company

company members

Executive Artistic Director Amy Hubbard
Business & Marketing Manager Sara Schwabe
Company members: Sarah Campbell, Ellen Chemay,
Jonathan Chemay, Greg Congleton, Jacques Durand, Rob Link, Dennis E. Perkins, Sara Schwabe, Casey Smith

Board of Directors

President Karen Cleaveland
President Elect Hollis Church
Past President John Winemiller
Treasurer Nicole Rioux
Secretary Jeff Kovac
Board Members: John Butler, Lara Edge, Judd Forbes, Sonda Gifford, Ron Gratz, Layne Price, Matt Roach
 

ACTORS CO-OP COMPANY 2007-08

Amy Hubbard
Executive Artistic Director and Co-Founder
Ms. Hubbard co-founded the Actors Co-op in 1997 and has served as its primary administrator since that time. Amy directed productions of TARTUFFE and ON GOLDEN POND, which received "Best Play" by the Knoxville Area Theatre Coalition in 1997 and 2003 respectively. She has directed other notable Co-op productions such as ROMEO AND JULIET, THE IMAGINARY INVALID, LYSISTRATA, MY SISTER IN THIS HOUSE and WIND IN THE WILLOWS. Amy received "Best Actress" for her role as Helen Jones in MACHINAL and "Best Supporting Actress" as Gwendolyn in THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST from the Knoxville Area Theatre Coalition. Favorite roles include Valerie in THE WEIR, Rose in MEASURED IN LABOR: THE COAL CREEK PROJECT and Maire in TRANSLATIONS by Brian Friel. In addition to her work with the Actors Co-op, Ms. Hubbard has been seen onstage with the Clarence Brown Company and Tennessee Stage Company. Ms. Hubbard is the recipient of the Ingram Fellowship from the Tennessee Arts Commission in 2003-2004. Amy plays the title role in the short film, GINA, AN ACTRESS, AGE 29, winner of the Sundance Film Festival's Jury Prize for short film in 2001. Amy trained as an Apprentice and an Act-One Company member at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. Ms. Hubbard plays Betsy Straight in upcoming film TWO WEEKS shot in Nashville Tennessee. Amy was honored to share a scene with Academy Award winner Sally Field. Ms. Hubbard is most proud of her two young daughters, Lucy Maye and Emma Jean.

Sarah Campbell
Company Member
Ms. Campbell is serving her fifth year as a company member. She received a B.A. with honors from the University of Tennessee in Theatre and Anthropology. She was awarded the Ralph Frost memorial Scholarship from the Theatre Department and received several accolades from the undergraduate theatre association. Ms. Campbell serves the Co-op in the capacity of actor, director and designer. Costume design credits most notably include: THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE, LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES, LYSISTRATA, THE LEGEND OF SLEEPY HOLLOW, VELVETEEN RABBIT, and THE IMAGINARY INVALID. Sarah was nominated for "Best Costume Design" for both CHARLOTTE'S WEB and LA RONDE from the Knoxville Area Theatre Coalition. Sarah has been seen onstage in MEASURED IN LABOR; THE COAL CREEK PROJECT, PROOF, OFFICE HOURS, CLOUD NINE and CRIMES OF THE HEART. She is most proud of her directing and design work in THE HOBBIT which was nominated for "Best Children's Play" from KATC. Sarah co-directed A LITTLE PRINCESS and directed CINDERELLA CONFIDENTIAL, both with the Co-op's Whippersnapper Playhouse. Ms. Campbell is proud of her son Eli, who is always saying how glad he is that his mother's favorite past time is the theatre.

Ellen Chemay
Company Member
Ms. Chemay attended the College of St. Benedict where she studied Vocal Performance. Ellen wears many hats with the Actors Co-op: She has appeared in all of the Annual Springtime Cabarets, and thoroughly enjoyed the role of Toinette in the Actors Co-op production of THE IMAGINARY INVALID. Recently, she stage-managed THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE, and designed costumes for A LITTLE PRINCESS also at the Black Box Theatre. Ms. Robinson has been active with the Co-op since 1999.

Jonathan Chemay
Company Member
Mr. Chemay received a B.A. from the University of Tennessee. He has designed and served in a technical capacity for several theatres in the Knoxville area such as the Bijou Theatre, Clarence Brown Theatre, Oak Ridge Community Playhouse and All Campus Theatre. Recent credits include lighting designs for THE WEIR, HEDWIG & THE ANGRY INCH, LOOT, A LITTLE PRINCESS, THE LION THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE, ON THE VERGE and THE SECRET GARDEN. This is Mr. Chemay's sixth year with the Actors Co-op. He is the Technical Director at Roane State Community College in Harriman.

Greg Congelton
Company Member
Mr. Congleton has worked with many Actors Coop productions over the last 10 years such as: CURSE OF THE STARVING CLASS, TRANSLATIONS and THE WEIR. Growing up in various states across the South and Mid-west, he was formally educated in Maryland, New Mexico, Florida and Colorado. Before settling in Knoxville he worked with the Kaleidoscope Players in Alabama, the Asolo Theater Festival in Sarasota, Florida, The Nomad Playhouse in Boulder, Colorado and the Santa Fe Trail theater in New Mexico. He did national tours with the National Humanities Series and of ANDROCLES AND THE LION with the Kaleidoscope Players. Locally Greg has appeared in a few independent films and commercials. He has acted with The Tennessee Stage Company, Shakespeare on the Square (and in the Park), Theater Knoxville, Carpetbag Theater, the Clarence Brown Company and the University Company. Also a poet and aspiring playwright, Greg has participated in many local “readings” such as the Agee Amble and the Suttree Stagger. He is the instigator of the jazz jam session readings of Kerouac’s MEXICO CITY BLUES. He shares a home in the Island Home Park neighborhood with his wife Mitzi, a well-known portrait artist.

Rob Link
Company Member
A company member since 1999, Ms. Link has a graphic Design degree from the University of Tennessee and is a licensed Cosmetologist in the State of Tennessee. She has been a member of I.A.T.S.E., Local 798, New York since 1997 and is currently the only union hairdresser in East Tennessee. Some of her credits include:GINA, AN ACTRESS, AGE 29, won the Jury Prize for Short Filmmaking at the Sundance Film Festival in 2001 and THE HEART IS DECEITFUL ABOVE ALL THINGS, which was shown at the Cannes Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival and the Berlin Film Festival. Ms. Link has worked with Miramax, Universal Studios, The History Channel, A&E, Turner South, Animal Planet, Oxygen, HGTV, DIY, Scripps, and the Clarence Brown Company. Rob designs hair and makeup for most mainstage Actors Co-op productions.

Dennis Perkins
Company Member
Mr. Perkins is very happy to join the company after three years of being a sometime prickly member of the Board of Directors. Though he has only spent two seasons as a company member, the Co-op has been his artistic home for many years. He takes great pride and pleasure in his work with Le Cage Noir, the springtime cabaret wing of the Co-op, as well as his work as a director for the Whippersnapper Play House (SLEEPY HOLLOW and THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE). He made his acting debut with LA RONDE and sang with much sweat in JACQUES BREL. In 2001, he shared Chicago's Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Ensemble with the cast of the Bailiwick Rep. and Ulysses Theatre Co. production of CORPUS CHRISTI. Dennis was twice invited to direct in Hungary at the Debreceni Csokonai Theatre, where his production of MARVIN'S ROOM was met with critical acclaim and his production of OF MICE AND MEN was met with controversy. Despite the decades, Dennis remains proud to be a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of the University of Tennessee.

Sara Pat Schwabe
Business & Marketing Manager / Company Member
Ms. Schwabe has been a company member since 1999, acting, teaching and directing several Co-op productions. Favorite roles have included The Marquise in LES LIAISONS DANGEREUSES; Woman #2 in JACQUES BREL IS ALIVE & WELL...; Elizabeth Morgan in MEASURED IN LABOR; THE COAL CREEK PROJECT, Lysistrata in LYSISTRATA, Mme. Danzard in MY SISTER IN THIS HOUSE, Mrs. Drudge in THE REAL INSPECTOR HOUND and The Woman in VINEGAR TOM. Her favorite directing credits include the annual Springtime Cabarets and A LITTLE BIT OF CULTURE, as well as the Co-op's mainstage productions of THE WEIR and LA RONDE. LA RONDE received 7 nominations from the Knoxville Area Theatre Coalition for outstanding work. Sara is a graduate of The College of St. Benedict/St. John's University in Minnesota where she received degrees in Vocal Performance and Theatre. Sara has been an instructor for the Actors Co-op Training Studio since 2003. In addition to her work with the Actors Co-op, Sara appears on various stages throughout the area as guest actor, but also with Sara Schwabe and Her Yankee Jass Band, a sought-after jazz ensemble.

Casey Smith
Company Member
Ms. Smith is a first year company member. Casey has been seen in such Co-op productions as the 2007 Springtime Cabaret, A CO-OP HOME COMPANION and LYSISTRATA. In 2006, she earned her BA in Theatre at the University of Tennessee. Other credits include: Roane State Community College production of THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW, A CHRISTMAS CAROL and BIG RIVER at the Clarence Brown Theatre, THE SECRET GARDEN, WHEN SHAKESPEARE’S LADIES MEET, and THE DEATH AND LIFE OF SHERLOCK HOLMES at Cumberland College, Oak Ridge Playhouse productions of BYE BYE BIRDIE, OLIVER, THE WIZARD OF OZ, THE EMPERORS NEW CLOTHES, and CHARLOTTE’S WEB, as well as THE RIMERS OF ELDRITCH performed at the Actors Instititute of New York, and LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS at the Professional Performing Arts School, New York.