ASTC New Members, Directors, and Officers, Spring 2024

	Top left to right: Kascey Haslanger, Keith Friedlander, Paul Whitaker, and Paul Sanow

The American Society of Theatre Consultants (ASTC) announces that Keith Friedlander, Kascey Haslanger, and Paul Whitaker have been approved for membership in the organization. The Board of Directors admitted the new members at the ASTC annual meeting which occurred during the 2024 USITT Conference in Seattle. In addition, new Directors of the Board have been elected and new Officers have been selected.

The three new members are experienced theatre consultants and meet the qualifications for membership.

Before joining Schuler Shook Theatre Planners in 2015, Friedlander spent 15 years working as a lighting/video supervisor and master electrician at major regional theatres in addition to technical direction at the college level. As a theatre consultant, he has planned and developed theatre systems for venues ranging from significant major performing arts centers and amphitheatres to a wide variety of university and high school theatres Friedlander has also been responsible for renovating and upgrading numerous rigging and lighting systems during his time at Schuler Shook.

With experience ranging from developing lighting consoles with a major manufacturer, to a field service technician, to an ongoing relationship as lighting designer with the Arizona Cardinals, Haslanger's background prepared her for a position as senior consultant at Charcoal Blue. Prior to joining Charcoalblue, Haslanger was a senior theatre design specialist and senior associate at DLR Group. Over the course of her 11 years as a full time theatre consultant, she has worked on numerous types of theatres and performing arts buildings around the US including Sacramento's SAFE Credit Union Performing Arts Center.

Recently, Whitaker became a partner at Schuler Shook where he has been working since 1997. Besides his theatre consulting work where he handles all aspects of the project from concept to completion, Paul also designs the architectural lighting for many of those theatres. He is an accomplished freelance theatre lighting designer and has designed for major regional theatres around the country and in New York. Among his many theatre consulting projects, the Janet Wallace Fine Arts Center at Macalester College was awarded the USITT Architecture Merit Award.

In other ASTC news, Robert Smulling and Howard Glickman were elected to the Board by the organization's members. They join Scott Crossfield and R. Duane Wilson who were re-elected to new two-year terms. Continuing Board members are Paul Sanow, Heather McAvoy, and Peter Scheu.

Sanow was selected to be the new president of the Board succeeding McAvoy. Sanow has served on the Board for five years and been chairperson of the ASTC publications committee. He re-established and revamped the ASTC newsletter and led the effort to increase ASTC's visibility as chair of publications. Sanow notes, "I'm deeply humbled by the faith placed in me by the Board and by extension the membership. We've done a lot the last few years and I look forward to continuing our efforts to develop the organization and our outreach to the industry." McAvoy has lead ASTC for three years, and has been on the board since 2015. Sanow thanks her for her service, "Heather has done an excellent job leading the board and the organization. She has been dedicated to all our missions, and in particular she has pushed us to find new ways to be more open and inclusive to the industry and prospective members."

Crossfield will serve as the new vice president. Wilson will continue his long service to ASTC as treasurer and Scheu will remain as secretary of the organization.