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Board of Directors

Renee Sevier-Monsey, President
Renee has worked in all aspects of theatre, onstage and off. She is a graduate of Lindenwood University (MFA, Directing) and is a lighting designer, stage manager, and director and actor, with several set and costume designs to her credit. Renee currently works for Monsanto as senior billing administrator for the North America domestic world area.
John Reidy, Vice President
John has been active in community and professional theater in St. Louis for over 25 years. He is mostly active onstage, but can occasionally be found working backstage. He has served as president of the Hawthorne Players in Florissant as well as the board of the Arts for Life Best Performance awards. He began working for Edward Jones in 1980 and currently works in their Compliance Department with their international affiliates.
Fay McKenna, Artistic Director
Fay McKenna (Board Member/Artistic Director) holds a degree in Speech and Drama from Maryville College and has been associated with West End Players guild in various capacities for 51 years.
Sean Ruprecht-Belt, Secretary
Sean has worked with many St. Louis theater companies as an actor and director. He currently holds a position as Business Analyst and Project Manager for Nestlé Purina PetCare where he oversees software, warehousing, and testing projects budgeted at up to $1,500,000. Sean also serves as the President of the Board of the Folk School of St. Louis.
Eleanor Mullin, Treasurer
Eleanor holds a B.S. in Speech and Theatre Education, and a Master of Arts in Dramatic Arts from the University of Missouri, Columbia. She sits on the board of ACT INC, and is also on the boards of The Bach Society of Saint Louis, the Historical Society of University City, and CALOP, a film commission in University City, Missouri.
Mark Abels
Mark was bitten by the acting bug in 2001 and is still in recovery. He has appeared in more than two dozen productions on our area’s professional and community theater stages. WEPG roles include Robert in Harold Pinter’s Betrayal (2006), Nick in Anne Nelson’s The Guys (2007) and Herb in Neil Simon’s I Ought to Be in Pictures (2009).

Mark is an independent public relations practitioner and teaches public relations at Washington University’s University College. Prior to his “semi-retirement” from the 9-to-5 work world in 2001, Mark was Vice President–Corporate Communications at Trans World Airlines, and before that held the same position at Northwest Airlines. In a professional career spanning almost four decades Mark has been a senior executive at a major international public relations firm, a political consultant who managed successful campaigns on the local and state levels, a media manager and producer and a working journalist. He also washed dishes at Howard Johnson’s for one night.

Mark’s community service work includes membership on the local and national advisory boards of The Salvation Army, the executive board and board of directors of St. Louis Variety and the steering committee of the annual MS Bike Ride. Mark and his wife Merri, an educator in the Ladue School District, are the proud parents of three grown children.

Russell J. Bettlach
Russ is often a costumer, sometimes a set decorator or props master or assistant director. He has worn many hats with many theater groups around town since 1990. Russ also has directed for West End Players Guild, Kirkwood Theatre Guild, and 1st Run Theatre, and periodically returns to the stage. He works with Ladue High School’s department of Fine Arts as the costume designer for the Drama Department, and the Music Department’s wardrobe master, in addition to other high schools. Russ is the owner and designer for RJ Theatricals a costume and theatre prop company working exclusively with the theatre community. He is also involved with his church — Historic Trinity Lutheran in Soulard
Dorothy Davis
Dorothy is the current house manager of West End Players and has been an integral part of the organization for many years. She is well known as one of St. Louis’s most outstanding actresses.
Suzanne Greenwald
Suzanne Greenwald has been active in St. Louis theatre for over fifteen years. Her performances for WEPG include Veronica’s Room, Prisoner of Second Avenue, and Two Rooms. She has also performed with St. Louis Shakespeare Company and Act, Inc, and her 2007 performance contributed to a Kevin Kline award for “Best Ensemble” for The New Jewish Theatre’s production of Women’s Minyan. Offstage, Suzanne is a psychotherapist in private practice and the grandmother of eight.
Chuck Lavazzi
Chuck has been active in theater in St. Louis, Houston, and Terre Haute for 30 years or thereabouts. He’s been mostly an actor and sound designer, with the occasional foray into directing. Chuck has also been writing classical music and theater criticism for nearly as long, and is currently the principal performing arts critic at KDHX (FM 88.1), as well as the producer of the KDHX Arts Calendar.
Henry Onken
Henry is retired from the practice of plastic surgery. He has been involved with West End Players since 1961 and has acted in several of its productions.