Board of Directors

Kathryn Noser, President

Kathryn Noser is a lifelong patron of The Company OnStage, having attended her first show at the age of four at The Company OnStage's original home at St. John's Presbyterian Church. She began performing with COS in Laura William's Cinderella in 2006. Since that time, she has performed in and/or directed more than a dozen productions including Godspell, Snoopy!!! The Musical, Doubt, Snow White and Rudolph Rides Again. She joined the Board of Directors in 2008, established the Actors in Wonderland Summer Drama Program in 2010, and has served as President of the Board since 2014. Kathryn has also had the pleasure to work with other theater groups including, Main Street Theater for Youth, Country Playhouse, HITS Theater, ACE Theater and Upstage Theater. Kathryn is a 1996 graduate of Texas A&M University with a BA in Speech Communications. She works in Business Development for Vintage Underwriters and is a volunteer with VICTORY, a branch of the American Cancer Society, a member of the Bellaire Business Association, and a member of the board of the Westbury Area Improvement Corporation.

Karla Brandau, Vice President

Karla Brandau is a 30+ year veteran within Houston Community Theatre, spending the majority of those years working with The Company Onstage. Her first production with COS was The Nerd. After which, she quickly became enthralled with the sense of professionalism, community, and family that was established by Founding Artistic Director, Joyce Randall McNally.

Karla has performed in many, many COS productions during her tenure - some of which include The Miracle Worker, LuAnn Hampton Laverty Oberlander, Rumors, A Piece of My Heart, Pack of Lies, The Great Sebastians, Don’t Dress for Dinner, Arms and the Man, Fallen Angels, Black Comedy, The Runner Stumbles, Watch on the Rhine, Lend me a Tenor, Quality of Life, and Hayfever. She has also directed productions of Cinderella, Princess and the Pea, Sleeping Beauty, Androcles and the Lion, The Little Mermaid, Seven Year Itch, Deathtrap, Treasure Island, Around the World in 80 Days, and Witness for the Prosecution. Karla has pitched in behind the scenes as Stage Manager, Assistant Director, Costume Coordinator and Tech Operator. She was also asked by Joyce to conduct sessions in make-up & costumes for Joyce’s acting classes. She is currently serving as Vice President of the Board of Directors at COS. Karla has performed with other theatre groups around the city most notably, Country Playhouse, Actor’s Workshop, Theatre Southwest, and the Houston Scriptwriter’s 10 x 10’s. Houston audiences have seen her in productions of The Diary of Ann Frank, Gemini, Ghosts, Talking With, Angel Street, Come Back Little Sheba, and Marvin’s Room. Originally from Pennsylvania, Karla is an alum of Bloomsburg State College and is currently employed with MD Anderson Cancer Hospital.

Stephanie Kelso, Treasurer

Stephanie has been active with COS since 2010, starting out as an actor and quickly becoming a jack-of-most-trades, having stage-managed, worked light and sound and serving as both a general board member and an executive board member. She holds a B.Sc. in Mathematics and a M.A. in Teaching from Simmons College in Boston, MA. She works as an after-school math tutor for middle and high school students. She enjoys baking and needlepoint crafts.

Jennifer Brown, Secretary

Jennifer Brown has been active at the Company OnStage since 2010. She was originally introduced to the theater by a close family member, who convinced her young son to audition, where he was cast as Christopher Robin in "Winnie The Pooh". Since then, she has gone on to stage manage several other shows including "The Emperor's New Clothes", "Lonestar", "Laundry and Bourbon", and "Charlotte's Web". She also expanded her experience and ran tech for several different shows including "{adjective}[noun] A Theatrical Symphony in Eighteen Movements" and "Treasure Island". She currently holds a BS in Criminal Justice from University of Houston: Downtown and is employed at Vintage Underwriters. She joined the board of directors in 2016 and continues to enjoy and cherish her time with COS.

Stacy Bakri, Artistic Director

Stacy began her love of and participation in the arts at a very early age when her parents encouraged and enrolled her in after school art classes in elementary school. From there she participated in symphonic and marching bands, and art at all levels in high school. She then graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Sudio Art and a Bachelors Degree in Russian in 1991 from the University of Texas at Austin, where she studied under world renowned performance artist Linda Montano. In the spring of 1993, an ad in the newspaper for acting classes for adults at the Company OnStage caught her eye, and she signed up for the classes which were taught by Joyce McNally. She has been involved with the theater ever since in a variety of capacities in the past 26 years including actor, stage manager, usher/volunteer coordinator, director, and now she is proud to serve as the third artistic director for the theater, following in the footsteps of Patti Lindloff, and Joyce Randall McNally, the founder of Company OnStage. It is her vision to maintain COS's artistic mission, and to help guide COS in this latest phase of its journey, by selecting productions that engage, entertain, and enlighten those on, behind, or in front of the stage.

Tarik Bakri, Member at Large

Tarik M. Bakri returns to the Board of Directors of the Company OnStage after having served as a board member from 200-2004. He has volunteered with COS in a variety of other capacities including designing and managing COS’s very first website, manning the tech booth for several productions, and even appearing on stage as a dead body in one of our past Sherlock Holmes productions. He is married to Stacy A. Bakri, our Artistic Director, and is the father of two talented children. Tarik is an IT Security Principal specialist with KBR, and an avid WWII amateur historian.

Nicholas Garelick, Member at Large

Nicholas has been a part of the COS family since 2010, working running tech for The Hollow and The Little Mermaid. Performance credits with COS include The Lion In Winter, The Young Man From Atlanta, A Christmas Carol in 60 Minutes or Less, The Pied Piper of Hamlintown, and The Adventures of Robin Hood. He directed the very first Local Authors Series (Bryan Maynard's "Write Here, Write Now") and, in 2019, had his own plays featured in {Adjective} [Noun].

Outside of COS, Nicholas is a former President and Artistic Director of Scriptwriters/Houston and board member for Theatre Suburbia, volunteered with the Red Cross for over 10 years, and is currently Communications Specialist at Insperity. His wife, Lauren Hainley, also has a very close connection with Company Onstage.

Randall Kelso, Member at Large

Professor R. Randall Kelso is the Spurgeon E. Bell Distinguished Professor of Law at South Texas College of Law. He teaches and writes primarily in the area of Constitutional Law. He also teaches Contracts, and has taught Professional Responsibility and Jurisprudence. With his wife, Stephanie Fisherman Kelso, he has been involved with Company on Stage (COS) for seven years, attending events, helping prepare or strike sets, supporting fundraising activities, such as the silent auctions or art/craft market, and other such matters.

Emily Living, Member at Large

Emily Living is a former educator who is currently working as a freelance social media manager. She fell in love with the performing arts at an early age and feels privileged to continue to pursue her passion at the Company OnStage. Emily began volunteering with COS in 2018 as the Stage Manager for Babe, the Sheep Pig. After joining the board in 2019, she has continued to work on multiple shows per season while co-chairing the Marketing Committee. Emily believes that the Arts have the power to connect and transform communities.

Eileen Miles, Member at Large

Eileen has been with The Company OnStage since high school. Her first show was Rudolph Rides Again. Since then, she has been seen in many productions, on stage or behind the scenes on tech. She became the box office coordinator in 2015 and made her COS directorial debut with 2016's Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. She led Actors in Wonderland Summer Drama Camp this year after having previously assisting with the program. When not participating in theater, Eileen is a full-time elementary teacher.

Anita Samson, Member at Large

Anita began her involvement with Theatre at an early age and has always participated in Community Theatre. She moved to Houston, Texas, in 1977 and became active with Theatre Southwest and The Channing Players where she acted, directed and served on the Board of both groups. She was invited by Pasadena Little Theatre to direct there, and then by The Company Onstage which became her new theatre home. Anita has been directing in our Evening Series continuously since 2002-2003 season. and was persuaded to go back on stage for our production of “Heartbreak House”, “Dangerous Corner” and in our Children’s Theatre “Sleeping Beauty” “Princess and the Pea” and “Robin Hood”. Originally from London, England she now considers herself a Texan, despite stops in New York and New Jersey.

Patrick Thornton, Member at Large

Patrick Thornton joins the COS Board after 20+ years being involved in various forms of theater, ranging from sketch comedy, Christian drama ministry, improv, and full productions. He has been on both sides of the stage as an actor, director, and writer. His dedication to the craft and eagerness to keep learning while championing the joy and benefits of community theater makes him a perfect fit to lead the charge in Community Outreach here at Company Onstage.