Meet the Director's Grant Committee

Many don't realize that the inspiration for this Foundation came from a simple idea of a Director's Award. After Mark passed away, his family was trying to think of ways to not only continue his legacy of community theater support, but also a way to give back to the community that had rallied around them upon his sudden death. Ideas were thrown out, but nothing seemed to be concrete enough to work from. Mark's oldest daughter, Erin Foreman, told everyone to just "let it simmer" and wait for inspiration to strike. A few months later, Mark's second daughter, Lindsay Leonard, woke up in the middle of the the night and had the sudden inspiration of financially supporting directors of local community theater productions. It's a universal truth that all community theaters are reliant on ticket sales for profits and most participants are volunteers. Show budgets are often tight and inherently limited in amount and scope. What if a financial award were given to qualified directors to use toward their show with no strings attached? The director and show participants would benefit, the theater would benefit from the additional funds used in conjunction with the already established budget, and audiences would benefit from an enhanced production. Thus, the Director's Grant came to fruition, which led to the creation of the Mark W. Foreman Foundation for the Performing Arts - a way to support local theaters beyond the biannual award.

The next step was to establish a committee to review the applications and determine the winner. It was agreed that the members of this committee would be unaffiliated with any particular theater, yet would have an understanding of community theater operations through past and present experience. It was also determined that the initial members of this committee would have worked with Mark in the past and understood his legacy of supporting all local theaters equally. Each member is independent, unbiased, and a true supporter of our Lynchburg area community theaters. Read below to meet the committee:

Tanya Crandall Anderson

Tanya Crandall Anderson started acting by accident at the age of 12 in Tennessee. She performed in the Lynchburg area for 25 years beginning with her first show at Cherry Tree Players in 1998. She has acted with almost every company in Lynchburg including: The Fine Arts Center, The Academy of Fine Arts/Academy Center of the Arts, Renaissance Theatre, Thomas Jefferson's Poplar Forest, Commerce Street Theatre, Bedford Little Town Players, Little Dinner Theatre Players, Wolfbane Productions, and Endstation Theatre, to name a few. Though she currently lives in Nashville with her dog, Scarlett (and works at Andrew Jackson's Hermitage), Tanya is delighted and honored to carry on Mark's legacy in the Central Virginia area (especially his hope that the theatre scene remains collaborative between all companies and spaces).

Bill Bodine

One of the most familiar faces in the Lynchburg area, Bill was one of Mark's closest friends. They performed in numerous shows together, and Bill's theater resume is quite expansive. Bill has appeared in about 80 productions in the Lynchburg area since getting his first taste of performing at Lynchburg College. In 1996, he and Mark Foreman became fast friends while playing John Adams and Ben Franklin opposite each other in Cherry Tree Players' 1776 (along with Albert Carter as Thomas Jefferson) and stayed close for the rest of Mark's life. Bill has performed on virtually every stage in the area and has great respect for all the various companies entertaining Lynchburg. He retired as President of the Greater Lynchburg Community Foundation in 2022.

Casey Carden

Casey has been involved in local theater since the early '90s. He has been involved in over 40 productions with Cherry Tree Players, the Lynchburg Fine Arts Center, The Academy of Fine Arts, Endstation Theatre Company, The Little Dinner Theatre, and Wolfbane Productions. He especially loves his participation in the children productions of Winnie the Pooh (five different times!) and Alice in Wonderland. Another of the highlights being 1776 in 1996 alongside Mark, Bill Bodine, and Albert Carter. Casey retired from Michael's Carpet World after 31 years and is married with four adult children. He knows firsthand what it takes to produce a show in a local theater and how much work is involved, but the lifelong friendships he has made through theater make it all worth it.

Albert Carter

Mark and Albert knew each other since Mark first moved to Lynchburg with his family in 1989. A graduate of Liberty University with a degree in music, he began teaching at Dunbar Middle School in 1994. What began as teaching chorus has turned into the director of the award-winning DMS Drama program (where he is the 2023 Lynchburg City Schools Teacher of the Year). Albert is no stranger to the community theater scene, having done shows with the Lynchburg Fine Arts Center, Cherry Tree Players, and Renaissance Theatre. In addition, Albert was the director of FACination, a choral group that performed for many years with many community theater performers involved.

Lori Carter

You will rarely see Albert without his faithful wife, Lori. But that doesn't mean she doesn't have her own experiences to benefit the Foundation. Lori is the current production manager for Dunbar Middle School's Drama program, taking on numerous responsibilities for the numerous shows performed each year. As an actress, Lori also performed in many community theater shows (both with and without her husband) throughout the area. In addition, Lori is an accomplished makeup artist and has handled many of the more complex theater makeup and prosthetic effects in the area. One of the highlights of her artistry was developing a technique for creating a bald head using melted soap and makeup for Mark Foreman's Ben Franklin in Cherry Tree Players' production of 1776. Lori is an valuable part of the Lynchburg theatrical community.

John Gunnoe

John is honored to be serving on this committee and has participated in numerous productions in the Lynchburg area. He has been involved since 1985 and has done shows with nearly every local theater including the Lynchburg Fine Arts Center, Wolfbane Productions, Little Town Players, Renaissance Theatre, Commerce Street Theatre, the Academy of Fine Arts, and Endstation Theatre Company. In addition, he has also worked with Randolph College and Sweet Briar College theater programs. John worked with Mark in Renaissance's Murder at the Howard Johnson's in 2005 and Wolfbane's The Crucible. Mark expressed admiration at John's talent and his experience is a true asset to this committee.

Sally Southall

Sally first found theatre in high school, where there was really no theatre
program. So, as a freshman at Lynchburg College, she really immersed herself in all
things theatre. She graduated with a degree in English and Drama and after teaching several years in the Richmond area, she returned to Lynchburg and became
involved in the Lynchburg Fine Arts Center. She met Mark and his family when summer theatre at the Fine Arts Center was an exciting and thriving mainstay. Also during this time, Sally returned to Lynchburg College as the costumer and studio shop manager, while still enjoying acting and collaborating in a variety of productions over twenty years at the Fine Arts Center, Renaissance Theatre, and then Endstation Theatre Company. After returning to Richmond, Sally took time away from teaching to complete a Master of Fine Arts in Theatre at Virginia Commonwealth University. Coincidentally, Mark Foreman was ushering in Staunton for the American Shakespeare Center and Sally would often travel with him there. As a result of that experience, Sally focused her graduate thesis on Performance in Shakespeare. Over the years, Sally connected with Mark as a performer, director, audience member, and friend; his shared love of theatre was a powerful, palpable draw for each person he met. She is honored to be continuing his legacy and impact through serving on this Foundation.