STAFF
Patrick Lathrop – Executive Director
Patrick Lathrop is an actor, director, costumer and educator. He holds a BA in Theatre Performance, an MFA in Musical Theatre, and an MA in Costume History and Design. Patrick has been a Teaching Artist for over 25 years with a strong background in non-traditional, informal and museum education utilizing the Visual and Performing Arts to foster creativity and self-esteem in young people. Patrick has worked with a variety of organizations including the Imagination Celebration of Orange County, Orange County Department of Education, Pasadena Junior Theatre, Pasadena Unified School District, and San Diego Junior Theatre. Just prior to moving from Southern California, Patrick worked with the San Diego Old Globe Theatre to help develop a new Shakespeare Curriculum for fifth graders. Patrick began with the Coaster Theater as the summer camp director in August of 2009. In November of that year he moved to Cannon Beach to work in the Box Office and be the Education Director. Since then he has directed several education productions, as well as directingand acting in several Coaster Theatre productions.
Jenni Tronier – Marketing & Operations Director
Jenni studied acting in NYC at The Academy of Dramatic Arts and Circle in the Square Theatre School. After graduating from Circle she co-founded Phenomenon Productions, Inc. in NYC with her future husband Ryan Hull. With Phenomenon Production she co-produced Zastrozzi: The Master of Discipline, Just Assassins and a new work staged reading of Beyond. She took a few years off to return to school and study Art History at Hunter College and in 2004 moved to Portland, OR. While in Portland she worked for Coffee Bean Intl., a private label coffee roaster as Business Development Coordinator, Creative Manager and Marketing Project Manager. In 2012, she and her family were looking for a change and decided to move to Cannon Beach. Jenni joined the Coaster Theatre in June 2013. A few of her acting credits include Twelfth Night, Present Laughter, The Importance of Being Earnest, Zastrozzi, Pericles, American Clock, Once Upon A Mattress and You Can’t Take it With You. Choreography credits include Into The Woods and Paint Your Wagon (assistant). Directing credits include Coffee & Cigarettes and Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Nile.
Sue Bird – Box Office & Operations
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Laura Freedman – President
Laura Freedman is a California native and a life-long theatre lover. She owns and operates a Real Estate Appraisal business in California with her husband, Gregg, and commutes south from their home in Cannon Beach on a fairly regular basis. Laura has been a Rotarian for over 30 years and has served as President of the Rotary Club of Seaside. She has been active in various leadership capacities in several non-profit organizations such as the Providence Seaside Foundation, Boy Scouts of America, Methodist Hospital Foundation, Sierra Madre School Foundation and Friends of the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. Her previous theatre board experience was as President and Director of the Music Theatre of Southern California. While Laura’s theatre experiences are mainly off the stage and behind the scenes, her daughter, Hillary, is an actor in Los Angeles. All three of the Freedman’s are proud graduates of the University of Southern California.
David Sweeney – Secretary
David Sweeney is best known at the Coaster Theatre for his acting. He has appeared in over forty productions since his Coaster Theatre debut in the 2000 production of The Music Man. Some of his recent performances include: Uncle Billy (It’s a Wonderful Life), Ben (Let’s Murder Marsha), the King (Once Upon a Mattress) and Mushnik (Little Shop of Horrors). David serves on the program committee of the Coaster Theatre Playhouse Board. This committee is charged with recommending a season of plays which will offer a rich variety of styles and genres for Coaster Theatre patrons. Off state, David is pastor of Calvary Episcopal Church in Seaside.
Darren Hull – Treasurer
Darren began his involvement with the Coaster Theatre in 1989 when he was cast as a narrator in The Dickens Play. Over the past 30 years he has participated at many levels including: technical work in lighting, sound and set construction; being on staff as the Assistant Manager in the early 1990’s; as a board member from 2009 through 2014 serving as President from the fall of 2012; and as an actor and singer on stage in many productions. Memorable roles include Arles Struvie, Petey Fisk, Vera Carp et al. in Coaster Theatre’s original production of Greater Tuna; Pseudolus in Forum; The Baker in Into The Woods and Scrooge in A Christmas Carol: The Musical. Darren earned a BFA in Political Science from the University of Washington and after many years in the accounting field is now the proud owner of Yuletides Christmas Shop in Cannon Beach, Oregon.
Richard Bowman – Director
Richard is usually found on the Coaster Theatre stage performing in musicals or plays with this amazing community of volunteer actors and crew. Richard is from Salt Lake City, Utah where he first found his love of singing and acting and trained at The Academy of Performing Arts for 5 years. A few of his hobbies aside from performing are marathon running, designing costumes and karaoke. He works full time for Yuletides Christmas Shop here in Cannon Beach with his partner Darren Hull. You may recognize him from a few past shows he appeared in such as Virgil Baxter in Let’s Murder Marsha, Mr. Green in Clue: The Musical, Roland Maul in Present Laughter, and of course the Beast in Disney’s Beauty and the Beast. He would like to thank his mom for her never ending support and his amazing circle of friends for always pushing him to do his best then add more. This is Richard’s first experience being on a board of directors and will also be on the programing committee he is anxious to get the ball rolling.
Rik Godderz – Director
Semi-retired since 2012 and living full-time in Cannon Beach since. My wife Caroline and I bought our home here in 2010, but have been hanging around AMAP for about 25 years. We have raised 8 kids (5 biological, 3 adopted) who are now grown and have, so far, given us 10 grandchildren. Most live in the northwest (Oregon, WA, and Idaho) and “unfortunately” know our phone number. Just kidding, we love those grandkids. Prior to leaving the world of commerce and enterprise, I was a health care administrator, director of several social service non-profits, and a professional fundraiser/resource development coordinator. Now I fish, crab, garden, landscape, nap daily and help out as much as possible at the theatre and the Cannon Beach Christian Conference Center. Oh, and travel and explore whenever I get enough change together (preferably on a cruise ship). LIFE IS GOOD, GOD IS GREAT!
Nancy McCarthy – Director
Since 2008, Nancy McCarthy has been active in the Coaster Theatre Playhouse as an actor, stage manager, control booth operator and usher. Her interest in the theatre goes back to the 1980s, when she first attended plays as a visitor to Cannon Beach. Nancy first acted in Our Town and has appeared in several plays, including My Fair Lady, Annie Get Your Gun, White Christmas, Scrooged and It’s a Wonderful Life. She has also worked the lights and sound on numerous plays for many years. A retired editor of the Cannon Beach Gazette and the Seaside Signal, Nancy works as a freelance writer and often writes stories about the Coaster Theatre for local publications. She also serves as a Cannon Beach City Councilor.
Robin Montero – Director
Robin Montero is delighted to have been a part of the North Coast community since first visiting in 1989. Originally a Seattle native, she has been a professional theatrical and film costume designer and craftsman for over 40 years and has worked with Seattle’s infamous 5th Avenue Theatre since 1996. Robin is also a textile artist specializing in felt portrait sculpture which has been exhibited throughout the Oregon Coast. “Live theatre is an indispensable community asset. With an impressive and reputable history, the Coaster Theatre continues to offer outstanding community theater for all ages. I am thrilled to contribute my experience and expertise to the continuing success of the Coaster Theatre as a member of the Board.”
Tita Montero – Director
Tita Montero fulfilled a personal goal by moving to Seaside from Seattle in 2002, culminating more than 40 years of regularly visiting the North Coast. After attending and volunteering at the Coaster Theatre for a few years, she challenged herself to audition and, fulfilling another goal, has appeared in Unexpected Guest, Our Town and Secret Life of Sherlock Holmes. Appearing in Scrooge: The Musical allowed her to complete a second theatrical goal of singing on stage. Tita joined the Coaster Theatre Board in 2015 bringing expertise from previous careers in healthcare administration, retail and nonprofit management and public relations. Besides volunteering for the Coaster Theatre, Tita is active on the boards of Clatsop Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), and the Seaside Museum & Historical Society as well as the Advisory Committees of Columbia Memorial Hospital and the Sunset Empire Transportation District. She is serving her third term as a Seaside City Councilor.
Cathey Ryan – Director
Cathey and her husband, Thomas, moved to Seaside in 2016. The Coaster Theatre opened its arms to them both with roles in Blithe Spirit and Noises Off and has served on the Coaster Theatre Programming Committee for the past year. Cathey has been involved with music, dance, acting and directing all her adult life. She has a BA in Theatre Arts and Production as well as 9 years of professional work in Los Angeles. She spent the 1970’s in Hollywood working on various films, stages and sitcoms including Diff’rent Strokes and Facts of Life. Cathey and her husband have toured the country as the comedy duo “Wendell and Persimmon” and they founded a theatre company, “The Imaginators”. She spent 3 years on the board of “The Ukulele Society of America” of greater San Diego. Her business background is a result of working her way up to the position of Vice President of the Weight Watchers franchises of Washington and Alaska. She is active with the local chapter of Indivisible North Coast Oregon and the Seaside Strummers.