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About the Committee

The Performing Arts Center Committee was appointed by the Mayor and the Chair of the County Commission.

Paula P. Smith (Chair)

Paula Smith is Chair of the Performing Arts Center Committee and Vice-Chair of the Cultural Resources Commission Board. Originally from Richmond, Virginia, she is a 1976 graduate of Florida State University and has been a resident of Tallahassee since 1978.

Paula has chaired many community projects including the planning and construction of the Leon County Public Library; the Urban Green Spaces Committee, which renovated the downtown chain of parks; the 2001 United Way Campaign; the 50th anniversary celebration of Florida State University; and “100 More...!”, the centennial celebration of the FSU College of Human Sciences. She served as president of Myers Park Little League, not only redesigning and renovating Myers Park, but also working to upgrade little league facilities throughout the city. She is an active member of Leadership Florida and Trinity United Methodist church.

Paula is married to Bill Smith, President and CEO of Capital City Bank Group. They have two children - Jennifer McDermott of Nashville, Tennessee, and William Smith, a junior at Auburn University.

Mike Bristol (Vice-Chair)

Mike Bristol is the Vice-Chair of the Performing Arts Center Committee and is the President and CEO of the Tallahassee Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. Under his leadership the TACVB was awarded the Tallahassee Chamber's 2003 Small Business Excellence Award as Non-Profit Organization of the year.

He serves as the Chair of the CRC Economic Development Committee as well as on the Boards of the Cultural Resources Commission, the Tallahassee Airport Advisory Council, the Tallahassee Museum of History and Natural Science, and Florida State University's Seven Days of Opening Nights. Originally from Clayton, New York, he is a graduate of Florida State University and Tallahassee Community College. He has been a resident of Tallahassee since 1981.

Alfredo Cruz

Alfredo Cruz is a community liaison program officer for the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, a national foundation with assets of $1.8 billion dollars based in Miami, Florida. In this role, he oversees the foundation's grant making in four of its 26 communities: Biloxi (Miss.), Columbia and Myrtle Beach (SC), and Tallahassee (Fla.). He joined the foundation's arts and culture program in 1995 and has been a program officer in the Community Partners Program since 2001. Originally from Managua, Nicaragua, Alfredo has a Bachelor's degree in English and creative writing from Troy State University in Alabama, and is a board member of Hispanics in Philanthropy, a national affinity group of Council on Foundations. He currently works from Knight's regional office here in Tallahassee where he resides.

Dr. Richard G. Fallon

Richard Fallon is Dean Emeritus of The School of Theatre at Florida State University. He came to Tallahassee in 1956 and has been active in theatre community ever since. Dr. Fallon is a Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor, a recipient of the Florida Governor's Award for the Arts, the Suzanne M. Davis Award for service to professional theatre, and was one of ten national recipients of the Harbison Prize for gifted teaching. He was elected to the College of Fellows of American Theatre, the National Theatre Conference, and is one of the founders of the University Resident Theatre Association. The Florida State University School of Theatre's Richard G. Fallon Theatre was named in his honor.

Douglas Fisher

Douglas Fisher has been a Professor and Director of Opera Activities at Florida State University since 1990. Most recently serving as a conductor for Houston Grand Opera's national tour of Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, Fisher has also worked as conductor, coach, and chorusmaster for Wolf Trap Opera, Los Angeles Music Center Opera, Opera Columbus, Augusta Opera, Texas Opera Theater and Santa Fe Opera.

He received his bachelor's and master's degrees in piano performance from the Florida State University School of Music, and has taught at New York University, the University of Southern California, the Aaron Copland School of Music, Queens College, City University of New York. Also active as a recital accompanist for singers, Fisher has performed with such artists as Kiri Te Kanawa (Metropolitan Opera House), Marilyn Horne, Frederica von Stade, Judith Blegen, Anna Moffo and others. Mr. Fisher regularly joins members of the Florida State University string and wind faculties in chamber music performances.

Cheryl S. Gonzalez

Cheryl Gonzalez is President of the Capital City Chamber of Commerce, Inc., and serves on Leon County's Enterprise Zone Commission and Minority/Women Business Enterprise Advisory Committee. In addition, she holds a Bachelor's Degree in Journalism from Florida A&M University, and a Master's Degree in Conflict Resolution from Antioch University/McGregor.

Ms. Gonzalez supervises the Office of Diversity Enhancement at Florida State University and coordinates the Ombuds Program and Employee Retention initiatives. She has more than 18 years of extensive experience in equal opportunity coordination and related policy development and administration, and professional experience in higher education, banking/finance, and city government.

Elise F. Judelle

Elise Judelle is a graduate of Temple University and Florida State University College of Law, Elise Judelle is a shareholder in the law firm of Bryant Miller & Olive P.A., where she has practiced public finance law since 1979.

Elise participated in drafting the 2003 Capital Culture Plan and currently serves on the CRC Ways and Means Committee in addition to the Performing Arts Center Committee. Ms. Judelle is also a playwright; past president and current Board member of the Capital Tiger Bay Club; co-writer and producer of the Capital City's political cabaret "Laughing Stock"; Board member of the Tallahassee Film Society and executive producer of the feature film "ManFast", shot on location in Tallahassee in 2000.

Jerry Kidd

Jerry Kidd is among Florida's most accomplished advertising professionals. He established The Kidd Group in 1980 and 3W Studios in 1996 to serve the expanding needs of the advertising community. Jerry's desire to participate in the growth and success of Tallahassee began in the 80's with the Library Building Campaign and continues today through his efforts with the Cultural Resources Commission.

Jerry is proficient in recommending the best marketing practices for achieving predetermined goals and objectives. His innovative approaches to public awareness campaigns have allowed The Kidd Group to create out-of-the-box programs that respond to our client's needs while ensuring campaign success.

Valencia E. Matthews

Valencia E. Matthews, an associate professor of theatre, serves as an assistant dean for the College of Arts and Sciences at Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University. She also serves as Director of Theatre and is the founder and director of the Irene C. Edmonds Youth Theatre, a program for young people between the ages of 6-16.

Gayle Nelson

Gayle Nelson is a former Leon County Commissioner and a Tallahassee native. In response to significant community interest, she created the Cultural Resources Commission with Hurley Rudd, during her time on the County Commission. She also chaired the first Pops in the Gardens Concert at Maclay Gardens and the Community Resources Committees for the Red Hills Horse Trials. Gayle has received Bachelor's degree in English from Florida State University and a Master's degree in Public Administration from Harvard University.

Michael H. Sheridan

Mike Sheridan is a businessman who has a long history of supporting the arts. A former member of the Executive Committee of the FSU University Musical Associates, he also participates in Tallahassee Little Theater functions and has performed in several productions. His play, Soldiers of Destiny, was performed at TLT in 2001.

Mike is a founding president of the Emerald Isle Society, Tallahassee's Irish-American organization, and was a past president and chairman of the Economic Club of Florida. In addition to being the chair of the Cultural Resources Committee, Mike is the vice chair of the Blueprint 2000 Citizen's Advisory Committee. He is the founder and chair of both Fringe Benefits Management Company and Worksite Communications, Inc., both domiciled in Tallahassee.

Performing Arts Center Committee Supporting Staff

Peggy Brady, Cultural Resources Commission Executive Director

Peggy Brady supervises all daily operations, committees, staff, and finances of the CRC. She serves as a representative of cultural affairs for local government, civic leaders, the school system, directors of local arts and cultural organizations, and the general public, and represents the CRC at local and state government meetings, civic and community functions, statewide conferences and speaking engagements.

Peggy was educated both at Wesleyan College and at Florida State University. She has been a public school teacher for gifted and talented students and curriculum designer for the Federal Project for Gifted Education, the Florida Department of Education and the Leon County Schools Academic Resource Center. Formerly the Executive Director of the Center for the Arts School of Theatre (C.A.S.T.), she designed educational programs, directed major theatrical productions and instructed classes in acting and directing for young people. Peggy is also a playwright whose plays are produced nationally for young audiences and is often called upon to guest direct theatrical productions for regional, college and local theatres. She is also the director and co-author of The Laughing Stock, Florida's Musically Correct Political Cabaret, a professional theatre company whose home base is in the Capital City.

Randi Goldstein, Cultural Resources Commission Associate Director

Randi Goldstein manages grant programs, publications, and information technology for the CRC. She is also an adjunct faculty member of the Florida State University School of Theatre, where she teaches courses in arts management. Randi holds a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Theatre Management, and is the author of Once Upon a Stage: Story-Based Drama with Young Children (Spindle Press, 1998).

For five years Randi was the Director of Operations for the New York-based GSD Productions, a company that provides theatrical lighting and sound equipment, technical personnel, and production services to regional and off-Broadway theatres, national tours, corporate events, and major concert artists. She has worked as a professional theatre director and stage manager on more than 50 productions in regional and touring theatres throughout the U.S. and Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, and Denmark. While in New York she worked as the General Manager for the Plaza Playhouse during its renovations from a movie house to a legitimate theatre, and created the box office and all operational systems for the new theatre.