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Administrative
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Curt L. Tofteland has been the Producing Director of the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival since 1989. Mr. Tofteland is at the helm of all the Festival’s activities: artistic, administrative and educational. In addition to producing the Central Park summer Shakespeare season, for which he directs the Shakespeare play and occasionally plays a role, Mr. Tofteland created the Festival’s highly successful and award winning outreach program, WILL ON WHEELS in 1990.
Mr. Tofteland brings twenty years of professional experience to the Festival. He has worked as an Equity actor, a director, a playwright, an arts educator, and a teacher.
Mr. Tofteland has held leadership roles in professional theatre service organizations at both the international and the state levels. For the Shakespeare Theatre Association of America, he has served as President and in an executive board position for six years. For the Kentucky Theatre Association, he has held the Professional Division Chair for the past five years.
Mr. Tofteland has worked as an adjunct theatre professor at Indiana University Southeast, University of Louisville, and Jefferson Community College.
Mr. Tofteland is a founding member of the Creative Resources for Education and Teaching Enhancement (C.R.E.A.T.E.) team which conducts professional development workshops using the arts to teach in core curriculum areas. He is an accredited theatre artist and conducts workshops for: the Kentucky Collabrative for Teaching and Learning; the Kentucky Arts Council; the Kentucky Humanities Council; and the Kentucky Academy of Technology Education (KATE). He has also conducted workshops for: Very Special Arts Kentucky and the Kentucky Arts Council’s Basic Arts Program. Mr. Tofteland has served for three years on the staff of the Institute for Arts in Education and has conducted state, regional, national and international workshops for the: American Council for the Arts; First and Second International Shakespeare Conference: Teaching Shakespeare; Shakespeare Theatre Association of America; National Conference of Teachers of English; Educational Theatre Association; International Network of Performing and Visual Arts School 1996 National Conference, Institute of Outdoor Drama; Shakespeare Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia; Dartmouth Alumni Association; Art meets Ed.; Kentucky Council of the Teachers of English/Language Arts; Kentucky School Board Association; Indiana Council of English and Language Arts Teachers; Louisville Center for Educational Learning; Leadership Louisville; Focus Louisville; and Greater Louisville English Council.
Mr. Tofteland is the author of ten professionally produced plays and in 1988 was awarded an Al Smith Fellowship in playwriting from the Kentucky Arts Council. He is a published poet.
Mr. Tofteland has worked professionally in his home state of North Dakota, as well as Arkansas, Florida, Minnesota, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, British Columbia and Romania.
Celeste Santamassino (Associate Director of Education) is currently in her third season with the Festival. She has directed most recently for Bill Troupe in Frankfort, KY, the Necessary Theatre in Louisville, and served as Assistant Director for Kentucky Opera's 1998 production of Tosca. She graduated in 1995 from Centre College with a double major in English and Theatre.
Holly lyn–heather Johnson (Assistant to the Producing Director) recently re-joined the staff after a hiatus of six years. Holly was an apprentice with the Festival in 1991 and 1992 and specialized in nacho-making as Concessions Manager in 1993. She recently finished an administrative internship with Stage One: Louisville's Family Theatre, and spent the 1997-98 season as Stage Manager for the Dayton Theatre Guild in Dayton, Ohio, as well as serving on their Board of Directors. Holly is ecstatic to return to her hometown and to spend yet another summer in her favorite park.
Margot S.D. Hust (Administrative Associate) is currently in her third season with Kentucky Shakespeare Festival. Ms. Hust is the mother of two great teenagers, two unusual cats, one rather comical bassett hound and the wife of one super husband. Before working for the Festival, she worked for the Glastonbury Historical Society in Glastonbury, Connecticut. Prior to that she worked as a paralegal in NYC and with Merrill Lynch in London, England. Her love for the theatre initially brought her to the Festival; the warm, caring staff as well as the creativity has kept her here.
Marcia Tarbis Tofteland (Administrative Consultant) began her association with the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival in 1971, when she played Charmian in Anthony and Cleopatra and continued it in the 1981 production of Much Ado About Nothing. Ms. Tofteland worked at Actors Theater of Louisville from 1978 to 1986, where she served as ticket sales director, festival coordinator, and director of community relations consecutively. Now a freelance writer, Ms. Tofteland has a monthly column which appears in the national journal, Real Living with Multiple Sclerosis. She was a Forum Fellow with the editorial board of the Courier-Journal, in which several of her articles have appeared.
Kathleen T. Breen (Education Consultant) has worked extensively with the Festival since 1990. Her contributions include being Associate Producer of the summer institute, FROM THE PAGE TO THE STAGE: Teaching Shakespeare in the Classroom, writing study guides for BOY MEETS GIRL MEETS SHAKESPEARE, and managing front of house. During the academic year she is a full–time English teacher at Sacred Heart Academy. Last summer, Ms. Breen participated in a three–week course on Teaching Shakespeare Through Performance at the new Globe Theatre in London.
Sue Batman (Bookkeeper) coordinates all aspects of the Festival's accounting and financial reporting. For the past four years, Ms. Batman has provided data management services through her company, Data Plus.
Brenda Johnson (Gift Sales Manager/Volunteer Coordinator) is returning for her fifth season with the Festival. She first saw Shakespeare in Central Park over thirty years ago. Ms. Johnson has spent many summers since then in the audience and as a volunteer. This year she has also taken a leadership position as Volunteer Coordinator.
Erin M. Everson (Administrative Intern) is excited to be joining Kentucky Shakespeare Festival for her first season. She is a B.F.A. Candidate in Theatre Management at Northern Kentucky University, with plans to graduate in December of 1999. For the past two summers, Ms. Everson was a part of The Williamstown Theatre Festival and Assistant Stage Managed new works by A.R. Gurney and David Rabe. Just recently, Erin concluded her position as Production Manager for the 1999 Y.E.S. Festival at NKU, a festival showcasing new playwrights from across the country.
J. Zachariah Hill (Front of House Intern) is enthusiastic about his internship with Kentucky Shakespeare Festival. Mr. Hill recently moved from Dayton, Ohio, where he spent the past season and a half at the Dayton Theatre Guild, being a jack-of-all-trades. Recent roles include Brodie in The Real Thing and the last minute role of Brian in Laughter on the 23rd Floor. When not acting, Zach worked as Props Master and Sound Engineer for the Guild. Zach is also attempting to make a career in the vintage clothing business and hopes to open his own store sometime in the near future.
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