The Ritz Theatre Company's cast of The Bisley Boy. Photo by Zachary Moore.
New Jersey Theatre Alliance (“The Alliance”), one of the nation’s largest arts service organizations for professional theatre, is pleased to welcome new members to their board of trustees and two new professional member theatres.
Recently Laura Ekstrand was named Chair on the Alliance Board of Trustees, Michael Stotts as Vice Chair, and Janeece Freeman Clark as Secretary.
"I am thrilled to be the new Chair of the Alliance Board of Trustees, working alongside President Marshall Jones III and Executive Director John McEwen. I look forward to exploring the Alliance's goals and opportunities with the board and New Jersey's fantastic member theatres,” says Laura Ekstrand, co-founder and artistic director of Vivid Stage.
Marshall Jones, IIIcontinues as Board President and Michael Schnoering, FAIA continues as Treasurer.
Since its inception, the vision of the Alliance has been to be the voice of professional theatre in New Jersey, while serving as a capacity builder, innovator, and developer of a wide range of resources to strengthen and advocate for the state’s professional theatre community.
In keeping with that vision, the Alliance is proud to welcome two new member theatres to The Alliance: The Ritz Theater Company and Camden Repertory Theater.
The Ritz Theatre Company, located in Haddon Township, engages and enriches audiences by producing professional, diverse entertainment while training artists of all levels in a historic NJ landmark. “All of us here at The Ritz are very pleased about being invited to join the New Jersey Theatre Alliance. We are looking forward to sharing ideas on productions, board growth and activities and other areas of our work. We look forward to new partnerships that may grow out of this alliance,” says Bruce Curless, Founder/Producing Artistic Director of The Ritz Theatre Company. The theatre’s season kicks off with the world premiere of THE BISLEY BOY (shown at the top of this article), Book by Joshua Bessinger and Krysten Cummings, Music & Lyrics by Joshua Bessinger and Collin Maier, Directed by Krysten Cummings.
The cast of The Princess and the Pea at Camden Repertory Theater.
Celebrating its 15th season, Camden Rep was founded by Desi P. Shelton, a Camden, NJ native, in 2005 and initiated their inaugural season in August 2006. While working on her MFA at Sarah Lawrence College, Desi noticed the urban female voice was missing from the theatrical canon. Upon learning of the company’s acceptance into the membership of the Alliance, Desi stated, “I’m excited to be a part of the vibrant theater community of New Jersey and looking forward to connecting with others in the Alliance”. Camden Rep’s main stage season operates from September-June utilizing the summer months to focus on training and developing serious pre-professional young artists.
With the addition of Ritz Theatre and Camden Rep, New Jersey Theatre Alliance’s membership has grown to 40 theatres across New Jersey and the region, representing fifteen of the state’s twenty-one counties and Bucks County, PA.
Laura Ekstrand is co-founder and artistic director of Vivid Stage, formerly Dreamcatcher Rep. She is an actor, director, playwright and teacher who has appeared on stages and screens for over 30 years. As an actor, Laura appeared at Vivid Stage in Water in My Hands, Be Here Now, The Lucky Ones, What Stays; Sister Play; Motherhood Out Loud; and Shakespeare in Vegas, among many others, and is a member of the Flip Side improv comedy team. She has worked at many other New Jersey Theatres including the Bickford Theatre, Centenary Stage, Luna Stage, Passage Theater, Pushcart Players, The Theater Project, 12 Miles West. In New York, Laura has appeared at Naked Angels, Ensemble Studio Theatre, and New Georges.
Laura is a private public speaking coach and holds a BA from Yale University and an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College. Laura is the Chair of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance Board of Trustees and a member of AEA, SAG-AFTRA and the Dramatists Guild.
Mike Stotts (Managing Director) joined the Paper Mill staff in February 2019 after serving as Managing Director of Hartford Stage in Connecticut for thirteen years. There he produced the world premieres of the new musicals Anastasia (also a coproducer of the Broadway production) and A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder (2014 Tony Award for Best Musical). Among the more than eighty plays developed and produced during his tenure, notable shows include Rear Window with Kevin Bacon, Man in a Case with Mikhail Baryshnikov, the Pulitzer Prize–winning play Water by the Spoonful by Quiara Alegría Hudes, and Horton Foote’s The Orphans’ Home Cycle, which enjoyed a celebrated run in Hartford and New York, where it won the Drama Desk, Lucille Lortel, and Outer Critics Circle awards. Stotts led a multiyear capital campaign to expand and renovate the entire Hartford Stage theater facility, creating a state-of-the-art, flexible theater for producing a wide array of artistic programming. Prior to Hartford Stage, he served as managing director at Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, George Street Playhouse in New Brunswick, NJ, and the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey. Stotts has served on numerous boards, most recently Billings Forge Community Works in Hartford, the Connecticut Arts Alliance, and Hartford Performs. In 2018 he was a member of a delegation of US arts leaders at the Seventh Annual Workshop on Theatre Management at the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing, China. He currently serves on the Tony Awards Nominating Committee, and the boards of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance and ArtPride NJ. He is originally from Calgary, Alberta.
Janeece Freeman Clark co-founded Vanguard Theater Company in 2015. Under Janeece’s direction, Vanguard has presented NYC productions of: "Runaways," "Spring Awakening," "Two Gentlemen of Verona," "Children's Letters to God," "A Little Princess" and NJ productions of "Memphis," "Hairspray," "Heathers," "Carrie," "Music Man," and "Song For A New World'' (film). In addition to her work with Vanguard, and running her vocal studio, Janeece is a Professor of Theater at Seton Hall University, where she also serves as special advisor to the Arts Council. As a Theater Director, her New York productions of "Everything is Fine Until It’s Not" and "A Portrait of Ray," have won numerous awards and critical acclaim. Her production of "Showtime with Shakespeare" premiered at Georgestreet Playhouse and NJPAC, followed by two successful national tours. Janeece received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan and her Masters from Rider University. As an actor, Janeece has appeared on Broadway, off-Broadway, national tours, television, film, commercials, and voiceovers. Janeece resides in the suburbs of NYC and is married to Broadway Actor, Dwayne Clark, with whom she shares two children: Jada & DJ.
Founded in 1981, New Jersey Theatre Alliance was the first statewide service organization for professional, not-for-profit theatre companies in the United States, and is a leader in developing model programs that unite, promote, strengthen, and cultivate professional theatre in New Jersey. Funding for the New Jersey Theatre Alliance, a not-for-profit organization, is provided in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, New Jersey Division of Travel and Tourism, and contributions from numerous individuals, corporations, and foundations including Amazon, The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Grunin Foundation, The Horizon Foundation for New Jersey, Bank of America, City National Bank, The Shubert Foundation, The Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation, The Hyde and Watson Foundation, The F.M. Kirby Foundation, E.J. Grassmann Trust, The Union Foundation, and OceanFirst Foundation
