TN SHAKESPEARE COMPANY - Key Persons
Allison White (Costume Designer/Wardrobe for Henry VI, Ada and the Engine, Romeo and Juliet, and Macbeth) Design credits: University of Florida: Pippin, Between Riverside and Crazy, The Day is Long to End; Cape Fear Regional Theatre: Caroline, Or Change; Sarasota Youth Opera: The Secret World of Og; Theatre Raleigh: Smokey Joe's Café, The Wolf, All My Sons, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Carousel. Allison also has worked at several regional opera companies as a member of their costume production staffs. Allison is glad to be joining Tennessee Shakespeare Company for this exciting season.
Ann Perry Wallace (Ensemble in the Southern Literary Salon) TSC: To Kill A Mockingbird, Romeo and Juliet. Other theatre: No Niggers, No Jews, No Dogs; Blues for an Alabama Sky; From the Mississippi Delta; The Death of the Last Black Man in the Entire World; and Women in Shakespeare. Film: 100 Lives, The Romance of Loneliness, The Department of Signs and Magical Intervention. Ann is an actor and writer in Memphis and a company member of the improv group Playback Memphis. Ann is a writer of fiction, plays, children's stories, and she has just started the torture of writing her first novel. Live Rich Die Poor is Ann's first one-person play and is based on the life of Zora Neale Hurston, the famed folklorist and Harlem Renaissance writer. Education: University of Tennessee - Chattanooga (Theatre degree).
Job Titles:
- Memphis Area Philanthropist
Audrey L. Taylor (1917-2012) was a long-time resident of Shelby County. Her family is now the owner of Wildwood Farms in Germantown. She was a member and President of the Board of Directors of the Crippled Children's Hospital, and a member of the Junior League of Memphis and the Little Garden Club. Tennessee Shakespeare Company's fifth season is dedicated to Audrey for her great friendship, unswerving loyalty, and heart-felt generosity.
Austin Michael Russell (Ensemble in Henry VI; Ensemble/Teaching-Artist in Romeo and Juliet) Unto These Hills: Unto These Hills, Living Dead in Denmark, Birds Aren't Real (A Seagull Adaptation). His other credits include Playhouse on the Square's Matilda: the Musical, and The Rev Theatre Co. as an Actor/Teaching-Artist. Austin is an actor and director trained at the University of Memphis' Department of Theatre and Dance. He thanks Stephanie and Dan for this opportunity and his family for their unconditional love.
, the generous host of TSC's inaugural outdoor performance component and mother of three, is a long-time resident of Shelby County and an active member of St. George's Episcopal Church. Mrs. Apperson served on the Board of Directors of the Samaritan Counseling Center and the Junior League of Memphis. She is the namesake of TSC's "Barbara B. Apperson Angel Fund," whose mission is to bring as many Mid-South children to Shakespeare as possible.
Barbara McFall (Bookkeeper) brings over 35 years of experience in leadership and operations to TSC, with a history of working in the accounting industry. Barbara has held positions across the financial spectrum from accounting and human resources manager to co-owner of an accounting software resale and support company.
Ben Kahre (Fight and Violence Choreographer for Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth) is a fight director, actor, and stage combat teacher recognized by Dueling Arts International. As a fight director, he has choreographed staged violence in numerous productions for both stage and screen, most recently coordinating the stunt work in Holmes and Watson at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre. He was certified in 2018 as a Dueling Arts International Stage Combat Teacher and teaches workshops throughout the United States. Ben is a proud graduate of the American Conservatory Theater and the University of Evansville. He is so excited to be back telling stories after what we've all been through.
Job Titles:
- Artist / Production Assistant
Blake Hamilton Currie (Actor-Teaching Artist/Production Assistant) TSC: As You Like It, Macbeth, The Comedy of Errors, Henry V. Other Credits: Struggle for Freedom, The Parchman Hour, Servant of Two Masters, Secret in the Wings, Measure for Measure, and Anon(ymous). Blake is a graduate of the University of Memphis' Department of Theatre & Dance program with a B.F.A. in Performance.
Blanche Deaderick (Founding Member), a Memphis and Shelby County teacher for 39 years, was named Teacher of the Year for Germantown High School, Shelby County Schools, and the Germantown Community. She was twice named Tennessee Council for Social Studies Outstanding Teacher, and in 2007 was named to the Tennessee Teacher Hall of Fame. A graduate of Leadership Memphis, she is a trained mediator for civil and commercial disputes, has been a member of the Facing History and Ourselves National Teacher Leadership Team, has served on the boards of Bridge Builders, the Memphis Junior League, and Planned Parenthood, and is currently a member of the Foster Care Review Board at Juvenile Court and the Tennessee Women's Forum. She holds a B.A. from Rhodes College and an M.A. in History from The University of Memphis. Mrs. Deaderick is Associate Director of the Tennessee Governor's School for International Studies.
Burkett Horrigan (Season Production Stage Manager) Credits: Assistant Stage Manager for Ohio Light Opera's summer season, including Production Stage Manager for Pirates of Penzance; Production Stage Manager for Bergen Performing Arts Center productions of Les Miserables, West Side Story, and Beauty and the Beast; Production Assistant for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids events. Burkett recently received her B.F.A. in Theatre from Montclair State University, with concentrations in Stage Management and Lighting Design.
Job Titles:
- Director of Education
- Director of Education and Actor / Teaching - Artist
Cara McHugh Geissler (Director of Education and Actor/Teaching-Artist) has served as both TSC's Education Manager and a Journeyman Artist-Manager. Cara played Biondello in TSC's Taming of the Shrew and Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet. While in Louisville, Cara taught children's theatre at Encore Youth Theatre and at Adelante Hispanic Achievers. She also taught for both the University of Louisville and Spalding University. Cara served on the Board for The Bard's Town Theatre in Louisville, where she performed in Misses Strata, Reasons to Be Pretty, and Just Like Life. Education: Murray State University (B.A. in Theatre and Political Science); University of Louisville (M.F.A. in Theatre Performance).
Job Titles:
- Founder
- Ex - Officio
- Founder and the Nancy R. Copp Producing Artistic Director
- Founder, Nancy R. Copp Producing Artistic Director
Dan McCleary* (TSC Founder and Nancy R. Copp Producing Artistic Director; Director of Ada and the Engine), a native of Memphis, has created, directed, and acted in half of TSC's productions, including the inaugural production of As You Like It, also Julius Caesar, Waiting for Godot, The Glass Menagerie, The Taming of the Shrew, Richard III, To Kill a Mockingbird, Much Ado About Nothing, Ernest Hemingway in Key West, Flannery O'Connor's Georgia Gothic, All's Well That Ends Well, Twelfth Night, Hamlet, The Tempest, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night's Dream, the all-female Julius Caesar, Othello, The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged), Themes from a Midsummer Night with IRIS Orchestra, and last season's Classical Creations in Quarantine and Shakespeare's Election of Coriolanus. As Associate Artistic Director/Communications Director at Shakespeare & Company in the Berkshires (1993-2005), Dan acted in and directed over 30 productions, including his acclaimed production of The Servant of Two Masters, his own adaptation of Anaïs Nin's Henry and June, as well as Vita & Virginia (Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf), My Own Stranger (Anne Sexton), and The Fiery Rain (Edith Wharton/Henry James/Morton Fullerton). Other regional directing credits of Shakespeare and new work: Seattle Shakespeare, Orlando Shakespeare, and Georgia Shakespeare. He has played over 120 roles on stage, including Coriolanus, Richard III, Macbeth, Falstaff, Marc Antony, Caliban, Brutus, Petruchio, Bottom, Master Ford, Stephano, Antipholus and Dromio of Ephesus, Cassio, Bertram, Demetrius, Silvius, Herman Melville, Porfiry, Charles Dickens, The Gentleman Caller, Tom Wingfield, and Bertha Bumiller in the Greater Tuna series. Dan is a published poet, and the creator/director/actor of plays Speak What We Feel: Shakespeare's Radical Response to a Radical Time, Unto the Breach, Quintessence: Shakespeare in Performance, and Classical Creations in Quarantine. Memphis Magazine named him among the "Who's Who in Memphis" for five years (including 2020). Dan presented his TEDx Talk "Shakespeare in Kindergarten, or Let Fall Rome" in Memphis last year, and the Germantown Arts Alliance honored him with its 2009 Distinguished Arts and Humanities Medal for Performing Arts. He holds a B.A. in Advertising and Journalism from Temple University, has served on the Boards of Herman Melville's Arrowhead and the City of Germantown's Telecommunications Commission, and he is a Little League baseball and football coach. Dan is the proud dad of 11-year-old twin boys, Sullivan and Collins.
Dan McCleary (Ex-officio) is the founder and Nancy R. Copp Producing Artistic Director of Tennessee Shakespeare Company. He also is its Director of Development, Marketing, and Communications. He currently is overseeing the construction renovation of TSC's new home. He has acted in over 150 professional plays, mostly Shakespeare's, and he has directed nearly 30 productions in the last 15 years at TSC and throughout the United States. He is a playwright, published poet, theatre teacher, guest lecturer, and fight choreographer. Dan graduated from Temple University with B.A. in Marketing and Journalism.
Diane Dombrowski, Ph.D. (Co-Curator of Halloween Salon) has been teaching high school and college English for over 25 years. Her area of interest is American literature, with a focus on Poe, Fitzgerald, Douglass, Hawthorne, Alexie, Kidd, and Hemingway. She also teaches creative writing, writes poetry, and contributes to several blogs. Diane's dissertation concentrated on the shared experiences of former high school students taking a creative writing course.
Job Titles:
- Deputy Chief Information Security Officer for AutoZone
Douglas Baldwin is currently Deputy Chief Information Security Officer for AutoZone. He is also on the Advisory Board for Christian Brothers University, Dept. of Computer Science & Mathematics. Mr. Baldwin is a veteran who served in the 75 th Ranger Regiment, U.S. Army. As part of the Three Rangers Foundation, he mentors veterans transitioning out of the military on an as-needed basis.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director
- Ex - Officio
Frank Bluestein (Executive Director) is the 1996-1997 Disney National Performing Arts Teacher of the Year and the 1994 Tennessee Teacher of the Year. USA Today named Mr. Bluestein as one of the top forty teachers in the United States in 1998. Until his retirement in 2013, he served as chair of the Germantown High School Fine Arts Department; as artistic director of the school's theatre, the Poplar Pike Playhouse; and as executive producer for Germantown Community Television, the school's nationally acclaimed television production center. Graduates from his program include Saturday Night Live star Chris Parnell; film, television, and stage actress Missi Pyle; Emmy-winning casting director Scott Genkinger (Desperate Housewives & NYPD Blue); NPR reporter Debbie Elliott; TSC's Dan McCleary; and Blue Man Group actor Wes Day. Mr. Bluestein is a past winner of the American Theatre Association's John C. Barner Award, and has served as an arts advisory panelist for numerous organizations, including the National Endowment for the Arts. In addition to his work at TSC, he currently serves as executive director of the Tennessee Arts Academy, a leading professional development institute for arts teachers located in Nashville on the Belmont University campus. Mr. Bluestein spent several years as director of shows at Opryland, USA, and he most recently wrote and directed the national touring production of Beale Street Saturday Night starring blues legend Joyce Cobb. In 2013, he was inducted into the Educational Theatre Association's Hall of Fame in Minneapolis.
E. Frank Bluestein (Ex-officio) is the Executive Producer of the Tennessee Arts Academy, Founder and Chairman of Germantown High School's Fine Arts Department, and Executive Producer of the Emmy Award-winning Germantown Community Television. He is the 1996-1997 Disney National Performing Arts Teacher of the Year and the 1994 Tennessee Teacher of the Year. In 1998, USA Today named Mr. Bluestein one of the top 40 teachers in the United States. He has served on arts advisory panels for the National Endowment for the Arts, College Board Arts Advisory Committee, Council of Chief State School Officers, and Tennessee Arts Commission. A frequent speaker and writer on arts-related issues, Mr. Bluestein is a former president both of the Tennessee Alliance for Arts Education and the Germantown Arts Alliance.
Job Titles:
- Chief Financial Officer
- Senior Vice President
Ernest G. Kelly, Jr. (President) maintains a general civil practice, including civil rights matters, personnel matters and trial experience in all local civil courts. He has represented the Memphis Board of Education as general counsel and lead trial counsel since 1973. Mr. Kelly has been with Evans/Petree PC since his graduation from law school.
Gabriel Skinner (Master Electrician) TSC: Macbeth and As You Like It. Gabriel has volunteered extensively in community theatre since 2015. He also has worked with Opera Memphis as a lighting assistant for Triumph of Honor and The Falling and the Rising during their 2018 and 2019 Midtown Opera Festivals.
George Walters (1930-2019); Founding Board President) was a long-time and influential community volunteer in Germantown and Shelby County. He was a past Chairman of the Germantown Performing Arts Center and past President of the Germantown Community Theatre. In addition to serving on numerous Boards and commissions, Mr. Walters was a Co-Founder and the President of Germantown Community Television Foundation, and the President of the popular Germantown Festival.
Job Titles:
- Asst. to the Costume Designer
Heather Duzan (Asst. to the Costume Designer/Stitcher) Design credits: Assistant Designer for Southern Illinois University's production of Sunday in the Park with George; Crafts Head for the 2019 Season at McLeod Summer Playhouse, which included Polkadots: the Cool Kids' Musical, The Full Monty, Gypsy, and The Drowsy Chaperone. She served as a stitcher and costume technician for Pippin, The Jungle Book, Mamma Mia, Once Upon a Mattress, 9 to 5, The Boys from Syracuse, and Julius Caesar. Heather has been a part of a wardrobe team for the anniversary tour of Rent.
is the University Counsel and Adjunct Professor at the University of Memphis. Ms. Lipman is a Board member of the Memphis and Shelby County Sports Development Corporation, and Past Chair and current Board member of Memphis Regional Planned Parenthood. Additionally, Ms. Lipman is on the Board of Advisors of Facing History and Ourselves and on the Board of Directors of the Memphis Jewish Federation. The Memphis Business Journal selected Ms. Lipman as one of the Top 40 under 40 in 1998, and in 1995 she was a member of the Merit Selection Panel to Choose Federal Public defender for Western District of Tennessee. She studied at the University of Michigan and New York University School of Law.
Irene Keeney makes her debut on stage as an actor this season with TSC, having taught for multiple years in our Summer Camps. She is a sophomore at Muhlenberg College, where she is studying for B.A. in Theatre. She is extremely excited to be a part of the cast of The Hunting Heart: Carson McCullers. Irene would like to thank her parents for supporting her, and Tennessee Shakespeare Company for this amazing opportunity.
Job Titles:
- General Counsel of Bryce Corporation in Memphis
J. Fraser Humphreys, III is General Counsel of Bryce Corporation in Memphis. He is a soon-to-be-published novelist.
Job Titles:
- Assistant
- Technical Director
James R. Baker (Assistant Technical Director) Previous credits include Cendrillon, Fantastiks, La Boheme, Old and the Thief, Small Mouth Sounds, Inherit the Wind, Be More Chill, and FALLING UP. He graduated from the University of Memphis with an M.F.A. in Lighting and Sound Design. James is excited to be working with Tennessee Shakespeare Company for the first time.
Jasmine Robertson (Actor/Teaching-Artist Fellow) Jasmine's previous credits include The Three Sisters (Olga), Intimate Apparel (Mrs. Dickson), The Spitfire Grill (Effy), Servant of Two Masters (Smeraldina), She Kills Monsters (Vera), The Curious Savage (Ethel), Lucky Stiff (Rita), Inherit the Wind, and Anon(ymous). She would like to thank Stephanie and Dan for this wonderful opportunity.
Job Titles:
- Costume Designer for Romeo
Jen Gillette (Costume Designer for Romeo and Juliet) Design credits: Digging Up Dessa and Bud, Not Buddy at the Kennedy Center; Olney National Players Tours 71 and 72; Menagerie at the Washington Ballet; Trojan Women, Don Juan, and Antigonick at Taffety Punk; Gypsy and Into the Woods at McLeod Summer Playhouse; Cymbeline at New Orleans Shakespeare Festival; Crimes of the Heart at Triad Stage; Puccini Plus for the Rudi E. Scheidt School of Music; Or, Anything Goes, and Intimate Apparel for University of Memphis. Installation artist credits: Night Garden at Columbus Museum of Art; Town + Country Kitchen Document for Domestic Integrities at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Jen holds an M.F.A. from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts and is Assistant Professor of Costume Design at the University of Memphis.
Job Titles:
- Production Manager
- Production Manager Technical Director Resident Lighting Designer
- Resident Production and Facility Manager Resident Lighting Designer
Jeremy Allen Fisher (Production Manager; Technical Director; Resident Lighting Designer) TSC: Macbeth, As You Like It, Waiting for Godot, Much Ado About Nothing, To Kill a Mockingbird, All's Well That Ends Well, Twelfth Night, Richard III, The Taming of the Shrew, Unto the Breach, It's a Wonderful Life, Hamlet. A graduate of Oklahoma City University, Jeremy has worked with Theatre Memphis, Opera Memphis, Ballet Memphis, Broad Avenue Arts, Seattle Opera, and Santa Fe Opera. Some of his other credits include lighting Memphis' Broad Avenue Water Tower, Wiseacre's new Taproom, and several works at Saint Jude's Research Hospital. In 2017, he received the TAC Individual Artist Award; and between 2012-2017 he earned 11 Ostrander Award nominations with four wins for his lighting designs.
Job Titles:
- Director of the Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane
John J. Yorke (Director of The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane) celebrates 17 years as an instructor at the University of Memphis Department of Theatre and Dance, where he teaches courses in Introduction to Theatre, Directing Experiments, Script Interpretation, and Theory and Criticism. University of Memphis: The Secret in the Wings; Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine. Theatre Memphis: The Pavilion; The Twilight of the Golds. University of Findlay: The Robber Bridegroom; The Philadelphia Story. Education: University of Memphis (M.F.A. in Directing).
John Paul (Jack) Jones (1920-2020), after graduating from Vanderbilt University and the University of Virginia Law School in 1948, joined the Memphis law firm of Wrap and Hernly, with offices in Washington, DC. He later went into private practice where he specialized in interstate commerce transportation, and labor law. In 1960, Mr. Jones became publisher of Memphis Daily News, a family-owned business and legal newspaper, that has published since 1886. Mr. Jones retired from the practice of law in 1992. A lifelong resident of Memphis, he was a past president of the Tennessee Press Association, the American Court and Commercial Newspapers, Inc., and also a past member of the Memphis Literacy Council. Mr. Jones was a board member of the Benjamin C. Hooks Library, the Rock n, Soul Museum, located in the FedEx Forum, and a founder of the Memphis Economic Club. Mr. Jones was a lifelong devotee of Thomas Jefferson and William Shakespeare.
Job Titles:
- Development and Communications Manager
Kaitlyn Shamley (Development and Communications Manager) is a lifelong Memphian and has a passionate interest in music history and the ancient Mediterranean. Her time as a Rhodes College student sparked a desire to foster an appreciation and understanding of past cultures and their artistic works. In her spare time, she enjoys reading and visiting museums. Education: Rhodes College (B.A. in History).
Kyle Tabor Furr grew up in Memphis, where she graduated from The Hutchison School. During those years, she dedicated her time to the arts through piano and harp studies, choral groups, and theater productions. She graduated from The University of Virginia with an English degree, and followed up with a Masters in Elementary Education from the College of William and Mary. She is married to William M. Furr ( Billy) and lives with him in Norfolk, VA, where they raised their three children. Ms. Furr has taught fourth and fifth grades in the Chesapeake Public Schools and preschool at the First Presbyterian Pre School of Norfolk. She is active in the Christian Science Church, where she has served in many capacities including second reader and is presently on The Academy of Music board in Norfolk. She has always felt close to Tennessee Shakespeare because of her parents' (Margaret and Owen Tabor) love and commitment to the company over the years. Two of her children have volunteered in the office over summer breaks, and one was among the first to participate in a TSC summer camp.
Job Titles:
- Senior Resident Actor / Teaching - Artist
Lindsay Taylor (Prop Master for Pericles, Prince of Tyre and Julius Caesar) has worked with Opera Memphis, Theatre Memphis, Ballet Memphis, Heritage Theatre Festival, Castleton Opera Festival, and Ripley's Believe It Or Not! as Props Designer and Makeup Designer. Education: Radford University School of Dance and Theatre.
Job Titles:
- Founding Member
- Member of the Memphis Garden Club
Louise Collier Calandruccio (Founding Member) is an active member of the Memphis Garden Club. She recently illustrated a brochure on Riverwoods, a Tennessee State Natural Area, in Germantown. Mrs. Calandruccio is a volunteer for the Emmanuel Center, including the Art Camp, as well as the Episcopal Church Women scholarship committee. She has served for many years on the Board of Advisors for Bridges USA. She is the wife of Dr. Jim Calandruccio, and the mother of two.
Malachi Marrero (Ensemble in Henry VI; Ensemble/Teaching-Artist in Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth) Credits: Much Ado About Nothing, The Women, Ain't Misbehavin', Mary Poppins, The Colored Museum, A Chorus Line, On The Town, Big River. Choreography: Jesus Christ Superstar, Little Shop of Horrors, Bye Bye Birdie. Malachi is a graduate of Southeast Missouri State University's Conservatory of Theatre and Dance, with a B.A. in Dance and Minor in Acting.
Margaret Wellford Tabor graduated from The Hutchison School, received her BA from Connecticut College and her MA from the University of Memphis. In addition, Mrs. Tabor attended the graduated schools of English at Duke University, the University of Memphis, and Exeter College at Oxford University in England. She has been a full- and part-time teacher at The Hutchison School and MUS and an instructor at the Meeman Center at Rhodes College. Mrs. Tabor is an active supporter of the arts and education in Memphis. She and her husband, Dr. Owen Tabor, support Teach for America and often plan vacations where excellent Shakespeare productions may be found. She is a full-time mother and grandmother.
Owen Britt Tabor, MD (Past President) was born in Germantown (Philadelphia), PA, the only Yankee by birth at that time in a very large Southern family. He was schooled by Quakers at the William Penn Charter School, then by Methodists at Wesleyan University (CT), and finally by tobacco at Duke University School of Medicine. His wife of nearly 48 years, Margaret Wellford Tabor, has introduced him to the finer things in life, including Tennessee Shakespeare Company. Dr. Tabor has worked as a Navy Flight Surgeon (1965-68) and as an Orthopedic Surgeon since then; but now partially retired, he says, "I am excited about serving with a group of truly exceptional and dedicated people as this organization progresses. Henry V was right when he rallied to those who would recall their own service on St. Crispin's day at Agincourt - so it is with this remarkable TSC Board…it WILL be remembered!"
Job Titles:
- General Counsel at the University of Memphis
Milton T. Schaeffer serves on the Board of Directors of both the Germantown Performing Arts Center and IRIS. Mr. Schaeffer is a partner of Oak Ridge Investments, Dallas, Texas, and he is the retired owner of Bluff City Buick in Memphis.
Job Titles:
- Senior Artist - Manager Ensemble in Henry VI Ensemble / Teaching - Artist in Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth ) TSC
: Julius Caesar, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Macbeth, As You Like It, The Comedy of Errors, Much Ado About Nothing, To Kill a Mockingbird, Henry V, All's Well That Ends Well, Twelfth Night, Othello, As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet. Education: University of Memphis. Michael is a founding member of TSC.
is legal counsel at Evans Petree in Memphis. He is the co-leader of the Labor and Employment section and uses his experience in other arenas to reach solutions and resolutions to his clients' disputes. He has extensive experience in litigating and resolving employment matters and other business-related disputes. He is a frequent speaker on employment-related topics. Mr. Marshall was the lead attorney in a case brought by the Memphis City Schools against the City of Memphis and obtained a $57 million verdict for education funding. Mr. Marshall graduated from the University of California and Southern Methodist University School of Law. He is a member of the American Bar Association Member, Tennessee Bar Association Member, and Memphis Bar Association member. He is admitted to practice law in Tennessee and Texas. Mr. Marshall has also served as the General Counsel for the Memphis City Schools, and is the general counsel for the Shelby County Emergency Communications District and for Lausanne Collegiate School.
Milton T. Schaeffer serves on the Board of Directors of both the Germantown Performing Arts Center and IRIS. Mr. Schaeffer is a partner of Oak Ridge Investments, Dallas, Texas, and he is the retired owner of Bluff City Buick in Memphis.
Nancy Copp has served on the Board of Directors of the Crippled Children's Hospital, Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis Academy of Arts, and St. George's Episcopal Day School. Mrs. Copp also founded and served on the Board of Memphis House, a drug-rehabilitation facility. In Maine, she was associated with the Prouts Association, the Prouts Neck Run Centennial Celebration, and the Winslow Homer Studio.
Job Titles:
- Senior Resident Actor / Teaching - Artist
Nicolas Dureaux Picou (Senior Resident Actor/Teaching-Artist) TSC: The Tempest, As You Like It, Macbeth, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Comedy of Errors, Henry V. Other favorite productions include M. Butterfly, The Physicists, Private Eyes. Nic holds a B.F.A. in Theatre Performance from the University of Memphis.
P.J. Townsend (Assistant Stage Manager of Henry VI and Ada and the Engine; Stage Manager of Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, and the Truman Capote Literary Salon) Credits: Stage Manager/Props Master for Sterling Renaissance Festival; Stage Manager for Blues for an Alabama Sky; Assistant Stage Manager for Cabaret, The Seagull, and Next to Normal. P.J. is a graduate of the University of Southern Mississippi, with a B.A. in Theater and an emphasis in technical theatre and management.
Job Titles:
- Administrative & Box Office Manager
- Administrative and Box Office / Sales Manager
Parker Chase (Administrative and Box Office/Sales Manager) MTSU: Stage Manager - Tucker Theatre Roadhouse; Lighting Designer - Wait Until Dark; Assistant Lighting Designer - Next to Normal; Props Designer and Assistant Scenic Charge - Kafka's Metamorphosis; Props Designer - How I Learned to Drive. Parker recently received her B.S. in Theatre Performance from Middle Tennessee State University, where she graduated magna cum laude.
Pat Casserly Kelly, native of New Jersey, came to Memphis in October of 1967. After a brief career doing medical research for Dr. L. W. Diggs, she began teaching History at Hutchison School. After completing her Master of Arts in English, she taught at Lausanne Collegiate School, the University of Memphis, and State Technical Institute. In 1979 she returned to Hutchison where she taught English in the Upper School until her retirement in 2012. At Hutchison she was the chair of the English and Humanities departments and the recipient of the Margaret Wellford Tabor chair for Excellence in Teaching English. In her teaching career, Pat emphasized the great writers and thinkers of the Western tradition-Shakespeare, Dante, Milton, Austen, Dickens, Hardy-as she encouraged her students to become lovers of literature and independent and creative thinkers. Pat was a president of the Shelby-Memphis Council of Teachers of English and was recognized as a Teacher of Excellence by the National Council Teachers of English. She was a recipient of two National Endowment for the Humanities study grants-one of which sent her to Italy to study Dante for 6 weeks- and was chosen by the U.S. Department of State for a teacher exchange program in Eurasia. Pat served two terms on the vestry of St. Elisabeth's Church in Raleigh and was the Director of Religious Education there for 15 years. Currently a communicant at St. Mary's Episcopal Cathedral, she serves as a lector, a Lay Eucharistic Minister, a member of the hospitality committee, and is serving her first year of her term on the Chapter of the Cathedral. Pat and Ernest have 5 daughters, one son, and one grandson between them, and enjoy traveling and spending time with their family.
Rhea Clift (Secretary) has served as a prosecuting attorney in Memphis since 1991. She is currently the facilitator of The Shakespeare Readers, a group of Shakespeare lovers who have met weekly for four years to read Shakespeare together. She is a life-long member of St. George's Episcopal Church and is serving her third term on the Vestry. She has supported Tennessee Shakespeare Company since its inception by selling concessions at the first performance, taking tickets, preparing the post-performance receptions, and working as the "kitchen wench" at the cast parties. Ms. Clift graduated from The Hutchison School and Vanderbilt University. At Vanderbilt, she earned degrees in English and Art History. During her Junior year, she studied at Leeds University. She graduated from the University of Memphis with a Juris Doctorate.
, a Shelby County native, was the executive assistant to three mayors of Shelby County, serving as their chief aide and advisor. Mr. Lanier was a founder and a Vice-Chairman of the Board of The Bank of Germantown and a former director of Neshoba Bank. Currently, he serves as Advisor-Director of Trustmark National Bank. He is the past President and Director of the GermantownCharity Horse Show, and is its Executive Director. Mr. Lanier is a member of the four-person advisory Board of the Germantown Festival Association, and was the 1998-99 President of the Mid-South Fair. He was also voted Germantown Man of the Year in 1963, 1976, 2005, and 2007.
, a teacher for over 40 years, has taught in Stuttgart, Germany, Evansville, Indiana, and Shelby County. She currently teaches at the Tennessee Governor's School for International Studies. Mrs. Dunning is the past president of the Brooks Museum League, and Chair of the Designers and Artists Showcase. She has been Teacher of the Year at Germantown High School, Shelby County Schools, and the 1986 TEA State Teacher of the Year. In addition, she was the Germantown News Teacher on the Move, and the city of Germantown Teacher of the Year. In 2001, Mrs. Dunning was named a Germantown Hometown Hero.
Job Titles:
- Director of Outreach / General Manager / Gala Coordinator
- Director of Outreach / General Manager / Gala Coordinator / Resident Artist
Tennessee Shakespeare Company is the first and only professional, not-for-profit theatre and education organization in Memphis dedicated to live, diverse performances of William Shakespeare's plays, as well as works of social significance by classical, Southern, and modern playwrights/composers; and to providing innovative education, training, and outreach programming.
Job Titles:
- Artist / Production Assistant
Tristin R. Hicks (Actor-Teaching Artist/Production Assistant) TSC: The Romeo and Juliet Project. University of Memphis: Hamlet: Fall of The Sparrow, Inherit the Wind, Always Something More, She Kills Monsters. Other Credits: Hattiloo Theatre's The Parchman Hour, Tennessee Governor's School for the Arts's What I Want to Say But Never Will. Tristin is an Actor and Dramaturg who is in his fourth year of undergraduate studies at The University of Memphis' Department of Theatre and Dance with plans to graduate in the Spring with a B.F.A. in Theatre.