BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Meet the dedicated Board Members who share their wisdom, time, and resources to lead Island City Stage!

Greg Lindeblom, President

  • Greg Lindeblom is a recently retired Associate Professor of Economics and Business at Broward College, where he taught for the past sixteen years.  Prior to that, he was engaged in a 24-year career in banking and finance that took him from Toronto to Portland, Oregon to San Francisco to New York City and finally back to Toronto. 

Sue Wilder, Vice President

  • Sue is a retired financial services industry executive. She enjoyed a career that focused on wealth management and product development, based on Wall Street in her native New York City. She has been residing in South Florida for the past 20 years. Sue has become an active member of the local LGBTQ+ community, using her professional background to build a second career to “give back.” Sue serves on the board and as Treasurer of Our Fund Foundation, the LGBTQ+ community foundation of South Florida, and she serves on the national board of SAGE. She is also a board member of Island City Stage, an LGBTQ+ community theater in Wilton Manors. Sue has also volunteered in the Archives at Stonewall National Museum and Archives, developing SNMA’s Gallery space and serving on the SNMA Board. Her second home in NYC is a base for her enjoyment of entertainment, particularly off and off-off Broadway theatre.  In addition to theater, her favorite activities include travel, movies, museums, book reviewing and rock and roll.

Thel Boyette, Secretary

  • Thel was born in Raleigh, North Carolina. After attending North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, he moved to Rochester, New York for a residency in Anesthesiology at the University of Rochester. After completing the residency, he spent time on the faculty of the University of Rochester School of Medicine and in private practice in Rochester. He was Chief of Anesthesiology at Highland Hospital of Rochester for 18 years. He was active in the New York State Society of Anesthesiology during this time and was President of the society in 2003.

    Community involvement in Rochester included serving on the board of Community Health Network, a free-standing HIV treatment center and serving on the board of Sojourner House, a shelter for homeless women and their children.

    Thel and David, his partner of 40 years and husband of seven years, divide their time between Fort Lauderdale and Canandaigua, in Western New York.

    In Fort Lauderdale Thel has served on the board of the Stonewall National Library and Museum.

    Thel has always enjoyed live theater, but since retirement has had much more time to pursue this interest. Island City Stage allows him to give back in a small way to this community that has brought him so much joy.

 

Mike Mullins, Treasurer

  • Mike Mullins is a sixth generation Floridian. He grew up in rural Suwannee County in the northern part of the state. Upon graduation from Florida State University, Mike worked on the staff of a member of the Florida Senate in Tallahassee. He moved to Washington, DC to work on the staff of two members of Congress. Mike left Capitol Hill to work for Cargill, a multinational food, agriculture and trading company. He retired as Vice President for Corporate Affairs in 2016 and moved to Fort Lauderdale after years of commuting on weekends.

Deborah Floyd, Board Member

  • Deborah L. Floyd is a tenured professor of higher education leadership at Florida Atlantic University. Prior to moving to Florida 20 years ago, she served as a president, vice president, and dean in college and university settings in Texas, Iowa and Kentucky. She earned her doctoral degree from Virginia Tech with masters and bachelor’s degrees from Texas A. & M. University-Commerce.  Dr. Floyd enjoys beach walking, reformer Pilates, conversations with interesting people and the performing arts – especially, Island City Stage productions. She is honored to serve on the board of this delightful gem in our community.

PJ Hitchins, Board Member

  • PJ Hitchins is an attorney who has always had an interest in the arts.

    She's co-founder of Thou Art Woman and has always been involved with community and political organizations. She's an avid theatre geek! She also writes reviews for lesbian fiction and is the current president of the GLLN (Gay and Lesbian Lawyer Network). She loves to surround herself with friends and family and her amazing dog Harley.

 

Margie Fried, Board Member

  • Originally hailing from St. Louis, Margie made the vibrant city of Ft. Lauderdale her home in 1995. Margie earned a Master's in Education from Loyola of Maryland, and for 26 years, she dedicated herself to the field of education. An ardent lover of the arts, Margie has always found inspiration and solace in artistic expression. She believes in the transformative power of theatre as a platform for social change. She is deeply honored to be a part of Island City Stage and eagerly looks forward to meeting the diverse and dedicated people who share her passion for the arts.

John Joseph (JJ), Board Member

  • John Joseph (JJ) grew up outside Peoria, Illinois and attended Southern Illinois University, where he studied Architecture and Interior Design. Moving to Dallas, TX, he began his career in the mechanical construction industry where he’s been for the past 17 years. JJ is new to South Florida, now working with a large construction company. He’s excited for the opportunity to bring his skill set in organization and project management to Island City Stage.

Howard Kurzweil, Board Member

  • Howard is a Florida native, born and raised in Miami Beach. With a LLM degree (Masters of Tax Law) he spent his career practicing with Tax Law until his retirement in January 2013. Since then, he has been involved with other non-profits including Stonewall Museum and Archives, Our Fund Foundation and the Yes Institute.

 

Niki Lopez, Board Member

  • Niki Lopez is a Queer, Latinegras – interdisciplinary artist, curator and activist and graphic designer whose award-winning work has traveled as far as New York, California and New Orleans; and who has worked with such luminaries as CCH Pounder.

Mitchell Schecter, Board Member

  • Schecter, a native Floridian, has lived in South Florida all of his life. He’s made his career as an accountant for the past 30 years. An avid Miami Dolphins fan for 56 years, Schecter currently resides in Fort Lauderdale with his Partner, Randall, of 11 years raising their three 4-legged children: Zeke, Rosie, and Milo. He looks forward to being able to retire soon.

Ric Wanetik, Board Member

  • Ric Wanetik is a highly respected theatre maven on both sides of the Atlantic. A Broadway producer, long-time marketing strategist and organizational management advisor, he is a passionate supporter and change advocate for educational institutions and performing arts organizations, here and abroad. A Tony Award-nominated lead producer, Ric has produced both on and off-Broadway (Twilight: Los Angeles 1992, Marlene, Jolson and Company) and has invested in commercial theater productions for forty years. In that time, Ric has nurtured the development of new work by a wide array of performing artists, shepherding them and their creativity from initial idea to scripting, workshop, and ultimately full production. He has developed and produced work across a wide range of artistic aesthetics and a with broad spectrum of artists, from Anna Deavere Smith, Tony Randall, Pat Birch and Twyla Tharp to Reno, Tim Miller and Barney Simon.

This Could Be You, Board Member

 

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STAFF

Meet the staff of Island City Stage!

Andy Rogow, Artistic Director
andy@islandcitystage.org

  • Andy most recently directed and was involved in the creation of Waist Watchers, the Musical at the Plaza Theatre which had its premiere in 2007 at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre and then toured nationally as well as playing extended runs in Atlanta and St. Louis. He is the founding Artistic Director of the Island City Stage in Ft. Lauderdale where he directed their recent production of Pig Tale. Under his leadership Island City Stage garnered a 2012 Silver Palm Award for Best New Theatre as well as a Best of 2012 choice of SFGN newspaper. He is well known as the director of Steve Solomon’s My Mother’s Italian, My Father’s Jewish and I’m in Therapy as well as its two sequels which have been touring the country continuously since 2004.

    He earned his BFA from New York University and an MFA from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. During his tenure as Artistic Director of the Hollywood Playhouse in Hollywood, Florida he directed Sally Struthers and Dawn Wells in Always, Patsy Cline, the world premieres of The Comet’s Tale, Eye of the Beholder, Harry and Thelma in the Woods, and Beau Jest – The Musical  as well as directing and/or producing critically acclaimed and award-winning productions of The Fantasticks, Man of La Mancha, A Grand Night for Singing, Ruthless, Nunsense Amen starring Greg Louganis and Fiddler on the Roof starring Avi Hoffman, for which he received a Carbonell Award nomination for Best Director.  Mr. Rogow is originally from Chicago and is a member of The Stage Directors and Choreographers Society and is a past President of the Theatre League of South Florida.  He currently serves as Chair of the Our Fund CEO Network Committee.

Martin Childers, Managing Director
md@islandcitystage.org

  • Childers has served as the Managing Director for Island City Stage since 2016. A native Kentuckian, Childers served as the Executive Director of one of Kentucky’s longest running professional theatres, Jenny Wiley Theatre, for 14 years prior to his move. He wears many hats at the theatre and is constantly shifting between fundraising activities, grant submissions, customer service, and public liaison for Island City Stage. Childers says, “Now more that ever, as LGBT+ rights are being threatened across the nation, our stories must be told and Island City Stage remains committed to this charge. This may be the most important work of my life”. He resides in Dania Beach with his husband, Harold Dioquino, where he wastes his time building iguana barriers around the garden.

Michael Leeds, Associate Artistic Director
mleeds1492@aol.com

  • As Director, Writer and Choreographer: Michael has worked with such talented and legendary artists as Arthur Miller, Martin Scorsese, Liza Minnelli, Lynn Redgrave, Tyne Daly, Tommy Tune, Jacqueline Bisset, Donna Murphy, Kate Burton, Stephen Schwartz, Kander & Ebb, and many others…