Meet Ovation!'s Board of Directors (click a photo to read an expanded bio):
MEET OVATION'S BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Margaret Johnston, President, Production Coordinator
Margaret is a long-time theatre enthusiast and has appeared in seven shows with Ovation!, most recently as Queen Constantina in "Cinderella" in December 2023. She also often sings with Crescendo, Ovation!'s adult choir. After creating and leading Amazon.com's Customer Service Training team in the late 90s, Margaret left to become a stay-at-home parent and frequent volunteer. Recently, she's spent a lot of time doing political organizing, including a stint working for Indivisible's national texting team in 2020. Margaret has served on three local non-profit boards prior to joining the board of Ovation! and brings a wealth of governance and strategic planning knowledge to the table, as well as a passion for local theatre and for Ovation!'s mission. (Keith Brofsky, photo)
Dan Opalski, Vice President
Jenn Osburn, Secretary
Jenn brings an educator’s perspective and a great love of musicals to Ovation!’s board. As a parent of a child who grew up with the support of our Ovation! community, she feels passionate about continuing Ovation!’s effort to make theatre accessible to everyone; no matter what their age, ability, or strengths, they can find a place with us. Jenn has been a classroom teacher throughout the Kitsap County region and is now Dean of Social Emotional Learning in an elementary school in Bremerton School District. She supports our board with working to develop Ovation!’s Academy, bringing opportunities to our youth and adults to expand their skills on stage.
Wendy LaVoy, Treasurer
After retiring from a nearly 30 year career in finance at Apple, Wendy with her husband Gary moved to Bainbridge in 2018. Wendy is thrilled to finally have the time to pursue her love of theatre. Although she has been singing all her life, she performed in her very first full length stage production show in 2022 as a nun in Ovation’s “The Sound of Music”. She also has been active in Crescendo since moving to the island. She loves that there is an organization on the island that provides a place to grow as a performer regardless of age or experience level, and so was honored when asked to join the board this year. She hopes that her background in budgeting and financial planning will be of good use. Outside of theatre, Wendy enjoys spending time with her three grown children (and first grandchild), and experiencing new places around the world with her husband.
Ezra Osburn, Board Member
Ezra has been acting in Ovation! shows since he was 8 years old, appearing in 13 Ovation! shows total. He is currently studying Theatre and English at Northwestern University, focusing on acting, costuming, and lighting. Ezra is passionate about spreading theatre for young audiences and directed Beauty and the Beast Jr. for 8-14 year olds in the summer of 2022. He has been focusing more specifically on theatre for disabled and autistic people, creating theatre as a sensory experience as well as an art form. He is also interested in how theatre affects the environment and making more environmentally friendly theatre and what that looks like on the stage.
Judy Pansullo, Board Member
Judy started acting and directing in Community Theater on the east coast and went on to major in Theatre Arts at Amherst College in MA. She went on to Community Theatre where she acted in and directed A Thousand Clowns, Native Son, Noises Off, The Tempest, The Crucible, and Funny Girl. Longing for palm trees, Judy moved to Los Angeles to get her master's degree in film and television production at USC and from there went on to a career as a documentary and concert producer for Public Television and A&E, winning awards for her work. One night she got up on stage at a voice workshop in Hollywood and sang to a live audience, loving every moment. That was when she realized how much she missed the excitement of live performance. At that point, Judy also knew that she no longer wanted to drive the crowded freeways of Los Angeles and moved up to Bainbridge Island where she has been a member of Crescendo Chorus for two years and acted in last year’s Island Theatre’s Ten-Minute Play Festival.
Kendra Truett, Board Member
Kendra has been involved in many types of performance including theatre, independent film, voiceover, burlesque, singing telegrams, singing in bands and a cappella groups, improv, and (gulp!) even reality television. One of her favorite opportunities was teaching theatre to English language learning students with the La Jolla Playhouse and Arts for Learning in San Diego. With degrees from the Academy of Art University and San Diego State, she was also a theatrical set designer and photographer for many years. She was a co-founder of the theatre group, the Poolhouse Project, and Crazy Mother Independent Film Productions and enjoys writing plays and screenplays.
Marijane C. Milton, Honorary Board Member
Marijane is an Ovation! co-founder and served as our volunteer Managing Director since our inception in 2003 through early 2019. During that time, she worked on and/or appeared in every Ovation! production from the chorus, to leads, to tech crew, to costumes - whatever was needed. (Keith Brofsky, photo)