The B. Iden Payne Awards Council Nomination Committee
The BIPAC Nomination Committee is composed of volunteers from across the Austin theatre community: producers, directors, actors, designers, writers, composers, technicians and enthusiastic audience members. Our goal is to bring a wide spectrum of viewpoints to the table to better reflect the diverse culture and tastes that comprise both Austin artists and patrons.
Each season, committee members adjudicate eligible productions in Austin and nominate outstanding elements in several categories that currently include Production, Direction, Design, Acting, and more . The nominations are then voted upon by BIPAC Viewing Members and results are announced at the annual B. Iden Payne Awards Ceremony.
If you are interested in serving on the BIPAC Nomination Committee, please visit the Join the Council page.
BIPAC Nomination Committee 2011-2012
Katie Blacksmith–Katie Blacksmith has been an active participant in the performing arts all her life as both an actor and a producer. She grew up in Los Angeles where she attended Hamilton Academy of Music, the LAUSD performing arts magnet high school, and then moved to New York to get her BFA in Drama and Producing from NYU/Tisch School of the Arts. In New York, she had the pleasure of working for several very cool theatre companies on and off stage including Les Freres Corbusier, Daryl Roth Productions, Transport Group, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey and Wet Rock Productions. In Austin, Katie is the newly appointed assistant creative director of PAIYH Dance Studios, where she teaches dance and acting for children and adults. She is represented by Topp Drawer Talent and recent national and regional commercial spots include Cost Cutters, HEB and Toyota Corolla. Katie has recently been seen on stage in The Servant of Two Masters (Penfold Theatre Company), The Wedding Singer (Georgetown Palace) and The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told (City Theatre).
Mark Briody–Mark approached theatre from the musical side in high school; appearing in shows at his school in Corpus Christi as well as all-city summer Gilbert and Sullivan operettas. By the time he was a senior, he was involved in with Encore at the Ritz during their second season. For “The Ritz”, he and his brother joined the cast three weeks before opening. Later, he stage-managed “Go Back for Murder”. Several years later, Mark was called upon to sing and dance in Harbor Playhouse’s “Applause”; this time he only had two weeks to learn. In 1984, he saw every show produced in his town. He started to curl his mustache starting in 1985, saying he’s always wanted to play the villain in a melodrama.
Debbie Lynn Carriger–Debbie Lynn Carriger, Membership Coordinator: has been acting, directing, coaching and producing professional theatre for 15+ years since completing her studies at Baylor University (BFA Directing) and at the American Conservatory Theater (MFA Acting). Debbie has directed shows at the Exit, the Eureka and the Magic Theatres in San Francisco for various SF Bay Area companies and enjoys coaching actors and teaching voice and speech. Debbie’s Austin directing credits include A Shining Attribute, a Best of the Week Frontera Fest winner, and Out of Ink with Scriptworks. She is the Producing Artistic Director of Circle Star Theatre and a proud board member of Scriptworks. Debbie daylights as a Health Information Technology Manager in corporate America.
Trey Deason–Trey Deason is a playwright and actor with a BFA in Theatre from Southwestern University. His full length plays include Cardigan and Human Sketches and his short plays have been performed by The Vestige Group and Scriptworks. As an actor he has appeared with Vortex Rep (Lear, The Secret Lives of the Inbetweeners), Different Stages (The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?, An Inspector Calls), and in Black Swan Event’s production of Hamlet, among many others.
Steven Fey—Steven has been a member of BIPAC for over a decade.
Kevin Gates–Kevin Gates is an actor and musician who has performed with several companies in the Greater Austin area. Favorite credits include Prospero in The Tempest, Richard in The Lion in Winter, and Feste in Twelfth Night.
Sarah Hammond–Sarah Hammond graduated from Baylor University with a B.A. in Theatre Arts. With big plans for a career as an actress, she moved to Austin to earn money and seek out scholarships, loans and grants to attend acting school in New York City. Fate had something else in mind when she became pregnant in 1995. Turns out she is a much better mother than she ever was an actress and now just enjoys the theatre from the audience! Currently employed by the City of Austin with Austin Animal Services she enjoys her job as Foster Coordinator where she has honed her creative writing skills, her marketing strategies and her over all enthusiam for a job well done and is very excited to bring her skills, ideas and perspective to the B Iden Payne Council!
Derek Jones–Derek is a longtime Austinite and graduate of the University of Texas, where he received his BBA with a double major in Marketing and General Business, and a minor in Psychology. He has been involved in theatre for more than 30 years, having produced, directed and acted in countless productions throughout Texas. In just the last five years, he has performed in more than a dozen shows at various Austin and surrounding theatres, including NxNW Theatre, City Theatre, Different Stages, Vestige Group, and the Palace Theatre in Georgetown, where he also serves on the Board. His greatest productions to date, however, are his two children, Katrina and Benjamin. He also serves on the Board of Theatre Action Project, an Austin-based non-profit dedicated to activating the creative, emotional, and leadership potential of area youth. In his spare time, he is a Financial Advisor for Morgan Stanley Smith Barney.
Kelsey Kling–Kelsey Kling is a returning veteran of the B. Iden Payne nominating committee having served from 2004-2006. She earned her first set of letters at Southern Methodist University (B.F.A. Performance, 2001). She spent the following five years working as an actor and training more intensively in Shakespeare performance at British American Dramatic Academy and Shakespeare & Company. Both the B. Iden Payne Committee and the Austin Critics’ Table have honored her with several awards and nominations for her work on Austin stages. In 2006, she returned to school and earned her M.A. in Theatre History & Criticism (2008) from Texas State University. During her graduate studies and since she has worked as a critic judge for U.I.L. One-Act competitions and generally tried to balance her life between theatre, work, and chasing her twin boys around. She currently earns her ducats at Texas Education Agency.
Jenny Lavery–Jenny Lavery performed regionally in over thirty plays/musicals by the end of high school. After, she relocated to New York to attend NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts studying Acting/Directing (with a minor in Applied Theatre for Community Development) at the following conservatories: Playwright’s Horizons, Experimental Theatre Wing, Classical Studio, and Stonestreet Film & TV. Jenny garnered numerous acolades while at Tisch including a Best Director nod. After college, Jenny stayed & worked in New York as a commercial actress, director, and lighting designer for four years. Immerced in the downtown theatre scene, Jenny became a Theatre Mitu Apprentice, Balinese Theatre Intern, and Academy Theatre Directing Fellow. After New York, Jenny attended the University of Massachusettes earning her Masters in Education with a specialization in Theatre, Elementary, and Special Education. She taught Theatre and Special Education in Boston for two years until relocating to Austin where she has taught Special Education and Theatre in Round Rock ISD for two years. Since moving to Austin, Jenny has acted and directed ten plays/musicals, working with the Vortex, Sustainable Theatre Project, City Theatre, Chaotic Theatre Company, Baron’s Men, and the Georgetown Palace Theatre. Jenny won a B. Iden Payne & an Applause Award for her work in A Little Night Music in 2010. Since, she has joined the B. Iden Payne Council. Jenny just created & executed a successful theatre camp in Round Rock & is looking forward to the coming year littered with directing/acting/camp opportunities.
Lana Marks–Originally from New York, Lana Marks as once again has found herself in Austin Texas. Lana has been working in theaters around the country for ten years and has been mainly a stage manager both academically and professionally for six years. After a brief and ill-advised stint in the visual arts conservatory at SUNY Purchase in New York, she relocated to Austin Texas for the first time and became the resident stage manager at Austin Community College. Lana then transferred to the University of the Arts in Philadelphia with a major in stage management. Currently she is back in Texas doing odd entertainment related gigs, production managing for Theatre En Bloc, and thrilled to call Austin her home.
Amy Minor–Amy L. Minor has been acting and teaching since she was 15 years old. She speaks fluent German and began working professionally as an actress at 16yrs old when she toured as Louisa in the Fantasticks for a professional touring company in Germany. She has also worked at renowned theaters in Kansas City (Coterie Theater, American Heartland Theater, Unicorn Theater) and Chicago (Lifeline Theater), and summer stock programs like Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, where she was theater teacher/director by day and actor by night. She has been on the B. Iden Payne Council since 2010 and currently serves as the co-chair for the Artistic Guideline Committee. Amy holds a B.F.A. in Theater Arts from Stephens College. She is a passionate educator and currently teaches with Penfold Theatre. In her free time, when she is not lecturing everyone about the importance of education, Amy can be seen reading, singing, occasionally acting, and playing with her two very young sons, Aiden and Liam. Her husband, Toby Minor, is also a professional actor and stage combat choreographer.
Anne Newsome–A native of Houston, TX, Anne has been involved in theatre in some form – whether acting, directing, writing or teaching – for most of her life. She received her B.A. in Drama from Washington University in St. Louis in 2002. Anne happily settled down in Austin in late 2010 and she currently works as a PR & Marketing Specialist in the book publishing industry.
Ken Sheperdson–Born & raised in Massachusetts. Learned to read at a very early age. Participate in theatre mostly as an audience member. Practiced law. Taught elementary and middle school. Appreciate humor, wit, and good words.
Andreá Smith–After graduating from Baylor University, and an informative stint in Chicago as a professional model with FORD, Andreá has been an actor, director, producer, choreographer and public relations/marketing contact in Austin theatre for the past decade, and is a seven time B. Iden Payne award nominee. Favorite credits include: Lear (Goneril), Little Shop of Horrors (Audrey), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Titania), Dancing at Lughnasa (Chris), Arcadia (Hannah), Fame (Mabel), Hamlet (Player Queen), Mister Z Loves Company (Naughty Maid), A Servant of Two Masters (Smeraldina), and as set designer and director for SYFT’s, Wiley and the Hairy Man, which garnered seven nominations, and for which she won the B. Iden Payne award for “Outstanding Director of a Play for Youth”. Andreá is also the producing artistic director of Blue Phoenix Productions, which believes in helping to shed light on the issues of social nonprofits through theatre. By day, Andreá works in human resources for a Silicon Valley based communications company, and as a freelance marketer for Austin-based nonprofits.
Will Hollis Snider—
k.t. Shorb–kt shorb is a director, performer, writer and founder of the Generic Ensemble Company. She has trained in Suzuki Actor Training and Viewpoints with the SITI Company and Zen Zen Zo. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Oberlin College Conservatory and a Master’s Degree from the University of Texas at Austin. She was a founding member of Stamp Lab, winner of the 2008 ArtSpark Festival and the 2009 FronteraFest Short Fringe “Best of Fest.” She recently premiered her solo show, Una Corda, directed by Yvan Greenberg of Laboratory Theater (Brooklyn). Acting credits include: “Count Thurzo” in Vampyress (Vortex Rep), “Flash Gorgeous” in The Majestic, “Nina” in T.A.G., “Claude/Ventriloquist” in HUSH, “Reverend” in Why Koreans Don’t Hug. Directing credits include: Stuck on Gee-Dot, and by a quiet sea. shorb has been invited to present her work at Oberlin College, University of Chicago, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and the University of Texas at Austin, Southwestern University, the Center for Women and Their Work and the COLLAGE Collaborative Festival (Philadelphia).
Lindsey Sikes–Lindsey is a recent graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in Drama. During her time at NYU her concentration shifted towards Creating Original Work and while, since gradution, her focus has been on Directing, Playwriting and Acting, what excites her most about the theatrical art form is devised and collaborative work. Since moving to Austin she has directed original works for Frontera Fest as well as collaborated with various independent theater companies, including Posion Apple Initiative, a young, alternative theater company of which she is the newest core member. Lindsey looks forward to seeing what the exciting artists of Austin have to bring to the ever-changing, fastly developing theater scene and is especially interested in works which challenge and push the boundaries of the art form in exciting, collaborative ways.
Charles P. Stites–Charles has lived in Austin since 1984 and is a graduate of the University of Texas. He has acted in local theatre productions with numerous companies since 1989. For three years, he was also a member of the Cheese Pistols improv troop at the Velveeta Room. Charles is an actor, director, producer, and playwright, as well as the founder of the Paladin Theatre Company. He has served on the BIPAC since 2005.
Zena Vaughn–Zena Vaughn spent the last four years working in Chicago’s thriving professional theatre scene, and is excited to be returning to Texas- her hometown. While in Chicago, Zena served as the Managing Director of the Raven Theatre Company, a non-profit, professional theatre company serving the north side with classic American theatre. Zena oversaw a 1000% increase in season ticket holders and executed the highest grossing production in the organizations’ 27-year history. During her tenure, Raven received top honors from the Joseph Jefferson Committee, Chicago’s body that celebrates excellence in theatre, including Best Ensemble, Best Actor, Best Director, Best Scenic design and a Special Award for Outstanding Lifelong Contributions to Chicago Theatre.Zena also served as the associate producer for several other projects in Chicago, including Rivendell Theatre Ensemble’s award-winning, world premiere of “The Walls” performed at Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s Garage Theatre. She also spent a year in the Mentor Program through The League of Chicago Theatres where she studied under the General Manager of Steppenwolf Theatre Company, David Schmitz. Zena has her Masters Degree in Non Profit Management from DePaul University in Chicago, where she wrote her thesis on gender equality and representation in the leadership, playwrights and directing fields of Chicago Theatres. Zena has her Bachelors of Arts in Theatre from Texas A&M University in Corpus Christi, and is a 2001 Round Rock High School graduate.
Audrey Webb–For more than twenty years, Audrey Webb was a professional actress in Canada. Her work encompassed television, film, and stage, in both dramatic and comedic roles; she toured as a stand-up and also wrote and performed with Toronto’s The Second City. A resident of Austin since 2007, she now focuses her creative energies on writing, both fiction and non-fiction.
Cherie Weed-Since moving to Central Texas in 1999, Cherie has researched costumes from 700 A.D. Old Norse to the end of the English Regency in 1837. Through her ties to various reenactment societies, she has worked on and off as a professional costumer for 11 years. Cherie has been a member of the Baron’s Men theater troupe since 2001, enjoying everything from acting (Pistol – Merry Wives of Windsor, Ariel -The Tempest), directing (The Knight of the Burning Pestle) and script writing (Medieval Macabre, 2009), as well as costuming and prop making. Cherie was the costume designer for the Hidden Room’s production of The Taming of the Shrew, 2010 and for the EmilyAnn Theatre’s Shakespeare Under the Stars program 2011, working with children ages 12-18 in costume construction. She is currently working on the web series Mantecoza filming in Phoenix, AZ.
Julie Wright–A native of San Antonio, Julie moved to Austin in 2000 to begin her undergraduate training in the Theatre and Dance Department at the University of Texas at Austin. After receiving her B.A. in Theatre Studies from U.T. in 2003, she assumed the position of Co-Producing Artistic Director of Second Youth Family Theatre, a non-profit corporation that produces family oriented theater productions and arts education programs for the residents of Austin, and surrounding communities. Julie is currently the Acting Director at The McCallum Fine Arts Academy. A position that allows her the opportunity to help young artists find their voice and follow their passions. Julie’s theatrical journey has allowed her the opportunity to become an award nominated director, producer, actor and playwright. During her “off” time, Julie is an avid music lover, sci-fi nerd, and mom to her Chihuahua, Zoe.
Jay Young–Originally from Kansas City, Jay has lived in Austin the past 19 years and is proud to call it home. He is an avid theatre-goer, seeing at least 1-2 shows a week, and sometimes as many as 3 or 4, and has been seeing shows and writing reviews for nowplayingaustin.com as part of the A-Team since October 2009. Jay also enjoys performing when the opportunity arises. He has sung with the Gilbert & Sullivan Society of Austin the past 7 years, most recently as Pish-Tush in the Mikado, and in the chorus for Austin Lyric Opera’s productions of La Boheme, Dialogues of the Carmelites, and Rigoletto. Other credits include playing being a stage hand in Trouble Puppet’s productions of The Jungle and Frankenstein, various roles in the Baron’s Men’s production of Medieval Macabre, Fred in The Trial of Ebeneezer Scrooge at the Gaslight Baker Theatre in Lockhart, and three recent independent film projects. He holds a Bachelor of Music Education from Texas State and a Master’s in Information Studies from the University of Texas. During the day, he works as an Adjunct Reference Librarian at ACC and as a Library Clerk at the Legislative Reference Library.
