Elizabeth McKoy

Founding Artistic Director
(Click here for note from Elizabeth McKoy)

Jerry R. Foust

Executive Director
Julia Morgan Center for the Arts & Berkeley Playhouse
(Click here for note from Jerry R. Foust)

Kimberly Dooley

Associate Artistic Director / Casting Director

Valerie Pope

Theater Operations Manager

Alexis Papedo

Education Programs Manager

Michelle Dissel

Marketing & Communications Manager

Dave Garrett

Production Manager & Bookings

Susan M. Dunn

Patron Services Manager (Volunteers, Box Office, Concessions)

Peggy Arnold

Bookkeeper (Part-Time)

Amy Dalton

Executive Assistant / Development Coordinator
Staff Pianist

Hanah Zahner-Isenberg

Office Assistant

Judith McKoy

School Outreach Coordinator

John George

Facilities & I/T Coordinator

Michele Fromson

Development Consultant

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Elizabeth McKoy

Artistic Director

Elizabeth McKoy is the Artistic Director & Founder of Berkeley Playhouse, where she most recently directed Peter Pan the Musical for the 2008-2009 professional season. The show set a record of 33 consecutive sold-out performances. Elizabeth has directed many shows for Berkeley Playhouse’s acclaimed Youth Company including: Bravado, Once on This Island, The Music Man, Into The Woods, Quonk, Once Upon a Pea, and many others. In addition to performing professionally as an actress, Elizabeth has always felt inspired and passionate about teaching all ages about the joy and power of live theatre. Before coming to Berkeley, Elizabeth taught theatre for many years in New York and Seattle, including over five years for the renowned Seattle Children’s Theatre. After performing and teaching in Seattle she moved to Berkeley and became the Education Director for an affiliate of New York’s Lincoln Center Institute which brought arts education to thousands of school children and teachers in the Bay Area. In addition to directing and teaching for the Playhouse, she is currently working to develop and sustain the Playhouse’s unique vision for music theatre and theatre education.

Jerry R. Foust

Executive Director, Julia Morgan Center for the Arts & Berkeley Playhouse

Jerry R. Foust serves as the Managing Director for the Julia Morgan Center for the Arts and Berkeley Playhouse. Jerry is a native of Indiana, where he attended the Butler University’s Jordan College of Fine Arts. After receiving a Bachelor’s in Music Education and an Indiana teaching license, Jerry taught high school and elementary music for several years in Indianapolis and the Louisville, Kentucky area—where he started the acclaimed West Clark Summer Theatre program in 1997. During his undergraduate years, Jerry performed in the inaugural concert of the Indianapolis Men’s Chorus, and has since performed as a singing member in Voices of Kentuckiana (Louisville) and the Denver Gay Men’s Chorus. Jerry’s work in higher education took him to the San Francisco Bay Area where he served on the Student Affairs staff at the University of California for four years. During that time, Jerry founded an acclaimed men’s choral group. As a teacher in the San Diego County Schools, Jerry was awarded the Classroom of the Future Foundation’s “Innovate” award for his work integrating technology into the elementary music curriculum. Jerry served as leader of the San Diego Men’s Chorus since 2004. During Jerry’s time as Artistic Director/Conductor, the Chorus assisted with the grand re-opening of two San Diego theatre gems – the Birch North Park Theatre and the Balboa Theatre in downtown San Diego. He led the chorus on an ocean liner tour of the Mexican Riviera, developed a commissioned music fund, and expanded the Chorus outreach and community-building efforts by leaps and bounds—including establishing the “Youth & Arts” program, which served 750 students in 2008. Jerry co-authored the largest single successful grant request in the chorus’ history in 2008, and served as principal writer of an original theatre piece celebrating 40 years of Pride in San Diego, starring legendary Olympic diver Greg Louganis, award-winning playwright Del Shores, and Broadway star Frenchie Davis. Jerry has served as guest rehearsal conductor for Goat Hall Opera in San Francisco, and has directed numerous musical theatre productions, including The Music Man, Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and the first-ever Jr. version of an MTI musical, Annie. His choral groups have collaborated with the San Diego Chamber Orchestra, San Diego Dance Theatre, Sharon Gless, Sir Ian McKellan, Mario Lopez, Nichelle Nichols, and the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus. He holds a Master’s in Higher Education Administration from San Diego State University.

Kimberly Dooley

Artistic Associate & Casting Director

Kimberly received a BFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. At Tisch, she co-created and starred in an original work based on the life of sculptress Camille Claudel. She is in residence with the acclaimed Shotgun Players, and her roles at Shotgun have included Sally Bowles in Cabaret, Cassandra in There Will Be No Trojan War, and Pat in Vampires. She created and co-wrote the Shotgun Theatre Lab hit Eat, a documentary-style play based on interviews and research conducted around eating in the United States. Kimberly has appeared in productions at Broadway by the Bay and Pacific Repertory. She teaches dance and musical theatre at Berkwood Hedge School, and has directed two mainstage professional productions at Berkeley Playhouse – Seussical the Musical and Once On This Island. Kimberly also serves as the Conservatory Programs Manager for Berkeley Playhouse

Valerie Pope

Production / Technical Manager

Michelle Dissel

Marketing Manager

With a degree in Journalism and Media Studies from Rhodes University, South Africa, and a Diploma in Marketing and Communications from the APA School of Advertising and Communication Michelle has worked on three different continents in creative, administration and management. Beginning her career as an award-winning copywriter with Ogilvy and Mather South Africa, she has worked and freelanced in London and San Francisco with accounts such as Volkswagen, Bally of Switzerland, TimeOut Magazine and Publisher’s Group West. While raising her children she ran a photography office, her own small design business, completed a course in fabric design, edited poetry books and served on various boards and committees. She joined Berkeley Playhouse in July 2007 where she is responsible for the marketing and communication of their programs.

Alexis Papedo

Education Programs Manager

Alexis Papedo is a professional Actor/Director and Teaching Artist with over ten years of experience and training. She recently joined Berkeley Playhouse as their Education Projects Manager, and is so excited to be part of this amazing, intelligent, vibrant community! Lexie graduated from UCLA where she studied Acting and Playwriting, with and emphasis on the social responsibility of the artist. While in Los Angeles Lexie was able to work for ABC Network/Warner Brother’s Studio in the Casting and Production departments, and the Los Angeles Women’s Theater Festival as an Arts Administrator. After graduation Lexie returned to the Bay Area where she grew up performing, directing youth productions, and teaching dance. She recently returned from New York where she Assistant Directed her first Off-Broadway production, Punk. While performing in the Bay Area, you may have seen Lexie as Erzuli in the Berkeley Playhouse production of Once On This Island. She was recently seen as Mira in Brendon Simon’s Torch at San Francisco Playhouse, and can been seen next as Shirley in 42^nd Street Moon’s Lady Be Good! Lexie is thrilled to be able to work with the Berkeley Playhouse students to build performance skills and to create an environment where we all can be teaching and learning from each other.

Dave Garrett

Client Services & Box Office Manager

With degrees in Drama from SF State and UC Davis, Dave has been involved with the Bay Area theater community for the past 20 years. He has worked as an actor, producer, playwright, and teacher. Dave is the Artistic Director/Instructor for the Each One Reach One organization, teaching playwriting skills to incarcerated teens in San Francisco and San Mateo counties. His own short plays have been produced locally by PlayGround. Dave has most recently appeared on-stage with Shotgun Players.

Michele Fromson

Development Manager

With advanced degrees in music history (Ph.D., Music History and Theory, University of Pennsylvania) and in non-profit management (USF College of Professional Studies), Michele began her non-profit career in 1993 as Executive Director of the new music ensemble Earplay, which she led for five years. From 2001-03 she worked as Associate Director of Development and Outreach Programs for Adam Frey at the respected San Francisco Contemporary Music Players. Since 2005, she has been Development Director for the Paul Dresher Ensemble, a position she still holds today. Her consulting clients have included Empyrean Ensemble, Chamber Music Partnership, Berkeley Opera, and DooF (a new children’s TV show about healthy food), among others.

Ms. Fromson has also pursued an active career in music history. She spent seven years in university teaching (Columbia University, U.C. Davis, the University of Washington, and Mills College) and has won academic fellowships from the National Endowment for the Humanities (1998 and 1999-2000), Harvard University’s Center for Renaissance studies, Villa I Tatti in Florence (1991-92), and the Newberry Library (1987). Her research, primarily about Renaissance church music, has been published in The Journal of the American Musicological Society (1992, 1994), the Journal of the Royal Musical Association (1987), and the New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians (2001).

Amy Dalton

Assistant to the Managing Director / Development Coordinator
Staff Accompanist

Hanah Zahner-Isenberg

Office Assistant

Hanah Zahner-Isenberg is a stage manager, occasional props-procurer and all-around shlepper. Originally from Long Beach, California, Hanah’s stage-management career began when she, unbeknownst to her parents, set up a sign-in table for her 5th birthday party. Her recent SM credits include the Berkeley Playhouse’s Once on this Island, the Shotgun Players’ Ubu for President and Shotgun’s Berkeley remount of Beowulf: a thousand years of baggage. She is also a recent graduate of UC Berkeley, where she had the pleasure of stage managing The Bacchae with director Barbara Oliver. She is thrilled to be assisting various departments of Berkeley Playhouse and stage managing the upcoming 2009-2010 season.

Judith McKoy

School Outreach Coordinator

Judith McKoy, PhD. is an educator and administrator with 40 + years experience working in colleges, hospitals, and profit and nonprofit organizations. Most recently, she served as Vice President of Education, Training and Counseling for Planned Parenthood of Western Washington. Of her myriad positions through the years, Judith most enjoyed developing and leading training events. She wrote a number of curricula and several texts for English as a Second Language learners. She currently coordinates outreach projects for the Berkeley Playhouse.