KC Fringe Festival Board of Directors

Wolfgang Bucher serves the KC Fringe as acting Board President. He is an artist and educator in Kansas City. He works to create art programming for at-risk and marginalized youth in the Kansas City area during high-risk times. Wolfgang worked with Chameleon Arts and Youth Development for seven years and served for three years as its Program Director. Recently, Wolfgang co-founded Mosaic Brain, an arts organization that collaborates and inspires young people through art and cultural programs in his own neighborhood located in the Historic Northeast of Kansas City.

Bill Clause works as Development Director at KKFI 90.1FM Kansas City Community Radio. His work in theater has been as a playwright, actor and producer. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for CrossCurrents Culture and served for five years as a Board Member of the Just Off Broadway Theatre Association.

Dorothy Elliott is the Deputy Executive Director for Branch and Outreach Services at the Kansas City Public Library, where she has also served as Deputy Executive Director for Central Library Services. Prior to coming to Kansas City, she was the director of the River Bluffs Regional Library, a cooperative service of the St. Joseph Public Library and of the Rolling Hills Consolidated Library, serving Andrew and Buchanan Counties in Northwest Missouri. She holds a B.A. in Art History from Wellesley College and an M.A. in Library Science from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Skip Gordon has been with the Kansas City Fringe Festival since it began in 2005. He went to Johnson County Community College for three years and work in the theater department all three years. In the spring of 2008, he will be returning back to school to finish his degree in theater education. In the fall he will start working at Blue Valley West High School as the Assistant Director of Plays, mainly doing the tech work. He has also worked for Desoto High, Camp Center Stage, Blue Valley Youth Players, Bell Road Barn Players, and The Barn Players where he got his start in local theater. He currently works for UPS as a sorter and Volleyball Beach in Martin City so that he can pay the bills and still do the things he loves. In his free time, he is an active member of the Ararat Shrine. One last thing, he would like to say, remember to always support the local arts.

Cheryl Kimmi is the KC Fringe Festival Coordinator. The mother of three sons and long-time Boy Scout Leader, Cheryl left 10+ years of sales and event planning in corporate America at the urging of her husband and sons who were involved with community theatre. She is now "Hooked on Arts!" Cheryl is a graduate of Emporia State university with a Bachelor's degree in Business and a Minor in Music. Her arts experiences to date include: Deputy Director of the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival; Director - Arts Alive (an audience development program); PR/Fundraising for Just Off Broadway Theatre Association and Facility Coordinator for the Barn players community theatre. In addition to the KC Fringe Festival, Cheryl assists with PR for Chameleon – Arts and Youth Development.

Mechele Leon teaches theatre at the University of Kansas and has published articles and reviews on French theatre. A native of New York City, she lived in Paris from 1996-2001, where she taught at the American University of Paris and the University of Paris. She holds Ph.D. in theatre arts from Cornell University and a graduate degree in theatre from the University of Paris. She is a recipient of a faculty fellowship from the National Endowment for the Humanities and a Bourse Chateaubriand from the French Government, as well as grants from the Hall Center for the Humanities at KU, the French Institute in Washington D.C., and the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies. Mechele lives in the historic Westheight district of Kansas City, KS.

Colin Naughtin has been working in the field of entertainment production as a technical director, designer, and event manager for over twenty-five years. He started his career as a volunteer at the Omaha Community Playhouse at the age of 13. Colin attended the University of Nebraska at Omaha before going on to work for the Alliance Theatre Company in Atlanta and the Birmingham Children's Theatre. He toured for several years with theatrical and musical groups including Bob Dylan, Hello Dolly, Brooks and Dunn, and Guys and Dolls. He has also worked for the 1996 Olympic Games, Coca-Cola, Disney, and the Kennedy Center, among others. In 1999, Colin moved to Kansas City as an exhibit project manager for Science City at Union Station. While working on that project he met his wife, Shelly, and has remained in the area. Since making Kansas City his home, Colin has become involved in the local visual arts scene, museum exhibit work, and video/film production.

A playwright, lyricist, children's author, television writer, and theatre producer, Eileen Bluestone Sherman wrote her first musical for young audiences in 1982. Since then, her work has been enjoyed by audiences around the country and readers around the world. Her novels for young adults include Monday in Odessa, Independence Avenue, and The Violin Players. Perhaps, her most popular story is The Odd Potato, originally a picture book adapted for stage, television, and CD. Her work received many honors, including two Emmy Awards, The National Jewish Book Award, and The International Reading Association's Teachers' Choice Award. In Kansas City alone, The Coterie, Theatre for Young America, Young Audiences of Kansas City, The Barn Players, and The Quality Hill Playhouse produced her work. In October 2007, a professional ensemble, sponsored by Park University will tour her drama, Deep Dark Secrets to area schools. Ms. Sherman is no stranger to the classroom. For many years, she served as Theatre Director at Academy Montessori International, and continues to teach theatre and dramatic literature as an adjunct faculty member at Baker University. In 2002, Eileen, along with her husband Neal, and their children, Jenny and Joshua, formed a family company, 6-10 Productions. To date 6-10 Productions produced Broadway Sings The Odd Potato, starring Frank Gorshin and Charlotte Rae and The Odd Potato: The Broadway Album, a CD starring 20 Tony Award Winners, narrated by Judd Hirsch. The stars donated their time and talent to benefit Variety, The Children's Charity of Kansas City. Currently, the Company has plans for a new production of Rockwell, a musical about the legendary artist, Norman Rockwell.

Committe Members

Bob Deck is a graphic designer and illustrator who has worked with KC Fringe Festival for the past three years doing graphics and website design. He has worked with other area theatre groups including The Coterie Theatre, The Unicorn Theatre and the late Late Night Theatre. Bob recently completed a master’s degree in Integrated Marketing Communications from the University of Kansas.