Our Board Of Directors
Eric Magnus, Artistic Director has been a stage actor since 1985, appearing in local community and equity theaters. He has been a theatre teacher and director since 1991. Eric is the director of theatre at Frontier Trail Junior High in Olathe, KS (for the past 19 years), and a Kansas certified speech and theatre teacher for grades 7 – 12. He has been a featured director and teacher for Legacy School of the Arts in Olathe, the Assistant Director of Theatre at Olathe South High School in 2003 – 2004 & 2006 – 2007, has worked in radio and has been a private acting coach since 2006. Eric is a published playwright with Eldridge Publishing Company (www.histage.com), featuring his adaptations of Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet and The Taming of the Shrew which have been performed all across the country. A complete list of Eric’s acting and directing credits can be seen on his private coaching website, “Acting with Magnitude” (www.ericmagnus.com). Eric has been the Artistic Director of The Barn Players since September of 2008 and has served on the board of directors since February of 2007.
Vida Bikales, President was president of the Board of Directors for Camellot Academy from 1991 to 2009. She retired in 2008 from a 31 year career as a Senior Professional Healthcare Consultant with Pfizer Pharmaceuticals. Vida volunteers in the dispensary at the Jackson County Free Health Clinic. She graduated from The University of Kansas in 1976 with a BFA in Sculpture.
Frank Annecchini is a Project Manager. He has served as a volunteer Strategic Planning Facilitator for many non-profit organizations. He has a BSEE from Syracuse University and an MBA from West Texas A&M University.
Cecilia Baty is an attorney residing in Overland Park, Kansas. She is a graduate of Seton Hall University and the University of Notre Dame Law School. Cecelia practiced law full-time for 24 years, the last 18 of which she was in-house counsel at Butler Manufacturing Company. She is currently practicing law on a part-time basis, providing legal consulting services to corporations and other organizations.
Casey Carl, Secretary, is the Clerk of the Board of Commissioners for Johnson County, Kansas an urban community within the Greater Kansas City Metropolitan Area. In that capacity, he administers legislative processes and manages the offices of the Board of County Commissioners. He earned a BFA in communications from Emporia State University. An accomplished pianist, he has accompanied numerous operas, musical and theatrical productions, workshops, and recitals.
Rosemary Hartigan is a program director and professor of law and management in the MBA program of the Graduate School of Management and Technology, University of Maryland University College, working "virtually" from Overland Park via internet and telephone. Rosemary has a J.D. from the University of Wisconsin, a Masters in Management from Antioch University-McGregor, and a Masters in English from S.U.N.Y. Stony Brook. Prior to becoming a full-time academic, she was engaged in law practice and in product and marketing management for electronic information giant LexisNexis. Rosemary has always been active in the arts, having formerly served on the board of CityFolk, an arts-presenting organization in Dayton, Ohio that produces ethnic and traditional music and dance performances, including a multi-stage annual festival. She played flute in a community band for over seven years and served as an artist escort at The National Folk Festival. As an avid theater goer and supporter of the arts in the KC area, Rosemary is delighted to be affiliated with the Barn Players.
Mandy Lagoski, Volunteer Coordinator has been involved with the Barn Players March of 2006. She graduated from Kansas State University with dual degrees in Psychology and Elementary Education and taught 2nd and 3rd graders at Bonner Springs Elementary for 5 years. She now works in internet marketing at Plattform Advertising, where she has been advertising for higher education institutions for a little over 2 years. Mandy has performed with several community theatre groups in the KC area, as well as with the KC Renaissance Festival. She is a past member of the Wyandotte Players Board of Directors.
Lynn Reddick, Associate Artistic Director is a Data Architect at Sprint Corporation where he has worked for the past 21 years. Lynn received his undergraduate degree from Missouri State University and his MBA from Rockhurst University. Lynn has had a lifelong passion for the arts. He has served on the boards of the Kansas City Boys Choir, the Heartland Men’s Chorus and recently completed his term as chairman of the Theatre Council for Theatre in the Park. He has appeared onstage in numerous productions, and has also served on many production staffs in the capacity of both stage manager and assistant director.
Eric Van Horn, Vice President, has been involved with theatre since the 1970s as an actor, director, designer, stage manager and technician. He has been on two world tours and recently a national tour. During his US Army career Eric had the opportunity to perform and direct in theatres across the country and overseas. After retiring from the Army where he worked as a Corrections and Public Affairs officer, Eric made his home in Leavenworth Ks. He has worked with many theatres in the area directing and designing an average of five shows a year and performing as often as he can in his busy schedule. Eric has earned himself a life long position on the Board of Governors for the River City Community Players and has served that board in nearly every capacity over the past 20 years. Eric is the owner of Custom Casuals Embroidery (www.customcasuals.net) in Leavenworth and produces embroidered and screen printed garments for not only local businesses, schools and theatres but for a number of Broadway shows and National Touring companies.
Melinda Whitman is an attorney who currently serves as the Johnson County District Court Trustee. She has an undergraduate degree from Southern Methodist University, a Master's Degree from Michigan State University and a law degree from Washburn University. Although active in musical theatre many years ago, she took time out to chauffeur her four children to their many practices and games. She has now returned to musical theatre and is trying to make up for lost time by performing in any production in which they will have her. She had the privilege of performing in Carnegie Hall in 2001.
Dave Conradt has a CPA background and is a Medicare auditor for WPS Health Insurance. He is also the Controller for St. Pius X Church, which is just up the street from the Barn. He is a member of the Mission Visitors and Convention Gureau and a former board member for the NE Johnson County Chamber of Commerce. He has lived in the area most of his life, has a BSBA from Rockhurst College and sings in the choir at St. Pius.
The Barn Players Staff
Tamara Kingston, Administrative Coordinator originally from London, England, has been with the Barn Players since 2004. Tamara has stage managed and accrued or created props in various theatres around the Kansas City area. Tamara has also received a Certificate for the Creation of Props in Theatre from the Royal Academy for the Dramatic Arts, London. Tamara is currently key stage hand at Johnson County Community College’s Performing Arts Center - Carlsen Center.
Bill Wright, Technical Director worked in Church Theater for over 10 years before turning to Community Theater around the turn of the century. With a background in construction learned from his father, he built his first complete set for Wyandotte Players production of "Orphan Annie". He has studied Performance Art, Light Design and set up, Stage Management and Sound Board Operations at KCKCC and has worked with a number of other theater groups and high schools in the area.
Sean Leistico, Facility Technician and Webmaster, a life-long resident of the Kansas City metropolitan area, currently works as Scene shop foreman in the Theatre Department at Johnson County Community College. He has a background in acting, lighting, sound and scene design, and has also worked with the Central Missouri Repertory Theatre, Down Every Street Productions, Mental Ward Films, Bad Karma Films and the Kansas City Fringe Festival. He has worked in visual merchandising and design with Copaken, White and Blitt and as an inker and writer with Motion Comics. He started in web design and programming in the early 1990's and also has an extensive background in facilities maintenance.
Jason Coats currently serves as Education Coordinator for the Barn Junior series with the Barn Players. He has directed two productions at the Barn with this series: Once on This Island, Jr. and You're a Good Man Charlie Brown. Jason has been working with youth in the performing arts since he graduated high school. He has taught with the Coterie Theatre as well as the Kansas Academy of Theatrical Arts (KATA). KATA served a predominantly urban clientele, and it was a thrilling experience each year for him to see students who had never been on a stage of any kind rehearse and mount a full scale production each summer. Even more exciting was seeing the maturity of character that came with these experiences. Jason is a licensed practicing educator in the state of Kansas, where he endeavors to incorporate arts in the "core curriculum," despite moves to focus on assessments alone. In the Kansas City, Kansas district, he provided staff development on incorporating creative dramatics into the reading and writing curriculum such as to directly address state standards. While teaching there, he also developed a program to integrate MTI's Broadway Junior materials into district literacy initiatives, leading his students to move from 20% meeting standards to 88% meeting standards on state assessments. In the community, Jason has performed with and currently serves as President of the Board of Directors for StoneLion Puppet Theatre and sings with the Heartland Men's Chorus (in addition to performing and designing for non-youth community theatre). Jason has his undergraduate degree from Kansas State University, where he studied education, music, and theatre (with an emphasis on directing and drama therapy). He is currently pursuing his master's degree from the University of Missouri—Kansas City in Instructional Technologies while teaching sixth grade in the Shawnee Mission School District.