OUR CORE VALUES
Conviviality Echo Theatre provides a safe space for artists, supporters, and audiences to enjoy learning, growing, and evolving together as people and as an institution.
Inclusivity We acknowledge there is a diverse group of people who identify as women+ and we welcome them to our stage, our production table, our board room and our audience.
Fidelity We are resolute in our mission to champion the voices of women+ with high quality artistic effort.
Intersectionality** We acknowledge that systems of discrimination are interdependent and by championing women+, we holistically support all who are oppressed.
Additionally: Echo Theatre follows the DFW Theater Standards and the DFW COVID 19 Safety Standards.
* About women+: We recognize the limiting nature of the binary use of the word “woman.” We use the term “women-plus” to include an expansive and diverse array of people; including those born female, those who identify as women, and those who are gender non-conforming.
** Intersectionality: We work through an intersectional lens for gender parity. We understand and acknowledge that systems of oppression and discrimination are interdependent and span all social categorizations - race, class, gender, age, ability, sexual orientation, etc. - as they apply to a given individual or group. By addressing one spoke of systematic discrimination or disadvantage, we holistically acknowledge, recognize, and help address them all.
Administration
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Kateri appeared in Echo Theatre's inaugural production, DREAM OF A COMMON LANGUAGE back in 1998 and remained a creative partner through the company's early years. In 2008, Kateri officially joined forces with Echo Theatre as a Producing Partner and was instrumental in developing Echo Theatre’s Big Shout Out International New Play Contest for Women Playwrights. In April 2019, Kateri was named Managing Artistic Director of the 21-year-old theater company.
As Managing Artistic Director, Kateri expanded the Echo Reads series to serve audiences all over Dallas at Venue Partners; making theater available to patrons in their own neighborhoods. The first online play readings began as a response to the COVID 19 pandemic, as did the Echo Offstage podcast, a Dallas-based interview show with national and local impactful women of theater that began production in 2020.
Dallas audiences first met Kateri at Undermain Theatre where she was a company member for ten years. She has since appeared on many area stages, including Shakespeare Dallas, Kitchen Dog Theatre, and Echo Theatre. Kateri holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theater Studies from The College of Santa Fe and is an enrolled member of the Potawatomi Indian Tribe.
Leslie Patrick
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER
(she/her)
LESLIE PATRICK is an actor, director, production manager, and producer based in Dallas, Texas. She has performed with Echo Theatre since 2000, appearing in over ten productions, most recently IT’S MY PARTY as feminist Maude Woods Park. Leslie has also served as a producer with Echo on several productions.
A long-time member of the Pegasus Theatre “Living Black & White” company, Leslie has worked onstage, backstage, at the producer’s desk, and as one of the few makeup artists who know the secret recipe that creates the famous look of the series.
She hails from West Texas but has made her home in Dallas. Leslie’s day job is as a digital producer at a local advertising agency, and she is married to local comedy club star, Chad Cline. Together they formed the non-profit Eleven11 Productions, to present short- and long-form improv and sketch comedy plus training. In 2025 they produced “Most Likely Forever Yours” a sketch comedy review with the AT&T Performing Arts Center Elevator Project.
Eric Berg
ASSOCIATE PRODUCER
(he/him)
[ Echo Offstage Podcast
Actor / Director ]
ERIC BERG is a director, actor, producer, and storyteller of German and Japanese descent. He is currently based in NYC, but spent over eight years creating theatre for DFW audiences.
Directing credits: I and You; in a word (Echo Theatre); Eurydice (SMU) and over a dozen readings for Kitchen Dog Theater, Junior Players, IMPRINT Theatreworks, Echo, and SMU. He has served as associate/assistant director at TheaterLab (NYC), Dallas Theater Center, AT&T PAC, Stage West, Jubilee Theatre, and Kitchen Dog.
Select acting credits: Eugene, Biloxi Blues and Brighton Beach Memoirs (Theatre Arlington); Thurio, Two Gentlemen of Verona (Shakespeare Dallas); Det. Parker, Split Second (Jubilee); Boy, US/THEM (Echo); Danny, CLAWS (Candle House Collective NYC). While serving as Associate Producer for Echo, Eric produced 8 productions, 20 readings, and co-founded/produced the Echo Offstage Podcast, which is entering its seventh season of interviewing women+ theatre-makers, such as Lynn Nottage, Lauren Gunderson, and many more! He has worked as a teaching artist with The Playground Acting Program, Theatre Arlington, Broadway Dallas, and Amphibian Theatre. Training: BFA SMU.
Isabelle Culpepper
PRODUCER
[Echo Reads]
Isabelle Culpepper has been a part of the DFW theatre scene for over 20 years, bringing her passion for theatre to many different roles, from acting to wardrobe to stage managing, and recently added producing to her credits, with Echo Reads Season 26. She is excited to be co-producing their new season alongside her incredibly talented husband, Jared Culpepper, as they work together to discover and share new or underproduced stories by women playwrights (of course) and giving them life with the talented actors and directors in our community.
Isabelle attended University of Texas at Austin’s Theatre & Dance school, as well as KD Conservatory. She currently has an ongoing role in the cast of Medieval Times, and outside of theatre, she is art director of a small graphic design firm in Irving (JPT Graphics) and teaches Zumba in her spare time. Her main goal in life is to perform and experience as much art as she can, and is thrilled to able to do so with a forward-thinking theatre company like Echo.
Board of Directors
Kirsten Brandt James
BOARD CHAIR
Marty Van Kleeck
SECRETARY/TREASURER
Miki Bone Melsheimer
GOVERNANCE COMMITTEE
Isai Cazares
EVENT COMMITTEE
Sarah Duncan Jacobs
EVENT COMMITTEE
Elizabeth Sankarsingh
DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
Catherine Whiteman
MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE
Our Gratitude to Past Board Members
Robert G. McVay
Jennifer Workman Anne Groben Daniel Tamez Diane Brandon Moody
Karen Bower Robinson Karen Lorince Suzy Blaylock Laura Alpert
Charles Beavers Rebecca Brooks Denise Lee Luis Ortiz
Reverend Dr. Jo Hudson James Zackey W. Charles Pyke Kathleen E. Palter
Advisory Committee
Laurel Hoitsma Pam Myers-Morgan
Artistic Leadership Timeline
April 2025 to Present Kateri Cale serves as Managing and Artistic Director. Eric Berg and Leslie Patrick are Associate Producers. Stephanie Oustalet is Company Manager. Hadley Shipley is Marketing and Social Media Manager. Catherine Whiteman is Host of the Echo Offstage podcast and Isaac Young is podcast Sound Engineer.
April 2019 to 2024 Kateri Cale served as Managing and Artistic Director. Eric Berg and Caroline Hamilton were Associate Producers. Lauren Floyd, and then Hadley Shipley were Marketing and Social Media Managers. Erin Malone Turner served as Producer. Catherine Whiteman, was Host of the Echo Offstage podcast and Jonathan Villalobos was podcast Sound Engineer.
2016 through April 2019 Terri Ferguson served as Managing Artistic Director with Alett Gray as General Manager and Stephanie Butler as Administrative Assistant. Kateri Cale, Elly Lindsay, and Randall Bonifay served as Lead Producers.
Echo Theatre's 20th Anniversary Celebration
From left: Founding Producers, Linda Marie Ford, Suzanne Blaylock, and Pam Myers-Morgan,
with Terri Ferguson and Alett Gray.
photo by: Kateri Cale
2014 to 2016 A trio of producing partners were named Co-Artistic Directors: Kateri Cale, Terri Ferguson and Alett Gray.
1998 through 2014 Pam Myers-Morgan served as lead producing partner of Echo Theatre until she became Producing Partner Emeritus in 2014.
Former Producing Partners: Suzy Blaylock (Founder), Linda Marie Ford (Founder), Michael Starcher, Lisa Taylor, Ellen Locy, Brandi Andrade, Jordan Willis, Terri Ferguson, Stephanie Butler, Elly Lindsay, and Randall Bonifay. Honored colleague: Bob Myers-Morgan.
Echo Theatre's Origin Story...
Once upon a time in Dallas, Texas, director Pam Myers-Morgan and actress/producer Linda Marie Ford shopped a script around to several theater companies in town, hoping to garner interest in a show they wanted to produce. Set in 1874 Paris, DREAM OF A COMMON LANGUAGE by Heather McDonald explored the delicately complex balance between a woman's artistic calling, her family life, and the influence of societal constraints and expectations. The critically acclaimed play had been honored with six coveted Helen Hayes awards. Yet every theater they approached said it wasn't "their kind of play". Perplexed, the two made a list of all the positives - small cast; an interesting history play about Impressionist painters; strong, charismatic roles for women and men; written by an eloquent, witty woman; it even had tasteful, story-driven nudity for heaven's sake! Why in the world would it not be "their kind of play"? Thankfully for Dallas audiences, Pam, Linda, and colleague Suzy Blaylock decided it was precisely their kind of play and Echo Theatre was born. Dedicated to producing plays by women and embracing the themes of the first Echo production, the company has been producing excellent plays by women since 1998 while balancing art, family, and personal life.
Echo Theatre incorporated in the state of Texas in February, 1998 and received non-profit status that April. Inspiration for our company's name springs from the nymph "Echo" of Greek mythology; cursed to forever repeat the words of others, never speaking for herself. Because women playwrights are not heard on world stages as often as their male colleagues, Echo Theatre only produces plays written by women. The plays we present are as different as the women who write them, so you’ll enjoy a variety of entertainment. We're proud to specialize in women's work.
Pam Myers-Morgan hit the Dallas theater scene in 1992 and served as Artistic Administrator at the Dallas Theater Center, where she organized the internship program and coordinated local casting. She co-founded Echo Theatre in 1997 and served as a key Producing Partner for 13 seasons. Her directing projects with Echo include HIGH DIVE, RUINED, THE ECHO ROOM PRESENTS: HER SONG, BIBLE WOMEN, WELL, THE NIBROC TRILOGY (DFW Critics Forum Award, Best Director 2009), AMERICAN CASSANDRA, COCO & GIGI, OIL! (a staged reading with Tyne Daly), THE LADIES OF THE CAMELLIAS (DFW Critics Forum Award, Best Director 2007) and GOBLIN MARKET (Rabin Nomination for Best Director). She has also directed for Dallas Theater Center, Dallas Children’s Theatre, Wingspan Theatre, and Southern Methodist University. Local acting credits include the world premiere of WEDDING BELLES for One-Thirty Productions, and OFF THE MAP (Rabin Nomination, Best Supporting Actress) and FEFU AND HER FRIENDS with Echo. Pam is a noted Sound Designer with multiple productions on her resume. While an adjunct professor at Mountain View College, Pam taught Film Appreciation, Fine Arts Appreciation, Introduction to Theater, and Voice and Articulation, among others. She holds a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Directing from the University of Virginia. She and her husband currently reside in New England.