RCT Board
Mark Graham - President
Mary Watkins- Vice President
Mary Watkins- Vice President
Mark's introduction to theatre came while building sets with Satish. Mark and his wife, Julie, have two daughters, Zoë and Mia. Mark works in commercial real estate and development, and he enjoys hunting and playing golf.
Mary Watkins- Vice President
Mary Watkins- Vice President
Mary Watkins- Vice President
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Mary has been in several RCT productions, Annie, Annie Get Your Gun, The King & I, Angel in the Pawnshop and The Sound of Music. She has also enjoyed stage managing the RCT production of ‘Til Beth Do Us Part. Mary has directed several productions for RCT.
Steele Moegle - Secretary
Mary Watkins- Vice President
Steele Moegle - Secretary
Steele Moegle is an Associate Professor of Music at Louisiana Tech University. In the Department of Music, she serves as the head of piano studies and music history. She is very active in Music Teachers National Association and the Louisiana Federation of Music Clubs. In addition to her work as a musician, she enjoys spending time with her two children, Alma and Riley, and her husband, Forrest. Steele also serves as a Cub Scout den leader and a children's choir director.
Jim Moore - Treasurer
MaryBelle Tuten - Board Member at Large
Steele Moegle - Secretary
Jim is a Ruston native and holds a degree in Accounting from La. Tech. Following his completion of a 42 year career with Shell Oil Company and residing in Houston for 40 of those years, Jim and his wife Jean recently returned to their home town. Jim's career with Shell spanned a wide range of accounting and financial management assignments, with the last six years of his career serving as Accounting Advisor for Shell's North American operations. Jim is delighted to be a part of RCT and serving as its Treasurer.
Saul Zalesch - Parliamentarian
MaryBelle Tuten - Board Member at Large
MaryBelle Tuten - Board Member at Large
Saul is Curator of ephemerastudies.org of Louisiana Tech University, Ruston Louisiana, and a Professor at LA Tech. He has a Ph.D. Art History, University of Delaware, M.A. Art History, University of Delaware, and J.D. University of Maryland School of Law. Saul says, “Art is all about communicating with and touching the viewer. It must engage people and a society, and reflect the concerns of its creator, era, and locale for it to have any chance of continuing to speak meaningfully to later generations.
MaryBelle Tuten - Board Member at Large
MaryBelle Tuten - Board Member at Large
MaryBelle Tuten - Board Member at Large
Mary Belle is a retired faculty member in the School of Human Ecology at LA Tech and currently presents a program each summer to orientation parents called, “Home Alone.” She is a member of P.E.O, The Garden Study Club, and Trinity United Methodist Church. Married to Allen Tuten, they both like to volunteer in the community, do mission work, travel, and spend time with their two daughters, Maribel Childress and Maradith Boone, their husbands Dan and Ryan and the seven grandchildren.
Joseph Brown
Heather Hampton
Diana Grigsby
Joe has performed with the Mississippi Opera Association, Univ. of Southern Miss. Chorale, Masterworks Chorus of NE Louisiana; RCT’s South Pacific and Arsenic & Old Lace as well as various FB Church Ruston Musicals. He is married to Shannon and they have two children, McKenna and Mitchell.
Diana Grigsby
Heather Hampton
Diana Grigsby
Diana Grigsby is a speech pathologist in the Choudrant schools. Diana has been a long-time RCT member, and she serves on RCT's board of directors. She has been involved in several productions.
Heather Hampton
Heather Hampton
Dr. Latoya Pierce
Heather is passionate about a lot of things from board games, baking, sloths, (not baking sloths), to travelling, horror movies, and robot dancing. The best of all is sharing her passion for community theater. Heather has appeared on stage in 10 shows with RCT on stage and has worked with sound and lights for almost every other show in the last 6 years. In her professional career she is currently the IT Director and information security officer for NLMC and Allegiance Health Management.
Dr. Latoya Pierce
Satish Bharadvaj-Honorary Member
Dr. Latoya Pierce
Dr. Pierce serves as the Executive Director of Counselor Education and Associate Professor at St. Bonaventure University. She has sixteen years of experience in higher education, both as a faculty member and administrator. She is a member of the St. Bonaventure President’s Commission on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, as well as a member of the A-10 Athletic Conference/NCAA Diversity and Inclusion Commission. Dr. Pierce served for seven years on an IRB (institutional review board), many of which she served as the expediter for all social science research proposals. She has served as a Subject Matter Expert in Diversity for the UL System, as well as a Cultural and Linguistic Specialist at Arkansas State University. Dr. Pierce’s previous administrative experience includes serving as a Program Director, Field Site Coordinator, and Director of Academic Effectiveness and Program Administration. She has chaired and served on multiple dissertations. She is actively serving on five local boards in the community focused on advocacy, the arts, and community engagement.
Satish Bharadvaj-Honorary Member
Satish Bharadvaj-Honorary Member
Satish Bharadvaj-Honorary Member
Satish is a retired Mechanical Engineer. Now Satish enjoys his time exploring various parts of US and world with his family, playing with dirt in his garden, and playing with talented artists in RCT's productions in various capacities. He is an RCT board member, an actor, and a set designer, and he has served in numerous positions backstage. We have also seen his directorial talent in RCT’s Same Time Next Year, ’Til Beth Do Us Part, The Foreigner, Monday Always Leads To Murder, and The Mousetrap. Our theatre loving community has awarded Satish with several Rustonys for acting, set design, and production stage management. Satish certainly appreciates Devi, his wife for 42 years for her continuous inspiration, encouragement and the sacrifice she makes for him to be able to enjoy his passion.
Monika Locke
John Richards
John Richards
John Richards
John Richards
John Richards
Norm Pumphrey
John Richards
Norm Pumphrey
Norm Pumphrey is retired from Louisiana Tech where he was employed for 29
years in the College of Engineering and Science in civil engineering and
construction engineering technology. He was also the inaugural director of
the Bulldog Achievement Resource Center at Tech, which provided support for
students to help them succeed in receiving their degrees. In the summer of
2017, he performed for the first time in the ensemble and as the radio
operator in the production of South Pacific, and his love for and
participation in Ruston Community Theater was born. He has since performed in the RCT productions of Miracle of 34th Street, Yes Virginia There Is a Santa Claus, and Murder Is Bad But Monday Can Kill You. Norm is married to
Anita, and they have two adult sons, a daughter-in-law, and a very handsome
grandson.
Nancy Hunt
Stephen Vessel
Norm Pumphrey
Stephen Vessel
Stephen Vessel
Stephen Vessel
Stephen Vessel is currently a pharmacist at Lincoln Community Health Center in Ruston. His introduction to community theatre came while he was in pharmacy school at Strauss theatre in Monroe. Stephen has been in several RCT productions where he received a couple of RusTony Awards. One of his main goals while serving on the board is to continue the quality of shows offered by RCT while also looking at the variety of shows. He also enjoys working on building sets with Neal, Mark, and Satish. He enjoys seeing his love for the theatre passed on to his son, John Davis, and one of the highlights was being onstage with him during The Music Man. Stephen is married to Dr. Amy Vessel and has two sons, Brandon and John Davis. He enjoys running marathons and helping out in the community and church.