Directors

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Stephen Touchet, President and Music Director Mr. Touchet has a Bachelors of Science in Education from Texas State University, San Marcos and has been teaching music in public schools since 1995. His first 5 years were teaching Kindergarten through 12th grade in Granger Independent School District. Since 2000, Mr. Touchet has been teaching Kindergarten through 5th grade at Gattis Elementary in Round Rock, Texas. Mr. Touchet has been the Music Director since 2002, and has been the Board Chair since 2003. In addition to the summer musicals, Mr. Touchet has also volunteered with the Austin Singers and the River City Pops.
Daun Stroik, Vice President and Costumer Daun has been in the high tech industry for over 10 years. Daun received her B.S. in Mathematics from Purdue University and went to Graduate School at OGI School of Science and Engineering. Daun has been involved with ASMC since 2000 and has since held various positions in the organization, such as Gala Chair, Props Manager, House Manager, and Costumer. Daun was also a cast member for three productions. In addition to ASMC, Daun has spent much of her current and past time volunteering and contributing to GirlStart, Junior Achievement, Hands on Housing, and Advocates for Women in Science, Engineering and mathematics(AWSEM).
Julie Schwartz, Secretary, Publicity Chair, & House Manager Julie has been on the ASMC Board of Directors since 2003, Secretary since 2006, House Manager since 2004, and Publicity Chair since 2006. She has volunteered as the River City Pops House Manager since 2004. She has been President and Board member of the Brookside Homeowner’s Association since 2004.
Mark Harrill, Treasurer Mark has been on the ASMC Board of Directors since 1997, and Treasurer of ASMC since 2000. He volunteers with River City Pops (since 2005) and Austin Singers. Within ASMC, he has been a performer and on stage crew. He also volunteers for script and fundraising committees. Mark is an active member in the Austin Chapter of the Texas Association of Sports Officials, and officiates as many as 10 games per week during football and lacrosse seasons.
Ron Dodson, Artistic Director Ron has been working with ASMC since 1998. He has an extensive 30 year career in education, in the fields of speech and theatre (the last nineteen years as the Director of Fine Arts program at Westlake High School). He has been involved in theatre at the Dallas Theatre Center, ACT in San Francisco, community theaters in Dallas, Richardson and Austin and a seven season directorship for the First United Methodist church Summer musical
Debbie Touchet, Assistant Artistic Director Debbie has been on the ASMC Board of Directors since 2000 and Assistant Director since 2001. She has been involved with River City Pops as Publicity/Fundraising Chair, was Assistant to the Director of Austin Singers, and is on the board for St. John’s Methodist Church Choir. She currently works for Sonic Healthcare Systems, USA as a Computer Database Analyst, and volunteers for Hospice Austin.
Erinn Hughes, Fundraising Chair Erinn has been on the ASMC Board of Directors since January of 2007. She has been assisting with front of house, publicity, fundraising and gala since becoming active in the group in 2006. Erinn was recently voted Fundraising Chair and is also actively involved with the script committee. Outside of ASMC, she has volunteered with the American Red Cross, the American Cancer Society, Habitat for Humanity, and River City Pops. Erinn has a background in fine arts; playing several instruments and perfoming or participating in many productions.
Doug Schwartz, Script Chair and Program Chair Doug has been on the ASMC Board of Directors since 2003, Stage Manager of ASMC from 2004 to 2006, and Script Chair since 2005. He has mentored LEGO Robotics to 5th graders since 2004, and coached a First Lego League team. He also publishes card games and custom puzzles for Pegamoose Games since 2003, and has been a member of the SlugTribe fiction writers group since 2004.
Jennifer Bolton, Webmistress Jennifer has been on the board since 1998. She took on the volunteer position of Webmistress in 2008. She served as Assistant Director from 1999 to 2001. Jennifer has also handled various duties, such as in-house photographer, Program Chair, Script Committee, Volunteer Coordinator, and assistant to publicity over the years. From 1999 to 2001, she served on the Board of Directors for Chorus Austin. Currently, Jennifer is volunteering with the Round Rock Community Choir in their publicity committee. She has been a Neighborhood Coordinator for National Night Out since 2004. Jennifer has been secretary of the Dove Creek Neighborhood Association since 2006. In 2007, Jennifer was elected Secretary of the St. Richard’s Preschool Board of Directors in Round Rock.
Terry Olguin, Gala and Silent Auction Chair Terry has been part of ASMC since 2002 and has volunteered on the Script, Fundraising and Program committees, Props, Sets and Stage Crew. In 2003 she joined the Board of Directors as the Gala / Silent Auction Chair. After many years volunteering for Girl Scouts of Central Texas she recently accepted the STEM Program Specialist position. The STEM program provides Science, Technology, Engineering and Math programs to over 20,000 girls in 46 Central Texas counties. Terry has also been an active member of the Hill Country Christmas Bureau for several years.
Jay Bolton, Member-at-Large Jay Bolton has been involved with ASMC since 2000. Currently a member-at-large, Jay has also been active in the group's script committee, props, and technical crew. He donates hosting services for the company web site and previously served as Stage Manager for the 2000-2003 seasons. Jay is a Senior Software Engineer at Hewlett-Packard, bringing 15 years of combined project leadership and technical experience to the Board. He has previously managed consulting projects for prominent businesses around the world including stock exchanges, banks, telecommunications companies and textiles manufacturers. He also volunteers as an Operator for the Williamson County Amateur Radio Emergency Services (since 2002), Packet Operator for the Travis County Amateur Radio Emergency Services (since 2004), and NTS Handler (since 2004).
PRODUCTION STAFF 2008
Nick Nixon, Accompanist A Texas native, Nick has been active as a teacher/conductor and adjudicator of orchestras, concert bands, and jazz bands for the past thirty years. Recently retired from full-time teaching, Nick is a past orchestra director at Bowie High School in Austin, and has also served as conductor for the Austin Youth Orchestras. In addition to his guest conducting and judging activities, Nick stays active as a professional pianist in Austin and San Antonio, performing in a jazz group with his partner-in-jazz, vocalist Jolie Guidry. Nick is also the band leader for an Austin adult show choir, the River City Pops. This is Mr. Nixon’s fifth show with the Austin Summer Music for Children.
Lauris Blackwell, Choreographer Lauris is in her third year choreographing with ASMC. She has been teaching or performing theatre in New York, and now Texas, for over twenty years. When not working with ASMC, she is the Director of the ASCC at Mills Elementary, and teaches musical theater classes at a dance studio. She is also a member of River City Pops and the VP of Operations. Her husband says that when she is with children, she’s with her own age group!
John "AJ" Dormer, Stage Manager John Dormer has returned for his seventh year with ASMC. As Stage Manager, he's had a few shows under his belt in another life, and is very happy with the opportunity to work with the company in this capacity. The show's lighting is also his fault. John works as an engineer at Legerity, which makes the chips that make your phone ring. His hobbies include pointing telescopes at things that go zipping by in the night sky.
Jennifer Dormer, Assistant Stage Manager This is Jennifer’s fifth year with ASMC. She has been on stage as a sheep, off stage as an usher, and back stage as crew. This will be Jennifer’s second time as Assistant Stage Manager. She is employed by the State of Texas at the Department of Aging and Disability Services as the Lead Accountant in the Accounts Payable department. She volunteers with her son’s Boy Scout Troop. When she is not working or running her children around, she enjoys spending time with her husband John Dormer, and 2 children Kevin and Emily.