other stage directing engagements include new productions of Philip Glass' Hydrogen Jukebox at Chautauqua Opera, of which the press said, “It is hard to imagine an interpretation of this work which would be more effective.” Other opera directing highlights include new productions An American Dream at Anchorage Opera, Il Trovatore for Opera in the Heights, The Threepenny Opera for Syracuse Opera, Suor Angelica and Glory Denied at Tri-Cities Opera, and The Elixir of Love for Piedmont Opera, which was praised for its “Visually appealing, genuinely funny...expert comic timing.” As a teacher and guest director, Cara has taught at The Boston University Opera Institute and directed productions for Loyola University at New Orleans, UC San Diego, and The Hartt School of Music. Cara brings her extensive performance background and training as a dancer, actor, and singer to her work. She earned a BA in Dramatic Art and Dance from UC Berkeley, where she trained in Graham and Cunningham technique. She pursued advanced acting training with the American Conservatory Theater and Williamstown Theater Festival and completed three years of post-baccalaureate studies in vocal performance at SUNY Fredonia. Cara is a co-founder of Hup! Productions and is currently in post-production on her feature film directing debut, a feature documentary called For the Love of Friends, which will premiere on the film festival circuit in 2021-2022. Her other film directing projects include narrative short films C.I.T., and Dry, which both received long festival runs and several awards. Cara is executive producer and co-story writer of the horror comedy feature film Camp Wedding, which is distributed by Gravitas Pictures. She has also produced and directed many tribute videos, promotional videos, and behind the scenes mini-docs for the NEA Opera Honors, the NEA Jazz Masters videos, OPERA America, and the American Composers Orchestra.