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About | Bios
Geoffrey Nelson , Artistic Director
Jonathan Putnam, Associate Artistic Director
T.J.Gerckens, Production Manager
Keya Myers-Alkire, Master Electrician
Cheryl Ruschau , Company Stage Manager
Tatjana Longerot, Costume Shop Manager |
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Geoffrey Nelson founded CATCO in 1984 and has been its Artistic Director ever since. Among the shows he has directed are The Grapes of Wrath, The Shorts Festival 2000, The Importance of Being Earnest, Of Mice and Men, Taking Sides, The Homecoming, 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 a leadership role in producing new works, including the bi-annual Shorts Festival, and in touring and outreach activities. 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, and has been named to receive a Huntington Foundation award for arts leadership in 2002. |
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Jonathan Putnam
jputnam@catco.org
Associate Artistic Director
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Jonathan is a resident actor with CATCO who has directed appeared in and directed several plays over the years including All in the Timing, Five Women Wearing the Same Dress, and The Big Slam. Some of his favorite shows have been Dealer’s Choice, The Homecoming, Below the Belt, and All My Sons. Before coming to CATCO, Jon lived and worked (mostly lived) in New York and Los Angeles, and many places in between. He has an MFA from The Ohio State University.
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T.J. Gerckens
tgerckens@catco.org
Production Manger
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T.J. has been Production Manager since 1998 and has designed the lighting for many CATCO shows including the Grapes of Wrath, The Shorts Festival 2000, Mere Mortals, Below the Belt, The Little Foxes, and Forever Plaid. His design for Metamorphoses on Broadway earned him the 2002 Drama Desk Award. His designs have been seen at The NY Shakespeare Festival, Lincoln Center SeriousFun! Festival, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Goodman Theatre, and The Mark Taper Forum among others. He received the Jefferson Award for The Odyssey (Chicago), and won awards in Chicago, L.A., New York, and San Francisco for Metamorphoses. He holds degrees from Otterbein College and Boston University, and is happily married to scenic designer Stephanie Gerckens.
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Keya Myers-Alkire
kalkire@catco.org
Master Electrician
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Keya grew up in Athens, Ohio and earned her BFA in Theatre from Ohio University. Before joining the CATCO staff as Master Electrician and Sound Engineer in 1997, Keya worked at theatres in Maryland, Utah, and Columbus. Her favorite sound designs at CATCO include The Anger in Ernest and Ernestine, A Tuna Christmas, and Escanaba in da Moonlight. She thanks her husband David for being so supportive of her love for theatre and this company.
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Cheryl Ruschau
Company Stage Manager
cruschau@catco.org
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Cheryl is enjoying her first season as CATCO’s Company Stage Manager. She was the Stage Management Fellow here during the 2003-2004 Season, and since then has worked at Syracuse Stage in New York and Goodspeed Musicals in Connecticut. She grew up right here in Columbus and has a B.A. in Theatre from Miami University. Thanks to Deb and T.J., and to her incredibly supportive family for putting up with her no matter what!
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Tatjana Longerot
Costume Shop Manager
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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 OSU. Her thesis costume design received a 2001-2002 USITT Peggy Ezekiel Award. Since graduation, Tatjana has worked as a free-lance designer for stage and screen productions 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, and Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill.
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77 South High Street, Second Floor ~ Columbus, Ohio 43215 ~ Box Office: 469.0939
© 2002 Contemporary American Theatre Company, USA.
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