Tim Bair
Producing Artistic Director
913.826.3011
tim.bair@jocogov.org

Katie Baergen
TTIP Administrative Assistant
913-826-3012
katie.baergen@jocogov.org

Joel Reinoehl
JCPRD/TTIP
Sponsorship and Program Advertising
joel.reinoehl@jocogov.org

James Azeltine is the youngest of eight “Army brats” and spent most of his childhood in Smith Center, Kansas.  James received a degree in Public Finance from Washburn University in 1987 and has spent the last 29 years working as a financial advisor in the Kansas City area.  James and his wife Debbie live in Leawood where James has served on the city council since 2006.  James became interested in community theatre while serving on the JCPRD Board but was ultimately drawn to the stage by his daughter Andrea, a junior at Blue Valley North High School.  James and Andrea have shared the stage together each of the last five years and did their first TTIP show in 2015’s production of “Annie Warbucks” where James was typecast as a very geeky Lilienthal.  James is a Senior Director at Oppenheimer and Company where he specializes in financial planning and portfolio management.
 

Chip Buckner grew up in Kansas City before earning degrees from Williams College (Williamstown, MA) and the University of Kansas School of Law.  He left the private practice of law to join the Missouri Attorney General’s office, where he ran the state’s consumer fraud unit and represented the state everywhere from traffic court to the United States Supreme Court. He is currently counsel to Bartlett and Company, a Kansas City agribusiness.
 

Chip describes himself as being “a singing male who is unafraid of making a fool of himself in front of large numbers of people” - a characteristic that led to church choirs, Cub and Scout leadership positions and, perhaps naturally, theater.  He enjoys the stage because actors use the same skills as, but get more applause than, lawyers.  Over the past ten years, he has tried to do a show each year, except in those years in which he does three or four.  He sometimes shares a stage with his wife, Deborah, but not with his children, who figure that if their parents do it, it can't be cool.

John Edmonds has recently been brought back into the theatre fold after a long hiatus after college.  He has been involved with several local theatrical productions since his return.  You may have seen John in the 2013 production of Damn Yankees as Coach Van Buren or as Drake the butler in the 2015 production of Annie Warbucks.  John is also  a member of Heartland Men’s Chorus where he is a past chairman of the membership services committee and was often a featured soloist on stage.  During the day, John works at Sprint corporate headquarters where he is a programmer specializing in payroll support.
 

Dena Hildebrand (Vice Chair) has worked most of her career in nonprofit management and fundraising. She has worked with The American Heart Association as the Development Director, The American Diabetes Association as the Regional Director, and The Design Industries Foundation Fighting Aids as the Development Specialist. She currently is the owner of a sales and marketing company Corporate Edge Marketing that she founded in 2005 after moving back to Kansas from Philadelphia where she lived with her family for four years.

Dena has been a supporter and contributor of TTIP since her daughter Kristin first performed at the park in 1995 in Oliver.  Her son Brett first performed at the park in the summer of 2001 in Mame and later in Peter Pan, 42nd Street, High School Musical, and 9 to 5.

Dena started performing in community theater productions in 2007 and has performed in productions at The White Theater, The Culture House, Leawood Stage Company and Theatre in the Park. Her first show at TTIP was in 2008 in Oklahoma. She has since appeared in The Wedding Singer, and The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and was a part of the production staff for Shrek, the musical!

Dena is currently pursuing her love of acting in film and television.  She takes acting classes at The Actors Training Studio and is represented by Talent Unlimited. She lives in Overland Park with her loving husband Brent and visits her children and granddaughter in Dallas whenever possible.
 

Robert Hingula has been actively involved with Theatre in the Park since 2006 as an actor, and has served as a Theatre in the Park Ambassador since 2010.  Robert has performed in several venues in Kansas City as an actor, as well as being an advocate for local arts support through involvement in local arts groups including formerly serving as Secretary of the Young Friends of Art and currently serving on the Board of Spinning Tree Theatre.

When not performing, Robert spends his days practicing employment law as a Shareholder at Polsinelli Shughart, PC, and spending time with his loving wife, Melissa, and talented daughter, Darcie.
 

Rhonda Pollard is the Superintendent of Recreation with Johnson County Park and Recreation District, and previously served as the Manager of the 50 Plus Department.



 

John Ras (Chair) John is an enthusiastic supporter of local community theatre.  For the last several years he has enjoyed providing assistance during the TTIP audition process. You will also see John selling 50/50 tickets before shows (thanks for buying them and supporting the park).  
He has appeared on stage in several Theatre in the Park productions including Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Seussical, Cinderella, Damn Yankees and Shrek.  He has also appeared in other area theatres including the White Theatre, Leawood Stage and MidAmerica Nazarene University.   John has a Public Relations degree from  the University of Central Missouri and is employed with Equifax.  He and his wife Julia, who is a costumer, have lived in Olathe, Kansas since 1989 and think that they have seen over 90% of the TTIP productions that have taken place since then. They are proud parents of three kids: Jordan, Jillian and Jamie. They also have two cats and a dog named Bandit that has appeared on stage.
 

Joy Richardson was drawn to the KC Metro initially to William Jewell where she earned degrees in Communication and Public Relations while engaging in the college’s rich choral and fine arts programs.

A lifelong singer, Joy’s first musical theatre audition was for TITP’s 2009 season where she was cast in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers. Since then, she has appeared in TITP’s Seussical the Musical, Damn Yankees, HONK! and Annie Warbucks, as well as other community theatre productions. While Joy loves to prepare and perform shows, it is the KC community theatre community that keeps her coming back to audition and expand her stage family as her own nest empties at home.

Joy is the Annual Giving Manager for Harvesters, The Community Food Network. Joy’s prior work experience includes resource development and community impact at United Way of Wyandotte County and public relations and marketing at Whitefield Academy. Joy has been married to Rob for nearly 25 lively years and they have three terrific kids; Shelby, Miranda & JT.
 

Jim Royer (Sertoma Club Representative) is a native “Kansan”, having been born in Topeka and raised in Johnson County.  He is a graduate of Shawnee Mission North High School and a graduate of Kansas State University.  After working in Idaho for three and one-half years in the Nuclear Engineering field, he came back to Kansas to do graduate work at Kansas State University and then started  a career with IBM in Kansas City.  In 1975, Jim became a member of the Shawnee Mission Sertoma Club and instigated the project to build a new outdoor theater in Shawnee Mission Park.  As chairman of the Theater Fund Raising Committee and with the help of my fellow Sertomans, he spent the next five years raising money to build the new theater.

In 1979, IBM moved him to a job in St. Louis and he turned over the leadership of the theater project to a fellow Sertoman, Reuben Sell.  He completed the fundraising and worked with the Johnson County Park and Recreation District during the construction of what is now The Theatre in the Park.

During this time, Jim met and married his lovely wife, Donna Knoell and moved to Atlanta, Georgia.  Jim and Donna both missed their Kansas roots and moved back to Prairie Village in 1988.   Jim is currently retired from IBM and enjoying serving on the Theatre Advisory Council, working with his church, being involved with the Johnson County Sertoma Club and traveling.
 

Diana Wille (Past Chair) is an area native and, along with her husband, Fred Spears, has called Johnson County home for the past 25 years.  Diana graduated from K-State with a BA in Journalism and from KU with an MBA and is recently retired after a 30-year career with Hallmark Cards.   While her own musical and theatre experience was limited to being in glee clubs, church choirs and in the chorus in high school musicals, Diana is a long term supporter of the performing arts and believes in their importance in enhancing the quality of our community.
 

Diana has regularly attended and promoted, since its earliest days in Antioch Park, the outstanding productions offered by The Theatre in the Park.  She is also a subscriber to the Kansas City Symphony and the Kansas City Ballet.
 

Tim Bair (Producing Artistic director) grew up in Kansas City, Kansas, and began his long theatrical career at a very early age as “Paddy the Pixie” in the not-too-well-known musical - Santa’s Elf Saves Christmas (in fact… he’s not too sure it was ever heard of again!) He went on to perform on The Theatre in the Park stage for many years, and eventually took his first step into the “production” side of things when he choreographed OKLAHOMA, SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS, and WEST SIDE STORY for the park.

Tim left Kansas and tap danced his way around the world as a featured dancer and vocalist on a world cruise, and ended up in New York City (every Midwestern theatre boy’s dream!) where he chosen for the companies of the 42ND STREET European tour, and MY ONE AND ONLY starring Jodi Benson (the famed voice of Disney’s The Little Mermaid.) While in NYC, he danced with The Foot and Fiddle Dance Company for 10 years, and was the Artistic Director of The Millbrook Playhouse, in Mill Hall, PA, one of the county’s oldest remaining straw hat summer stock theatres.

In search of warmer weather, Tim trekked west and made his home in Phoenix, AZ, while traveling to many cities in the USA as a regional theatre Director and Choreographer.

Landing finally in San Jose, CA, Tim served as the Artistic Director of the American Musical Theatre of San Jose. While working with AMTSJ, he co-wrote (book, music and lyrics) and produced the original production Christmas Dreamland.

Tim returned home to Kansas City in 2010, where he currently serves as the Producing Artistic Director of The Theatre in the Park, a Kansas City institution, the largest outdoor community theatre in the country, and the place it all started so many years before.