People

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.

Contact

president@stgplays.com

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.

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

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.”

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.

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 Ebenezer Scrooge.

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.

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.