Theatre Aspen Office
Our administrative office is open Monday through Friday 10 am – 6 pm.
110 East Hallam Street
Suite 126
Aspen, Colorado 81611
Phone: 970.925.9313
Email: info@theatreaspen.org
Theatre Aspen’s Hurst Theatre
470 Rio Grande Place
Aspen, CO 81611
Clare Evert-Shane, Vice-Chair
In 1993 she moved to Aspen, authored a book about her grandfather, and has served on numerous community organizations including:
Board Member, Aspen Country Day School
Treasurer, Aspen Film Board of Trustees
Board Member, Starwood Homeowner’s Association,
and currently serves as Chair, Robins Foundation.
Juliet is a founding member of Norwich Partners, capitalized in 2003 and regarded as one of the top hotel developers in the USA. Norwich Partners places an emphasis on giving back to their communities, especially children’s charities.
Ali is Executive Vice President & Partner of Obermeyer Wood Investment Counsel. In this role, she manages client relationships, working closely with individuals and multigenerational families, and advises on asset allocation and investment strategy. Ali is also a member of the Executive Committee, overseeing our operations and spearheading the firm’s strategic initiatives.
Ali has worked in the financial industry for over 25 years; prior to joining Obermeyer Wood in 2005, she worked at Salomon Brother and Goldman Sachs in Chicago, London and New York
Ali earned her BA, cum laude, from Middlebury College with honors in economics.
On a Personal Note
There’s a good chance you’ll find Ali doing something outdoors when she is not in the office or attending a Theatre Aspen performance. Whether it’s skiing, hiking, golfing, biking, traveling, or keeping up with her two middle school kids, she’s always on the move. After leaving the East Coast, she and her husband drove cross-country in an old Jeep Cherokee as they set out for California. They spent two months visiting mountain towns between Colorado and Canada and decided to give Aspen a try.
They haven’t left or regretted their decision since.
Acting Experience: None
BOARD & TRUSTEES
Lisa Baker
Meredith earned her undergraduate degree from Syracuse University and received a Master’s in Education from Trinity College and a Master’s in Early Childhood Leadership from Bank Street College. Her career spans 20+ years in education, including running her own business which focused on educating children through cooking.
From a young age her parents instilled in her a love of culture which included theatre, music, art and travel. She is a volunteer with the Central Park Conservancy. Meredith enjoys hiking, yoga, skinning, running and skiing. When she is not outdoors she can be found playing cards, reading and cooking.
Ms. Brooks had the honor of working for Madeline K. Albright and Condoleezza Rice in their barrier breaking roles as the first female Secretary of State and the first female National Security Advisor, respectively. During the Clinton and Bush administrations, she was a leading architect of U.S. Asia policy, with a particular focus on Southeast Asia. As Director for Asian Affairs on the National Security Council staff at the White House, she advised the President of the United States and key cabinet members; negotiated key agreements on behalf of the President; coordinated policy among U.S. government agencies; and developed trade and other initiatives for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. Important highlights of her tenure at the NSC included the signing of the U.S.‐Singapore Free Trade Agreement and the upgrading of U.S. defense partnerships with friends and allies in Asia.
Upon leaving the White House, Ms. Brooks founded an advisory services company to help American Fortune 500 companies succeed in Southeast Asia. Clients included Microsoft, Hewlett‐Packard, Johnson & Johnson, ExxonMobil, Mars, Inc. and other best‐in‐class companies. She now works with private equity giant TPG’s social impact fund, The Rise Fund, where she focuses on investments in education, renewable energy and healthcare. Ms. Brooks also provides critical operational support to portfolio companies, including bringing them into new markets. In that context, she recently co‐ founded and sits on the board of a new solar company in Indonesia, dedicated to reducing Indonesia’s dependence on fossil fuels.
Ms. Brooks graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University; holds a master’s degree from Cornell University; and attended the Manhattan School of Music’s Preparatory Division as an opera major and piano minor. She speaks four Asian languages and translated for Presidents Clinton and Bush, as well as numerous cabinet secretaries. She is an Adjunct Senior Fellow for Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York and a former high altitude mountain climber, who used her passion for climbing to raise money for cancer research through climbs in Alaska, Russia and the Himalayas.
David is a director of the Chazen Institute of Global Business at Columbia Business School. He also serves on the boards of High Jump Chicago and YPO Aspen. He received his B.S. from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania and his MBA from Columbia Business School. He lives in Chicago and Aspen and has two children, Jasper and Fiona. He has run 25 New York City Marathons and counting.
Thoroughly engaged in the community and outdoor activities, she is passionate about the theater, music, art, and the culture offered in Aspen. Her mom was involved in the Florida Repertory Theatre and instilled a sense of commitment to the arts in Tracy.
Tracy’s involvement in Theatre Aspen started many moons ago when it once was known as Theatre in the Park. She continues to promote and admire the growth of this brilliant theatre. She specifically enjoys the creativity and fascinating people she has met and that the board has curated over the years. The arts and accessibility to all the programs in this town, combined with the beauty of the outdoors (being able to hike, ski, skin, play tennis, golf…) is why she can’t imagine living anywhere else.
She and Bubba reside in the West End and have two amazing children, Elle and Brett, both born and bred in Aspen!
Darlynn has two children: Louri who lives in Omaha, Ted, a public defender in Montana, and six grandchildren. Her husband promised her that as soon as the kids were out of the house they could move to Aspen, and she said it was about time in the ‘87/’88 season. Hearing someone mention the TA shows at lunch that year, she ran right over to learn more and has been involved in Theatre Aspen ever since.
Darlynn has seen Theatre Aspen through the many changes of the early years and has appeared onstage in I Hate Hamlet, and in the titular role of Slyvia. She is incredibly proud of how far Theatre Aspen has come in establishing itself in the Aspen Arts landscape and as someone who has loved the theatre all her life, never misses a chance to support TA in a coveted walk on role each summer.
Her charity work has been primarily focused on two South Florida organizations. The Harvest Drive focuses on feeding families during the holidays and through her family’s efforts has been instrumental in growing the program from a local operation to enveloping most of Broward County.
Through the Rotary Club of Weston, her efforts regarding scholarships has been integral in ensuring countless students graduating from her community’s local high schools have the opportunity to continue their education by attending college.
Personally rewarding has been the time spent chairing the PTO and Booster Club at her children’s school to ensure the students and faculty have all the resources available to them.
Charlene is excited to bring her background to Theatre Aspen where she can apply her love of charity to her personal passion. She looks forward to helping Theatre Aspen continue its tremendous success and establish itself as the world class Theatre that we already know it has become.
He is currently on the Finance Committee of Valley Settlement and has served on the Board of Trustees for the Aspen Art Museum and Aspen Youth Experience. Before moving to Aspen in 2003, Adam was a senior executive in the global financial markets. Mr. Frisch and his wife have two children.
Jeff Grinspoon
Jim is an active member of SIOR, AIRE, and on the Board of Advisors of Roosevelt University’s Chicago School of Real Estate. He currently serves as a Director of the First National Bank of Brookfield and is a Governing Member of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Jim is a former board president of Victory Gardens Theater as well as a former director of Gottlieb Memorial Hospital.
With his wife Brenda, Jim administers their family foundation that funds education, the arts, and housing and social service initiatives and programs. The Gruseckis enjoy and support the many cultural opportunities that Chicago offers, and indulge in theater and music performance wherever and whenever their travels take them. Otherwise, Jim can be found fly fishing on the Roaring Fork River.
Arjun Gupta
Barbara Lee
Her career has combined finance and public policy in the United States and abroad. Moses was a managing director in the Investment Banking Division at Goldman Sachs; served as chief executive officer of the British policy think tank CentreForum; and was a senior policy adviser to Prime Minister Gordon Brown, helping to restructure the British banking sector during the financial crisis of 2008-09. She also invests in educational technology startups. A 1983 graduate of Brown, she serves on the Corporation as Trustee and Chair of the Budget and Finance Committee.
Don and his wife Ann divide their time between Dallas and Aspen.
She is a graduate of Southern Methodist University (1990) with a B.A. in Communications and a minor in Philosophy.
Her love of art and sculpture ultimately led her into the life of selling watches and jewelry, but prior to that, she dabbled in radio, art school, pharmaceutical sales, was a port lecturer on cruise ships and also in local television as a host for Channel 16 when she moved to Aspen.
Robin and Kenny started Meridian Jewelers in 2003, and it has been going strong ever since thanks to an amazing local and visiting clientele and fantastic staff without whom they can’t imagine.
She is an avid supporter of Theatre Aspen, of course, but is also active with several other local organizations, most notably The Aspen Youth Center and the Aspen Rotary Club where she started the lucrative Aspen Rotary Extemporaneous Speech Competition for high school students from Aspen all the way to Rifle.
In her spare time, Robin enjoys skiing, skinning, biking, hiking, cooking, flyfishing and pickleball-jack of many hobbies, master of none, yet relishing them all nonetheless.
She and her husband Kenny have two sons, Nico & Gavin (a future thespian), and live in Aspen.
Candice is passionate about giving to her community by working on and supporting many charities such as Crohns and Colitis, United Cerebral Palsy, Hebrew University, The JCC of Krakow, NY SYnagogue, Kips Bay Boys Club, Hineni, UJA, and she is a lifetime member of Hadassah. Candice is especially dedicated to and has chaired and organized many fundraiser’s for FACES (Find a Cure For Epilepsy and Seizures) part of NYU Langone Hospital.
In Aspen, Candice is a National Council member for JAS Aspen and is newly on the board of Theater Aspen. Twenty six years ago Candice became involved with the developement of Challenge Aspen when her five year old special needs daughter Skylar skied for the first time. Skylar was one of the first participants to ski in the program. Candice is on the board of the National Council for Challenge Aspen.
Candice graduated from Mills College of Education with a B.S. in Early Childhood and Special Education, with a minor in Psychology. Candice has also been an advocate for helping parents with Special Needs children fight for their rights.
Melanie’s prior work experience is in finance: project finance at International Finance Corporation and M&A at Morgan Stanley (London) and Drexel Burnham Lambert (New York). An Aspen resident, Melanie and her husband Marc (“Zac”) Zachary have a son Zane who attends Aspen High and is passionate about aviation. Zane aspires to fly Air Force One, and one day to be flown in Air Force One. Of note, Melanie is the oldest board member of Theatre Aspen, if not in age, at least in tenure.
Melanie has an MBA from INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France, and undergraduate degrees in international relations and economics from Tufts University.
Along with her husband Mark, Jennifer is a member of Farmington Country Club in Charlottesville, VA, Jupiter Island Club in Jupiter Island, FL, Mountain Brook Club in Birmingham, AL and Maroon Creek Club in Aspen, CO. Together they support The Birmingham Symphony, Birmingham Art Museum, Red Mountain Theatre Company and Theatre Aspen.
Jennifer and Mark have four children, Mark Joseph Styslinger Jr, graduate of University of Virginia, Claudia Overstreet Styslinger, graduate of University of Virginia, Stella Smith Styslinger, Senior, at the University of Virginia, and Lydia Catherine Styslinger, Senior, at Aspen High school. The family is members of Our Lady of Sorrows church in Birmingham, AL and St. Mary’s Church in Aspen, CO.
Jennifer earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree in Business Administration from SMU in 1986 and worked at Oppenheimer & Co. until 1990. She enjoys playing tennis, skiing, hiking and travelling with her family
In addition, in 1996, he started forming a group of companies operating under the TKO Apparel brand name. These companies currently design and import men’s and women’s clothing under private labels for many of America’s better known national brands and/or retailers.
Kenny has been an active participant with and contributor to many local non-profit organizations, giving tirelessly of his time and financial resources. Mr. Tate currently serves on the boards of Nova Southeastern University, the Broward Workshop (the top 100 business leaders of Broward County, Florida), the Broward Performing Arts Foundation (consistently rated one of the top 10 performing arts centers in the US), and Theatre Aspen (a nationally recognized regional performing arts theater and education center based in Aspen, CO). He is a former board member of the Community Foundation of Broward and Kids In Distress.
Mr. Tate is a graduate of Vanderbilt University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering and Duke University where he earned an MBA. Kenny and his wife, Sandy, split their time between homes in Fort Lauderdale, FL and Snowmass Village, CO.
Some of Amy’s favorite activities are: going to the theater – playing sudoku, canasta, hiking, skinning and swimming. Amy lives in Aspen with her husband Jeffrey and their four children – Joshua, Madison, Brooke, Hope & their two dogs – Jax & Skylar.
From 1970 until June 1990, he practiced law as a associate, and later as a partner, with the law firm of Shook, Hardy & Bacon in Kansas City, Missouri. In June 1990, he joined Philip Morris Companies (now Altria Group Inc.) as Vice President and Associate General Counsel. In May 1995, he became Senior Vice President and General Counsel.
Chuck became Vice Chairman of Philip Morris International on March 28, 2008, following the spin off of Philip Morris International from Altria. In November of that year, he assumed the additional position of General Counsel, serving in that capacity until February 28, 2010. He retired as Vice Chairman in June, 2010.
Since retiring, Chuck has served as Chair of the Board of Directors of the New York City Opera, 2011-2015; Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Center of Theological Inquiry located in Princeton, NJ, 2011-present; a member of the Board of Directors of the African Wildlife Foundation located in Nairobi, Kenya and Washington DC, 2011-present; a member of the Board of Trustees of the Aspen Music Festival and School, 2016-present,; a member of the Society of Fellows of the Aspen Institute. Chuck lives in Aspen, CO.
