Our Staff
- Megan Cottle, Executive Director, joined the Alabama Ballet as Executive Director in October 2011. Growing up with both of her parents working in the non-profit field, she began her career volunteering with various agencies and found her passion working in the arts. From 2006 to 2008, she served as Development and Communications Coordinator at Better Basics, a children’s literacy agency here in Birmingham. In 2008, Megan joined the Alabama Symphony Orchestra (ASO) as the Foundation and Government Relations Officer. In 2009, she was promoted to Institutional Giving Manager and in 2010, became the Associate Development Director for the ASO. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Art History and English from the University of Alabama and received a Master of Public Administration specializing in Non-Profit Management from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
- Katy Olsen, Marketing & Public Relations Director, received her BFA in Dance from The Ohio State University. While at OSU, she studied with Tere O'Connor, Bebe Miller, Karen Eliot, Nicole Stanton, Susan Hadley, Rosalind Pierson, Balinda Craig-Quijada and Dave Covey. Katy recieced her MFA in Arts Administration/Theatre Management from the University of Alabama under the direction of Bobbie Rafferty. After graduation, Katy worked at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival in Montgomery as Advertising Manager and at the Montgomery Ballet as Marketing Director. Katy moved to Birmingham to be Marketing Manager, and later Marketing Director for the Alabama Symphony Orchestra in 2009. This is Katy's second season with the Alabama Ballet.
- Margaret Parker, Bookkeeper
- Dale Gann, Development Associate
- Libba Owen, Alabama Ballet School Administrator
Ed Zuckerman, Production Director and Lighting Designer, is proud to be associated with the Alabama Ballet. A graduate of Wayne State University Mr. Zuckerman is currently technical director for the Department of Theatre at The University of Alabama- Birmingham. He has also served on the faculties at Bowling Green State University, Auburn University and The University of North Carolina at Charlotte. His coast-to-coast regional credits include The Palo Alto Players, Peninsula Center Stage, Charlotte Repertory Theatre, East Carolina Summer Theatre, New American Theatre, Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre and Riverside Theatre.
Atom Bennett, Technical Director, holds a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communications from Auburn University, and is currently pursuing a 2nd degree in theatre from UAB. He has worked as a carpenter and an electrician, and has done both lighting design and audio design for the UAB Department of Theatre. UAB credits include As You Like It, Cabaret, A Streetcar Named Desire, Eurydice, & The Rocky Horror Show. He served as Master Carpenter for the construction of The Alabama Ballets Don Quixote, and has worked on numerous Alabama Ballet productions including Jeckyll & Hyde, Giselle, Cinderella, & George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker™ for the last four years. Atom has also worked as a technician for The Alys Stephens Center, The Wright Center Concert Hall, and The Alabama Theatre.
Kimberly Jade Tompkins is honored to return to Alabama Ballet for her first season as the Company Stage Manager. She began working with the Ballet in 2003 on Romeo & Juliet, George Balanchine's The Nutcracker™ and Don Quixote in 2004. Last fall, she was the ASM with Alabama Ballet on Dracula and Snow White. Beginning in 2005, she began interning on Broadway with Wicked, Phantom of the Opera, and Les Miserables among others. She was a Production Assistant on Chicago: 10th Anniversary Concert, Jerry Springer: The Opera at Carnegie Hall, and The Glorious Ones at Lincoln Center. She also enjoyed working in Entertainment at Walt Disney World, Busch Gardens, and Sea World. Kimberly would like to thank all her fabulous professors at UAB for her technical theatre training. Thanks to Tracey & Roger for this amazing opportunity, her family for their support, and God for his blessings!
Wendy Gamble, Costume Director, is delighted to return to the Alabama Ballet for her fifth season as Costume Director. She began her training in the Alabama Ballet Costume Shop in 2001 under former Costume Director, Betty Smith, and continued as Costume Assistant in 2005. Ms. Gamble assisted in the creation of George Balanchine's The Nutcracker™, Donizetti Variations and Serenade. She has also worked in the construction of new costumes for Giselle, Paquita and Swan Lake. Design credits for Ms. Gamble include costumes for Roger VanFleteren’s Cinderella, Messin with Mozart, Dracula, Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs, and Death and the Maiden.
View the current Board of Trustees