TheatreSquared announces board and staffing changes
TheatreSquared announces board and staffing changes as NWA’s theatre readies for return to performances
Todd Simmons and Esther Silver-Parker appointed President and Vice-President of the Board; Judy Schwab, Leigh Hopkins join executive committee; board welcomes Louis Martin and Dr. Yvette Murphy-Erby
Longtime T2 team member Shannon A. Jones steps into Associate General Manager role; T2 welcomes new staff in Director of New Play Development Dexter Singleton; Director of Development Corey Huffty; and Patron Loyalty Director Andrea Newby
NORTHWEST ARKANSAS — August 6, 2020 — TheatreSquared (T2) Artistic Director Robert Ford and Executive Director Martin Miller today announced new leadership of the TheatreSquared board, as well as key staffing promotions and new team members as the company prepares for a return to performances this fall.
“This season, we were thrilled to move into our permanent home, and it is truly a phenomenal space,” said T2 Executive Director Martin Miller. “But seeing our stages temporarily dark serves as a potent reminder that the strength and dynamism of a theatre company really lies in its people. From the board to our staff leadership, we welcome these incredibly talented individuals into new roles, knowing that the coming months will continue to test our company, industry, and our country. We are stronger with what they bring and excited to move forward together.”
Lynn Donald Carver—who served as president of TheatreSquared’s board for a six-year period as the company’s budget and attendance tripled and the company completed construction on a new, $31.5 million home—has passed the gavel to Todd Simmons, CEO and Vice Chairman of Simmons Foods. Esther Silver-Parker, president and CEO of the SilverParker Group, assumes the vice presidency. They are joined on the executive committee by board treasurer Leigh Hopkins, executive vice president of Walmart Stores, and board secretary Judy Gregson Schwab, former vice chancellor for administration of the University of Arkansas. Schwab and fellow Board member Catherine Roche will co-chair a new Membership & Development Committee.
At its April meeting, the Board also welcomed new members Louis Martin, Coca-Cola’s President of the Global Walmart / Sam's Club Customer Team, beginning immediately; and Dr. Yvette Murphy-Erby, Vice-Provost for Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Arkansas, whose term will begin in January.
TheatreSquared also announced new key positions on its professional staff. Shannon A. Jones, T2’s longtime production stage manager and associate producer, has stepped into the role of associate general manager, a new senior staff position. Corey Huffty joined T2 earlier in the year as the company’s Director of Development, having served as Manager of Auxiliary Services and Development Officer for the Arkansas Children’s Foundation in Little Rock. Dexter J. Singleton, who is Founding Executive Artistic Director of Collective Consciousness Theatre, a multicultural theatre for social change in New Haven, CT, joins T2’s senior leadership team as Director of New Play Development. Andrea Newby, former director of patron loyalty for the North Carolina Symphony and managing director of Artists’ Laboratory Theatre, has joined T2’s marketing and development teams as patron loyalty director.
TheatreSquared’s artists and staff have remained engaged in casting, building, and developing plays for its upcoming Fifteenth Anniversary Season. The company is readying for a return to live performances this fall—offering ticket holders a choice of attending in-person or by high-definition live stream—as soon as circumstances permit. Subscriptions ranging from four- to ten-performance packages are on sale now at theatre2.org.
The company’s 2020 Arkansas New Play Festival is being offered digitally and on a rolling basis, recently featuring Clinnesha D. Sibley’s Love Be Like…. Upcoming workshops and performances in the series include The Interrogator, by Russell Sharman; Weightless, by the Kilbanes; Russian Troll Farm: A Workplace Comedy, by Sarah Gancher; and Heroes and Monsters, by the LatinX Theatre Project. Learn more at playarkansas.com.
Biographies
Todd Simmons is the Chief Executive Officer of Simmons Foods, Inc. and Affiliates located in Siloam Springs, AR. He joined Simmons in 1990. Todd attended Georgetown University where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management and a Minor in Theology. Todd began his work at Simmons at the age of 19 and has trained in all areas of the business. He was promoted to Chief Executive Officer in 2012. Todd is Chairman of the Board of Namida Lab Inc., and is a General Partner of Natural Capital LLC. He currently serves on the Boards of the National Chicken Council, Signature Bank of Arkansas, The Razorback Foundation, TheatreSquared, Northwest Arkansas Council and Endeavor Global of Northwest Arkansas.
Esther Silver-Parker is President and CEO of The SilverParker Group, a consultancy specializing in leadership development, diversity, reputation, and stakeholder relationships. Before opening her firm in 2010, she served as senior vice president of Corporate Affairs at Walmart Stores Inc. At Walmart, she was charged with the strategic planning and execution of Walmart’s stakeholder management efforts, in the U.S. and women stakeholders in countries around the world, where Walmart does business.
Prior to this position, she served as senior vice president of Diversity Relations for Walmart and was responsible for strategic planning and execution of Walmart’s diversity efforts, as it relates to its supplier development, philanthropy, community relations, key national leaders and Walmart associates.
Before joining Walmart, Silver-Parker served as vice president of Corporate Affairs and president of the AT&T Foundation for AT&T. She also directed AT&T’s National Constituency Relations and Issues Management Departments and led the company’s award-winning corporate social responsibility programs.
Silver-Parker has received numerous awards, including Ebony Magazine’s Outstanding Women in Corporate Marketing, the Congressional Black Caucus Unsung Hero Award, New York City Gus D’Amato Community Service Award, the National AIDS Fund’s Leadership Award, the Asian Pacific Islanders Women’s Leadership Starfish Award and the Latino Community Development Award. She is past president of International Women’s Forum, an organization of 5,000 women leaders from 30 countries that focuses on issues and policies impacting women. Silver-Parker also serves on the boards of the Global FoodBanking Network and the Women’s Foundation of Arkansas. She is a member of the NAACP Special Contributions Committee, the National Assessment for Education Progress Business Taskforce, the United States Tennis Association Diversity Board and the Southern Tennis Association Marketing Committee.
Read Esther Silver-Parker’s full biography here.
Leigh Hopkins is Executive Vice President of International Strategy and Development for Walmart International. He is responsible for Strategy, Business Development and Real Estate, as well as Walmart International’s Partnership Services which supports our ongoing Brazilian shareholder commitments and our Flipkart / Walmart leverage initiatives among others.
Leigh began his Walmart career nearly 11 years ago in Hong Kong as Vice President of M&A. In 2011, he moved to Bentonville where he held various roles leading International’s M&A, Strategy and Real Estate functions.
Leigh began his career as a banker, dividing his time between London and Tokyo. In this capacity he worked across corporate finance, equity capital markets, as well as M&A where he focused on advising retail and consumer businesses, including Walmart.
He has a degree in Oriental Studies from Oxford University, and lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas where he serves on the board of TheatreSquared, a nationally-recognized professional theatre in Northwest Arkansas.
Judy Gregson Schwab served as the University of Arkansas’s associate vice chancellor for administration from 2008 until her retirement in 2015 and as assistant chancellor for University Advancement during the university's $1 billion Campaign for the Twenty-First Century. In those roles, she acted as liaison to the campus, to campus offices and committees, building internal and external relationships and establishing collaborative initiatives.
Before joining the University of Arkansas in 1993, Judy was the language arts coordinator for the Fayetteville Public Schools and taught English at Fayetteville High School. She launched Connotations, the nationally recognized literary arts magazine of Fayetteville High and the district’s Advanced Placement Language and Composition program. In 1987, then-Governor Bill Clinton honored her for her work in the literary arts. She was also recognized as the Fayetteville Public School Teacher of the Year and the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce Teacher of the Year and honored for her teaching and promotion of student writing by the National Writing Project and the Arkansas Humanities Council.
She is a member of the Modern Literature club and has served as president of the Fayetteville Public Education Foundation and the Twentieth Century Club, vice president of the Walton Arts Center, and on the boards of the Magdalene Serenity House, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, and T2’s Vision 2o20.
Judy and her husband Bill are passionate advocates for TheatreSquared and were awarded the Arts Advocate Award in 2013.
Louis Martin was named President of Coca-Cola’s Global Walmart and Sam’s Club Customer Team in 2016 and currently resides with his wife, Jennifer, in Rogers, Arkansas. Between 2014 and 2016, Louis served as Senior Vice President System Evolution for Coca-Cola North America, where he led the refranchising efforts of Coca-Cola’s U.S. bottling business. Louis has over eighteen years of experience with the Coca-Cola system, having supported both the Company and multiple bottlers in the U.S., Mexico, Ecuador, Switzerland and Japan as a Manager at McKinsey & Company from 2002 to 2007.
Louis formally joined The Coca-Cola Company in 2007 as Director of Strategic Initiatives for Coca-Cola North America’s Strategy & Planning Group. In this capacity, he led several key initiatives, including the integration of the newly-acquired glaceau business into the North America bottling system. In 2009, Louis joined Coca-Cola’s Global Investor Relations team, where he served as Director and as a Company spokesperson to the broader investment community. From 2013 to 2014, Louis was Director of Strategic Initiatives and Capability, serving as Chief of Staff to the President of Coca-Cola Refreshments, a Company-owned Bottler that managed Canada and ~80% of the U.S. territories. Prior to working with McKinsey, Louis worked for E.D. & F. Man, a British Sugar Trade House. During this time, Louis lived in Nicaragua and operated a Central American sugar trading and distribution company from 1994 to 2000.
Born in Puerto Rico, Louis holds a Bachelor’s degree in English from Princeton University and Certificates in both Theatre and Dance and Latin American Studies, as well as an MBA in Finance and Management from the Stern School of Business at New York University. He has two sons, ages 24 and 21, and his entire family share hispassion for Theatre, Movies, and the Arts.
Dr. Yvette Murphy-Erby is a Professor of Social Work, is the Vice Chancellor for Diversity and Inclusion at the University of Arkansas. She has held other leadership roles within the university including, Associate Dean in the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, Director of the School of Social Work (twice), and Interim Director for the African and African American Studies Program.
Dr. Murphy-Erby is an accomplished scholar and leader/administrator and has extensive expertise in leading change in organizations, particularly related to addressing structural, institutional and systemic challenges to fostering diversity, equity and inclusion, social and economic justice, and service to marginalized and underserved populations. Dr. Murphy-Erby received her BA from the University of North Carolina – Charlotte (1985), MSW from UNC-Chapel Hill (1991) and PhD from UNC-Greensboro (2004). She joined the University of Arkansas faculty in 2004.
Shannon A. Jones began working with TheatreSquared in 2014. Some of her official T2 roles over the years have included: assistant stage manager, production stage manager, and associate producer. In her time at T2, she has managed, supported and uplifted countless artists and directors, worked as an artist liaison with partners at Crystal Bridges, facilitated donor and artist engagement, mentored emerging stage managers, and has also served as a member of the TRUE initiative/TRAIN cohort of NWA, an initiative to celebrate and increase diversity and inclusion in the Northwest Arkansas region. Highlights of some of her behind-the-scenes work at T2 include Peter and the Starcatcher, The Champion and The Legend of Georgia McBride, to name a few. As a Florida native and former freelance stage manager, she has worked at many theatres spanning the east coast, from Florida to Maine. She holds a BFA in Stage Management from the University of Central Florida and is a member of Actors' Equity Association.
Dexter Singleton directed The Royale for TheatreSquared, as well as Among the Western Dinka and Black Book in the 2018 Arkansas New Play Festival. He is a director, actor, activist, playwright, educator and producer. He is the founding executive artistic director of Collective Consciousness Theatre, a multicultural theatre for social change in New Haven, Connecticut. Since 2007, this company has reached thousands of youth and adults with plays and workshops across the U.S. and Europe. They have produced the work of playwrights Dominique Morisseau, Idris Goodwin, Jackie Sibblies Drury, Katori Hall and many others. As a director, his work has recently been seen at T2, University of Michigan, University of Arkansas, Flea Theatre (NYC), Long Wharf Theatre, Passage Theatre and many others. Recent credits include Flint, Jesus Hopped The A Train, I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings, Among The Western Dinka, Black Book, Topdog/Underdog, The Mountaintop, and She Kills Monsters. He is also an assistant professor of performance at the University of Connecticut, board member for TYA/USA and co-chair of the TYA National Task Force for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. He was recently awarded the 2019 Artistic Excellence Award from the State of Connecticut and Distinguished Director of a Play for Black Book from The Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival.
Corey Huffty is the Director of Development at TheatreSquared and oversees the organization’s fundraising and special events. Prior to joining T2, she served as the Manager of Auxiliary Services and Development Officer at Arkansas Children’s Foundation where she helped lead the effort to raise $1.54 million in 2019 alongside 500 volunteers. Corey is a member of the Junior League of Northwest Arkansas and the former VP of Marketing for Junior League of Little Rock. She is also a member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and a graduate of Leadership Greater Little Rock Class XXXI. Corey attended UA Little Rock and holds a master’s degree in public administration and a bachelor’s degree with a double major in mass communications and political science from University of Central Arkansas.
Andrea Newby joined TheatreSquared in 2020. As director of patron loyalty for the North Carolina Symphony, over 13 years she developed data-driven, patron-centric marketing and fundraising strategies to deepen the relationship between audience members and the organization—contributing to the Symphony exceeding overall revenue and retention goals, while increasing patron engagement and satisfaction.
She holds a Master of Arts in Theatre from Louisiana Tech University and a Bachelor of Arts from Northeastern State University.
About TheatreSquared
TheatreSquared’s signature offering of bold new plays in an intimate setting has driven its growth to become the state’s largest theatre, offering more than 300 performances annually in two intimate spaces. The playwright-led company is one of mid-America’s leading laboratories for new work, having launched more than 60 new plays. Notable collaborators have included Bryna Turner, Anne García-Romero, Pulitzer Prize finalist Lisa D’Amour, Qui Nguyen, Mona Mansour, Tony Award nominee Lee Blessing, Amy Evans, and many others. TheatreSquared’s remarkable expansion—with a twentyfold increase in audience in just the past decade—parallels the emergence of its home region in the northwest corner of Arkansas as a booming population center and destination for American art. Offering far-reaching access and education programs and an open-all-day gathering space, the Commons Bar/Café, TheatreSquared remains rooted in its founding vision, that “theatre—done well and with passion—can transform lives and communities.”
For further information or press tickets, contact TheatreSquared at (479) 445-6333 or visit theatre2.org.