Kathryn Noser, President
Kathryn Noser is a lifelong patron of The Company OnStage, having attended her first show at the age of four at The Company OnStage’s original home at St. John’s Presbyterian Church. She began performing with COS in Laura William’s Cinderella in 2006. Since that time, she has performed in and/or directed more than a dozen productions including Godspell, Snoopy!!! The Musical, Doubt, Snow White and Rudolph Rides Again. She joined the Board of Directors in 2008, established the Actors in Wonderland Summer Drama Program in 2010, and has served as President of the Board since 2014. Kathryn has also had the pleasure to work with other theater groups including, Main Street Theater for Youth, Country Playhouse, HITS Theater, ACE Theater and Upstage Theater. Kathryn is a 1996 graduate of Texas A&M University with a BA in Speech Communications. She works in Business Development for Vintage Underwriters and is a volunteer with VICTORY, a branch of the American Cancer Society, a member of the Bellaire Business Association, and a member of the board of the Westbury Area Improvement Corporation.
Jennifer Brown, Vice President
Jennifer Brown has been active at the Company OnStage since 2010. She was originally introduced to the theater by a close family member, who convinced her young son to audition, where he was cast as Christopher Robin in “Winnie The Pooh”. Since then, she has gone on to stage manage several other shows including “The Emperor’s New Clothes”, “Lonestar”, “Laundry and Bourbon”, and “Charlotte’s Web”. She also expanded her experience and ran tech for several different shows including “{adjective}[noun] A Theatrical Symphony in Eighteen Movements” and “Treasure Island”. She currently holds a BS in Criminal Justice from University of Houston: Downtown and is employed at Vintage Underwriters. She joined the board of directors in 2016 and continues to enjoy and cherish her time with COS.
Stephanie Kelso, Treasurer
Stephanie has been active with COS since 2010, starting out as an actor and quickly becoming a jack-of-most-trades, having stage-managed, worked light and sound and serving as both a general board member and an executive board member. She holds a B.Sc. in Mathematics and a M.A. in Teaching from Simmons College in Boston, MA. She works as an after-school math tutor for middle and high school students. She enjoys baking and needlepoint crafts.
D. Lee Lozano, Secretary
I am humbled to be a part of a group which initially introduced me to theatre performances, nearly 45 years ago; thus nourishing my passion for creative expression. The Fine Arts, including theatre, sparked increased wonderment for me with storytelling. As a school social worker, acknowledging/advocating various healthy expressions, alongside students/families encompasses a well-grounded cornerstone of this chosen vocation. Cultivating learning and growth of both self and others, displays a transformative process, by which the Fine Arts has remained integral.
Although my interest doesn’t entail performance myself, I am satisfied with simply supporting actresses and actors with their uniquely talented craft(s). Theatre, along with Community, bear the transformative power of indelible moments among multifaceted citizenries. Powerfully, these vehicles of change, contemporaneously enhance our shared existence and our humanity – accentuating the essentialness for the Common Good.
Nicholas Garelick, Member at Large
Nicholas has been a part of the COS family since 2010, working running tech for The Hollow and The Little Mermaid. Performance credits with COS include The Lion In Winter, The Young Man From Atlanta, A Christmas Carol in 60 Minutes or Less, The Pied Piper of Hamlintown, and The Adventures of Robin Hood. He directed the very first Local Authors Series (Bryan Maynard’s “Write Here, Write Now”) and, in 2019, had his own plays featured in {Adjective} [Noun].
Outside of COS, Nicholas is a former President and Artistic Director of Scriptwriters/Houston and board member for Theatre Suburbia, volunteered with the Red Cross for over 10 years, and is currently Communications Specialist at Insperity. His wife, Lauren Hainley, also has a very close connection with Company Onstage.
Randall Kelso, Member at Large
Professor R. Randall Kelso is the Spurgeon E. Bell Distinguished Professor of Law at South Texas College of Law. He teaches and writes primarily in the area of Constitutional Law. He also teaches Contracts, and has taught Professional Responsibility and Jurisprudence. With his wife, Stephanie Fisherman Kelso, he has been involved with Company on Stage (COS) for seven years, attending events, helping prepare or strike sets, supporting fundraising activities, such as the silent auctions or art/craft market, and other such matters.
Crystal LaShan, Member at Large
Crystal LaShan Toussant was born in Houston, TX. While attending Jesse H. Jones High School Crystal received a Sammy Davis Jr. Award for her original dramatic interpretation of the Jewish Community Center’s People Workshop. Crystal graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Drama from Spelman College. While at Spelman College, she was privileged to be a part of the Maya Angelou Transformation Ensemble, where she took master classes from professional choreographers such as Debbie Allen, Otis Sallid (School Daze), and Charles Auggins (Choreographs for Mick Jagger). During Crystal’s career in the Performing Arts, she has been blessed to work on such events as TLC’s Creep Video, OutKast’s Video Git Up, Git Out, 1996 Centennial Olympic Games Opening & Closing Ceremonies, N.A.A.C.P. Image Awards, AFI Salute to Martin Scorsese, The Academy Awards, Nickelodeon, and numerous T.V. & Film projects.
Crystal’s most beloved and treasured work is her 15+ year career as an Arts Educator in Public and Private schools throughout Houston. Crystal is presently teaching Theater Arts at Killough Middle School in Alief ISD. Crystal truly believes that “It is the responsibility of the Extraordinary to help the Ordinary to become Extraordinary!” – Crystal Washington – Toussant 2000. Crystal has created her own Not – For Profit Organization, Heal the World NOW, where they develop programming to address Socio-Economic, Health, and Non-Partisan Political Issues through the Performing, Visual, and Media Arts.
Emily Living, Member at Large
Emily Living is a former educator who is currently working as a freelance social media manager. She fell in love with the performing arts at an early age and feels privileged to continue to pursue her passion at the Company OnStage. Emily began volunteering with COS in 2018 as the Stage Manager for Babe, the Sheep Pig. After joining the board in 2019, she has continued to work on multiple shows per season while co-chairing the Marketing Committee. Emily believes that the Arts have the power to connect and transform communities.
Imran Qamar, Member at Large
Imran is a creative person from every angle. He became an architect to be creative and yet keep the engineers in the family happy. He paints, acts and writes to keep him relaxed and focused. While he took some off to live life (family, career and responsibilities), he has rekindled his create juices over the last few years since his kids started going off to college. He since Covid, he has acted in three plays and shot a TV pilot for an Indian TV channel. He has also sold a few of his paints in the same time frame. He joins The Company Onstage board in 2023 so he can meld his professional skills with his creative juices to help the organization move further forward with this Mission and Goals.
Imran has over 30 years of experience in the design, construction & real estate development industries and has completed projects in 27 United States as well as 7 countries on 3 continents. Mr. Qamar has an entrepreneurial spirit and deeply believes in innovation and automation. He has passion for teaching and mentoring young people and has taught courses at various colleges and universities. He also regularly hires interns at his office and mentors them along in their careers.
He graduated from the University of Southern California with a Bachelor of Architecture with a minor in business administration as well as a Master of Architecture in Urban Design. Currently, Mr. Qamar is a member of Islamic Arts Society of North America and Bedrock Cares Initiative (a non-profit that works to create opportunities for young people in the building industry).