DASH Consultants 2020-21
EMACT's DASH consultant pool is composed of experienced community theater directors and professional educators with backgrounds in theater arts, art education, and/or hands-on experience.
What does it take to be a DASH consultant?
If you are interested in becoming a DASH Consultant, please submit a complete theatrical resume to the EMACT DASH Coordinators at: dash@emact.org
2020-21 DASH Consultants:
Lis Adams holds B.A. in Theatre Arts from Brandeis University, and studied under Herbert Berghof and Carol Hall at HB Studio in New York City. As a teen she learned acting and stagecraft from the professional company and crew at the Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, and has since been both onstage and backstage in three countries, performing and designing for community and professional theater, while serving on theater boards and committees in various capacities. She is a member of the Actors-in-Residence (AiR) program for Playwrights’ Platform at Lasell College and Boston Playwrights’ Theatre and has performed and directed for their annual Festival of Plays. She has taught acting and Shakespeare classes at Concord Youth Theatre and for after-school programs. Lis is a current board member for Phi Beta Kappa Boston and serves as Director of Education at Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House in Concord.
Sandy Armstrong has been involved with theater for more than fifty years. She still performs, produces, directs, does makeup and hair, costumes (not sewing), program design, and can find her way around a set build. In her early years living in Chelmsford, she co-chaired the summer playground program, which included some theater exercises along with recreational sports. As a teacher in Chelmsford, she chaired the Drama Club in the Junior High School. She was a former Board member and Director for Patchwork Children’s Theater (Chelmsford); Past President and Executive Producer of the Paint and Powder Club of Greater Lowell ( 25 years raising money for local children’s charities); Founding Board member of Merrimack Repertory Theater; Past President and Executive Producer of Theatre III, West Acton; BOD EMACT (2004 – 2006); Director of Concord Players Traveling Troupe (senior actors performing staged readings for CoAs and assisted living facilities); DASH Consultant for EMACT.
J. Mark Baumhardt has been active in Boston Area Community Theater since 1994. He is a native of Highland Park, Illinois, where he was active in the Highland Park High School Marching Band, Wind Ensemble, and Orchestra, playing the trumpet. In addition, he was
active in the theater program as a performer in numerous plays and musicals. He studied Broadcast Journalism at Boston University where he was also a member of several performance groups in the BU Music Organizations program. Mark has directed, acted, produced, designed sound, built and painted sets, worked crew, and worked front-of-house for numerous theaters in our community. He was named best director at the 2006 EMACT Drama Festival for the Quannapowitt Player’s festival-winning production Five Women Wearing the Same Dress. In 2014, he won the DASH Best Director award for QP’s Best Production-winning play Becky’s New Car. Mark has received additional nominations for directing, acting, and sound design at both the EMACT Drama Festival and as part of the DASH program. He also won best sound design at the 2015 New England Regional Theater Festival for Hovey Player’s production of Rabbit Hole.
Amelia Boyce Munson has been a DASH Consultant since 2019. She has experience as a Director and Choreographer and additional experience in acting, vocal and dance performance, costume design, props coordination, lighting design/operation, stage management, and hair/makeup design. Originally from Vermont, she went to Beloit College in Wisconsin and studied Critical Identity Studies, Anthropology, Dance, and French. She
has lived in the Boston area since 2015 and has worked with a number of EMACT groups, including Skylight Theater Collective, Mass Music and Arts Society, Colonial Chorus Players,
Belmont Dramatic Club, Riverside Theatre Works, and Arlington Friends of the Drama. She is the Artistic Director and President of the Board for Skylight Theater Collective, a new company in Boston that aims to produce shows which provide challenging, fulfilling, and plentiful roles for women.
Samantha Brior-Jones is an award-winning choreographer and director with a background in education. She grew up as a competitive dancer and went on to teach classical dance and musical theater for both dance/Performing Arts Schools as well as Private High Schools including BC High, Dana Hall and Tabor Academy. She is the current in-house choreographer for Massasoit Community Theatre Company and also regularly works with Hingham Civic Music Theater and The Norton Singers.
Liz Chirico performed in and served on the production team for numerous productions throughout Central MA over the past 10 years. Some of her favorite performances include Blithe Spirit with River’s Edge Players, HONK! with Sterling Community Theatre, Mary Poppins with Theatre at the Mount, and Decision Height with Westborough Players Club. Liz also dances with Nashoba Valley Movement and studied voice with soprano, Jane Shivick.
When not onstage Liz works for WPI and enjoys time with her husband and infant daughter who already looks like she’ll follow in her mama’s footsteps!
Kara Chu Nelson - Kara Chu Nelson has been a theatre lover for as long as she can remember. After a strong upbringing as an audience member and “home performer”, Kara finally got involved with theatre in college, where she performed as well as served as Social Events Coordinator, Documentarian, and Producer with a student-run organization at Syracuse University. She then jumped with two feet into the Massachusetts theatre scene, performing in both community and professional productions and making wonderful friends in the process. Kara has worked at North Shore Music Theatre, Seacoast Rep, The Umbrella, Theatre at the Mount, Footlight Club, Longwood Players, MMAS, and Marblehead Little Theatre, among others. Favorite
past roles include Éponine in Les Mis, "Somewhere" Girl in West Side Story, Hope Cladwell in Urinetown, and Natalie in Next to Normal. Kara holds a B.A. in Music History and Cultures, and is an American Sign Language student, a former Performing Arts teacher, and a state champion gymnast.
Kathleen Comber has for the past 16 years participated in college, regional, and community theatre in the New England area. Kathleen holds a minor in Theatrical Arts from Stonehill College where she both performed and executed technical elements throughout her four years. During her time at Stonehill, she held an internship abroad with The Ark, the first cultural center for children in Dublin, Ireland. Working closely with the Theatre Programmer and Producer, she coordinated with local artists on regional tours as well as helped to develop new theatre projects. After college, Kathleen served as the Director of Education for Bay Colony at the Orpheum Theater. Under her leadership, the theatre arts programming and educational options expanded, and multiple location summer camps were produced at a high level.
Kathleen’s work in community theatre has been multifaceted. Primarily an actor, she has performed across the South Shore and the greater Boston area. She has been seen on stage in varied roles including Jo March in Little Women at Hingham Civic Music Theatre, The Witch in Into The Woods with Newton Country Players, Meredith Parker in Bat Boy: The Musical with The Footlight Club and Alison Bechdel in Fun Home with Vokes Players. On the technical side, Kathleen was the assistant stage manager for Big! in 2017 and producer for Our Town in 2018 for The Footlight Club. She has worked in sound design, set construction, stage management and run crew for a number of productions across the eastern Massachusetts area. Kathleen currently serves as the Artistic Planning Director for The Footlight Club in Jamaica Plain.
Celia Couture is an award-winning director with an MFA from Emerson College. Celia has represented EMACT directing three productions at the National AACT Festival, including Burlington Players’ production of Radium Girls, which won the National Festival for Best Production. She has directed multiple shows which have earned DASH nominations and awards for Best Production, as well as the NETC Moss Hart Award and an IRNE award. She has directed for Vokes Players, Concord Players, Gloucester Stage Company, Wellesley Players, and many other local theatre groups. Celia was a founder and artistic director of the Woburn Repertory Theatre and serves at the Vice President of the Wellesley Players. Celia is currently the Past President of EMACT and has also served as the Vice President of Festivals, successfully running both the State and Regional Festival.
Meg Quin Dussault, Ed. D has been a theatre practitioner for over 30 years. As an actor, she utilizer her M.F.A in Acting from Trinity Rep and has enjoyed performing in New York and in regional and community theatres throughout New England. As a director, Meg has directed over 40 productions. Her productions have won the Moss Hart Award, been a finalist at the state level of the METG festival, and winner of the METG festival, and have been nominated for over 20 DASH Awards where Meg has been nominated as a director, a set designer, and a lighting designer.
As an educator Meg has taught theatre at the high school and collegiate level. She designed courses in theatre for social change at Stonehill College and continues to lecture about theatre for social change to various groups. Meg’s doctoral work at Northeastern University focused on K-12 teachers who were performers before entering the teaching profession, and what skills from theatre are applicable to classroom teaching. Meg is currently the Director of Visual and Performing Arts and Community Education for the Sharon Public School system.
Kevin C. Groppe holds a BA in English from Hamilton College and a Masters in Literature (specializing in dramatic literature) from Middlebury College. He has been acting, singing, writing plays and teaching acting in Boston for over 30 years. As the Performing Arts Department Head at Dana Hall, he directed over 66 plays and musicals. He also directed in San Diego, California and does freelance directing in the Boston area. Some of his favorite directing projects include Ragtime, As You Like It, Footloose, She Kills Monsters, the opera Noye’s Fludde, Bat Boy, Jane Eyre, Dark of the Moon, Pride’s Crossing, Rent, Lion in Winter and Enchanted April. He studied directing with Alan MacVey and worked as assistant to well-known directors such as David Esbjornson (Another Part of the House by Migdalia Cruz) and Oskar Eustis (The Devils by Elizabeth Egloff and Golden Child by David Henry Hwang). Kevin has had a long and diverse career as an actor; some of his favorite roles include a series of psychotic murderers on The Cape Cod Radio Mystery Theatre, Grandpa Gellman in Moonbox’s Caroline or Change, Judge Thatcher in the Lyric Stage production of Big River, Judge Taylor in The Umbrella’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Steve Ford in the movie This Killing Business, Collins in the web series Beacon Hill, and various voices on the JFK Experience website.
Jason Hair-Wynn is a 12 time award winning Actor, Choreographer and Director. He has worked on syndicated commercials such as: Campbell's Soup, The Food Network, Eloqua, Ipod Nano, Hasbro, Inc., Boston Duck Tours, and Public Health Service announcements both as an actor and voice over artist, and had also been a reenactment actor on The Montel Williams Show. Jason has worked part of The Massachusetts Governor's Task force on Hate Crimes and the GLSEN Project speakers bureau traveling the country running workshops, trainings, and public speaking on Diversity and Inclusion, Suicide Prevention, and School Violence and has been featured on numerous national televised diversity forums including MTV's Fight for your Rights; Hate in the Hallways. Jason was the programs director for one of the first pilot programs for HIV prevention and education through the Department of Public Health. Jason was a first year judge for the Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild prior to Covid. Jason dedicates his time to work that empowers, theatre that educates, and theatre that provides dialogue to begin the process of change.
Robert Hallisey has been active in theater for more than 35 years in Eastern Massachusetts having worked with community, semi-professional, and philanthropic performance groups. He is the current President of The Burlington Players, past President of EMACT and The Winchester Players, served on the board of directors for the Nextdoor Theater and is an original member and served on the board for Voices of Hope, a group that raises
awareness and funds for cancer research. Robert has been involved in almost all aspects of theater, focused primarily on acting, directing, producing, and stage managing. He has
performed and worked on productions in multiple states including Maine, New York, Virginia, Washington DC, and of course Massachusetts. Robert has performed with eight different theater groups in MA in plays and musicals and received 2 DASH nominations for acting. As a performer Robert has sung at venues including Symphony Hall, the Hatch Shell, North Shore Music Theatre, Gillette Stadium, Jordan Hall, and the Americal Civic Center in Wakefield. He has performed with Voices of Hope, twice appeared as a soloist with the Middlesex Concert Band, and in 9 Winton Club Cabaret’s that are an annual benefit for the Winchester Hospital.
Robert has a B.A. in Drama with departmental honors from Vassar College and later earned a Radio and Television Broadcasting Certificate from The Northeast Broadcasting School in Boston. He was a radio news reporter/anchor in Lowell in the early 1990’s and had done recording for some early voice recognition software. He has worked on various EMACT Consultant Programs for more than 20 years from the EARPs to the DASH and DASH Plus and he also served as a Gala co-host many years ago.
Faye Harrington has been active in theater since high school. She has a BA in English from the University of Minnesota, with a minor in Drama. She spent most of her time in the Drama department working in every aspect of stage production. Faye was a founding member of the TCAN Players in Natick. In addition to producing, directing, designing and acting in many of the TCAN Players’ shows, she has also worked with other local companies such as the Hovey Players, Medway Players and Sudbury Savoyards.
Susan Harrington holds a B.S. in Education, with a minor in Art and an Area of Focus in The Hospitalized Child from Wheelock College, MA in Business Organizational and Communication from Emerson College, an MEd. in Special Education Technology from Emmanuel College, and an MS in Instructional Media from Fitchburg State College. She has
served on the EMACT board in a few capacities since 2007. She began as Recording Secretary, moved on to Membership Director and will conclude her tenure as Education Director. In addition, Susan has served on the board of The Footlight Club in Jamaica Plain and Arlington Friends of the Drama. Susan has served as production manager or co-production manager to productions with The Footlight Club, Arlington Friends of the Drama, Belmont Dramatic Club, Winchester Players, The Hovey Players, The Theatre Company of Saugus, and The Lexington Players. Susan also serves as the Massachusetts state contact for Region I to the American Association of Community Theatre.
Bobby Imperato has been a member of the Eastern Massachusetts theatre scene for over 20 years. He is an award-winning actor and fight choreographer and director in the Boston area. Bobby has developed, organized and facilitated children’s theatre classes and camps for several towns including but not limited to Middleton, Saugus, Winthrop and Peabody and currently teaches children at The New England School of Performing Arts. Bobby is the Assistant Director of Lasell University’s theatre department which recently expanded to include Regis College.
Sheila Kelleher has been involved in community theatre for 20 years, performing and directing for many theatre groups on the South Shore including Bay Players, Curtain Call Theatre, Nemasket River Productions, MMAS, Hull Performing Arts, Hat Trick Theatre and Plymouth Community Theatre, where she served as President until 2019. She has studied acting with Perishable Theatre, Providence, RI, Whitebridge Studios in NH with Academy Award winner Ernest Thompson, and workshopped in Musical Theatre at RADA in London. She holds a master’s degree from Emerson College in Theatre Education where she developed an Acting Workshop for Senior Citizens. She formerly taught Adult Acting at The Company Theatre in Norwell. Shelia joined EMACT as a DASH consultant in 2017. She wrote an award winning 10 minute play in 2013 which she expanded to an hour long one act in 2014. She added her own original music to expand it into a full musical which was successfully produced on stage in 2019.
Michael McGarty has been active in community, regional, professional and high school theaters in the New York/New England area for almost 50 years. He served as the Harvard Community Theater’s Artistic Director from its inception in 1990 to 2012, directing over 100 plays including four New England premieres of New York composer Jenny Giering’s work: Show, Crossing Brooklyn, Still Life and The Mistress Cycle. He was named Best Director at the 2012 EMACT festival for Crossing Brooklyn, and for both the latter productions at the New England Regional Festivals. In 2002, his production of ‘night Mother won the EMACT Best Production Award. In 2018, he won the DASH Best Director Award for his production of Out of Order at MMAS. As a lighting designer, Michael has won EMACT’s Best Lighting Design award for HCT’s entries of Crossing Brooklyn, The Mistress Cycle, No Exit, and Morning, Noon and Night in Central Park. As an educator, Michael graduated from Middlebury College in 1976 with an MA in French Theater and then developed the Performing Arts program at the Bromfield School in Harvard, MA from 1976 – 2012, directing 3 – 4 productions each year. The program garnered awards yearly in the MHSDG State Drama Festival with many of the student participants moving on to successful professional theatrical careers. From 1972, Michael began working with the then Massachusetts High School Drama Guild and acted as the Executive Director of the now Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild from 2010 – 2018 overseeing educational programming for over 180 public, private and parochial schools across the state.
Ted Mitchell joined EMACT as a DASH consultant in 2017. He has over 30 years of experience in theater, both on the acting and directing front. For the past five years he has served as Artistic Director for Norton Singers and has directed musical theater productions for the
group for almost 20 years. In 2017 he was honored with an EMACT DASH award for Best Direction of a Musical for Young Frankenstein; in 2016 he was nominated for Best Direction for Jekyll & Hyde. He is also the author of Pictures of You and Late Night Show under the pen
name T.J. Alexian.
John Murtagh has been involved in almost every aspect of theatre. An actor, director, choreographer, set designer, costume designer, and props master, most of his theatre time is spent as a Stage Manager. A graduate of Northeastern University majoring in Theatre, he was a founding member of Second Stage Theatre Co. He has worked professionally with Lyric Stage, Boston Theatre Works, Delvena Theatre Co., Academy Playhouse, and The North Carolina Shakespeare Festival. He is also involved with a dozen EMACT theatres in the metro-west area. He has received awards from NETC, NERF, EMACT, EARP, and DASH.
Dustin Todd Rennells holds a BFA in Fine Arts: Costume Design, Printmaking & Sculpture from Lesley University College of Art and Design (formerly the Art Institute of Boston). He has continued his education from there with dual degrees in education and theatre. At Lesley University he continued his love for Shakespeare under the direction of Anne Pluto as part of the Oxford Street Players. In 2001 Dustin co-founded CityStage, Inc. in his hometown of
Chillicothe, Missouri, and ran that summer stock theatre program--and complementary summer camp--for ten years. Dustin is now an elementary school teacher at Star Academy in Watertown, MA where he integrates the arts and theatre into all lesson plans. Dustin is also the Managing Director of Tony Williams Dance Center, City Ballet of Boston, and the Urban Nutcracker (where he also designed and created all the costumes) which is a lavish, Boston-centric modern twist on the traditional Nutcracker tale.
Dustin is also the Membership Director on the Board of Directors at The Footlight Club (America's oldest, continuously operating community theatre), and he often works as director, set designer, or costume designer with companies such as: SpeakEasy Stage, Co., The Footlight Club, Riverside Theatre Works, and The Center for the Arts in Natick. Some of his favorite directing projects have included: Harvey, See How They Run, Taming of the Shrew, Romeo & Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, You're A Good Man Charlie Brown, West Side Story, and Steel Magnolias. Dustin has been nominated for DASH awards for costume design (Our Town and All Shook Up), and hair/ makeup (Our Town).
Katie Swimm has been active in community, regional, and university theatre for over fifteen years as a director, actor, educator, and scholar. She received a BFA in Theatre Performance from Niagara University, an MA in Literature at Northwestern, and a PhD in Theatre and Performance Studies at Tufts University. Her areas of expertise include theatre and mental illness, the performance of faith, politics as performance, and community-based theatre practice. While at Tufts she taught introductory and advanced acting classes, assisted in voice and speech courses, and taught numerous courses on theatre history, theatre pedagogy, and professional development.
As a practitioner, Katie has directed, produced, and performed in numerous productions in Boston and Chicago, in regional, community, and academic settings. In Chicago, she was Managing Director for Greasy Joan &Co., and produced numerous productions with the company including Jeff Award Nominated The Misanthrope. Directing credits in Boston include Into the Woods and Rent at Tufts University, Big: The Musical, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Our Town, and Legally Blonde at The Footlight Club and Peter and the Starcatcher at Vokes. She is also a vocalist in the Nasty Women Sing ensemble, and has appeared locally in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown and Bat Boy at The Footlight Club. In Fall 2020, she launched the Fenway Community Center Theatre Program as its inaugural Artistic Director.
What does it take to be a DASH consultant?
- The DASH Consultant position is exciting, rewarding, educational, and challenging. Consultants need to be experienced and knowledgeable in multiple facets of theater, both artistic and technical; able to express themselves well and concisely in writing; able to be both tactful and constructive when offering criticism and suggestions; and able to critique productions with an open mind. We encourage our consultants to acknowledge weak areas and to work to strengthen them through collaboration, education, and experience.
- DASH consultants must pass an initial screening, then qualified candidates go through a training process which includes attending several productions with the DASH Coordinator, discussing them, and completing the ballot scoring process. All consultants attend a “test show” early in the season to calibrate scoring.
- DASH consultants are required to consult on a minimum of 8 productions over the course of the season. We hold several feedback meetings over the course of the season to discuss issues and ways to improve the DASH program, and may occasionally host adjudication workshops or other training sessions.
- Consultants receive a complimentary pair of tickets and a small stipend for each show they consult on, as well as one complimentary ticket to the annual DASH Gala.
If you are interested in becoming a DASH Consultant, please submit a complete theatrical resume to the EMACT DASH Coordinators at: dash@emact.org
2020-21 DASH Consultants:
Lis Adams holds B.A. in Theatre Arts from Brandeis University, and studied under Herbert Berghof and Carol Hall at HB Studio in New York City. As a teen she learned acting and stagecraft from the professional company and crew at the Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, and has since been both onstage and backstage in three countries, performing and designing for community and professional theater, while serving on theater boards and committees in various capacities. She is a member of the Actors-in-Residence (AiR) program for Playwrights’ Platform at Lasell College and Boston Playwrights’ Theatre and has performed and directed for their annual Festival of Plays. She has taught acting and Shakespeare classes at Concord Youth Theatre and for after-school programs. Lis is a current board member for Phi Beta Kappa Boston and serves as Director of Education at Louisa May Alcott’s Orchard House in Concord.
Sandy Armstrong has been involved with theater for more than fifty years. She still performs, produces, directs, does makeup and hair, costumes (not sewing), program design, and can find her way around a set build. In her early years living in Chelmsford, she co-chaired the summer playground program, which included some theater exercises along with recreational sports. As a teacher in Chelmsford, she chaired the Drama Club in the Junior High School. She was a former Board member and Director for Patchwork Children’s Theater (Chelmsford); Past President and Executive Producer of the Paint and Powder Club of Greater Lowell ( 25 years raising money for local children’s charities); Founding Board member of Merrimack Repertory Theater; Past President and Executive Producer of Theatre III, West Acton; BOD EMACT (2004 – 2006); Director of Concord Players Traveling Troupe (senior actors performing staged readings for CoAs and assisted living facilities); DASH Consultant for EMACT.
J. Mark Baumhardt has been active in Boston Area Community Theater since 1994. He is a native of Highland Park, Illinois, where he was active in the Highland Park High School Marching Band, Wind Ensemble, and Orchestra, playing the trumpet. In addition, he was
active in the theater program as a performer in numerous plays and musicals. He studied Broadcast Journalism at Boston University where he was also a member of several performance groups in the BU Music Organizations program. Mark has directed, acted, produced, designed sound, built and painted sets, worked crew, and worked front-of-house for numerous theaters in our community. He was named best director at the 2006 EMACT Drama Festival for the Quannapowitt Player’s festival-winning production Five Women Wearing the Same Dress. In 2014, he won the DASH Best Director award for QP’s Best Production-winning play Becky’s New Car. Mark has received additional nominations for directing, acting, and sound design at both the EMACT Drama Festival and as part of the DASH program. He also won best sound design at the 2015 New England Regional Theater Festival for Hovey Player’s production of Rabbit Hole.
Amelia Boyce Munson has been a DASH Consultant since 2019. She has experience as a Director and Choreographer and additional experience in acting, vocal and dance performance, costume design, props coordination, lighting design/operation, stage management, and hair/makeup design. Originally from Vermont, she went to Beloit College in Wisconsin and studied Critical Identity Studies, Anthropology, Dance, and French. She
has lived in the Boston area since 2015 and has worked with a number of EMACT groups, including Skylight Theater Collective, Mass Music and Arts Society, Colonial Chorus Players,
Belmont Dramatic Club, Riverside Theatre Works, and Arlington Friends of the Drama. She is the Artistic Director and President of the Board for Skylight Theater Collective, a new company in Boston that aims to produce shows which provide challenging, fulfilling, and plentiful roles for women.
Samantha Brior-Jones is an award-winning choreographer and director with a background in education. She grew up as a competitive dancer and went on to teach classical dance and musical theater for both dance/Performing Arts Schools as well as Private High Schools including BC High, Dana Hall and Tabor Academy. She is the current in-house choreographer for Massasoit Community Theatre Company and also regularly works with Hingham Civic Music Theater and The Norton Singers.
Liz Chirico performed in and served on the production team for numerous productions throughout Central MA over the past 10 years. Some of her favorite performances include Blithe Spirit with River’s Edge Players, HONK! with Sterling Community Theatre, Mary Poppins with Theatre at the Mount, and Decision Height with Westborough Players Club. Liz also dances with Nashoba Valley Movement and studied voice with soprano, Jane Shivick.
When not onstage Liz works for WPI and enjoys time with her husband and infant daughter who already looks like she’ll follow in her mama’s footsteps!
Kara Chu Nelson - Kara Chu Nelson has been a theatre lover for as long as she can remember. After a strong upbringing as an audience member and “home performer”, Kara finally got involved with theatre in college, where she performed as well as served as Social Events Coordinator, Documentarian, and Producer with a student-run organization at Syracuse University. She then jumped with two feet into the Massachusetts theatre scene, performing in both community and professional productions and making wonderful friends in the process. Kara has worked at North Shore Music Theatre, Seacoast Rep, The Umbrella, Theatre at the Mount, Footlight Club, Longwood Players, MMAS, and Marblehead Little Theatre, among others. Favorite
past roles include Éponine in Les Mis, "Somewhere" Girl in West Side Story, Hope Cladwell in Urinetown, and Natalie in Next to Normal. Kara holds a B.A. in Music History and Cultures, and is an American Sign Language student, a former Performing Arts teacher, and a state champion gymnast.
Kathleen Comber has for the past 16 years participated in college, regional, and community theatre in the New England area. Kathleen holds a minor in Theatrical Arts from Stonehill College where she both performed and executed technical elements throughout her four years. During her time at Stonehill, she held an internship abroad with The Ark, the first cultural center for children in Dublin, Ireland. Working closely with the Theatre Programmer and Producer, she coordinated with local artists on regional tours as well as helped to develop new theatre projects. After college, Kathleen served as the Director of Education for Bay Colony at the Orpheum Theater. Under her leadership, the theatre arts programming and educational options expanded, and multiple location summer camps were produced at a high level.
Kathleen’s work in community theatre has been multifaceted. Primarily an actor, she has performed across the South Shore and the greater Boston area. She has been seen on stage in varied roles including Jo March in Little Women at Hingham Civic Music Theatre, The Witch in Into The Woods with Newton Country Players, Meredith Parker in Bat Boy: The Musical with The Footlight Club and Alison Bechdel in Fun Home with Vokes Players. On the technical side, Kathleen was the assistant stage manager for Big! in 2017 and producer for Our Town in 2018 for The Footlight Club. She has worked in sound design, set construction, stage management and run crew for a number of productions across the eastern Massachusetts area. Kathleen currently serves as the Artistic Planning Director for The Footlight Club in Jamaica Plain.
Celia Couture is an award-winning director with an MFA from Emerson College. Celia has represented EMACT directing three productions at the National AACT Festival, including Burlington Players’ production of Radium Girls, which won the National Festival for Best Production. She has directed multiple shows which have earned DASH nominations and awards for Best Production, as well as the NETC Moss Hart Award and an IRNE award. She has directed for Vokes Players, Concord Players, Gloucester Stage Company, Wellesley Players, and many other local theatre groups. Celia was a founder and artistic director of the Woburn Repertory Theatre and serves at the Vice President of the Wellesley Players. Celia is currently the Past President of EMACT and has also served as the Vice President of Festivals, successfully running both the State and Regional Festival.
Meg Quin Dussault, Ed. D has been a theatre practitioner for over 30 years. As an actor, she utilizer her M.F.A in Acting from Trinity Rep and has enjoyed performing in New York and in regional and community theatres throughout New England. As a director, Meg has directed over 40 productions. Her productions have won the Moss Hart Award, been a finalist at the state level of the METG festival, and winner of the METG festival, and have been nominated for over 20 DASH Awards where Meg has been nominated as a director, a set designer, and a lighting designer.
As an educator Meg has taught theatre at the high school and collegiate level. She designed courses in theatre for social change at Stonehill College and continues to lecture about theatre for social change to various groups. Meg’s doctoral work at Northeastern University focused on K-12 teachers who were performers before entering the teaching profession, and what skills from theatre are applicable to classroom teaching. Meg is currently the Director of Visual and Performing Arts and Community Education for the Sharon Public School system.
Kevin C. Groppe holds a BA in English from Hamilton College and a Masters in Literature (specializing in dramatic literature) from Middlebury College. He has been acting, singing, writing plays and teaching acting in Boston for over 30 years. As the Performing Arts Department Head at Dana Hall, he directed over 66 plays and musicals. He also directed in San Diego, California and does freelance directing in the Boston area. Some of his favorite directing projects include Ragtime, As You Like It, Footloose, She Kills Monsters, the opera Noye’s Fludde, Bat Boy, Jane Eyre, Dark of the Moon, Pride’s Crossing, Rent, Lion in Winter and Enchanted April. He studied directing with Alan MacVey and worked as assistant to well-known directors such as David Esbjornson (Another Part of the House by Migdalia Cruz) and Oskar Eustis (The Devils by Elizabeth Egloff and Golden Child by David Henry Hwang). Kevin has had a long and diverse career as an actor; some of his favorite roles include a series of psychotic murderers on The Cape Cod Radio Mystery Theatre, Grandpa Gellman in Moonbox’s Caroline or Change, Judge Thatcher in the Lyric Stage production of Big River, Judge Taylor in The Umbrella’s To Kill a Mockingbird, Steve Ford in the movie This Killing Business, Collins in the web series Beacon Hill, and various voices on the JFK Experience website.
Jason Hair-Wynn is a 12 time award winning Actor, Choreographer and Director. He has worked on syndicated commercials such as: Campbell's Soup, The Food Network, Eloqua, Ipod Nano, Hasbro, Inc., Boston Duck Tours, and Public Health Service announcements both as an actor and voice over artist, and had also been a reenactment actor on The Montel Williams Show. Jason has worked part of The Massachusetts Governor's Task force on Hate Crimes and the GLSEN Project speakers bureau traveling the country running workshops, trainings, and public speaking on Diversity and Inclusion, Suicide Prevention, and School Violence and has been featured on numerous national televised diversity forums including MTV's Fight for your Rights; Hate in the Hallways. Jason was the programs director for one of the first pilot programs for HIV prevention and education through the Department of Public Health. Jason was a first year judge for the Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild prior to Covid. Jason dedicates his time to work that empowers, theatre that educates, and theatre that provides dialogue to begin the process of change.
Robert Hallisey has been active in theater for more than 35 years in Eastern Massachusetts having worked with community, semi-professional, and philanthropic performance groups. He is the current President of The Burlington Players, past President of EMACT and The Winchester Players, served on the board of directors for the Nextdoor Theater and is an original member and served on the board for Voices of Hope, a group that raises
awareness and funds for cancer research. Robert has been involved in almost all aspects of theater, focused primarily on acting, directing, producing, and stage managing. He has
performed and worked on productions in multiple states including Maine, New York, Virginia, Washington DC, and of course Massachusetts. Robert has performed with eight different theater groups in MA in plays and musicals and received 2 DASH nominations for acting. As a performer Robert has sung at venues including Symphony Hall, the Hatch Shell, North Shore Music Theatre, Gillette Stadium, Jordan Hall, and the Americal Civic Center in Wakefield. He has performed with Voices of Hope, twice appeared as a soloist with the Middlesex Concert Band, and in 9 Winton Club Cabaret’s that are an annual benefit for the Winchester Hospital.
Robert has a B.A. in Drama with departmental honors from Vassar College and later earned a Radio and Television Broadcasting Certificate from The Northeast Broadcasting School in Boston. He was a radio news reporter/anchor in Lowell in the early 1990’s and had done recording for some early voice recognition software. He has worked on various EMACT Consultant Programs for more than 20 years from the EARPs to the DASH and DASH Plus and he also served as a Gala co-host many years ago.
Faye Harrington has been active in theater since high school. She has a BA in English from the University of Minnesota, with a minor in Drama. She spent most of her time in the Drama department working in every aspect of stage production. Faye was a founding member of the TCAN Players in Natick. In addition to producing, directing, designing and acting in many of the TCAN Players’ shows, she has also worked with other local companies such as the Hovey Players, Medway Players and Sudbury Savoyards.
Susan Harrington holds a B.S. in Education, with a minor in Art and an Area of Focus in The Hospitalized Child from Wheelock College, MA in Business Organizational and Communication from Emerson College, an MEd. in Special Education Technology from Emmanuel College, and an MS in Instructional Media from Fitchburg State College. She has
served on the EMACT board in a few capacities since 2007. She began as Recording Secretary, moved on to Membership Director and will conclude her tenure as Education Director. In addition, Susan has served on the board of The Footlight Club in Jamaica Plain and Arlington Friends of the Drama. Susan has served as production manager or co-production manager to productions with The Footlight Club, Arlington Friends of the Drama, Belmont Dramatic Club, Winchester Players, The Hovey Players, The Theatre Company of Saugus, and The Lexington Players. Susan also serves as the Massachusetts state contact for Region I to the American Association of Community Theatre.
Bobby Imperato has been a member of the Eastern Massachusetts theatre scene for over 20 years. He is an award-winning actor and fight choreographer and director in the Boston area. Bobby has developed, organized and facilitated children’s theatre classes and camps for several towns including but not limited to Middleton, Saugus, Winthrop and Peabody and currently teaches children at The New England School of Performing Arts. Bobby is the Assistant Director of Lasell University’s theatre department which recently expanded to include Regis College.
Sheila Kelleher has been involved in community theatre for 20 years, performing and directing for many theatre groups on the South Shore including Bay Players, Curtain Call Theatre, Nemasket River Productions, MMAS, Hull Performing Arts, Hat Trick Theatre and Plymouth Community Theatre, where she served as President until 2019. She has studied acting with Perishable Theatre, Providence, RI, Whitebridge Studios in NH with Academy Award winner Ernest Thompson, and workshopped in Musical Theatre at RADA in London. She holds a master’s degree from Emerson College in Theatre Education where she developed an Acting Workshop for Senior Citizens. She formerly taught Adult Acting at The Company Theatre in Norwell. Shelia joined EMACT as a DASH consultant in 2017. She wrote an award winning 10 minute play in 2013 which she expanded to an hour long one act in 2014. She added her own original music to expand it into a full musical which was successfully produced on stage in 2019.
Michael McGarty has been active in community, regional, professional and high school theaters in the New York/New England area for almost 50 years. He served as the Harvard Community Theater’s Artistic Director from its inception in 1990 to 2012, directing over 100 plays including four New England premieres of New York composer Jenny Giering’s work: Show, Crossing Brooklyn, Still Life and The Mistress Cycle. He was named Best Director at the 2012 EMACT festival for Crossing Brooklyn, and for both the latter productions at the New England Regional Festivals. In 2002, his production of ‘night Mother won the EMACT Best Production Award. In 2018, he won the DASH Best Director Award for his production of Out of Order at MMAS. As a lighting designer, Michael has won EMACT’s Best Lighting Design award for HCT’s entries of Crossing Brooklyn, The Mistress Cycle, No Exit, and Morning, Noon and Night in Central Park. As an educator, Michael graduated from Middlebury College in 1976 with an MA in French Theater and then developed the Performing Arts program at the Bromfield School in Harvard, MA from 1976 – 2012, directing 3 – 4 productions each year. The program garnered awards yearly in the MHSDG State Drama Festival with many of the student participants moving on to successful professional theatrical careers. From 1972, Michael began working with the then Massachusetts High School Drama Guild and acted as the Executive Director of the now Massachusetts Educational Theater Guild from 2010 – 2018 overseeing educational programming for over 180 public, private and parochial schools across the state.
Ted Mitchell joined EMACT as a DASH consultant in 2017. He has over 30 years of experience in theater, both on the acting and directing front. For the past five years he has served as Artistic Director for Norton Singers and has directed musical theater productions for the
group for almost 20 years. In 2017 he was honored with an EMACT DASH award for Best Direction of a Musical for Young Frankenstein; in 2016 he was nominated for Best Direction for Jekyll & Hyde. He is also the author of Pictures of You and Late Night Show under the pen
name T.J. Alexian.
John Murtagh has been involved in almost every aspect of theatre. An actor, director, choreographer, set designer, costume designer, and props master, most of his theatre time is spent as a Stage Manager. A graduate of Northeastern University majoring in Theatre, he was a founding member of Second Stage Theatre Co. He has worked professionally with Lyric Stage, Boston Theatre Works, Delvena Theatre Co., Academy Playhouse, and The North Carolina Shakespeare Festival. He is also involved with a dozen EMACT theatres in the metro-west area. He has received awards from NETC, NERF, EMACT, EARP, and DASH.
Dustin Todd Rennells holds a BFA in Fine Arts: Costume Design, Printmaking & Sculpture from Lesley University College of Art and Design (formerly the Art Institute of Boston). He has continued his education from there with dual degrees in education and theatre. At Lesley University he continued his love for Shakespeare under the direction of Anne Pluto as part of the Oxford Street Players. In 2001 Dustin co-founded CityStage, Inc. in his hometown of
Chillicothe, Missouri, and ran that summer stock theatre program--and complementary summer camp--for ten years. Dustin is now an elementary school teacher at Star Academy in Watertown, MA where he integrates the arts and theatre into all lesson plans. Dustin is also the Managing Director of Tony Williams Dance Center, City Ballet of Boston, and the Urban Nutcracker (where he also designed and created all the costumes) which is a lavish, Boston-centric modern twist on the traditional Nutcracker tale.
Dustin is also the Membership Director on the Board of Directors at The Footlight Club (America's oldest, continuously operating community theatre), and he often works as director, set designer, or costume designer with companies such as: SpeakEasy Stage, Co., The Footlight Club, Riverside Theatre Works, and The Center for the Arts in Natick. Some of his favorite directing projects have included: Harvey, See How They Run, Taming of the Shrew, Romeo & Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, You're A Good Man Charlie Brown, West Side Story, and Steel Magnolias. Dustin has been nominated for DASH awards for costume design (Our Town and All Shook Up), and hair/ makeup (Our Town).
Katie Swimm has been active in community, regional, and university theatre for over fifteen years as a director, actor, educator, and scholar. She received a BFA in Theatre Performance from Niagara University, an MA in Literature at Northwestern, and a PhD in Theatre and Performance Studies at Tufts University. Her areas of expertise include theatre and mental illness, the performance of faith, politics as performance, and community-based theatre practice. While at Tufts she taught introductory and advanced acting classes, assisted in voice and speech courses, and taught numerous courses on theatre history, theatre pedagogy, and professional development.
As a practitioner, Katie has directed, produced, and performed in numerous productions in Boston and Chicago, in regional, community, and academic settings. In Chicago, she was Managing Director for Greasy Joan &Co., and produced numerous productions with the company including Jeff Award Nominated The Misanthrope. Directing credits in Boston include Into the Woods and Rent at Tufts University, Big: The Musical, You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, Our Town, and Legally Blonde at The Footlight Club and Peter and the Starcatcher at Vokes. She is also a vocalist in the Nasty Women Sing ensemble, and has appeared locally in You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown and Bat Boy at The Footlight Club. In Fall 2020, she launched the Fenway Community Center Theatre Program as its inaugural Artistic Director.
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