Kate Warner, Artistic Director

Kate Warner is thrilled to come to work every day as the Artistic Director of Dad's Garage Theatre Company. She serves as producer and motivational (read: ferocious) kitten-with-a-whip driving the theatre's ambitious and exciting artistic vision. She is dedicated to the creation of new theatre, attracting new audiences through innovative stage work and amazing comedy improv, and genuinely entertaining anyone who walks through the door. Kate was an Artistic Associate with Dad’s Garage from 2002–2004 before taking the reigns as Artistic Director in 2005. Her body of directorial work for Dad’s Garage includes: Debbie Does Dallas, The Rocky Horror Show, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Reefer Madness, Skin and The Jammer. Kate has commissioned (and often directed) new work from playwrights such as Lisa Kron, Alice Tuan, Kyle Jarrow, Ross Maxwell, John Pierson, Steve Yockey, Heather Woodbury, Chay Yew and Greg Kotis as well as spearheaded the development of the Top Shelf series which focuses on new work from the Dad’s Garage artistic family. In the Dad’s Garage 2007-2008 season, Kate will also direct the regional premiere of Colorado by Peter Sinn Nachtrieb and the world premiere of The Song of the Dead: A Zombie Musical.

Kate amassed an impressive history as both a director and producer while acting as the previous Managing Director/Artistic Associate with Atlanta's Theatrical Outfit. In December of 2004, Theatrical Outfit moved into its new $5.4 million home, a renovated downtown Atlanta landmark, thus completing an award-winning strategic plan.

Kate enjoys long walks on the beach and Jameson’s Irish Whiskey (no ice) when she is not serving as a board member of Theatre Communications Group, the national service organization for non-profit theatres, a member of the CHRIS Kids Rainbow Advisory board, a member of the Kennesaw State University Theatre Advisory board, a member and facilitator of the Lincoln Center Theatre Directors' Lab in New York, a member and panelist of the Directors Lab West in Los Angeles, and a member of the Society for Stage Directors and Choreographers. In the summer of 2004, Kate also completed the Executive Program for Non-Profit Leaders in the Arts at Stanford Graduate School of Business and the New Artistic Leadership Institute with TCG/Dance USA at the McCarter Theatre.

Recognition for Kate's recent local and national directing work includes a Suzi Bass Award for Best Director of a Play in 2006 and Readers’ Pick for Best Director in Creative Loafing’s Best of Atlanta 2006. She is a graduate of Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo, MI with degrees in Theatre and Anthropology.

Lena Carstens, Managing Director

Lena loves the "business" of making theatre. It's like making sausages. You don't want to see what goes into it, but the result is divine. And you are an important ingredient in making theatre at Dad's whether as an audience member, a volunteer, an artist, or a donor. And speaking of donors, Lena is always happy to take checks payable to Dad's Garage.

Lena joined the Dad's family from the Alliance Theatre where she served as Associate Managing Director through TCG's New Generations: Mentoring the Leaders of Tomorrow grant under the superb tutelage of Managing Director Thomas Pechar. She holds a BFA in theatre stage management from Webster University in St. Louis as well as both an MA in arts administration and MBA from SMU. Lena is overjoyed to apply her education at Dad's and has no plans on getting a third masters degree.

Before moving over to the money side of the theatre, Lena worked as a stage manager with credits that include Broadway and off-Broadway productions. Her production work has included gigs with Roundabout Theatre Company, Manhattan Theatre Club, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Opera Theatre of St. Louis and Hope Summer Repertory Theatre. While in graduate school in Dallas, her management studies included work with the Dallas Theater Center and Dallas Business Committee for the Arts.

Lena is a co-chair for the L.E.A.D. Atlanta Class of 2008 and was a member of the L.E.A.D. Atlanta Class of 2006. She is a finalist for the Power 30 Under 30 in Atlanta Awards and served on the board of Atlanta Nonprofit Professionals and the advisory council of Emerging Arts Leaders of Atlanta. Lena and her handsome husband Josh are getting their feet wet with their greatest achievement of all – becoming parents to baby Chloe.

Linnea Frye, Marketing Director

Linnea graduated with a B.A. in Business Management from Georgia State University, and was lucky enough to land her first grown-up job as the Audience Development Director at Dad’s Garage. After 3 years of working in the Dad’s Garage catacombs with no heat or air, she has since earned a fancier title and subsequently mutated into a super-human species that can sweat out of her eyeballs while writing, designing, and making bad jokes. In her spare time, Linnea enjoys root beer floats, puppies, and speaking in a sarcastic tone. She does not enjoy mustaches.

Lara Smith, Development Director

Lara recently relocated to Atlanta from St. Louis, Missouri. While there, she worked in the administration offices of The Municipal Theatre Association and served on the Artistic Director Search Committee for the Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis. Lara holds a BFA in Stage Management from Webster University, which she put to work in the stage management departments at the Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and Hope Summer Repertory Theatre in Holland, Michigan. Thanks to mom and dad for supporting the decision to pursue theatre, and to dad in particular for getting her a shirt that said “Would you like fries with that?” when she announced said decision. Lara is thrilled to be back in Atlanta after having interned at the Alliance in Administration and Production Management. More than that, she is glad to be part of Dad’s Garage (and not saying “Would you like fries with that?”)! Lara, unlike Linnea, enjoys the occasional mustache. Especiallly on René.

Tim Stoltenberg, Improvisation Director & Corporate Booker

Tim Stoltenberg graduated with honors from St. Norbert College in Depere, Wisconsin with a BFA in Theatre in 2001. While at St. Norbert Tim acted in mainstage plays and started his improvisational career with ComedyCity. Following graduation Tim worked with the Academy Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia as a member of their Theatre For Youth tour team. Now Tim works with The Academy, Jewish Theatre of the South, and Laughing Matters. Tim is also an improvisation teacher, working as the Improv Director at Dad's Garage Theatre. Tim has acted at Dad's in Out of The Trees, Debbie Does Dallas, The Adventures of Mr. 4Wheel Drive, 8 ½ X 11: Live and Uncensored, The Koby Bryant Project, The Computer Wore Flat Soled Pumas and many other improv shows. Good stuff.

Amber Nash, Education Director

Amber Nash graduated from Georgia State University with a B.S. in Psychology. For 3 years, she worked as a youth counselor for the State of Georgia with children experiencing emotional and behavioral challenges. Amber has been acting and improvising in Atlanta for 10 years. She is a part of the Improv Ensemble at Dad’s Garage Theatre; fulfilling roles as a performer, teacher, creator and director. Amber works with Laughing Matters as an improviser, actor and team-building facilitator. She works with Young Audiences bringing improv programming to elementary schools, with Kid Komedy, teaching improv to children that learn differently and has also served on the design team for VSA Arts of Georgia’s Summer Institute. She is currently working with Communities in Schools, ARCH program as their lead improv instructor and as a teacher for Creative Circus. Amber has lead workshops at Geva Theatre in Rochester, NY as well as in Gainesville, FL at the Hippodrome State Theatre of Florida and at Georgia Technical Institute. In 2005, Amber spent 2 months in Chicago training with IO. Since becoming the Education Director at Dad’s Garage, she has revamped the class system, developed a Summer Kid’s Camp, serves as the Intern Coordinator and is revitalizing our outreach efforts. Amber is passionate about the role that improv and the arts play in education for both children and adults.

Jamie Warde, Technical Director

Jamie Warde is originally from Buffalo, NY, where he misspent his youth and educational years. At the age of fifteen, he began working in professional theatres on scenery, electric and props crews. Over the next four years, he put in time with every theatre company in Buffalo at every black box and university theatre he could find. After several more seasons working in stage management and production at the regional and touring theatres, he left the northeast to see what the rest of the country had to offer. Two summers in production positions for outdoor drama aside, Atlanta was the first city he settled in. In December of '95, he decided to try something new, free-lancing with the Scenery Shop for Turner Broadcasting System. You probably have seen most of the scenery or anchor desks he built for CNN, TNT, and all the other Turner networks, starting that winter and running through the new millennium. He began working on different facets of production at Dad's Garage Theatre in January of '97, and started the '97-'98 season that autumn as the new Technical Director. Since then, he has had the pleasure of building over 25 different shows on the Mainstage and in the Top Shelf, beginning with the smash hit Cannibal: The Musical and running through our current season's opening show, Say You Love Satan. At present, you can usually find him at the long-awaited new scenery shop around the back of the building at Dad's Garage with a small crew of loyal carpenters, probably making a mess.

Olivia Narr, Front of House Manager & Bookkeeper

Olivia is thrilled to be working at Dad's Garage as Front of House/Bar Manager. She was introduced to the Dad's staff during the production of "Bat Boy: the Musical", and loves the idea of being in charge of the beer (Beer...Good...). She has spent the past 5 years working with other theatre companies in the Atlanta area both backstage and onstage and is happy to have found a place at Dad's.