Meet the 2022- 2023 ACT Cincinnati Executive Board
Fred Hunt, President
Fred is an IT Project Manager by day and a busy theater performer/director/producer/fan by night. He began serving as an ACT-Cincinnati adjudicator in 2014 and is currently the ACT 2nd Vice President. Fred has been involved with several community theaters in the Cincinnati area since 2003. Fred currently serves as treasurer and board member for CenterStage Players. His love of theater began in middle school 40+ years ago and was rekindled as his children developed their desires to perform.
Cathy Lutts, 1st VP
Cathy is tickled pink to be back on the ACT Cincinnati Board after a 7-year hiatus. Her involvement with ACT began back in 2003 when she was the ACT representative for both Footlighters and Mariemont Players. She served as the award chairman from 2006 to 2009, ACT President from 2009-2011, the scholarship chairman from 2012 to 2015, and was the Long-Range Judging Committee chair and member for four years. Throughout all those years, she also worked as an ACT adjudicator. Cathy was the recipient of the Annual ACT President’s Award, and in 2021, she received the prestigious Art Rouse Award in honor of her service and dedication to Cincinnati community theater.
Mark Culp, 2nd VP
Mark returned to theatre in 2015 after a long hiatus. Since then, he’s been active both onstage and behind the scenes and is currently the VP-Production for CenterStage Players and Development Director for Cincinnati Music Theatre. Mark is also a frequent judge and consultant for the marching arts and has judged state championship events for marching bands throughout the country. He works as a Senior Occupancy Planner for Jones Lang LaSalle on the Procter & Gamble account in Cincinnati. His wife Jane is also involved with community theatre and his son Parker is currently studying theatre at Xavier University.
Betsy Obermeyer, Secretary
Betsy is pleased to lend her talents to the ACT Board and has been active in local theater since 2006. She is grateful for the chance to use her MFA training in a variety of scenic, producing, and leadership roles for Mariemont Players, The Drama Workshop, Footlighters Inc., Village Players, and Milford Theater Guilde. She began serving as an ACT Cincinnati adjudicator in 2016. A graduate of The Ohio State University, she appreciates symbolism and meaning on stage after attending a masterclass and symposium with famed Czech scenographer Jaroslav Malina.
By day she is a Senior Account Manager at Integrity Express Logistics and enjoys kayaking with her husband and daughter.
Jon Scheiding, Treasurer
Jon has been active in Cincinnati area community theatre for nearly 15 years, serving in numerous roles - including sound designer, music director, orchestra member, and performer - for numerous groups - including Mason Community Players, Center Stage Players, Beechmont Players, Village Players of Ft. Thomas, Footlighters, and Cincinnati Music Theatre. Highlights include performing as Mendel in Falsettos at CMT and Jamie in The Last Five Years at Village Players of Ft. Thomas, and music directing Next To Normal at Footlighters. He has served for four years as the chair of Mason Community Players' Finance Committee, and previously served on the Board for Beechmont Players.
In his "other life," Jon is a software engineer and engineering manager for Instructure, the provider of Canvas LMS and other cloud education technology software. Additional interests include flying as a private pilot, and performing with his bands. Jon lives in Sharonville with his extremely talented wife, Kaleigh-Brooke Scheiding, their ornery cat Katniss, and their temperamental retired stage dog Bruiser.
Amy Waldfogle, Awards
Amy has been involved in Cincinnati-area theatre productions since 1992 performing, organizing, directing, designing or "whatever needs doing" for at least a half-dozen different community theatre groups. She earned a theatre arts teaching license through graduate studies at the University of Akron in 2004, and directed two local high school theatre programs for a total of 8 years, working with both the Cappies and the Educational Theatre Association ("Thespians"), including serving on the Ohio EdTA state board. She started serving ACT as a Responder in 2017 and has been a group representative and LRJC Committee member for the past several years before joining the Executive Board. To support her theatre habit, she works as an Information Security Program Manager for a cybersecurity company.
Mary Stone, Marketing/Publicity
This is Mary's second year on the ACT Board as the Marketing and Publicity chair, but she has been involved with ACT since 2013 serving as a judging assistant for Acting Up, Mason Community Players, and Tri-County Players. She has previously served as a member at large for 5 years on Exhale Dance Tribe’s Board of Directors, 2 years as President of The Drama Workshop, and is currently in her 7th year on Footlighters Inc.'s Board, serving as their VP Administration. Mary is proud to be a graduate of Artswave’s Boardway Bound program and is looking forward to using her training to become a more effective board leader in Cincinnati’s arts community, beginning her service with The Carnegie's board of directors in July 2022. She was humbled and honored to have won the 2022 ACT President's Award in her very first year on the ACT Board.
Melissa M. Smith, Scholarships
Melissa started in Cincinnati area Community Theater in the 80’s, happily doing what needed doing backstage so others could go on stage. Groups she’s worked with include: Tri-County Players, TDW, Footlighters (Newport & Fairfield), Sunset Players, Stagecrafters and Milford Theatre Guilde. Melissa left her beloved hometown to support U. S. and Multi-National troops in Baghdad, Iraq from 2004 through 2009, and then she deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan in 2010-2012. Past ACT Board positions include ACT Treasurer and Secretary. Melissa is most pleased to be back in her hometown with family and to be able to live in her own house.
Jacqlyn Schott, Long Range Judging Committee Chair
Since returning to theatre in 2015, Jacqlyn Schott has been involved with over 20 productions (whether it be performing, directing, or producing), has served as an adjudicator, and helped foster change as a board member. One of her most treasured credits is her first directing endeavor, Ordinary Days, as it was 1 of 12 shows chosen to showcase at the 2021 American Association of Community Theatre national conference. Another she cherishes is being the inaugural chair of Cincinnati Music Theatre's Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) committee. Outside of theatre, Jacqlyn is both a full-time learning specialist and pursuing her PhD to continue marrying her passion for the transformative power of theatre with creating safer, braver spaces both in and outside the higher education classroom.
Linda Roll, Historian, Librarian, & Pre- Registration
Linda Roll has been active in Community Theatre since 1994. She has done most technical jobs there are from directing, producing, stage managing, costuming, lighting and just about any other job you can name. She is also an award-winning actress, costumer, producer and director on both the local and state levels.
John Wesseling, Membership Standing Committee Chair, Bylaws Co-Chair
John has been involved with Community Theater for over 40 years, most of it with the Sunset Players, Inc. and ACT Cincinnati, Inc. He is an award-winning actor, director, technician, and producer. He has served on the board of the Sunset Players for almost 40 years and has served on the ACT board 30 out of the last 36 years.
He was the first individual to win both of the ACT Cincinnati Inc. major awards, the Mario Pitocco Award for Excellence in Technical Theater, and the Art Rouse Award for Dedication to Community Theater. John is also a four-time President’s Award honoree.
As President of the Sunset Players, John led the charge of assuming control of the Dunham Recreation Complex’s historically significant Arts building and turning it into The Arts Center at Dunham, a complete Arts center for the west side of Cincinnati.
He is also the creator of “Cincinnati Community Theater Wesseling Group”, an e-mail list that shares theater information in the Greater Cincinnati area with over 1,200 theater members.
Joy Sharp, Bylaws Co-Chair
Joy Sharp has been an ACT Judging Assistant for several years and currently schedules judges for Mariemont Players and Cincinnati Music Theatre. She has held office as ACT 2nd VP several times, and is dedicated to the wonderful program, helping tweak it to make it even better. Joy’s involvement in community theatre has spanned over 40 years in several theatres throughout our ACT locations. She is very proud to have many friends and to remember those sweet souls who have passed throughout those decades. Joy is honored to help with the judging program.