A.C.T. Staff
Staff
Pam MacKinnon
Artistic Director
Biography
Pam MacKinnon is in her fifth season as A.C.T.’s fourth artistic director. She is a Tony, Drama Desk, and Obie Award–winning director, having directed upwards of 80 productions around the country, off Broadway, on Broadway and in London. Her Broadway credits include Amélie: A New Musical (with Phillipa Soo), Beau Willimon’s The Parisian Woman (with Uma Thurman), David Mamet’s China Doll (with Al Pacino), Wendy Wasserstein’s The Heidi Chronicles (with Elisabeth Moss), Edward Albee’s A Delicate Balance (with Glenn Close and John Lithgow), Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, and Bruce Norris’s Clybourne Park. Other recent credits include Christopher Chen’s The Headlands and María Irene Fornés’s Fefu and Her Friends (A.C.T.), the world premiere of Downstate (Steppenwolf Theatre Company, London’s National Theatre, off-Broadway’s Playwrights Horizons); Lydia R. Diamond’s Toni Stone (Roundabout Theatre Company, A.C.T., and Arena Stage), Kate Attwell’s Testmatch (A.C.T.), Edward Albee’s Seascape (A.C.T.), and Christopher Chen’s Communion (A.C.T.). She has been recognized as among the 25 Most Influential San Franciscans of 2020 by San Francisco Magazine, along with Jennifer Bielstein. Pam is the most recent past president of SDC, the national union representing stage directors and choreographers.
Jennifer Bielstein
Executive Director
Biography
JENNIFER BIELSTEIN (Executive Director) joined A.C.T. in 2018. She serves on the board of TCG (Theatre Communications Group), is a member of the International Women’s Forum, the Advance SF Advisory Panel and the leadership team of the SF Arts Alliance, was part of Mayor Breed’s Economic Recovery Task Force, and is the immediate past-president of the League of Resident Theatres (LORT)—an organization that represents 80 theaters nationwide—having previously served as LORT’s vice president; chair of its Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Committee; secretary; and on multiple union negotiating teams. She has been recognized as among the 25 Most Influential San Franciscans of 2020 by San Francisco Magazine, along with Pam MacKinnon, and as one of the Most Influential Women in Bay Area Business by the San Francisco Business Times in 2021. Before relocating to the Bay Area, Bielstein was the managing director of the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, managing director of Actors Theatre of Louisville, and executive director of Writers Theatre in Chicago. She has also worked for Steppenwolf Theatre Company, About Face Theatre, Northlight Theatre, and the Lincoln Park Zoo, as well as served on the boards of the League of Chicago Theatres, the Arts and Cultural Attractions Council, and other civic boards. She has received the Center for Nonprofit Excellence’s Pyramid Award of Excellence in Leadership, has been recognized as one of Louisville’s Business First’s 40 Under 40, was named by Twin Cities Business as a Person to Know, and a Minnesota Business magazine Real Power 50 member. Bielstein is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, attended Stanford’s Graduate School of Business Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders in the Arts, and received an MBA from Bellarmine University, where she received the MBA Faculty Merit Award, was inducted into Beta Gamma Sigma, the honor society for business programs and in 2021 was recognized as a Distinguished Alumna.
PeopleExtra
Artistic Director Emerita, Carey Perloff
Producing Director Emeritus, James Haire
Conservatory Director Emerita, in memoriam, Melissa Smith
Young Conservatory Director Emeritus, Craig Slaight
Administration
Audrey Thesing, Office Associate
Xavier Dzielski, Executive Assistant
Artistic
Andy Chan Donald, Associate Artistic Director
Joy Meads*, Director of Dramaturgy and New Works
Katie Craddock*, Literary Manager & Casting Associate
Commissioned Artists
Kate Attwell; Ryan Nicole Austin, Beau Lewis, & Adesha Adefela; Julia Cho & Seret Scott; Eisa Davis; Aleshea Harris; Naomi Iizuka; Craig Lucas & David Zinn; Will Power; Mfoniso Udofia; Anne Washburn; Lauren Yee; Karen Zacarías
Audience Services
Megan Murray*, Director of Audience Services
Jerry Chirip, Audience Services Associate
Sudeshana Karki, Audience Services Concessions Manager
Bernadette Fons, Audience Services Concessions Associate
Sadie Li, House Manager
Traci Mar, House Manager
Kescha Mason, House Manager
Genevieve Pabon, House Manager
Tuesday Ray, House Manager
Debra Selman, House Manager
Bartenders
Ramsey Abouremeleh, Philip Aung, Reyka Bigfeather, Sydney Bloeme, Matthew Daly, Terri De Martini, Sarah Dellinges, Clara Fulks, Chris Hayes, Anthony Hoey, Fred Izard, Stan Joe, Hannibal Jones, Francisco Mujica, Basil Parrott, Damian Samuel, Todd Van Fleet, Yvonne Walden, Adisorn Wannaviroj, Kacey Wilson, Tygre Wolf, June Yee
Safety
Loren Lewis, Ambassador
Francisco Mujica, Ambassador
Jesse Nightchase, Ambassador
Angel Rodriguez, Ambassador
Idriss Sow, Ambassador
Ushers
Susan Allen, Rodney Anderson, Crawford Banks, Felix Bishop, Serena Broussard, Philip Carberry, Myah DeStefans, Kathy Dere, John Doll, Katherine Dominguez, Molly Donoho, Lindsey Drew, Christine Ford, Mileta Foster, Gerry Garber, Claire Eugenia Gerndt Jr, Jaiyah Gordon, Carol Grace, Aron Gruber, Kathleen Keeler, Roxanne Knight, Alec Le, Sharon Lee, Steven Lemay, John Light, Maria Markoff, Kescha Mason, Val Mason, Kenneth McKellar, Meechai McKellar, Felix McTague, Susan Monson, Mary O’Connell, Nathaniel Paluga, Isabel Poling, Karisma Rodriguez, Jack Sale, Melissa Stern, David Tavernas, May Yasui
Conservatory
Peter J. Kuo*, Director of the Conservatory
Fran Astorga*, Conservatory Manager
Jessica Holt, Director of the Summer Training Congress
Kelsey Tremewan, Conservatory Adult Programs Coordinator
Accompanists
Robert Allen, Daniel Feyer, Paul McCurdy, Thaddeus Pinkston, Lindsay Rader, Naomi Sanchez
Library
Hana Kadoyama, Librarian
Library Volunteers
Barbara Cohrssen, Marti Cooper, Natnael Getahun, Sara Green, Ken Holsclaw, Emerald Keehan, Nelda Kilguss, Gail MacGowan, Claire Rand, Dana Rees, Dave Sikula, Roger Silver, Susan Torres, Joyce Weissman, Marie Wood
Professional Development
Dillon Heape, Ben Quinn, Mark Rafael, Radhika Rao, Katie Rubin, Domenique Salerno
San Francisco Semester Faculty
Mark Jackson, Performance Making
Michael Mohammed, PhD, Voice
Patrick Russell, Physical Theater
Jack Sharrar, PhD, Cultural Landscapes
Dee Dee Stephens, Acting Styles
Studio A.C.T.
Mark Jackson, Director of Studio A.C.T.
Kelsey Tremewan, Conservatory Adult Programs Coordinator
Carlos Aguirre
Liz Anderson
Heidi Carlsen
Frances Epsen-Devlin
Paul Finocchiaro
Margo Hall
Maya Herbsman
Monique Jenkinson
Drew Khalouf
Peter J. Kuo
Dave Maier
James Mercer II
Carolina Morones
Thaddeus Pinkston
Mark Rafael
Patrick Russell
Elyse Shafarman, MA
Dee Dee Stephens
Jomar Tagatac
Valerie Weak
Young Conservatory
Jill MacLean, Director of the Young Conservatory
Emily Cooper, Young Conservatory Associate Programs Manager
Veronica Fealy, Young Conservatory Administrative Assistant
Andy Alabran, Acting, Voice & Dialect
Kimberly Braun, Musical Theater
Janel Chanté, Musical Theater, Acting
Meredith Joelle Charlson, Dance/Choreographer
Gwynnevere Cristobal, Musical Theater, Acting
Nancy Gold, Physical Character, Acting
Lore Gonzales, Acting & Improvisation
Jessica Holt, College Prep
Baily Hopkins, On-Camera
Larissa Kelloway, Cabaret, Voice
Jenny Nguyen Nelson, Acting, Musical Theater
Gorän Norquist, Acting, Musical Theater
Brennan Pickman Thoon, On-Camera, Acting
Leandra Ramm, Cabaret, Voice, Private Coaching
Ely Sonny Orquiza, Acting, Devised Theater
Valerie Weak, Acting, Shakespeare, College Prep
Development
Caitlin A. Quinn, Director of Development
Sasha Habash, Deputy Director of Development
Nicole Chalas, Associate Director of Development
Irma Ramirez, Director of Special Events
Will Gaines, Associate Director of Individual Giving
Derek Collard, Special Events and Donor Engagement Manager
Kevin Dolan, Development Operations Specialist
Gabriel Rivera, Annual Fund Coordinator
Malaika Kirkwood, Development Assistant
Katie Maggard, Development Researcher and Prospect Manager
Education & Community Programs
Natalie Greene*, Director of Education
Lauren Tannous, Associate Director of Education
Elizabeth Halperin, Student Matinee Coordinator
Anelisa Armijo Montoya, School and Community Programs Coordinator
Rebecca J. Ennals, Community Connections Liaison
Leigh Rondon-Davis, Community Connections Liaison
Teaching Artists
Andy Alabran, Olivia Brown, Yari Cervas, DeAnna Driscoll, Callie Floor, Caela Fujii, Sierra Gonzalez, Josh Matthews, Peter Mills, Ely Sonny Orquiza, Brennan Pickman-Thoon, Annie Rovzar, Inez Schynell, Faith von Minden, Maryssa Wanlass
Finance
Jim Sivori*, Chief Financial Officer
Ning Xiao, Controller
Eric Law, Senior Accountant
Yvonne Chen, Staff Accountant
General Management
Louisa Liska, Director of General Management & Operations
Amy Dalba*, General Manager
Sam L. Wong, Company Manager
Nina Fay, Artists Logistics Coordinator
Emma Penny, General Management Associate
Human Resources
Chrystal Ellis Sweazey*, Director of Human Resources and EDI
Alejandra Maria Rivas*, EDI Manager
Brianna Banks-Oliver, Human Resources and Payroll Manager
Information Technology
Thomas Morgan, Director
Joone Pajar, Network Administrator
Marketing & Public Relations
Adam Thurman, Director of Marketing & Communications
Syche Phillips, Deputy Director of Marketing
Kevin Kopjak/Prismatic Communications, Public Relations Counsel
Samantha Lomax, Senior Digital Manager
Sarah Sugg, Video Content Producer
Laura Clatterbuck, Lead Visual Designer
Dani Karonis, Graphic Designer
Nakia Gibbs, Digital Marketing Associate
Operations
Leopoldo Benavente, Manager of Facilities and Operations
Jeffrey Warren, Associate Facilities Manager
Matt Stewart, Facilities Crew Member
Andrew Tebo, Rentals Producer
Production
Martin Barron, Director of Production
Jack Horton, Associate Director of Production
Michael Anderburg, Production Manager – Conservatory & Mainstage
Elizabeth Newton*, Production Manager – Events/Rentals & Mainstage
Megan McClintock, Resident Stage Manager
Kathryn Gubler, Assistant Production Manager
Kiki Hood, Scenic Design Associate
Mitchell Jakubka, Lighting Design Associate
Lana Palmer, Sound & Video Design Associate
Costume, Hair, and Makeup
Jessie Amoroso, Costume Director
Kate Patrick, Costume Build Manager/Draper
Grace Robertson, Costume Shop Assistant
Aylin Martinez, Costume Shop Administrator
Kelly Koehn, Craft Artisan
Peter Gravener, First Hand
Sebastian Gray, Seamster
Jessica Carter, Wigs, Hair, and Makeup Manager
Alexander Class, Wig Supervisor
Crew (Local 16)
Stephanie Killian, Head Props
Shawn Annecston, Head Carpenter
Brandon Gage, Flyrail
Ian Roth, Head Sound
Eddie Masias, Head Electrician
Prop Shop
Abo Jose Greenwald, Prop Shop Supervisor
Wardrobe (Local 784)
Markus Fokken, Head Wardrobe
Lauren Cohen, Wardrobe Assistant
Ticket Services
Julie Gotsch, Director of Ticketing and Sales Operations
Jorena de Pedro-Viernes, Box Office Manager
Mark C. Peters, Subscriptions Manager
David Engelmann, Head Treasurer
Sienna Sherman, Head Treasurer
Elizabeth Halperin, Assistant Head Treasurer
Andy Alabran, Treasurer
Jane McKay, Treasurer
*denotes a member of the Staff EDI Committee
A.C.T. is a constituent of Theatre Communications Group, the national organization for the nonprofit professional theater.
A.C.T. is a member of Theatre Bay Area, the Union Square Association, the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, and the San Francisco Convention and Visitors Bureau.
A.C.T. operates under an agreement between the League of Resident Theatres and Actors' Equity Association, the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States.
The directors and choreographers employed by A.C.T. at the American Conservatory Theater are members of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, a national theatrical labor union.
The scenic, costume, lighting, and sound designers in LORT theaters are represented by United Scenic Artists, Local USA-829 of the IATSE.
The scenic shop, prop shop, and stage crew are represented by Local 16 of the IATSE.
A.C.T. is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts.
A.C.T. is supported in part by a grant from the Grants for the Arts.