DASH Reviewers

EMACT's reviewers pool is composed of experienced community theater directors and professional educators with backgrounds in theater arts, art education, and/or hands-on experience.

Celia Couture: Celia, formerly President of EMACT, is an award-winning director with an MFA from Emerson College. Recent directing credits include Berlin to Broadway with Kurt Weill (Gloucester Stage Company), The Laramie Project (Arlington Friends of the Drama, winner of EMACT's DASH Awards for Best Director and Best Production), Proof (Vokes Players, finalist at the EMACT Festival), and Sunday in the Park With George (Concord Players, nominated for Best Director) to name just a few. Her production of M. Butterfly at AFD won the Moss Hart Award as well as an IRNE Award. She has received several NETC/EMACT Best Director awards and directed the world premieres of Apples and Oranges and The Quarterly (nominated for Best Director at the 2002 EMACT Festival) by local playwrights Lauren Cochran and Valerie von Rosenvinge respectively. As President on the Board of AFD Celia headed a successful capital campaign for building renovations. Founder and artistic director of children's theatre company and touring musical company, Celia is an acting coach and teacher at the Littleton School. Celia has also written and directed a training video, "Diversity in the Workplace" for Hewlett-Packard and has also appeared on stage. Currently an EMACT consultant, Celia is serving the NETC Board of Directors as a co-convention planner.

Georgianna Donadio: Georgianna is an award winning radio host and television producer whose work has received nominations and submittals for Sony and Emmy awards. Since 1980, she has participated in New England Theatre Conference and EMACT drama festivals, receiving numerous awards which include Best Ensemble, Best Actress, Best Production and a special adjudicator's award for Direction. She has studies with such notables as Gene Frankel, Uta Hagen, David Wheeler and Jim Struthers. Georgianna teaches both acting and directing workshops and is the past President of the Sherborn Players and the Laurance Play Guild. Georgianna's most memorable and notable theatre experience was appearing on the Broadway stage with Richard Burton in Equus, in 1976.

Gordon Ellis: Gordon joined the EMACT team in 2006, having been an Actor and Director in the Boston area for over 12 years. He is currently a member of the Board of Directors for Acme Theater Productions, where he serves as Co-Producer of their New Works Winter Festival, which annually highlights new and unpublished short plays. As an actor, Gordon has been recognized over the years with multiple awards and nominations. He is a three-time DASH nominee for Best Supporting Actor for his roles in "The Laramie Project", "Wait Until Dark", and "Lend Me A Tenor", (for which he won). As part of the annual EMACT Drama Festival, Gordon has been nominated as Best Supporting Actor for his performance in "Waiting For The End" and as Best Actor for "Butterflies Are Free", as well as winning the award for Best Actor for his role in "One Before Forty". As Director, he has staged award winning productions of "What Happens In Vegas", "Love Of A Pig", and "Five Women Wearing The Same Dress", among others. Over the last seven seasons, Gordon has acted and directed in over 26 full-length productions for more than a dozen EMACT member organizations.

Jim Grana: Jim is a five time recipient of the 'Best Actor' award at the NETC/EMACT Drama Festivals. He is past NETC vice-president and a member of their 'College of Fellows'. Jim also served as Chairman of the NETC Drama Festival for a six year duration. He is President of the Arlington Friends of the Drama, Inc. and a past President of the Winthrop Playmakers, Inc. His production of "Titanic, the musical" at AFD, won the coveted DASH Award for 'Best Musical' in 2004. He has written, produced and directed an original musical celebrating the life and times of Judy Garland called "Judy! Judy! Judy!". Jim has worked both as actor and director with many theater companies in the New England area including the Hackmatack Playhouse in Berwick, Maine. He is delighted to continue as consultant for EMACT and its many talented companies.

Robert Hallisey: Robert has a B.A. in Drama from Vassar College, a Certificate in Radio and Television Broadcasting from the Northeast Broadcasting School, and more than 22 years of experience working in all aspects of community theater production, focusing primarily on acting, directing, producing, stage management, and sound design. Robert has performed in numerous genres of productions, including musicals, classical and contemporary dramas and comedies, and original/experimental productions. His home group is the Winchester Players and he has done ETC consults for groups including The Arlington Friends of the Drama, The Belmont Dramatic Club, The Burlington Players, Colonial Chorus Players, The Footlight Club, The Mystic Players, Needham Community Theatre and The Wellesley Players.

Jen Howard: Jen has participated in Eastern Massachusetts Community Theater since 1970 as an educator, director, designer and production manager. She served for many years on the Boards of EMACT (President, VP Publicity, VP Services), the New England Theater Conference (Community Theater Division Chair), the Burlington Players (President, Director of Education), and Winnmere Family Theater, and as a state representative to the American Association of Community Theatre (AACT). She co-chaired two EMACT Community Theater Festivals and the current DASH and ETC programs were launched during her tenure as EMACT Director of Services. Jen established and is the Executive Director for the Burlington Players' Children's Theater Workshop (CTW), a hands-on theater education program for grades 1-7 which has trained hundreds of children in Creative Dramatics and Stagecraft since 1974. The Winnmere Family Theater, for those in grade 8 and above, was an outgrowth from CTW, starting in 1976 as an improvisation workshop under Jen's direction and evolving into a community theater organization presenting meaningful family entertainment and theater experiences for teens and adults. Under her guidance they have produced Alky, a teleplay on teen alcohol abuse; Bang Bang You're Dead, addressing teen violence; plus Babes in Toyland, Tales of the Arabian Nights, Voices from the High School, Facing Up, Babes in Arms, Grease, Just a High School Play, and many more. Jen's adult directing experience includes The Philadephia Story at Vokes (Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE) Nomination for Best Director); Burlington's Sea Marks (EMACT Drama Festival finalist); Framingham State's Anything Goes, and The Secret Garden in Wellesley. She has also done costume design, props, and other production work for Vokes (To Kill A Mockingbird), Hovey (Come Back Little Sheba), and Wellesley (Gypsy, Bye Bye Birdie). At the Park Playhouse in Burlington she has won over twenty EMACT Honors and two DASH awards for: direction of shows including Red Hot & Cole, Prelude to a Kiss, The Secret Garden, Our Town, Arsenic and Old Lace, Amateurs, Twelve Angry Men; set and costume design for Crossing Delancy, Dark of the Moon, True West, California Suite, Steel Magnolias, Dirty Work at the Crossroads, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, and On Golden Pond; and production management of Lips Together Teeth Apart, Other People's Money, and more than a dozen other productions.

Corey Jackson: Corey has been directing, coaching, and acting in community, professional, and children's theater for several years. His directing credits include She Loves Me (Concord Players) The Music Man (Theatre III), The Shape of Things (SAMM Entertainment), The Boys Next Door (Sudbury Savoyards), Camelot (SLOC) and The Secret Garden (SLOC). Corey has directed youth programs at Stoneham Theatre, The Village Theatre Project of Groton, and ACTS in Concord, MA. Corey's acting credits include That's Andy with Ergo Productions-New York; 1776 and Godspell with Theatre III; Funny Thing...Forum at Weston Friendly; Christmas Carol and Lizzie Borden at Stoneham Theatre; Putting It Together at Riverside Theatre Works; 1776 and Complete Word of God (abridged) for Seacoast Repertory and Assassins for Metro Stage Company. Corey is an Ensemble Member of The Village Theatre Project, a professional theater based in Groton, MA.

Jean MacFarland: Jean has been involved in the production side of community and regional theatre for the past 20 years. Most recently Producing and Stage Managing, but has also experience in Directing, Choreographing, and Performing. Director/Choreography credits include Guys and Dolls, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Good News, Bye, Bye Birdie, and Side by Side by Sondheim. Stage Managing is a passion for Jean as it gives the grand scope of a production through interactions with the cast and crew and involvement in every element of a Production. Stage Managing credits include: A Little Night Music and Merrily We Roll Along, Kiss Me Kate and The Secret Garden, Forever Plaid, Baby, Side by Side by Sondheim, Nine, Bye, Bye Birdie, Cabaret , You're A Good Man Charlie Brown, The All Night Strut, Company and World Goes 'Round. Jean was the recipient of two EMACT awards for stage managing Cabaret and You're A Good Man Charlie Brown. As Producer, Captains Courageous, the Musical won the Moss Hart Award and the EMACT Festival Award for Best Production of 2003. Onstage performances include Cinderella's Stepmother (Into the Woods), Jan (Grease), Robin (Godspell), Soloist (Sentimental Journey), Milkmaid/Ensemble (Oliver), Lynne (Stepping Out), and in the ensembles of Good News, Mame, The King and I, and Sugar. Currently, Jean serves as the Membership Secretary of EMACT.

Maryann Swift: Maryann has been active in collegiate, community and regional theater and dance for over 20 years in the Midwest, New York and Boston. [She began her theater training as a student of the Silver Masque at Northeastern University, worked for several years as the choreographer for the Wilmington Spotlighters' Touring Company, then moved into Production Stage Management for Madison Civic Repertory (WI) and a number of community theater groups in the Midwest. In New York, she actively directed and choreographed for several Equity Showcase companies in Park Slope and Brooklyn Heights. A scholarship student at the West Side Dance Project in Manhattan, she also studied at the New York School of Ballet, Broadway Dance Center and Steps. ] A representative list of directing credits include Annie Get Your Gun, Chicago, 42nd Street, Dames at Sea, Applause, SideShow and Inspecting Carol. She recently directed Godspell for the Off-Broadway Players at UMass Lowell (spring 2007) and A Little Night Music for Vokes Players (fall 2007). [Onstage, she has especially enjoyed roles in Peter Pan (Peter), The Fantasticks (Luisa), Hello Dolly! (Mrs. Levi), Me & My Girl (Sally), 42nd Street (Diane Lorimar) and Sunday in the Park with George (Yvonne). She served for several years on the Board of Directors for Arlington Friends of the Drama in the capacity of Treasurer and Program Director. An active member of EMACT, Maryann is a consultant in the Achievement Recognition programs and served as past EMACT Treasurer and Vice President. She has also received a number of nominations and awards for directing, choreography and stage management through the DASH program and at the annual EMACT Theater Festival. In 2005, Maryann was appointed Chairman of the annual NETC New England Theatre Conference convention, successfully hosted over 3 days in Wakefield MA for over 300 participants and 50+ presenters.

Mark Usher: Mark has been involved with performance and creative production element of theatre for 20 years serving as role of Performer, Director, Choreographer, President and mentor for young Directors and Choreographers with many groups. Hailing from Ireland Mark was part of building a youth theatre group as President for many years into a well respected troupe within AIMS (Association of Irish Musical Societies) and the only youth group on the country deemed at the standard to participate in the annual Musical awards program. As a Choreographer Mark has had award recognition at the Northern Ireland Festival of Light Opera (The Wiz), also nominated at the same festival for "Bugsy Malone" and was part of the winning creative team of "Chicago". In the Irish National Arena (AIMS) he received a nomination for Choreography for "Joseph" and as Producer for best musical nomination with "Annie". Since moving to the US in 2000 Mark has been actively involved as Director and Choreographer for many productions including Cabaret, Wizard of OZ, Godspell, Fiddler on the Roof, Evita (13 DASH Nominations including Musical and Choreography), Assassins (15 DASH Nominations including Musical, Director and Choreography). Also an avid Performer some favorite roles include Edward in "Someone who'll watch over me" (EMACT Drama Festival Ensemble Winner"), Bill Sykes in "Oliver" (DASH Supporting Actor Nominee), Colonel Melkett in "Black Comedy", Caleb in "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" and Bandleader in "Best little whorehouse in Texas".

BJ Williams: BJ has been an EMACT consultant for 15 years. A former English teacher and Director of Drama at Belmont High School, she received her bachelor's degree and her master's of education from the University of California at Berkeley. BJ then came to Boston where she received her M.S. from Emerson College. Her varied roles in community have included Director, Producer, Publicity, and Set Décor.