LEADERSHIP
President - Ray Manfredi, LUTCF, FSCP, MBA, PhD
Ray comes to Stage Door Productions as a Board Member who has roots in the theater, starting as a child television commercial actor at the age of eight, and expanding his on screen career, holding small roles in several movies, and ultimately becoming a stand-up comic and theatrical performer. He has performed on many a stage, across the country, and even a few times locally, including with Stage Door. Ray has received several acting awards from industry organizations for his work on stage including a ‘Best Comedic Actor' and 'Best Male Lead' awards, as well as a Writing award. His adaption of ‘A Christmas Carol’ will be performed at our theater annually. He has been married to Catherine since 1987 and a proud father of two children, Thomas and Noelle. Ray holds a Doctorate in Metaphysics as well as a Master’s in Business Administration, with an emphasis on economics and corporate ethics. His involvement with Stage Door has been very analytical, with a goal to bring our foundation to the next level when it comes to community sponsorships and community impact. He is a welcomed fresh face filled with ideas that will surely put a spotlight on all those who get involved with Stage Door Productions.
Ray owns and operates an Allstate Insurance Agency in Northern Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and DC, and has authored several professional trade manuals and customer advisory books on both customer service and risk management. His agencies are ranked in the top 3% nationally among his peers for service scores.
Ray’s agency, Manfredi Insurance Group / Allstate of Northern Virginia happens to be a primary benefactor for Stage Door, and responsible for the $60,000 redesign of our 6,000 square-foot theater space, including the new 44-foot stage, 8-level 200-seat tiered seating auditorium, and many other improvements. If you haven’t seen a show lately, you're going to be amazed when you come in. We even now have a bar and concessions stand.
Vice President and Publicity/Marketing - Laura Echevarria
Born in Alabama, Laura moved with her family to Fredericksburg when she was nine-years old and grew up in the Fredericksburg area.
She was a biology major planning to attend medical school when her freshman speech professor pulled her aside and told her she should consider changing her major to speech communications. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications with a concentration in public speaking and a minor in the interpretation of literature (and a minor in Biology). She has completed some hours toward a Master's in English.
Bitten by the acting bug in college, Laura’s favorite college role was Tweeny in her university's production of “The Admirable Crichton.” Laura is a writer and communications professional working in Washington, D.C. but lives in Fredericksburg with her husband (who is also heavily involved with Stage Door Productions) and three children. She has performed in several plays produced by Stage Door Productions including the Nurse in “Romeo and Juliet,” Polly in “Play On,” Mary in the One-Act Festival production of "Out from Under with Mary," the Duchess in “Othello,” Mrs. Fairfax in "Jane Eyre," Aunt Ev in "The Miracle Worker," and Mrs. Fezziwig for the first two years of the annual "A Christmas Carol" production.
Treasurer - Keith Ofsowitz
Secretary - Cathy Manfredi
Catherine is' related' to the theater through marriage and motherhood. One might say she was dragged into the behind the scenes work after being married to a thespian and
raising another for many years. Occasionally hosting a cast party, she has now started to take on more and more active roles. She has on several occasions Stage Managed a production for Stage Door Productions. We expect soon to have her join the other actors in the spotlight - on stage one day. Catherine sits on the Foundation Board of Directors and along with her husband owns and manages an Allstate Insurance Agency in Springfield Virginia, which supports this theater financially.
Cultural Committee Chair - Debbie Harris
Debbie Harris is the Chairperson of the newly formed Cultural Committee for Stagedoor Productions. Her show credits include "The Jungle Book" (Assistant Director), "Jane Eyre" (Assistant Stage Manager), Corin in "As You Like It," One acts (Director), and "The Wizard of Oz" ( Assistant Director). Debbie moved to the Fredericksburg area from Northern Virginia seventeen years ago. Debbie has enjoyed a long career with GEICO. After attending a performance by invitation, Debbie became involved in theater and found her passion for production. She is most comfortable behind the scenes watching the unfolding of a show and all the actors’ work.
Outside of the theater, Debbie helps her husband Mack run his commercial cleaning company, Eastern Enterprises. They have been married for 30 years and have 3 children, 7 grandchildren, all of which can be found at any given time, volunteering at the theater.
Shakespeare Chair - Bill Green
In the last half century, Bill Green, a retired English professor living in Alabama, Kentucky, and Virginia, has written poems, stories, articles, and books. He has written, directed, or acted in well over a hundred plays, produced videos, and written, performed, and recorded music, sometimes for money, but mostly out of love for creating.
Props Management - Kitt Murphy
Kitt moved recently to Fredericksburg from Williamsburg Virginia. She attended Longwood College majoring in Technical theater. After raising her family, she was able to get back into theater at the Williamsburg Players. She has stage managed many shows, in addition to building sets, lighting, props and anything else pertaining to any part of the theater.
She is very happy to be able to contribute and be a part of Stage Door Productions.
Publicity and Marketing Team - Tuan Pham
As a husband, father, and comedy relief to his family, Tuan has found a certain level of escapism in being involved in theater; a chance to be everything you aren't! So far, Tuan has found himself on stage as... a husband, a father, and comedy relief to his (theater) family... well at least it makes the kids laugh! Thanks to his many stage wives, husbands, children, and partners in crime, Tuan may one day find the courage to truly be himself one day. But today is not that day. Whatever show you've come to enjoy, Tuan hopes you find your own little escape and come away with a little more insight to the many facets of life.
Set Design Coordinator - Cathy Bergdahl
Cathy Bergdahl was born and raised on a small farm in Minnesota. She attended the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs where she was a member of “RATTEX”, a group of 5 cadets who set up and ran lights and sound for guest speakers, concerts, shows, and movies throughout the cadet area. USAFA was the site of her farewell stage performance in “Godspell”.
Cathy spent 21 years as an Air Force officer and KC-135 pilot. She’s been stationed throughout the US and deployed around the world. She commanded the KC-135/C-5/C-17 training squadron at Altus AFB, Oklahoma, before moving to Virginia for her final assignment at the Marine Corps Command and Staff College at MCB Quantico. She holds a master’s in experimental psychology and a BS in human factors engineering.
Cathy is married to Brian Bergdahl and they have 3 awesome daughters, Sarah, Rachel, and Danielle (Echo). It is Danielle’s love of the theater that brought Cathy to Stage Door.
Volunteers - Echo Bartholomew
Echo Bartholomew is an aspiring actress who has studied acting and performance at the University of Mary Washington, and under acting coach Larry Singer at his New York Acting Intensive. She is thrilled to be returning to the stage after her roles in “Steel Magnolias,” “A Christmas Carol,” and “Julius Caesar,” and is hoping to soon take on more roles in live theatre, as well as screen and voice acting.
Board Member - Michael Hart
Stage Door Founder - Kimberly Kemp