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Leadership

Board of Directors

Mary Kay Fyda-Mar (Chair)
Scott Well (Vice-Chair)
Larry Cripe (Treasurer)
Casey Long (Secretary)
Guy W. Marr (Immediate Past Chairman)
Mary Beth Adderley
Martin Benson
Susie Dittmar
Oanh Nguyen
Terry Schomburg
Georgia Well

Artistic Staff

Artistic Director: Oanh Nguyen
Managing Director: Casey Long
Development Director: Erika C. Miller
Production Manager/Technical Director: Masako Tobaru
Box Office Associate: Jeff Hellebrand
Company Manager: Courtny Greenough
Associate Artistic Director: Jocelyn A. Brown
Literary Manager: Jennifer Ruckman

Mary Kay Fyda-Mar (Board Member: Chair)

Mary Kay retired from The Boeing Company, where she worked for over 27 years. Her positions within the company included program management, business operations, resource management, strategic planning, project management, systems engineering, and software engineering. She was born in Pennsylvania, raised in Ohio, and moved to Orange County in 1977. Mary Kay obtained Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Michigan State University and held a National Science Foundation Fellowship at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Mary Kay serves as a senior examiner for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Program and a judge for the California Awards for Performance Excellence. She is an active member of Altrusa International of Anaheim, where she has served on the Board and is currently chairperson of the literacy committee. She is also a proud quilter for Project Linus, an organization that provides handmade security blankets to children in trauma. Mary Kay is a widow with one grown daughter and currently lives in Yorba Linda.

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Scott Well (Board Member: Vice-Chair)

Scott had his first taste of performing when he played honky-tonk piano at pizza parlors and pancake breakfasts at age 14. A natural ham, he studied speech, theater, radio/TV/film, commercial music, recording/engineering and continued to perform on stages wherever a theater existed, including in the “New Directions Ensemble” at CSULB and on the air in dingy little control rooms doing country radio at KFOX and top 40 at KEZY. When the disco boom hit, he continued as a night club DJ (with a real live audience) and MC with a production company that produced radio/TV commercials. He always enjoyed the long rehearsals and late night gigs (AUUGH!), but decided to pursue a second career in criminal law where for the past 22 years, he has appeared in courtrooms across Southern California, performing to small but captive audiences of 12. The stakes are higher, but the show still must go on! Scott has been fortunate enough to keep his love of the arts alive by continuing to play guitar in his home studio and travel the world to experience theater and music of all cultures. He has received numerous honors and awards in his legal career and has served as president and board member of several bar associations. The ham is still alive, as he is in demand as a public speaker and has had the pleasure of lecturing on a variety of legal subjects in places like Aruba, Belize, Costa Rica, France, Panama, Prague, Scotland, Spain, Wales, and at local Law Schools. After 22 years and too many Jury trials to count, and too many damned strip searches at airports that violate his 4th Amendment rights (don’t get him going!), he has decided it’s time to put some of that energy back into the theater, right here at the Chance, where he felt like a company member from the first show he saw. He is pleased and proud to be involved with the Chance alongside his adorable and theatrical wife of 28 years, Georgia.

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Larry Cripe (Board Member: Treasurer)

A native Californian, Larry was born in Mar Vista and moved to Newport Beach in 1961. He attended Newport Harbor High School and graduated from CSU at Fullerton majoring in Business Administration. Besides his day job, during the late 80s and early 90s, Larry was co-owner of a martial arts studio and an interactive murder mystery dinner theater. Some may remember the Play Mystery company that staged productions at South Coast Village among other locations. Larry retired in 2010 after working 38 years as an accounting, finance and information system professional that spanned a number of industries (healthcare, automotive, insurance, banking and finance). During his career he worked for Pacific Life, FHP, Nissan and IBM, specializing in strategic planning, financial control, as well as project and operational management. Larry’s wife Sophie currently serves on the boards of SCR, Arts OC and NCI. When not going to the theater, they are off traveling or Larry’s still playing soccer.

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Guy W. Marr (Board Member: Immediate Past Chair)

Guy is a native Californian who was born in Los Angeles and raised in Orange County. Guy graduated from the University of Redlands where he was awarded a Bachelors of Science degree in Business and Management. He retired from AT&T in May 2008 with over 30 years of service as an Area Manager and is enjoying his retirement. Guy is an active member of the Anaheim Rotary Club where he is the Executive Director and serves on the Board. Guy is also the President of the AT&T Pioneers De Anza Chapter in Southern California. The AT&T Pioneers is the largest nationwide corporate community services organization, which just celebrated its 100 year anniversary of service to the community. He is a proud singing member and Membership Director of Men Alive, the Orange County Gay Men’s Chorus, since 2003. Guy is excited and proud to be a part of the award-winning Chance Theater family.

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Terry Schomburg (Board Member)

Terry is a long-time advocate for arts in education, and since 1993 has either served as a volunteer or worked on staff for various arts and educational organizations, including the Pacific Symphony Orchestra as Director of Finance and currently in his dream job as Controller at South Coast Repertory. Since the 1980’s, Terry has attended regional theater productions, often as a season subscriber, at the Mark Taper Forum, South Coast Repertory, California Repertory Company, Old Globe Theater and Chance Theater. He resides in Huntington Beach with his wife, Michelle, a multi-media artist, and their teenage son, Congher, who has been a student of acting for over six years and is a junior at the Orange County High School of the Arts. Michelle and Terry have two adult sons, Rory and Devin, both living in Southern California as art patrons in their own way. Terry received his Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Utah, worked as a CPA for Arthur Andersen & Co. in the 70’s, and managed accounting and financial functions for various for-profit entities in the 80’s and early 90’s. It was then that he realized that serving his Orange County community in furthering arts education was his true calling, and he pursued career and volunteer positions immediately. Knowing theater was his favorite art form, he ultimately dedicated his efforts to that arena and has never looked back. His favorite past time endeavors are being a stage dad for Congher and a muse for Michelle.

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Georgia Well (Board Member)

Georgia has been actively engaged in theatre since she was doing plays in her garage for her parents and neighbors in Bakersfield. She later graduated from CSULB with a B.A. and M.A. in Theatre with a directing emphasis. Georgia spent two seasons with the Utah Shakespeare Festival as both an actor and assistant choreographer. She has taught at Orange Coast College, Golden West College, Harbor College, and Cypress College before taking the helm of the Theatre Department at Cerritos College where she has been for the last 27 years. She teaches a wide range of classes from acting to stage combat, tap and jazz dance, as well as acting for the camera. Georgia has directed and/or choreographed over 65 shows. Some of those include: Little Shop of Horrors, Jesus Christ Superstar, A Chorus Line, Pirates of Penzance, Once On This Island, and The House of Bernarda Alba. She and her multi-talented husband Scott live in Anaheim Hills where they have raised their two swell sons, Max and Sam. Her love of theatre only continues to grow and the opportunity to serve on the board of this very outstanding theatre is an honor.

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Oanh Nguyen (Founder, Board Member, Artistic Director)

Oanh has been serving as the founding artistic director of Chance Theater since 1999. He also serves as the Producing Associate at South Coast Repertory, where he's spearheading Studio SCR: the alternative theatre presenting series. Oanh is a recipient of TCG’s New Generations Grant and the TCG Nathan Cummings Young Leaders of Color fellowship. He was also awarded the Outstanding Artist Award by Arts Orange County and was inducted into Anaheim High School’s Hall of Fame. Oanh serves on the advisory board of the Anaheim High School Performing Arts Conservatory and recently served 4 years on the board of the Network of Ensemble Theatres. His directing credits include productions at Chance Theater, South Coast Repertory, The Old Globe, East West Players, Segerstrom Center for the Arts, and the J. Paul Getty Museum. His acting credits include TWO BROTHERS with Guy Pearce and Freddie Highmore, RUSH HOUR 3 with Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker, and the upcoming LONELY BOY with Alev Aydin. Oanh is a proud member of SDC, and SAG-AFTRA.

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Casey Long (Founder, Board Member: Secretary, Managing Director)

Casey has been a part of Chance Theater since 1999. He is a graduate of the Fieldstone Foundation Emerging Leaders program, as well as the Leadership Anaheim program. At the Chance, Casey has directed the OC Premiere of Anne of Green Gables (and the remount at The Heritage Forum), Little Women - The Broadway Musical (and the remount at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts) and The Secret Garden - The Musical. Casey’s Chance acting credits include Porcelain (2006 GLAAD Media Award Nominee - Outstanding Los Angeles Theater, Back Stage Critic’s Pick), Tape (OC Weekly Award Nominee - Best Actor), The Laramie Project (OC Register’s Noteworthy Ensembles of 2005), with their eyes: September 11th - The View from a High School at Ground Zero (LA Times Critic’s Choice), Coyote On A Fence (Back Stage Critic’s Pick), Inventing Van Gogh, the California Premiere of Talk About The Passion, the Southern California Premiere of Welcome Home, Jenny Sutter, and the West Coast Premieres of Nerve and Reborning.

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Erika C. Miller (Founder, Development Director)

Erika is a proud member and co-founder of Chance Theater alongside her husband, actor/director Oanh Nguyen and is a recent graduate of the Fieldstone Foundation’s Emerging Leaders Group, a recipient of the Annie Anaheim Accolades Award for her service to the community, and a member of the Anaheim Arts Council Board of Directors since 2007 (where she served as president for two years). She has studied with Anne Reinking at The Broadway Theatre Project, the Boston Conservatory, USC, and in London with the British American Dramatic Academy and the Royal Shakespeare Company through Skidmore College in New York. At an early age she was a professional singer with The Los Angeles Children’s Chorus where she was privileged to perform with such talents as Peabo Bryson, Barry Manilow, Andre Previn, Yo-yo Ma, Doc Severinsen and Luther Vandross, to name a few. She can be heard singing on the soundtracks of “Hero”, “The Dark Half” and “Merry Christmas from Doc Severinsen and The Tonight Show Orchestra”. Her opera credits include Die Frau Ohnne Schatten and El Gato Montez with Placido Domingo at The Music Center, Carmina Burana at the Hollywood Bowl, and The Magic Flute at UCLA’s Royce Hall. In more recent years she sings Ragtime music locally and has performed at Steamers Jazz Club with the Orange County Ragtime Society, Old Town Music Hall, and at “RagFest” for the past 10 years. Favorite Chance shows include: Jerry Springer: The Opera (Ovation Recommended, LA Times Critic’s Choice, Back Stage Critic’s Pick), Little Women (Chancie Award-Best Actress), Evita (Chancie Award - Best Actress), I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, Into the Woods (Back Stage Critic’s Pick and Garland Award Honorable Mention - Ensemble, Chancie Award - Production), Cabaret (Garland Award Honorable Mention - Actress), Closer Than Ever (LA Times Critic’s Choice), Lee Miller: The Angel and The Fiend (OC Weekly Award), and As You Like It (OC Register Best Performance). Erika is also the resident costume designer and has been nominated for two Ovation awards for The Who’s Tommy and Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical, as well as received Chancie Awards for The Who’s Tommy, Hair, Evita, and Anne of Green Gables.

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Masako Tobaru (Technical Director and House Manager)

Masako joined Chance Theater in 2003 as a stage manager and lighting designer. Her Chance Theater credits include Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, The Goat or, Who is Sylvia?, The Eight: Reindeer Monologues, Evita, among others. Her credits outside the Chance include Ganga...Life as a River, Much Ado About Nothing, Cabaret, Medea, Patient A and The Last Night of Ballyhoo. Masako received her BA in Theater and Communications from Concordia University, Irvine.

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Jeff Hellebrand (Founder, Associate Box Office Manager)

Jeff co-founded Chance Theater in 1999 in his native Orange County. He received his degree from Cal State Fullerton and additional training at Cal State Chico and The Professional Actors Conservatory. He has worked on both sides of the curtain in venues throughout California. He currently sits on the Stagecraft Technology advisory committee for North Orange County Regional Occupational Program. Chance Theater acting credits include Anne of Green Gables, Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol (Back Stage Critic’s Pick), The Stroop Report, Therese Raquin, The Diary of Anne Frank (O.C Register Best Ensembles of 2005), Memories on the Wind as well as the O.C. entry in 365 Days/365 Plays by Suzan Lori-Parks. He has also been seen locally in Skin of our Teeth, West Side Story, 1776, Uncle Vanya, Little Shop of Horrors, in addition to the original productions of The Pier, and Undeclared. Script writing credits dear to his heart are Is Pepperoni a Vegetable? And Other Mysteries of Love, But I Don’t FEEL Grown Up, and The Beach... Without Leo.

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Courtny Greenough (Company Manager)

Courtny is honored to be a part of the Chance Company as the company manager and stage manager. Past shows include (stage manager): Jerry Springer: The Opera (Back Stage Critic’s Pick, LA Times Critic’s Choice, Ovation Recommended), World Premiere of The Boy in the Bathroom (rehearsal stage manager), Southern California Premiere of Welcome Home, Jenny Sutter (rehearsal stage manager), Merrily We Roll Along, Little Women, Hair: The American Tribal Love Rock Musical (five Ovation Award nominations, including Best Musical, and six LADCC Award nominations), the West Coast premiere of The Girl, The Grouch and The Goat (rehearsal stage manager), The Eight: Reindeer Monologues, Evita, Sunday in the Park with George, Anaheim Home Companion. Courtny worked at the Tony Award winning La Jolla Playhouse as a General and Production Management intern and currently works for Segerstrom Center for the Arts. She is a graduate of Concordia University Irvine, with a B.A. in Business Administration: Management and Theater minor and studied business at Queen Mary, University of London.

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Jocelyn A. Brown (Associate Artistic Director)

Dedicated to the Chance since 2001, Jocelyn serves as the Associate Artistic Director. After earning a double major with a BA in Theatre and a BS in Biology from UC San Diego with Provost’s Honors, she pursued further theatre studies in England at the University of East Anglia. She returned to the states for a smattering of fringe theatre in Seattle and assisted on three productions at South Coast Repertory. Upon experiencing the Chance’s challenging and collaborative atmosphere with artists of vision, integrity, talent, and drive, Jocelyn knew she was home. Jocelyn produces the Chance’s On the Radar Series: a collection of intimate readings and workshops. Chance directing highlights include The Artist as a part of the Chance’s On the Radar Series, Evita (Chancie Award – Best Production), Never In My Lifetime (Back Stage West Critic’s Pick), Big Love, and The Cherry Orchard (OC Weekly Best Direction nomination). Chance acting highlights include Blitzen in The Eight: Reindeer Monologues, the Witch in Into The Woods (Back Stage West Critic’s Pick, Chancie Award - Best Actress), Cathy in The Last 5 Years (Back Stage West Garland Award Honorable Mention for Best Actor), Nancy in Closer Than Ever (LA Times Critic’s Choice), Woman in Bash: Latter-Day Plays, and Ann in Goodnight Children Everywhere (OC Weekly award for Best Female Lead Performance). Jocelyn received a nomination for Outstanding Individual Artist in 2003 by Arts Orange County. Outside of the Chance, Jocelyn teaches at Laguna Hills High School, is earning her Masters in Education, runs around after two toddlers, Kyden and Torin, and on occasion sees her loving husband, Kirk.

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Jennifer Ruckman (Literary Manager)

Originally from a small mountain town near Yosemite, Jennifer studied theater at both the University of Southern California and the British American Drama Academy. Since then she has performed on stages across Southern California and is thrilled to have found her artistic home at Chance Theater where she has been a Company Member since 2007. Performances at the Chance include the Southern California premiere of Welcome Home, Jenny Sutter (Ovation Recommended), the West Coast Premiere of Jesus Hates Me (Chancie Award-Best Supporting Actress), Rabbit Hole (Back Stage Critic’s Pick), and Frozen. You may also have seen her deflecting bullets as Wonder Woman in the West Coast Premiere of The Superheroine Monologues. Additionally, Jennifer has performed at The Oval Theatre in London and in the remounting of Jesus Hates Me at South Coast Repertory. She has lent her face to the long-running CW show “Smallville” and her voice to the “Bratz Babyz”. In addition to acting, Jennifer enjoys swordfighting, Irish music, and pursuing her lifelong goal of developing a superpower. She is grateful to be a part of this amazing group of artists, and for the endless support from her friends and family, especially Ken, her lobster.

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