Board of Directors

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Christians In Theatre Arts has been blessed with diverse and energetic leadership. Members on the executive board serve three-year rotating terms. Regional representatives are selected by the executive board. The following leaders serve CITA. Any of them would be pleased to help you.

Executive Director

Dr. Dale Savidge, c/o Christians In Theatre Arts, P.O. Box 26471, Greenville, SC 29616  E-mail: exec@cita.org

Dr. Dale Savidge is Executive Director of CITA, Christians in Theatre Arts, an organization he helped found 20+ years ago. He earned two Masters degrees in theatre and a PhD in English and Theatre (from the University of South Carolina). He is also Chair of Theatre at North Greenville University, where he helped begin the BA degree in 2003. Today the department serves upwards of 40 majors (NGU Theatre). After teaching collegiate theatre at the undergraduate and graduate levels for fifteen years, in 1996 Dale launched Associates and Savidge, an arts management organization for professional actors (www.savidge.com) . He resides in Greenville, SC with his wife Tammy, a registered nurse, and together they are the proud parents of three children: Timothy, Patricia and Olivia – as well as one cat.

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Board Members

Steve Broyles, Wesleyan School, 5405 Spalding Drive, Norcross, GA 30092 Email: citasouth@comcast.net

Steve Broyles is currently Director of Middle School Drama for Wesleyan School in Norcross, GA. In addition to directing two shows each year, he teaches music and drama to grades 5-8. Steve is also a member of Atlanta based Art Within-a Christian arts and media organization that develops scripts for stage and screen. He graduated from Regent University in 2001 with an MFA in Script and Screenwriting where he received the Outstanding Graduate Student Award of Excellence. Prior to entering graduate school, Steve managed the Foothills Playhouse in Easley, South Carolina and directed large scale musicals for Covenant Presbyterian Church in Easley. Steve, his wife, Lisa and their son, Taylor, live in Johns Creek, Georgia.
Steve has designed sets for everything from church auditoriums to black box to large scale proscenium stages. He is a theatre lighting and audio expert, designing lights and sound for over 40 productions. Steve has also consulted on theatre construction projects. He has toured the country with drama and music groups and directed high school and college drama teams. Steve has acted and directed in community, church, school, college and graduate school theatres. He was a commissioned writer for Art Within in 2003 and is a graduate of the MTI Broadway Classroom in New York and a member of the Thespians Society and SETC.
“I believe in the vision of CITA to equip Christians with practical tools in the dramatic arts and to create networks for artists across our region and the country. The south region is overflowing with talented artist, working in their local communities to glorify God in the dramatic arts. We need to foster a greater awareness of each other’s work and a chance to learn and grow from each other’s expertise.”

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Marlene Dickinson, Moving People, Atlanta, GA Email: mmdickinson@aol.com

Marlene Dickinson is a dancer and choreographer who has worked at the intersection of Christianity, dance, and theater, for over 25 years. As an independent choreographer, Marlene has developed several original theater dance pieces to support the talks of Christian author and speaker Dr. Lori Salierno, Founder of Celebrate Life International (www.celebratelife.org). Marlene has choreographed or performed in more than 25 musicals and revues for theaters, colleges, schools and churches. Favorite shows include “Hello, Dolly!” “The Music Man” and “Joseph…” As an actress, she has worked at Indianapolis’ Indiana Repertory Theater and Beef and Boards Dinner Theater, among others, and on numerous cruise ships throughout the Caribbean. Marlene has worked on several extensive tours to the far East, Europe and Hawaii with Operation Appreciation, a theatrical outreach to the U.S. military. She also served for ten years as Director of Theater Arts at Church at the Crossing in Indianapolis where she directed productions and choreographed new works, most often drawing on dance as a form of storytelling. Marlene was a full scholarship recipient and summa cum laude graduate of the Northern Kentucky University Theater performance program. She has been active in CITA for 15 years, having served on the Board, presented regularly, and helped to coordinate the participation of several professional dance companies at our conferences. Marlene lives in the Atlanta area with her husband, Curtis, and their children, Lily and Tommy.

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Debra Freeberg, Calvin College, 12238 College Ave SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49507 Email: dfreeberg1@comcast.net

Debra Freeberg (Ph.D. Pittsburgh) is Professor of Theatre and Communication Arts and Sciences at Calvin College. Debra is a former member of the Governing Board of the Association of Theatre in Higher Education and a member of the Dramatists Guild. She has lectured and conducted workshops on communication, leadership and theatre across the U.S. and Sweden. Freeberg has directed over 30 plays and musicals; favorite productions of the past include: The Ghost Sonata, My Dearest Sister, She Stoops to Conquer, A Dream Play, Elijah, 1940s Radio Hour, Joan of Lorraine, Peer Gynt, Tiger at the Gates. Her plays for children Good Boogie, And the Book Ran Away with the Spoon and My Dearest Sister were produced by Calvin Theatre Company. Her liturgical dramas have been produced in the US and Canada. Her research areas include Scandinavian theatre-particularly Olof Molander’s productions of August Strindberg-children’s theatre, playwriting and directing. She is currently working on a new book tentatively titled “This Mission is Possible: Mature Theatre and the Christian Academy.”

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Laura Holland, Oral Roberts University, 7777 S. Lewis Tulsa, OK 74171 Work Phone: 918-495-6870, E-mail: lholland@oru.edu

Laura Holland is the current Chair of Communication Arts at Oral Roberts University. She has been a CITA member for 15 years and has served as the Southwest Regional Representative and in 2000 was Chair of the CITA Board of Directors. She has been a Professor of Theatre for 32 years and has directed 55 plays and designed the sets and/or costumes for 95. “I am deeply grateful to CITA for being my ‘tribe’. The fellowship is so rich when we share a love for our Lord and a love for theatre. Each conference gives me an opportunity to see what God is doing in the lives of precious people all over the country. It’s an experience that I look forward to every year.”
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Michelle Hoppe-Long, Charlotte Christian, 7301 Sardis Road, Charlotte, NC 282870 Email: michelle.long@charchrist.com

An accomplished writer, director and actress Michelle has worked in film, television and theatre for the past eighteen years garnering over fifty awards for her outstanding original work, creative design, and acting & directing talent. From her children’s television work as writer and co-creator of the The Knock Knock Show (Fox Family/TBN), direction of the live event launch of The Book at New York City’s Grand Central Terminal (CBN), and screenwriter for Robert Whitlow’s award winning novel to movie The List, Michelle has used her vast experience at both the professional and educational level, investing in the future of the arts as a board member of the North Carolina Educational Theatre Association, member of the North Carolina Theatre Conference, and recent nominee for the Disney Hand Teacher Award. She has received scriptwriting awards for her original productions of Ladies First and By Grace, and has been recognized by the state of North Carolina with excellence in directing awards for the past 7 years in a row. Michelle has been nominated for best actress and theatre person of the year in Portfolio Magazine, and has been seen in multiple award winning short films. In addition Michelle’s productions have been recognized nation-wide at The Michigan Youth Arts Festival and on the Epcot stage at Disney World. She has worked with playwrights Wendy Kesselman and Maria Irene Fornes during graduate work at The University of Iowa, received her MA in acting and directing in 1997 (Outstanding Graduate in Theatre Arts Award), and her MFA in script and screenwriting from Regent University in 2002. In addition to her latest screenplay projects with Eye Opening Entertainment, (The Living Room, Keychain Wisdom, The Lesson), Michelle serves as Director of Fine Arts at a private college preparatory Christian school in Charlotte, NC.

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Tom Long, Friends of the Groom, PO Box 5, Terrace Park, OH 45174 Email: fogfuse@.net

Tom Long is the director, playwright, and chief storyteller for Friends of the Groom Christian Theater Company based in Cincinnati, Ohio. He has been a performer for Public Educational Television, and has served as a consultant in youth work and theater for the Episcopal Diocese of Southern Ohio, the Cincinnati Library, and a number of schools and social agencies throughout Ohio. Tom has an M.A. in theatre from the University of Cincinnati. His religious plays and musicals have been published by Baker’s Plays, Chorister’s Guild, Hal Leonard Publishing, Hope Publishing, and the National Christian Education Council of Great Britain. His work has won the Christians in Theatre Arts sketch writing and one-act play writing competitions, two Telly Awards, and a Dove Award nomination.

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Heidi Petak, Nashville, TN. Email: heidi@heidipetak.com

Dr. Heidi Petak is a scriptwriter and voice over artist who has been involved in theatre for the past 25 years.  She holds a B.S. in Broadcasting from John Brown University, an M.A. in Communication from the University of Arkansas and a Ph.D. in Communication specializing in Theatre Arts Studies from Regent University.  Heidi was the Creative Arts Director for Fellowship Bible Church in Rogers, Arkansas, before moving to the Nashville area in 2001.  Since then, she has written the scripts for numerous sketches and musicals for Lifeway, Brentwood Benson and Lillenas, as well as casting, directing, and providing character voices for script recordings.  A former radio D.J., Heidi also regularly voices commercials, phone systems, videos, and even an occasional airport shuttle bus.  Her passion for theatre as a vector for God’s healing and redemptive work has been electrified by teaching opportunities in Austria, Japan, Hungary,  Peru, and Sudan.  She is married to Brian, the Pastor of Global Outreach at Fellowship Bible Church in Brentwood, and together they have four- count them- four boys ages 7 and under.

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Kim Messer, Nashville, TN. Email: kimmesser@mac.com

Kim Messer is a writer, editor and creative product developer. Through publishing, she has the chance to encourage and teach writers and drama teams. She has written and compiled several books and regularly helps develop and write church musicals. She has a passion for excellence in drama ministry, and recently has begun to develop visual resources for the church. She worked as Product Line Manager for Lillenas Publishing Company for nine years before becoming a free-lance consultant and writer. Prior to that, she spent time on stage and backstage, and worked with Nashville Children’s Theatre and Theatre for Young America, in Kansas City, MO.
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Reg Parks, Vancouver, BC.  Email: regparks@seeds.org

Reg Parks is the founding Artistic Director of Good Soil Theatre Company which is a division of Seeds International, a Canadian based missions organization. Like many artists Reg has worn a number of hats in the world of theatre:  producer, director, playwright, actor and so on.  His play “Little One” has been seen across Canada and the US in over 400 churches and communities.  This multi-media piece with significant video elements custom shot in Zambia is a unique melding of film and theatre into a production piece with a true “being there” feel.  This style of theatre is the trade mark of Good Soil Theatre which has toured 4 such shows over the last 5 years.

15 years ago Reg started his own production company, creatively called Reg Parks Productions.  Working in both live and video arenas Reg has shot video in over 25 countries and been hired to write, produce, direct and/or perform in many large church productions in the Vancouver area.  It is through this company that he continues to teach and build the Theatre Arts program part-time at Maple Ridge Christian School.

Reg loves a good story, and still loves to get lost in a theatre experience as a performer or a viewer.

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Rich Swingle, New York City. Email: rich@richdrama.com

Rich Swingle has performed in hundreds of venues in 19 nations, mostly with eight one-man plays he has written: A Clear Leading, Big Fish Little Worm, The Revelation, The Acts, Alien Immigration Training, Views of the Manger, Five Bells for 9/11, and Beyond the Chariots, which he’s performed Off-Broadway, at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (the largest arts festival in the world), in LA, Toronto, Hong Kong, Shangai, and Beijing during the 2008 Olympics. Rich has acted in a number of New York City productions, film, radio, and CD-ROM. He provided the voice of Peter Cooper, the subject of a documentary by award winning Gardner Documentary Group. For the Beginners Bible video series, distributed by Sony Wonder, he did 20 roles including Jesus, Adam, and the Serpent. He recorded two projects related to the September 11th attacks: Crossing Barriers and Stage Shadows. He has performed voice-overs and on-screen roles in several commercials. He originated the roles of Simonides and Pontius Pilate in the musical Judah Ben-Hur in Singapore, and he performed five poems by George Herbert at The Kennedy Center. He worked with John Kirby (acting coach on The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, DéJà Vu, Count of Monte Cristo) to co-direct Tartuffe and Our Town, during which he performed the role of the Stage Manager, as a part of The MasterWorks Festival, where Rich directs the theatre program. Rich’s shorter works have shared the stage with numerous musicians including Margaret Becker, Bob Carlisle, The Martins and Fernando Ortega. Rich is on the board of Christians in Theatre Arts and on the planning committee for Media and Arts at the Lausanne Congress on World Evangelization to be held in Cape Town, South Africa in October 2010.

Rich is a Freedom Finder for Graceworks, helping presenters in a variety of fields overcome stage fright and connect with their audiences through seminars and project coaching.

Rich was a writer for the documentary Olympic Hero in China: The Eric Liddell Story, for which he recorded the English narration.

He has performed and/or taught workshops in over 20 colleges or universities, including George Fox University (rated the number one Christian college in the US by Forbes and US News and World Report), University of Memphis and Princeton University.

For updates go to RichDrama.com/Updates.