Kitchen Theatre Staff

Rachel Lampert (Artistic Director) is a playwright, director and choreographer. This is her 13th Season as Artistic Director and is thrilled that this will be the season the theater finds its permanent home. Her work at the Kitchen includes: Playwright: Main Stage Musicals Book & Lyrics for BED NO BREAKFAST, COMFORT FOOD, TONY & THE SOPRANO, THE ANGLE OF THE SUN and PRECIOUS NONSENSE. Main Stage Non-musical plays: THE TRIAL, THE BOOK CLUB, FRANKENSTEIN and THE SOUP COMES LAST. Family Fare: ADVENTURE IN APARTMENT G# (with Nathan Hilgartner) EMMETT & ELLA'S BIG APPLE ESCAPADE, SCOOT, SIZZLE & SLIDE, THE MOZART MYSTERY, THE ODYSSEY

She is active in the Ithaca arts community beyond the Kitchen, having directed and choreographed at the Hangar Theatre (director: SWEENEY TODD, FALSETTOS, THE SISTERS ROSENSWEIG; choreographer: 2007 production of HAIR) Other collaborations include: Ensemble X, Music' Recreation and the Cayuga Chamber Orchestra. Her play BET YOU CAN'T CATCH IT? was commissioned by AIDSWORK of Tompkins County as part of an educational program for teens and toured Central NY for three years.

Directing and theatrical choreography credits outside Ithaca include productions at Cal Rep, Arkansas Rep, Portland Stage Company, New York's Public Theatre, Mill Mountain Theatre and Hawaii Opera Theatre. Her concert dance works have been in the repertories of numerous dance companies in the U.S. and abroad.

Her trip to China in 1997 to stage WEST SIDE STORY resulted in her writing THE SOUP COMES LAST produced off-Broadway at 59E59 Theaters in Fall 2004. THE ANGLE OF THE SUN (written by Lampert & Pressgrove) was selected by the New York Musical Theatre Festival and to be presented in NYC in September 2007. Rachel is a 4-time recipient of NEA Choreography Fellowships and a CAP Individual Artist Grant. She received a SALT Award for Best Actress 2004. She attended Mount Holyoke College and has a BFA and MFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. Raised in Brooklyn, she moved to Ithaca as a trailing spouse right behind her husband David Squires in 1995. They enjoy a wonderful house, two terrific dogs, and the joy of having family join them in Ithaca and friends always visiting. This is her 13th season as Artistic Director – a job she truly loves.

Stephen Nunley (Managing Director) was born and raised in the Buffalo area and received a B.S in Mathematics from Rensselear Polytechnic Institute. Stephen sidestepped a career as a junior high math teacher to become a modern dancer. He has danced for a variety of companies and choreographers around the world and, most notably, was a member of Rachel Lampert & Dancers during the 80's and early 90's. He later became general manager of Eighteenth & Eighth, a popular restaurant in the Chelsea area of NYC. In 2003, he combined his managerial and financial skills and moved to Ithaca to take on his current position. Although his primary responsibility is to maintain and improve the Kitchen Theatre Company's

Lesley Greene (Associate Producing Director) is in her seventh season with the Kitchen Theatre staff. Before that, she served on the Kitchen Theatre board, and before that, she completed degrees in physics, geology, and atmospheric science at Cornell University. It wasn't until a chance encounter with Rachel Lampert & Dancers in 1997 that she knew she was destined for a career in the arts! Lesley has composed music for eight Family Fare productions, including SCIENCE FAIR, WINTER TALES, and EMMETT & ELLA'S BIG APPLE ESCAPADE; played flute in THE MOZART MYSTERY

Lesley is co-founder of Porchfest, a music festival held on the porches of Fall Creek. Her husband is Ithaca's only computer scientist/unicyclist/ukulele player, Robbert van Renesse, and they have two theatrical daughters, both at Boynton Middle School.

Jody Vander Yacht (Development Associate) has been doing grants and gifts work for the KTC for five seasons. She and husband Ron are Michigan natives, "Go Blue," and they love their adopted gorges community. She has a BA degree in Theater and Communication from Albion College, and her career path includes prior stints in literacy program management and human resources. A lifelong love affair with theater has led to decades of acting and directing and producing for community theater and for the last six years being a "drama-mama" for the Ithaca Schools and Shakespeare in the Basement in support of her now grown-up children Kelsea and Travis.

Megan Pugh (Director of Marketing) is in her fourth season with the KTC. A painter turned graphic artist and NYC transplant, Megan came to Ithaca in 2002 to join EcoVillage at Ithaca with her artist husband and two very creative kids. Megan earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Parson School of Design and went on to be a fellow at the Whitney Museum Independent Study Program before shifting to a career in graphics. Her stage credits are limited to writing and directing an adaptation of THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA (at the age of 8) in which she cast her youngest sister as the pea. At the Kitchen Megan prefers to remain

Brendan Fitzpatrick (Technical Director) Is incredibly excited to be joining the staff of Kitchen Theatre. He graduated from Lander University in South Carolina with his BA in Theatre Production. He has since spent the last four years traveling as a freelance technician and carpenter with jobs in the Carolinas, New York City, and Pennsylvania. Persuing his passionate love of theatre, and all that goes into it, has finally led him to Ithaca. Favorite recent productions have included; Scrooge and Gilbert and Sullivan (TD), Execution of Justice, Genesius: A New Musical, Impromptu (Director), Edward Albee's Occupant, among many more.

In addition to being a confessed theatre nerd, Brendan is also a completely open Science Fiction junkie (especially Star Wars). He can't wait to dive right in for an exciting first season at "the Kitchen", and looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm and passion with a new audience and making some new friends.

LaShawn Keyser (Stage Manager) is ecstatic that the Kitchen Theatre Company has welcomed her into its arms for the 09-10 season! A native of Baltimore City and graduate from the University of Pittsburgh with a BA in Theatre in 2009, she is anxious to make Ithaca a third home. Professional stage managing credits include Much Ado About Nothing, The Story Project, Cherry Orchard (Bakerloo Theatre Project); GRIM (Windhorse Arts); The Hound of the Baskervilles (Prime Stage Theatre); and the 2008 Pittsburgh Pride Festival. Previous professional ASM credits include Burn This (The Hazlett Theatre), The Tempest (Bakerloo Theatre Project), and Of Mice and Men (Prime Stage Theatre). “Thank you all so much for supporting me, for it’s your many hands that keep me afloat.”

Rob Fancher (Production Assistant) attended South Seneca High School and TST BOCES and graduated in 2006 with a certificate in Advanced Culinary Arts. He grew up in Ovid and Willard, NY and moved to Ithaca in May of 2009. Rob is working at the KTC through the help of Tompkins Workforce NY. He hopes to pursue a degree and career in Baking and Pastry arts in the near future, but for now is happy to be a part of the Kitchen Theatre Company.

 

 

Carol Spence (Main Stage Season Artist) visual artist and collaborator, has a Masters of Art in Teaching from the Rhode Island School of Design and her drawings, prints, and mixed media works have been shown at regional galleries. She is an art teacher at Ithaca High School and the Fine Arts Dept. Chair. Interdisciplinary inspiration has played a part in her process and she has collaborated on projects with other visual artists, writers, musicians and choreographers. This is the fourth season that Carol has created original artwork for the Kitchen’s Main Stage Season.