About Us Board of Directors
Officers
President - Frank MorralFrank first came to Nantucket in l961, the year he met and married Linda Backus who was born on the island. Frank has a B.A. in English Literature from Whitman College, a Ph.D in English from Columbia University, and an M.A. in Counseling Psychology from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. From l962-2006 he taught Shakespeare and other authors, for forty-two of those years at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota. Since first playing (at age thirteen) the cowardly lion in a Syracuse University Boars Head Children’s Theater production of “The Wizard of Oz,” he has participated in theater, sometimes as a director, more often as an actor. Since 2004 he has played in TWN’s “Born Yesterday,” “Scrooge and Marley,” “To Grandmother’s House We Go," “Moon Over Buffalo” and "Lend Me A Tenor." He has been president of TWN since October, 2007.
Vice President - Lisa P. Soeder
Lisa is a Tax Partner in the Hartford, Connecticut, office of Soeder & Associates, LLC and received her LL.M. in Taxation from New York University, her J.D. from the University of Notre Dame, and her B.A. from the State University of New York at Oneonta (cum laude). She is admitted to practice before the States of New York, Connecticut, and most recently, Massachussets. She is a member of the Bar Associations of New York State (Tax Section); Connecticut (Tax Section), and American (Tax Exempt Financing Section). She was previously a partner in the tax departments of Hawkins, Delafield & Wood and Nixon Peabody.
In addition to law, Lisa has an ownership interest in a number of Nantucket Bed and Breakfasts and is on the board of directors of and has an ownership interest in a genetics company headquartered in California. She is a licensed real estate broker in New York, Massachusetts, Colorado and New Mexico. Lisa also was 2007 Connecticut Woman of the Year for her fundraising efforts for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.
Lisa lives on Nantucket and been a strong supporter of Theatre Workshop for many years, hosting numerous opening night parties at her B&B. She joined the board in 2009.
Don Costanzo has worked as a journalist in various capacities over the past 20 years. In 2003, he founded The Nantucket Independent, serving as its editor & publisher until June of 2008. He has been an editor at the Nantucket Beacon, Gulf Coast Business Review, Longboat Observer and Wire Association International. He has worked as an artist representative for the Oakdale, Shubert and Palace theaters in Connecticut, and as the orchestra manager for the Cape Cod Symphony. He is currently editor of the Nantucket Property News and Nantucket Property Journal. He lives on Nantucket with his wife, Gennifer, and two sons, Dominic and Joseph.
Treasurer - Tina Hoskins-Burney
Tina L. Hoskins-Burney – a member of SAG, AFTRA, AEA, and TAG moved to Nantucket in 2004 while continuing to work in Film and Television in the New York area. She caught the Nantucket acting bug and returned to the stage as Mrs. Muller in Doubt, her first TWN production after a 15 year hiatus from stage acting. Her previous credits include working on As The World Turns, One Life to Live, The Guiding Light to Malcolm X, First Wives Club, 3 AM, Savage Faith, and Marvel Entertainment Group - X Men “Storm”. She has traveled throughout the United States speaking professionally for Monster’s “Making High School Count programs”, and currently works as a spokes model for Onsite Video Corporation. Tina is a former professional tennis player, has written numerous books, articles, short stories and currently writes film treatments for a Wild Life Documentary film company; Oh yeah, and she also owns and operates “The Tennis Loft” in Nantucket.
Directors
Susan Beaumont
Susan Beaumont began performing and directing basement theatre at age 3. Shortly after landing on Nantucket in 1983, Susan formed Nantucket Viewfinder Productions which hosts film, television, photography crews and writers; and raises needed funding for island non-profits. Audiences remember Susan as producer and anchor of Nantucket’s nightly newscast, cheerleader and minister in summer Point Breeze Hotel productions, as Nantucket Short Play Festival director and performer, as Annette in TWN’s Lone Star Grace, for memorable Armchair Theatre performances, journal readings for the Nantucket Historical Association, and as Hanna Monaghan of Greater Light. “I won’t rest until TWN has a home – a permanent home,” she says. Susan is married to island real estate broker and fishing guide David Beaumont. They have 3 daughters.
Laura Gallagher Byrne Is a graduate of Shenandoah College and Conservatory of Music where she earned a BFA in Musical Theater. She studied Meisner Technique at The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts, and Shakespeare with Shakespeare and Company in Lenox MA. She has appeared in leading roles with the Theaterworks USA, Mill Mountain Playhouse, Dorset Theater Festival, The Downtown Musical Theater and The Harlequin, among others. She performed with the comedy improv group, The New York Hysterical Society. TWN on-stage credits include Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors and Agnes in “I Do, I Do”. Her directorial credits on Nantucket include TWN’s “I Hate Hamlet”, Oliver, Don’t Count You’re Chickens Until they Cry Wolf, Really Rosie,Cinderella,Rounding Third and It’s a Wonderful Life. She directed Seaside Shakespeare’s production of The Vagina Monologues. In addition to teaching musical theater and improvisational classes, she maintains a private voice studio on Nantucket. She is member of Alpha Si Omega, the dramatic fraternity, National Association of Teachers of Singing, and Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers.
Cheryl Fudge
Cheryl is a local clothing designer and retailer. Her business acumen and dedication to Nantucket non-profits is well known and even before joining the TWN board in 2005 she provided costumes and advice for many TWN productions. She has also performed for both TWN and Nantucket Theatrical Productions. Since joining the board she has dedicated her efforts to fund raising and costuming.
Susan Lucier
A summer resident of Nantucket since 1988, Susan earned her degree in theater from Case Western Reserve University in her home town of Cleveland, Ohio, where she has performed in several productions—at the Cleveland Play House and other local theaters. She has also studied at Stella Adler Conservatory of Acting, Michael Chekhov Association, and Ward Studio in New York; and at Shakespeare & Company in Lenox, Mass. An original member of Nantucket’s Seaside Shakespeare Company, she also performed in TWN’s 2006 production of The Smell of the Kill. Susan served on the Advisory Board for the Cleveland Shakespeare Festival in 2002-2005. She joined the TWN board in 2007.
A Nantucket native and 13th generation islander, Marianne grew up on the island, spending much of her youth hanging out in Mac Dixon's old Straight Wharf Theatre back in the late 50's and early 60's while her parents, Tom and Marie Giffin, were in rehearsal or helping out backstage for plays such as The Mikado, Brigadoon, A Man for All Seasons, Diary of Anne Frank, Mousetrap, Born Yesterday and many more. She was on stage as well, in bit parts in Teahouse of the August Moon, Brigadoon and The Emperor's New Clothes, but today prefers sitting in the audience and putting her efforts towards helping TWN find a year-round permanent home of their own.
"The Straight Wharf Theatre was a magical place for all of us back then and was the focal point of our lives outside work and family. I saw what joy working in the theatre can bring to individuals and the important role it plays in a community. When I was a kid, EVERYBODY went to the theatre to see their friends and family."
Marianne is married to John Stanton, a writer and documentary film maker. They live on island with their two children, Caroline, a senior at Nantucket High School, and Kevin, a student at Mass College of Art and Design.
Mark White
Mark has been on Nantucket for over 30 years. He was a middle and high school teacher in the Nantucket public schools for 31 years until his retirement in 2005. For the last ten of those years he was the Director of Nantucket High School Drama Club. He joined the TWN board in 2005. He holds a degree in English from Bridgewater State and a Masters of Contemporary Theatre Practice from the University of Lancaster, England.
In Memorium
TWN gratefully acknowledges Edythe Travelstead and her dedication and generosity to the arts on Nantucket. A lovely lady whose smile and enthusiasm will be missed by all.
