American Legacy Theatre was founded to create a more equitable tomorrow through accessible theatre arts.
Board of Trustees
-
Jonathan Salisbury
Board Chair
Arts Practitioner, Self-Employed
“My why is conversations with Matthew. What theatre is and what it could be. For theatre to be driven by a message and method is really exciting. That’s American Legacy Theatre."
-
Amber Gallagher
Vice Chair
Intellectual Property Administrative Assistant, P&G
“As a mother now, I know how deeply important it is to embrace others where they are ready to meet you, provide support through empathy and love, and build strength through open and honest communication. This is what American Legacy Theatre does every day.”
-
amy weber
Immediate Past Chair
Vice President, Interactivity Foundation
"American Legacy Theatre facilitates change and addresses deficits in creativity. American Legacy Theatre uses performance to help explore other's change in community."
-
Megan Colvin
Treasurer
Sr. Director of Finance, Global Materials, P&G
“I’m drawn to American Legacy Theatre for thinking about problems in unique ways, and I like that ALT is in the ‘scaling’ phase of growth.”
-
Cheryl Kreindler
Secretary
SVP, Earth and Environment, WSP
“American Legacy Theatre’s mission is oriented around the nexus of theatre art and mental health. I appreciate that this focus can be challenging for the traditional arts community, particularly in how success is measured, but ALT is leading the way.”
-
Denise Esteves-Hicks, PMP
Board Member
Sr. Program Manager, Kroger Technology & Digital
“I am passionate, curious, and authentic, always leading with the intent to solve problems. American Legacy Theatre demonstrates those same values.”
-
Julie Vazquez McGregor
Board Member
Chief Program Officer, Santa Maria Community Services
“American Legacy Theatre is unique, community driven, and unleashes so many possibilities to share messaging, raise awareness, and create healing.”
-
Natasha Moffitt
Board Member
Economic Inclusion Manager, Messer Construction
“American Legacy Theatre’s commitment to fostering inclusive and innovative theatre experiences. This is what I’m drawn to.”
-
Chris Owens, MBA
Board Member
Insurance Sales Sr. Executive, Huntington Insurance
“My family has a long history of supporting the arts and I am passionate about the work of American Legacy Theatre in the minority community.”
-
Avery Ozimek
Board Member
Exec. Compensation & Benefits, Paul Hastings
“American Legacy Theatre embraces two of the causes closest to my heart—art and social justice.”
Our Team
Megan Bennett
Playwright in Residence
“American Legacy Theatre is an organization that is grounded in the present while reaching for the future. In its effort to build the American legacy, it promises to speak to all people for decades to come.”
Megan Bennett is a born and bred New Yorker, attending prestigious junior high and high schools in Brooklyn. Meeting minds that would go on to be doctors, executives and entrepreneurs shaped her to become not just a playwright, labor leader, and poet, but someone that is always thinking about how to shape tomorrow.
While on the surface Megan appeared academically successful (graduating from the University at Buffalo with a double major in English and Theater cum laude), behind the scenes every grade, word on the page and manifested idea was an uphill battle. She grew up in a community where most people were dependent on government benefits for survival, selling drugs was commonplace, and racial tensions between the Black and the Hasidic Jewish communities ran high. It was a childhood fraught with need, loneliness, and a desire for a better world. It created a woman with great strength, great vision, and a lot of inner battles to fight.
After graduating college, Megan Bennett went on to write four books of poetry; Love Story, War Story and Soul Story, a trilogy documenting her growth as an artist, and Black, a direct response to the social unrest brought on by the murder of Black people in America. During this time, she also wrote, directed, and produced a lighthearted web series entitled Plus One. In exploring other artistic mediums, she found that nothing can compare to a community of people sharing the same experience at the same time. She believes that now, more than ever, it is critical that we return to the theater to discover both ourselves and the world around us. Outside of her creative endeavors, she is employed full time in the labor movement, working every day to create a world where every member of the artistic community is supported, encouraged, and empowered to pursue their creative endeavors.
Megan Bennett brings her wealth of knowledge, experience, and compassion to The American Legacy Theatre in complete alignment and support of their vision of a more equitable tomorrow.
Kennen Butler
Playwright in Residence
“ALT has been an incredibly safe space for me. I was given room to grow and stretch as myself. Often in this life, others will mold me into the voice they wish me to use. At ALT, I have been able to use my own voice and through that give back to the communities I’m apart of and beyond.”
Kennen is a NYC-based performer-composer, director, choreographer, and storyteller born in Flint, MI, but raised in Newburgh, NY. Their cross-genre career spans musical theatre and commercial music. A proud member of Actors Equity, their diverse theatre credits include the revival of Seussical the Musical Off-Broadway/Tour (Wickersham), Hairspray (u/s Seaweed), Tommy (u/s Acid Queen), Diary of a Payphone (Original Cast Recording), Aida (Mereb), Urinetown (Senator Fipp), Legally Blonde (Emmett), Knock Down Drag Out (Zonna), and Songs for a New World (Man 1) among others. They spent time as a background vocalist for acts like Toby Beau. Abroad, they served as a Creative Consultant for Universal Studios Osaka as well as being a swing for the company. They would also serve as director/choreographer for a Japanese production company called Team Utsubo where they mounted revue musicals in both English and Japanese.
While their love for harmony and stories would be their entry point into music and musical theatre, it would be their experiences navigating being black in environments that undervalue you and being nonbinary in a time were there wasn’t a word or place for you that sparked their interest in adding their voice to the current musical climate. Under the name “Kennen Jakhan & the Story” they performed their original English and Japanese commercial music around Osaka and the south of Japan before making the transition back to the United States. They are currently a playwright and composer for American Legacy Theatre’s In Home program to write, compose, and perform one person shows in a week’s time. They graduated magna cum laude from Berklee College of Music in Boston where they studied Contemporary Writing and Production with a double minor in Musical Theatre Writing and Vocal Pedagogy. They have returned to NYC to pursue their masters in Musical Theatre Writing at NYU Tisch.
Dora Bayliss
Arts Impact Program Director
Dora has spent her career working at nonprofit organizations with a focus on education and equity. Before joining American Legacy Theatre, she held leadership roles at youth development organizations Squash & Education Alliance, SquashBusters, and CitySquash. Prior to that, she worked at New York-based arts integration program, LEAP (Learning through an Expanded Arts Program). Whether performing musical theatre, singing in community choirs, teaching crochet lessons, or facilitating youth arts programming, creative pursuits have always been an important part of Dora’s life. Dora moved to Cincinnati in 2019 and is excited to deepen her connections to the Cincinnati community through her work at ALT.
“I was drawn to American Legacy Theatre because of its emphasis on the things that matter most to me in my work – collaboration, community, creativity, equity, and social justice. I feel lucky to be part of a team that is committed to making programming that is community-driven, accessible, and innovative.”
Matthew David Gellin, CFRE
Executive Artistic Director & CEO, American Legacy Theatre
“The power of theatre that has not yet been leveraged completely. It’s the idea of how can we get to a point where wars can be stopped and people can be brought together into a world of true equity because of the power of theatre. How do we truly make an impact in positive way for ALL voices and ALL people? We, at American Legacy Theatre give them a voice and bring that voice to the forefront to be heard.”
Matthew has successfully acted and directed across the country, in Europe, and in Asia.
Matthew is proud to have served as a U.S. representative at the UNESCO
International Theatre Institute Research Lab in Romania. He was named a Promising Artist of the 21st Century by the International Arts and Cultural Exchange, and he has published papers on directorial theory in international peer-reviewed journals. He has also been recognized as one of Cincinnati Business Courier’s Forty Under 40.
His financial background includes serving as U.S. delegate to the People’s Republic of China for foreign business affairs and currently volunteering on the executive committee for the Association of Fundraising Professionals Foundation for Philanthropy USA.
Now, he looks to lift American theatre back to the top of the world’s stage.
Elijah Webster
Artistic Program Coordinator
Elijah was first introduced to American Legacy Theatre as a sophomore in high school, where he got to be a part of the first ever rendition of the In Classrooms Students Create Change program. That was a life-changing experience for him, and he has been drawn to the American Legacy Theatre mission ever since. Throughout the years, Elijah has worked on a variety of projects for ALT, such as working as a Teaching Artist, stage management, and performance booking before finally getting the opportunity to become a member of ALT’s full-time staff! Outside of his deep love for doing all things theatre, Elijah loves training dogs, playing music, and arranging acapella scores!
“When I needed to feel empowered the most, American Legacy Theatre came to me and lifted me up as a student. Now, I strive to do everything in my power to bring that same life-altering experience to as many people as possible. I am so lucky to get to be a part of a team of people that are all so passionate about making theatre and art as accessible, empowering, and as effective as possible.”
