Board of Directors

President

Chris Luter

Chris Luter is the Director of Theatre for the Draco Playhouse at Collierville High School. He has previously served on the TTA Board as both Secondary School Chair and President.

President Elect

Jack Truman

Jack Truman is the Director of Theatre at Walters State Community College. As a 35 year veteran in the entertainment business, Jack brings a rich background to Eastern Tennessee. An award-winning stage and film actor, writer, director, producer and filmmaker, he has also appeared in many television series and major motion pictures, and his independent films have screened at over 600 film festivals around the world. Jack is the Founder of the Holly Weird Film Festival in Los Angeles, California and has an MFA in Theatre from Minnesota State University.

Secretary

Melissa Shafer

*East Tennessee State University | Johnson City*

Melissa is an Associate Professor of Theatre at East Tennessee State University and serves as the Division of Theatre's Lighting Designer and Technical Director.

Treasurer

Kaitlyn Williams

Kaitlyn Williams graduated from Austin Peay State University with her Bachelor of Science in Communication Arts with a Dance Minor in 2015 and her Master of Science in Management from Austin Peay State University in 2022. One of Kaitlyn’s proudest accomplishments is starting her own film production company, Incrediscope Studios. Kaitlyn is in post-production on her first feature film entitled “The Eye of the Catfish” and is in pre-production editing her script for her second feature film entitled “The Book of Dunlap.”

Immediate Past President

Jonathon Taylor

*East Tennessee State University* | *Johnson City*
Jonathon Taylor is an Assistant Professor of Theatre at East Tennessee State University where he serves as the scenic designer for the Department of Theatre and Dance and teaches classes in scenic design, costume design, stage management, drafting and rendering, and theatre design basics. Jonathon has worked as a designer, technical director, scenic painter, and carpenter in theatres across the continental United States and in Hawaii. Jonathon earned his MFA from the University of Oregon in Eugene, OR, and is an active member of SETC and USITT.

Theatre for Youth Chair

Shinnerrie Jackson

Shinnerrie Jackson is an actress and Assistant Professor of Theatre at The University of Tennessee. She can be seen in 30 Rock and Whit Stillman's Damsels in Distress. Previous theater productions include A Night with Janis Joplin (Arena Stage), Vanya, Sonia, Masha and Spike (Cincinnati Playhouse), Lady Day at Emerson Bar and Grill (Weathervane Theater), and Ain’t I a Woman: a one-woman show about the heroines of African American history. Shinnerrie is also a proud company member of The Clarence Brown Theatre and The Weathervane Theatre in New Hampshire.

Secondary School Chairs

Donald Fann

Donald Fann currently serves as the Director of Theater at Stewarts Creek High School in Smyrna where he founded the theater program upon the opening of the school. Fann comes to Stewarts Creek after serving for 19 years as Executive Director of The Arts Center of Cannon County.

Laura Parker

Laura Lindsey has been a high school theatre teacher for twenty years. She has participated in the Tennessee Theatre Association secondary festival many of those years and is a proponent of excellence in theatre education and the life saving impact the theatre haw on the lives of students. Laura believes in story telling through ensemble connections and uses multiple modalities in her work. She believes students have the capacity to accomplish far more than many assume and will always meet and exceed expectations when given the opportunity to create and thrive in bringing their own ideas to the table and lead in all areas of theatre including acting and technical aspects.

College/University Chair

Neno Russell

*University of Tennessee*
Neno Russell is a professional pattern maker and costume designer. Neno’s academic career includes teaching at Virginia Commonwealth University for 11 years and 8 summers of teaching at The Tennessee Governor’s School for the Arts before coming to The University of Tennessee in the fall of 2021. His Broadway Credits include Paradise Square, 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: The Black Phone, Tomb of Joseph, Good Lord Bird, Loving, 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.

Community Theatre Chair and AACT Representative

Gray Miller

Gray Miller is an actor and passionate supporter of the arts. His journey began with Beauty and the Beast (Norfolk Academy), and he quickly became involved in community theater with the Hurrah Players in Norfolk, VA, dedicating his high school years to the stage. He graduated from Elon University in 2016 with a Business Administration degree, serving on the executive board of his a cappella group (Smooth Progressions) and as the Student Government Association’s representative to the arts organizations on campus. In Middle Tennessee, Gray has performed in both community and professional theater, including recent roles in Murder on the Orient Express (Circle Players) and Pirates of Penzance (Nashville Opera). He’s excited to advance community theater in Tennessee and share his love for the stage with the volunteer state!

Professional Theatre Chairs

Micah-Shane Brewer

Micah-Shane Brewer has enjoyed a 20-year career in the theatre as an actor, director, musician and educator. In 2021, he joined Nashville Repertory Theatre as Artistic Director. He has directed and produced over 100 plays and musicals. He earned bachelor’s degrees in music and theatre from the University of North Carolina in Greensboro. He co-founded Encore Theatrical Company where he served as Artistic Director for eight seasons. Micah-Shane received his M.F.A. in acting at the University of Tennessee Knoxville and worked as an actor at the Clarence Brown Theatre for over three seasons. He also served as a Professor at the University of Mississippi and the University of Tennessee.

Jenny Ballard

Jenny Ballard is an Assistant Professor of Theatre at Cumberland University in Lebanon, TN. For 13 years, she lived in Baton Rouge, LA, where she served as Managing Artistic Director of Theatre Baton Rouge, and as an Adjunct Professor in the Theatre Department at Louisiana State University. She received her B.A. in English and Theatre from the University of TN, and her M.F.A. in Theatre Performance from LSU. She has been acting and directing professionally for over 23 years. She is a proud member of SAG-AFTRA, and been seen in American Horror Story: Coven, Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, Cover Me, NCIS: New Orleans, The First, Keanu, and most recently in Apple TV+’s Black Bird.

SETC Rep and state auditions coordinator

Ane Swedberg — Anne K. Swedberg

*University of Tennessee | Chattanooga*

Anne K. Swedberg is an Associate Professor of Theatre at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She is a Designated Linklater Teacher and also holds a PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a MFA from the University of Louisville. She teaches classes in Linklater Voice, Acting, Shakespeare, Theatre History, and Introduction to Theatre. Currently, she is training in consent-based theatrical practices with Theatrical Intimacy Education. She has been a member of SETC since 2016.

East Tennessee Reps

Middle Tennessee Reps

LuEllyn Boyer Wilcox

LuEllyn Boyer Wilcox has taught theatre in the Clarksville Montgomery County School System for over 35 years. She has been the Theatre Director at Rossview High School since its opening in 2001. She also serves as the CMCSS Lead Theatre Teacher and mentors all High School and Middle School Theatre teachers in the district. She was recently named RHS Teacher of the Year. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Communication Arts with an emphasis in Theatre and a Minor in Music/Voice as well as a Master of Arts degree in Communication of Arts/Theatre from Austin Peay State University in Clarksville, Tennessee. She loves sharing her passion for acting and directing with her young high school students as they build bright futures in college and beyond.

West Tn rep

Sandi Walden

Sandi Walden has been a teacher in rural West Tn for 28 years and has taught theatre for the last 6. She believes in the power of the arts to change lives and strives to bring theatre to underserved communities.

At-Large Representative

Alex Miller-Long

Alex Miller-Long is a lighting designer, technician, and theatre educator from Chattanooga, TN. Following a BA in Theatre from UTC, Alex earned an MFA in Lighting Design from the University of California at San Diego. For several years after graduation, she worked in design and production at a variety of venues, including: The Public Theater (NYC, NY), The White Heron Theatre Company (Nantucket, MA), Chautauqua Theatre Company (Chautauqua, NY), La Jolla Playhouse (San Diego, CA), Williamstown Theatre Festival (Williamstown, MA), and the La Jolla Symphony (San Diego, CA). Alex is currently the Assistant Professor of Lighting Design and Technical Direction at UTC, in the Theatre Department.

Mitchell Vantrease

Mitchell Vantrease is the theater teacher and director at Mt. Juliet High School. Mitchell has a B.A. degree in Speech, Communication and Theater from Tennessee State. He is a co-founder of Camp F.A.M.E. (Fine Arts Matter in Education) at Cumberland University. In addition, Mitchell is also the co-founder and artistic director of Centerstage Theatre Co., a Lebanon, TN based community theater.

Social Media Coordinator

Emma Laine Hoffbauer

Emma Laine Hoffbauer (she/her) is new to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga as the Visiting Assistant Professor of Scenic Design and Scenic Designer for the UTC Theatre Co. She received her MFA in Scenic Design at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and her BFA as part of the Gainesville Theatre Alliance at the University of North Georgia. Emma has worked professionally as a designer and scenic artist in the Atlanta and Lincoln areas.