President: Maegan McNerney Azar

Maegan McNerney Azar is the Associate Professor of Acting & Directing and Chair of Theatre Arts at Furman University in Greenville, SC. She received her BS in Theatre from East Tennessee State University and her MFA in Acting Pedagogy from The University of Alabama. Specialties include Physical Storytelling, Musical Theatre, and Theatre for Young Audiences. Prior to Furman, Maegan was the Education Director for the California Theatre Center. A member of SETC since 2001, Maegan’s career has developed in large part due to the organization’s constant presence in her professional and academic life. She has served SETC as Vice President of Administration, Secretary, Vice Chair of College & University Division, and on the Strategic Planning Committee (Chair), Hall of Fame Task Force, Succession Planning Task Force, and Screening Auditions Task Force. Maegan is also a co-founder of the SETC Women+ in Theatre Committee.

Maegan is currently serving as SETC’s President

Vice President of Administration: Kris Rau McIntyre

Kris Rau McIntyre has been with the Coastal Carolina University Theatre Department since 2002, where she is the coordinator of the Bachelor of Arts program. She most recently served as the SETC VP of States from 2018-2021, was the SC State Rep from 2015-2021, and has enjoyed many years of being the Auditions Coordinator for professional and high school auditions in South Carolina. Kris has worked in theatre professionally since 1998, as a proud member of Actor’s Equity Association. She graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University with a Master of Fine Arts in Acting in 2001, after earning her Bachelor of Arts in Communication/Theatre from North Carolina State University in 1998, which is where she met her husband Marc when they were both cast in Agatha Christie’s Murder at the Vicarage. Kris went on to receive her Meisner Technique teaching certification for her training with Larry Silverberg, and is a Yoga Alliance Board certified yoga instructor.

Kris is currently serving as SETC’s Vice President of States.

Vice President of Equity & Inclusion: Adanma Onyedike Barton

Adanma Onyedike Barton is an Associate Professor of Theatre at Berea College in Kentucky.  All students who are accepted to Berea College pay NO tuition and we are one of seven Labor colleges in the United States.  Prof. Barton obtained her M.F.A. at Virginia Commonwealth University and specializes in Theatre pedagogy with an emphasis in Acting, Solo Performance, and African American Theatre.  Adanma was proudly the first Black female President of the Kentucky Theatre Association.  With SETC, Adanma has served as Chair of Cultural Diversity committee, Executive Committee Secretary, and is now very pleased to move into the important new role of Vice-President of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion!

Vice President of Finance: Jonathan R. Michaelsen

Active in the Southeastern Theatre Conference since 1991, Jonathan Michaelsen served for a number of years on the executive committee and as president in 2003-2004.  In 2018, Michaelsen was honored by SETC by being selected for organization’s Hall of Fame.  He is currently Vice President of Finance for SETC.

Michaelsen served as chair of the Department of Theatre, Drama, and Contemporary Dance at Indiana University from 2004 to 2018. During his tenure as chair, Michaelsen administered major growth in the department, including the addition of twelve positions as well as doing much to diversify the faculty and staff in the department.  He oversaw the addition of the Contemporary Dance Program into the Department and a $17-million-dollar renovation to the IU theatre complex, which included the addition of a new studio theatre and movement rehearsal space.  He was instrumental in re-establishing the MFA program in playwriting at Indiana University and spearheaded the creation of the Musical Theatre BFA and the Costume Technology MFA degrees.  He also created the Indiana University Summer Theatre and Premiere Musicals: Developing New Works of Musical Theatre at Indiana University.

As part of the mainstage season at Indiana University, Michaelsen has directed Hamlet, Mr. Burns: A Post Electric Play, Vanya, Sonia, Marsha, and Spike, A Clean House, The Scarlet Letter, Arcadia, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and the world premieres of Reel and Nice Nails. 

For the Indiana University Summer Theatre, Michaelsen directed Love’s Labours Lost, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, Comedy of Errors, Taming of the Shrew and The Foreigner and at the Brown County Playhouse, Present Laughter, The Glass Menagerie, The Importance of Being Earnest, Arms and the Man and 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. He also directed the opera L’Orfeo for the Bloomington Early Music Festival and the Jacobs School of Music.

Michaelsen has receive two major grants in the last three years.  The first was a Presidential Grant in the Arts and Humanities to create and produce a stage work centered on addiction and the national drug crisis.  Working with playwright Peter Gil-Sheridan and a company of actors, this piece, entitled Ascendant was devised in the summer and fall of 2019 and produced in the winter of 2020.

Michaelsen received a second grant through the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and Platform/Indiana Studies to adaptation the writing of author Michael Martone for stage.  This project is ongoing with two scripts nearing completion.

Internationally, Michaelsen served as vocal coach for a production of The Tempest in South Africa and taught acting and voice in Beijing, China in 2018.

Before coming to Indiana University, Michaelsen was Associate Dean for Humanities and Fine Arts at the University of Alabama. He also served as head of the graduate and undergraduate Acting programs in the Department of Theatre and Dance for ten years. He created a professional theatre company for the University of Alabama, SummerTide, and directed its inaugural production.

Professor Michaelsen currently serves on the Commission on Accreditation for the National Association of Schools of Theatre and frequently chairs accreditation visiting teams to colleges and universities around the country.

Jonathan is currently serving as SETC’s Vice President of Finance.

Vice President of Services: Neno Russell

Neno Russell teaches draping and patternmaking classes, Introduction to Public Speaking and Fundamentals of Design. Broadway Credits include: Flying over Sunset, Amazing Grace, Finian’s Rainbow, Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life, Footloose, Bring in da’ Noise Bring in da’ Funk, and The Rose Tattoo. National and International Tours: Footloose, 4 companies of Come From Away. Film, TV, and Commercials:  Emperor, Loving, Good Lord Bird, 2 seasons of Mercy Street, 4 seasons of Turn: Washington’s Spies, more than 70 national commercials for brands such as MTV, VH1, Journeys, Thomasville, Petsmart, NFL Films, The History Channel and Old Navy, and designed 7 documentaries for the History Channel. Recent regional work includes: Ford’s Theatre- Guys and Dolls, Christmas Carol, and Into the Woods. Cleveland Playhouse- The Royale.  He received an MFA in costume technology from Florida State University, and a BS in speech and theatre from Middle Tennessee State University.

Secretary: Ginger Poole

Ginger Poole has served SETC as the Vice-chair of SETC Professional Theatre Division and as a member of the SETC Finance Committee. She is currently the producing Artistic Director of Mill Mountain Theatre and a proud member of Actor’s Equity Association and an Associate member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Union. She has studied, taught, choreographed, and performed throughout the U.S. Originally from Atlanta, she has worked with the N.F.L. and The Atlanta Falcons as their director and choreographer. She has shared the stage with Smokey Robinson, Charlie Daniels, Travis Tritt, Randy Travis and the B-52’s. Prior to coming to Mill Mountain Theatre, she was based out of North Carolina where she has worked with Flat Rock Playhouse, the State Theatre of North Carolina, in over 25 productions. She was a part of the education program at Flat Rock Playhouse for 5 years where she taught for their Apprentice Companies and their Conservatory Program in Acting, Dance, and Musical Theatre. Ginger has taught at The University of Southern Mississippi, Western Carolina University, William Carey College, Mississippi University for Women, and currently teaches at Hollins University. Ginger holds her M.F.A. in Acting Performance from the University of Southern Mississippi and continues to teach acting and dance.

Ginger is currently serving as SETC’s Secretary.

Past President: Jeff Gibson

Jeff Gibson has served SETC as President from 2018-2020 and through service as Vice President of Administration, chair of Development, membership on the Finance Committee, and developer and reviewer for SETC’s grant program for professional theatre companies. He also initiated the development of the Arts Management interest group and worked with SETC colleagues to develop the Theatre Teaching Collaborative. He is Chair of Theatre and Dance at Middle Tennessee State University, Chair of the Theatre Division of the Tennessee Governors’ School for the Arts, and a former chair of KCACTF Region IV. He received his MFA in Theatre Management from the University of Alabama and served as a management assistant at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival.

Jeff is currently serving as SETC’s Past President.

Vice President of Divisions*: Lynn Nelson

Lynn has been active in theater since she played the part of a spoon in her third grade play about manners. The bug bit really hard and she remained active in theatre throughout high school and college.  Her theatre career continued when her high school drama teacher cast her in a role at Tupelo Community Theatre in 1984, where she has been active since. At TCT she serves as a board member, directs, works backstage, and serves as publicity chair. Lynn is also active with Mississippi Theatre Association and AACT. She currently serves as Region IV Rep on the Board of AACT and was recently inducted into AACT Fellows. She travels across the country serving as an adjudicator for theatre festivals. At SETC she has served as Community Theatre chair, Divisions Chair, Secretary on the Executive Committee, and member of the Personnel Committee. She works as a Human Resources professional and lends her HR knowledge to both SETC and AACT.

Vice President of States*: Jeremy Kisling

Jeremy Kisling has taught, directed, and performed for young people for over 30 years. He is the Producing Artistic Director at Lexington Children’s Theatre. He received his B.A. in Theatre Arts from the University of Northern Iowa and his M.F.A. in Drama and Theatre for Youth from the University of Texas at Austin. Jeremy is a part-time instructor at the University of Kentucky. He authored stage versions of Why Mosquitoes Buzz, Anansi the Spider and The Princess Who Lost her Hair. He was the recipient of the 2017 Sara Spencer Child Drama Award and the 2019 Tom Behm Award from the Southeastern Theatre Conference. He is a proud graduate of Leadership Lexington in 2019. He is honored to share his life with Amie Kisling his wife and his wonderful son, Leo.

Chair

Appointed by the President following the vote at the annual SETC Business Meeting.

Cedric Rembert

Johannah Edwards

Johannah Maynard Edwards is the Executive Artistic Director of the Women’s Theatre Festival based in Raleigh, NC. She has directed, devised, and produced in NYC, Minneapolis, and the Triangle. A passionate arts educator, Johannah has been a teaching artist at Raleigh Little Theatre, Arts Together, Sterling Montessori, LearningSpring, NC Governor’s School, and at Longleaf School of the Arts. Johannah is a Chief Rep for PAAL, the Parent Artist Advocacy League for the Performing Arts and serves on the Arts Learning Community for Universal Access through the Office of Raleigh Arts. She also serves on the SETC Equity Diversity Inclusion + Access Task Force and on the LEAD Conference Content Committee. Johannah is a graduate of NYU/Tisch School of the Arts/Playwrights Horizons Theatre School.

Elizabeth Watkins

Elizabeth Watkins is a Theatre Art teacher at W.G. Sanders Middle School. Elizabeth lives in Columbia, SC, and has worked with the Orangeburg Part-Time Players at the BlueBird theater in Downtown Orangeburg. She recently worked on a production for WTF(Women’s Theatre Festival) Occupy the Stage in November 2020. Elizabeth created her own theatre production company at the age of 23, called Blue Hurricane Productions, LLC. She studied Drama at South Carolina State University before deciding to pursue a career in teaching and working on her thesis for Winthrop University’s Master of Arts in Arts Administration. She is an activist for women of color in theatre and works with SETC EDIA and Executive Board. She is a known artist in her community and enjoys making costumes in her spare time.

Andre Minkins

Andre Minkins is an actor, director, producer, writer, and the founder of the theatrical touring company, 7AM Productions. Since receiving his Masters of Fine Arts degree from the University of NC at Greensboro, he has performed in, written, directed, and produced numerous plays across the U.S. Besides touring with his own company, he has worked with other national touring groups performing theatre and poetry. Currently, Mr. Minkins is an Associate Professor of Theatre, TV, Film, and Speech, and a coordinator of the Dramatic Arts at Winston Salem State University. He has taught at other institutions including NC A&T State University, Shaw University, Tennessee State University, and the University of Arkansas. He has done workshops and camps across the country, reaching out to share the gift of the Dramatic Arts with all ages. His training sessions for actors, directors, and writers have created arts enthusiasts and professionals a like in theatre, television, and film. He is also considered one of the foremost authorities on Black Theatre and Theatre Festivals in the country, having been mentored by the late Larry Leon Hamlin, founder of the oldest continuous Black theatre company in the Southeast, The NC Black Repertory Company, and creator of the largest gathering of African Americans in theatre in the world, the National Black Theatre Festival. He has consulted with and/or been on the board of several festivals and theatre companies including Dekontee Artists collaborative of Liberia/USA, the Tampa Bay theatre Festival, Festival Stage Winston Salem, the DC Black Theatre Festival, the Atlanta Black Theatre Festival, and the International Black Film Festival of Nashville. Lastly, he continues to be a mentor and consultant to numerous former students, actors, and organizations that are involved in film, television, and theatre across the globe.