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The Longwood Players
is Growing: Call for New Board Members!
The
Longwood Players, Inc. began
a reorganization of its infrastructure in 2011 to
develop a Management Staff and an expanded Board of
Directors. As part of this process, we are actively
growing both groups. To learn more about the
duties, responsibilities, and benefits of serving
on the board of directors, please click
here.
If you are interested in joining
the Board, please send a letter of interest to the President
with the subject "Board of Directors Candidate" and
include a statement indicating interest and/or any
special skills or qualities you bring to the company.
Candidates may also indicate past involvement with the
company, but please note that prior participation is not
necessary, and we are actively seeking new members to
bring fresh voices to this dynamic and dedicated group.
Interested? Email us now!
We look forward to hearing from you.
2011-2012 Board Members
The previous Board of Directors
included 6 titled members (President, Secretary,
Treasurer, Technical Director, Development Director, and
Advisory Board Liaison). Read on for more information
about each of these individuals. Please note that in the
current reorganization only the President (Chairman of
the Board), Secretary (Clerk), and Treasurer will remain
as the three legally-required members of the board; the
other three titled director positions (Technical,
Development, and Advisory Board) no longer exist, as
these responsibilities have been shifted to the
Management Team.
To learn more about the duties,
responsibilities, and benefits of serving on the board
of directors, please click here.
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P. K. Newby,
President
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Who
knew that after her stage debut in a local
production of The Music Man in Port
Washington, New York, P.K. would go on to found
and lead a nonprofit theatre company in Boston?
First introduced to musical theatre by her
father, P.K. started acting in elementary school
and continued acting, singing, and dancing
throughout her life. Since founding The Longwood
Players in 1998, P.K. rarely performs and now
spends most of her time off-stage, working as
President of the company and Executive Producer
of its productions. P.K. grew up on Long Island
in New York and lived in Manhattan where she
attended Columbia University. She moved to
Boston in 1997 to attend Harvard University,
where she earned her doctorate in nutrition in
2001. Dr. Newby is currently an Associate
Professor of Pediatrics, Epidemiology,
Nutrition, and Gastronomy at Boston University.
She spends most of her time conducting research
on the links between diet and health and
teaching students why what you eat matters. P.K.
brings together her passions for food,
nutrition, science, cooking, and the culinary
and theatrical arts on her blog, The Nutrition
Doctor is In the Kitchen, where she helps
readers translate nutrition to their plates
delectably through writing and cooking videos.
In 2005, P.K. married Vilas Sridharan, whom she
met when they co-produced The Longwood Players'
2002 production of Pippin. For more about P.K.,
visit her website
or follow her on Twitter.
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| Michelle E.
Merry, Secretary |
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Michelle
grew up in Watertown, NY, and attended a
high school that sadly had no theater
arts program while she was there. During
her high school years, she heard of two
community theater productions that were
to happen in or near her hometown in upstate New York.
She auditioned and was accepted into both.
However, both were ultimately cancelled due to
lack of interest. While in college, Michelle
was introduced to dorm community theater by
her roommate. Recently, Michelle has enjoyed
being involved with several theater groups in
the Greater Boston Area, whether it be by
performing, choreographing, stage managing,
set building, or running lights and sound. Her
greatest challenge and honor is now serving on
the Board of Directors for The Longwood
Players. She is confident her term will be a
rewarding and fulfilling time and hopes that
her knowledge of theater production from a
well-rounded aspect can beneficially come into
play. Michelle is the Senior
Administrative Assistant for the
Cardiovascular Research Laboratories at
Children's Hospital Boston.
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| Vilas
Sridharan, Treasurer |
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Vilas has been involved in
theater for over a decade, starting in high
school with various backstage roles. He then
attended Princeton University, where he worked
with several theater groups in several technical
and administrative positions, including master
carpenter, production manager, technical
director, and a variety of
electrician/carpenter/crew positions. He has
also served as Technical Director on the board
of Princeton Summer Theater (a community theater
in Princeton, NJ) and was Productions Manager on
the board of Theatre Intime for two years. Vilas
has been involved with The Longwood Players
since its third season in 2001. During the day,
he works as a Computer Architect at AMD, Inc.
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| Martin Kemp,
Technical Director |
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Martin has been a part of The Longwood
Players’ productions since the group’s second
season in 2000, having served as Master
Electrician for seven shows and as Lighting
Designer for one. He has been involved on the
technical side of theatrical production for
almost as long as he can remember, tracing all
the way back to his elementary school days in
Barrington, Rhode Island. While in college
at Princeton University, Martin held technical
roles in a variety of theatrical and dance
productions and served as lighting designer for
the Princeton University Players, Princeton
Shakespeare Company, Expressions Dance Company,
Theatre Intime, and the Princeton Triangle Club.
After having worked as a computer hardware and
software engineer at Sun Microsystems for a
number of years, Martin is currently a
technology litigation consultant at Elysium
Digital, L.L.C. in Cambridge, where he advises
lawyers on computer technology-related cases.
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| John Randell,
Development Director |
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John grew
up in Iowa City, where he designed sets
and lighting for several productions at
the Iowa City Community Theater and was
the Master Electrician for the Riverside
Theater Company. John has designed
several shows for The Longwood Players,
including lighting for West Side
Story and Company and
sets for Pygmalion, La Cage aux
Folles, Arcadia, Cloud Nine, She Loves
Me, and The Secret Garden.
Other TLP roles include carpenter, master
electrician, and scenic artist. John
is a Program Officer at the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences in Cambridge,
where he manages research studies on
science and technology policy.
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| Brandon
Thrasher, Advisory Board Liaison |
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Brandon joined The Longwood Players in
2007 as the lighting designer for A New
Brain. Previous theater experience
includes lighting designs for the Milwaukee
Chamber Theatre, Wisconsin Singers and the
regional premier of Somebody Catch My
Homework by Sandra Fenichel Asher.
Brandon is currently devoting the majority of
his professional time to architectural lighting
by using his strong background in theatrical
lighting to enhance the architectural
experience. Brandon holds a MFA in lighting
design from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
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