Staff & Leadership
Director of Programs and Services
Deonté Griffin-Quick is a nationally recognized, award-winning arts administrator, actor, and freelance consultant with a personal mission of advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion within the arts and cultural sector with a proven track record of envisioning and implementing change.
Before transitioning into a full-time role at NJTA, Deonté previously served in a variety of postions at institutions such as the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, where he managed the statewide Poetry Out Loud program. During his tenure, he contributed to recruiting over 2,000 students to the program, making it the second largest POL program in the country.
As an advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion, Mr. Griffin-Quick volunteers on DEI committees for ArtPride NJ and Drexel University’s Westphal College of Media Arts. A passionate and dynamic speaker, Deonte has presented workshops for the Arts Administrators of Color Network, the New Jersey Center for Nonprofits, and the Middlesex County Division of Arts and History.
As an actor, Deonté has performed at NJTA member theatres including, Premiere Stages, Luna Stage Company, McCarter Theatre Center, New Jersey Reperatory Theatre, and Centernary Stage Company where he originated the role of Jesse Owens in Turning by Darrah Cloud.
He is a recipient of the inaugural Individual Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Award from the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies and the Outstanding Achievement in the Arts Award from the Union County Urban League of Young Professionals. Deonté holds a BA in Theatre with a Communications minor from Kean University and is currently pursuing a Masters in Arts Administration at Drexel University.
Manager of Digital Communications and Marketing
Lauren Mancuso is the Manager of Digital Communications and Marketing with the New Jersey Theatre Alliance.
Before joining the Alliance team, Lauren was the Social Media and Partnerships Manager at iPlay America, New Jersey's largest indoor amusement park. Before that, she served as the Marketing Associate and Social Media Coordinator at Two River Theater where, among many projects, she designed merchandise for the production of Love in Hate Nation, helped create social media contests for opening night tickets, and started a revolution ending in a quarter of the staff speaking in British accents.
Lauren received her BS in Music Business from Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida. It was in the muggy center of Florida where she fell in love with digital marketing and the power that social media can have.
In her spare time, she enjoys blasting Six: The Musical on repeat, playing the ukulele, and posting on her Instagram story.
John McEwen has served as the Executive Director of New Jersey Theatre Alliance since 2001.
Prior to the Alliance, John served as Vice President for Development of the New Jersey Network Foundation where he was responsible for providing the leadership for an annual fund goal of more than $7 million in support of NJN Public Television and Radio’s programs and services. Prior to joining NJN, John served as the Director of Development for Paper Mill Playhouse where he oversaw all fundraising activities, long-range planning, and board development. John provided the leadership for Paper Mill’s successful $10 million capital campaign.
In 1992, McEwen developed the Cultural Access Network Project, a project of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and New Jersey Theatre Alliance, for which he received the inaugural Leadership Award in Access from The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation. John serves as a trustee of ArtPride NJ andFund for the New Jersey Blind. John has served as an adjunct professor in arts management at Seton Hall University, Drew University, and New York University.
John has consulted numerous organizations on board development, long-range planning, fundraising, and cultural access. He received a BA from Montclair State University and an MA from New York University.
John is a graduate of Leadership/New Jersey and was selected as one of 50 nonprofit arts leaders to participate in the Executive Program for Nonprofit Arts Leaders at Stanford University, a partnership of Stanford and National Arts Strategies.
When John is not attending the theatre, he enjoys cooking, collecting glass art, and anything to do with the water—boating, sun bathing, swimming.
Deputy Director
Before joining the Alliance in 2019, Erica Nagel was the Director of Creative Development and Strategy at McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, where she served as a senior member of the artistic staff, oversaw a variety of programs for learners of all ages, and lead cross-departmental initiatives such as The Every 28 Hour Plays, The Migration Plays, and sensory-friendly relaxed performances. Erica previously worked as Director of Education and Engagement at McCarter, during which time she significantly expanded educational partnerships with the Trenton Public School District and re-imagined audience engagement offerings to deepen the impact of attending live performance.
Before her time at McCarter, Erica served as the Producing Associate and Resident Dramaturg at Premiere Stages in Union, NJ. She has also consulted as a dramaturg, curriculum developer, grant panelist, and assessment specialist for numerous organizations across the country, and taught at Princeton University, SUNY Brockport, and Texas A&M University. She is a proud recipient of a 2010 TCG New Generations Future Leaders Grant, which “seeks to identify exceptionally talented theatre professionals who will impact the field in a positive way,” and was honored to participate in the second cohort of the TCG Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Institute
Erica received her MFA in Performance as Public Practice (Theatre and Social Change) at the University of Texas-Austin, where she was a recipient of a Continuing Fellowship Award for her thesis project, Collaboration, Context, and Common Ground: A Model for Community-Engaged Dramaturgy, and regularly wore cowgirl boots to rehearsal.
Beth Prevor is a co-founder and Executive Director of Hands On, an arts service organization that advocates for access to the cultural arts for the Deaf community and audiences with disabilities. For the last 30+ years, Hands On has been providing access for the Deaf and hard of hearing communities of NYC through sign language interpreted theater at some of NYC's most prestigious theaters including The Roundabout Theater Company, The New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theater, and The New Victory Theater.
As Executive Director, Beth works with arts organizations to ensure inclusion for all by providing marketing, community engagement and audience development strategies. As a disabled advocate, Beth is active as an advisory member to many groups including, The Shubert Accessibility Committee and the Museum, Arts and Culture Access Consortium (MAC). She has led workshops on accessibility and the arts for organizations around the country including the Kennedy Center's LEAD (Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability) Conference, Americans for the Arts, The National Arts Marketing Project, the Alliance of Resident Theaters/New York (ART/NY) and Theater Communications Group (TCG).
She currently works as the Access Coordinator for the New Jersey Theatre Alliance as well as a Disability Consultant with ART/NY.
She is the 2015 recipient of the John F. Kennedy Center's Excellence in Accessibility Leadership Lifetime Achievement Award.
Board of Trustees:
John Wooten, Chair
Larry Capo, President
Michael Hurst, Vice Chair
Seth Geldzahler, Treasurer
Laura Ekstrand, Secretary
Connie Alexis-Laona
Neha Bhalani, Esq.
Joseph Benincasa
Etta Denk
Ruth Fost
Laura J. Hay
Carol Herbert
Marshall Jones, III
Linda Kinsey
Suzanne Klar, Esq.
Mindy Richardson
Michael Schnoering, FAIA
Gayle Stahlhuth
Michael Stotts