“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. Elections are held annually in June. To contact the SBMT Board, email chairperson@southbaymt.com. Questions? Contact info@southbaymt.com. Meet our current Board Members below.
Barbara Heninger was re-elected to the Board in July 2021 after taking two years off due to term limits. She previously served on the SBMT Board from 2015 to 2019, including a two-year stint as SBMT’s Board Chair from mid-2016 through mid-2018. She was involved in hiring our Production Manager (now Executive Director), Sara Dean and has served as an assistant producer, assistant director, set builder, props manager, costume rental facilitator, and run crew member, among many other duties. Before her retirement, Barbara worked at Synopsys managing a technical writing team. She has also served on the Boards of three non-profit choral groups (West Valley Masterworks Chorale at West Valley College, Sunnyvale Singers, and Schola Cantorum in Mountain View).
Barbara serves as co-chair of the Board’s Development and Fundraising committee.
Contact info: barbara.heninger@southbaymt.com
Michael Paul Hirsch. Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Michael studied art and theatre in college and graduate school and currently works at Shutterfly as Product Owner of books, prints, and calendars. He is a husband, father, kendo black belt shodan, acting instructor and avid board gamer. Follow him at michaelpaulhirsch.com.
Contact info: michael.hirsch@southbaymt.com
Ed Hunter was elected to the SBMT board in 2020. Over the years he has designed lighting for a few SBMT shows —most recently A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder. Outside of SBMT, Ed designs lights for several different theatre groups around the Bay Area, including Sunnyvale Community Players, Palo Alto Players, and Los Altos Stage Company, to name a few. When not in the theater, he’s an engineering director at Netflix running the performance and demand engineering groups. He also enjoys spending time with his wife and son, who support his theatre habit.
Ed serves as co-chair of the Board’s Vision and Planning committee.
Contact info: ehunter@southbaymt.com
Soni Kapoor, originally from India, grew up in the Himalayas. Soni has always been passionate about the positive impact of science (+ technology) with the art of storytelling. Exactly 21 years after he participated in high school stage play on Bhagat Singh (charismatic Indian revolutionary), he found his way to SBMT as deck crew for On the Town in April 2022.
Soni studied electronics and computer engineering in college and moved to Buffalo, NY for graduate school. After completing studies, he moved to Portland, OR as a design engineer at Intel, got his private pilot license, and started taking his family and friends to the sky. And finally in 2015, he ended up in Silicon Valley. Soni is now in a high-tech company, Synopsys, working as a product and marketing manager.
When not at work, he is spending most of his time with his beautiful wife (+high-school sweetheart) and an amazing six-year-old son. You can find them flying around the Bay area, hiking/biking on the trails, and looking up at the night sky with a bunch of telescopes at dark sites, or just singing, dancing, and cooking at home.
For the past 10 years, Soni has been collaborating with various non-profits to empower kids with social emotional intelligence and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics). Soni is looking forward to learning a lot and contributing in making n+1 version of SBMT!
Contact info: soni.kapoor@southbaymt.com
Stacy Levin has been working in the Bay Area theater community for over 20 years as an actor, director, choreographer, music/vocal director, stage manager, producer, and most recently as intimacy director for our production of Company. She has backgrounds in Human-Centered Design, Youth Education, and Theater Production with training in anti-racist theatre practices and 5+ years of offering virtual programming to youth.
Contact info: stacy.levin@
Elizabeth Erin Matthews, as a past musical theatre performer herself, is no stranger to the stage. She has found a new love and passion in working for nonprofit organizations in development roles. She has worked with the United Way, helped establish the Vegas Golden Knights Foundation, the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society at San Jose State University, and now serves here in the South Bay as the Director of Development at HomeFirst. She is currently seeking a Master’s degree in Nonprofit Leadership and Management at ASU. Her goals and aspirations are to make the world a more compassionate and musical place.
Contact info: elizabeth.matthews@southbaymt.com
Tipu Purkayastha was elected to the Board in July, 2021. A fan of theater and cinema, he has been happily indulging in the Bay Area’s rich offerings for over two decades since he relocated from India. Tipu has been in the audience, often with his daughter, for various SBMT shows, and this is his first time in the governance side. Tipu is hoping to be able to contribute to SBMT’s rich history in Saratoga and the Bay Area while attracting new audiences and engage with the community. In his other roles, Tipu lives in Saratoga with his wife, two school going children and a pandemic labradoodle puppy and is a global HR executive with a Fortune 500 semiconductor equipment company in Milpitas.
Tipu serves as co-chair of the Board’s Organizational Development committee.
Contact info: tipu.purkayastha@southbaymt.
Steve Sammonds was elected to the board in 2017. He has performed in several SBMT productions since starting in 2014. From 1989 to 2014, Steve was the musical and artistic director of The Peninsulaires Barbershop Chorus. He also served for five years on the board of directors of the Far Western District of the Barbershop Harmony Society and performed several other district leadership functions over the years. Steve currently works as a field manager for the 2020 Census, and he previously worked three decades in tech including 22 years at Electronic Arts in customer support and studio operations.
Steve serves as co-chair of the Board’s Vision and Planning committee.
Contact info: steve.sammonds@southbaymt.com
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).
Contact info: dan@southbaymt.com
Aly Suleman, elected to the Board in July 2021, is a second-generation Pakistani/East African-American actor, South Bay-born and raised. He went to the University of San Francisco, where he found his love for theatre and performed in: The Wedding Singer, Heathers: The Musical, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Dracula, and a cross-dressed version of Tartuffe (seriously – look it up). Much of his work in theatre has been in the realm of artist-activism, through USF’s Performing Arts and Social Justice department. He is incredibly excited to bring this experience and his perspective to the world of Anon(ymous). When he is not doing shows or cramming for med school exams, you’ll find him drinking boba or aggressively cuddling his dog Lucky while telling him how much he loves him.
Aly serves as co-chair of the Board’s Community, Inclusivity, and Accountability committee.
Contact info: aly.suleman@southbaymt.com
Braden Taylor has been on the board since 2010 and has served as the CFO for over eight years. He has been heavily involved with SBMT since 2008 both on stage, backstage, and on staff for (as of this posting in July 2022) 23 of their last 35 shows. 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.
Contact info: braden@southbaymt.com
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.
Contact info: nicole.tung@southbaymt.com
Board of Directors Subcommittees
- Community & Inclusion
- Description: Develop relationships and outreach with the diverse members of the Saratoga, South Bay, and West Valley communities.
- Co-chairs: Soni Kapoor, Aly Suleman
- Board Members: Michael Hirsch, Steve Sammonds
- Non-Board Members: Sara Dean
- 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
- Description: Plan and execute SBMT’s annual giving and fundraising events. Develop Patron relationships in support of fundraising, members and volunteers.
- Co-chairs: Barbara Heninger, Kathy Switky
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Board Members: Michael Hirsch, Stacy Levin, Elizabeth Matthews, Dan Singletary
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Non-Board Members: Kama Belloni (Development Manager), Sara Dean, Doug Hughes, Jordan Selburn
- Organizational Development
- Description: Evaluates, builds, and maintains processes and systems for SBMT’s operations, ensuring efficiency, timeliness, accuracy, and transparency.
- Chair: Tipu Purkayastha
- Board Members: Barbara Heninger, Michael Hirsch, Steve Sammonds, Dan Singletary, Braden Taylor, Soni Kapoor
- Non-Board Members: Jay Steele, Sara Dean
- Vision & Planning
- Description: 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.
- Chairs: Ed Hunter, Steve Sammonds
- Board Members: Michael Hirsch, Nicole Tung, Elizabeth Matthews
- Non-Board Members: Sara Dean, Doug Hughes
SBMT staff members
- Sara K. Dean – Executive Artistic Director
- Doug Hughes – Director of Marketing & Social Media
- Diane Hughes – House Manager & Box Office
- Jeffrey Henson – Facilities Director
- Dan Singletary – Chief Technical Officer
- Kama Belloni – Development & Patron Manager
Board Meetings are held on the second Wednesday of each month, often at the SBMT studio, 761 Mabury Road, San Jose, CA or via Zoom. Visitors are permitted, but will be excused when confidential information is discussed. For a meeting invitation, contact chairperson@southbaymt.com.
Bylaws and Voting Information are posted on this website. Read the SBMT Bylaws to understand the official rules of SBMT as a non-profit organization. See the Participation Requirements for Voting Members to understand who is eligible to vote in elections of SBMT Board members.
Financial Reports are available to active SBMT members. If you would like to see the most recent Financial Report, please email treasurer@southbaymt.com.
Meeting Minutes starting from 2019 are posted on this website at https://southbaymt.com/category/board-minutes/ Other past minutes are available to active members who email our Recording Secretary at secretary@southbaymt.com.
To contact the SBMT Board, email chairperson@southbaymt.com
For other questions, contact info@southbaymt.com
FOR BOARD MEMBERS ONLY:
Internal Information is available to elected Board members at https://sites.google.com/a/southbaymt.com/board-wiki/home. (If prompted, select your southbaymt.com account to access this page. Non-authorized persons will get an error message.)