William Skaggs
CEO
William Skaggs is excited to have moved with his family to Sarasota in 2020 to join The Players. A two-time graduate of Western Kentucky University (WKU) with a BA in Music and an MBA, William embraces a broad view of the value of the arts to a community via entertainment, education, and economic impacts. Prior to The Players, Mr. Skaggs career has included work as Chief Development Officer for Southern Kentucky Performing Arts Center (SKyPAC), concurrent appointments as Director of Annual Giving and Director of Alumni Resources at WKU, and as a Financial Advisor.
Jeffery Kin
Artistic Director
Jeffery Kin is also an award winning actor, director, playwright, and teacher. As an actor, Mr. Kin has performed such roles as Max in LEND ME A TENOR, Jerry in THE FULL MONTY, Guido in NINE, Oscar in SWEET CHARITY, and Salieri in AMADEUS. He has directed award-winning shows such as BIG, A CHORUS LINE, CANDIDE, SPITFIRE GRILL, and A COUNTRY CHRISTMAS CAROL. As a Producer, Mr. Kin’s productions of: THE PRODUCERS, TITANIC and TOMMY have won a wide variety of theatre awards. As a Playwright, three of his plays: ANNA, LEONA & THE LADY LUCK, ALWAYS A PART OF ME and SMOKING have won numerous awards and have been produced in venues around the country. Mr. Kin holds a BFA in Performance from Otterbein University and is the founder of etc…The Eclectic Theatre company, that produces GOT A MINUTE?, a one-minute play festival that has raised over $100,000.00 for cancer research.
Patty Campbell
Director of HR
Patty Campbell has been a Sarasota resident for 47 years and is well acquainted and connected in the area. Campbell’s non-profit experience comes from her involvement with the Sailor Circus (Circus Arts Conservatory) for 26 years. She was director of Sailor Circus for seven years, giving her a unique perspective on the arts in our community. She has worked in The Players box office for five years. She has run Campbell’s Towing and Recovery with her husband for 21 years.
Jolie Schroeder
Director of Operations
Jolie Schroeder joined The Players during the summer of 1996. Ms. Schroeder is responsible for office operations and procedures for the box office as well as supervising all aspects of The Players Studio, including establishing curriculum, hiring instructors, coordinating community events, and overseeing performance groups. She is very proud of the accomplishments of The Players Kids, most recently a High Gold Award for their performance of Freak Flag from Shrek the Musical. A Sarasota resident since 1986, Ms Schroeder has 23 years of experience in the operations of performing arts businesses.
Amanda Heisey
Marketing Director
Amanda Heisey has been performing since she was a child. She has a Bachelors of Journalism from The University of Missouri and after working for various news outlets finally returned to her passion for the arts. Amanda was the Communications Manager for The Arts and Cultural Alliance of Sarasota County before coming to work at The Players, starting with the theatre as a volunteer actor. As Marketing Director for The Players Centre and acting teacher for The Players Studio, Amanda relishes supporting what she considers her home theatre. Favorite stage credits include: Green in SHOUT! The Mod Musical, Maggie in Cat On a Hot Tin Roof, Anna in Burn This, Linda in Blood Brothers, Magenta in The Rocky Horror Show, Olive in Bullets Over Broadway, Gillian in Bell, Book and Candle and Demeter in Cats.
Alyssa Goudy
Production Manager
Alyssa Goudy is a graduate of Anderson University, where she completed a Theatre Studies Degree with Honors. She has been working in professional theatre since the age of seventeen. She was the Production Stage Manager for the Golden Apple Dinner Theatre for six years before moving over to The Players Centre. She has also been involved onstage, in local productions of Hairspray, A Christmas Story, Violet, Avenue Q, and Disenchanted, to name a few. She is thrilled and grateful to be working and expanding her knowledge at The Players Centre.
Morgan Gerhart
Director of Advancement
Morgan Gerhart joined The Players Centre for Performing Arts, as their first development professional with the organization and leading their Center Stage Capital Campaign to build a new performing arts facility. She has 10 years in Nonprofit Fundraising and over 20 years as a volunteer in various non-profits in FL, CT, NJ and Scotland. Prior to finding her heart in fundraising, Gerhart spent 25+ years in Hospitality and Tourism working with companies such as Sheraton, Marriott, Ramada and local, independent resorts and restaurants. She is one of the first American graduates of the University of St. Andrews, Scotland and was accepted there because she was the first female bagpiper in an all male band in her hometown of Ramsey, NJ. Gerhart held prior positions with Girls Inc. of Sarasota County as Director of Advancement, Goodwill Manasota as Director of Development, and the Greater Sarasota Chamber of Commerce as Membership Services Director.
Brian Finnerty
Social Media/ Studio Instructor
Brian Finnerty is excited to be joining the staff at The Players Centre! Starting as a competition dancer who traveled America until the age of 16, Brian dived into his love of singing and acting, where he studied at Booker High School’s Visual and Performing Arts Program, then later went on to major in Musical Theatre at Point Park University’s Conservatory of Performing Arts. He has directed and choreographed multiple productions in the area such as; All Shook Up, Singin’ in the Rain, Funny Girl, Reefer Madness, Vaudeville’s Dead, SHOUT! A Mod Musical and more. Brian holds scholarships and awards rewarded by Dance Masters of America, Mia Michaels, Sonya Tayeh, and Anthony Morigeratoratto (Operation Tap Inc). Brian will be co-directing The Players Dance Company, The Players Follies, The Flash Tappers, and The Players Kids.
Logan Junkins
Studio Instructor
Logan Junkins is very excited to be working with The Players Centre. He has been in over 50 performances including a national tour with Sesame Street Live with the USO. Logan has done many shows in the area, such as Cats, Hair, and his own company of Big Red Nose Burlesque. He has recently appeared on the Players Stage in Footloose, Legally Blonde, and La Cage aux Folles. Logan is the Outreach Coordinator for The Players and teaches multiple dance classes for all ages at The Players Studio.
Georgina Wilmott
Costume Shop Manager
Georgina Willmott has been in the US since 1981 when she arrived with a suitcase, $300 and her sewing machine. Although educated as an English Literature teacher in Oxford, England she pursued a career in Human Resources Management for 18 years, before returning to her childhood passion of making costumes. She has been designing and sewing for theatre for the past 13 years and has worked at the Players since 2015. She has occasionally been known to tread the boards also in productions of the Island Players, the Island Chapel Players and was last seen as Ms.TV and Grandma Josephina in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. She joined the Players team as Costume Manager in September 2018, where she loves how costumes bring the actors’ characters alive!
Ken Junkins
Technical Director
Ken Junkins comes with a strong background of experience in community theater. He was co-founder and board member of Premiere Performing Arts and Artists theater company, and was president of Langhorne Players in Tyler Park and oversaw their scene shop. He was a founder and president of the Arts and Cultural Council of Bucks County. He has designed and built nearly 70 productions for theater locations from South Jersey to Philadelphia to Bucks (PA) and Mercer (NJ) counties, and most recently A Streetcar Named Desire on The Players stage. Ken graduated from Rider University with a BA in Fine Arts with an emphasis on design and technical theater.
Matt Neier
Associate Technical Director
Matt Neier is a graduate of Central Michigan University in Mt. Pleasant, MI with a BFA in Acting/Directing with a minor in Communication Studies. He moved to Sarasota in 2014 and has worked as a stage manager, electrician, carpenter and teacher since then. Matt has worked on over 100 productions since 2010 in many different capacities some recent credits include; Lighting Design: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Wiz (Manatee School for the Arts) and Zap! Bang! Pow! An Improvised Super Hero Adventure (Florida Studio Theatre) Stage Management: The CardShark w/Jason Michaels, Come Fly With Me: The Sammy Cahn Songbook, and Over the River and Through the Woods (ASM) (Florida Studio Theatre) Directing credits include: Pretenders, God of Carnage, The Fullness of Life, Spotlight and The Loveliest Afternoon of the Year.
Joshua Linderman
AV Engineer
Joshua Linderman grew up on the gulf coast. He was part of the first graduating class from MSA (Manatee School for the Arts) in 2005. Josh has worked in theatre since 1998 at many local venues such as the Riverfront Theatre, the Golden Apple dinner theatre, the Van Wezel and of course his home The Players Centre for
Performing Arts.
