Full-Time Faculty

Ken Jones

Lois and Richard Rosenthal Chair in Theatre

B.F.A. in acting/directing from the University of Florida

M.F.A. in playwriting University of Virginia

He also graduated from the Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University in Playwriting. Mr. Jones furthered his Shakespearean studies at the University of Warwick, England. Professor Jones has had over 400 productions of his original works throughout the U.S., Canada, and Great Britain.  Prof. Jones' writing talents extend into the world of television and film where he was the head writer at Lightpoint Entertainment located at Disney-MGM Studios developing over 17 television pilots and creating feature films. Mr. Jones received the Post-Corbett Award for Best Literary Artist in Greater Cincinnati, a Du Pont Fellowship, the Kentucky Playwright's Award, and an Emmy Nomination. His acting credits include performances at the American Repertory Theatre, the Hasty Pudding Theatre, Heritage Repertory, NKU Summer Dinner Theatre, Cincinnati Children's Theatre, as well as roles in television and film. He has directed many shows at Northern, such as: Jesus Christ Superstar, The Elephant Man, Urinetown, Pippin, Lysistrata, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Cyrano de Bergerac and man Of Lamancha. He co authored the new musical with Christine Jones and Jamey Strawn. This show premiered at NKU Summer Dinner Theatre and then toured to THEATRE BUILDING CHICAGO. <burgertown.net> As a full Professor of theatre at Northern, Mr. Jones teaches: Playwriting, Advanced Playwriting, Directing I and II, Screenwriting, Acting I and II, Styles of Acting, Acting Shakespeare, Comedy: History and Performance, and directs an Improvisational Touring Troupe.  To e-mail Ken Jones, click here. <mailto:jonesk@nku.edu>

Terry D. Powell

Assistant Chair/Production Manager

B.F.A. in Theatre from Western Kentucky University

M.F.A. in Design and technology from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.

Terry serves as the managing Director For The Department of Theatre and Dance and teaches Lighting and Sound Classes . He has worked for a number of years as a lighting designer for such places as: Fort Worth Ballet, Fort Worth Opera, Contemporary Dance of Fort Worth, Cincinnati Opera Outreach, and the Northern Kentucky Symphony. Over the past several years he has created lighting, scenic, and sound designs for a number of NKU.   To e-mail Terry D. Powell, click here. 

Mary Jo Beresford

B.A. in Theatre Arts from Edgecliff College

M.F.A.in Acting/Directing from the University of Cincinnati/College Conservatory of Music

Mary Jo has performed and stage managed in several regional theatres and directed shows for many different Greater-Cincinnati companies. Although she enjoyed the variety of teaching at Edgecliff College, the University of Cincinnati, and serving a thirteen-year stint as the choreographer for the Xavier University Singers, Mary Jo is now beginning her twenty-six year as a faculty member of the NKU Department of Theatre and Dance. While serving in the classroom, she has also directed productions for NKU Theatre and NKU Summer Dinner Theatre, including Dames At Sea, Biloxi Blues, Assassins, The Pajama Game, Smoke On The Mountain and Ruthless! Outside of academic theatre, Mary Jo remains active in both theatrical and community activities. She has continued to perform, appearing in State Fair, The Sound of Music and South Pacific for the Kincaid Regional Theatre as well as in Kiss Me, Kate, Carousel, Working, and A Little Night Music for other theatres. Her most recent credits were the roles of Mrs. Paroo in the Downtown Theatre Classics' production of The Music Man and Madame Thenardier in the concert version of Les Miserables produced by the Seton-Elder Series At Eight. She has also been a critic for the Ohio Community Theatre Association for over fourteen years, a regional host for the Overture Awards, has been nominated for a Post-Corbett Award and is the President of the Board for the New Edgecliff Theatre. The courses she teaches at NKU include Musical Theatre Literature, Theatre Appreciation, Essentials of Theatre, Race and Gender Through Dramatic Literature, Creative Expression and Acting. To e-mail Mary Jo Beresford, click here.  

Sandra Forman

M.F.A. in acting and directing University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Ms. Forman is the author of three books: Your Voice and Articulation (4th edition), Public Speaking: Today and Tomorrow, and Only Mystery: Federico Garcia Lorca's Poetry in Word and Image. Ms. Forman has a variety of experience that includes international theatre credits in France, Austria, and Spain. Macbeth, An Enemy of the People, and The House of Bernarda Alba are a few of the productions that Ms. Forman has directed at Northern. In addition, she recently portrayed Amanda in Northern's production of The Glass Menagerie. Ms. Forman is a full professor of theatre, instructing such courses as: Voice Development for the Actor I and II, Acting I, Special Problems in Dramatic Literature, and Directing. To e-mail Sandra Forman, click here.

Jane E. Green

To e-mail Jane E. Green, click here.

Mark Hardy

 Daryl Harris

BA in Psychology University of Southern Mississippi

MFA in Theatre University of Southern Mississippi

PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies University of Alabama

Daryl Harris is a recent addition to the Department of Theatre and Dance, where he is an Assistant Professor.  In addition to teaching theatre courses that include Race & Gender, and African-American Playwrights, Daryl is responsible for creating community-based theatre projects with Underground Railroad-related themes.  He is the leader of a Children’s Theatre Tour Troupe that addresses assorted themes of freedom with shows that perform at schools in the region.   Daryl has over thirty years of experience in alternative, traditional, and academic theatre.  He has studied and worked as a producer, writer, director, actor, costume designer, professor, and lecturer throughout the United States, Canada, Scandinavia, and West Africa.  His original performed anthology of poetry, dramatizing African-American history, premiered at the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria, British Columbia.  He presented subsequent productions at several colleges and universities, at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, and most recently at the National Institute of Art in Bamako, Mali.  Acting credits include Dracula in Dracula, Emcee in Cabaret, Herr Drosselmeyer in Nutcracker, and Hoke in  “I welcome the challenge and growth that my position here provides for me.  I look forward to continued opportunities to contribute to the creative growth and development of the Department of Theatre and Dance, NKU, and the surrounding community.”

Christine Jones

M. F. A. University of Virginia

Christine received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting Performance from Florida State University, and then revieved a Masters of Fine Arts from the University of Virginia . In addition to the Teaching and outreach that Christine does for NKU , she is a professional performer as well. Her voice over work is heard nationally on video games, comercials and industrial films and she appears regularly on camera an stage. NKU's Summer Dinner Theatre and Cincinnati Childrens Theatre are her recent favorite Venues.

Rob Kerby

MFA in Theater Technology from The University of Illinois

  In between his BFA and MFA Rob has worked in various professional and university settings.  Some of these credits include, The Ohio State University, Walt Disney World MGM Studios, Indiana State University, and The Krannert Center for the Performing Arts at The University of Illinois.  Rob is excited about the opportunities and challenges here at NKU and is eager to create a teaching and production atmosphere that embraces students who want to purse a career in theater technology.

Michael King

B.A. in English University of Florida

M.F.A. in Acting/Directing University of Florida

An associate professor of theatre currently serving as Assistant Chair of the Department of Theatre, Mr. King has directed many shows for the stages of Northern. Some of his favorites include Dracula the Untold Story, A peice of My Heart, 1940's Radio hour, and the Y.E.S. Festival premieres of Mary Lynn Dobson's Two on the Aisle, Three in a Van, and Tammy Ryan's Pig . Mr. King has been the project director of the Y.E.S. Festival, and was the co-founder (along with NKU alum Victor Dickerson) of Actors and Issues, an acting troupe that dealt with social issues. He has portrayed such roles as Pap in Big River and Herod in Jesus Christ Superstar at Jenny Wiley Summer Theatre, also appeared in NKU's Summer Dinner Theatre production of The Odd Couple as Oscar, and Sal Spumoni in the premiere of Burgertown He served as the artistic director of Jenny Wiley Theatre, and he continues to work professionally in industrials and voice-overs. Mr. King has also studied in New York at the William Esper Studio, and the Actors Movement Studio with dialect coach Gordon Jacoby. Mr. King teaches Acting I and II,I Playscript Analysis, Dialects, Theatre Appreciation, Theatre history and literature and special topics courses such as  Process and Production, and The One-Person Show. To e-mail Michael King, click here.

Brian Robertson

M.F.A. in Directing from University of Cincinnati/College Conservatory of Music

Coming to Cincinnati from Los Angeles, Brian has spent the last 25 years working in film and television in the area of cinematography, as well as working as a director and stage manager in Theatre and Opera.    He is the co-founder of The Performance Gallery in Cincinnati.  Brian has worked for Cincinnati Opera, Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, Reduced Shakespeare Company, Mes Moines Metro Opera, Sarasota Opera, bay View Music Festival, Opera North, Greenbrair Balley Theatre and Alliance Theatre among others.

 Ron Shaw

B.A. in music, speech and theatre from Heidleberg College

M.A. in theatre from Bowling Green State University

M.F.A. in design from Northwestern University.

He has worked as a set, lighting, and costume designer for such theatres as: Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, Artreach Touring Theatre, Blowing Rock Stage company, Charlotte Repertory Theatre, and the Children's Theatre of Charlotte. Mr. Shaw has designed a great number of world premieres. Mr. Shaw is currently the Production Manager and Stage Manger for the Cincinnati Men’s Chorus.  He was the lighting design commissioner for S.E.T.C. (South Eastern Theatre Conference). Mr. Shaw has designed scenery for a variety of shows at Northern. He teaches: Scene Design, Comparative Arts, Scene Painting, Properties Construction, and Rendering and Model Building. To e-mail Ron Shaw, click here. <mailto:shaw@nku.edu>   To visit his website, click here. <http://homepage.mac.com/ronaldshaw1/PhotoAlbum1.html>

 Jamey Strawn

Bachelor of Music from West Chester University

Master of Music Degree in Piano Performance from the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music

Mr. Strawn is serving as Assistant Professor in the Theatre Department at NKU and hails from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.   He has served as Music Director for every NKU Mainstage and Summer Dinner Theatre musical production since the summer of 2000.  Some favorites include: MAN OF LA MANCHA, CLOSER THAN EVER, LITTLE WOMEN: THE MUSICAL (World Premiere), and JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR. He has just completed composing his first full-length musical, BURGERTOWN for the 2004 NKU Summer Dinner Theatre Season.  Formerly, he has composed songs and incidental music for the NKU productions of THY BROTHER’S KEEPER (World Premiere), TWELFTH NIGHT and THE IMAGINARY INVALID, and for AS YOU LIKE IT at Virginia Shakespeare.  Mr. Strawn has served as music director/accompanist for many student productions and can be found in performance regularly in the Cincinnati region and beyond. Mr. Strawn teaches all levels of Musical Theatre Performance classes and directs the Musical Theatre Tour Troupe.  To e-mail Jamey Strawn, click here.

Gretchen Vaughn

B.A. from The College of Wooster in Sociology/Social Work

M.A. in Clothing/Textiles Syracuse University

M.F.A. in Theatre Design Syracuse University.

She has worked as a costume designer for such local regonial theatres as The Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, ArtReach of the Children's Theatre, Human Race Theatre, and The Jenny Wiley Theatre. She is a member of the United States Institute of Theatre Technology and the Costume Society of America, and has helped prepare costume exhibits at the Cincinnati Art Museum.  Professor Vaughn teaches History of Costume,  Stagecraft with Costume Emphasis, Costume Design courses, Costume Crafts, Stage Appearance and Advanced Costume Construction. Since coming to NKU in 1989, her favored productions are those showcasing her interest in period costume and style.  She has participated in NKU's C.C.S.A. program for ten courses, serving as either professor or director of the London Winter Program. To e-mail Gretchen Vaughn with questions on any of these courses or interests, click here. 

Samuel J. Zachary, Ph.D

Ph.D. from Bowling Green State University

Dr. Zachary is Professor of theatre who currently serves as Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.  In the Theatre Department he teaches theatre history/literature, theory/criticism, directing, and acting as well as the department's graduate acting, directing, and creative dramatics courses. Before coming to NKU in 1990, Dr. Zachary taught at the University of Toledo, Bowling Green State University, and the University of North Carolina at Greensboro.  For twelve years he served as play director and later as Associate Managing Director at the Huron Playhouse and then as Artistic/Managing Director at the UNCG Summer Repertory Theatre and Parkway Playhouse, both in North Carolina.  For many years Dr. Zachary participated on the Kentucky Theatre Association's Executive Board, during which time he was also State Representative to the Southeastern Theatre Conference.  He is past president of the North Carolina Association of Professional Theatres and for many years served on advisory boards for the Tennessee Stage Company and the Arts Management Institute at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  Dr. Zachary's articles have appeared in journals such as Theatre Topics, Theatre Symposium, Literature in Performance, The Deaf American, Deaf American Monographs, Southern Theatre, and Dramatics, and for many years he has presented papers at Theatre Symposium, the Mid-America Theatre Conference, and the Comparative Drama Conference.  In July 2004 The Edwin Mellen Press published his book The Dramaturgy of Mark Medoff:  Five Plays Dealing with Deafness and Social Issues.   Favorite directing projects at NKU include On the Verge, Rashomon, Ladyhouse Blues, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Miracle Worker, Conquest of My Brother, Our Town, the recent KC/ACTF southeast region finalist Thy Brother's Keeper, The Crucible, Bat Boy: The Musical, and the NKU Summer Dinner Theatre productions of The Odd Couple, California Suite, Murder at the Howard Johnson’s, Greater Tuna, and Always . . . Patsy Cline. To e-mail Samuel J. Zachary, click here.

Charles Wells

Charles Wells is a member of the faculty of the Department of Theatre and Dance at Northern Kentucky University , where he teaches Vocal Techniques and Musical Skills for the Singing Actor, and applied voice lessons for musical theatre majors.  He also directs the department’s Broadway Chorus Tour Troupe.

Most of Mr. Wells’s background has been in choral music.  He has conducted choirs of all ages and all levels, from elementary through collegiate.  His choirs have performed in such venues as the White House in Washington , D.C. and Carnegie Hall in New York City , and toured in most of the eastern United States and in Canada .  He has served as a guest conductor for choral festivals and has adjudicated numerous festivals in the U.S.   Many of Mr. Wells’s choirs have won acclaim at various choral festivals throughout the country.

A tenor soloist, Charles has sung opera, oratorio and musical theatre in various areas of the country as well as Canada and Europe .  He was selected in a national search to be one of 25 tenors in the 100-voice Robert Shaw Festival Singers and performed on three occasions in Carnegie Hall with Mr. Shaw conducting.  He also performed for several seasons with the Cincinnati Pops Chorale where he served as tenor soloist and conductor of the 16-voice ensemble in cooperation with Maestro Erich Kunzel.  Wells also sang for seven seasons in the tenor section of the world-renowned May Festival Chorus, the longest reigning choral group still performing in the western hemisphere.

Adjunct Faculty and Staff

Joodi Archer

Joodi Archer has been teaching at NKU for 13 years.  She has taught both Theatre Appreciation and Creative Expression, and is proud of the positive influence she has had on her "fledgling" theatre aficionados.  Joodi has a Masters Degree in Theatre from the University of Cincinnati, and has been a staple of the Cincinnati theatre scene for most of her life.  She began performing at the age of ten, and has appeared in a variety of exciting roles over the years including Ann Hathaway in A Cry of Players, Alithea in The Country Wife, Elaine Navazio in Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Sabina in The Skin of Our Teeth, Amy in Company, the Queen in Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest and Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit, for which she won an Orchid Award.  Joodi has also performed in a number of commercials, voice-overs and industrials.  She is the Recording Secretary for The Beechmont Players, a highly respected community theatre group on Cincinnati's east side.  In addition to performing, Joodi handles publicity and PR for several local organizations.  Joodi is also thrilled to be working with an internationally recognized Humanitarian Relief Organization, Matthew 25: Ministries.  She feels that her experiences as a teacher have made her a much more compelling spokeswoman for Matthew 25's relief initiatives.      

Susan Bolger

Susan is thrilled to be a part of the NKU Department of Theatre and Dance, working as box office manager. Her responsibilities include overseeing the sales of single and subscription tickets for Theatre and Dance and Music during the academic year, plus coordinating tickets sales for the Summer Dinner Theatre. Susan was bitten by the ‘theatre bug’ in 1995 when her daughter began performing with Cincinnati Young People’s Theatre. Her work as a volunteer parent led to part time work in the box office of the Showboat Majestic. Eventually she retired from a twenty year career as a registered nurse to take on the job of box office manager for the Showboat and Covedale Center for Performing Arts, a position she held until coming to NKU.   

Lisa Ericksen

B. M. from University of Cincinnati , College-Conservatory of Music,

M. M. from Miami University

completed two years of D.M.A. work at CCM.

She teaches Voice at NKU’s Department of Theatre and Dance.  Lisa is also Chair of the Musical Theater Intensive program for high school students at CCM’s Preparatory Department. 

Lisa Ericksen’s first career was as a classical singer who performed extensively in the United States and Europe .  She has performed leading roles with Baltimore Opera, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Virginia Opera, Tel Aviv Symphony Orchestra, Concert Opera of Philadelphia, Cincinnati Baroque, Whitewater/Sorg Operas, Handel Society of Baltimore, the National Bulgarian Radio Orchestra, Piccola LaScala, Toledo Symphony Orchestra and concerts at Lincoln Center .  She has performed in touring productions of Rigoletto, Don Giovanni and The Magic Flute in France , Germany , Spain and Portugal .

As a crossover artist, she has performed the role of Carlotta in Bell/Tchaikovsky’s Phantom of the Opera and in productions of Lady in the Dark and Sweet Adeline for City Centers Encores! in New York .

Greg Hudson

B. S. in Communication Arts from Xavier University

M. A. in Theatre from the University of Cincinnati

Greg Hudson (Race and Gender, Theatre Appreciation, and Creative Expression) has his As an undergraduate he won two Best Actor Awards. He has acted with CCM’s Hot Summer Nights, Cincinnati’s Children Theatre, Edgecliff’s Summer Theatre, the Showboat Majestic, the Fahrenheit Theatre, Devou Park Shakespeare, and has appeared in Our Town, Loot, The Father, Anything Goes, Oh What A Lovely War! , Twelfth Night, Tom Sawyer, The Odyssey, Skin of Our Teeth, Country Wife, Wait Until Dark, Bus Stop, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, South Pacific, The Crucible, Girl Crazy, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, Last of the Red Hot Lovers, You Can’t Take It With You, The Fantasticks, Wilderness Road, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and 1776 among others.  Most recently , he has appeared in NKU's Summer Theatre as Mr. Baker in Come Blow Your Horn.  He has been a freelance director for the Showboat Majestic and directed Madama Butterfly for Center Civic Opera.  He has also written program notes for Playhouse in the Park.  Additionally he has been a corporate trainer and speech teacher and done commercial voice-over work.  He served as a member of the Cincinnati Film Society Board and the Alumni Board, College-Conservatory of Music, University of Cincinnati.  Before coming to NKU, he taught high school theatre for over 20 years and was the Drama department chair where he produced and directed over 60 plays and musicals, 20 of which were the plays of Shakespeare.

Elizabeth Harris

Gary McGurk

Deondra Kamau Means

B.A. Webster University

Mr. Means teaches creative expression at NKU, and dramatics classes elsewhere for children from 3 to 99.  In addition to his theatre studies at the prestigious Webster Conservatory , he has taken vocal performance at Xavier University .  His credits include: Death of a Salesman, Fences, Ragtime, Annie, The Wizard of Oz, Purlie, The Jungle Book, The Black Nativity, and many more.  He has worked with Showbiz International, Fox Rox Theatre, Congo Square, The St Louis Black Repertory, Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati, Cincinnati Black Theatre Company and a host of other regional theatres across the country.

Josh Neumeyer