Festival Staff
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Charles Fee
Producing Artistic Director; Director of The Two Gentlemen of Verona
2012 marks Charlie's third season as Producing Artistic Director of Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival. This season he directs William Shakespeare's "The Two Gentlemen of Verona" following last season's acclaimed "Twelfth Night". Charlie holds a unique position in the American theater as Producing Artistic Director of three, independently operated, professional theater companies - including The Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival, Idaho Shakespeare Festival in Boise, Idaho (since 1991), and Great Lakes Theater Festival in Cleveland, Ohio (since 2002). His leadership has created a dynamic and groundbreaking producing model for the American theater in which plays are shared between the three companies, extending the artistic lives of productions, increasing opportunities for artists to work in multiple venues over longer periods of employment, and resulting in lower production costs for each of the companies. In addition to his work with the festivals in Nevada, Idaho, and Ohio, Charlie is active within his hometown community, having served on the board of the Boise Metro Chamber of Commerce, as a member of the Boise Downtown Rotary Club and as a special lecturer at Boise State University. He received his BA from the University of the Pacific, and Master of Fine Arts from the University of California, San Diego. Charlie shares his peripatetic life with an incredibly supportive family; his wife Lidia and 16 year old daughter, Alexa.
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Bob Taylor
Executive Director
Bob Taylor brings countless experience on both the financial side of running a Festival as well as with fundraising and strategic planning. He has been working with the Great Lakes Theater Festival since 2000, when he joined as Development Manager. He was appointed Director of Administration the following season and Executive Director in 2003. Prior to joining Great Lakes Theater Festival, Taylor worked as Business Manager for Karamu House and other for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. He holds an MBA from the Weatherhead School of Management and an undergraduate degree from Aquinas College in Grand Rapids, Michigan. "I am thrilled to join the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival team as Executive Director," said Taylor. "I look forward to building a relationship with the community and continuing to establish and grow the synergies of the partnership our Producing Artistic Director Charlie Fee has spearheaded between Lake Tahoe, the Idaho Shakespeare Festival and the Great Lakes Theater Festival. Charlie and I have been working together for nine years in Cleveland and I've seen firsthand the success of his innovative approach."
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Joe Atack
Director of Education
Joe is very proud to be the first Educational Director of the festival. He trained as an actor at the Arden School of Theatre, University of Manchester in the UK. Upon graduating from theatre school Joe performed many roles in regional theatre and on film in the UK before moving tothe U.S. in 2007. He has taught workshops on acting, improvisation and Shakespeare in the UK and Switzerland . He helped to create the InterACTprogram for Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival in 2007 and has worked as an Educational instructor, director of educational productions and as an actor for the mainstage.
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Billie Danforth
Director of Operations
Billie joined the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival in the spring of 2002. A graduate of Daemen College near Buffalo, N.Y. in Transportation & Travel Management, Billie has worked in the hospitality industry ranging from the ski and hotel industry to restaurant management and wholesale travel. As Director of Operations for the Festival, she is directly involved in all of the day to day details that bring the Festival to life from the ground up each season. Since moving to Lake Tahoe in 1998, Billie has lived on the North Shore and enjoys all the beauty that the area has to offer, including hiking, boating, skiing and spending quality time with her family and friends.
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Lee Ann Allison
Box Office Manager
After discovering the stage at age 12, Lee grew up a
frustrated artist. A New England native
and a graduate of San Francisco State University, Lee spent many years in the
corporate arena on both coasts. Deciding
enough was enough, and after a brief stint as a Personal Trainer, she joined
the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival in the summer of 2009 where her passion for
the theater was reawakened. Lee is excited
to bring her extensive business management and administrative talents to the
Festival, finally fulfilling her childhood dream of joining a theater company!
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Gary LokenDahle
Senior Accountant
A graduate from the University of Iowa with a degree in Financial Economics, Gary relocated to the Lake Tahoe area from Eugene, Oregon, where he worked as the Controller and Accountant for a variety of small businesses ranging from helicopter operations, to manufacturing and construction. He was also active in the Eugene community as the Treasurer for the Eugene Celebration Parade. Gary has a rather diverse background; he was a swimmer and a diver as well as physical education teacher and coach and participated in shaping the careers of swimmers, divers, water polo players and trampolinists. He also rides a unicycle -a byproduct of his time in Circus School.
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Laura J. Buckner
Volunteer Coordinator
Laura began volunteering with the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival in 2009 and is excited to join the staff as Volunteer Coordinator. A graduate of the State University of New York
at Geneseo with a BA in English Literature, Laura has studied many of the
Bard's plays extensively and now enjoys watching them performed at Sand Harbor
without impending essay deadlines. She
loves working with all of the Festival's wonderful volunteers and hopes to make
their experience as fun and rewarding as possible. Laura enjoys living in the Tahoe area,
especially in the summer where you'll find her at the beach, on a hike, or out
in a kayak.
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Lee Koch
Director of Marketing and Community Relations
For
over 30 years, Lee Weber-Koch has created award-winning branding, marketing,
communication, public relations and advertising programs for non-profit
organizations and private companies throughout the West. She is a recipient of
the 'Marketer of the Year" award from
the Nevada Chapter of the American Marketing Association and holds a 'Silver
Dollar Award of Excellence' from the International Association of Business
Communicators. As an avid outdoor enthusiast, Lee loves to snow and water ski,
wakeboard, play golf and tend to her natural garden. Lee lives in Incline
Village, Nevada, with her husband Marty, and two Labrador Retrievers.
Throughout the year they also venture to their cabin on Flathead Lake in
Montana where kayaking and long hikes in the mountains are always at the top of
their "to do" list.
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