Our Mission: To provide entertainment, education, and inspiration to Salem and the neighboring communities through high-quality, engaging, and diverse stage productions.
Kyle West,
Executive and Artistic Director
Kyle West has three decades of creating award-winning theatre under his belt, working as a producer, director, choreographer, designer, and performer. His work has been seen all across the US, from Cape Cod, to Boston, Arizona and Dallas, to New York and has been recognized by the AriZoni Awards of Excellence, BroadwayWorld Awards, Column Awards, Annie Award, MET Awards, and MHSDG Awards, among others.
Best known for creating larger-than-life musicals, some of Kyle’s credits include Hairspray, Next to Normal, Evita, White Christmas, I Love You Because, Fiddler on the Roof, Guys and Dolls, The Music Man, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, A Man of No Importance, West Side Story, Footloose, Into the Woods, RENT, The Rink, The Boyfriend, Schoolhouse Rock Live, Little Shop of Horrors, A Chorus Line, Chicago, Grease, La Cage aux Folles, The World Goes ‘Round, Cabaret, Pirates of Penzance, My Favorite Year, Annie, and Fame.
Kyle’s favorite onstage appearances include Footloose (Ren), West Side Story (Action), Godspell (Judas/John the Baptist), Grease (Eugene), and in commercials for Sony, American Eagle Outfitters and others.
In 2005, Kyle became manager of concessions for Broadway’s New Amsterdam Theatre, which was home to Mary Poppins at that time, before moving on to Broadway productions of Chicago and The Color Purple. He has since worked on marketing and social media for dozens of Broadway national tours and regional theatres. In June 2019, Kyle was asked to present to Broadway touring presenters about theatrical marketing and social media strategy at the Southwest Presenters conference. In attendance were leaders from Irving Arts Center, Charles W. Eisemann Center for Performing Arts, Children's Performing Arts Series, Cross Timbers Fine Arts Council, The Strand Theatre of Shreveport, MSC OPAS, Angelina Arts Alliance, Stephen F. Austin State University SFA School of Theatre, Corsicana Palace Theatre, Navarro Council of the Arts / Corsicana Palace Theatre, Grand Prairie Center, Mansfield ISD Center for the Performing Arts, Lutcher Theater for the Performing Arts, Piney Woods Fine Arts Association, UT Tyler Cowan Center, Reynolds Performance Hall, Letourneau University, Grand 1984 Opera House, Oklahoma City Community College, Banners at McNeese State University, Coppell Arts Center, McKinney Performing Arts Center, Courtroom Theater, Walton Arts Center and more!
Kyle has served on the Board of Directors of Mesa Encore Theatre, and as a board liaison for Phoenix Youth Ballet Theatre/Legacy Ballet Foundation.
FUN FACT: Kyle is also a certified wedding planner, and his face appears in the marketing campaign for Broadway’s Dear Evan Hansen!
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Charles J.I. Krawczyk
RESIDENT SCENIC DESIGNER/
ARTISTIC ASSOCIATE
Charles/Chuck is a well-rounded artist with experience in creative writing, HDR photography, graphic design and 3D rendering, improvisational piano, original song composition and scenic design for theater. While attending Southern Vermont College 2001-2005 (bachelor’s in liberal arts) he worked summers at Old Castle Theater in Bennington, VT (2000 to 2005) where he learned, by observation, the creative nuances of set design as he worked as a stagehand. Charles is currently the Resident Scenic Designer and an Artistic Associate for Fort Salem Theater where, in October 2021, he debuted a design for The Diary of Anne Frank. In the 2022 season, he went on to design: Little Shop of Horrors, Steel Magnolias, Pride and Prejudice, Grease, The Wizard of Oz: Youth Edition, Bright Star, and most recently I Love You Because, along with designing Grant’s Ghost for Hubbard Hall on the side. Charles has also directed Shakespeare’s Titus Andronicus in 2004 at his then-former High School, and The Glass Menagerie at Southern Vermont College in 2009.Prior to his work at Fort Salem Theater, Charles has over eight years of set design experience, artistic/stage directing, assistant directing and serving as a theatrical creative-solutions consultant (for a local high school drama club). Shows he has designed there include: The Diary of Anne Frank (2007), Once Upon a Mattress, Rumors, The Importance of Being Earnest, Beauty and the Beast, Into the Woods, Twelve Angry Jurors, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, And Then There Were None, The Sound of Music, Noises Off, Shrek the Musical, and ended his run there with The Mousetrap (2015).
After taking some time away from theatrical design Charles feels truly thankful and honored to reignite his passion for design at Fort Salem Theater and is very honored to have helped design Grant’s Ghost for Hubbard Hall’s current presentation. Charles is presently looking forward to contributing more in the near future as he gears up for Fort Salem’s 2023 season.
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Marissa Perkins
PATRON SERVICES MANAGER
Marissa grew up in Vermont and graduated from the University of Vermont in 2012. She spent most of her career working in hospitality management across the northeast and most recently held a roll in the President’s Office at Bennington College. Since becoming a stay at home mom over three years ago, Marissa has come to love the slower things in life—like time spent gardening, exploring more of the outdoors, cooking & baking, reading books with her favorite book group and enjoying all the little moments with her family. Marissa lives in Shushan with her 3yo son, 1yo daughter, 17yo nephew, amazing husband and crazy dog! Marissa says she’s so excited to join the FST team and spend more time in our wonderful community!
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Jacob Rivera-Sanchez
KEY ARTWORK DESIGNER
Jacob is a Texas based designer who recently serves as a Marketing and Publicity Account Coordinator for Bond Theatrical Group in New York City, working on the national tours of Cats, Dear Evan Hansen, and the Broadway premiere and Netflix launch of Diana, The Musical.
Born and raised in Fort Worth, Texas, Jacob received a full-ride scholarship to Texas Wesleyan University from the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, where he earned my Bachelor of Arts in Theatre.
Jacob’s work has been recognized by the Fort Worth Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Live Theatre League of Tarrant County, and national brands and organizations including Adobe, BNSF Railway, the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, Walt Disney Pictures, ArtHouse Interactive, SpotCo, among others.
To see Jacob’s portfolio, visit https://jacobrivsan.myportfolio.com/design
Fort Salem Theater Artistic Associates
Charles J.I. Krawczyk (Welcomed in 2022)
Courtnie Harrington (Welcomed in 2022)
John Norine Jr. (Welcomed in 2022)
Maureen Cossey (Welcomed in 2022)
Susi Thomas (Welcomed in 2022)
Amy Collins (Welcomed in 2023)
Ethan Drinkwine (Welcomed in 2023)