Our Board Of Directors
Eric Magnus, President / Publicity Co-Chair 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 16 years, is a Kansas certified speech and theatre teacher for grades 7 – 12, 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 for the last year has offered his services as a private acting coach. 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)
Beate Pettigrew, Artistic Director / Past President is the Artistic Coordinator for the Theatre Department at Johnson County Community College. She is the immediate past chair and the current Dramaturgy Coordinator for the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Region V. She is honored to serve the Kennedy Center as the National Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship Audition Coordinator. She graduated magna cum laude as a Hallmark Fellow from the University of Missouri-Kansas City with an MFA in Theatre Direction and has directed over 50 academic and semi-professional plays.
Nancy Wallerstein, Vice-President / Community Outreach will serve as Board Chair in 2007 for the Johnson County Park and Recreation District Board of Commissioners. She is a member of the Board of Directors for Northeast Johnson County Chamber of Commerce and represents The Barn Players on their Community Service Board. Nancy is an active participant in the Johnson County Museum Advisory Board, the Shawnee Mission Indian Museum Foundation and Johnson County Citizens Coalition for the Arts. She is a former member of the Association of Community Arts Agencies of Kansas (ACAAK) and served from 1990-99 on the Prairie Village City Council. In 2005, she chaired the Johnson County, KS Sesquicentennial (150) celebration.
Vida Bikales, Secretary has been President of the board of directors for Camellot Academy, a fine arts camp for children, since 1991. In addition to her twenty-nine year career in sales with Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Vida also volunteers at the Jackson County Free Health Clinic.
Michael Ruth, Treasurer works as a business analyst for Waddell & Reed. He is an active member of the public speaking club, Toastmasters, where he founded a new club in 2005 and served as Area Governor. In his spare time, Michael continues his work as a playwright. His plays have been included in the Bare Stage Ten Minute Plays Festival (Red Bluff, CA) and the Kansas City Playwrights Festival.
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.
Rebecca Black grew up in Lawrence , where she developed a strong sense of the importance of the Arts in our lives and our communities. During her studies at the University of Kansas , where she earned a degree in political science, Rebecca served as a member of the Lied Center ’s technical crew. She recently returned to the Kansas City area after a brief stint in Washington , D.C. , and currently works in communications and public relations.
Casey Carl, Publicity Co-Chair 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.
Ross Harmon, Dramaturgy began his affiliation with the Barn Players in 1973 where he appeared in Girl Crazy. He holds a BFA in Theatre Arts from Drake University. Ross’ numerous credits, on both coasts, include assistant company manager, playwright, actor for the stage and the small screen. As an Advertising Commercial Producer/Writer, in 1998 he was named Kansas City Media Professional of the Year. To date, he has written or produced over 1,000 commercial spots. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Advertising Club of Greater Kansas City, whose annual Omni Awards presentation he has written and produced for the past several years. Previously he served on the Johnson County Park and Recreation District's Theatre in the Park Advisory Council.
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 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. Since 2004, she has become an active performer at the Kansas City Renaissance Festival as a member of the royal family. Mandy has performed in many community theatre shows and is a past member of the Wyandotte Players Board of Directors.
Lynn Reddickis 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.
Frank Robertson, Historian came to the Barn in 1973 when he moved to the Kansas City area. He has served as an actor, director, musical director, stage manager, treasurer, and president of the organization. He taught theater courses at SMN from 1978-1985. He was voted into the Kansas Teachers' Hall of Fame in 2002. Frank is currently an adjunct professor of English at Johnson County Community College and has been choir director at Colonial UCC in Prairie Village for thirty years.
Eric Van Horn 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.
The Barn Players Staff
Tamara Kingston, Administrative Coordinator originally from London, England is currently a non-traditional student at Johnson County Community College, pursuing a degree in Stage Management. She has also been dialect coach for The Theatre in the Park productions.
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 a Stagehand and Scene shop carpenter at Johnson County Community College. He has a great love of theatre and 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 also previously worked in visual merchandising and design with Copaken, White and Blitt and as an artist 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.