Van Ackerman has an M.F.A. in acting from Ohio State University and has worked professionally as an actor and director. He is the director of marketing and public relations for Cincinnati Arts Association.
Anne Arenstein is a freelance writer covering music, opera, and theater. She was a 2009 National Endowment for the Arts Fellow in Classical Music and Opera Journalism. Her work has appeared in City Beat, Cincinnati Magazine, Express, and the Cincinnati Post. Anne joined the Acclaim panel in 2008 and is honored to serve with LCT members.
Elizabeth Beiting-Lipps is a Cincinnati native who earned her Bachelor’s from Otterbein College in both Music (Vocal Studies) and English (Creative Writing) and her Master’s in English Literature from Xavier University. She works in the Editorial division of Cengage Learning Publishers in Mason, Ohio and as Music Director for the Mount Notre Dame High School Theatre Program in Reading, Ohio. She has contributed to numerous professional and non-professional productions in a variety of capacities, including performance, technical, and directorial.
Burgess Byrd is a local actress who hads performed has performed with many theatres in the region and locally with Know Theatre of Cincinnati, Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, Ovation Theatre, The Children’s Theatre, Women’s Theatre Initiative and more.
Tracy Connor is an n actor/writer/improviser who lived in Los Angeles for almost 20 years until she was called back to the Midwest in 2007 to work in Cincinnati, Ohio with a groundbreaking innovation effort; The Clay Street Project, an innovation think tank at Procter & Gamble. At Clay Street, her talents as a writer/actor/improviser are all called into play as she helps business teams tackle projects. She also works as a corporate executive coach and teaches improvisation. Tracy comes from a strong stage background. She graduated with a degree in theatre from Emerson College in Boston and received additional theatrical training at Second City and Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago, Loose Moose Theatre in Calgary, Alberta and the British-American Drama Academy in Oxford, England. A veteran improviser, Tracy spent a dozen years with the Los Angeles Theatresports Company now known as IT, Impro Theatre. TV Credits include Huff, Push, Nevada and In Living Color. Film credits include Home Alone, Dutch, and indie For Pete’s Wake. Her writing has been influenced by her work with noted Los Angeles teacher/poet, Jack Grapes. Her Los Angeles writing/performance ensemble, the Quarterly Report, wrote and performed original monologues in the Spoken Word genre from 2001 – 2009. She currently resides in Cincinnati in an old Tudor with her husband Ron and their Maltipoo puppy, Coco.
Teresa de Zarn began her professional performing career started right here in Cincinnati. At the age of 16, she joined the Corps de ballet with The Cincinnati Opera, performing several seasons at the beautiful Music Hall. After moving to New York, Teresa landed her first Broadway show—CATS. She performed the roles of Sillabub, Demeter and Grizabella. This began a long and happy career in New York. She appeared in many Broadway shows and National tours including: The Three Penny Opera (with Sting) , the original company of The Secret Garden, The Phantom of the Opera (Christine), Showboat (Magnolia), Mystery of Edwin Drood (Rosa Bud)- to mention a few. Over the years, she has acted in some of the best regional and repertory theatre companies in the United States, such as: Actors Theatre of Louisville, Missouri Rep. and The Old Globe Theatre in San Diego. She has traveled the world, performing her one woman show! But her favorite place to play is right here along with her favorite accompanist and “partner in the spotlight” the wonderful, Cincinnati treasure, Mary Lou Boylan! Last January, Teresa enjoyed critical acclaim and a Cincinnati Theatre Award nomination for her portrayal of Lady Thiang in The Carnegie Theatre’s production of The King And I. Teresa has several commercials out currently. Ms. De Zarn taught in the theatre department at Northern Kentucky University and last year she shared her expertise with students at CCM. While at NKU, she earned critical acclaim for her direction of The Aaronsville Woman, in the YES New Play Festival and the sold out, fully mounted, Mainstage production of CATS. Teresa recently took over as Head of The Theatre at McNicholas High School on the East side of Cincinnati. She is thrilled to be teaching and directing at her alma mater. She resides in Amberley Village with her 2 wonderful guys, husband, Dave and son, Will.
Liz Eichler has a background in theatre marketing and PR as well as costuming, directing and writing. She has worked at the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, the University of Delaware’s Professional Theatre Training Program, the University of South Carolina Upstate, The Warehouse Theatre in Greenville, SC, and at the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. Her focus has been building and educating audiences as well as designing and building historical and unique costumes for new musicals, outdoor Shakespeare, huggable children’s theatre performers and many, many more. She is currently teaching at Sinclair College and working on assorted creative projects.
Joseph Gorman is a songwriter, playwright, screenwriter, and community organizer. Joe created the Blues Alley Cat pop-opera, a musical about Over-the-Rhine in 2003. Joe has co-written the screenplay, Gone Mountain, a film with mountaintop removal as the backdrop. Joe is the producer of Longlane, a CD containing 16 original songs. His songs have been used on The Guiding Light and As the World Turns soap operas. Joe works as a community organizer in Camp Washington. Joe is a co-founder of the Over-the-Rhine Chamber of Commerce. Joe is the developer of five hillside houses on Mulberry Street. He is the father of four, including, Anna, an artist and performer who graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago; Sam, who is a music major and actor at Denison University; and, NKU music theatre grad and Equity Actor Lindsay Olivia Travis, who resides in NYC. Joe has served as a panelist on both the Acclaim and League of Cincinnati Theaters organizations.
Michael Hatton is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Theatre and Dance at Northern Kentucky University, teaching courses in theatre history, race and gender through dramatic literature and dramatic theory and criticism. When not in the classroom he works as a freelance director and stage manager. Favorite directing credits include: The Rocky Horror Show, The Farnsworth Invention, The American Clock, The Oresteia, Devising Me, Peter Pan, When the Dealing’s Done, A Thousand Miles Burning (NKU), The Santaland Diaries (New Edgecliff Theatre), Eastbound Jungle (Cincinnati Fringe Festival), Good Evening, Pigtown (Performance Gallery), and Corpus Christi. Michael has also worked with several local, regional and international organizations including the Lincoln Ampthitheatre, the Sibiu International Theatre Festival, Cincinnati Arts Association, Cincinnati Overture Awards, Showstoppers/Belterra Casino, Cincinnati Men’s Chorus, Professional Concepts, Commonwealth Theatre, and The Performance Gallery. Mr. Hatton is also the NKU coordinator for the Lois and Richard Rosenthal Uptown Arts Scholar internship program.
Laurel Humes is development director at HealthPoint Family Care of Northern Kentucky, a nonprofit primary care medical and dental practice for low-income and uninsured patients. Laurel’s previous 28-year career was as a newspaper reporter, in Hamilton, Ohio; Memphis, Tenn., and Cincinnati. She is a graduate of Miami University, with a teaching certificate in English, speech and drama. She has performed in college and community theater. Laurel is a lifelong theater-goer. She has reviewed shows for newspapers and has been fortunate to see productions in New York City, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and London.
Douglas Iden Doug Iden is a avid, lifelong theater fan with an extensive collection of original cast albums. He also teaches classes on musical theater at OLLI (Osher Lifelong Learning Institute).
Alan Jozwiak has had plays showcased in the Scenes from the Staten Island Ferry Festival (Sundog Theater, New York), Gi60 One-Minute Play Contest (New York), Lamia Ink! International One-Page Play Contest (New York), and Madlab Theater (Columbus, OH). His plays have been a part of the Cincinnati Fringe Festival (Dada, as Translated to Stage; Extreme Puppet Theater; and Tainted Love: A Zombie-Human Love Story) and the Indianapolis Fringe Festival (Crazy Quilt). The play Tainted Love was an adaptation of a short story Alan wrote that was published in the Zombie anthology New Dawn Fades by Post Mortem Press. He was also awarded a City of Cincinnati Individual Artist Grant to write and produce a full-length play on cutting and self-injury called Only When I Bleed. A long-time member of Cincinnati Playwrights Initiative (CPI), Alan has had several staged readings of his works performed as part of the CPI New Voices Series held at the Aronoff Center for the Arts. He currently serves as a CPI board member and has held the offices of President and Treasurer.
Karen Kilgore is currently the President for the Children’s Theatre of Mason, in Mason, Ohio. Karen is also on the USO Tribute Cincinnati Committee, serves on the Festival of Mason committee as secretary, and is the current chair for Mason Idol. Karen was formerly on the speaker’s bureau for the J&J Campaign for Nursing’s Future. In the past she has served as the Executive Director for Miracles for Life, a non-profit organization that supports blood, tissue, and organ donation. She has a Bachelor in Nursing from the University of Cincinnati and an Associate degree from the University of Charleston and a degree from Marshall University in Huntington, W.Va. Karen, her husband Brian, and their children Alexis and Madison live in Mason.
Sherry McCamley has been a fixture on the local theatre and music scene since moving to Cincinnati from California 16 years ago. She has directed, musical directed, and performed in dozens of productions. Some of her favorite acting roles include Mrs. Bates in Emma (Playhouse in the Park), Rita in Cowgirls (Ensemble Theatre), Ms. Pennywise in Urinetown the Musical (Showbiz Players) and Grandma Gelman in Caroline or Change (New Stage Collective). She has musical directed such shows as Avenue Q (Showbiz Players), Altar Boyz (Showbiz Players), and The Full Monty (New Stage Collective). As Director of Theatre at Anderson High School, she directed Songs for a New World, West Side Story, Children of Eden, Titanic the Musical, To Kill a Mockingbird, Dearly Departed, and Greater Tuna, among many others. She has a CD of mostly original tunes called “Changing My Point of View” available on I-Tunes and CDBaby, and plays piano and sings cabaret gigs all over the Cincinnati area.
Deondra Means is a proud husband and father of two who has performed for TCTC for the past 17 seasons and is the Co-founder of Kuumba (people of color theatre ensemble). He was the 2005 recipient of the “Reach for The Stars” emerging leader award in the arts by Applause magazine. He’s taught theatre at Northern Kentucky University and is currently on the education staff of The Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati.
Danute Miskinis is currently Director of Events for the University of Cincinnati Foundation. Her background includes a master’s Degree in Theater, Television and Film Production from the University of Michigan. Before joining UCF, she produced special events including the openings of the Aronoff Center for the Arts, the Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Arts and the Schuster Center in Dayton.
Sandy Osher is a Cincinnati Reproductive Surgeon, who has just discovered a profound love for the Performing Arts. He acted, poorly, in Mrs. Shreve’s 4th grade Drama class and just recently recovered from the trauma.
Sheldon Polonsky is a pediatrician and computerized medical record specialist who has been an avid theater-goer all his life. In addition to his MD he has a BA in English with a particular interest in Shakespeare and classical theater. He has also developed strong ties with the Cincinnati theater community through the efforts of his son, Mitchell, who has been very active in local theater. Sheldon has been a panelist previously both with the League of Cincinnati Theatres and ACT.
Kay Sloan is the author of two novels and several books on American cultural history, from silent film to Alaskan exploring. A long-time theater supporter in Cincinnati, she has published film criticism and made a documentary, “Suffragettes in the Silent Cinema.” She earned her Ph.D. in American Studies from the University of Texas, and now teaches creative writing and literature at Miami University.
Kate Spencer, with a lifelong passion for the theatre, earned advanced degrees in both English and Theatre. She moved to Cincinnati in 1995 to teach writing, literature and drama at Cincinnati State, where she later developed the Theatre Cluster (courses like Intro to Theatre, Acting for the Camera, Children’s Theatre, Theatre History), and brought many local productions to campus for the benefit of CPS and Cincinnati State students. Before joining the LCT panel, Kate worked with the Acclaim Awards and also adjudicated for local community theatres through ACT for the last five years. Now retired, when not in the theatre, Kate can be found writing, dancing, or sewing costumes for the Forget-Me-Nots, the 19th century social dance group she performs with.
Cathy Springfield has directed and produced over 160 productions with many regional premieres including the stage premiere in collaboration with Kenneth Branagh of his film, A Midwinters Tale, which debuted Xavier University’s new theatre facility. She was the Director of Performing at Xavier University for over 20 years where she taught has Directing, Acting, Improvisation for the Actor, Creating Comedy, Greek and Roman Drama, Philosophy of Theatre, Integrated Arts, and other courses she developed for the theatre program she devised called, A Theatre of Conscience. Cathy was a professional actor for 12 years and was co-founder of American Repertory Theatre of Cincinnati, which included ARTreach Touring Theatre, The Shakespeare Festival of Cincinnati (in Burnett Woods) and Peanut Butter Theatre (PBT), a resident children’s theatre at The Carnegie Theatre in Covington.
Tim Waldrip began his acting career playing the title role in Oliver! at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. Over the years he has worked on Broadway with Yul Brynner, appeared on television and film with James Earl Jones, Aiden Quinn, Sigourney Weaver, John Malkovich and many others. Tim is acting and directing theater and film locally and is the Midwest Acting Instructor for both Barbizon and International Model and Talent Association (IMTA). Tim, also, is a private coach for actor of all ages and levels out of his studio in Northside.
John Woll is a Cincinnati native and an alumnus of Cincinnati’s School for Creative and Performing Arts where he was a Musical Theater, Vocal and Drama Major. He went on to study Musical Theater at Ball State University with a dance minor. He performed at various regional theaters and theme parks before moving to Los Angeles for four years to work for Disneyland and Universal Studios. He has always been an avid audience member of all types of theater and has a deep appreciation for every aspect of the artform. Nowadays John is a salon owner at Glow Salon (Loveland, Ohio) and has found another use for his artistic perspective. He still enjoys performing from time to time with various theatrical groups in the area.