David Geffen School Of Drama At Yale Graduate Named The 2024-2025 Alliance Theatre National Vision, Inc. Bipoc Stage Management Fellow

Xiaonan (Chloe) Liu Is A Graduate Of The Stage Management Program At Geffen School Of Drama And Holds A B.A. From Shangai Theatre Academy

The Alliance Theatre is pleased to announce that Xiaonan “Chloe” Liu (she/her) has been chosen as the National Vision, Inc. BIPOC Stage Management Fellow for the 2024-2025 season. Liu moved to Atlanta and began her fellowship in July. 

Liu, who identifies herself as a Chinese Stage Manager, recently graduated from the Stage Management Program at the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale where her credits include Next to Normal, Green Suga Bloos, The Cherry Orchard, The Alley, and Twelfth Night, as well as Choir Boy and Escaped Alone at Yale Rep. She obtained a B.A. from Shanghai Theatre Academy and worked on productions in China which include the Shanghai Disney production of Beauty and The Beast, The Lion King, and the national tour of Man of La Mancha and The Sound of Music.  

“As a young stage manager, the BIPOC Stage Management Fellowship has given me diverse opportunities for skill development across productions,” said Liu. “The Alliance has offered me a supportive platform to establish myself as an inclusive leader, providing a safe environment to learn from mistakes and infuse my cultural heritage and values. This experience is crucial in laying a strong foundation for my future career, imparting not only effective stage management skills but also nurturing collaborative expertise with empathy and care.” 

As the National Vision, Inc. BIPOC Stage Management Fellow, Liu will work as a contributing member of the stage management department at the Alliance Theatre. They will work as the stage manager or assistant stage manager, primarily on the Coca-Cola Stage, for productions including the holiday favorite A Christmas Carol, as well as this season’s co-production of BUST with the Goodman Theater in Chicago, and Millions, the enhanced world premiere musical with a Broadway-experienced creative team. Additionally, she will be afforded the opportunity to develop a network of mentors inside and outside the Alliance while building a resume of top-of-field work experience.  

Since arriving in Atlanta, Liu has served as a production assistant on Pearl Cleage’s Something Moving: A Meditation on Maynard and stage manager for The Chinese Lady. Both shows were produced on the Hertz Stage.  

“Moving to Atlanta for the Alliance Theater BIPOC Stage Management Fellowship has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Participating in the inaugural production of Pearl Cleage’s Something Moving: A Meditation on Maynard has allowed me to feel a strong sense of belonging within the Alliance community,” added Liu. “As an international individual of Asian descent, I’ve been welcomed with inclusivity and support, helping me grow both as a professional stage manager and as an independent team leader. With this robust experience at the Alliance, I’m looking forward to being involved in more amazing regional and Broadway productions in the future.” 

ABOUT THE NATIONAL VISION, INC. BIPOC STAGE MANAGEMENT FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM  

 The stage manager is the actor’s advocate, show’s guardian, and production’s liaison for all aspects of the production. They ensure the director’s vision is realized while creating a safe working environment for all. Too often, the stage manager is a white person even on a production where most of the cast and creative team are Black, Indigenous, or persons of color (BIPOC). After a year of intentionally listening to the needs of our BIPOC artist community, a through line surfaced: “I wish there were more stage managers sitting at the table who looked like me.” We must correct this imbalance not only at the Alliance Theatre but as an industry if we want our productions and staff to reflect the communities we serve. The Alliance is linking arms with stage management graduate programs, creating a pipeline of full-time work for emerging BIPOC stage managers to diversify the field through the BIPOC Stage Management Fellowship Program.  

To apply, candidates must 1) identify as a BIPOC theatre maker, 2) be an MFA in Stage Management student in their final year or have graduated from an MFA in Stage Management program in the past 3 years, and 3) be willing to relocate to Atlanta, Georgia for the fellowship. A diverse panel of professional stage managers and theatre leaders select the final candidate, and the panelists also serve as a resource to the Fellow during their time in residence.  

Learn more about the National Vision, Inc. BIPOC Stage Management Fellowship Program.

It is with broken hearts that the Alliance shares the news that beloved Atlanta actor Chris Kayser passed away earlier today. Chris was a regular on our stages for four decades, including roles in A Christmas Carol for 22 years, 16 times as Ebenezer Scrooge.  How fitting that a show so focused on the virtues of generosity & community is the show he performed the most.  For those were the exact gifts he freely gave this Atlanta theatre community.  In addition to his work at the Alliance, he was a company member of the seminal Academy Theater for nine years and a resident artist with Georgia Shakespeare for 25 years. Chris also helped found Théâtre Du Rêve, a French language theater. With Théâtre Du Rêve, he was able to tour theater in France six times. He was cited with the Lexus Leader in the Arts award by the city of Atlanta. He has been named Best Actor by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Creative Loafing, and the Suzi Awards. 

A message from our artistic leaders:

The Atlanta theater community gathers in shared sorrow and remembrance, as we say goodbye to our beloved friend, colleague, and eternal light of this theater, Chris Kayser. It is a loss that cuts deep, not only because of his immense talent but because of the boundless love and generosity of spirit he brought to every rehearsal, every performance, and every quiet conversation backstage.

Chris was more than an actor; he was a storyteller in the truest sense. With every role, he reminded us that the stage is not just a place for words, but a sacred ground for truth, courage, and connection. He gave his heart to his craft, but more importantly, he gave his heart to the people around him—to every castmate, every crew member, every person who walked through our doors. He saw us, truly, in ways that left us better for it. Chris’s legacy is etched into every corner of this theater and on every one of our hearts.

For the entirety of his career, Chris poured his heart & soul into his work, encouraging young actors along the way and providing a role model for what a life in the theatre could look like.  And in Chris’ case, that life looked luminous. 

Let us honor him by carrying forward his fierce passion for truth, his gentle wisdom, and his unyielding belief in the transformative power of human connection. Chris was, and always will be, a part of the soul of this theater. We will miss him deeply, but his light will guide us to live every moment to the fullest.

– Tinashe, Christopher, and Mike

The Alliance Theatre is pleased to announce that Kendrick Smith has been chosen as the new Chair of its Board of Directors for a term of two years.  Following a 40-year career as a trial lawyer, Smith retired as a Business Litigation partner at Jones Day at the end of 2020.  An Atlanta native, Smith has served on the Alliance Theatre Board of Directors for eight years and has served on the Executive and Board Engagement Committees.

“Kendrick Smith leads with a steady hand, a litigator’s acuity, and a lifelong love of theatre,” said Managing Director Mike Schleifer. “His enthusiastic embrace of the Alliance Theatre’s mission inspires all of us lucky enough to work alongside him.  We’re honored he chose to serve in this capacity and look forward to this next chapter in the Alliance Theatre’s history.”

In his new role as Board Chair, Smith will lead the theatre through a transformational period, overseeing the opening of the Goizueta Stage for Youth and Families in 2026 and the completion of the Alliance’s Imagine Endowment campaign, which has raised $7.2 million of its $10 million goal in support of access and programming on the new stage. During his tenure, Smith will also support the continued growth of the Alliance’s nationally recognized new work and education programs under the artistic leadership of Tinashe Kajese-Bolden and Christopher Moses.

Smith succeeds Jocelyn Hunter, who served as Chair for three years, guiding the Alliance through the end of the COVID-19 pandemic and spearheading a national search to find the Alliance’s next artistic director after Susan V. Booth left the role in 2022.  That search resulted in the appointment of Kajese-Bolden and Moses as the theatre’s Jennings Hertz Artistic Directors.

“When we faced a leadership transition for the first time in over 20 years, Jocelyn made the immediate and selfless decision to serve an additional year as board chair to steady the ship,” said Jennings Hertz Artistic Directors, Tinashe Kajese-Bolden and Christopher Moses. “When we tentatively reopened to the public after the COVID-19 shutdown, Jocelyn helped craft a business plan that promised sustainability and hope.  When we embarked on our Imagine Campaign to make theatre a birthright for young people in Atlanta, Jocelyn was the first to contribute.  The Alliance will always be indebted to her exemplary leadership and unwavering commitment to this community, and we are grateful to Kendrick for taking the reins during this important moment for the theatre.”

In addition to Smith, the Board of Directors has elected the following members to serve in leadership positions:

• Allison O’Kelly, Vice Chair – O’Kelly, the Founder and CEO of Corps Team, an executive search and staffing firm, joins the leadership team after serving on the board for five years. O’Kelly has served previously on the Executive, Nominating and Governance, Finance, and Board Engagement Committees.
• Jennifer Boutte, Secretary – Boutte, Director of Parent Engagement at The Lovett School, has served on the Alliance Board for two years and has served on the Finance and Education Committees.

Jocelyn Hunter as Immediate Past Chair, and Glenn Weiss, Treasurer, complete the leadership team of the Board of Directors.

The Board of Directors also added seven new members.  They are:

• Dr. Bridget Blake, Project Management Consultant, Principal Engineer, and First Lady of Georgia State University
• Katie Fahs, Intern, Fellowships, and Volunteer Coordinator at CARE
• Kristen Burke, Advisor at Egon Zehnder
• Richard Valladares, Administrative Shareholder & Chair Business Litigation at Greenberg Traurig
• Traci V. Bransford, Partner, Sports & Entertainment Industry Team Leader at Parker Poe
• Bruce Cohen, President, Vision Properties, Inc.
• Lisa Bigazzi Tilt, Founder & CEO at Full Tilt Consulting

Learn more about the Alliance Theatre Board of Directors.

Cast featuring Keiko Agena (left) and Rex Lee (right).

The Alliance Theatre is excited to announce the cast and creative team of its upcoming production, THE CHINESE LADY. The production marks the return of Playwright & Pulitzer Prize finalist Lloyd Suh (Bina’s Six Apples) to the Alliance and welcomes Director Jess McLeod. 

Inspired by the true story of Afong Moy, The Chinese Lady is a darkly poetic, yet whimsical portrait of our past seen through the eyes of a young Chinese woman. Afong – thought to be the first Chinese woman to step foot on U.S. soil – is only 14 years old when she’s brought to the United States in 1834 and put on display as “The Chinese Lady.” Decade after decade, she performs as a living exhibit, showing curious white visitors how she eats, what she wears, and how she walks on tiny bound feet. As time wears on, the lines between her performance and her identity begin to blur. Described as “moving and often sharply funny” (The New York Times), The Chinese Lady examines the ongoing struggle for empathy and understanding across cultural divides. 

“The Chinese Lady is deeply rooted in history and is concerned with a young person navigating the tumult of history towards a sense of self-actualization,” said Playwright Lloyd Suh. “When I first heard about Afong Moy, her story haunted me. Afterwards, I did a deep dive to find out as much as I could about her, because I needed to understand her story even just on a personal level.”

The Chinese Lady features actors Keiko Agena (TV: Gilmore Girls) as Afong Moy, and Rex Lee (TV: Entourage and Fresh Off the Boat) as Atung. Understudies for this production include Akasha Grace and Terence Lee.

The creative team of The Chinese Lady includes Director Jess McLeod, Playwright Lloyd Suh (Alliance Theatre: Bina’s Six Apples), Set Designer Se Hyun Oh, Costume Designer, Dramaturg, and Cultural Consultant Hahnji Jang, Lighting Designer Lee Fiskness, Sound Designer Megumi Katayama, and Composer Fan Zhang.

Additional production support is provided by Stage Manager Xiaonan Chloe Liu, Stage Management Production Assistant Myah Harper, and Production Management Lead Haylee Scott.

“Not only does the historical record completely ignore Afong Moy, but there is absolutely nothing on record that comes from her point of view. The real Afong Moy is completely unknowable,” added Suh. “It’s a play that allows – even requires – an audience to respond personally. My hope is that everyone has a personal reaction [that resonates with] their own personal history, their social location, their relationship with all of what came before and especially what is happening in the world on the particular day they might experience it.”

Learn more about The Chinese Lady.

Today, the Woodruff Arts Center kicked off its $67 million capital campaign Experience Atlanta, Experience Woodruff with a groundbreaking ceremony for two additional spaces: the Goizueta Stage for Youth & Families and PNC PlaySpace.

Experience Atlanta, Experience Woodruff will bring new life to campus, expand access to proven educational programming, and secure the Woodruff Arts Center’s place as Atlanta’s center for the arts. Housed in the reimagined Rich Theatre, the Goizueta Stage for Youth & Families will be a transformative space for Atlanta’s youngest patrons, featuring thoughtfully curated programming by the Alliance Theatre and Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

“We are thrilled to support the Goizueta Stage for Youth & Families and continue the deep relationship that my father, Roberto C. Goizueta, had with the Woodruff Arts Center during his lifetime,” said Olga Goizueta Rawls, Chairman and CEO at The Goizueta Foundation. “The Woodruff Arts Center has a long history of excellent programming for children and families and the Stage will only enhance this programming for all children in the future.”

Open six days a week, the PNC PlaySpace will be an experiential learning center where children can enjoy free play, interactive performances, and the chance to create, move, and make believe— all at no cost to families. Funding for the PNC PlaySpace is made possible through the PNC Foundation, in alignment with PNC’s signature philanthropic initiative, PNC Grow Up Great®, an early childhood education initiative now in its 20^th year. The Woodruff Arts Center has collaborated with PNC Grow Up Great for 10 years, positively impacting thousands of children in the Atlanta metro area during that time.

“For more than a decade, PNC has worked to improve the quality of life in metro Atlanta through investments in high quality early education and the arts,” said Eddie Meyers, PNC Regional President for Georgia. “Our continued support of the Woodruff Arts Center demonstrates a long- term commitment to promoting a strong, vibrant arts community and a lifelong love of learning in Atlanta’s children.”

In addition to the Goizueta Stage for Youth & Families and PNC PlaySpace, capital renovations include the creation of a dynamic, outdoor community green space, lighting enhancements, clear signage, and infrastructure upgrades. Construction begins in mid-August, with the spaces set to open January 2026.

“We’re so grateful to our donors who are making this work possible,” said Hala Moddelmog, President and CEO of the Woodruff Arts Center. “Because of their generosity, we’re able to foster a more inclusive and accessible community space that invites patrons from all walks of life to spend more time with us and experience the arts in new and personal ways.”

Concurrent to Experience Atlanta, Experience Woodruff, the Alliance Theatre has launched the Imagine Campaign, establishing a $10 million endowment fund exclusively dedicated to sustaining theatrical programming and removing access barriers such as ticket and transportation costs for young audiences of all backgrounds in the new Goizueta Stage for Youth & Families.

“The Goizueta Stage and PNC PlaySpace will make it plain that youth and families are not just welcomed at the Woodruff Arts Center, but that the entire front of the building was designed specifically with them in mind,” said Christopher Moses, Jennings Hertz Artistic Director at the Alliance Theatre. “Because of these dedicated youth and family spaces, families and educators will be able to consistently rely on us as a resource for life-changing artistic experiences. We will no longer need to ask the busiest people in our community (parents of young children and educators) to rearrange their schedules to conform to our production calendars; we will instead make these experiences easily accessible to all of Atlanta.”

“It is exciting to imagine people from all over Georgia coming here to hear and make music in this flexible, intimate, and state-of-the-art space,” said Jennifer Barlament, Executive Director at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. “This opens up a whole new world of possibilities for the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra to serve more people in new and creative ways.”

“Curating a creative environment accessible to everyone from the moment they arrive on our campus is important to us, and these vital improvements will make each visitor’s experience that much better,” said Rand Suffolk, director of the High. “Not only do these updates signal an investment in world-class art and architecture, but they’ll also help preserve the largest item in our collection: the museum itself.”

Learn more or be a part of Experience Atlanta, Experience Woodruff.

Learn more or be a part of the Imagine Campaign.

Today, join us for a collective day of arts advocacy!

Our leadership have been working for a more than a year with a national group of theaters encouraging the federal government to invest in relief funding for non-profit theaters. The Supporting Theatre and the Arts to Galvanize the Economy Act (STAGE) Act is before the US Senate and House of Representatives. If the STAGE Act passes, it could provide $1 billion annually for five years to non-profit theatre industry.  

It would be a huge deal for us and theatres like us around the country.

CALL TO ACTION

Send 3 emails to the district directors in your local representatives’ offices asking them to co-sponsor the Act. Use the email template below or create your own. It will take you less than five minutes and will have a huge impact.

On behalf of the Alliance Theatre and other non-profit theaters around the country, thank you!

Find your local representative!

Email Template:

Subject Line // Co-Sponsor the STAGE Act

On behalf of the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, I am reaching out to request that [your local representative] cosponsors the Supporting Theater and the Arts to Galvanize the Economy (STAGE) Act (H.R.7894/S.4084), which seeks to support employment and economic recovery, stimulate economic development, strengthen community-based arts organizations, and improve theater facilities.

The Alliance Theatre serves more than 165,000 Georgians each year through the live theatre productions on our stages, arts education programming in school classrooms, and arts programming in communities. The Alliance brings people together across every dividing line to share an in-person experience that makes them more tolerant, curious, and hopeful for the future – all characteristics we need more of as we continue navigating the world post-pandemic.

The STAGE Act would ensure the survival of the Alliance Theatre and the broader non-profit performing arts industry by making a direct and critical investment in our theaters, communities, and local economy. The flexible funding provided by the bill will allow non-profit theaters to meet their immediate financial needs while they continue to recover, adapt, and innovate. Most importantly, the investment made through this legislation will enable the Alliance Theatre to continue bringing people together. Our work, and the work of theaters like ours, enhances the quality of life in Atlanta and communities across the country. STAGE will ensure this work remains possible. 

[Include this line for Senate offices] We ask the Senator to join Senators Welch, Fetterman, Reed, and others as a cosponsor of the STAGE Act. To sign on to the bill, please contact Brooke Grams in Senator Welch’s office (brooke_grams@welch.senate.gov).

[Include this line for House offices] We ask the [Congressman/Congresswoman] to join Rep. Suzanne Bonamici and others as a cosponsor of the STAGE Act. To sign on to the bill, please contact Allie Pearce in the Congresswoman’s office (allie.pearce@mail.house.gov).

Thank you in advance for your consideration. 

Sincerely,

[Your Name]