President

Ezekiel McPherson

Ezekiel McPherson (Director) Ezekiel is 30 and enjoys all kinds of narrative storytelling; movies, video games, oration, and drama are his favorites. He's been involved in various theater ventures since 2009 when he debuted in Lost in Yonkers. He has recently directed Death of a Salesman, and Co-Directed Romeo & Juliet. His most recent onstage appearances areThe Fantasticks (Bellomy), Romeo & Juliet (Benvolio.) Ezekiel has done some wonderful choreography work for us, including Romeo & Juliet, Matilda, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Jr, and Disney’s The Little Mermaid, for which he was awarded a 2025 Benson Award. He enjoys directing and acting as well as writing and editing. Ezekiel is father to four beautiful children and husband to a wonderful wife, Samantha. Ezekiel believes that local theater connects people across generations and diverse life experiences and offers the opportunity for richer relationships and lasting love for the community of Mena.

Vice President

Robby Burt

Robby Burt is the instructor of humanities at UARM. You've most recently seen him on our stage as Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman. Past shows that Robby has directed at the OLT include: A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Foreigner. At UARM he has staged Noodle Doodle Box, Wiley and the Hairy Man, The Fisherman and his Wife, Hansel and Gretel, The Bully Show, The Good Doctor, The Nina Variations, The Zoo Story, and Furry Tails. Robby is the lighting genius (our words, not his) behind countless OLT productions, most recently The Last Lifeboat, The Little Mermaid, Romeo & Juliet, The Fantasticks, Arsenic & Old Lace, and Little Shop of Horrors, to name a few. Both Robby and his wife Gini are theatre majors and acted in and directed numerous shows over the past years. They have a total of eight children scattered across the region.

Secretary

Alexis Payne

Alexis (Lexie) has been a part of the theatre for a over 6 years. She is mostly running around backstage helping with stage crew or up in the sound booth, running the mics and sound. Lexie started out her theatre career in high school theatre here in Mena, falling in love with the backstage life of theatre she has done multiply plays at the OLT including Little Women, Little Shop of Horrors, The Little Mermaid and many more. This is her first year as secretary and hopes to live up the past secretaries before her.

Treasurer

Mikayla Barber

Mikayla Barber has worked on 16 productions with the OLT, having served as Stage Manager for many of them. She has also run spotlight for Big and was on stage crew for Matilda and Monty Python’s Edukational Show. Mikayla is often the main artistic genius behind our themed lobby decorations. She serves on the Social and Concessions committees. Mikayla’s hobbies include painting, reading, soap making and work!?

Board

Ann Glenn

Ann Glenn has appeared in a long list of plays which she has enjoyed being in. Her latest role was the Martha Brewster in Arsenic & Old Lace, for which she was awarded Grand Duchess in last year’s You Can’t Take It With You. You will also remember her for her wonderful portrayal of Rebecca Boone in Love Makes A Home. Ann leads our Lyric Players Reader’s Theatre, which most recently produced this past holiday season’s The Gift of the Magi.

Amanda Sloan Baker

Amanda Baker and her husband Dewayne live in Mena. They have 9 children, with two still living at home (ages 11 and 4), as well as 13 grandchildren. Amanda has been onstage in many OLT productions, including Oliver, Southern Hospitality, Godspell, Little Women, The Little Mermaid (Grimsby), and most recently, The Last Lifeboat (Vivian.) She’s also directed numerous times at the OLT, including You Can’t Take It With You and Arsenic and Old Lace, and has served as musical director for Elf, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and Frozen.

Linda G. Johnson

Linda G. Johnson is a constant fixture around here and is regularly involved with productions as an actress and as prop master and set decorator. She is known to many as Grandma Linda, she carries the title proudly! She has appeared onstage as Mrs. Cratchit in The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge, Henrietta in The Fantasticks, Gay Wellington in You Can’t Take It With You, and Abby Brewster in Arsenic and Old Lace. She is the properties manager for OLT, and the head of our Social Committee.

Alex Night

Alex Night has been involved with OLT for almost a decade. Originally from Corpus Christi, Texas, Alex has been performing since childhood and is a graduate of the American Musical & Dramatic Academy in New York City, having studied and trained under Broadway actors and directors. After many big city adventures and misfortunes, Alex moved to Mena for love, and much prefers smalltown life, it turns out. Becoming part of the Mena community has been one of the most valuable gifts Alex has ever received. Favorite roles have been Puck in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Mute in The Fantasticks, and Mercutio in Romeo & Juliet, all here at OLT. Alex has also directed The Best Christmas Pageant Ever!, Little Women the Musical, Little Shop of Horrors, and most recently co-directed Romeo & Juliet with Ezekiel McPherson. Alex believes that in order to tell a good story, you need to be able to recognize the stories from your own life, and the stories around you.

LaDonna Barber

LaDonna is from Mena. She has been part of various productions at both Mena High School and OLT. LaDonna can be seen working in many capacities around the theatre, and serves on the Social and Concessions committees. Her favorite things to do are binging Netflix and eating snacks.

Drew Philpot

Drew Philpot is 22 years old, and he is a proud Christian. He is a part of the worship team at First Christian Church and is a Wednesday Night youth leader at The Crossing. He is no stranger to our stage, his most recent appearance having been Thomas Andrews in The Last Lifeboat, and his Benson Award Winning performance as Romeo in OLT’s Romeo & Juliet last spring. He also made his debut as assistant director for our current production of Death of a Salesman! He recently graduated from UARM with an associate’s degree, and he is now attending UAFS where he is working towards a bachelor’s degree in media communications. He loves spending time with friends and family, as well as his girlfriend and her family. His favorite hobbies include playing video games, learning piano, attending concerts, and caring for his two cats.

Kallie Howard

Kallie Howard was born and raised in Mena, and is not only directing this December's production of Frozen Jr, but is slated to direct next spring's Decendants Jr! Her recent OLT appearances include One Wife Too Many (Velvet), The Little Mermaid (Andrina) and Romeo & Juliet (Lady Montague.) She was hair & makeup artist for The Last Lifeboat and Assistant Directed Every Christmas Story Ever Told (And Then Some More!) and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. At 14, she played the Toy Fairy in the JOLT production of The Velveteen Rabbit, and she was a runway model in Dallas throughout her teens. In her early twenties, she loved singing and songwriting. She is married to Bradley Howard and is a full-time mother to her three children. She works for ICES, a company that places exchange students in Mena and surrounding areas for academic and cultural exchange. She also loves collecting, gardening, and DIY projects. Kallie got back into acting as a way to connect to herself and have something that is just hers.

April Renee Burt

Having spent a good amount of her childhood performing on the OLT stage, April Renee Burt is thrilled to be an OLT Board Member! April directed The Fantasticks and Disney’s The Little Mermaid and most recently appeared on our stage as Maleficent in Disney’s Descendants. For the first two years of college, April studied theatre at Southeast Missouri State University, and last year she completed her BFA in Musical Theatre at Southern Arkansas University. Credits include Jo March in Little Women the musical (OLT), Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream (OLT), and Avrile in Much Ado About Nothing (The Dobbins Conservatory of Theatre and Dance), Rose in Dogfight (Southern Arkansas University), Mrs. Van Buren in Intimate Apparel (Southern Arkansas University), Golde/The Fiddler in Fiddler on the Roof (Southern Arkansas University), Lily in Songs From A New World and Cinderella in Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella. April is currently directing our summer musical, Camelot!

Silas Baker

Silas Baker has appeared in many OLT productions throughout the years, most recently and notably appearing as Carlos in Disney’s Descendants, Biff in Death of a Salesman, Seymour in Little Shop of Horrors, Prince Eric in The Little Mermaid, and Branislav in All I Really Need To Know I Learned In Kindergarten. Some of his other appearances include A Seussified Christmas Carol (Scrooge), You Can’t Take It With You (Tony), Silas Marner (Aaron), Clue (Mr. Boddy), and The Trial of Ebenezer Scrooge (Fred). He also assistant directed Arsenic & Old Lace. Silas works at the Mena Regional Health System and loves cooking, acting, singing and dancing, and hanging out with his family and friends.

Haley Brodersen

Haley Brodersen has become a familiar face on our stage! Her past appearances include The Little Mermaid (Alana), The Last Lifeboat (Young Florence), and One Wife Too Many (Sally) and most recently, Disney’s Descendants (Evie.) In her free time, she loves painting, golfing, and hanging out with her husband and family. Haley is a registered nurse at the local hospital and is working on getting her psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner degree. She is currently assistant directing Camelot!