“Sit Down, You’re Rocking The Boat!”
Has anyone told you that you’re rocking the boat? We can use someone like you on our Board of Directors. To contact the SBMT Board, email chairperson@southbaymt.com. Questions? Contact info@southbaymt.com. Meet our current board members and staff below.
SBMT staff members
- Walter M. Mayes – Artistic Director
- Karyn Morton – Production Manager
- Dan Singletary – Chief Technical Officer
- Kama Belloni – Development & Patron Manager
- Diane Hughes – House Manager & Box Office
- Doug Hughes – Director of Marketing & Social Media
- Lori Wood – Business Manager
- Richard Cartwright – Set Shop Manager & Master Carpenter
- Barbara Heninger – Properties Manaager & Historian
Board of Directors
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Michael Paul Hirsch. currently works as Senior Director of Product Management at Suzy and has served as Board Chair for South Bay Musical Theatre since 2020. He is a frequent performer for SBMT and studied theatre in graduate school at Michigan State University. He is a husband, father, kendo black belt shodan, and avid board gamer.
Ann Lucena is a Bay Area resident with strong leadership skills and a passion for theater. Having performed in numerous musicals across the Bay Area, she made her SBMT debut at the Welcome to the 60s Anniversary Concert in 2022. She recently received the Legacy Robe as part of the cast of Ragtime at Lyric Theatre.
Professionally Ann is a hospital administrator. She most recently served as the CEO of San Ramon Regional Medical Center, an award-winning Bay Area hospital. Ann is also currently on the Board of Directors of Cerus Corporation, a Bay Area-based biomedical products company whose products enhance the safety of blood transfusions.
Ann is a member of the Executive Committee of the Harvard Business School Alumni Board as well as a member of the Stanford Arts Advisory Council. She previously served on the Board of Leadership San Ramon Valley and was the Co-Chair of their Cultural Arts Day. Ann earned her undergraduate degree from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
A second generation Latina, Ann is a believer in the power of the arts to develop empathy in participants and viewers, to give voice to the voiceless, to inspire people of all ages to be their best selves, and to bring communities together.
Tipu Purkayastha is a Bay Area-based HR professional who grew up in Calcutta, India amongst books, movies, music, theater and sports. He tries to recreate this mileu in his Northern California life now, where outside of work and family, he is fully immersed in his various arts-related passions. He is a long-time patron of SBMT and joined the Board of Directors in 2021.
Dan Singletary has been actively involved with SBMT since 2003, when he first found the organization playing Trombone in the orchestra for NO, NO, NANETTE. Since then, he has been a part of nearly every production and taken on many different roles within the organization, including Musical Direction, Sound Design, Technical Direction, Producing, Box Office Administration, and Special Effects Design. Dan has served on the SBMT board previously for 8 years (2009-14, 2016-18), and has continually pursued efforts to improve processes and further the organization. Dan currently works as a Design Verification Engineer at Apple (2015-present), and has previously worked for companies including IBM (1996-1999) and Cisco Systems (1999-2015).
Braden Taylor has been on the board since 2010 and has served as the CFO for over 10 years. He has been heavily involved with SBMT since 2008 backstage, on stage, and on staff for 24 of their last 38 shows (as of July 2023). A graduate of Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo with a degree in Finance and Economics, Braden enjoys using his skills to continuously improve SBMT as an organization. In his professional life, Braden works at Apple as a Global People Programs Manager. He has been involved with musical theatre since the age of five and enjoys being able to continue his passion while giving back to the community both on stage and by serving on the board and staff.
Nicole Tung – (she/her) is a Bay Area native who began dancing at the age of five with Pacific Ballet Academy. While attending Santa Clara University, she performed in her first musical, My Fair Lady. Since then, she’s had the pleasure of performing as an AEA actor with various theaters such as American Musical Theater of San Jose, Magic Theater, Woodminster Theater, San Jose Rep, TheaterWorks, and most recently, 42nd St. Moon. Her SBMT productions include choreographing Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and directing eStudio’s Almost, Maine. Nicole can also be seen in various commercials for California Olive Oil, PagerDuty, and Stanford Children’s Health. She resides in Morgan Hill with her husband, daughter, and their cat. Offstage/behind the scenes, she enjoys being part of the casting process, baking, yoga, kind humans, good food, and travel. She looks forward to helping SBMT grow as an inclusive creative space for everyone in the community and helping to shape the next generation of performers.
Board of Directors Subcommittees
- Community & Inclusion
- Develops relationships and outreach with the diverse members of the Saratoga, South Bay, and West Valley communities.
- Chair: Michael Hirsch
- MISSION: We are a diverse group of theatre makers working to identify and re-envision the theatre experience by more accurately reflecting the diverse community that we serve. South Bay Musical Theatre acknowledges the unhealthy history of implicit bias in theatre, and is committed to creating content that is representative of our community and also educates our audience. We hold ourselves accountable at every level, including the board of directors, staff, artists, and volunteers to include, uplift, and amplify underrepresented and misrepresented voices. Respectful representation inspires and ripples out into meaningful and necessary change.
- Development & Fundraising
- Plans and executes SBMT’s annual giving and fundraising events. Develops Patron relationships in support of fundraising, members and volunteers.
- Chair: Kathy Switky
- Board Member: Michael Hirsch
- Non-Board Members: Kama Belloni (Development Manager), Barbara Heninger, Doug Hughes, Jordan Selburn
- Organizational Development
- Evaluates, builds, and maintains processes and systems for SBMT’s operations, ensuring efficiency, timeliness, accuracy, and transparency.
- Chair: Tipu Purkayastha
- Board Members: Michael Hirsch, Dan Singletary, Braden Taylor
- Non-Board Member: Barbara Heninger
- Vision & Planning
- Creates and develops SBMT’s vision and artistic goals, including themes and season selection. Identifies and supports programming that upholds our core values, mission and vision.
- Chair: Michael Hirsch
- Board Member: Nicole Tung
- Non-Board Members: Doug Hughes
Board Meetings are held on the second Wednesday of alternate months, often at the SBMT studio, 761 Mabury Road, San Jose, CA, via Zoom, or at a Board member’s residence, and the minutes (dating back to 2019) are posted to our blog. Visitors are permitted, but will be excused during the Executive Session. For a meeting invitation, contact chairperson@
In June 2024, SBMT dissolved its status as a membership organization, with the concurrence of its board and members.
Read the SBMT Bylaws to understand the official rules of SBMT as a non-profit organization. To contact the SBMT Board, email chairperson@southbaymt.com. For other questions, contact info@southbaymt.com.