http://www.GulfshorePlayhouse.org
Gulfshore Playhouse (www.GulfshorePlayhouse.org), Southwest Florida’s professional, regional theatre, is pleased to announce its 2015-2016 board of directors, which includes two new board members – Patty Baker and Tarren Bragdon.
The Gulfshore Playhouse 2015-2016 board of directors is as follows:
Bob Harden
Patty Baker
Tarren Bragdon
Naomi Buck
Kristen Coury
David Drobis
Todd Gates
Don Gunther
Jason Korn
Tina McCain Matte
Jack Nortman
Gail Kern Paster
Tennille Sevigny
Adria Starkey
Patty Baker
A Naples resident and tireless community champion, Patty Baker has been involved in the theater since graduating summa cum laude from Hunter College in New York City. From 1988 until 2000, she was on the Friends of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater board of directors while living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There, she served as vice president, and the Patty & Jay Baker Theater Complex is named in her and husband, Jay’s honor. In addition, she was a docent at the Milwaukee Art Museum, where she also served on the board. After moving to Naples full-time in 2000, she served on the board of The Naples Players at the Sugden Theatre for seven years and chaired two fundraisers that raised over $3.7million. Since that time, Baker became a Broadway producer, has earned two Tony Awards, and has three shows currently on Broadway: Matilda; Beautiful, the Carole King Musical; and It Shoulda Been You. This fall, she will produce China Doll, starring Al Pacino; and Fiddler on the Roof, sta rring Danny Burstein. She is also currently producing MEMPHIS, The Musical and Beautiful, The Carole King Musical in London’s West End, both of which received Olivier Awards this past spring. In addition to her work on Broadway, Baker serves on the board and chairs the theatre advisory board of Hunter College, which consists of various luminaries in the industry and works to obtain internships for students and introduce them to various jobs in theatre. She serves on the board of The Public Theater in New York City, and is also on the Cleveland Rock and Roll Hall of Fame board.
Tarren Bragdon
Tarren Bragdon is president and chief executive officer of the Foundation for Government Accountability, which he founded in 2011, and is one of the top five biggest state-based think tanks in the country with $4 million in revenue and fourteen staff. Bragdon is a nationally-recognized expert on health reform issues. He has testified before committees of the U.S. Senate and House; state legislative committees in Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maine, Ohio, and New York; numerous national conferences; and the American Swiss Foundation in Switzerland. His work has been featured on Fox News’ Sean Hannity Show; National Public Television’s NOW; in Wall Street Journal editorials and op-eds; and in the New York Post, Boston Globe, New York Times; and on National Public Radio. His research has been published with The Heritage Foundation and The Manhattan Institute. From 2008 to early 2011, Bragdon was CEO of The Maine Heritage Policy Center, a free market t hink tank based in Portland, Maine. In September 2010, he received the Thomas Roe Award, given annually by the State Policy Network to the individual with the greatest impact on the nation’s free market movement. Prior to that, Bragdon served in the Maine House of Representatives. Elected at the age of 21, he remains the youngest person ever elected to the Maine Legislature. Bragdon received his Bachelor of Science degree in computer science from the University of Maine and his Masters of Science of Business degree from Husson University in Bangor, Maine.
Gulfshore Playhouse is passionately committed to enriching the cultural landscape of the region by producing professional theatre to the highest artistic standards and providing unique educational opportunities to diverse groups of people in a spirit of service, adventure, and excitement. Gulfshore Playhouse’s work is inspired by a belief in the magic of theater to expand the imagination, challenge the senses, provoke discussion, and revitalize in the audience an understanding of common humanity. This belief drives the respect with which Gulfshore Playhouse treats its artists, audiences, students, staff, and members of the greater community. For more information about Gulfshore Playhouse, please visit www.gulfshoreplayhouse.org or call 239-261-PLAY(7529).
