Susan K. Berkompas Producing Artistic Director / Founder
Email: sberkompas@vanguard.edu
Susan has been a producing artistic director since 1998 and is the Department Chair of the Vanguard University theatre arets program. She received her B.F.A. in acting/directing from the University of Montana and her M.F.A. in acting/directing from the California Repertory Company. She has studied Shakespeare in Oxford with the British American Drama Academy where she worked with renowned Shakespeare teacher and scholar, John Barton.

Susan is an associate member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers and AFTRA. She is the 2005 receipient of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Award for Excellence in Theatre Education and is an alumnus of the Lincoln Center Directors Lab West. She also serves on the Education Committee at SCR.

She has directed plays such as: The Glass Menagerie; Othello (The Daily Pilot's top college pick for 2006); The Boys Next Door; Macbeth; A Midsummer Night's Dream; Charley's Aunt; and Pump Boys and Dinettes. Her favorite roles are: Velma Kelly (Chicago); Frau Schneider (Cabaret); Eleanor (Lion in Winter); Desdemona (Othello); Queen Elizabeth (Richard III); Queen Hecuba (Agameimnon); The Witch (Into the Woods); Monda (Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean); and Blanche (A Streetcar Named Desire).

David Bennett Board Chair
Email: djtbennett@cox.net
David is a history teacher at Stoneybrooke Christian Junior High School in Ladera Ranch and has also been the junior high principal for many years. He comes to us with an extensive background in leadership and managerial skills. He has a love for live theater and has been a supporter of Vanguard’s theater program for a number of years. Prior to working in education David was a pilot in the Air Force. He became a Christian in 1985 when he attended a Billy Graham crusade in Anaheim.

Gary Kingsbury Advisory Board Member
Email: garyk@taproot.org
Gary was named General Manager of Taproot Theater Company in January 2005. He joined Taproot from South Coast Repertory Theater in Costa Mesa. He received a Masters of Business Administration from John Carroll University in Cleveland, Ohio, and has been working in arts and non-profit organisations for more than ten years. Gary currently serves on the Greenwood-Phinney Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, as well as the leadership teams for Mars Hill Church Shoreline Campus and Mission Fest Seattle.

Wendy Isbell Board Member
Email: wendyeisbell@aol.com
Ms. Isbell has over 25 years' experience directing product development and support activities in high tech corporations in Orange County. She has been a member of Mariners Church for more than twenty years, and has served in volunteer leadership roles in many of its ministries, including music, service production, capital campaigns, local outreach to families in transitional housing, and small women's study groups.   She is a committed supporter of missionaries and organizations that work to serve the poor, train leaders, and communicate the life and message of Jesus Christ worldwide, and has helped in the area of partnership development as a volunteer with the Jesus Film Project.

Wendy is also a lifelong fan of, participant in, and supporter of the Arts in Orange County. She is an amateur singer and current member of Musica Sacra Singers, with experience in recruitment and program material development for choral groups.   She holds an investment position in a local private school of Dance and Theater Arts, and has been a season subscriber and donor to local theater companies since her days as a college student.

Wendy loves the immediacy of live theater, with its potential to touch lives and promote self-evaluation, and is thrilled to have the opportunity to serve on the Board of American Coast Theater Company.

Mike Stoop Board Member
Email: mstoop@yahoo.com
Mr. Stoop has more than 25 years Senior Management experience in multiple Orange County high tech companies. He has served on various non-profit boards and has a passion for building organizations with a purpose. Mr. Stoop holds a bachelors degree in business from University of Redlands and a Masters degree from Pepperdine University.

Carolyn Dillinger Corporate Attorney