Board of Directors

Sue Ellen Gerrells – Executive Director

Sue Ellen Gerrells brings decades of experience to her position as ACT Executive Director. After serving as Business Manager for Theatre USA (USA-Mobile) and Executive Assistant to senior administrators at UCSD (CA), she traveled to Yokosuka, Japan working as PREVENT Program Manager and instructor for University of Maryland University College. For over thirty years, Sue Ellen has been actively involved as an actor/director in community, secondary, and college/university theater programs in Asia, Europe and the U.S. She serves on the Board of Directors for the American Association of Community Theatres (AACT) and directs for the South City Theatre and Montevallo Main Street Players. Sue Ellen lives in Alabaster, Alabama.

Neil David Seibel – President and State Representative to SETC

Neil David Seibel recently joined the theatre faculty at Auburn Montgomery. As a member of Actors Equity his credits include Jonathon Larson’s JP Morgan Saves the Nation (Off-Broadway), the TV musical Passages: Lewis and Clark, contracts with the Denver Center, Arvada Center, Colorado Shakespeare Festival, The Alley Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville and six seasons with Theatre Aspen. He continues to serve as a Co-Director of ALATetc: A LABORATORY FOR ACTOR TRAINING, experimental theater company in New York City.

Tom Salter – Vice-President

Senior Communication Officer for the Montgomery County Public School System, Tom also serves as the Vice Chair of the Marketing Committee for the American Association of Community Theatre (AACT). He’s an award-winning director for the Wetumpka Depot Players where he appears in productions and has served on their Board of Directors. Tom’s production of “Second Samuel” won top honors at both state and regional levels of AACTFest ’11, earning his company the privilege of representing his state and region at the national level in Rochester, N.Y.

Katie Pearson – Immediate Past President

Raised in Pennsylvania, Katie Pearson has called Montgomery “home” for the past twenty-five years. During her time here she has been involved with community and university theatres. Katie has appeared in numerous productions and has designed and constructed costumes for several productions as well. She currently holds the position of Theatre Coordinator for Auburn Montgomery’s, Theatre AUM.

Elizabeth McCurry – Secretary

More information coming soon.

Amy Hockinson – Treasurer

Amy has been the Treasurer of the Alabama Conference of Theatre since 2007 and has enjoyed working with the Walter F. Trumbauer State High School Theatre Festival. She has a B.A. in Musical Theatre from Samford University and a M.A. of Ed. in English/Language Arts Education from U.A.B. She has taught theatre to children of all ages, from toddlers to college students. In addition to teaching, Amy has worked as a professional actress with Birmingham Children’s Theatre and has participated in a number of productions with local theatre companies around Birmingham.

Randall Blades – College and University Division Chair

Randy is an Assistant Professor and the costume shop manager for the drama department of Jacksonville State University. Prior to joining JSU in 2006, he served on the faculty at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. Randy has worked in a variety of theaters and shakespeare festivals around the country. He has an Master of Fine Arts in costume design from Penn State and a BA in drama from Jacksonville State.

Stacy Alley – College and University Division Vice-Chair

Stacy Alley teaches musical theatre/dance at the University of Alabama after seven years on faculty at Arkansas State University where she taught acting, dance, and voice & movement. She is a professional director and choreographer whose recent credits include A Chorus Line at Forestburgh Playhouse in NY. She has been performing professionally for twenty-five years, including five years in Radio City Music Hall’s Christmas Spectacular. Stacy is a member of Screen Actors Guild, the Association of Theatre Movement Educators, the Musical Theatre Educators Alliance, and The Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies in NYC where she was recently awarded the title/degree of Certified Movement Analyst. She is also Co-Chair of the Musical Theatre Committee for the Southeastern Theatre Conference. Stacy holds a Master of Fine Arts in Acting from the University of Alabama and a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from the University of Southern California.

T. Gary Weatherly – Secondary Division Chair

Gary Weatherly is currently a Teacher, Designer, Technical Director, and Manager of Mountain Brook High School’s Fine Arts Center. Before discovering the challenges of teaching in secondary school, Gary designed professionally over 300 productions in almost every state in the southeast for over 25 years. He worked as the resident designer for Birmingham Children’s Theatre, The State of Alabama Ballet and the Miss Alabama Pageant and worked for most of the Birmingham community and university theatres as a guest designer. He has a B.A. degree from University of North Carolina at Greensboro with emphasis in design and technology. Gary is finishing up his thesis to earn a M.S. in Theatre Education from Southern Oregon University. Since beginning his teaching career, Gary has been very involved with ACT, judging at Walter J. Trumbauer Festival and many of his students have won multiple awards in acting and technical events at the district and state competition. Gary also chairs the Polly Holliday Scholarship Award for the Southeastern Theatre Conference and serves on the Board of Directors for the DPTheatre Series in Birmingham.

Eric St. John – Secondary Division Vice Chair

After serving as head of the theatre program at Chelsea High School for the past two years, Eric has recently taken over the same position at Spain Park High School. He has been the District 6 Chair for the Trumbauer Festival since 2009.

Kevin Garrett – Community Theatre Chair

Kevin Garrett, a recent graduate of UAB, has been active in community theatre for over ten years. He has in the past served on the IBD of Intertel, the Executive Committee of Central Alabama Mensa and ACTA Theatre in Trussville. He currently sits on the Boards of Theatre Downtown, serving as Treasurer, and Terrific New Theatre. Kevin has also appeared in short and feature-length films. He has been married to Mary Anne Kane-Garrett for 23 years and resides in Center Point, Alabama.

John Chain – Community Theatre Vice Chair

John began acting while attending high school in Baldwin Park, Ca. He has performed in numerous productions during high school, college and has been very active in community productions. Has also been an extra in several movies. Graduated from Texas Tech University in 1971 with a degree in accounting. John is currently president of Millbrook Community Players in Millbrook, AL.

Stay Connected: