Lenton Lees was off-and-on with the Southside Sidekicks Improv Troupe between 2020 - 2022, before finally settling down and becoming a full-time member and now the Improv Director for both the adults and youth troupes. Lenton is a professional actor with the Dinner Detectives, an improv coach for Flat Rock Middle School, a business owner (highspiritsentertainment.com), an interactive Murder Mystery playwright, the improv director for the Newnan Theatre Company NITWITS for four years, and the "local celebrity" known as Newnan Time with Harold.

Lenton Lees took over the adult and youth improv teams after Mike Boylan and Amy Beaucham's wonderful tenures. He was set for success and is excited to take the improv at Southside to another level of professionalism and community engagement. The Rascals (youth improv) are open year-round to any middle or high schoolers who want to dip their toe into improv. The Sidekicks (adult improv) offers yearly workshops, auditions, and ten shows a season. He has played Bob Cratchit twelve times and dreams of one day playing Ebeneezer Scrooge.

‍

A member since 2018, he followed his daughter into Southside Theatre initially for her benefit, then continued to be absorbed on stage and behind the scenes for nearly every show since. Most often privileged to be cast as an actor, he has adapted to sound design, sound tech, construction, assistant directing, and directing. His most recent acting credit as part of The Odd Couple, A Time to Kill, and Cinderella. His directing credits are for 2022 Steel Magnolias and 2024 Alice in Wonderland. Further, he assists in Southside’s out reach groups Associates and Rascals youth improv. He retired from the U.S. Navy in 2020, graduated Thomas Edison State University in early 2022, and has proceeded to serve as Theater Arts teacher, while now opening up to other dramatic endeavors

‍

Mike has been with Southside Theatre Guild since 2003, appearing in many shows, often as the villain. Counter to the characters he tends to play on stage, Mike is a very nice person in charge of promoting all of the excellent things occurring at the theater. It is very similar to what he does in his professional career in corporate communications. If you’ve lived in the area a long time you might also remember him from his days as a reporter at The Citizen News.

Mike brings a lot of experience to the board, having served on the boards of The Clothes Less Traveled, Bloom, and Liberty Tech Charter School. His wife, Sabine, and his children, Colin and Nora, have all participated in different shows and programs at Southside Theatre Guild. Mike currently serves as director of the Southside Sidekicks and is hoping to play a nice guy in the next show he is in at STG.

Drew has been active at STG since he was a child. Though he may not have been seen on stage, he has worked diligently off-stage to make sure shows run smoothly and look their best. He loves the challenge of setting and designing lights along with creating spectacular sets. He is a graduate from Kennesaw State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management and when not at the theatre he enjoys volunteering at Royal Animal Refuge and Angels Among Us pet rescue.

‍

Heather’s involvement with STG began in the summer of 1979 when she unexpectedly stumbled upon a technical rehearsal of The Velveteen Rabbit.  She was enthralled with everything taking place; setting lights, moving sets, actors performing and a director giving instructions.  Her mother was cast in the next production and soon after her entire family became involved.  Since that day she has performed onstage, worked backstage and has served as Associate Member at Large, Secretary, Vice President of Productions, Publicity and Parliamentarian on the Southside Theatre Executive Committee.  She met her husband Jonny at the theatre and they raised their children here.  Being “theatre kids” influenced their children’s careers as their son Ian has a BFA in Film and Television from SCAD in Savannah and their daughter Erin is a full-time Walt Disney World employee.  Heather recently left the medical/dental world to pursue acting professionally and while waiting on her big break, has been having a blast doing background work in television and films around Atlanta.   STG has obviously had a huge impact on her life and the lives of her entire family.  Three generations participating so far.   She continues to work hard for the future of STG in hopes that it will be around for a fourth!  

‍

Dee Dee Carr found a love for the theatre while she was in high school. Once she graduated high school, she went on to perform in summer productions with C.A.S.T. at the Clayton Performing Arts Center while she was in college. Then, she found Southside Theatre. Her first production at STG was in the summer of 1993. She was cast as “Jan” in Grease. After that, she was hooked. She performed in eight incredible productions after that. She was a member of the script committee, Associate Member-at-Large, and even an Assistant Director. Dee Dee got married to her husband, Dave and had two beautiful daughters, Caitie and Haley. She then took on the role of wife and mother. Once her girls went off to college, Dee Dee decided it was time to come back to the theatre. She returned to the stage in 2019 and has not looked back. Her last performance was one of her favorites. She was “Truvy” in Steel Magnolias.

When she is not at the theatre, she is a Certified Nurse Midwife at Women’s Medical Center in Tyrone, GA. She has been a midwife for eighteen years and has delivered over 4000 babies. She is always excited to have her patients and coworkers come and see her perform on stage and not believe that it is her! She has also been a part of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in Georgia. Her youngest daughter has Cystic Fibrosis (an incurable genetic disease that affects the lining of the stomach and lungs and can cause poor absorption of food and lung infections). She served as a Team Leader and Regional Chair for one of the largest fundraisers for the CF Foundation. The millions of dollars that have been raised since her daughter was born has moved the average life expectancy of a person with CF from 25 to 53 with the new advances in therapies.

She is thrilled to be a part of the Executive Committee. Building the membership of STG has become one of Dee Dee’s passions. She wants the theatre to grow and continue to bring amazing productions to the patrons of Southside Theatre Guild.

‍

Jonny has been active with STG both on and offstage since 1986 and is a founding member of the Southside Sidekicks improv troupe. He met his wife Heather at the theatre, and they've been participating regularly ever since. He has served in several positions on the Executive Committee, including Associate Member-at-Large, Member-at-Large, Parliamentarian, and VP of Productions. He and Heather have two adult children (Ian [and Kylie!] and Erin) and a cat. Jonny holds a BFA in Interactive and Media & Web Design from the Art Institute of Atlanta and currently works as a freelance web designer, and as an actor represented by Top Talent Management based out of Chattanooga, TN (615.490.1101).

Since his Southside Theatre Guild debut performance in The Wizard of Oz in 1992, Jared has cherished every role, both onstage and off, within Southside Theatre Guild’s impressive history. Recently, he has served on the 50th Anniversary, Nominating, Re-Opening, and Script Committees. Outside of STG, Jared aspires to join the Southern Crescent Chorale and has recently been honored with an appointment as a Suzi Bass judge for the upcoming year. A 2004 graduate of Jacksonville State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and a Minor in Music, Jared works professionally as a photographer and digitizing specialist, preserving memories by converting a wide variety of media into digital formats.

Janet has worked in theater in the metropolitan Atlanta area for over 40 years, but has always considered Southside Theatre Guild to be her theater home.   Her first lead role was as Mina in STG’s 1979 production of Dracula and her most recent appearance was in 2016 as Ida in The Cemetery Club.    She has served on the Executive Committee in several positions and worked as director, stage manager, costumer, set designer and many other required tasks at the theater.  She is a proud mother and grandmother and currently resides in Fayetteville with her loving husband, Ted and their dog, Angus.

Chris Shellnutt is a Fairburn native and has appeared in over 40 productions as a performer. He has served as president and treasurer of Southside Theatre Guild as well as Lighting Designer, Stage Manager, Property Coordinator, Set Designer and Director for dozens of STG productions. Some favorite acting roles include Rick in The Nerd, Dolan in Mister Roberts, Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz, Richard in Lion in Winter, and Ralph in A Christmas Story. He met his wife, Valerie, while directing Anything Goes at STG. (She was the choreographer.) He also directed Bus Stop, Harvey, Crimes of the Heart, The Foreigner, Steel Magnolias, On Golden Pond, Smoke on the Mountain, The Nerd, The Cemetery Club and Mama Won’t Fly. Chris wrote and directed The Collins Family Christmas Special as a special benefit event for Southside Theatre Guild. He has also appeared in over 30 film and television productions as a “Background Artist.”  

‍