Staff Bios

Steven C. Anderson

Artistic Director

 sanderson@catco.org
Steven C. AndersonSteven C. Anderson is the Artistic Director of the newly merged CATCO home of the Phoenix Theatre for Children. He has created plays for and with Central Ohio children for the past twenty-nine years, first at the Leo Yassenoff Jewish Center, then at Players Theatre Columbus and most recently at the Phoenix Theatre for Children which he founded sixteen years ago. He is the recipient of the Ohio Theatre Alliance Lifetime Achievement Award, the Southside Settlement Arts Freedom Award, a Certificate of Achievement from the Community Center for the Deaf, and a Central Ohio Critics Circle Award for “a decade of respectful and exhilarating theatrical adaptations of works of literature from around the world and for using a diverse array of theatrical styles to challenge and delight children.” His work has been nominated five times for the prestigious Greater Columbus Arts Council’s Excellence in the Arts Award. His work as a director includes Candide and Hair at the Ohio State University Theatre Department; Love! Valour! Compassion! and The Taste of Sunrise at CATCO, Big River and Pippin for Actors Theatre; A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum at New Harmony Theatre; and Greater Tuna; Little Shop of Horrors; and Assassins for the former Players Theatre Columbus where he served as Associate Producing Director. He is particularly proud of the 2006 collaboration with BalletMet of Alice in Wonderland, the 2007 collaboration with CAPA, and OperaColumbus of The Secret Garden that paired deaf and hearing actors on stage together, and the 2009 Phoenix production of The Miracle Worker that incorporated the talents of deaf and blind actors.
   

T.J. Gerckens

Managing Director

 tgerckens@catco.org
T.J. Gerckens is honored to become CATCO’s Managing Director after serving for 11 years as CATCO’s Production Manager. In 2004 Columbus Business First Magazine named him one of Columbus’ “Top Forty Under Forty” for professional achievement, recognition, and community service. As a lighting designer he has designed many CATCO shows including Crowns, The Piano Lesson, Grapes of Wrath, and Below the Belt. T.J.’s New York designs include Lucia di Lammermoor and La Sonnambula for the Metropolitan Opera, Measure for Measure in Central Park, The Notebooks of Leonardo da Vinci Off-Broadway, and Metamorphoses on Broadway. Regional theatre designs of note include Mary Zimmerman’s Arabian Nights at the Lookingglass Theatre, Anne Bogart’s Going, Going, Gone at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco, and the Zimmerman/Phillip Glass opera Galileo Galilei at the Goodman Theater, as well as two seasons as Resident Lighting Designer at Actor’s Theatre of Louisville. He has received numerous awards for his lighting including Chicago’s Jefferson Awards, L.A.’s Ovation and Theatre Critic’s awards, the Bay Area Critic’s Circle Award, and New York’s Drama Desk Award.
   

Geoffrey Nelson

Artistic Director Emeritus

 gnelson@catco.org
Geoffrey Nelson founded CATCO in 1984 and led the company as its Artistic Director for 26 years. Among the shows he has directed are The Mystery of Irma Vep; The Grapes of Wrath; Blackbird; Almost, Maine; The Importance of Being Earnest; Of Mice and Men; A Tuna Christmas; The Homecoming; The Exonerated and A Christmas Memory. Under his leadership, CATCO has developed into Central Ohio's professional resident theatre company, renowned for its acting and adventurous play choices. CATCO has also taken an active role in producing new works, including the bi-annual Shorts Festival, and -- most recently -- the world premieres of You're My Boy and Pierce to the Soul. Under his leadership, CATCO offered touring productions and performance classes for many years. In 1997 CATCO won the Governor's Award for Arts Outreach. Nelson has also been the recipient of the Ohio Theatre Alliance "Encore" Award, an Ohioana Citation for Theatre, a Huntington Foundation Award for Arts Leadership, a Theatre Roundtable "Harold" Award and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Central Ohio Critics Circle. Nelson is also an actor and a member of Actors Equity.
   

Joe Bishara

Associate Artistic Director

 jbishara@catco.org
Joe Bishara has worked at regional theatres in Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, and Florida as an Actor, Director, Producer, and Administrator. Previous stops include: Act Out Productions (Associate Producer - Columbus National Gay and Lesbian Theatre Festival), Wayside Theatre (Assistant to the Artistic Director), and most recently, The Phoenix Theatre for Children (Production Coordinator). Working in conjunction with Columbus Recreation and Parks, Joe also manages the day-to-day operations of the Columbus Performing Arts Center. He currently serves as Vice-President of Membership for Theatre Roundtable, a consortium of central Ohio theatres working to strengthen theatre throughout Ohio. Joe holds a degree in Vocal Performance from Ohio Wesleyan University and is a proud member of Actor’s Equity.
   

Kim Crabtree

Production Manager

 kcrabtree@catco.org
Kim was the producing associate/production manager for RICHMARK Entertainment, operators of the Wadsworth and Brentwood Theaters, 1400-seat and 500-seat theaters in Los Angeles. While there, she worked on many direct-from-Broadway productions including Golda’s Balcony (also at A.C.T. in San Francisco), Salome (with Al Pacino), Souvenir, and The Good Body (with Eve Ensler). Kim is an active AEA stage manager. SM highlights include working with Liza Minnelli, Blue Man Group, Mark Taper Forum, Deaf West Theater and touring the country with Chicano satirists Culture Clash. She has co-produced a number of 99-seat shows and enjoys consulting with the madcap Troubadour Theater Company. She has executed large-scale fundraising events for many non-profits and advocacy groups. Kim interned and later worked at the Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati. She graduated with a B.F.A. in Theater Production with a stage management emphasis from the University of Cincinnati – CCM. Kim lives in Columbus with her partner, Sheree, of 13 years. She looks forward to visits with their families in Cincinnati and is very happy to be a part of the CATCO family.
   

Heather Burley

Education Director

 hburley@catco.org
Heather is proud to be a part of the CATCO-Phoenix staff. She received her Bachelors degree in Theatre from The Ohio State University and went on to pursue her Masters degree in Drama Education. As Director of Education, Heather wishes to extend the benefits of theatre from the stage into the classroom. She has conducted various theatre workshops and residencies in diverse school communities throughout the state of Ohio. Her interest lies in creating new ways to integrate drama/ theatre into existing curricular areas of the classroom to help students better understand core subject material. In addition to her educational pursuits, Heather also enjoys performing on the Phoenix stage.
   

Cheryl Ruschau

Production Stage Manager

 cruschau@catco.org
Cheryl grew up in Columbus and received a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from Miami University. She served as CATCO’s Stage Management Fellow for the 2003-2004 season, and went on to work at Syracuse Stage in New York and Goodspeed Musicals in Connecticut.  Cheryl returned to Columbus in 2007 to become CATCO’s Company Stage Manager. She is a proud member of Actors Equity and happy to be a member of the CATCO family.
   

Keya Myers-Alkire

Master Electrician/Sound Engineer

  kalkire@catco.org
Keya Myers-Alkire grew up in Athens, Ohio and earned her BFA in Theatre from Ohio University. She has worked at theaters in Maryland, Utah, and Columbus, and has been CATCO’s Master Electrician and Sound Engineer since 1997. Some of her favorite sound designs for CATCO have included The Anger in Ernest and Ernestine, A Tuna Christmas, Escanaba in da Moonlight, and Almost, Maine.
   

Tatjana Longerot

Costume Studio Manager

 tlongerot@catco.org
Tatjana was raised in Germany and moved to the USA to study theatre in 1990. She received a B.A. in Theatre from Indiana University, South Bend and an M.F.A. in Costume Design from The Ohio State University. She has received six USITT Peggy Ezekiel Awards for excellent and outstanding achievement in the theatre arts. Tatjana has worked as a free-lance designer for stage (including Capital University, OSU Opera, Denison University, and IART) and film, as well as wardrobe for national concert tours such as Elton John and The Rolling Stones. Costume designs for CATCO: Sleuth, Murder in Green Meadows, The Laramie Project, The Exonerated, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, The Weir, The Piano Lesson (“Best Production of a Play”, “Best Design” COTCC), The Pillowman (“Best Production of a Play” COTCC, “Best Play” Columbus Dispatch), A Christmas Memory/The Thanksgiving Visitor, The Clean House, Evie's Waltz, and The Seafarer. Tatjana very much enjoys working with so many talented actors, guest designers and fellow staff.
   

Whitney Thomas Eads

Artist Educator

 wthomaseads@catco.org
Since graduating Summa Cum Laude from Hope College (B.A. Theatre-Acting/Directing), Whitney Thomas Eads has had an active role in educational outreach through the arts. She has collaborated with such organizations as Junior Players (Dallas, TX), Theatre Action Project (Austin, TX), and Ohio Alliance for Arts Education (Columbus, OH), and worked as Assistant Director for Big Thought's Creative Solutions (Dallas, TX), a program designed to provide work experience through the arts to at-risk and on-probation teens. Whitney aids CATCO-Phoenix with developing new theatre arts curriculum, teaching residencies, and exploring new avenues of education through performance.