Board of Directors
Charles Johnson, President
Chris Rohmann, Secretary
Allie Collins Anderson, Treasurer
Stephen August
Meg Gage
Daniel Kramer
Meg Gage
Bob Lee
Darcie Sosa
Kelley Vickery
Susanna Witt
Emily Wojcik
Leadership
Michelle Ong-Hendrick (Co-Artistic Director) has staged the operas La Traviata for Pan Opera; Albert Herring, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, The Enchanted Child, Noye’s Fludde and The Elixir of Love, Cendrillon, The Marriage of Figaro, HMS Pinafore, Suor Angelica, The Lantern Marriage, She Loves Me, Bessie and Ma and Dido and Aeneas for the University of Connecticut: The Rape of Lucretia, Trouble in Tahiti, The Telephone, Hand of Bridge, Hansel and Gretel, The Old Maid and the Thief, Der Schauspieldirektor, Bastien und Bastienne, and the world premiere of Tom Sawyer for Hartford Opera Theater; Le mariage aux lanternes and the East Coast premiere of The Three Hermits for the Hartt School; Le mariage aux lanternes and Les bavards for the Intermezzo Opera Festival.
She also directed the plays Eurydice and Romeo and Juliet at Trinity College and eight short new operas for Hartford Opera Theater’s New in November Festival. In addition to being Stage Director of UConn Opera Theater, she is a Visiting Assistant Professor at Trinity College and from 1998 to 2008 was an Associate in Opera at the Hartt School/University of Hartford. She has also been a Visiting Lecturer at the University of Massachusetts and has taught workshops at the Intermezzo Opera Festival, the International School of the Philippines, Central Connecticut State University and Hartford’s Trust House. She was founding Artistic Director of Hartford Opera Theater from 2008 to 2012. Her professional work as an actress includes roles in A Christmas Carol, Macbeth, The Threepenny Opera, The Nutcracker, Beauty and the Beast, Cymbeline, As You Like It, The Laramie Project, A Little Night Music, Eracism, and Arcadia at Hartford Stage, TheatreWorks, Playmakers Repertory Company, and the Ko Festival among others.
Ms. Ong-Hendrick earned a BA from the University of Massachusetts and an MFA from the University of North Carolina, Professional Acting Training Program.
Christopher Baker (Co-Artistic Director) is a dramaturg, playwright, director and teacher with over 30 years’ experience in regional, Off-Broadway and academic theatre. From 1998 to 2013 he was a member of the artistic staff at Hartford Stage, serving in various capacities, including Associate Artistic Director, Associate Producer and Senior Dramaturg. Baker’s adaptation of Pride and Prejudice broke box office records at the Repertory Theater of St. Louis. Produced at schools and theaters across the United States and Canada, Pride and Prejudice is published by Broadway Publishing Company and premiered at Center Stage in Baltimore. His play The Lincoln Vaudeville was produced at the Hartt School and Trinity College and was workshopped at Center Stage, Baltimore. His play for children, Calliope Jam, premiered at the Alley Theatre.
His recent work as a dramaturg includes the North American premiere and tour of David Seidlers’ The King’s Speech, Horton Foote’s The Roads to Home at Primary Stages (New York) and Tennessee Williams’ The Night of the Iguana at the American Repertory Theater. He was also the dramaturg for Off-Broadway productions of Williams’ The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore and Foote’s The Orphans’ Home Cycle. He has been a dramaturg at Hartford Stage, The Shakespeare Theatre, PlayMakers Repertory Company and the Alley Theatre. Baker has directed numerous productions, including Oleanna, Calliope Jam and A Christmas Carol (Alley Theatre); Beauty and the Beast (PlayMakers Repertory); the short operas The Gold Standard, Krispy Kremes and Butter Queens and The Lifespan of a Fly (Hartford Opera Theatre); and Orestes (University of North Carolina).
Hannah Williams (Managing Director) is an arts administrator, producer, director, and intimacy choreographer who has worked with theatres across New England, the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, Canada, and China, led by the desire to find innovative and equitable ways to connect art with audiences. She worked with the Audience Engagement team of the prestigious Williamstown Theatre Festival as part of their 71st season, W71, seeing 30% year-over-year growth and 40% new audiences out of 15k estimated total attendees. Prior to moving to New England, Hannah worked as the Patron Services and Festival Manager for the Asheville Symphony, her time notably marked by her leadership in building a new performance venue tailored to the specific needs of her patron base. Her successful strategies for audience engagement resulted in an over 40% increase in subscription revenue over her time with the organization in addition to the steady growth and retention of new ticket buyers.
Originally from East Tennessee, Hannah moved to the Midwest at the start of her career to study musical theatre at Millikin University, graduating magna cum laude as a James Millikin Scholar and participating in Shakespeare’s Globe Education Study Program. After graduation, Hannah joined the team of The National Women’s Theatre Festival as their Managing Director with a focus on equitable producing and ethical artist management. She is responsible for the creation and implementation of their company standards as well as producing new play festivals with up to 40 new plays, contributing directly to the developmental processes and co-producing works with partners such as Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Play On Shakespeare, and Raleigh Little Theatre. Her time in North Carolina connected her to the Raleigh Arts Council and Arts North Carolina’s work in disability justice, participating in the Raleigh Arts Commission’s Arts Learning Community for Universal Access (2021-2022), Theatrical Intimacy Education’s Educator Advocate Program (2023), and the Southeastern Theatre Conference’s Leadership Initiative Cohort. Hannah continued her work with the Southeastern Theatre Conference as Chair of the Disability Inclusion Committee (2021-2025), a member of the Diversity and Inclusion and Services Councils.
She is a proud Associate Member of the Stage Directors and Choreographer’s Society, Associate Faculty with Theatrical Intimacy Education, and a prior Southeastern respondent for the Kennedy Center’s American College Theatre Festival. She has worked and taught as a creative in regional theatres and universities, including North Carolina School for the Arts, Western Carolina University, UNC Asheville, and Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre. Some favorite past projects include The Bridges of Madison County (Director, Fort Salem Theatre), Every Brilliant Thing (Director, Haywood Arts Regional Theatre), and Jekyll and Hyde (Intimacy Choreographer, Western Carolina University). More information on her creative practice can be found at mshannahcat.com.