EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Rob Weinert-Kendt is editor-in-chief of American Theatre. He was the founding editor-in-chief of Back Stage West and cofounder of StageGrade, and he writes for The New York Times, America magazine, and his blogs The Wicked Stage and Train My Ear. He studied film at USC and is a composer member of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop. rwkendt@tcg.org, @robkendt.
FIRST THEATRE MEMORY: A community theatre production in Phoenix, Ariz., of Oliver! It obviously had a big impact: I played the London cast album at home till it wore out, became a rabid Anglophile (I’m mostly over that, but the residue lingers), and my first son got the name.
MANAGING EDITOR
Jerald Raymond Pierce is the managing editor of American Theatre. He studied acting at Ohio University and received his M.A. in arts journalism from Syracuse University. A member of the American Theatre Critics Association, he is also a freelance reviewer for the Chicago Tribune. Previously, he served as the arts and culture reporter and theatre critic for The Seattle Times and as associate and Chicago editor for American Theatre. jpierce@tcg.org, @TheJRPierce
FIRST THEATRE MEMORY: I learned and memorized not only my lines but the lines of everyone I was onstage with for every play I was in as a young child. Yes, I did correct them when they made mistakes. Yes, I am sorry. Please forgive me.
DIGITAL EDITOR
Gabriela Furtado Coutinho is the digital editor of American Theatre, as well as an actor, playwright, and poet. She graduated (theatre and English) from Northwestern University, where she now guest lectures. Favorite byline so far is cover story “Tomorrow’s Tamoras and Titanias.” Creative projects include Much Ado… (director), Bloody Bricks… (playwright), and Blood Wedding (lead actor). She feels grateful for previous work with The Kennedy Center and Emmy’s / Television Academy. A Brazilian immigrant, she works and laughs across three native languages. gcoutinho@tcg.org, @gabrielafurtadocoutinho
FIRST THEATRE MEMORY: My family tells me that, when Rio shut down for Carnaval, two-year-old Gabriela asked each morning whether theatres had reopened, “Teatro abriu?” During these habitual TYA shows, I recall dancing in the aisles.
DIRECTOR OF PUBLICATIONS
Kelundra Smith is director of publications at TCG. An Atlanta–based journalist, playwright, and storyteller, her articles have appeared in The New York Times, ESPN’s Andscape, Food & Wine, Garden & Gun, The Bitter Southerner, Atlanta magazine, and elsewhere. She got into theatre because that’s where teachers put the kids who talk too much in class. As a playwright, she has a passion for southern narratives rooted in the African diaspora. Her long-term goals are to land on the New York Times bestseller list, travel the world, open a late-night dessert restaurant, as well as have her plays adapted for television. ksmith@tcg.org
FIRST THEATRE MEMORY: I’m sure the first show I saw was something at the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, but my first theatre memory is of the Fox Theatre in Atlanta. The ceiling looks like a starry night sky with moving clouds. Looking up at that ceiling when I was five years old made me fall in love with everything onstage.
DESIGN MANAGER
Monet Cogbill (she/her) has managed the visual branding for TCG programs and services since 2004. Educated at Hampton University and Pratt Institute, Cogbill has design experience grounded in supporting the marketing efforts of purpose-driven publications and diverse print media.
PLAYSCRIPT DIRECTOR
Kathy Sova is playscript director for American Theatre magazine and has managed the editorial and production work for TCG Books since 1995. She has edited plays and theatre reference books by Anne Bogart, Eric Bogosian, Athol Fugard, André Gregory, Adrienne Kennedy, Lisa Kron, Tony Kushner, Donald Margulies, Suzan-Lori Parks, Sarah Ruhl, Wallace Shawn, Paula Vogel, the Thornton Wilder estate and August Wilson, among others.. Ms. Sova has a B.A. in theatre from Hofstra University.
DIRECTOR OF ADVERTISING
Carol Van Keuren (she/her) has been active in the professional theatre since 1983. Prior to joining the TCG staff in 1996, Ms. Van Keuren worked at Pennsylvania Stage Co., Williamstown Theatre Festival, Jewish Repertory Theatre, American Place Theatre, Manhattan Theatre Club, Circle in the Square, and the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. While working with Jeffrey Richards, she served as the press representative for the Broadway production of The Kentucky Cycle, and, through Springer Associates, the National Actors Theatre’s Broadway production of Inherit the Wind. As Director of Advertising at TCG, Ms. Van Keuren is responsible for display and classified advertising in American Theatre magazine, web ads for AmericanTheatre.org and tcg.org, and ARTSEARCH.
EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP
LaTeshia Ellerson (she/her) has over 14 years of experience as a fundraising professional. Her expertise is in developing strategic fundraising plans and creating compelling narratives to increase contributed revenue at nonprofits. LaTeshia’s love for the performing arts began as a young actress. This passion continues as she raises funds to promote the indispensable impact of arts organizations.
LaTeshia began her career at Kenny Leon’s True Colors Theatre Company in 2007 as Development Associate/Annual Fund Manager, and in 2013 she was promoted to Director of Development. She successfully led the effort to more than double True Colors’ annual fund, corporate contributions, and foundation support. In 2021, she joined Theatre Communications Group as their Director of Institutional Philanthropy. LaTeshia participated in the 2014-15 SPARK Leadership Program, funded by American Express, The Joyce Foundation, and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and administered by Theatre Communications Group. In 2015, she was selected as American Theatre magazine’s “Top 20 Theatre Professionals to Watch.”
LaTeshia is a sought-after speaker and national thought leader in the areas of fundraising and theatre management. She has advised nonprofits in strategic visionary growth, creating mission and value statements, and leadership development. In addition, she is an active mentor to theatre administrators and young people at her local church.
LaTeshia holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Theatre School at DePaul University in Chicago and a Master of Science in Urban Policy Studies/Nonprofit Leadership from Georgia State University.
Emilya Cachapero was the director of Theatre Communications Group’s Artistic and International Programs and has been active in the US arts community for more than 30 years. Ms. Cachapero oversees TCG’s grant programs, international programs and selected special projects which include Beyond Orientalism, a national initiative to address the use of yellow face, brown face and whitewashing. She is a member of the Executive Board and Council of International Theatre Insitute (ITI) Worldwide, and as lead producer for ITI’s New Project Group (NPG) she produced House-Home, an eleven country collaboration that was performed in Xiamen, China in 2011, IfDENTITY, a ten-country collaboration that was performed in Madrid in 2008 and The Borges Project, a ten-country collaboration performed in Manila in 2006. In addition to her current responsibilities with TCG and ITI-U.S., Ms. Cachapero was a US National Commissioner to UNESCO from 2002 – 2008. Prior to joining TCG in 1991, she served as general manager for the Concordia Chamber Symphony; associate director of the Non-Traditional Casting Project in New York; conservatory administrator for American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco; and chair of the artistic committee for the Asian American Theater Company in San Francisco. She was instrumental in creating the San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival and was its founding producer for the first two years of the program. Her writing has been published in American Poetry Review and several poetry anthologies. Ms Cachapero received her Bachelor of Arts degree in creative writing from San Francisco State University and an honorary M.F.A. from the American Conservatory Theater. She is an alumna of the James P. Shannon Leadership Institute.
FOUNDING EDITOR
Jim O’Quinn was the founding editor-in-chief of American Theatre. His articles and reviews also appeared in Stagebill, Theatre Heute, Tatler, High Performance, Encyclopedia Britannica, and other publications, and he was a regular theatre reviewer for the now-defunct Manhattan weekly 7 Days. He also edited The Journal, a quarterly publication of the SDC Foundation, for six years, and created the Downtown Arts section of The Villager newspaper in downtown Manhattan. Prior to joining Theatre Communications Group in 1982, where he collaborated on the creation of American Theatre and became its founding editor, O’Quinn was managing editor of the journal TDR: The Drama Review, published by New York University; a city-desk reporter for The New Orleans Times-Picayune; and publisher for two years of an award-winning weekly newspaper in southwest Louisiana. His work at American Theatre has been recognized with two National Magazine Awards for Editorial Excellence (2001, 2002) and an Excellence in Editing Award for Sustained Achievement from the Association of Theatre in Higher Education (2010).
FOUNDING PUBLISHER
Terence Nemeth has led TCG’s publications department since 1982. Before joining TCG, he spent 14 years in the San Francisco Bay Area, where he co-founded Mudra, a literary publishing house, and was one of the original employee-owners of Bookpeople, which was the most prominent distributor for independent publishers in the country. He also directed its book imprint, Wingbow Press, publishers of Edward Dorn, Diane di Prima, Michael Ondaatje, Colin Wilson, Jayne Anne Phillips and Peter Blue Cloud among others. Mr. Nemeth has served as a lecturer and panelist on small-press publishing and distribution for organizations such as the Council of Literary Magazines and Presses, Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts, Massachusetts State Council for the Arts and the American Association of Publishers and was the chair of the New York State Council for the Arts Literature Panel. He was awarded an Obie in 2004 for play publishing.
