Leadership of The Gallery Players

from the Gallery Players Stage

The Gallery Players is run by a volunteer Board of Directors, overseen by an Artistic Director and an Executive Director. Board Members participate in all aspects of the organization’s functions, including advising on season programming, overseeing production and season budgets as well as all individual production staff members, setting rules and policies, house managing for Gallery Players productions, assisting with production-specific needs such as building sets and keeping the theater clean, and other duties as assigned. We also keep a Resource Council of friends and former Board Members who hold an ongoing volunteer relationship with the theater.

Current Board and Resource Council members:

Robert Campbell

(Board of Directors, Treasurer) With set and lighting design, directing, and theatre production management experience that began in his teens, Associate Principal Robert Campbell has over 20 years’ experience in all types of theatre and in a wide variety of formats, from experimental and arena to thrust and proscenium stages. He provides project management, programming, planning and design expertise on projects ranging from major performing arts centers to theatres and recital halls for college and university campuses. He is also expert at 3D modeling of auditorium sightlines and seating layouts. He currently is Project Manager for Schermerhorn Symphony Hall for the Nashville Symphony Orchestra and the Four Seasons Centre, the new home of the Canadian Opera Company, Toronto, Ontario. His other projects include the Long Center, Austin, Texas; the new Harman Centre for the Washington Shakespeare Theatre and the Arena Stage theatre, also in Washington, D.C. and the renovation of the beloved Westport Country Playhouse, Westport, CT. He managed the new construction of the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts in Houston, TX and the adaptive reuse of Second Stage Theatre in New York City. Bob also managed the renovations and expansion of Chicago Orchestra Hall and the Victory Theatre in Evansville, Indiana; designed seating plans and sightlines for the award winning 2,750-seat New Jersey Performing Arts Center in Newark; the 2,000-seat Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth; the 2,400-seat Opera House in Miami; and the New Victory Theatre, New York City. His academic projects include a new experimental theatre for Yale School of Drama, a 400-seat recital hall for Drew University, and performing arts centers at Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX and the University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls. He holds an MFA from Yale School of Drama, where he studied theatre engineering and planning, acoustics, and lighting design. He designed productions at both Yale Repertory Theatre and Yale School of Drama, including The Tempest, Shadow of a Gunman, and Glengarry Glen Ross. Robert also has designed lighting for Off-Off Broadway productions, including Anything Goes, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, House of Blue Leaves, Richard III, Threepenny Opera, and Shimmer and assisted Jules Fisher on the touring production of The Will Rogers Follies. He serves on the Board of Directors of The Gallery Players of Brooklyn, where he directed the company’s productions of The Odd Couple and ‘Night, Mother.

Justine Campbell-Elliott

(Board of Directors, Corresponding Secretary) A New York native from a family of performers, Justine made her professional debut at the age of twelve singing with her mother in several cabaret clubs in Manhattan. She graduated from Northwestern University with a degree in Theatre, after which she relocated to Los Angeles and shifted her focus from acting to directing and producing. Following many years in the film and television industry, Justine returned to the New York stage in 2005 playing Crystal Allen in The Women. Other favorite roles include Julia in the original rock musical, Beautiful (as part of the NY International Fringe Festival,) Gwendolyn in The Importance of Being Earnest and Conchita in Anna in the Tropics. Her relationship with The Gallery Players began when she appeared as Sally in the 10th Annual Black Box New Play Festival production of Bury Him followed the next season by her portrayal of Jean Fox in Hope’s Arbor. Justine is thrilled to be a member of The Gallery Players’ Board of Directors. A proud stepmom, she lives, works and plays here in Park Slope.

Jorge Castillo

(Board of Directors, Member-At-Large) is a Social Worker by day and a key figure in the operations of The Gallery Players by night. Jorge assists designers in the construction of sets for each play and regularly acts as house manager and box office manager for Gallery Players performances. Always a friendly face at the theater, Jorge is beloved on both sides of the footlights and is the quiet hero of The Gallery Players.

Heather Siobhan Curran

(Artistic Director; Board of Directors, Vice President) has been involved with The Gallery Players since 1999 when she appeared in Tickets Please by Tony Sportiello as part of the Black Box New Play Festival. At GP she has directed Deathtrap, The Weir, Side Man, The Marriage of Bette and Boo, Dedication or The Stuff of Dreams, Hope’s Arbor and has appeared as Arsinoe in The Misanthrope, Philaminte in The Learned Ladies, and Clio in Bury Him. At Gallery she has produced mainstage productions of Holiday, Cloud 9, Once on this Island, The Wild Party and Like You Like It. In the Black Box New Play Festival Heather has served as executive and co-producer during 2003-05 when she also developed and directed world premiere productions of Joe Lauinger’s Holy Child and The Wedding Album. Heather has also directed many one-act plays including Bon Voyage, Mr. Phelps! By Daniel Damiano. This season she is thrilled to direct William Inge’s Bus Stop. She has worked as a director in New York and in Rochester, New York, at Rochester Children’s Theatre, Nazareth College (adjunct professor), JCC Centerstage, and at Blackfriars Theatre, where she was on the Board of Directors for several years serving as the play selection chair. Heather also has worked in Germany (Artistic Director of Kuhberg Theatre) and Italy at English-speaking theatres. Favorite directing credits include: Tartuffe, Talking With…, Nunsense, Snoopy!, Play it Again Sam, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Crimes of the Heart, E/R (Emergency Room), and Look Back in Anger. New York acting credits include: Macbeth, Richard II (Duchess of Gloucester/York), Henry V (Expanded Arts). Her Regional acting credits include: Rita in Educating Rita, the Witch in Into the Woods, Lois Lane in Superman, Merteuil in Les Lisasons Dangereuses (Blackfriars Theatre), and Heidi in The Heidi Chronicles (JCC Centerstage). Heather has a bachelor of fine arts degree in theater from the Cornish Institute in Seattle, Washington. She lives with her husband in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

Dominic Cuskern

(Director of Family Programming; Board of Directors, Member-at-Large) is a member of The Pearl Theatre’s resident acting company. At The Pearl he has appeared in numerous productions, including The Phantom Lady, Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo and Juliet, A Will of His Own, Andromache, The Cherry Orchard, Richard III, Blithe Spirit, The Oresteia, The Way of The World, The Merry Wives of Windsor, and Twelfth Night. Mr. Cuskern appeared on Broadway in Inherit The Wind, and he was seen across the country as part of the national tour of Victor/Victoria. He created the role of Ganesha, The Hindu God, in Terrence McNally’s A Perfect Ganesh at the Manhattan Theatre Club, and appeared Off-Broadway in Prelude & Liebestod (Manhattan Class Company), Tibet Does Not Exist (Tribeca Performing Arts Center), and Ascendancy (Rattlestick). Regionally, he has made appearances in Philadelphia, Hartford, Puerto Rico, and Alaska.

Ken Dray

(Board of Directors, Member-at-Large) has been an active participant in productions at The Gallery Players, and joined the Board of Directors twelve years ago. Ken is committed to The Gallery Players’ continuing mission to offer quality theatre at affordable prices to the diverse neighborhood of Park Slope, and and to all of the New York City area. He has played a variety of roles, including Senex in A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum, Shultz in Cabaret, Nicely-Nicely in Guys and Dolls, Uncle Willie in Bent, and Firs in The Cherry Orchard, among many others. Ken also is an accomplished singer and cabaret performer, playing in many venues along the East Coast and Las Vegas. Ken is a resident of Brooklyn Heights, where he lives with his partner of more than 30 years and Miss Greta (who refuses to admit to being a Dachshund, preferring instead to be the Lady of the House and Professional Hostess.)

Brian Michael Flanagan

(Director of Production; Board of Directors, Member-at-large) Brian has been on The Gallery Players Board of Directors since the summer of 2008. Brian moved to New York in 2006 and quickly began his relationship with TGP as an actor as the role of Toby in Terrence McNally’s Dedication or the Stuff of Dreams. Following that he regularly volunteered for The Gallery Players by ushering, assisting with set construction and distributing marketing information throughout the Park Slope community – informing the neighbors about upcoming TGP productions. He also acted in their smash hit Violet and associate produced the acclaimed Man of La Mancha. In addition to his work at TGP, Brian played the leading role of Jake Jonathan in the 2007 Award Winning NY Fringe Festival hit Show Choir: The Musical! Before coming to New York, Brian lived in Minneapolis and worked as an actor at The Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis in The Pirates of Penzance and As You Like It. He also worked at Bloomington Civic Theatre and Highland Summer Theatre. Roles include Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar, Robert in Company, Cliff in Cabaret!, Che in Evita, Axel Hammond in The Nerd, and Finch in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Brian has a Bachelors Degree from Minnesota State University, Mankato (Theatre Performance Major, Music Minor) and is currently attending Graduate School at Columbia University-Teachers College for a Master’s Degree in Arts Administration. Brian is a member of Actors Equity.

Neal J. Freeman

(Executive Director; Board of Directors, President) is an honors directing graduate of the Cornell University Department of Theatre, Film, and Dance. Returning to his native Baltimore after graduating in 1997, he served on the artistic staff of Open Space Arts, a non-profit community arts center, for six years. There he led the Studio Theater Company for high school students, served as director for almost a dozen productions, and worked as producer, writer, director, and performer in the company’s annual giant puppet pageant, The Great Doings Day. During this time, Neal also worked at Baltimore’s acclaimed CENTERSTAGE as an actor, company manager, stage manager, and assistant director. Since re-locating to New York City in 2004, Neal has directed with The Gallery Players, Sonnet Repertory, the Ensemble Studio Theatre, Engine37, and FringeNYC. He has assisted Off Broadway at the Century Center (White Chocolate) as well as on several productions with the OBIE-winning Ridge Theater. He has produced for FringeNYC, Engine37, and The Galllery Players, and for four years served as the Manager of Research and Labor Information Services for The Broadway League. Neal has twice returned to Cornell to direct as a guest artist, and currently serves the program as an Associate Artist. Neal has directed seven shows for The Gallery Players, and he has served on the Board of Directors since 2008. He is currently pursuing a Masters Degree in Directing at Brooklyn College. Neal lives in Brooklyn.

Mary Ruth Goodley

(President Emeritus) has been with The Gallery Players since 1974 when she played a raisin in an original children’s play. Since that time she has produced, directed, musical directed, acted, stage managed, designed costumes and sets, and every other job in the theater except lighting. She most enjoys directing and among her favorites are Assassins, Floyd Collins, Violet, Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me, and Three Penny Opera. She has directed more than 50 pieces for the Gallery Players and her directorial work has appeared regionally, internationally and at Alice Tulley Hall where she wrote the arrangement and played the piano for the title song of the evening’s work. She remains committed to The Gallery Players and helps with marketing.

Resource Council

Robert Doxsey, Concessions Manager
Mary Ruth Goodley, Marketing and Communications
Robin Mishik-Jett, Production Management Consultant

The Gallery Players | 199 14th street | between 4th & 5th aves. | Brooklyn, NY 11215