Board

After a career in television for thirty years in Los Angeles, he returned to his alma mater (Florida State University) to teach at the College of Motion Picture Arts for seven years. He also served on the Board of Directors at The Academy of Magical Arts (The Magic Castle) in Hollywood for two terms.

Laura Glenn earned a bachelor's degree in history from the University of Florida spending her summer abroad in England studying the Tudor period. She works as Director of Special Events and Staff Liaison to the Women for FSU at the FSU Foundation.

Laura was involved with Thomasville On Stage and Company when she resided in Thomasville at the turn of the century, serving in leadership roles as vice president of membership, president of the board of directors, and co-chair of a capital campaign raising $100,000 to rebuild the storefront facade. She also produced three plays and acted in three others. After moving here, Laura most enjoyed acting in Tallahassee In Its Own Words, a play commissioned by the Tallahassee Democrat, presented at then Tallahassee Little Theatre. She played multiple roles culled from the pages of editorials covering the newspaper's one-hundred-year history.

She has served as a Big Bend High School Brain Bowl moderator, volunteered with Big Bend Cares' Artopia event, and served as secretary on the board of the LGBT Business Partners, a networking group. Laura and her partner Stephanie Schwartz have resided in northeast Tallahassee for the past 20 years with their four-legged children.

Bert A. Mitchell is a writer, actor, and director in Tallahassee, Florida. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Communications from the University of Iowa and works as a Training Manager for the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. He recently directed and co-wrote A Town Divided for The Southern Shakespeare Company.

Bert has played various characters from his own writings as well as Marc in Yasmina Riza's ART, Boy Willie in August Wilson's The Piano Lesson, and many FSU films over the years. He has taken acting classes with Marlene DuBois, John D'Aquino (Disney's Cory in the House), and screenwriting classes with Claudia Hunter Johnson (Crafting Short Screenplays that Connect). One of his highlights was a weekend improv workshop with Oscar winning actor, Alan Arkin (The Komminsky Method, Little Miss Sunshine) many years ago.

Bert has instructed personal growth workshops in Florida and Israel over the years. He is currently co-hosting a podcast about the process of creating art and enjoys the entire creative process.

Curt Blair most recently served as administrative director of the Franklin County Tourist Development Council, a post he held from 2007 to 2018. He has served on a number of Boards and Committees including: Tallahassee Hispanic Theater, Southern Shakespeare Company, the Visit Florida Industry Relations Committee, Tallahassee Council on Culture and Arts (COCA), Weems Memorial Hospital, Three Servicemen Statute South, Florida Special Olympics and the Florida Association of Counties Social Services Committee. He is a graduate of Florida International University.

He is a former Monroe County Commissioner during which time he sponsored both the Monroe County Tourist Development Council and Monroe County Fine Arts Council. His professional career includes hotel and restaurant construction and management; governmental consulting with specialties in health care and local government and highlighted with assisting in shepherding the creation and funding of the Florida Communities Trust program to passage. Over the years he has managed a number of community non-profit organizations including the Monroe County Association for Retarded Citizens, Monroe County United Way, Health Planning Council of Monroe County and the South Florida Emergency Management Services Coordinating Council.

Curt and his wife Beth enthusiastically support a variety of art related activities and organizations in the community. He is a founding patron of the “Great American Plein Air Paint Out” an annual event in Franklin and Gulf Counties. Both he and Beth have performed in a number of theatrical productions over the years and are major supporters of Southern Shakespeare. Their joint passions are family, art collection, travel, theater, and the Boston Red Sox.

Coman is a CPA here in Tallahassee, Florida, having received his degree from the University of Florida, School of Accounting. He was on the original Board and served as Treasurer of the Southern Shakespeare Festival back in 1996 and cofounded its rebirth in 2014.

Originally from Miami Beach, Florida, he helped found the Miami Design Preservation League in 1981, to preserve the Miami Beach Art Deco Historical District and educate the general public and commercial developers about preservation. He served as Executive Director from 1991-1995. He continues to assist them during their annual Art Deco Weekend Festival every January.

He was instrumental in organizing the Wolfsonian Museum in Miami Beach (1987) and the development of the Wolfsoniana, in Genoa, Italy which opened its doors in 2005.

Locally, he has served as Vice President and Treasurer of the Boy Scouts of America. He was in Class 25 of Leadership Tallahassee. Professionally, Coman was Chairman of the FICPA Financial Literacy Committee and Chairman of the FSU Accounting Conference.

He lives here with his wife Lita and Pluto.

I serve as a Vice President and Market Manager for Synovus in Tallahassee. As a Market Manager, I bring a wealth of experience in financial services, with a proven track-record of driving sales growth and leading high-performing teams. My strategic vision, coupled with a focus on customer satisfaction and operational excellence, enables me to navigate the dynamic landscape of the banking industry.

I was born in South Florida, grew up in East Central Florida, and my more than three decades in the financial services industry has taken me to most major cities in Florida as well as, major cities throughout Georgia. I am currently moving from Columbus to Tallahassee and cannot wait to be here full-time and dive into all this city has to offer.

My love for all things theatre began when I was in my early twenties and visited NYC for the first time to see Broadway musicals and from there, I was truly hooked! My last name IS Broadway, so it seems I was destined to love the performing arts! In fact, I had mentioned to my inner circle, and family that this time I was going to be very intentional in joining a board. It had to be something in the arts that made an impact in the Tallahassee community. In my second week working in Tallahassee, I was introduced to Laura Johnson which I feel is nothing short of destiny. Her passion for the arts, SCC, and this amazing community, had me wanting to be part of SCC and help support its mission and goals. I love the educational programs as well as the fun and exciting way in which SSC brings Shakespeare to life to such a diverse audience.

I believe my career in the financial services industry, experience in fundraising/donor relations, and proven commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives would position me to further the mission of SCC.

The following are the more recent, formal boards in which I served:

Pinellas County Sheriff's Office / Ride & Run with the Stars 2009 – 2017

Clearwater Bar Foundation 2010 – 2019

Random Acts of Flowers 2013 – 2019

Habitat for Humanity / Hammers & Heels 2016 – 2019

I would be more than honored to be part of SSC and look forward to meeting the remarkable and diverse board.

Scott Carswell was born and raised in Tallahassee and is a graduate of Florida State University.

He designed, funded, and had operated The Moon since 1984 when he arranged to purchase a closed A&P Grocery store located at 1105 East Lafayette St. and began development. Scott and his wife Julie have both managed operations as general managers and co-owners since they wed in 1988.

Scott Carswell Presents, like The Moon, is a family company that includes Scott and Julie's two sons, Scott Jr. and Jack. It has been the exclusive presenter of all ticketed events at the Capital City Amphitheater at Cascades Park since 2014. Shows have included Boz Scaggs, The Tallahassee Symphony, Alabama Shakes, The Beach Boys, The Tedeschi Trucks Band, The Avett Brothers, Word of South Headliners, and many more.

The Carswells live in Tallahassee with their two dogs, Blue and Luna. The family enjoys trips to North Carolina, boating on the St. Marks River and the Gulf, and attending FSU football, basketball, and baseball games.

Laura W. Johnson is a professional stage and film actor, director, producer, and fierce supporter of the arts. Laura has passionately supported the Southern Shakespeare Company since its birth in 2014.

She has previously served on the Board of Directors for the Irish Repertory Theater and served on the Artistic Advisory Committee of Theatre Tallahassee.

In her stage career, spanning over two decades, she has performed with numerous regional and local theater companies including Theatre Tallahassee (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Much Ado About Nothing, Five Women Wearing the Same Dress, Bug, Lend Me a Tenor, and Black Coffee), Monticello Opera House, Southern Shakespeare Company (Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As You Like It, Much Ado About Nothing), Thomasville Entertainment Foundation (A Midsummer Night's Dream), and the New American Shakespearean Tavern (The Changeling, Doctor Faustus). One of the most profound experiences of her career was performing on the Ruby Diamond Concert Hall stage as part of the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra’s Requiem of Resistance, sharing the story of Verdi’s Requiem at Terezin concentration camp through narration.

Laura is highly visible in both television and commercial programming, including her work as the on-air host for the Multistate POWERBALL draw.

Randi Atwood started her career as a professional stage manager and theater director in the U.S. and Europe. She toured until she could no longer do without the finer things in life, like an apartment and health insurance.

With an MFA in theater management, she was the associate director of the Council on Culture & Arts in Tallahassee for 13 years, overseeing grant programs, providing support for local arts organizations and artists, and editing the now-defunct Capital Culture magazine.

She joined the Tallahassee Democrat as entertainment editor in 2012, and was later its features editor, then its engagement/opinion editor. In 2022, she became the director of planning for USA TODAY NETWORK- Florida, where she oversees planning for 11 Florida news sites plus the capital bureau. (Think of it as stage managing the newspapers.)

She teaches writing and theater classes for organizations like OLLI and the Village Square, and consults with individuals and non-profit boards on strategic planning, media relations and fundraising.

Janet Chernoff graduated with a degree in advertising and marketing from the University of Florida in 1980. Janet’s love of Shakespeare started in high school and continued during college. She and her husband, Louis have been avid supporters of the Southern Shakespeare Company both at Kleman Plaza and Cascades Park.

Janet spent thirty-five years as an employee of the State of Florida. For over twenty-five of those years, she was Sales Director at Wakulla Springs Lodge planning weddings, banquets, conferences and family reunions. In 2011 she joined the team at the Division of Blind Services as an Administrative Services Consultant. She helped visually challenged vendors run their own vending and food service businesses and organized quarterly meetings and the Biennial Seminar.

In 2022 Janet retired from the state and fully retired in 2023. Janet and her husband have spent the past couple of years traveling and working on home improvement projects. Janet looks forward to using her experience to support the mission of the Southern Shakespeare Company.

A decades-long fan of the Southern Shakespeare Company’s productions in Tallahassee (going back to those in Kleman Plaza!), Tahirih Lee is excited to support its work as a member of its Board of Directors. Her current service to other educational non-profits includes as Secretary to the Delta Kappa Omega Foundation Advisory Council, a member of the Yale Club of Tallahassee, and a volunteer for Stanford University’s Office of Admission. For the past three decades she has held various positions on administrative committees of the American Society for Legal History, the University of Minnesota, and Florida State University. She was a member of the Board of Directors of the Irish Repertory Theater of Tallahassee from 2020 through 2024, serving as the Board’s Chair and Secretary and as IRT’s President. During that time she produced seven events for IRT, including Brian Friel’s “The Freedom of the City” at FSU’s Augusta Conradi Studio Theater and a Bloomsday Festival at Goodwood Museum and Gardens. She wrote and directed “The Irish Laundresses” and “Landlocked” for performances at Goodwood in 2023 and 2024. She directed the world premiere of “Bound for Tampico” for the 2022 Tallahassee Hispanic Theatre’s Microtheater Festival. She has performed in nearly twenty theatrical productions, including as Miss Prism in IRT’s “The Importance of Being Earnest,” as Nell in IRT’s “Endgame,” as Cait in IRT’s “Bloomsday,” and as Princess Natalya Dragomiroff in Theatre Tallahassee’s “Murder on the Orient Express.”

Paula DeBoles-Johnson is a devoted public servant and respected community leader with more than three decades of service in Florida’s capital. She currently serves in dual leadership roles: Human Resources Manager for Leon County Government and Executive Director/Founder of the Capital City Youth Development Corporation (CCYDC), which she launched in 2004 to empower youth through leadership, confidence-building, service, and personal responsibility.

In addition to her public-sector work, Paula is a nationally recognized trainer, keynote speaker, and author. She delivers high-impact workshops and presentations for organizations across the country, specializing in leadership development, diversity and inclusion, conflict resolution, organizational culture, and professional growth. Known for her engaging and practical approach, she equips audiences with actionable tools for effective leadership and collaboration.

Her insight and community service have been featured across numerous platforms earning her national recognition for her dedication to strengthening communities. Paula also volunteers her time and talents to numerous civic initiatives and nonprofit organizations, including her family’s nonprofit, the DeBoles Johnson Foundation, which continues their shared legacy of service and education.

Paula is married to her college sweetheart, and together they are the proud parents of two phenomenal adult daughters. A lifelong lover of the arts, she discovered her passion for performance at the age of five and continues to enjoy music and theater—interests shared by her entire family.

Susan L. Stephens is a Shareholder in the Tallahassee office of Stearns Weaver Miller, P.A. She has thirty years of experience practicing environmental & natural resource and administrative law, including rule-making practice and procedure, and administrative litigation. Her practice focuses on balancing property and resource use with competing private, governmental, and citizen interests. Susan is Board Certified by The Florida Bar in State & Federal Government Administrative Practice, the Florida Bar’s highest level of recognition of competence and experience in this practice area.

Susan has been a theatre aficionado since her youth and acted in plays and musicals in high school and college. She is also a long-standing puppeteer, performing in puppet ministries in high school and college and directing two puppet troupes, one in Ohio and one in Tallahassee. Susan has been a proud supporter of local community theatre for many years, including serving on the Board of Directors of Theatre Tallahassee (formerly Tallahassee Little Theater) as Vice President (2014-2015) and President (2015-2017). Currently, Susan also serves the community as an executive board member of the Suwannee River Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America and as a classroom volunteer for Bond Elementary School.

She is also actively involved as a member of the Executive Council of the American Bar Association’s Section on Environment, Energy, & Resources. She is still married to the boy she met as a camp counselor in Ohio, and they have two grown sons, one daughter-in-law, a cat that thinks it is a child, a grand-cat, and two grand-pups.