Staff
Kaitlin Paige Longoria - ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Kaitlin Paige Longoria holds a background as an actress, producer, director and mixed-media artist. Before moving to Virginia, she honed her craft in New York City, notably at the William Esper Studio under the mentorship of William Esper and through her contributions to New Light Theater Project (NLTP), where she continues her affiliation as a Resident Artist. Her more recent credits include creative producing and acting in Radiant Vermin with 5th Wall, creative producing Lonely Planet, a co-production with 5th Wall and the Firehouse Theatre and acting in H*tler’s Tasters (NLTP), an awarding-winning production that toured in New York City (Time Out NY Critics Pick, was featured in the BBC, New York Times, Los Angeles Times), Edinburgh (sold-out run, named Best of Fringe), Chicago, Los Angeles, East Hamptons, the Adirondacks, North Carolina, and Louisville. When not in the theatre, Kaitlin volunteers as a board member of the Fan District Association and works in film and television finance with companies such as HBO, Apple, and Showtime. Now deeply engaged with the Richmond arts scene, Kaitlin finds daily inspiration from the community’s passion for the arts and is honored to be the Artistic Director of 5th Wall Theatre.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Joseph B. Walton, Ph.D., MPA - President
Joseph B. Walton spent his high school afternoons in seven dramatic and musical productions as a way to hang out with the cool kids and to avoid homework. Years later he reengaged his theatrical muse at the Firehouse Theatre Project as a Board member, participant, and supporter in a variety of ways for nine years. With the opportunity to participate again with Richmond theatre’s literati, he was excited to join the Board of the 5th Wall Theatre at its founding and serves as the President with nonpareil theatrical and business folks.
Professionally, his talents are in technology and business leadership, with which he has acted up in a variety of ways from small business owner to consultant to large corporation fly-in-the-ointment. He was awarded a Style Weekly “Top 40 Under 40” in 2008 and is a proud Eagle Scout and southpaw. He is thrice a VCU alum, earning a Bachelor of Science degree, a Master of Public Administration degree, and a Ph.D. of public policy based on research of the social and information science of currency systems and socio-economic value and exchange. He is married to his best friend and wonderful wife Melissa, and he regales his blended family of Magnolia, Blair, Maya, and Nathan with dad jokes ad nauseam.
Harry Kollatz, Jr. - Vice President
Harry, a native Richmonder, was a co-founder of the Firehouse Theatre Project, president of eight years and board member. He co-founded the present 5th Wall Theatre. Harry is the senior writer for Richmond Magazine and his Flashback history columns began there in 1993. Through the publication he co-created the Theresa Pollak Prize for Excellence in the Arts, which for 20 years recognized the region’s makers and creators. Harry is the author of two books of history, "True Richmond Stories," and "Richmond In Ragtime: Socialists, Suffragists, Sex and Murder." His 2019 novel "Carlisle Montgomery," set in 1990s Richmond and features, in her own words, a "6'5" redheaded, gap-and-buck-toothed, pigtailed, nine-fingered guitar playing freak." Harry occasionally performs on stage, and has written for others who do, and is called upon for historic perspectives and hosting duties. For a TV series he portrayed Benjamin Franklin opposite Scott Wichmann's John Adams. He's joined with the artist Amie Oliver who married into the Firehouse and generally puts up with Harry and his kakamamie ideas.
Loraine Tracy - Secretary
Loraine has lived in RVA since 1980 after moving here with her husband, Don. In 1990, they moved from the Museum District to the Fan District and some of the first neighbors they met were Morrie and Carol Piersol. When Carol and friends founded the Firehouse Theatre Company, she recruited Don and Loraine to volunteer in many roles; as play readers, bartenders, hosts, ushers, ticket sellers, and Loraine for costume construction. Ms. Tracy was excited to be in the audience for the first production of the Firehouse, and is doubly excited to be part of the Fifth Wall Theatre and participating in this new endeavor to bring contemporary, provocative theater to Richmond.
Loraine is a native of Lancaster, Ohio, and received her B.S. in Social Work from the University of Dayton. From 1987 until 2014, Loraine was the Director of Christian Marriage Formation, a sacramental marriage preparation program of the Catholic Diocese of Richmond. Before that, she served as a social worker with the Capital Area Agency on Aging and the Traveler’s Aid Society. Loraine has been an active volunteer throughout her years in Richmond, including serving as President of the Binford Middle School PTA for six years, chairing various committees for the Fox School PTA, and serving in a number of roles with the Fan District Association.
Erica Farrell - Treasurer & Box Office Manager
Erica is a native New Yorker and third generation theatre lover with publishing, marketing and advertising experience at several national publications. Since moving to Richmond in 1993 as a trailing spouse, Erica has worked mostly in the non-profit sector. She previously served on the board of the Firehouse Theatre and is very excited to serve on the board of the 5th Wall. In addition to her love of theatre, Erica is a film buff who has spent the past 7 very cold Januaries working as Box Office Coordinator at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City Utah. When not sitting in dark theaters, Erica works at the Clark Hill Institute for Positive Youth Development at VCU.
Morrie Piersol
Morrie has directed more than a dozen plays in the Richmond area including the award-winning Glengarry Glen Ross, Curse of the Starving Class, The Late Henry Moss, and I am My Own Wife. Morrie is retired from the Appomattox Regional Governor’s School where he served as Theatre Arts Instructor and main stage director. Prior to moving to Richmond, Morrie was active in theatre in New York where his acting credits included work at Playwright’s Horizons, The Actor’s Studio, and a role in the long-running Broadway production of The Runner Stumbles. He was also co-founder, producing director, and company member of Force 13 Theatre, an award winning experimental theater company. Morrie holds a B.A. in Theatre from Long Island University. He also attended The National Theatre Institute at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center in Waterford, Connecticut, as well as the Hartman Theatre Conservatory in Stamford, Connecticut.
Tom Kazas
Tom Kazas is a Richmond, Virginia, playwright whose numerous plays, include Weeping Mary performed at Virginia Rep’s Blackbox Theatre and The Young and the Restless in Search of the Guiding Light performed by the Arkansas Rep. 5th Wall Theatre gave staged readings of three of his most recent plays: String ‘em Up, a Western; Highlandtown which takes place in a Baltimore bar; and Bang, Bang Maxwell, a play about artificial-intelligence-assisted suicide. He has produced several plays for Richmond’s Firehouse Theatre, including Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet, Curse of the Starving Class by Sam Shepard and Blessed Assurance, which is based on a short story by Alan Gurganus.
Kazas was elected to the 5th Wall Board of Directors in August 2022. He previously served on the Quill Theatre Board of Directors. For years, he worked as a journalist, writing for the Arkansas Democrat, the Richmond News Leader and Richmond Times-Dispatch. He retired after serving as a senior communications representative for Dominion, an energy company in Richmond. A Western Pennsylvania native, Kazas moved to Richmond in 1988. He is married to Cassie Price, a writer for the University of Richmond’s Jepson School of Leadership Studies.
Emily Adler
Emily Adler hails from Northern Virginia and found home in Richmond while getting her bachelors degree at VCU. Emily studied acting at DePaul University's renowned Theatre School for a year and was a member of the school's student improv group, Quarter Life Crisis. After transferring to VCU, Emily found her passion for audience development with the Chicago Shakespeare Theater where she spent a summer marketing their Shakespeare in the Parks summer festival designed to deliver free professional theater to cultural deserts in the suburbs of the city. Upon graduation, Emily worked for nearly seven years as the Group Sales and Grassroots Marketing Manager at the Tony Award-winning Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA where she specialized in audience development and diversification. She and her husband James have been in Richmond since 2021, and she now serves as the Director of Sales and Marketing at Cedarfield, Richmond's premier retirement community. After a 10 year hiatus from the stage, Emily recently performed in 5th Wall Theatre's production of Radiant Vermin as Miss Dee/Kay.
Founders & Emeriti
Carol Piersol, Founding Artistic Director Emeritus
Stuart A. Broth, D.D.S., Treasurer Emeritus
Don Baker, Founding Director
Georgeann Broth, Founding Director
Amy Wight, Founding Director
Vivian Keasler, Founding Director
Lisa Kotula, Founding Director
Billy Christopher Maupin, Associate Artistic Director Emeritus
If you are interested in becoming a board member, please contact Kaitlin Paige Longoria by clicking below: