Meet the Board
2nd Star’s Board of Directors is an all-volunteer working board made up of ten members. The majority of 2nd Star’s Board members are elected by the active membership in March for a two-year term, and 2nd Star’s Treasurer and Artistic Director are Board-appointed. A full description of each Board position is included in 2nd Star’s Operations Manual.
Our Board hosts public meetings six times a year: January, March, May, July, September, and November. Upcoming meeting dates can be found on the Upcoming Events page. Anyone is free to attend a 2nd Star meeting. (You do not need to be a Board member or member to join us.) You can find meeting round-ups on social media, and view Board Documents, including meeting minutes, here.
Feel free to contact any of our Board members with questions, concerns or feedback about 2nd Star using the emails linked below. Learn more about membership and joining the Board on our Get Involved page.
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Katie Riegel, President
After an 18-year sojourn in New York City, Katie is back in her hometown of Bowie and thrilled to have been welcomed into the 2nd Star community. She and her husband, Ryan Power, are the proud parents of two boys and a thriving business, KRP Interactive. In her professional life, she has led major initiatives with many entertainment clients, including A+E Networks, Ghostlight Records, Broadway.com, Warner Music Group, as well as provided support for Broadway’s core marketing agencies. She has also produced musical theater concerts at famed NYC venues, including Joe’s Pub and 54 Below. She holds an M.A. in Cultural Policy & Management from City, University of London and B.A.s in Journalism and Dramatic Literature, Theater History & Cinema from NYU.
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Cheramie J. Jackson, Vice President
Cheramie Julianne Jackson is a native of the DMV area, attending Howard University and UMD for Musical Theatre/Drama. She is a dancer, actress, and producer. She has been working with and for 2nd Star productions since 2007 with over 20 productions. She joined 2nd Star’s board soon after having worked closely with them in creating their diversity, equity, and inclusion policies. She also dabbles with independent film producing and acting coaching. Her favorite performances with 2nd Star Productions have been My Fair Lady, Secret Garden, and Pirates of Penzance. As a producer her favorites have been A Soldier's Play and Crowns, which recently won a Ruby Griffith award! All of her gratitude goes to God, her four beautiful children, amazing husband, and love of art which fills her life.
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Gene Valendo, Treasurer
Twice retired (once from the U.S. Navy and once from a second career in psychology) Gene has been a part of 2nd Star since 2012, and has been the company's Treasurer since 2015. His favorite show was 2014’s production of Children of Eden, but his favorite role was as Ebenezer Scrooge in 2019’s A Christmas Carol—The Musical. Gene has also designed sets, built sets, produced shows, and designed and built special effects.
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Karen Monteith, Secretary
Karen joined 2nd Star with 2019's production of A Christmas Carol - The Musical. After a nearly 20-year hiatus from theatre, she has enjoyed various roles since, including VP, music director (You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown), and actor (Sister Berthe, The Sound of Music). She enjoys reading, crafting, and watching movies in her free time. Most importantly, she has loved sharing her joy of theatre with her husband and two daughters.
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Andrea Trent, Artistic Director
Andrea first performed with 2nd Star in 2018 in Ragtime. Since then she has enjoyed other roles in A Christmas Carol, Crowns and working behind the scenes as the assistant choreographer for Matilda. In her free time she enjoys many activities, but has been working hard on her own musical and is currently taking online classes with the BMI Lehman Engel Institute in New York City.
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Angela Popernack, Audience Relations Director
Angela’s bio is still in rehearsals — check back later!
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Crista Drysdale, Development Director
Crista first learned about 2nd Star and performed in her first show here in 2013, and hasn't stopped since! Her priority is performing on stage but she enjoys working backstage and now dabbling in producing and various other capacities she has learned recently. Some favorite rolls at 2nd Star include McQueen in Urinetown and Mrs. Crachit in A Christmas Carol. By day she is a kindergarten teacher and loves incorporating theatre and the arts in her classroom and spreading her theatre passion running her school's drama club. Thank you so much for your support and we can't wait to see you at the theatre!
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Lauren Riley Sayles, Marketing Director
Lauren remembers driving 2 hours from her childhood home in West Virginia in 1997 or 1998 to see 2nd Star's production of Sweeney Todd, but she didn't get involved until about 25 years later when her daughter Lillian appeared as Marta von Trapp and she appeared in the nunsemble in 2nd Star's The Sound of Music in 2022. Since then, Lauren and Lil have also been a part of Matilda (Lil, on stage, Lauren, backstage) and hope to be a part of many more productions to come. Lauren and her brand new husband Tim frequently appear on various stages in the area - she was most recently seen as Nurse Ratched in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest at Vagabond Players in Baltimore The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime at Colonial Players. By day, Lauren is a speech language pathologist with Anne Arundel County Public Schools. In addition to her family, she loves her cats, Ruthie and Eleanor, cheese, gardening, cross-stitching, coffee, kayaking, and her couch, not always in that order.
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Daniel Monteith, Facilities Director
Dan Monteith has lived in the Crofton Gambrills area since 2017. Along with his wife Karen and his two daughters Bridget and Sabrina, he enjoys attending and participating in community theater immensely! He has been a part of productions both on stage and back stage with 2nd Star Productions, Bowie Community Theater, and Colonial Players of Annapolis ever since moving into the area. If you are a part of the local theater community and need to borrow costumes, set pieces, props, etc, please email him and he will gladly assist whenever able.
In Loving Memory of Jane B. Wingard
We at 2nd Star are immeasurably sad to relay the passing of our founder, board member, and champion, Jane B. Wingard.
While we mourn her loss and grieve with her family, we are unendingly grateful for the talent, love, creativity, and artistry that Jane brought to 2nd Star and the theater community in Bowie. From her knack for mounting professional-level musicals to her masterful, award-winning sets, Jane's influence has touched so many lives and will forever touch every aspect of 2nd Star. We will not be the same without her.
Jane taught art and theater for 30 years before retiring and becoming a professional scenic artist, completing works for major events in the DC/Baltimore/Annapolis area and the decor for two casinos. She was the winner of eight WATCH Awards and numerous nominations, mostly for set painting. She was married to actor Martin Hayes until he passed away in November of 2019. All of her children, grandchildren and some great grandchildren have appeared on stage, which made her very happy.
While our hearts are heavy, we take some measure of comfort in knowing that she is now reunited with her beloved husband, Marty. As the saying goes, "2nd Star to the right and straight on till morning...."
2nd Star Committees, Teams & Task Forces
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Composed of 2nd Star’s Executive Officers, the committee is responsible for overseeing and updating company policies, governing documents, and for board development.
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Takes in show suggestions from 2nd Star community and makes a recommendation to the Board for the next season's recommended shows.
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Identifies and executes educational opportunities that 2nd Star can create (especially for children) to serve our mission as an educational non-profit.
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Develops and monitors annual and show budgets; oversees Box Office operations; reviews spend requests outside of approved budget/budgetary changes; recommends and selects finance-related vendors (i.e. banks and software); ensures sound bookkeeping and financial best practices.
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Ensures DEI training and development of Board and volunteers in leadership positions, monitors safety and happiness of volunteers; collects volunteer feedback through surveys and post-show interviews and makes recommendations to Board regarding changes.
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Working group handles marketing, publicity, promotion, public relations, advertising, social media, photography, and videography tasks.