BOARD OF DIRECTORS

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

Michael Mullins, President

  • 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.

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.

Margerie Fried, Secretary

  • 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.

 

Howard Kurzweil, Treasurer

  • 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.

Greg Lindeblom, Past 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. 

John Joseph (JJ), Member at Large

  • 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.

 

Thel Boyette, Board Member

  • 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.

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.

 

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.

Tedd Davis, Board Member

  • Tedd Davis is a native of Philadelphia Pa and lived with his Husband Brad of 44 years in Washington DC area where he worked for the Wolf Trap Foundation for the Performing Arts before moving full-time to Wilton Manors 10 years ago.

    Tedd is a mixed media artist, arts advocate, and art Curator.  For 7 years he owned and operated Tedd’s ART Works Gallery in Wilton Manors and is now co-owner of Wilton Art Works Gallery and Studios.

    Since 2014 he has showcased over 230 artists and has curated over 190 Art Exhibitions.

    Tedd continuously promotes the importance of art & artists in the local community with his bi-monthly blogs “Off the Wall” and “Side Show” Road Tripping on Art.

    His artwork has been exhibited at many galleries and exhibitions, frequently earning awards in juried shows.

    Tedd previously served on the Board of Directors of Wilton Art, and Arts United Florida.

Paul Mercado, Board Member

  • Paul is a native of the San Francisco Bay Area and has been in South Florida for 12 years.  Paul was a Fine Arts major with an emphasis in Dance.  Currently he is a Senior Interior Designer with a Global Scandinavian Company and has been for the last 22+ years. 

    Paul is one of the “original volunteers” with ICS and began with us 11 yrs. ago.  Not only a designer but he is an accomplished performer as well.  Shows include La Cage Aux Folles, 42nd Street, Gypsy, FOLLIES, A Chorus Line, and Godspell to name a few.  The latter he won Shellie Awards for the Bay Area (equivalent to the Carbonell) one for Supporting Actor and the other for Choreographer.

    Paul is happy and excited to interact with the community and patrons of Island City and continue to drive the company forward into the coming years with experience and love of theatre.

Richard Meyerson, Board Member

  • Richard was born in Buffalo in 1957 and raised in Syracuse, NY.  The Village People told Richard to "Go West" and so he did, ending up in San Francisco in 1977.  The Jonestown massacre and the assassination of Harvey Milk and George Moscone followed within a year of his arrival.  In 1982 Richard took a summer job in Guerneville, CA (aka the Russian River), 75 miles north of SF.  Because of the emerging AIDS epidemic, he ended up staying in Guerneville for the next 12 years, testing positive for HIV in 1987.  He got his real estate license at 24 and opened Guerneville's first full-service laundromat when he was 30.  With a love for live theater, he became involved with a local theater company and served on their board for several years. In 1994 he sold the laundromat and moved back to San Francisco.  Being in the right place at the right time, his real estate career took off and he placed in the top 10 (#1 three times) in a company of 250 agents for over 15 years. 

    Between his grandparents and parents, Richard has always had a connection to South Florida. In 2011 he bought a house in Fort Lauderdale and retired here full-time in 2014.  When he least expected it, Richard got married in 2019.  Antonio is an accomplished tattoo artist from a small village on the east coast of Italy.  We are the proud owners of Indelible Art & Tattoo located on the drive. Richard's love of live theater has never waned.  He saw ICS's original production of Daniel's Husband when he first moved here and was blown away.  He has not missed an ICS production since! He is an avid volunteer and supporter of ICS and is proud to serve on their board.

YOU, Board Member

 

YOU, Board Member

 

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…