dbuck@newstagetheatre.com • 601-948-3533, ext 246
Has worked on staff at New Stage for more than 20 years. She began her career at New Stage in the fall of 1981 as a box office assistant. Since that time, she has worked as box office manager, audience services director, house manager, bookkeeper, business manager and marketing director. Buck’s other professional artistic credits include the USA International Ballet Competition, the Thalia Mara Arts International Foundation – World Performance Series presenting a series of performing artists including American Ballet Theatre, Aquila Theatre of London, Joshua Bell, Alvin Ailey, Cirque Eloize, Wynton Marsalis, and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra. She attended Belhaven University and is an alumnus of Leadership Jackson and a graduate of Dale Carnegie. Buck also completed a residency on theatre management at the Eugene O’Neill Center through a grant from the Foundation for the Extension and Development of Professional American Theatre (FEDAPT). Prior to serving on the staff of the USA International Ballet Competition, she worked with America Reads – Mississippi overseeing and training 270 AmeriCorps members who provided one-on-one tutoring in reading for students in primary K through the 3rd grade across the state. Buck also worked with Imageworks – Films for Business, assisting with the production of commercials, documentaries and training videos. She resides in the Heatherwood neighborhood with her husband David and has two sons who live in the big “N” cities of New York and Nashville.
freynolds@newstagetheatre.com • 601-948-3533, ext 224
Has been the artistic director at New Stage since 2006 and has worked as a theatre artist for 37 years. She recently directed Every Brilliant Thing, The Sound of Music, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time, I Just Stopped By to See the Man, The Debate for Democracy, Pipeline, Bright Star, Hell in High Water, Sweat, Shakespeare in Love, Silent Sky, and Best of Enemies. Favorite acting roles include Dr. Katherine Brandt in 33 Variations, Polly in Other Desert Cities, Lucille in Dividing the Estate, and Edna Earle in Eudora Welty’s The Ponder Heart. She has directed a variety of shows including All The Way, The Whipping Man, The Grapes of Wrath, Our Town, Red, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Hairspray, Mahalia: A Gospel Musical, The Great Gatsby, Lombardi, Boeing, Boeing, A Christmas Carol, Gee’s Bend, A Raisin in the Sun, Annie, A Soldier’s Play, and I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change. Reynolds is a 2022 recipient of a Directing Fellowship from the Mississippi Arts Commission. She served three terms on the board of directors for the Theatre Communications Group (TCG) and is on the Mississippi Theatre Association Board of Directors. Reynolds has served on grant panels for the National Endowment of the Arts and the Mississippi Arts Commission and has enjoyed adjudicating for Poetry Out Loud and the Southeastern Theatre Conference. She was a speaker for the 2021 Story State, www.storystate.msstate.edu, produced by Mississippi State University. Originally, from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Reynolds enjoys living in Jackson with her husband, Chuck.
bmccarty@newstagetheatre.com • 601-948-3533, ext 237
Graduate of the University of Mississippi, has extensive background in wholesale and retail sales and real estate property management with the Jitney Jungle supermarket chain. The company was founded by his Grandfather Will McCarty and two Holman cousins in 1919. The families grew the business into a profitable billion dollar Mississippi-based company led by Bill McCarty Jr, his father, Henry Holman and many talented associates which sold in 1996. During his grocery career, Jack Stevens and Ivan Rider recruited Bill in 1973 to run a follow-spotlight for The Gershwin Show at the theatre’s original Gallatin Street location. He has continued to volunteer with New Stage for more than 49 years in all areas including production, lighting and sound design, back-stage, and for New Stage fundraising events. He is involved in the day-to-day management, maintenance, and production for the theatre and serves on the Board of Trustees as a lifetime member. His favorite design credits are A Christmas Carol (1984), Greater Tuna (1986), The Gin Game (1987), and A Streetcar Named Desire (1990).
mtillman@newstagetheatre.com • 601-948-3533, ext 226
Graduate of Belhaven University where she received a B.A. in technical theatre. She served as the audience services director and marketing director at New Stage, has worked as a box office associate at Lawlor Events Center in Reno, Nevada, and assisted with many box office activities at Belhaven University. Tillman has stage managed many shows in several parts of the country, including Las Vegas and Tennessee. Her stage managing credits include Oklahoma!, Meet Me in St. Louis, The Wizard of Oz, Taming of the Shrew, and Love’s Labours Lost; and Noye’s Fludd and La Boheme with the Mississippi Opera. This is Tillman’s nineteenth season with New Stage. She currently resides in Madison with her husband, Kyle, their son, River, and their dog Vash.
jnelms@newstagetheatre.com • 601-948-3533, ext 225
xmingo@newstagetheatre.com • 601-948-3533, ext 232
Graduate of Florida A&M University. Born and raised in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. While living in New York City, he worked as a health & safety manager for Apple TV and HGTV productions. He also worked as a testing secretary and production coordinator for television shows with LIONSGATE and AppleMusic Reviews. For the past ten summers, Mingo has worked at Raquette Lake Camps teaching musical theatre to students from all across the world. Mingo could not be more blessed to continue teaching, coaching, and mentoring in his third season as Education Director at New Stage Theatre. During New Stage’s 58th season on our mainstage, he directed Chicken & Biscuits & Sister Act, Jr. Mingo also directed the touring productions of Junie B. Jones, The Musical, Anne & Emmett, & Blues for an Alabama Sky (Unframed). Mingo played the Macy’s Store Manager in Elf, The Musical and served as the choreographer for the production. He also directed Mean Girls, Jr. and played the role of Gabriel in Fences. Mingo also played the role of Fezziwig in A Christmas Carol at New Stage in 2021. He has worked professionally at a plethora of regional theaters in a handful of states. Mingo continues to live in the light and encourages everyone else to do the same.
tickets@newstagetheatre.com • 601-948-3533, ext 222
bwong@newstagetheatre.com • 601-948-3533, ext 233
Begins her 20th season at New Stage. She continues to enjoy traveling to schools and towns throughout the state with the Professional Apprentice Company to provide live theatre experiences for students and adults of all ages. When not on the road, you can find her in the box office. She has also served for many years as a volunteer in other areas of the theatre. Her professional work experiences in education and her passion for live theatre have contributed to the growth and expansion of New Stage’s Education Department. She has served as a consultant to school districts throughout the state of Mississippi. Wong has a B.S. in educational psychology from Mississippi State University, a M.Ed. from Delta State University, and recently won the 2019 Exemplary Arts Service Award from the Mississippi Alliance for Arts Education.
601-948-3533, ext 233
Received her B.A. in criminal justice with an emphasis in juvenile justice from Jackson State University. She is pleased to be returning to New Stage for her twenty-first season. Marsh is employed full time with the Hinds County Sheriff’s office.
rlawrence@newstagetheatre.com • 601-948-3533, ext 230
Serves as the vice president of Fondren Theatre Workshop and has appeared in A Christmas Memory at New Stage, FTW’s The Rocky Horror Show, Buck Nekkid for Jesus, directed FTW’s Every Christmas Story Ever Told, and most recently appeared as Trekkie Monster in Avenue Q. He was also the director of the widely successful productions of Cabaret and Company, which were joint productions of FTW and Actor’s Playhouse of Pearl, with support from New Stage. Lawrence has been seen in New Stage productions of The Trip to Bountiful and UnFramed’s The Eight: Reindeer Monologues, How I Learned to Drive, The Weir, Circle Mirror Transformation, and Dublin Carol. Lawrence has won three Best Set awards at Mississippi Theatre Association conferences, and has also won Best Set at Southeastern Theatre Conference.
cnelms@newstagetheatre.com • 601-948-3533
a proud Mississippian born and raised in Pearl, Miss. She received her Bachelor of social work from Belhaven University followed by her master’s of social work from the University of Southern California. While living in Los Angeles, she transitioned from a robust therapy career to producing and supervising productions in the film industry. Nelms has been fortunate enough to work with companies such as Lionsgate, Patriot Pictures, and Convoke Media, as well as many others, and now happily serves as production manager at New Stage Theatre. She lives on the Ross Barnett Reservoir with her husband and their two droopy-faced beagles, Olive and Mabel.
601-948-3533