HILLARY BROOK
With a BFA in Musical Theater and a minor in Directing from The Boston Conservatory, Hillary is the proud Executive Director of Theatre South Playhouse, a local non-profit in the heart of Dr. Phillips. As a professional actress in New York, Hillary spent years performing at Lincoln Center’s The Metropolitan Opera, Tony & Tina’s Wedding and touring the Tri-State area with Joey & Maria’s Wedding as well as appearing on various NY based movies and TV shows. While living in the NYC, Hillary worked as Assistant Casting Director of the hit show “Late Night with Conan O’Brien”. In 1998 Disney relocated Hillary to sunny Orlando to perform various singing princesses, and various under the sea creatures. Hillary has appeared both locally and regionally in various musicals and plays for the past 20 years. Hillary created Theatre South Playhouse in 2009 and couldn't be prouder of what this small, unique theatre company has achieved as an educational institution as well as a professional theater. She is a Dr. Phillips' mom with two amazing children who just so happen to love the stage! Hillary is a proud founding member of GOPAR and is honored to volunteer with these amazing humans as we continue to give back to our arts community.
CHRIS BROWN
Before joining the staff at Orlando REP, Chris had a busy career all over the United States. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from UCF in 2005 and immediately after was accepted into the prestigious Yale School of Drama and graduated from Yale University with a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Technical Design and Production. Throughout his schooling, Chris held positions at the Utah Shakespearean Festival and the New York Summer Play Festival. At Yale, Chris worked at the renowned Yale Repertory Theater on many productions and was schooled in everything from structural engineering and automation to production and theatre management.
After Yale, Chris went to work for one of the largest Broadway Scene Shops, Hudson Scenic Studio, working in the Automation department. In 2009, Chris was a supervisor in the construction of the NYC Times Square Ball, which is the first ball to reside in Times Square year-round. After all that, Chris has spent the last 12 years at Orlando Repertory Theatre. Managing over 100 productions as the Production Manager, Chris also held the role of General Manager before becoming Executive Director in the summer of 2019.
He is very involved in the Central Florida community. Chris is a proud Leadership Orlando graduate, Class 91, and class 2.0. He serves on multiple advisory boards for UCF and is Board Treasurer for GOPAR – a relief non-profit organization for artists, created during the pandemic. He is active is his church and in the Dr. Phillips community. But his most important roles are Dad to his son Michael (12), daughter Gracie (11), and husband to his high school sweetheart Katie.
MANDI JO JOHN-SZENDREI
Mandi Jo John-Szendrei is a Producer, Director, and Creative Executive specializing in high-concept storytelling and large-scale event logistics. Her directing credits include Nothing Rhymes With Juneteenth, Theatre Sparks, and the Women’s Voices Play Festival (Mad Cow Theatre). As a Producer, she has delivered complex live experiences for Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, and Norwegian Cruise Line. Independent producing highlights include Bess Wohl’s Small Mouth Sounds, the Children’s Lunch and Learn series, Onija, and Facets of Freedom. Mandi Jo holds a B.F.A. in Theatre Performance from the University of Central Florida. She is the Founder/Executive Director of Black Theatre Girl Magic (BTGM) and serves on the board for Greater Orlando Performing Arts Relief (GOPAR).
JANINE PAPIN
Janine is an actor/singer/dancer who has been performing on Central Florida Theater stages since the 1980s. Her full time job is at Trinity Preparatory school in Winter Park where she is the Fine Arts department chair, auditorium manager, theater teacher, director, choreographer, adviser, mentor, and sponsor of the school’s thespian troupe. Janine was one of two teachers named the “2018 Inspiring Teacher” by the Broadway League Foundation Jimmy Awards. In 2006 she was awarded The H. Benton Ellis Award for Excellence in Teaching. During the summer of 2015 Janine received a fellowship to study at Shakespeare’s Globe Theater. She loves providing her students with plenty of opportunities for artistic growth. Janine has taken her students to participate in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland during the summers of 2008, 2012, 2016, and is excited to take another group during summer of 2022! She has a B.A. in Fine Arts/Theatre from Ramapo College of New Jersey and M.A. in Musical Theatre from U.C.F.
DAVID RUSSELL
David Russell is a founder of SAK Comedy Lab, a 230-seat comedy improv theater in Downtown Orlando, which opened in 1991, and current President of SAK Theatre Co. David served as Artistic Director and Managing Director of SAK Comedy Lab from 2002- 2012. As Artistic Director of SAK, David’s services were sought out by Walt Disney Entertainment, who contracted David to serve as Show Director for several shows, including the World Showcase Players, Turtle Talk, Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor, Comedy Warehouse and The Adventurers Club.
David has also directed several professional theater productions in Central Florida including Bad Dates, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, Explorers Club, You Can’t Take it With You, and Picasso at the Lapin Agile. David also directed Laughter on the 23rd Floor at the American Stage Theater in St. Petersburg, FL, and the award-winning Black Wood at the Orlando International Fringe Festival.
Dave has been a coach and instructor of improv for more than 35 years and currently oversees SAK corporate training as lead Facilitator, and SAK custom corporate entertainment as Creative Director and Creative Producer.
TERRY OLSON
Terry Olson has a Master’s degree in Theatre from the University of Minnesota. Since moving with SAK Theatre to Orlando in 1982 to open Epcot Center, Olson has been involved in starting, managing and performing in many organizations in town. In the decades that have past he has been involved in founding the Downtown Arts District, Orlando Fringe Festival, FusionFest, Orlando Theatre Project (1985-2010), and the Orange County Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, from which he retired in 2023 after 23 years. He has performed locally at/with SAK Theatre, Epcot Center, Orlando Opera, Southern Ballet Theatre (now Orlando Ballet), Mad Cow Theatre, Garden Theatre, Civic Theatre (now Orlando Family Stage), Winter Park Playhouse, Orlando Shakes, Playwright’s Round Table, Seminole State, Orlando Fringe Festival, Orlando Sings, Central Florida Community Arts, RS&C Productions. He has also served as director and producer several of those organizations.
Orlando Magazine named Olson as one of the 50 Most Powerful People in 2022 and 2023. Other awards include the Orlando Magic “Game Changer”, Arts Advocacy Advocate award from the Florida Theatre Conference, “Visionary Leadership” from Americans for the Arts Public Art Network, Lifetime Achievement Award from Orlando Fringe Festival, Champion of Sustainability by the Healthy Community Initiative, Downtowner of the Year by the Golden Brick Awards, and others. He serves on UCF’s Theatre Department Professional Advisory Board and serves as Dean of the Orlando Chapter of the Awesome Foundation.
In the visual arts, he is past president of the Florida Association of Public Art Professionals and an emeritus board member, over saw the Orange County public art program and has had his art exhibited at a SNAP! Gallery pop-up show and Visual Fringe. He has given public art tours and Fringe Visual Art tours. Olson has been an adjunct professor at UCF Theatre department and is married to actress and Valencia adjunct professor Robin Olson. He is the proud parent of Mo Olson who also has fine performing arts talents.
In his free time Olson has traveled to more than 50 countries and has extensively researched the 12 generations of his ancestors on this continent and countries from which they came.
SHONN McCLOUD
Shonn McCloud (Director, Real Estate, Actor, Singer) received his BFA in Musical Theatre from the University of Central Florida. A Florida native, Shonn is the Team Leader/CEO of Keller Williams Classic Realty in Orlando, FL; overseeing a portfolio of more than $750M in Real Estate inventory. He is the Founder/CEO of Echoes Entertainment Group, an arts organization providing performing arts opportunities for youth in underserved communities. Shonn has performed across the country in regional theaters, tours, cruises & concerts. Some of Shonn’s most memorable roles include; Judd in Southern Colorado Repertory’s production of ‘Oklahoma’, Pharaoh in Maples Repertory Theater’s production of ‘Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,’ and Coalhouse in ‘Ragtime’; performed in 3 different regional houses throughout his career. Notable performances across Central Florida include; Ken in Ain’t Misbehavin’ for Mad Cow Theatre (15’) and Winter Park Playhouse (19’), Coalhouse in Ragtime for Titusville Playhouse(18’) and Theater at St. Lukes(14’), Daddy Warbucks in Annie at the Garden Theater, Schroeder in You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown at the Winter Park Playhouse, and Beast in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast at Theater at St. Lukes. Shonn serves as a board member for the Orlando Shakes Theatre, and sits on their EDI committee. Most recently, Shonn directed the staged reading of Fairview for UCF Celebrates the Arts, and Travlin’: A Harlem Musical Romance at the Winter Park Playhouse (‘Orlando Sentinel’ Critics Pic.) In recent years, Shonn has directed Lynn Nottage’s Intimate Apparel at Orlando Shakes (‘Orlando Sentinel’ Critics Pic and Best Director), associate director for Little Shop of Horrors at Orlando Shakes, Co-Director of Oliver! for Theater at St. Lukes (‘Orlando Sentinel’ Critics Pic), and directed a staged reading of The Golden Door for Winter Park Playhouses’ Festival of New Musical 21’.
ROBERT KOHN
Robert holds a BFA in Theater/Performance from the University of Miami and began a career in the entertainment industry as a Talent Agent in New York City, representing actors and writers for Broadway, film, and television. After a successful transition into the telecommunications industry, Robert found his way back to his passion—supporting the arts community in Central Florida. He has served in various capacities in educational theater and on the boards of organizations such as the Park Maitland School Foundation, Opera Orlando, and GOPAR. A dedicated advocate for the performing arts, he is committed to fostering opportunities for artists and arts education. He has been happily married to his wife, Melissa, for over 20 years, and together they have two sons, Brady and Jax.
THALI SUGISAWA
Thali Sugisawa is the Director of Cultural Tourism at United Arts of Central Florida, where she leads marketing strategies, program development, and cross-sector partnerships that expand the national and international visibility of the region’s cultural destinations. A second-generation Japanese immigrant raised in southern Brazil, Thali holds a BA in International Relations and an MA in Organizations & Development, and began her career in the multinational medical device sector with companies including Fujifilm and STERIS. Since moving to Central Florida in 2015, she has co-founded FusionFest in collaboration with the Orange County Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs, helping transform it from a grassroots initiative into an award-winning nonprofit with programs reaching thousands of people across 120 countries. Thali is an alumna of Leadership Orlando, the City of Orlando Mayor’s Academy, and the Rollins College Mini-MBA program, has been featured in Artistry Magazine, and has received multiple honors for her leadership and commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and community impact. She also served on the Boards of Creative City Project and Descolonizarte Teatro.