David Kiley: Publisher and Editor-in Chief

Publisher/Editor-in-Chief: David Kiley acquired EncoreMichigan in March 2015. Kiley is an award winning journalist, having held staff correspondent and editor positions at USA Today, Businessweek, AOL, The HuffingtonPost, and Adweek. Kiley is currently owner and principal of New Road Media LLC, a diversified company specializing in web content, social media and marketing strategy. An author, Kiley has written three books: Getting The Bugs Out: The Rise, Fall and Comeback of Volkswagen in America (2001); Driven: Inside BMW–The Most Admired Car Company in the World (2004); (Co-author) Writing The War: Chronicles of a World War Two Correspondent (2015). Kiley wrote a musical play based on Writing the War, called “I’ll be Seeing You,” which premiered at The Arthur Miller Theatre in Ann Arbor in February 2017. He is also the founder of The Michigan Celtic Repertory Company.

The first Broadway shows he remembers seeing as a kid were “Fiddler On The Roof” with Zero Mostel and “Shenandoah” with the great John Cullum, who Kiley describes as his “Broadway hero.” A graduate of Fordham University in New York City, Kiley was Arts Editor at WFUV-FM (taking over the role from SiriusXM Broadway Channel host Christine Pedi), and saw many a show with reviewer tickets. Kiley is also a part-time professional actor, having worked in Michigan for the Encore Musical Theatre in Dexter, The Penny Seats Theatre Company in Ann Arbor, The Michigan League Dinner Theatre, Monster Box Theatre in Waterford, and The Purple Rose Theatre in Chelsea, Outvisible Theatre in Allen Park, The Monster Box Theatre in Waterford and New Roads Productions. Kiley most often seems to get cast as mean, egomaniacal, evil characters (Jonathan Brewster in Arsenic and Old Lace and Cladwell in Urinetown). This, however, does not reflect his real-life character, he says. Born in New Jersey, Kiley has called Ann Arbor home for most of the last nineteen years, and plans to continue as a proud and progressive Michigander until the curtain closes. Dream roles and shows he wants to play and produce before he dies: Adams or Franklin in “1776”; Foreman or Juror #3 in “Twelve Angry Men,” Henry Drummond in “Inherit The Wind,” Scrooge, Tevya and The Man of LaMancha. Kiley has a son, Henry, who is also an actor, as well as an exceptional young man, according to his Dad.

Anne Kiley: Managing Editor

Anne Kiley has combined writing, graphic arts and computer programming in her professional career since the 1990s, working freelance as both a writer and an editor, as well as a photographer, photo editor, graphic designer and art director. She studied theater arts at Emerson College, Boston and photography at The School of Visual Arts in New York City. Ms. Kiley is a serious opera fan and enjoys gardening and travel.

Contributors:

Marin Heinritz: Critic

Before joining Encore Michigan in 2015, Marin Heinritz wrote features and live performance reviews for the Kalamazoo Gazette/mlive.com for 12 years. In addition, she was on the editorial staff of Mother Jones Magazine, Boston Review, and Third Coast; and her writing has appeared in Hippocampus, Juxtaprose, Second Wave Media, and The Collagist, among other publications. She holds an M.S. in journalism from Boston University and a doctorate in creative writing from Western Michigan University.

Once upon a time Marin danced in the corps de ballet of “Swan Lake” and “Giselle” with Farrell Ballet Theatre, and she has also enjoyed acting in community theater from time to time, with favorite roles including Irene Adler in “Sherlock Holmes: the Final Adventure” and Gretchen in “Boeing Boeing” at the Kalamazoo Civic as well as Elaine in “Last of the Red Hot Lovers” at the New Vic.

Originally from Dallas, Texas, Marin teaches journalism and creative writing at Kalamazoo College.

Sue Merrell: Critic

Sue Merrell has been a reporter, editor and entertainment writer for almost 40 years, working for newspapers in Texas, South Carolina, Illinois and Michigan. In 2009 she retired from The Grand Rapids Press where she served as fulltime theater critic since 2000. While continuing to review select theater productions, Sue devotes most of her time to writing books including a memoir, “Laughing for a Living,” and three mysteries: “Great News Town” and “One Shoe Off,” and “Full Moon Friday.”http://suemerrellbooks.com

Bridgette Redman: Critic

Bridgette has been reviewing for more than 20 years. She started out as a book reviewer, moved on to restaurants and has been reviewing theater for nearly 10 years. A journalism graduate from Michigan State University, she was a 2007 Fellow of the NEA Arts Journalism Institute in Theater and Musical Theater. In addition to reviewing for EncoreMichigan, she also covers theater for the Lansing State Journal. For 16 years she was a textbook editor and writer for a non-profit hospitality association. She is a past blogger of Flyover: Art in the American Outback, at ArtsJournal. She was the founding publisher of BookHelpWeb and former category lead for the book, newspaper and magazine section of Epinions.com. She taught drama for four years to grades K-3 at a Montessori school and now assistant directs plays at Waverly Community Schools.

Tanya Gazdik: Critic

Tanya Gazdik is a freelance writer and editor who has covered marketing and advertising for 15 years for MediaPost and Adweek. She is excited to be reviewing again, something she did frequently during her tenure as Entertainment Editor at The State News at Michigan State University. Irwin previously worked at The Toledo Blade, Ward’s AutoWorld and The Associated Press. She holds a JD specializing in animal law. Irwin lives in Detroit with two Chihuahuas and too many cats.

Paula Bradley:Critic

Paula has been wild about performing arts since childhood. She started with piano, then discovered singing and acting. Being a reviewer for Encore Michigan combines this passion with her enjoyment of writing. She is a substitute teacher who loves teaching music, and has spent many hours volunteering with the drama and music programs at Marine City High School. Paula is also a historical reenactor. She lives in Marine City with her husband, daughter and son.

Jenn McKee: Critic

While growing up in Brighton, Michigan, Jenn McKee appeared as a maid in Agatha Christie’s “The Hollow” and as one of the Major General’s many daughters in Gilbert and Sullivan’s “The Pirates of Penzance.” She then decided to spare the world from her, ahem, “acting” and pursue writing about theater instead. She wrote her first theater reviews for The Michigan Daily while a student at U-M, and continued to write freelance arts articles for local newspapers while earning an MA in English at University of Georgia, and then an MFA in creative writing at Penn State University. She’s published a poem (that’s right, one!) and a handful of short stories in literary journals, and one of her stories, “Under the Influence,” was selected by Joyce Carol Oates for inclusion in the anthology, “Best New American Voices 2003.” Currently, she’s a staff entertainment reporter for MLive.com/The Ann Arbor News, and she lives in Farmington with her lovely husband Joe, daughters Lily and Neve, and a cat named Pumpkins. She chronicles parenting absurdities at www.AnAdequateMom.com.

Amy J. Parrent: Critic

Amy fell in love with theatre at age 11 at a high-school production of “Carousel.” (In her own first time onstage a few years earlier she recalls “saving” a scene in a skit performed by her Brownie troop.) She began violin lessons at age 10, and appeared with professional symphonies and theaters such as the MOT Orchestra.

Amy has wide-ranging experience in communications, having managed PR/marketing for major cultural institutions (including the DIA) and other large nonprofits. In addition to EncoreMichigan, Amy has written free-lance extensively for Between The Lines, the Detroit Free Press, the Detroit News, Patch.com, the Metro Times, the Oakland Press, The Washington Post and numerous cultural magazines. She has been a scriptwriter in all media, and has produced video advertising which has run in such diverse platforms as movie theaters and GasStationTV (yes, those ads you watch while filling up!). Several years ago her passion for another kind of “star” led to participation in one of the first NASASocials (tweetups) at Kennedy Space Center surrounding the launch of spacecraft Juno. She also still loves the score from “Carousel.”

Kym Reinstadler: Critic

The curtain rose on Kym Reinstadler’s Act I in Midland, Mich., where she grew up hungry for words and stories. She was a voracious reader, faithful TV viewer and aspiring writer. A one-act play she wrote in a creative writing class was performed by a drama troupe at her high school, giving her a taste of the theater. Paying gigs covering local sports for the Midland Daily News was the springboard for earning a bachelor’s degree in journalism at Michigan State University. Kym’s Act II played out on staffs of newspapers and magazines in North Carolina, Washington, California and Michigan. Her long and happy career as a full-time reporter came to a close in 2011 after a 20-year career at The Grand Rapids Press, where she covered K-12 and higher education, cops and courts. During this time she often accompanied friend Sue Merrell, the Press’s theater critic, to many opening nights. Kym says she and Sue often darted from theaters during the final applause so Sue could make a tight writing deadline, discussing “highlights and lowlights” to include in the review. Act III (so far) features a master’s degree in library information science and a second career as an acquisitions librarian in Ann Arbor at ProQuest, a technology company that aggregates digital content into searchable databases. She also writes web content on school communications, fine arts, and disability related topics. Kym has three adult children, a Sheltie, and an impressive personal collection of books. She is a lifelong Detroit Tigers fan.

Patty Nolan: Critic

Patty is a Detroit-based journalist and creative content strategist for her own company, Nolan Creative Services. She is a graduate of Oakland University, and an experienced theatre critic with The Examiner in Detroit before joining EncoreMichigan.

Julie Linderleaf: Critic

Julie teaches English and Theatre at Sexton High School in Lansing, Michigan. She is a graduate of Michigan State University, and has extensive experience writing about and directing theatre.

Roy Sexton: Critic

Roy is an actor and marketing professional with extensive experience writing and producing theatre, and public speaking. Besides being a marketing professional for a major law firm, he is on the board of the Legal Marketing Association and The Mosaic Youth Theatre in Detroit. Roy is also the co-host and co-producer of The Wilde Awards, EncoreMichigan’s annual award show that recognizes the best professional performances and productions in Michigan.

Toby Tieger: Critic

Toby Tieger has been a lover of theater for over a decade, and goes to see shows as often as he can. He has experience writing, directing, producing, and writing about theater. Recently he put on the Ann Arbor Pub Reading series with PencilPoint TheatreWorks and has co-led various Ann Arbor Playwriting Bake-Offs. Originally from upstate New York, he studied English literature at the University of Chicago.