Dave Bradley – Recording Secretary, Strategic Planning, By-Laws Review
Dave was a member of The Players’ Board of Directors from 2011 to 2017 and from 2019 to 2021, and served as Recording Secretary during almost all of that time. Dave has been a member of The Players since 1996, when he appeared in the Aladdin pantomime and sang in the 32nd Old Time Music Hall production. Since then, he has performed in and built set for numerous Players’ productions. Dave worked as an attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice for twenty-nine years and served for four years as an officer in the U.S. Navy.
Sara Cath – Treasurer, Box Office Adminstrator
Sara became a member of the British Players in 2014 and joined the Board in 2016. She began her tenure with the Players helping backstage for the 50th Anniversary Music Hall, which quickly snowballed into performing in Panto and Music Hall. While continuing to be a part of almost every production over the last eight seasons, she took on the role of Treasurer and production Business Manager in 2017 after earning her B.S. in accounting. Currently, Sara serves as Treasurer and Box Office Coordinator, and in her “spare” time, she attempts to adjudicate for the Ruby Griffith Awards.
Matt Craun – Strategic Planning, Outreach & Diversity, Website
Matt has been with the Players since 2005, when he joined the ensemble for Babes in the Woods Pantomime. He was in every Music Hall and Pantomime running up to 2015 when Matt took a break from the stage. He has also worked as a barman for many music halls. He returned to the BP stage for the Frosted pantomime in 2019. One of the things that Matt brings to the board is the sense of camaraderie and his love of British theatre. Matt works as a system administrator for one of the top financial firms where he has to continuously think on his feet, and has experience in conflict resolution when differences of opinion arise. Matt is dedicated to the continued success of the British Players.
Nicola Winterton Hoag – Vice President, Wardrobe Mistress, Socials
Nicola has been a member of The Players for 30 years after performing as a Bow Belle in Music Hall. Over the years she has been involved in many productions both on and off stage, and has served on The Players’ Board as Corresponding Secretary and Social Chair. Currently she serves as Vice President and Socials Co-Chair as well as being responsible as Costume Mistress for the Players’ extensive collection of costumes. Nicola co-produced, co-directed, costumed, and appeared in BP’s Online Pandemic Holiday Spectacular in 2020 and Let’s All Go to the Music Hall in 2021. Nicola directed our very successful Panto, The Wizard of Oz, the Player’s first show at Kensington after the 2-year COVID hiatus, and this season’s Rapunzel.
Chrish Kresge – Newsletter Editor, Artistic Liaison, Publicity
Chrish has been involved with community theatre for most of her adult life – acting, directing and producing plays and musicals in Cairo, Rabat, Kathmandu, Accra and Washington, DC. She has served as president of several community theatres. Chrish directed the British Players’ Don’t Dress for Dinner, Bedside Manners, Calendar Girls, and Something’s Afoot. She believes in community theatre as a way to bring people together and foster personal growth in a collaborative environment. As a practitioner of the Feldenkrais Method® she has a deep understanding of the mind-body connection, as well as the importance of movement and self-awareness to bring about excellence in performance.
Mike Lewis – President
Mike joined the BEP in 1980 working in many back-stage roles through 1989, when his job took him away from Washington. After retiring in 2006 and returning to Maryland, Mike has been involved in some way in every BP production, and designed sets for Bedside Manners, Something’s Afoot, Noises Off, and The Audience, plus many Pantos and Music Halls. In 2008 he was elected to the Board, becoming the company’s Technical Director & Vice President, and has served as President since 2019. As a board member, his primary objectives will be to maintain the Players emphasis on British Theatre and to further expand our niche role in the very competitive DMV community theatre environment.
Matt Mills – Technical Director, Website manager
Matt is a web designer by day and sound designer by night. He has worked in many different technical theatre roles (even on stage once!) for over 55 productions in the past 10 years, after being bitten by the theatre bug. The 51st Old Time Music Hall was his first show with the Players and one of the first shows he worked on after leaving his Columbia, South Carolina theatre community behind. He enjoyed it enough to stick around for 12 more BP productions and is still counting. He was elected to the Board in 2018 and currently serves as Technical Director. Matt continues to serve on the Board, and contributes his technical expertise to BP’s operations and productions.
Emilia O’Connor – Corresponding Secretary, Membership Secretary, Socials
Emilia has been a BP member since the times when we were still at the Embassy. More often than not, you will see her involved in Panto or helping out wherever she can. Aside from directing a Panto for BP, she has worn practically every theatre “hat” having been an actor, director/asst. director, teacher, stage manager, vocal coach, and techie, among others. She started at an early age with Imagination Stage (Bethesda Academy of Performing Arts) and went on to NYU’s Playwrights Horizons Studio. She is a co-founder and artist for ArtStream, Inc., where she was on the board for almost a decade, and has served on the BP board this past year as Membership Secretary and previously assisted with publicity. She is also a Special Educator for Montgomery County Public Schools.
Lauren Pacuit – Publicity & Social Media Manager, Socials
Lauren moved to Chevy Chase, MD in 2012 from Amsterdam. Originally from Westport, CT she holds a BA from Northwestern University and an MA in Educational Psychology from New York University. Lauren has served on the Board of Directors of Blossom Birth and also the Rollingwood Citizens Association, where she was Co-president for two years. She currently serves on the Child Center of NY advisory board, and loves volunteering in the community and helping to bring people together. Lauren has been involved with the Players for six years, three of which were on the BP Board as Socials Co-Chair and currently as Publicity and Social Media Manager. She enjoys performing in Panto with her daughter, Lily, and Co-Produced Alice in Wonderland in 2019, The Mystery of Edwin Drood in 2022, and As You Like It in spring 2023.
Lisa Singleton – Artistic Liaison, Special Productions
Lisa joined The British Players in 2018 as choreographer for Frosted. More recently, she performed in the BP productions of The Wizard of Oz, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Rapunzel, and will play Mrs. Lyons in the upcoming production of Blood Brothers. Throughout her career, Lisa has performed, choreographed, and directed for multiple high school, community, and professional theatre productions. She has an undergraduate degree in musical theatre from Catholic University and a master’s degree in school leadership from the University of Pennsylvania. Lisa is an administrator at a private school in Washington, DC.
Missi Tessier – Play Selection Chair, Strategic Planning Chair
Missi has served on the Board since 2021. She co-produced, co-directed and appeared in BP’s Let’s All Go to the Music Hall online production in 2021, as well as BP’s Online Pandemic Holiday Spectacular in 2020. Missi performed in Music Hall in the 1990s, then returned to BP to appear in Fawlty Towers, Something’s Afoot, two more recent Music Halls, and five pantomimes. Missi was active in Hexagon for many years, performing, writing, serving on its Board for three years and receiving its President’s Award. In her professional life, Missi has been a public affairs consultant, speech writer, political communications director, media trainer, content editor and media strategist.