TIP Administration Contact Information
For Ticket Information and Purchases Please Contact:
The Johnson County Arts & Heritage Center - Front Desk - 913-826-2787
Theatre Administrative Offices inside The Johnson County Arts & Heritage Center:
8788 Metcalf Ave
Overland Park, KS 66212
Office hours are Monday-Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
The Theatre in the Park - Outdoor Amphitheatre:
7710 Renner Road
Shawnee, KS 66218
The Theatre in the Park - Indoor Blackbox Theatre
8788 Metcalf Ave
Overland Park, KS 66212
TIP Staff
Tim Bair |
Rachel Rendina |
Sarah Saugier |
David Powell |
Ruth Bigus |
TIP Advisory Council
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Leslie Escareno (Member At Large) has been involved with theatre and the arts throughout her life. She has seen many shows at Theatre in the Park in the summer and was involved with costume design in her earlier education years. She now enjoys the opportunity to work with artists and art organizations in her current position at ArtsKC - Regional Arts Council. Leslie joined the ArtsKC team in July 2020 as a Programs Coordinator; supporting the staff in managing programing, handling ArtsKCGo and contributing to marketing efforts. Leslie recently graduated from the University of Kansas with a B.S. in Journalism with an emphasis in Strategic Communications. She holds experience in public relations and marketing through previous internship roles at Parris Communications and KC Watersports. Working alongside a variety of businesses in the strategic communications industry has helped Leslie bring a unique set of skills and perspectives to the team in her new role as a Communications & Programs Associate.” |
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Melissa Evans (Member At Large) After graduating in 2001, Melissa attended Neosho County Community College on a theater scholarship in performing arts. While there, she dabbled in smaller productions. After college, she left the Midwest for Philadelphia, where she performed here and there. Her favorite role during that period was the young Missy Cougar-wildcat in Pecos Bill and the Ghost Stampede. After getting married in 2007, she and her husband thought it'd be a good idea to come back to Kansas City and start their family. Returning home, Melissa dedicated her time to starting the nonprofit Sleepyhead Beds, where she served as the Operational Director and oversaw the volunteers who made that organization such a great success. After the birth of her second child, she decided to take a step back and focus on being a mom and all the tasks that come with that very important role. But theater has always been her love and passion and she's so excited to be a part of it all again. |
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Kevin Fern (JCPRD Board Liason) is the Executive Director of Visit Shawnee and serves as the liaison member on TAC from the Johnson County Board of Park & Recreation Commissioners. He is a lifelong resident of Shawnee and is a member of the Kansas Governor’s Council on Travel & Tourism, serves on the Board of Trustee’s for the Friends of Shawnee Town 1929, is on the Board of Directors for the Shawnee Sister Cities Committee and is the Sponsorship Division Leader for Old Shawnee Days. He is a founding member and former President of the Irish American Club and previously served on the Johnson County Government Visioning Committee, was a Board Member and Chair of the Shawnee Parks & Recreation Advisory Board and served on the Shawnee Parks & Recreation Master Plan Steering Committee. He was the President of the Travel Industry Association of Kansas in 2015, is a former President of Tour Kansas, was the Treasurer of the Kansas City Regional Destination Alliance and is a 2009 graduate of the Shawnee Tomorrow Leadership Development Program. He currently serves on the Imagine Shawnee Master Plan Steering Committee and is a member of Visit KC, Greater Kansas City Hotel and Lodging Association, Kansas City Area Historic Trails Association, Kansas Explorers Club, and SKAL International. |
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Michele Janson (Member At Large) is a small business consultant offering expertise in the areas of administrative operations, implementing and improving processes, business strategy, Quickbooks accounting software and accounting/finance. |
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Donna Knoell (Chair) is an educational consultant and author who works with schools, school districts, and groups of professionals to help them improve their instructional programs. She speaks and consults worldwide on a variety of literacy, mathematics, and science topics. Donna began her career as a teacher in the Shawnee Mission Public Schools, and then she became an instructional specialist with the district. She has also taught classes at UMKC. Donna currently works as an independent consultant, speaking at numerous conferences and helping schools and school districts increase student achievement. Donna’s active involvement with the Theater in the Park dates back to when it was built at Shawnee Mission Park, when both her parents and her now husband (Jim Royer) were actively involved in raising money to build the theater.
Donna has attended every show at the theater for years, and has often seen multiple performances of the shows. She has also worked hard to bring in sponsorship dollars for the Theater, and she simply believes the Theater in the Park is one of the ‘crown jewels’ of the entire Kansas City metropolitan area! |
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Jane Massey (Past Chair) has had a 40 year career with the National March of Dimes culminating in acting as the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer from 1996 to 2012. She also served on the National Non-Profit Leadership Alliance Board of Directors for eight years. Jane has been awarded the March of Dimes President's Award for Excellence in 2011 and the W.R. Russell National Leadership Award in 1994. Jane is also a Kansas State University Foundation Trustee. |
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Stephanie Meyer (Member At Large) is a fourth-generation Kansan and a native of Wichita. Her love for theatre was born on the South High School stage, where she appeared in several shows, including The Pajama Game, Anything Goes, and The Crucible. During her senior year, she was honored as Best Thespian, Best Management (The Odd Couple), and Best Supporting Actress (Witness for the Prosecution). Today, while still a regular at the theatre, most of her singing and dancing happens at home. |
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Tom Nelson is a Kansas City transplant since 2016, having lived in various places across the country and around the world prior to that. He received his BS (Int'l Marketing/Russian) from the University of Alabama and his MBA (Marketing/Entrepreneurship) from Notre Dame. Currently, he works at H&R Block running customer success/retention strategy for the Tax Software department.
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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. |
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Jonathan Thomas (Vice Chair) returned to the Kansas City area from San Francisco in 2018, where he became the Senior Development Manager at ArtsKC. While in San Francisco, he served as the Development Manager for The Walden School, a music program for aspiring composers and musicians. Always finding ways to fit music into his life, Jonathan performed as a soloist and professional chorister with the Grammy Award-winning San Francisco Symphony Chorus and the small ensemble Cappella SF. Before moving to San Francisco in 2014, Jonathan divided his time between building an insurance agency and singing professionally in the Kansas City area. |
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Kim Underdown (Member at Large), a Johnson County resident of over 27 years, lives in Spring Hill with her husband Rod. Kim is involved in many charitable and community activities in the area including volunteer work at Children’s Mercy Hospital, as well as recently establishing the Underdown Family Endowment for Clinical Care and Research for Connective Tissue Disorders at the hospital. This endowment is committed to the work of ensuring comprehensive care, as well as breakthrough research for children with connective tissue disorders such as Ehlers Danlos Syndrome. |
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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. |