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WVTC's History
The
West Virginia Theatre Conference was formed in 1975 by a
group of college, university, and high school theatre
directors who felt strongly that West Virginia needed a
statewide theatre association. Many of these directors were
already involved with the
Southeastern Theatre Conference, which is the largest
regional theatre conference in the country. SETC encompasses
Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Florida,
Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Mississippi, Alabama, and
the U.S. Virgin Islands. In 1975 West Virginia was the only
state that did not have an official state theatre
association.
Initially, WVTC worked closely with the
West Virginia Division
of Culture and History on an annual community theatre
festival. Commissioner Norman Fagan felt strongly that the
Division of Culture and History should take the major
responsibility for such a festival and, beginning in 1977,
it was held every other year at the Cultural Center. Fagan
funded the festival and paid all the travel expenses of the
competing community theatres.
At this same time an annual secondary schools theatre
festival was sponsored by West Virginia University in the
spring. This later became the state Thespian Festival which
is now held at various sites throughout the state.
One of the ancillary purposes of both festivals was to
provide a means of selecting winning high school and so
community theatres to represent West Virginia at the
Southeastern Theatre Conference which is held every March.
Since the Cultural Center was only committed to sponsoring
the community theatre festival every other year, WVTC began
to sponsor it as part of the annual convention in those “off
years.” In 1986, after much discussion between WVTC Board
members and the Division of Culture and History staff, it
was decided that WVTC would take over sponsorship of the
festival completely. This coincided with the Cultural
Center’s cut-back on the events they sponsored directly and
the “de-centralization” of many of their activities.
WVTC's Board
of Directors
and Officers
WVTC’s governing board is comprised of a
President, Vice President, Treasurer, State Auditions
Coordinator, Secretary (whose responsibilities include
website coordination and publication of the newsletter), and
Committee Chairs for Secondary School, College/University,
and Community Theatre divisions. The board meets biannually
at the WVTC and SETC conventions. A third board meeting is
often held with the President-elect for an on-site visit to
the venue for the next state convention.
President
Mike Stiles
Musselman High School
126 Excellence Way
Inwood, WV 25428-9523
304-229-1950
musselmantheatre@comcast.net
President-Elect and Conference Host
Dennis Wemm
Glenville State University
200 High St.
Glenville, WV 26351
dennis.wemm@glenville.edu
Dennis Wemm is a Professor of
Communication at Glenville State College. He's twice been
President of WVTC, and been a member since 1987. Prior to
moving to WV, he obtained an MFA in Performance from the
University of Massachusetts, an MA in Theatre/Speech from
the University of Akron, and a BFA in Acting from Kent State
University. Currently, he's President of the Southeastern
Theatre Conference, where he's been a Board member for more
than a decade.
Past President
Mike Murphy
Marshall University Theatre
Huntington, West Virginia 25755
304-696-2517
mike.murphy@marshall.edu
Mike is the designer/TC for the
Marshall University Theatre.
With more than 300 productions to his credit he has also
been the resident technical director for the design and
construction of three theatre facilities in the southeast.
He has been actively involved with USITT (United
State Institute for Theatre Technology, Inc.) and SETC (Southeastern
Theatre Conference) throughout
his career. In addition to regular panel presentations he
has served on the conference committee for USITT and the
Board of Directors for SETC. Mike was recently awarded the
200-03 Founder’s Award by the US Institute for Theatre
Technology – Southeast section as the Outstanding Educator
in the Field of Theatre Design and Technology.
Secretary / Web Coordinator
Susan Marrash-Minnerly
West Virginia State University
Department of Communications
Institute, West Virginia 25112
304-766-5110
minnerly@wvstateu.edu
Susan Marrash-Minnerly, a transplant to
Charleston from Charlotte, North Carolina, is an Associate
Professor of theatre at West Virginia State University. She
earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of
Virginia, studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts
in New York, and has worked as a professional actor in
theatres, national and regional commercials for a long time.
She is a proud member of AEA (Actor’s Equity Association)
and SAG (Screen Actor’s Guild), and for 11 years prior to
moving to West Virginia, she was head of the Acting Program
in the Department of Dance and Theatre at UNC Charlotte. She
is very proud of receiving the 2003 Career Achievement Award
from her undergraduate alma mater, Converse College.
Treasurer
Tom Schoffler
West Virginia Wesleyan College
6 Third Avenue
Buckhannon, WV 26201-2622
304-473-8810
schoffler_t@wvwc.edu
College/University Representative
Jay Malarcher (Vice Rep. Dennis Wemm )
West Virginia University
Division of Theatre and Dance
P.O. Box 6111
Morgantown, West Virginia 26506-6111
304-293-4841 ext 3126
jay.malarcher@mail.wvu.edu
Secondary Representative
Crystal Gibson
Clay County High School
gibson_crystal@hotmail.com
Crystal Gibson is an English Language Arts
and theater teacher at Clay County High School. She began
teaching at the high school in 1991. She has an Associate of
Science degree from West Virginia University Institute of
Technology, a Bachelors of Arts in Education from Glenville
State College, and a Master of Arts in Humanities from
Marshall University. Crystal also has a certification in
administration from Salem International. In addition to
teaching at the high school, she currently serves as an
adjunct professor for West Virginia State University.
Crystal is also an active member of the RESA III Fine Arts
team and assists in facilitating other fine arts programs.
She has been an active member of WVTC for the past eight
years and is currently serving as your WVTC Secondary
representative.
Community Representative
Francene Kirk (Vice Rep. Lydia Mong)
Department of Speech Communication and Theatre
Fairmont State University
1202 Locust Ave
Fairmont, WV 26554
304-367-4170
fkirk@fairmontstate.edu
Francene is an assistant professor in the
Department of Speech Communication and Theatre at Fairmont
State University where she teaches speech communication,
puppetry, children’s theatre, and creative drama. Since
coming to FSU in 2000, Kirk has directed Androcles and the
Lion, A Thousand Cranes, Charlotte’s Web - the Musical, The
Wizard of Oz, School House Rock Live! and A Christmas Carol.
Kirk taught English, speech and theatre in West Virginia
public schools for 16 years and served as the Coordinator
for Fine Arts at the West Virginia Department of Education
for two years. Among her 40 high school theatre productions
were The Crucible, Crimes of the Heart and A Midsummer
Night's Dream. During her tenure at Preston High School, in
Kingwood, she piloted "Theatrelink," a distance-learning
project that connected rural high schools with New York
theatre professionals via the Internet, sponsored by the
Manhattan Theatre Club and IBM. Kirk holds an Ed.D. in
curriculum and instruction with minors in theatre and
English education from West Virginia University.
Audition Coordinator
April Daras
Davis and Elkins College
Elkins, WV
304-637-1360
darasa@DavisAndElkins.edu
SETC Representative
Gregory Mach
West Virginia Wesleyan College
Buckhannon, West Virginia 26201
304-473-8855
mach@wvwc.edu
Gregory Mach has been Associate Professor
and head of the Acting/Directing program at Davis and Elkins
College for thirteen years, and is currently Chair of the
Department of Theatre Arts at West Virginia Wesleyan
College. He was recently elected West Virginia State
Representative to the Southeastern Theatre Conference, the
largest theatre conference in the nation, for which he was
the State Auditions Coordinator for 2 years. A professional
actor, director, and playwright when he is not teaching, he
earned his Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of
Mississippi in 1985, and has performed everything from
Shakespeare to mime at numerous theatres throughout the
southeastern United States including the Cumberland County
Playhouse, Mississippi Summer Showcase, West Virginia Public
Theatre, Theatre West Virginia and many more. He has
directed extensively for the commercial, university and
community stage, as well as international tours, including
such plays as The Music Man, Godspell, Dracula, Lend Me a
Tenor, Nunsense, Crimes of the Heart, Oliver!, and many
more. |
