About the Staff

Joe Clifford, Executive and Artistic Director (He/Him)

Named to NH Business Review’s “New Hampshire 200” list in 2025 and winner of the 2023 “Innovator of the Year” award by the Upper Valley Business Alliance, Joe Clifford is an arts administration leader with more than 25 years of nonprofit arts presenting experience. He joined Lebanon Opera House as Executive Director in 2017.

For the previous 17 years, he had risen through the ranks at Dartmouth College’s Hopkins Center for the Arts in Hanover, NH. His work as Audience Engagement Director included oversight of the organization’s strategic communication as well as ongoing research about student engagement in the arts. Previously, Joe spent ten years leading the Hop’s Outreach and Arts Education programs. In that role, he planned 200 multi-disciplinary residency events each year.

Joe was a member of the 2019 NH Listens anti-racism cohort via UNH’s Leadership Learning Exchange for Equity. He served as a member of the City of Lebanon’s Arts & Culture Task Force and was appointed to the City’s Arts & Culture Commission in 2019, serving as Vice-Chair through 2021.

Joe is a 2018 graduate of Vital Communities’ Leadership Upper Valley program (and now serves as a member of the LUV Advisory Board) and past president of the Arts Presenters of Northern New England (APNNE) consortium. He completed a two-year fellowship program created by the Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP) and the Arts Leadership Program at the University of Southern California. In 2004, he was identified by APAP as an “emerging leader” in the presenting field.

Joe is also a founding member and past chair of the NH/VT Upper Valley Arts Alliance. He is a proud alum of Seton Hall University.

Shay Berry, Advancement Associate (He/Him)

Born in Colorado Springs and raised on the New Hampshire Seacoast, Shay Berry grew up surrounded by educators and coaches, instilling in him a lifelong passion for teaching, leadership, and teamwork. His career has spanned decades in collegiate athletics, fundraising, sports tech sales, and hospitality, with leadership roles at respected institutions coaching basketball at Yale University, New York University, Fordham University, Dartmouth College, Hunter College and Saint Michael’s College.

In addition to his collegiate basketball coaching career, Shay contributed to the legendary Five-Star Basketball Camp as director of marketing and later as vice president for business development. He has co-authored instructional materials, including the Developing the Point Guard DVD and two Five-Star coaching books. Shay even brought his technical expertise to the entertainment world, serving as basketball technical director for Fat Joe and Ashanti’s 2002 music video What’s Luv.

Now back in New Hampshire, Shay serves as Advancement Associate at the Opera House, where he blends rhythm and vision to connect with donors and ensure the arts continue to thrive. A lifelong music lover, Shay hosts two weekly radio shows and is a board member at Royalton Community Radio. When not working, Shay balances his life by fly fishing in mountain streams or the warm waters of Southwest Florida.

Brian Cook, Managing Director (He/Him)

Brian joined “Team LOH” in January 2022 with over ten years of experience in nonprofit leadership positions. Prior to that he served as Executive Director of Revels North from 2018-2021. During his tenure with Revels North, he guided the organization through the transition of its locally beloved signature production, The Christmas Revels, to Lebanon Opera House in 2019, and then through the extended intermission from live performance that followed due to COVID-19.

A musician and songwriter who has performed throughout the Upper Valley, Brian is delighted to have the opportunity to support Lebanon Opera House’s mission to bring world-class talent to the Upper Valley while also providing a stage that local performers can call home. Brian grew up in the Upper Valley, has two children who have each performed at LOH, and holds a BA in English from Stanford University.

Joel Giguere, Facilities Manager and Technical Director (He/Him)

Joel spent his formative years in the bean fields of Bad Axe, Michigan where his parents instilled in him an early love of the performing arts and adventures in the great outdoors. His family later moved to Flint and then metro Detroit where he caught the theater bug and never stopped.

He received his BA in Speech, Communications, and Theater from Albion College and immediately moved to New York City where he became the resident lighting designer and technical director at Performance Space – 122 (now Performance Space New York) during the heyday of 1980s performance art and experimental theater. As a freelance designer he designed lights and sets for dance, theater, and performance artists at La Mama ETC, The Kitchen, Dance Theater Workshop, St. Marks Church in the Bowery, and Lincoln Center to name a few.

As a technical director, production manager, stage manager, and lighting designer he has toured extensively with modern dance, working with Alwin Nikolais, The Martha Graham Ensemble, and Second Hand Dance, playing diverse theaters around the world including UFA Fabrik-Berlin, The Munye Theater-Seoul, Victoria Theater-Singapore, The Edinburgh Fringe Festival, The Spoleto Festival, and The Paris Opera Bastille.

As an educator, Joel has been a guest lecturer, a guest faculty member at Bennington (VT) College, and a master electrician and student mentor for the theater department at Dartmouth College. When he’s not in the theater, Joel enjoys resting with his family as well as fly fishing, hunting, kayaking, and camping.

Maureen Krauland, Advancement Manager (She/Her)

Maureen has called the Upper Valley home for more than 20 years and is thrilled to contribute to the vitality of the community through her work at Lebanon Opera House. She leads the Advancement Team, working to expand LOH’s visibility and fundraising capacity through strategic communications and meaningful partnerships with donors, business leaders, and community members. She looks forward to strengthening existing connections and welcoming new supporters who share LOH’s mission to bring transformational arts experiences to the community.

Maureen lives in Hanover with her husband and two children. Together, they enjoy an active lifestyle — hiking, swimming, and biking in the warmer months, and skiing and skating in the winter. They are excited to deepen their connection to the arts as part of the LOH community.

Zoe Leone, Marketing and Communications Associate (She/Her)

Born and raised in southern New Hampshire, Zoe has started making the trek north to join the LOH team here in the Upper Valley. Zoe’s parents realized from a very early age that their lively (or dramatic, depending on who you ask) daughter would thrive on a stage and got her into local theater as soon as she could read a script. While the call to perform faded as she grew into other creative pursuits, a love of theater and the arts was forever installed in Zoe.

After spending her years carrying around more notebooks than her backpack could ever handle, Zoe’s love of writing led her to graduate with a BA in journalism and a minor in women and gender studies from Quinnipiac University. During her time as a student, Zoe served as the Arts & Life Editor of The Quinnipiac Chronicle, where she spent her hours not in class writing articles about pop culture & entertainment and making sure her team of wonderful writers were hitting their deadlines. Her passion for social justice and equity guided her time as head layout and writer for another student media organization, For the QUlture Magazine, which allowed her to combine her skills to celebrate multiculturalism and students of color on campus. Zoe is very excited to bring her experience and pursuit of community to Lebanon Opera House.

When she’s not hunched over a keyboard, Zoe loves collecting vinyl, watching videos of raccoons, awaiting Taylor Swift’s next move, and spending time with her best furry friend, Max.

Linda Lewis, Donor Relations Manager (She/Her)

Originally from Massachusetts, Linda has been an enthusiastic member of the Upper Valley community for twenty-plus years. Her professional background includes fundraising, the visual arts, and event production. While living in Boston, she was a partner in hullabaloo!, a women-owned, multi-media event production company whose focus was bringing diverse communities of people together through the arts. Linda has worked for several Upper Valley organizations, including the Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth College where she was the Membership Program Coordinator. She joined Team LOH as a volunteer in 2018 and is delighted to have joined the staff in 2023.

Linda holds a B.F.A. in painting from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst; areas of ongoing exploration include printmaking and digital art. When she’s not working to help LOH provide transformational arts experiences for everyone in our community, you can find her in the gardens or the studio at her home in Claremont, NH.

Lucas Mendelsohn, Patron Services and Events Manager (He/Him)

Hailing from the Upper Valley, Lucas graduated with a Bachelor of Music in Vocal Performance from Keene State College (KSC Class of ’21). Having joined the LOH team shortly after graduating, Lucas has loved learning and engaging with the community he grew up with. Learn more about Lucas

Lucas was highly involved during college, serving as the President (’19-’20) and Events Coordinator (’17-’19) of KSC Pride, the campus LGBTQ+ organization, while also Secretary (’19-’20) and Public Relations (’17-’19) of the KSC American Choral Directors (ACDA) student chapter. Additionally, Lucas helped co-launched KSC’s Justice Choir and was student conductor for the KSC Chamber Singers (‘20).

Lucas is a nominated and inducted member of Pi Kappa Lambda the American Music Honors Society (‘21) and has extensive performance experience in both solo and ensemble settings covering classical art song and opera repertoire, musical theatre, and early music. Lucas has performed and toured with the KSC Concert Choir, Vocal Consort, and Chamber Singers throughout New England and Canada. Lucas has been selected to perform at many collegiate events including fundraisers, awards ceremonies, and open houses.

Sage Weber-Shirk, Assistant Technical Director (They/Them)

Sage has been backstage since third grade and has no intention of stopping. They received their BA in Theatre Arts from Earlham College, where they spent their student years as a production manager, lighting designer, and conference organizer. Since graduating they’ve been a stagehand with I.A.T.S.E Local 18 in Milwaukee, WI and I.A.T.S.E. Local 919 here in the Upper Valley.

When they’re not making the magic happen backstage, Sage is the lighting designer for North Country Community Theatre, Trumbull Hall Troupe, and the Lebanon and Hanover high schools. They’ve been a core member of the LOH backstage team since March of 2022 and now split their time between running shows as a stagehand and organizing them as Assistant Technical Director.

Box Office Associates & House Managers

Lydia Elias, Box Office Associate & House Manager (She/They)

Lydia grew up in Media, PA, just a block from her local theater, where they developed a passion for the arts. Due to always preferring to watch plays over performing in them, Lydia found ways to contribute to the theatre, first by helping out with set design in high school and later by attending many local plays to show support. Joining LOH in February 2024 has helped her to keep the long tradition of being involved in the theatre and the arts while continuing to not be on stage.

Although all-things theater holds a big place in Lydia’s heart, her true passion and calling is library work. After earning a B.S. in Education and Library Science, followed by an M.S. in Library and Information Science, she accepted a full-time position at Dartmouth College in the Feldberg Business and Engineering Library as their co-head of Access Services. This prompted their move to the Upper Valley in October 2022.

In her spare time, Lydia volunteers at the Main Street Museum in White River Junction, VT and Billings Farm and Museum in Woodstock, VT. Their hobbies include bowling, roller-skating, painting, collaging, and belting out songs from Les Misérables in the comfort of their own home.

Laura Jean Gilloux, Box Office Associate & House Manager (She/Her)

Laura Jean’s professional background is in providing strategic event planning support for annual giving and capital campaign efforts in higher education. She was an integral part of the planning team that launched Dartmouth College’s $3 billion Call to Lead Campaign, Dartmouth’s largest fundraising effort to date. She has also provided operations and event management for the Center for Learner Equity, a nonprofit ensuring that students with disabilities, particularly those in under-resourced communities, have the quality educational opportunities and choices they need to thrive and learn.

Laura Jean holds a B.A. in English from the University of Missouri and a Masters of Liberal Arts from Dartmouth College where her studies focused on creative writing with an emphasis in poetry. She continues to write from her home in Wilder, VT, and is also known locally as a member of the good-time bluegrass band Reckless Breakfast!

She’s thrilled to be a part of the performing arts community and delighted to help create unforgettable experiences for all patrons.

Christine Kidd, House Manager (She/Her)

Christine started as an LOH volunteer usher. After excelling in her volunteer role, Christine trained to become an LOH house manager. Having grown up in the French countryside, she never would have imagined being involved in so many wonderful shows over the years. Although she loves singing, being behind the scenes is more her stride, and she thrives from having “happy patrons” at the end of the show!

During the day, Christine is the chief ophthalmic technician at DHMC’s Eye Clinic, where she oversees the day-to-day activities, including the equipment and the entire technical team.

When not at the clinic or LOH, Christine loves being outdoors or in the kitchen cooking something sweet.

Ashley Mello, Box Office Associate (She/Her)

Ashley is a passionate performer who has been on stage for nearly the last eighteen years. With a background in Early Childhood Education, she spent the last decade teaching classrooms of toddlers and incorporating her love of dramatic arts into their curriculum.

When not at LOH, Ashley spends her time performing in local community productions, choreographing, playing music with friends, and working with local Youth Theater programs.

She is thrilled to be on the LOH team and delighted to have the opportunity to indulge in the art and soul of the Upper Valley.

Rachael Thomeer, Box Office Associate (She/Her)

Rachael has enjoyed attending performances at LOH since moving to the Upper Valley. She was thrilled to join the evening box office team to assist guests at performances!

Rachael has always sought out creative opportunities in visual and performing arts. At Skidmore College, she took classes in fiber arts and metalsmithing. Now, she enjoys sewing, quilting, and glassworking. She’s always looking to learn something new (she hopes to try enameling next). On the stage, she is a performer and board member of Valley Improv and has dabbled in community theater around the UV.

During the day, Rachael works in research at Dartmouth College. She spends her free time pursuing her creative hobbies, planning events, and volunteering. She recently wrapped a 2.5 year term on the Upper Valley Young Professionals board where she served as the Events Chair & Public Relations Chair. In 2023, she founded the Upper Valley 24-Hour Play Festival and serves as Executive Producer.