2023-24 Board of Governors

MEMBERS

Susan Burge, Huntsville

Jason Crespin, Amarillo

Sarah Curtis, Paris

Charlotte Dameron, Savannah

Sarah Derousseau, Kerrville

Alice Duerksen, Fort Stockton

David Eck, Deer Park

Amy Goodyear, Kerrville

Randy Ham, Odessa

David Hill, Blooming Grove


Lisa Holcomb, Smithville

Joshua Maxwell, Hurst

Heather May, Lubbock

M.A. Sterling, Bryan

Michael Teer, Victoria

About the board

Susan Mele

VICE PRESIDENT – PLANNING & ENGAGEMENT

Seabrook (Quad IV) — Term #2 Ending 2025

Susan Mele has been a member of the Art Park Players for 36 years where she currently serves as the Artistic/Managing Director for the City of Deer Park Parks and Recreation Departments “own” community theatre. She has performed in over 200 productions and musical revues for the players as well as several professional venues throughout the state of Texas. She is a huge supporter of The Deer Park Education Foundation, The Opportunity Center and The Wheelhouse. Susan created a fundraiser honoring her mother that raises money each year supporting The Rose called The Louise McBee, Circle of Life-Circle of Wreaths. She also serves as the Director for the Houston Press Club show which raises over $50,000 annually for journalism scholarships andhas been the volunteer Drama Director for Pasadena’s First Baptist Church for 20 years. Susan has received such honors as Artist of the Year by the City of Pasadena in 2000, Woman of Distinction by The Bridge Over Troubled Water in 2003, DPISDs Felton Waggoner Hall of Honor in 2004 and the City of Deer Park’s Citizen of the Year in 2008.

Velma De Los Santos

VICE PRESIDENT – DEVELOPMENT

San Benito (Quad III) — Term #2 Ending 2026

Velma has been involved with community theatres in South Texas for 30 years. Including Dawson Theatre, Harlingen Performing Arts Theatre formerly Country Playhouse and Camille Playhouse, TNT Members. She has been active on stage in over 100 productions and involved behind the scenes in countless others. She is a former Board member for both Dawson Theatre and Camille Playhouse and was very involved in planning and implementing fundraising events for the theatre. One of her favorite accomplishments as a board member was the partnering with local school districts and universities. These partnerships made it possible to bring children to the theatre who might not otherwise walk through the door. These partnerships also made it possible to combine talents to bring an amazing quality of productions to South Texas. The knowledge as an actress on stage who understands the needs of the theatre productions was invaluable while serving on the theatre boards. She understands the business and financial responsibilities as well as the artistic aspect.

Melanie Brumit

SECRETARY

Troup (Quad II) — Term #2 Ending 2027

Melanie Brumit is currently the Director at the Troup Municipal Library.  She discovered the Tyler Civic Theatre Center (TCTC) in 2009 and has been involved every year since.  As Library Director, Melanie understand the non-profit world and coming from a small rural town, sees things from a different perspective

Most of Melanie’s theatre work has been backstage, including producing several productions. In 2014, Melanie was voted unto the TCTC board, in 2017 was selected as VP of the Education Committee and in July 2017,  was elected Board President.  Also in 2014, Melanie started volunteering with the children’s productions at the Henderson Civic Theatre and last year she help organize their first TNT Youth troupe.

Sarah Curtis

TREASURER

Paris (Quad II) — Term #1 Ending 2026

Sarah Curtis has been involved in theatre from a very young age. She grew up in the Texas A&M University-Commerce costume shop, and played her first role onstage at the age of 4. Since then she has been involved in over 150 productions both onstage and off, and has spent the past 6 years as an active volunteer in for both Paris Community Theatre and Red River Revue as an actor, designer, director, and board member. In 2020 she took over as Artistic Director of Paris Community Theatre, helping them restart their season after a year long hiatus. She is now pursuing finishing her music and theatre degrees and continues to volunteer for high school, college, and community theatre in her area.

Susan Burge

BOARD MEMBER

Huntsville (Quad IV) — Term #2 Ending 2027

Susan Burge has been involved in community theatre for nearly 20 years when she decided she could sit at home by herself or volunteer at the community theatre where her husband was acting.  Later she began directing at Lynn Lucas Middle School where she started Workshop Theatre, a collaboration between agricultural classes and theatre classes.   When she realized that teenagers didn’t have many opportunities outside of school to act in the area, she started the Crighton Theatre Summer Camp with a couple of other local directors.  Workshop Theatre and Crighton Summer Camp continue to draw students from all over Montgomery County.

Jason Crespin

BOARD MEMBER

Amarillo (Quad I) — Term #1 Ending 2027

Jason is the Amarillo Little Theatre (ALT) Managing / Artistic Director and has been with the organization for 17 years where he was the Academy Director for 15 of those years.  He is a proud graduate of the 2001 ALT Academy program and graduated from West Texas A&M University with a degree in Mass Communications – emphasis in Advertising and Public Relations. He is an active volunteer in the community and loves to travel to NYC when ever he has any free time. Recently, Jason has brought National attention to the ALT Academy through several different fine arts platforms. Jason has also had the pleasure of directing Rock of Ages, Legally Blonde and Little Shop of Horrors for the ALT Mainstage and Adventure Space as well as choreographing several productions for ALT.

Charlotte Dameron

BOARD MEMBER

Savannah (Quad II) — Term #1 Ending 2027

Charlotte Dameron has been in theatre since she was 12 years old as a volunteer, employee, teacher, and committee member. She was the marketing director for Midland community Theatre for many years and most recently the education director at Backdoor Theatre of Wichita Falls where she started a youth theatre program from the ground up. She has been the ED of a National Non Profit: Auditory Implant Initiative and is well-versed in non profit management processes, events, fundraisers and programming. She has attended the TNT Youth Conference as a director and History of Theatre instructor. The Dameron family is a huge fan of TNT and it’s benefit to the theatre community. 

Sarah Derousseau

BOARD MEMBER

Kerrville (Quad III) — Term #1 Ending 2028

Born and mostly raised in Colorado, Sarah got to Texas as quickly as she could. She graduated from Colorado State University with a degree in Theatre with an emphasis in directing and from Schreiner University with an MBA.  The day after graduating with her theatre degree, she moved to Texas and got an internship at the Point Theatre her first day here.  Since that first day, she has been in love with the Hill Country Arts Foundation.  In 2014, Sarah became the  Director of Theatre and is now the Executive Director.  Sarah lives with her husband in Kerrville.

Alice Duerksen

BOARD MEMBER

Fort Stockton (Quad I) — Term #1 Ending 2026

Alice Duerksen is President of Fort Stockton Community Theatre and was a founding member in 1982. Alice has directed and/or produced many plays (her favorites are comedies) through the years. She led the community to fund and build a $2.5 million new theatre. She is a retired educator and is active in church, on several Boards, and in Rotary. Alice enjoys playing bridge and reading. She and her husband, Dean, have been married for over 50 years and enjoy traveling. Through a blended family, they have a daughter and two sons, seven grandchildren, and one great-grandson.

David Eck

BOARD MEMBER

Houston (Quad IV) — Term #1 Ending 2027

David Eck is the Theatre Specialist for the Art Park Players where he serves as arts educator and director for their mainstage and youth productions. David has been with the City of Deer Park for over seven years, having directed over 20 productions. He comes to Houston via New York where he ran a merchandising and marketing company in addition to working as an Associate Producer on Broadway productions of CRY-BABY, PETER AND THE STARCATCHER, EVITA, KINKY BOOTS, and PIPPIN.

Amy Goodyear

BOARD MEMBER

Kerrville (Quad III) — Term #1 Ending 2028

Amy Goodyear has made herself into a theatrical multi-tasker.  As a Director, Amy has created some of the most popular productions in P2K’s history, including 2021’s Murder On The Orient Express.  As an actress, Amy has appeared in dozens of plays and musicals at Playhouse 2000 and elsewhere, and is a perennial audience favorite.  She has earned “Outstanding Actress” honors at the local, state and regional levels of the American Association of Community Theater one-act-play festivals, and several local “Earnie” awards.  With an artist’s eye, she has also become a busy costume designer.

Randy Ham

BOARD MEMBER

Odessa (Quad I — Term #1 Ending 2027

Odessa Arts Executive Director Randy Ham is proud to call West Texas his home. After serving as Author Events coordinator & non-fiction book buyer for Hastings Entertainment in Amarillo, Randy moved back to Odessa in 2009. His work and experience in publishing led Randy to found One Book Odessa, a city wide reading program in 2011, with New York Times Bestseller and History Channel host Brad Meltzer. One Book Odessa has grown to feature Neil Gaiman, Erin Morgenstern, Karen Valby, and David Sedaris (on two separate occasions). In 2014, Randy assumed the position of Executive Director. Now known as Odessa Arts, Randy has shepherded the organization through its 40th anniversary, a rebranding of its name and mission and built a greater community awareness of the role of Arts in Odessa. 

In 2017, Randy and Odessa Arts, in partnership with Odessa College, facilitated the return of professional Shakespeare to the Globe Theater at Odessa College with the Odessa Shakespeare Festival. In 2022, over 3000 students have had the opportunity to see a professionally produced Shakespeare play in a recreation of Shakespeare’s Globe Theater. 

Randy served on the board of directors for Texans for the Arts, the state arts advocacy non-profit, as well as participating in multiple panels for the Texas Commission for the Arts. His writing has appeared in The Odessa American, The Good Men Project, and Foreword magazine. He recently contributed the foreword to ‘A Permanent Record,’ by Austin artist Heidi Petrie. 

David Hill

BOARD MEMBER

Blooming Grove (Quad II) — Term #2 Ending 2025

David Hill is the Executive Director of the Henderson Performing Arts Center in Athens. He received a B.A. in Theatre from the University of North Texas. He has worked throughout the DFW area. Here are just a few: New Theater Company, Bravvo Productions, WaterTower Theatre and the Shakespeare Festival of Dallas. He was the Children’s Director of the Corsicana Children’s Company at the Warehouse Living Arts Center from 2012-2016.

Lisa Holcomb

BOARD MEMBER

Smithville (Quad III) — Term #2 Ending 2028

Lisa Holcomb has been performing at the Bastrop Opera House and various other venues since 2004. She is the Executive Director of Bastrop Opera House and has served on Theatre Network of Texas’ Board of Governors. She enjoys working with young actors in the Bastrop Performing Arts Youth Academy. Lisa has 4 boys at home who have all grown up, or are still growing up, in theater.

Joshua Maxwell

BOARD MEMBER

Hurst (Quad II) — Term #1 Ending 2027

Joshua Maxwell began performing at the age of four, traveling to churches and festivals with his grandfather’s gospel quartet.

He joined his first community theatre production in high school, and has been an active participant since. As an actor he has played roles ranging from Friar Lawerence to Princeton in Avenue Q.  His numerous design credits cover all areas of production, with emphasis in set, lighting, and projection design. As a director he’s undertaken over 30 productions, including favorites such as Chicago, The Wizard of Oz, Mame, and Little Shop of Horrors.

Beyond theatre Josh is an accomplished vocalist and piano player. He’s recorded three albums, published three books, is an ordained minister, and even a member of the International Brotherhood of Magicians. 

Heather May

BOARD MEMBER

Lubbock (Quad I) — Term #1 Ending 2026

Heather May is Executive Director for Lubbock Community Theatre. She started off as a volunteer at LCT 16 years ago and has been Executive Director for the past 4.  In her time she has been able to grow the theatre by spearheading the move to a new permanent home for LCT and moving them from 6,000 sq ft to over 40,000. She has 25 plus years working in the non-profits sector, as well as the arts and marketing. Her skill sets have helped lead her organization to not only financial stability but helping encourage change.  Theatre should be for everyone and at LCT, inclusion and a focus on accessibilty is the top priority. LCT is also building an innovative Digital Performing Arts program which focuses on film, audio recordings and podcasting. One of LCTs newest programs is a built-in nursery so that artist or patrons with children can still easily participate in the creation and viewing of live theatre.  She has directed over 50 productions and participated on stage or backstage in over a hundred more. Theater has been a part of her life since age 7 and she is grateful to help others make it apart of theirs.

M.A. Sterling

BOARD MEMBER

Bryan (Quad IV) — Term #2 Ending 2027

M. A. Sterling has served as the Managing-Artistic Director of Brazos Valley TROUPE for the past 25 years as BVT celebrates its silver anniversary season this year.  He has performed with nearly every arts entity in the Brazos Valley including Aggie Players, Singing Cadets, StageCenter, Brazos Valley Chorale and the BVSO. He has served on the Board of Governors for TNT and has received special awards in leadership with the TNT Youth Conference (2002, 2007, 2009 & 2011), the Linda Lee Leadership Award (2008, 2011) as well as  the TNT Ovation Award in 2006. His extensive training has come with the Utah Shakespearean Festival, The Alley Theatre and the Atlantic Theatre Company, Roundabout Theatre Company and Broadway Teacher’s Workshop, all in New York City.

Michael Teer

BOARD MEMBER

Victoria (Quad III) — Term #1 Ending 2026

Michael Teer has been an active volunteer and employee for over 22 years with Theatre Victoria.  Beyond his duties as Executive Director, Michael is active with Theatre Victoria’s Youth Theatre programs, helping to develop camps and workshops for kids andyoung adults.  He is a graduate of Stephen F. Austin State University where he earned his BFA in Theatre Performance (Go Jacks!).  Right out of college he worked for Beechwood Theatre Company in Newport, RI recreating the year 1890 for 7 days a week.  Being on stage will always be his first love but getting to make Theatre Victoria a better and stronger organization is right up there!