Virginia Repertory Theatre
Staff can be reached at (804) 783-1688 and the extensions below.
Desirée Roots is one of Virginia’s best known and most accomplished performing artists. She is the first of three Artistic Directors to be announced in a new leadership model that will steer all artistic aspects of Virginia Rep.
Roots began her association with Virginia Rep at age 16, when she served as a high school intern with Theatre IV, which merged with Barksdale Theatre to form Virginia Rep in 2012. Her first professional engagement was when she appeared in the cast of Theatre IV’s production of Ain’t Misbehavin’ in 1988. Since then, she has starred in numerous Theatre IV, Barksdale Theatre and Virginia Rep productions, most recently The Color Purple, Dreamgirls, Caroline or Change and Ella and Her Fella Frank.
Roots has vast experience in the Richmond area working with schools and businesses to build community awareness and appreciation for the arts. Her professional background includes working as Program Coordinator for Richmond Jazz Society and as Booking Manager for Downtown Presents (now Venture Richmond). She studied Musicology at the University of Michigan and has a B.A. in Art Education/Performance from Virginia Union University. She was honored with the 2005 Theresa Pollak Award for Outstanding Vocalist in Virginia, is a member of Actors’ Equity Association, and is a panel judge for the Virginia Commission for the Arts.
As Artistic Director – Community at Virginia Repertory Theatre, Roots is the senior artistic leader of one of Virginia Reps three focus areas: Community Health and Leadership. Her chief responsibilities include:
Ext. 1001, droots@virginiarep.org
Todd is an American theatre director, educator, writer, and actor. He recently served as president of the International Museum Theatre Alliance and continues to act as an advisor.
Todd comes to Virginia Rep from the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis, IN — the world’s largest children’s museum — where he worked since 2013, serving as Director of Interpretation and then Associate Vice President of Interpretation and Family Programs. In these roles, he was responsible for fiscal management, artistic direction for its professional children’s theatre seasons, coordinating holistic approaches to gallery performances, and overseeing quality for hundreds of daily programs.
From 2003 - 2013, Todd worked at the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, eventually becoming Senior Manager of Performance Interpretation. While at Colonial Williamsburg, he also acted in several episodes of their Emmy-Award winning Electronic Field Trips and directed and performed in many evening programs and special events. Favorite previous directing assignments include Humble Boy, Tales of Olympus, Eleemosynary, and The Santa Clues.
He has taught and directed at several schools including The College of William and Mary, Christopher Newport University, Alice Lloyd College, and Wright State University.
He was born in Columbus, OH, and received his M.F.A. in Acting from University of Louisville and his B.A. in Theatre Performance, with a minor in music, from the University of Findlay. He is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society.
Todd will focus on programs for children, families, and schools including touring programs and arts in education. He and Desirée Roots will lead Virginia Rep’s award-winning Community Health + Wellness program, which creates, implements and assesses model projects that demonstrate how theatre can be used as an effective tool in addressing critical educational and societal challenges.
His responsibilities at Virginia Rep include leadership of all programming with children, families and schools as well as liaising with the Virginia Dept. of Education, Virginia PTA, Virginia Commonwealth University, the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and the Virginia Museum of History & Culture. He is co-leader (with the Artistic Director – Community) of Virginia Rep’s award-winning Community Health + Wellness program which seeks to create, implement and assess model projects that demonstrate how theatre can be used as an effective tool in addressing critical educational and societal challenges.
Ext. 1140, tdnorris@virginiarep.org
Rick has worked as an award-winning, DC-based actor, director, filmmaker, and arts manager for over three decades.
He received a 2018 Helen Hayes Award for his direction of Lela & Co. and a 2020 Helen Hayes Award nomination for his direction of Agnes of God, both for Factory 449. Other directing credits include Dizzy Miss Lizzie’s Roadside Revue’s The Brontes (New York Musical Theatre Festival), Reykjavik (Rorschach Theatre), Emilie: La Marquise du Châtelet Defends Her Life Tonight (WSC Avant Bard), Driving Miss Daisy featuring Karen Grassle (Riverside Center for the Performing Arts), Junie B. Jones Is Not a Crook (Adventure Theatre MTC), Dead Man Walking (American University) and Closet Land (Factory 449). In 2015/16, he was selected to participate in The Shakespeare Theatre Company’s inaugural Directors’ Studio program.
As an actor, he has performed Off-Broadway and regionally, receiving a Helen Hayes Award for his turn as Hedwig in Signature Theatre’s production of Hedwig and the Angry Inch, as well as nominations for his work in Angels in America (Signature Theatre), Me and Jezebel (MetroStage) and Oliver! (Adventure Theatre MTC). For ten years, he played Mr. Fezziwig in Ford’s Theatre’s annual production of A Christmas Carol and was most recently seen as Miss Tracy Mills in Round House Theatre’s The Legend of Georgia McBride.
His debut film, signage, which he wrote, directed, and produced, has screened in over 60 film festivals worldwide, receiving 6 film festival awards and was subsequently licensed by MTV’s LOGO Channel.
He is a founder and the current Producing Artistic Director of Factory 449, the recipient of multiple Helen Hayes Awards, including the John Aniello Award for Outstanding Emerging Theatre Company, and the Executive Director of the Washington Area Performing Arts Video Archive (WAPAVA).
Rick is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC) and Actors’ Equity Association (AEA). He received a B.A. in Theatre from the University of Virginia, an M.A. in Film & Video Production from American University, and has completed the coursework for an M.A. in Arts Management, also from AU.
As Virginia Rep's Artistic Director of Programming, he provides leadership of our programming with adult audiences (the Signature Season, Hanover Season, and Partnership Productions) including our strategic planning processes. He is also our key liaison with the national theatre industry.
Ext. 1262, rlhammerly@virginiarep.org
After more than a decade as managing director for the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Va., Amy pivoted in early 2021 to launch The Wratchford Group, a nationally known arts management consultancy with regional theater clients throughout Virginia as well as Florida, California and Chicago.
Prior to leading the American Shakespeare Center, she was managing director of Synchronicity Theatre in Atlanta, and spent a decade in New York, acting, directing, and producing. Amy holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting from the New York University Tisch School of the Arts and a Master in Fine Arts in performing arts management from Brooklyn College.
Amy has been immersed in the Virginia theater scene for 13 years and has a history with Virginia Rep, having participated in several of our strategic planning processes. She has an incredible passion for the arts, deep compassion for the people who make a theater run, and a keen understanding of the role we play within our community. Her expertise in interim theater leadership, financial analysis and organizational structure assessment and reorganization is precisely what we need right now as we chart an exciting future and launch a national search for our next managing director.
Ext. 1238, awratchford@virginiarep.org
Martha Quinn - Chair Christopher S. Reina, PhD - Vice Chair Meredith Miles - Corporate Secretary Laura Lee Chandler - Immediate Past Chair
Jason De La Cruz Trish Forman Dr. Barbara M. Glenn EmJay Johnson Kathy Messick Kendall Baltimore Neely Carolyn Paulette Susan Rickman Martha Shickle Vivian White Leanne Yanni, MD
Artistic Director of Programming - Rick Hammerly - ext. 1262
Artistic Director of Education - Todd D. Norris - ext. 1140
Artistic Director of Community - Desirée Roots - ext. 1001
Production Manager - Ginnie Willard
Production Associate- Hannah Hoffert
Technical Directors - Tommy Hawfield, Hans Paul
Carpenter - Shawn Goodman
Carpentry Apprentice - Hannah Joel Patteson
Scenic Charge Artist - Amy Gethins Sullivan
Scenic Artist - Dasia Gregg
Props Supervisor - Cai Hayner
Scenic/Props Apprentice - Alondra Castro
Production Electrician - Kacey Yachuw
Lighting Apprentice - Dennis Cheeks
Audio Visual Supervisor - Jonathan Pratt
Audio Visual Apprentice - Trusten Murrah
Director of Costumes - Sue Griffin - ext. 1248
Cutter/Draper - Marcia Miller Hailey - ext. 1248
Facilities Manager - Bruce Rennie - ext. 1244
Custodial Services - Tim Bethea
Company Manager - Donna Warfield - ext. 1120
Arts in Education Manager - Amber Martinez - ext. 1142
Education Manager - Vivian Preston Schwartz - ext. 1151
Tour Assistant - SJ Phillips
Student Field Trips - Please contact the Box Office at (804) 282-2620.
Interim Managing Director - Amy Wratchford - awratchford@virginiarep.org
Executive Assistant - Jessi Johnson Peterson - ext. 1125
Assistant Director of Development - Melissa Haber - ext. 1263
Community Health + Wellness Manager - Jamie Wilson - ext. 1123
Development Assistant - Austen Weathersby
Director of Sales - Mark Persinger - ext. 1118
Communications Consultant - Liz Nance - ext. 1133
Graphic Designer - Druanne Cummins
Internet Services Manager - Jessica Daugherty
Marketing Associate - Kylee Márquez-Downie
Box Office Manager - Janine Sears - ext. 1194
Assistant Box Office Manager – Shannon Frazier
Box Office Associates – Sam Cook, D.J. Cummings, Erin Dabrowski, Leanna Hicks, Joel Kimling, Emily Stava -- Please use (804) 282-2620
Front of House Manager/Rentals Coordinator – Janelle Cottman
Chief Financial Officer - Mike Muldowney
Accounting Associate - Sara Heifetz - ext. 1124
External Auditor - Keiter
Human Resources Manager - Lisa Kotula - ext. 1114
HR Consultant - Tinker HR