Faculty & Staff

Theatre & Dance Program Head
Musical Theatre
FA 220B
strawnj@nku.edu
(859) 572-6917

B.M. West Chester University
M.M. University of Cincinnati-College Conservatory of Music

Jamey Strawn is a full professor in the Theatre and Dance program, where he serves as the BFA audition coordinator and the coordinator of the musical theatre program. Aside from teaching musical theatre courses, he enjoys teaching with CCSA in the study abroad program to London. Jamey has composed music for several published works for the stage, including Sleeping Beauty: Rise and Shine, A. Lincoln: A Pioneer Tale, Snow White and the Dancing Dwarfs, The Day Before Christmas, Church Girls, and Burgertown. When he is not writing, Jamey is directing, musical directing, performing, and teaching. He has performed regionally with the Broadway Tour Productions of Jersey Boys, Wicked, Disney’s The Little Mermaid, Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, Evita, Flashdance, Legally Blonde, Monty Python’s Spamalot, A Chorus Line, The Sound of Music, and West Side Story in Cincinnati, Cleveland, Louisville, Lexington, Columbus, and Indianapolis. Recent directing credits include The Lightning Thief: A Percy Jackson Musical, Fugitive Songs, Edges, Big Fish, Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Into The Woods at Northern Kentucky University, and Route 66, I Love A Piano and Forever Plaid with the Commonwealth Theatre Company. He has been the Musical Director for many successful productions, including The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Burgertown, Rock of Ages, Spelling Bee, Les Misérables, Sweeney Todd, Monty Python’s Spamalot, and many more.

Retention Specialist
FA 214
perronen1@nku.edu
(859) 572-7764

Nicole Perrone recently joined the theatre faculty as a Lecturer and Retention Specialist after spending seven years at Marshall University where she was an Associate Professor of Acting and Movement. There she co-founded the MU Center for Wellness in the Arts and also served as one of its directors. Nicole is a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique (ATI), and a certified teacher of the Michael Chekhov Technique through the Great Lakes Michael Chekhov Consortium. A member of Actors’ Equity Association and SAG-AFTRA, Nicole has worked professionally for twenty years as an actor, teacher and director. With theatre-maker Matthew Earnest, she founded the Lunar Stratagem, an Equity non-profit theatre committed to the creation of original work. With the Lunar Stratagem, Nicole has appeared in [glug], Can You Forgive Her?, I, Ca$$ie…or the end of days (English Theatre Berlin), and Dead Letter Office (a prelude to Bartleby the Scrivener) which was named one of the Berkshire region’s best productions of 2013.

Programs and Production Assistant
FA 205
deatona3@nku.edu
(859) 572-6362

Technical Director
Teaching Professor
CA 118C kerbyr@nku.edu
(859) 572-1427

B.F.A. Northern Kentucky University
M.F.A. University of Illinois

Rob received his BFA in Theatre from NKU in 1987, and his MFA in Theatre from The University of Illinois in 2002. Since coming to NKU in 2002, Rob has been the Technical Director for a many productions, including academic and Commonwealth Theatre Company seasons. Rob also has designed scenery while here at NKU including The Colored Museum, and Love and Communication for the 2009 Y.E.S. Festival. He has also worked at the Scenic Studio Supervisor at The Ohio State University and Indian State University, as a Studio Technician at Walt Disney World MGM Studios, and as the Assistant Technical Director at The Krannert Center for the Performing Arts at The University of Illinois, where he earned his M.F.A.

Box Office Manager
FA 259
mcnayr1@nku.edu
(859) 572-5809

Costume Shop Manager
FA 201
schmealc@nku.edu
(859) 572-6472

B.F.A . Costume Design Emphasis, Northern Kentucky University
M.F.A. Theatre Design, The Ohio State University

Cat Schmeal-Swope is the Costume Shop Manager for the Theatre & Dance Program. Before joining NKU she was the Costume Shop Supervisor and a staff Costume Designer at Minnesota State University, Mankato from 2011 to 2016. At MNSU, she costume designed over twenty-five dance pieces for the department and had the opportunity to present at ACDA’s North-Central Regional Conference on costume designing for dance productions. Cat received her MFA from The Ohio State University. While at OSU, Cat had the opportunity to complete her thesis project, Costume Designer for Othello (2011), with director Allison Bomber from Royal Shakespeare Company. She also received a USITT Ezekiel Award for her puppet design/construction for The Long Christmas Ride Home (2010). She has worked for various companies including The Opera Theatre of St. Louis (Buyer, 2008), The Ohio State University School of Music (Costume Designer, 2011), The Actors Theatre of Columbus (Costume Designer, 2011), MNSU Highland Summer Theatre (Costume Designer, 2012-16), The Ohio State University Department of Theatre (Costume Designer, 2016), Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park (Overhire Draper & Stitcher, 2016) and CATCO (Costume Designer, 2018).

Associate Professor
Design and Technology
FA 204A
chamberlar4@nku.edu
(859) 572-5285

M.F.A. Costume Design & Technology; The University of Alabama
B.A. Performing Arts; Colorado State University

Mrs. Chamberlain is an Associate Professor of Theatre and Dance in Costume Design, Technology and Makeup. When she is not teaching or designing, Ronnie is supervising student designers and technicians in their work on our productions. She embraces technology and is always looking to learn new applications and techniques to bring to NKU and its students. Mrs. Chamberlain teaches The Business of Theater, Costume Design, Costume History, Costume Crafts, Costume Technology and Advanced Makeup.

Specialties and Background
Ronnie Chamberlain is actively involved in United States Institute for Theater Technology serving on the Conference Committee for many year. Ms. Chamberlain serves as Vice Chair of Operations for the Ohio Valley Section of USITT. She is also active in Southeastern Theatre Conference and the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. As a costume designer, her work has been seen in productions the Oklahoma Shakespeare Festival, Haricake Productions, The University of Alabama, Relevance Productions, Open Stage Theatre and The Blackhills Playhouse. Some of her favorite past designs includes Pride and Prejudice, Cabaret, Godspell, Disney’s Beauty and Beast and As You Like It.

Professor
Theatre & Dance
barkere7@nku.edu

Visiting Teaching Professor
Dance and Musical Theatre
FA 231
perrinog1@nku.edu

Associate Professor
Acting/Performance
FA 229
danieleyc1@nku.edu
(859) 572-5451

B.S. Hannibal-LaGrange College
M.F.A. Illinois State University

Ms. Danieley is an Associate Professor of Theatre, Performance. She teaches courses in acting, voice for the actor, movement for the actor, performing Shakespeare, and The Alexander Technique. A member of the Screen Actor’s Guild (SAG), Ms. Danieley has performed in national and regional commercials as well as played supporting roles in feature films including Jesse Orcutt in American Pastoral directed by Ewan McGregor and starring Ewan McGregor, Jennifer Connelly, and Dakota Fanning; as Monica Wheeler in Inconceivable starring Nicholas Cage and Faye Dunaway; and as Betty Ireton in A Kind of Murder starring Patrick Wilson and Jessica Beale. Ms. Danieley is also a member of Actor’s Equity Association (AEA) and has performed off-Broadway and regionally. She regularly directs locally and for main-stage productions at NKU. A few of her favorite directing credits include: 9 to 5 the Musical, Peter and the Starcatcher, Gruesome Playground Injuries, Kiss Me Kate, The Grapes of Wrath, The Winter’s Tale, Failure: A Love Story, Company, and A… My Name is Alice. Professor Danieley’s research focuses on health and wellness specific to performing artists. She helps actors, dancers, and musicians integrate mind-body practices so they may better manage performance anxiety and also develop healthy ways to step into and out of character. In 2019 Professor Danieley was awarded a Faculty Fellowship from the NKU Institute for Health Innovation which allowed her to study yoga and meditation for six weeks in Dharamshala, India at the Sarvaguna Yoga School. There she earned her 200hr yoga teacher certification (Hatha and Vinyasa) plus an additional 100hrs of training in meditation. She is also a Registered Somatic Movement Educator and Therapist (ISMETA); a Certified Teacher of The Alexander Technique (ATI); a Certified Teacher of the Michael Chekhov Acting Technique; and continues her training as a second degree black belt in Shaolin-do Kung Fu and Tai Chi in Northern Kentucky.

Visiting Teaching Professor
Dance
FA 226
gatchj1@nku.edu

BS Indiana University Bloomington, IN, (Kinesiology)
MFA Temple University Philadelphia, PA, (Performance and Choreography)

Jeri Deckard Gatch is a Modern Dance teacher, choreographer, and performer and has lived in Cincinnati since 1997. She earned her BS: Kinesiology from Indiana University, and her MFA: Performance and Choreography from Temple University in Philadelphia where she also taught for 2 years. Jeri was adjunct faculty at Virginia Commonwealth University in the Dance and Theater Departments. Since moving back to the Mid-West, Jeri has worked through the Contemporary Dance Theater since 1999, Growth In Motion, and performed with several local choreographers, as well as guest teaching. Jeri choreographed for a workshop at the Playhouse In the Park, lead pre-school Creative Movement, was twice a Modern Dance faculty teacher at the Ohio Dance Festival, and in recent years was commissioned by Miami University, Berea College, and College of Lake County to set new works on their companies. Jeri is in her 3rd term serving on the Board of Trustees of OhioDance, and is a Founding and Board member of Greater Cincinnati Dance Alliance, where she is the Board Secretary and Membership Chair. She was President of the Mariemont School District’s Arts Association and after almost a decade of service, earned the 2019 “Friend of the Arts” award. Jeri is a residency teacher for Mam-Luft & Company (ML&Co) in schools where she teaches children in their schools, Pre-K through 6th grade, and choreographs for their recitals. Jeri works through ML&Co and the Kennedy Heights Arts Center to do Spring Arts Residencies and choreograph musicals and original programs. Jeri teaches in the Cincinnati Ballet’s "Cincy Dance!" Program and is Co-Developer of the “Story Choreography Project” that premiered in Spring of 2019. Currently, Jeri is an Adjunct Faculty at University of Cincinnati-CCM where she teaches Modern Dance Technique to the Ballet and Musical Theater majors, as well as elective Modern Dance classes.

Jeri has a heart for arts advocacy and is honored to be an active part of the Ohio dance community.

Associate Professor
History & Literature
FA 205A
hattonm@nku.edu
(859) 572-6160

B.F.A. Northern Kentucky University
M.F.A. Virginia Commonwealth University

Michael Hatton an Assistant Professor in the Theatre & Dance Program at Northern Kentucky University, teaching courses in theatre history, race and gender through dramatic literature and dramatic theory and criticism. Favorite credits include: director of The Rocky Horror Show, The Farnsworth Invention, Grease!, Moby Dick: Rehearsed, The American Clock; The Oresteia; Devising Me; Peter Pan (Northern Kentucky University); When the Dealing’s Done; A Thousand Miles Burning (NKU Studio); The Santaland Diaries (New Edgecliff Theatre); Eastbound Jungle (Cincinnati Fringe Festival); Good Evening, Pigtown (Performance Gallery); Corpus Christi (VCU Studio); assistant director of Man of La Mancha and Mad Forest (both for Sibiu International Theatre Festival); stage manager for Carousel, Pippin, The Sandman (The Carnegie), KAZ/M; Fricative (Cincinnati Fringe Festival); Cincinnati Overture Awards, Oklahoma!; A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Thy Brother’s Keeper; Cyrano de Bergerac; Man of La Mancha; Sweet Charity; Too Good to Say Goodbye (NKU Theatre); Nuncrackers; I Love A Piano; Forever Plaid; Greater Tuna; The Odd Couple; A Grand Night For Singing (Commonwealth Theatre Company) and numerous other productions. Mr. Hatton is the resident production stage manager for the Lincoln Boyhood Drama Association and their signature musical, A Pioneer Tale. Mr. Hatton has also worked with several local companies including the Acclaim Awards as a panelist, the Cincinnati Arts Association, Cincinnati Overture Awards, Showstoppers/Belterra Casino, Cincinnati Men’s Chorus, Professional Concepts and is the resident Production Manager for The Performance Gallery. Mr. Hatton is on the Board of Directors for the Cincinnati Cappies and is the NKU coordinator for the Lois and Richard Rosenthal Uptown Arts internship program.

Rosenthal Distinguished Professor, Regents Professor
Writing / Acting / Directing
FA 234
jonesk@nku.edu
(859) 572-5434

B.F.A. University of Florida
M.F.A. University of Virginia
Certificate of Playwriting, Harvard University

Ken Jones earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Acting/Directing from the University of Florida, a Master of Fine Arts degree in Playwriting from the University of Virginia and continued on to graduate in Playwriting from the Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University.

Jones has had 27 produced with 10 published, 9 musicals, 4 CD’s of original soundtrack scores and listings in several anthologies and monologue books. Jones began his playwriting career with the Off -Broadway production of his play, A RED EAGLE FALLING, produced at the Writer’s Theatre in New York City by the Project III Ensemble. His play, DARKSIDE, was chosen as TIME Magazine’s Critic Choice and was also recognized as one of the Best Plays of the 1980’s.

Jones was a member of the prestigious Warner Bros. Television Writer’s Workshop and went on to serve as the Head of Development for Light Point Entertainment at Disney/MGM Studios for the development and creation of content for animation, television and film.

As a performer, Jones performed in the workshop productions of the Broadway musicals FINDING NEVERLAND and STEEL. He has appeared in productions at regional theatres including the American Repertory Theatre, Heritage Theatre, Commonwealth Theatre Company and the Children’s Theatre of Cincinnati, and he has voiced many characters for animated National television series.

He has received a Telly Award, a Communicator’s Award, the Post-Corbett award for Best Literary Artist, a Delauney Playwriting Award, the Kentucky Playwright’s Award, the Trailblazer Educator’s Award, seven Acclaim Awards, two Emmy nominations and six International awards for screenwriting and filmmaking.

Ken Jones is an active member of the Dramatist Guild of America, the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, and a member of National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Ken the Rosenthal Distinguished Professor of Theatre and a Regent’s Professor at NKU, where he served as the Chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance for 11 years and was the Founding Director of the NKU School of the Arts.

Teaching Professor
Stagecraft
CA 118C
kerbyr@nku.edu
(859) 572-1427

B.F.A. Northern Kentucky University
M.F.A. University of Illinois

Rob received his BFA in Theatre from NKU in 1987, and his MFA in Theatre from The University of Illinois in 2002. Since coming to NKU in 2002, Rob has been the Technical Director for a many productions, including academic and Commonwealth Theatre Company seasons. Rob also has designed scenery while here at NKU including The Colored Museum, and Love and Communication for the 2009 Y.E.S. Festival. He has also worked at the Scenic Studio Supervisor at The Ohio State University and Indian State University, as a Studio Technician at Walt Disney World MGM Studios, and as the Assistant Technical Director at The Krannert Center for the Performing Arts at The University of Illinois, where he earned his M.F.A.

Associate Teaching Professor
Acting and Performance
FA 214
perronen1@nku.edu
(859) 572-7764

Nicole Perrone recently joined the theatre faculty as a Lecturer and Retention Specialist after spending seven years at Marshall University where she was an Associate Professor of Acting and Movement. There she co-founded the MU Center for Wellness in the Arts and also served as one of its directors. Nicole is a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique (ATI), and a certified teacher of the Michael Chekhov Technique through the Great Lakes Michael Chekhov Consortium. A member of Actors’ Equity Association and SAG-AFTRA, Nicole has worked professionally for twenty years as an actor, teacher and director. With theatre-maker Matthew Earnest, she founded the Lunar Stratagem, an Equity non-profit theatre committed to the creation of original work. With the Lunar Stratagem, Nicole has appeared in [glug], Can You Forgive Her?, I, Ca$$ie…or the end of days (English Theatre Berlin), and Dead Letter Office (a prelude to Bartleby the Scrivener) which was named one of the Berkshire region’s best productions of 2013.

Assistant Professor
Lighting/Sound Design
FA 230
sanburgj1@nku.edu
(859) 572-5642

Jo Sanburg, Assistant Professor in Lighting and Sound, is a lighting and sound designer for theatre, pyrotechnics, and multimedia, and a composer.

Jo’s lighting design credits include Cosi Fan Tutte, The Sparrow, The Servant of Two Masters, and the world premiere of Kenley Smith’s Empires of Eternal Void. Her sound designs include Henry V, The Comedy of Errors, The 39 Steps, The Secret in the Wings, As You Like It, and Anon(ymous).

As resident sound designer for Victory Pyrotechnics, she is developing new ways to use sound and music to tell stories with pyrotechnics. As a lighting designer, Jo works to explore unique technologies and approaches to theatrical lighting, and her designs employ her musical background through an instinctive understanding of pattern, rhythm, tempo, and beat. Jo has won numerous awards for her design work, including the John T. Spiegel Award for Excellence in Design, Ostrander Award for Excellence in Sound Design, and the Southeastern Theatre Conference’s Award for Excellence in Sound Design. She has designed lights for the American College Dance Association, and her sound design work was exhibited at the 2019 Prague Quadrennial.

Associate Professor
Design and Technology
FA 253B
shaw@nku.edu
(859) 572-6304

B.A. Heidelbert College
M.A. Bowling Green State University
M.F.A. Northwestern University

Mr. Shaw holds a B.A. in music, speech and theatre from Heidleberg College, an M.A. in theatre from Bowling Green State University, and an M.F.A. in design from Northwestern University. He has worked as a set, lighting, and costume designer for such theatres as: Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati, Artreach Touring Theatre, Charlotte Repertory Theatre, and the Children's Theatre of Charlotte. Mr. Shaw has designed a great number of world premieres. Mr. Shaw is currently the Production Manager and Stage Manger for the Cincinnati Men’s Chorus. He was the lighting design commissioner for S.E.T.C. (South Eastern Theatre Conference), in addition to being honored with an Outstanding Young Men of America Award, a Who's Who in Entertainment, and an International Men of Achievement Award. Mr. Shaw has designed scenery for a variety of shows at Northern. He teaches: Scene Design, Comparative Arts, Scene Painting, Properties Construction, and Rendering and Model Building