Trustees

SCOTT GIBREE, PRESIDENT

Scott’s first time on stage was as a child in school productions. He caught the acting bug which lead to a love of the arts in all forms.  After 20 years in CA in the creative sector, Scott returned to the east coast and fell in love with the Adirondacks and Westport. 

As a resident of the Adirondacks since 2015, Scott has watched the Depot Theatre grow and thrive. Joining the Board of Trustees in 2020 is the perfect blend of heart and soul for Scott. 

MAUREEN CARLO, VICE PRESIDENT

Maureen has spent her career in technology sales and marketing. Today, in the physical security industry, she helps escalate her company’s brand and sales as Business Development Manager for the Americas branch of VIDEOTEC, an Italian manufacturer of assessment cameras for harsh & hazardous environments. Her customers are not in the North Country, so Maureen spends much of her time on the road. A work perk is offering access to professional theatre throughout her travels.

Maureen is an active supporter of non-profit organizations in her industry, where she recently joined the Security Industry Association’s inaugural Women in Security Steering Committee, and locally, where she was named Volunteer of the Year by the North Country Chamber of Commerce.

Maureen broke into the Depot scene in the 90’s while working at the Westport Yacht Club. A perk to befriending beloved customer, Carol Buchanan, was volunteering at the Depot.

Since 2012 Maureen has been on the Depot’s Board of Trustees, and shares deep affection for the Westport community.

LINDY FLANAGAN, SECRETARY

Lindy’s family has been visiting and living in Westport for five generations. As a teenaged volunteer, she was introduced to the Depot through its founder, family member Carol Buchanan. Many years later, she is grateful for the opportunity to serve on the Board of such a beloved Westport institution.

Lindy has a background in art history with experience working in the gallery and museum fields. She has enjoyed a variety of volunteer commitments and is currently involved with the Ronald McDonald House Charities in New York’s Capital Region.

ALEX HENDERSON, TREASURER

Alex first learned about the Depot Theatre in 1979 at age 10. Her brother, Jamie Stephens, was part of the technical crew for The Fantasticks. The following year her father, Clay Stephens, performed in Damn Yankees, and he was also a founding member of the Board. In 1981, Alex (aka Sandra) was in her first of several shows, Guys and Dolls. Over the years, in addition to performing, Alex has been an usher and a member of volunteer and gala committees. Alex has a strong commitment to the vision of the Boquet River Theatre Festival (BRTF). There are only a few shows she has missed since 1998. Alex’s experience of participating in a professional theatre as a young person has had a lifelong impact that she believes all children should be exposed to. She is thrilled to have come full circle and can give back to the theatre that has given her so much. Alex is married and is a Business Professor at Fulton Montgomery Community College in Johnstown, NY.

BETSY BACOT

Betsy is thrilled and honored to be on the Board of Trustees for the Depot – filling her beloved late mom’s (Shirley Bacot Shamel) seat. She has been coming up to Westport since 1993 and has always enjoyed attending shows at the Depot.

Betsy grew up in Montclair, NJ, and graduated from Hamilton College (BA 1984, Studio Art major). Her professional experience includes a number of positions with small companies in the arts field, including video production, advertising account management, production design for a graphic design firm and working in the photography department at ABC TV.

Since 2001, she has focused on photography – devoting her time and talent as a “pro bono photographer” to photograph events for non-profits and local schools (particularly choral, musical theater and sports photography) — including the Depot Theatre Academy. She serves on the advisory council and is the photographer for an acts of kindness organization – Heartworks, and is currently an Alumni Trustee for Hamilton College. She resides in Basking Ridge, NJ, but spends the summers at her home in Westport.

CATHERINE CONOVER COVERT

Catherine and her late husband purchased a summer home at the Crater Club in Essex in 1987. It was the start of a love affair with the Adirondacks. Now a winter resident of Scottsdale, AZ, Catherine spent her career in higher education, working for Barnard, Hamilton, Wheaton (MA) and Vassar Colleges as well as Arizona State University’s Herberger College of Fine Arts. Catherine has absolutely no artistic talent but believes artists need audiences and is happy to make her contribution that way. She has served on the boards of the Adirondack Art Association and the Crater Club and is excited to be part of The Depot’s dynamic plans for the future.

ALISA ENDSLEY

As a working actress Alisa has portrayed numerous leading ladies of the musical stage from Sandy & Rizzo in Grease, Eva Peron in Evita to the lead role of Norma Desmond in the original company of Sunset Boulevard in London’s West End as well as on Broadway.

As a lead vocalist she has sung with the B.B.C. orchestra, recorded in the famous Abbey Road studios, been the featured guest on many radio & television shows in the United Kingdom as well as here in the U.S.

As a dramatic actress she has portrayed several of Shakespeare’s leading ladies including Juliet, Cleopatra, Shrews Kate & Henrys Queen Margaret to mention a few.

As a teaching artist she has worked with Camp Broadway, U. S. Performing Arts Camp, The Johnny Mercer Foundations Accentuate the Positive program teaching song & lyric writing workshops in schools throughout the America, as well as creating a Theater Camp for young performers in Manhattans Turtle Bay Section.

As a leading actress Miss Endsley has worked with some of the biggest names on Broadway including composer Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber, Director Trevor Nunn, Tony winning actors Patti Lupone, George Hearn and Betty Buckley. www.singforthestage.com

GREGORY HARPER

Greg’s love of theatre started when he came back to the US to attend Amherst College, after having grown up in Paris.  As a freshman, he joined the Amherst Masquers theatre company where he participated in over 15 productions during his 4 years.  During college, where he pursued a dual major in Dramatic Arts and Psychology, Greg established a strong connection with the Adirondacks which has been an important part of his life now for over 50 years! He and his wife, Kathleen, divide their time between New York City and their homes in Doolin Ireland and New Russia.

Starting in college at PBS station WGBY TV, Greg immersed himself in television production, ultimately becoming a producer of national TV shows in the US, Canada, Italy, Sweden and Norway.  In the mid 80’s, he founded Com/Tech, a video production company with 5 studios pioneering business video as well as satellite media tours.  Greg has been an innovator in digital audio /video and has been awarded 26 US patents for his inventions.  As Chief Technologist for MSNBC desktop video, Greg was part of the team that created Windows Media and the first video streaming technology. Greg is currently focused on next generation video and audio collaboration systems, IP based production systems, distance learning, AR/VR and AI, designing and implementing systems for major International financial institutions.

Greg is excited to be part of the Depot Theatre community where he has been a loyal patron since its very beginning. With 3 grandchildren, who also love the Adirondacks, he especially looks forward to helping expand the Depot Theatre Academy.

LAWRENCE MASLE

Lawrence Masle is a multi-lingual, international marketing and business development advisor based in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

With his strong entrepreneurial spirit, he has assisted companies ranging from large established multi-nationals to small young start-ups to expand their businesses on a global basis. He has worked for Young & Rubicam in his native New York and served in senior global management roles for Ericsson and Philips. Working during the explosive years of mobile telecom has ingrained a strong passion for innovation and enabling technologies, and today he lives the reality of working from the mobile office anywhere in the world.

He has served as Director of International Business Development for Waleli, an innovation accelerator in Amsterdam. He has also served on the Marketing faculty of the Management Centre Europe in Brussels.

A graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology (B.S. 1988) and Thunderbird School of Global Management (MIM 1994), he has been living and working in Stockholm, London, and now Amsterdam.  He is COO and one of the Founding members of UP THERE, EVERYWHERE, the world’s first global cloud based agency.

He is married, has two sons, and is a member of the American Chamber of Commerce in the Netherlands. He is also an avid runner, and welcomes any opportunity to go skiing.

BILL McCOLGAN

Bill’s experience in media includes management roles in news, sports television, operations, and original content development. He presently serves as President & CEO of Mountain Lake PBS, serving this cross-border region with high quality educational, cultural, and public affairs content and community engagement.

Originally from Boston, Bill previously worked for Comcast’s regional network serving the Eastern Seaboard, developing nightly programming and event coverage, and negotiating rights and marketing agreements with pro teams, universities, and event promoters.

Bill has performing experience in both professional and community-based theater around the Northeast, including: Sweeney Todd (Sweeney Todd); The Producers (Max); Urinetown (Lockstock); Children of Eden (Father); The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Jasper); and Les Miserables (Bishop of Digne). Professional experience also includes I Do! I Do! as Michael (partnered with Brenda Chase McColgan), the New England premiere of Secrets Every Smart Traveler Should Know, and more than 300 performances in Boston and around the country in Forever Plaid. Bill continues to enjoy any opportunity to perform with Brenda and their two children.

A graduate of Stanford University, Bill also has an MBA from Boston College.

CHERI PHILLIPS

Is it possible I am the Depot Board member with the longest history of involvement with the Theatre?  When Carol Buchanan started the Depot Theatre in 1978, with the assistance of Jenny Jones, I was a college student home for the summer holidays hanging around helping out however I could.  In the coming years I ended up on stage in small roles.  Initially the community pitched in and then professional actor friends of the Jones family started coming from afar to participate.  Gradually the Theatre metamorphosed into a full Equity house.  That didn’t stop my involvement as volunteer, Board member and fawning fan of many of the performers.

When not loitering at the Depot, I served as a staffer for Vermont Governor Richard Snelling, worked in the HR department at BBDO, managed tours for the Erick Hawkins Dance Co, co-founded an arts management and fundraising consultancy, planned events for The National Art Collections Fund, manned the picture counter at Sothebys, London and served as a UK magistrate.

The Depot has never been far from my heart and mind for the past 40 years.

LIZ SPITLER

Liz Spitler’s family has had roots in Westport, N.Y. since the early 1930’s.

Performing arts is in Liz’s blood. Liz has been always been captivated and inspired by imaginative storytelling. Her family knows her as “Le Grand Jambon”. For over 20 years she worked as an advertising sales & marketing executive for the NBC affiliate, WPTZ-TV. In the years past, you may even have heard her “pipes” in several commercial & promotional voice-overs throughout the Champlain Valley in television and radio.

Most recently, Liz brings her energy and enthusiasm to the broadcast airwaves through radio podcast and video production with The Radio Vermont Group.

Liz Studied Theatre Arts at Long Island University and worked as a member of The American Cabaret Company in Lake Placid, New York. She treasures The Depot and its many works.

Depot Theatre Advisory Council

Dee Carroll
Jim Carroll
George Davis
Melissa Davis
Amy Guglielmo
Jonathan Hadley
Daniel Keegan
Amy McNamara
Jennifer Moore
Mary Ellen O’Loughlin
Jane Preston
Kathy Recchia
Annie Scavo
Joan Simon
Sally Struthers
Michael Thomas