Kip Marsh of Brooklyn College was elected Vice-President of the URTA Board of Directors, joined by Connecticut Repertory Theatre Managing Director, Michelle Polgar who was elected as a new member of the Board. Mary Beth Easley (University of Iowa), and Tracy Nunnally (Northern Illinois University) were both reelected as Directors.
The next election is scheduled for February of 2025. URTA Executive Director, Tony Hagopian reminds interested parties that, “Board service is open to all faculty and administrators at member institutions. You need not be a chair, executive, or student recruiter.”
MARY BETH EASLEY is the DEO of the Department of Theatre Arts and Head of Directing at the University of Iowa. Before coming to Iowa she taught at Brooklyn College, where she was the Artistic Director of the Department of Theater. Focusing on new play development, intercultural theatre expression, and outreach to under-represented urban and rural communities where she utilizes devised theatre as a means to deepen awareness and foment change, Easley has been directing plays, coaching, and teaching acting in New York City for many years. She has directed Off-Broadway and in regional theatres throughout the Midwest. Her work has been featured at The Bushwick Starr, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Circle Rep, The Women’s Project, The New Federal Theater, and LaMama ETC, among others. She holds a dual MFA in Acting and Directing from the University of Georgia.
KIP MARSH works professionally as a scenic and lighting designer and fine artist. He is on the faculty at Brooklyn College, CUNY, where he is the Head of the MFA and BFA programs in Stage Design and Technical Production and from 2011 to 2021 was the Chairperson of the Department of Theater . He holds the position of Treasurer for URTA-University Resident Theatre Association, and previously served a member of the board of directors for the organization as well. In an arts leadership capacity, he has been responsible for setting up a number of professional partnerships with New York City theater and performing arts organizations to provide direct pipelines from student to professional artist. Notably, a multi-agenda partnership with The Public Theater, and a summer residency program with LAByrinth Theater Company, summer intensive with Movement Theater Studio providing Lecoq based training, and the NY Summer Sling, a national intensive training program for stage combat and fight choreographers; Co-producer of Design Showcase East, which provided a NYC portfolio review for graduating MFA and BFA students in Entertainment Design and Technology, Production Management for MOME’s Broadway in the Boros series, which brought free lunchtime Broadway performances to the 4 outer boros of NYC.
Notable Designs include: DANCE: Principal Designer with the critically acclaimed Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, Divertimento – Dance Theater of Harlem, Soaking Wet – The Bang Group, Take The Floor – Cairo Opera House — THEATER: Everything Will Be Different, A 12 lb. Discourse at Soho Rep, Pericles – Red Bull Theater, and Steve Earle’s Karla at the Culture Project. Associate Set Designer on Imaginary Friends (Broadway) and Assistant Set Designer on The Beautiful Game (West End, London) and The Contract (National Ballet of Canada). HOSPITALITY Designs include the award-nominated restaurant The Biltmore Room (Best restaurant design of the year-NYC), The 5’s Bar at The Peninsula Hotel, Mocca Espresso Lounge in TriBeCa, and the nightclub Chateau in Greenwich Village.
He holds an MFA in Theater (Design) from UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television and a B.S. in Cinematography with a minor in Fine Art from Ithaca College. Additional education includes: Harvard University’s Institute for Higher Education-Management Development Program and CUNY’s Academic Leadership Academy. He is a member of United Scenic Artists, Local 829, the national union for entertainment designers. www.kipmarsh.com
TRACY NUNNALLY has worked in professional theatre for over thirty years. His contributions include all aspects of theatre automation, motion control, rigging, pyrotechnics, special effects, scenery construction, and technical design. He is an active member of IATSE), USITT), the Entertainment Services and Technology Association (ESTA), the Educational Theatre Association (EdTA), and a lifetime member of the Illinois Theatre Association .He is also a voting member of the ANSI accredited ESTA Technical Standards Program’s Rigging Working Group, which is responsible for developing standards and recommended practices that facilitate the use of new and existing equipment and promote safe working conditions in the entertainment industry. He was one of the first forty-five professional riggers to be certified by the ESTA Entertainment Technician Certification Program (ETCP) in both theatrical and arena rigging. He also is an ETCP recognized trainer, OSHA AWP/Forklift trainer, and an ETCP recognized employer.
Professor Nunnally’s special interest is rigging, and he is the owner and president of Vertigo, a performer flying effects and rigging company. Through Vertigo, Professor Nunnally provides flying effects for around three hundred productions per year, including numerous productions of MARY POPPINS, PETER PAN, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, THE WIZARD OF OZ, ALADDIN, LITTLE MERMAID, TARZAN, BILLY ELLIOT, SEUSSICAL, and A CHRISTMAS CAROL. His most notable professional credits include the Broadway tours of CAMELOT, DR. DOLITTLE, TARZAN, and 9 TO 5, as well as the Broadway productions of CURTAINS and MEDEA.
In addition to his professional work, Professor Nunnally presents an annual master class on performer rigging, known as the TOP Flight Academy. He can also be seen leading sessions and master classes on a wide variety of topics at national and international conferences such as LDI, USITT, SETC, and URTA, as well as numerous EdTA festivals across the country.
MICHELLE S. POLGAR joined Connecticut Repertory Theatre as Managing Director in 2022 after 15 years as the Managing Director of Mary Moody Northern Theatre at St. Edward’s University in Austin, TX. During her time in Austin, she served as Artistic Director of the State Theatre, founder and Managing Director of the Public Domain Theatre Company, and Executive Director of Austin Lawyers and Accountants for the Arts. Michelle is a Leadership Austin graduate and immediate past chair of the Austin Arts Commission; she currently serves on the Austin Cultural Trust Advisory Council. Continuing her public service, she joined the Glastonbury, CT, Affordable Housing Commission in April 2023. An award-winning theatre producer and director, Michelle received the Actor’s Equity Association Lucy B. Jordan Humanitarian Award in 2017. She has taught at the undergraduate and graduate levels, including courses in Play Analysis, Directing, Arts Appreciation, Arts Administration, and Theatre Management. She is the Interim Director of UConn’s Arts Leadership and Cultural Management MFA program and its online certificate program. Michelle holds a BA in Political Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MA in Theatre History and Criticism from The University of Texas at Austin.
Persons interested in serving on URTA’s Board of Directors, or nominating someone for service, should contact URTA at info@urta.com.