Theatre Arts Alumni

Caitlin Bruggeman Causey

Jenny Crawford Nylsa Dunbar Timothy Ellis Sam Gambino Ali Grieb D.J. Grooms Laura Hennesy

Julia Jones Scottie Knollin

Ryan McWhorter Whittney Millsap

Anna Carroll Sims

Joseph Thomas

Katie Betts ('96)
Kaie got married Sept. 19, 2009, and was also in the World premier of Strange Gods, with Ottawa, Canada's Goya Theatre playing the lead role of Laura in May of 2010.

Susanna Liveakos Brent ('99)
Susanna, her husband, Lester, and daughter, Zelda, recently moved to Meredith, New Hampshire, where Susanna serves as the managing director of the Winnepesaukee Playhouse just named the "Theatre on the Rise" in the 2013 NH Magazine.

Sarah Conner-Brown ('03)
Sarah of San Jose, CA, is an executive assistant at the Arabian Shakespeare Festival in San Francisco. She and her husband, Will, worked on the American premiere of the Kuwaiti play, A Message, the first domestic production for ASF. The festival performs internationally to encourage cultural awareness and tolerance through the timeless themes found in Shakespeare's work.

Caitlin Bruggeman Causey ('07) recently relocated to the Rocky Mountains of Colorado with her husband Hunter, a water resources engineer. She has been busy enjoying the outdoors, volunteering in her new community, and doing advertising and social media for Colorado Animal Rescue in Glenwood Springs. Previously, Caitlin worked as an intern at Actor's Express in Atlanta, where she had the opportunity to assistant direct The Last Five Years and understudy the one-woman show When Something Wonderful Ends in the theater's 20th anniversary season. She also appeared in Large Animal Games, an intern showcase production written by Atlanta playwright, Steve Yockey.

Savannah Cobb was the costume designer for IMPACT, the children’s theatre company, at Jean’s Playhouse in Lincoln, New Hampshire. She looks forward to designing costumes for The Rimers of Eldritch and Crimes of the Heart this year.

Jenny Crawford ('11)
Jenny received dual BA degrees in Music and Theatre Performance. She recently moved back to her hometown of Canton, OH with her husband, Nick Nelson, (also a LaGrange alum) after living in Nashville for 2 years. Jenny is currently signed with Pro Model and Talent Management and just filmed a commercial for Cleveland Metro Health. While living in Tennessee, she appeared in two episodes of ABC's hit show "Nashville". Her next endeavor will be filming for the Lifetime movie "With This Ring". Some of her favorite roles include Elle Woods in "Legally Blonde", Amneris in "Aida", Alice Stiles in "Our House", and Solange in "The Maids".

Nylsa Dunbar ('00)
Is currently working with the Ankle and Foot Centers of Georgia as their Marketing Representative, providing marketing measures for all 21 locations of the practice. She works every school term with Southside Church in Peachtree City, where she plays "Sam" a Clubhouse Kid in their monthly production of KidStuff a super fun and energetic ministry program geared towards teaching the kids important life lessons. She is also soon to be married to Toby Smallwood, Class of 97' this fall.

Mary Duttweiler ('11) served as the properties master at the Papermill Summer Theatre, (2013).

Timothy Ellis
University of Central Florida, MFA; LaGrange College, BA

As an actor, Timothy has appeared on Broadway (Annie Get Your Gun), National Tours (Show Boat, Best Little Whorehouse in Texas), a European tour (Evita), the stages of regional theaters across the nation (including Goodspeed Opera House, Tennessee Repertory Theatre, Cleveland Playhouse, Seaside Music Theatre, Flat Rock Playhouse and Arvada Center for the Performing, Orlando Shakespeare Theatre and Orlando Repertory Theatre), and as a singer aboard cruise ships.

As director or choreographer, his work has been seen in productions of Beehive, Peter Pan, Cinderella, West Side Story, Rocky Horror Show, Debbie Does Dallas, The Magical Adventures of Merlin, How I Became a Pirate, Pulp! and Oklahoma. He has also served as fight choreographer for The Magical Adventures of Merlin and fight captain for Les Miserables. Tim also directed and choreographed for IBEX Puppetry in Orlando, FL.

After earning an MFA in Musical Theatre from the University of Central Florida, he served as an Adjunct then Visiting Assistant Professor at UCF. There, he taught acting, voice and dance; assisted with the Dance Minor program; choreographed for musicals and dance concerts; and was nominated for Extraordinary Professor by Campus Advisory Board.

Timothy is a proud member of Actors' Equity Association and SAG-AFTRA.

He appeared on LaGrange College stages in the late '80's in productions of Once Upon a Mattress, Scapino, Robber Bridegroom, Twelfth Night, The Browning Version, Agamemnon, Cinderella and The Odd Couple.

Beckett Finn (formerly known as Brandon Johnson) ('03)
Beckett recently received his MFA in technical production from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Upon completion, Beckett returned to Barrington Stage Company for his second season, as the technical director. In the fall, Beckett will be headed to the west coast to be the full time technical director for Saint Mary’s College of California.

Sam Gambino ('10)
Sam is a 4 year resident of Brooklyn, NY. Since leaving LaGrange she has graduated from New York University with a Masters in Educational Theatre and was the founding Performing Arts teacher for Harlem Prep Elementary in East Harlem, NY. She is starting a new path in education by taking on the role of 1st grade teacher and 2nd time graduate student! She currently works for Leadership Prep in Brownsville, NY and will be starting her 2nd Masters degree in Early Childhood Education in the Fall at Relay Graduate School of Education.

Ali Grieb ('09)
Ali has become a regular performer in the New York City Cabaret scene. Having been named an Artist in Residence at the iconic Joe's Pub in The Public Theater, she has been busy creating and performing her one woman show, Judge Not for several venues including Joe's Pub, 54 Below, and The Duplex. She was recently inducted into MAC (The Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs) where she was named one of the Best New Artists in 2015! She and her band, The Heroes of Happy Hour, can been seen throughout the city performing original songs and big band twists on the classics.

D.J. Grooms ('13)
D.J. has performed in two shows with the Springer Opera House ( Mary Poppins and The Producers). This past summer he was in Kentucky performing with Jenny Wiley Theatre ( Shrek and Little Shop of Horrors ). He is an adjunct professor at LC this fall teaching tap in the Musical Theatre major and he is the director/choreographer of the fall musical Chicago, opening Homecoming weekend.

Laura Hennesy ('12)
Laura is a past company member of the CAP 21 musical theatre summer intensive training.

Julia Jones ('09)
Julia is working professionally as an actor at Village Theatre in Atlanta, GA, where she performs with names such as Chalk Outline and TableSauce. Performance venues include the LSPA, Horizon Theatre, and Tallapoosa Theatre Festival. In 2014, Julia filmed as the lead female in King of Prussia’s music video, “I’ll Dance with You” - featuring Mike Mills from R.E.M.

Scottie Knollin ('07)
Scottie teaches English, Spanish and Drama at an Atlanta-area private school. He is also a working filmmaker/actor. In the past year he has worked in front of and behind the scenes on projects such as The Walking Dead, Due Date, Life As We Know It, The Big Year, The Vampire Diaries, as well as his directorial debut with the short film The Right Point of View. He runs the entertainment website, AllTheHitsSoFar.com and produces and original YouTube series.

Valerie Longshore-Sargent
Valerie  Longshore-Sargent has been teaching theatre at Harris County High School for the past nine years and was named Teacher of the Year for the 2013-14 school year. At HCHS, she has directed numerous shows including most recently Curtains and Moon Over Buffalo . Under her direction, students have earned the highest honors at the GHSA One Act Competition, Georgia Thespian Conference and International Thespian Festival. She is pleased that so many of her students have gone on to pursue careers in theatre and film (including LC).  Although work keeps her busy, she still lives in LaGrange and maintains an active relationship with the theater community there. She has been involved in many area theater productions, including director of Lafayette Theatre Company's The Drowsy Chaperone. She also serves on the Lafayette Society for Performing Arts theater advisory committee and is finishing her thesis for her master's degree in theatre education at Columbus State University. 

Ryan McWhorter ('00)
Ryan was recently appointed Artistic Director and Facility Manager of the Lafayette Society of Performing Arts.

Joanna Meyer ('13) Joanna is currently student teaching while pursuing a Masters of Arts in Teaching English at UGA. She is set to graduate in May with dual certification to teach both high school Theater and English. She is also picking up her Gifted and Talented certificate to further specialize her degree. She is currently living in Suwanee, GA, and has acted in such productions as A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Crucible.

Whittney Millsap ('07)
Whitney lives and works in Atlanta, GA. She is a member of Dad's Garage Improv company and is a member of Automatic Improv.

Bobbi Leigh Mullins (Stansky)
Bobbi is teaching first grade in Ellijay, Ga., and is the wife of a minister. She has two children and two step-children.

Stacia Myers
Stacia worked at the Hangar Theatre in Ithaca, NY this past summer as an electrics intern. The Hangar season included Spring Awakening, The Hounds of the Baskervilles and two children’s theatre productions: The Emperor’s New Clothes and Bye Bye Birdie.

Mr. Tracy Nunnally
Tracy has worked in professional theatre since the late 1980's. He is the owner and president of Hall Associates Flying Effects, the president of the North American Association of Flying Effects Directors (N.A.A.F.E.D.), and an active member of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (I.A.T.S.E.) and the United States Institute for Theatre Technology (USITT). Mr. Nunnally specializes in all aspects of rigging, motion control, pyrotechnics, special effects, and scenery construction, and has designed and executed an extremely diverse range of systems and effects for clients all over the world. Through his company, Mr. Nunnally provides flying effects for over 200 productions per year, including numerous productions of Peter Pan, Beauty and the Beast, The Wizard of Oz, Angles in America, Seussical the Musical, and A Christmas Carol. Specific credits include the Broadway production of Curtains, the original Asian tour of Peter Pan, the Broadway Asia production of SpongeBob SquarePants, and original native-language productions of Peter Pan in Mexico City, Mexico, and Oslo, Norway. Mr. Nunnally is also a tenured professor and the Technical Director of the Northern Illinois University School of Theatre and Dance, in DeKalb, Illinois. He uses the resources of his company to expose his students to professional environments, and uses the educational setting to further the development of innovative and unique special effects. Please visit http://www.niu.edu/theatre/ for more information about this unique theatre technology program.

Chris Rumery ('00)
Chris moved to New York to get her MFA in costume design at Tisch NYU. She now lives in Brooklyn freelancing. This spring Chris spent 4 months in Taiwan designing for parades and just opened a show called Bedbugs!!! the musical.

Madeline Sain ('15)
Madeline spent the summer in New York City attending the Stella Adler Academy.

Anna Carroll Sims ('11)
Ann spent a summer studying at the Stella Adler Academy.

Joseph Barry Strickland ('12)
Joseph is an Equity Actor. This year he performed in Mack and Mabel with Theatre Zone in Naples Florida and also reprised his role as Frankie Cavalier in the musical Pageant. In the last year he gained his first two on camera credits. He was a supporting role in a film titled Rocky Mountain Fast Guy and did a 1 day shoot for TriForce Pictures. Joseph also worked for the Asolo Repertory theatre this year as their season House Manager. During that time he spent a lot of time continuing his training in ballet, voice, acting, and tap. This was all in preparation for his move to New York City in August where he will be auditioning more actively and living with fellow alumnus Joseph Thomas (‘12) who has been attending The Actor’s Studio at Pace University.

David Austin Taylor ('15)
worked for Jean’s Playhouse in Lincoln New Hampshire and also toured the state for 8 weeks performing in children's theatre productions. Since his return he has been active in a number of short films.

Joseph Thomas ('12)
Joseph received his MFA in Acting from The Actor’s Studio at Pace University in New York. He is living & working in New York City.

Eria Vali ('99) is the Director of the Gilmer High School Theatre Depart in Ellijay, GA. She is currently in production for A Midsummer Night's Dream which they will also be performing for the One Act Play festival at GTC as well as for Region One Act Play Competition.

Tom Waddington
Tom is a field service engineer for Television Production Service in Atlanta. The company's primary focus is design, integration and installation of large production lighting systems for television studios including Fox Sports, Telemundo, and WUPN. Tom most recently worked on a relight of the Atlanta Falcons Sunday morning set.

Katie Westbrook ('06)
Katie is the Choral Director at LaGrange High School.

Chris Wiley ('06)
Chris is a company member of Atlantis Playmakers based out of Billerica, MA. He is currently performing in a stage combat show called FIGHT VI: Return of the Jed-Pie, going to the New England Fringe Festival. He is also a part-time swordsmanship instructor at "GuardUp" working with weapons from foam swords to foils. He is also a background actor in Boston area movies. He was an extra in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull but claims, "Not my most glamorous moment but a lot of fun nonetheless."