Alex Citron (Executive Director) has worked in professional, educational and community theatres since 1971. Beginning as an actor during his college years, he appeared in over fifty plays, including four summers at California’s historic Fallon House Theatre. After college, Alex spent the next five years working as a professional Stage Manager at theatres in New York, Connecticut, North Carolina and Colorado. In addition, he began writing plays, having two scripts produced, and one considered for television.
After a hiatus from the theatre during the 1980’s, Alex resumed his pursuits of playwrighting and directing upon his relocation to Charlottesville in 1994. He has directed for ACT I and the Charlottesville Vocal Arts Society (formerly The Opera Society). In addition, he spent six years as president of the Vocal Arts Society, supervising the production of more than twenty musical programs. His one-act plays, Birdwatching and In the Soup, have been presented during Live Arts’ Summer Theatre Festivals in 2004 and 2006.
Alex directed Little Shop of Horrors and Man of La Mancha for Play On!
Linn Wood (Company Manager) - Appointed by the Operations Board on December 15, 2007. Bio pending.
Bill Smith (Business Manager) began acting in community theatre in Richmond in 1980 and by 1993 had performed in over 30 shows. Local venues include ACT I, Four County Players, Waynesboro Players, ShenanArts, and Oak Grove Theatre among others. Some of his most
notable shows in that period included The Importance of Being Earnest, Blithe Spirit, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Same Time Next Year and Chapter Two. After a ten year hiatus to concentrate on family and work, he returned to the stage in 2003 for three shows at two venues in the Valley. Bill was seen in Play On's production of The Odd Couple as Felix Ungar.
Bill holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from the College of William & Mary and is the Director of Finance at Piedmont Liablity Trust.
Nisha N. Mohammed (Director of Development) has more than 15 years’ experience in the field of nonprofit management and fundraising. A writer with a passion for the theater, Nisha’s love of musical theater dates back to her childhood in New York. She works for The Rutherford Institute, a national civil liberties organization headquartered in Charlottesville, Va., and oversees its development, education and public relations efforts.
Nisha has appeared on the Play On! stage in Little Shop of Horrors, Man of LaMancha and The Main Room.
Heather Waters (Publicity & Marketing Coordinator) Heather brings a diverse background to Play On! She grew up in Hawaii, splitting her time between competitive horseback riding and the theater. In college she obtained a degree in Biology, while performing in dinner theatre. After getting married, Heather took a break from the theater. During this time she worked with marine mammals in Hawaii, did behavioral research for the Smithsonian Conservation and Research Center in Virginia, and started, ran and eventually sold her own business in Colorado.
Heather moved to Charlottesville in 2002 with her husband and twin daughters. It is thanks to her daughters interest in theater that Heather found her way back to the stage. She performed with her daughters in various shows and then stepped out on her own again with Play On! She has been on the Play On! Stage in Home for the Holidays and more recently as Guenevere in Camelot. She is very excited to be a part of the ever growing Play On! family and is proud to be a part of it's marketing team.
Tina McArthur (Broadcast Media Specialist), a 2006 honors graduate of the University of Virginia's elite Media Studies program and a media specialist for a New York-based public relations firm, is excited to bring her combination of communications experience and enthusiasm for all things entertainment to her position as Broadcast Media Specialist of Play On! Theatre.
Tina honed her PR expertise as an entertainment critic for The Cavalier Daily and at internships with Charlottesville's NBC 29, CNN/AOL's Broadcast Studio, the Pentagon and Oxygen Media. But she has also always had a flair for the dramatic and was featured in various productions throughout high school, not to mention spending parts of summers teaching and performing pantomime on the streets of Vienna, Austria and towns in Eastern Europe.
Tina appeared on stage in Play On's production of Camelot, and produced Little Shop of Horrors.
Michelle Majorin (Events Coordinator) Michelle has lived in Charlottesville for the last 11 years, having migrated eastward from San Diego, California. After a long hiatus from theater while pursuing a bachelor's degree in French from the University of Colorado, having a succesful business career and raising two children, she was thrilled to delve back into acting and singing in Charlottesville. Michelle has appeared in over over 20 productions in the last 8 years and was seen at Play On in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Man of La Mancha, as well as the musical reviews Home for the Holidays and It's my Party. When not occupied at Play On, Michelle is busy with the demands of raising teenagers as well as offering her time to numerous volunteer works in the community and county schools.
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Ben Jamieson (Facility Manager) moved to Charlottesville in July 2005 after leaving a career in higher education administration, where he was most recently a Residence Director at a small college in southwestern New Hampshire. Part of his responsibilities there involved the physical maintenance of several residence facilities; hence, his being "cast" as Facility Manager for our new theater space.
Ben has been seen onstage in Play On's productions of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Camelot, Man of La Mancha, and inside a man-eating plant as the puppeteer for Audrey II in Little Shop of Horrors. He was also the Music Director for Man of La Mancha.
Cindy Latimer (Supervising Technical Director) has performed, directed, and assisted in just about every possible job in theatre since 1990. She has worked in theatres in Oklahoma, Missouri, New York, Leeds (England), Kansas, Pennsylvania, and now Virginia.
Cindy moved to Charlottesville in March 2005. She works at GE Fanuc as an IT Professional.
Megan Randall (Operations Secretary) Megan Randall moved to Charlottesville to immerse herself in the thriving theatre community (and to run away from the Northern Virginia traffic.) She first stepped on stage at the age of twelve and from that moment on has worked hard to remain there as often as possible. In High School and College she appeared in Brigadoon, Fiddler on the Roof, The King and I, The Pajama Game, and Anything Goes. Since her arrival in Charlottesville, she has performed in Anna Karenina for Live Arts and played the Opera Diva on the Balcony (completely out of character of course) for Albemarle Historical Society’s Annual Spirit Walk two years running.
During the day she is the Communications Manager for Darden’s Career Development Center and applies that skill to her secretary duties for Play On Theatre..
(Education Director) position vacant.
Shelley Lee Cole (President), actress and classically trained soprano, worked for many years in New York City, performing at the Bruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center, The New York Opera Forum, Aquarius Opera and Amato Opera.
Since moving to Charlottesville a decade ago, she has performed with Live Arts (Candide), the Jefferson Community Theatre Company (Godspell, Trial by Jury) and in several Charlottesville Vocal Arts/Opera Society productions, including The Telephone, Amahl and the Night Visitors, Phantom/Les Miserables in Concert and La Boheme. Shelley sings at many area weddings and often entertains at private functions, including benefits for The Paramount Theatre, and Habitat for Humanity. She is also a frequent vocalist at White Hall, Barboursville and Veritas Vineyards.
Mark Thorpe (Vice-President) comes to Play On having been involved in community theatre both on and off the stage since 1989. He has been a resident of Albemarle County since 1995 and works as a Senior Test Engineer with Northrop Grumman / Sperry Marine. A graduate of the University of South Carolina, Mark received his BS in Engineering in 1984, starting a 20+ year career in the electronics industry. He has also been involved with Church of Our Saviour (Episcopal), where he taught a 4th grade Sunday School class was elected to a three-year term on the vestry in 1997. Mark is excited about the opportunities that Play On will provide to the Charlottesville/Albemarle County community for participating in live theatre.
Kay Bethea serves as Professor of Theatre and Music and Assistant to the Dean for Coordination of Theatre and Music at Piedmont Virginia Community College, where she has taught since Fall 1982. She has directed approximately fifty plays at PVCC, as well as a number of plays and musicals in the area with ACT I, Four County Players, and the Charlottesville Light Opera Company.
Previously, Kay taught and directed productions at University of Kansas, University of South Carolina, Henderson State University (Arkansas), Louisiana State University, Stetson University (Florida) and at community theatres in Columbia, South Carolina and Arkadelphia, Arkansas. Kay holds a PhD in Theatre and Drama from the University of Kansas and Bachelor and Masters degrees in Music (piano and composition) from Louisiana State University. She is a Charlottesville city resident and a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
John Storck Maddox began his career on the community theatre stage at age 14, when he appeared in the non-speaking role of Mexican Boy in Night of the Iguana.. His interest continued through his academic years, making his first professional appearance in Austria, at the Vienna State Opera.
Upon graduating from college, John spent a summer at the Foothills Playhouse, the oldest summer stock theatre in New Jersey. For the next twenty years, he worked at a number of theatres throughout the New York area, including a period as head of dramatics for the Manhattan YWCA’s. John also began working with a number of New York improv companies, appearing at Caroline’s and at many famed New York clubs and restaurants.
In 1983, John moved to the Hamptons, on New York’s Long Island, where he continued working in both professional and community theatres. A decade later, John relocated to Central Virginia to pursue his dream of running an inn and restaurant. Since that time, he has owned and operated the Mark Addy in Nellysford. John’s Virginia stage debut was as George in Live Arts’ production of La Cage aux Folles. John has also worked with Oak Grove Playhouse, Waynesboro Players, Entre Act and Act I.
Marty Moore - Originally from Brooklyn, Marty was fortunate to see many a Broadway show while growing up and has continued to be a lover of theater ever since. Marty feels blessed she was able to re-locate her photography business from Atlanta to Charlottesville in 1999. These days her photography is mainly weddings and portraiture, but she continues to work with many local and national commercial clients. Marty was happy to be part of the first Play On! Production, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum as both a performer and a photographer. She has since done the promotional photography for all
Play On! productions and had the good fortune to be cast as Gwendylyn Pigeon in The Odd Couple. Beyond Play On!, Marty has performed in over 20 productions in the area and has worked on several motion pictures. Marty aspires to one day appear on Law & Order. (If you know someone who knows someone that can get her on, be sure to let her know.)
Jane Scatena is a trained professional actor, singer, dancer and musician. She is a current member of both SAG and Actors’ Equity. Her background is in the theatrical arts, film, television and commercial print modeling. Originally from Iowa, Jane received her BA, moved to California, worked her way up to the "big time," and performed in SF and LA with numerous professional theatrical companies and various film/TV productions including Disney, Sprint, Kodak and numerous industrials. She’s received awards and worked with many great actors and directors. In Charlottesville, she’s performed with Play On (1-2-3, It’s My Party, Home for the Holidays), Live Arts (The Women, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Once On This Island, Monster Therapy), Heritage Rep (Carousel, Gypsy, Comic Potential) and various community fundraisers, including the Paramount’s Opening with Tony Bennett. She’s not only put her time in on the boards, but has served on Boards of Directors: Contra Costa Ballet, Diablo Light Opera, Live Arts and the Paramount Theatre. She’s a mother of two, married and living in Free Union with her husband, one dog and a lot of grapes.
Paul Stenard was bitten by the acting bug when he appeared in a high school play as Duke Orsino in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. On to a Boston drama school, then into the army; serving in World War II in Germany and Belgium. After the war, Paul gave up his acting dreams and entered law school. During his thirty years as a lawyer, however, he acted in more than forty productions in community and professional venues in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont and New York. Upon his retirement from the law, Paul obtained a Master of Fine Arts degree from UVa, and was soon directing plays in Massachusetts, Kentucky, Vermont and Virginia. Following another theatrical hiatus of fifteen years, Paul was bitten once again when he was selected to direct The Odd Couple during Play On's first season.
As a member of Play On's Board of Directors, Paul hopes to help promote Play On! as a four-star theatre that will continue to entertain the public with great musicals and comedies.
Ralph Tobias - was born and raised in Reading, Pennsylvania, where he was deeply involved in the theater throughout his high school years and somewhat into college. Ralph's theatrical high point came with the role of Dauntless in Once Upon a Mattress during his senior year at Exeter High School. He is a 1986 graduate of Brigham Young University with a B.A. in Broadcast Communications. In 1980, he began a two-year mission to Kobe, Japan, for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and currently serves as bishop of a local LDS congregation. A 24-year veteran of the television industry, Ralph is currently employed as Manager of Programming, Promotions and Production at NBC29 in Charlottesville. He resides with wife Eileen and two daughters (Meghan & Sarah – both Monticello grads) in Scottsville. Their eldest daughter, Shannon, is married and living in Nicholasville, Kentucky. Ralph also serves as a board member for Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic. His interests include family time, genealogy, baseball, playing guitar, and seeing other people smile!
