College And Beyond
During his senior year at KSU, J. R. directed his first community theatre production, Elyria Summer Theatre Association's (ESTA) Grease where he met his future wife, Kimberly. Kimberly introduced J. R. to her high school drama teacher who hired J. R. to guest direct Our Town at Elyria High School. In 1989, J. R. took over as the Elyria High School (EHS) Drama Department advisor. While at Elyria High, J. R. directed Charlotte's Web, The Phantom of the Opera (his own original adaptation of the Gaston Leroux novel), The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Ducks And Lovers, Raggedy Ann And Andy, Aladdin, Rehearsal for Murder, James And The Giant Peach, Much Ado about Nothing, Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs, and Rumors. The EHS Drama Dept. performed a cutting of The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe at the Ohio Thespians State Conference in 1991 and full length productions of Ducks and Lovers and Rumors in 1992 and 1995 respectively.

While working at Elyria High School, J. R. extended his directing portfolio to include children's theatre teaching for The Lorain County Children's Pioneer Theatre (LCCPT) and directing productions of More From Story Theatre, The Trial of Amanda Marie Locks, How to Eat Like A Child, Charlie And The Chocolate Factory and The Pajama Game. Like the insane nut that he is, J. R. also found time to resurrect the extracurricular drama program at neighboring Amherst, Ohio's Marion L. Steele High School (MLS) directing The Miracle Worker, A Tale of Two Cities, A11 Because of Agatha, A Tomb with a View, Flowers for Algernon and Three Murders And It's Only Monday from 1990 to 1992, taking A Tomb with a View to the 1992 Ohio Thespians State Conference. Imagine being in charge of 40 students from Elyria High School and 30 students from Steele High School while mounting two productions on two different stages during the same weekend in Cincinnati, Ohio and you can begin to understand what kind of lunatic J. R. is.

Lest you begin to think that J. R. was being lazy during this period, he also directed Carousel for The Elyria Summer Theatre Association and A Tomb with A View and See How They Run for Jovialities during a brief foray into legitimate dinner theatre before returning to Kent State University in 1992 to begin work on his Master of Arts degree in Theatre which he received in 1996.

In 1995, a year after taking over management of Jovialities and a year before buying it, J. R. left the business of high school drama advising to take on a full time management position with Ritz Camera Centers, a position he held until 1998 when he accepted a position with Vincent Lighting Systems where he worked until 2006.  Since 2006, J. R. has pursued a career in higher education teaching Technical Theatre at Ashland University and now English Composition, Theatre, and Dramatic Literature for Lorain County Community College, Lakeland Community College, and Indiana Wesleyan University.

J. R. is also a set and lighting designer having designed Annie and Up The Down Staircase for LCCPT, Guys And Dolls, The Fantasticks and Oliver for ESTA, The Miracle Worker for MLS, Bye, Bye, Birdie, and You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown for EHS, and most recently 42nd Street, Don't Drink The Water, South Pacific, The Mouse That Roared, Bye, Bye, Birdie, Get Smart and Guys And Dolls for Avon High School (AHS) where he is currently the Assistant Drama Director (Set and Lighting).

J. R. Today

All totaled, J. R. has acted in over 25 high school, college and community theatre stage productions and 1 independent movie, Shooting Star. He has directed over 50 high school, children's and community theatre productions. He has designed sets and/or lighting for over 30 high school, children's, college and community theatre productions. Not bad for a man who just turned 51 and took a 4 year hiatus from full blown theatrical production. And J. R. hasn't stopped yet!

Today, J. R. has settled down only slightly. He manages the day-to-day operations of an 800-seat high school performing arts facility that hosts upwards of 120 performance events per year. He has worked as an instructor of English Composition, Theatre and Dramatic Literature for Lorain County Community College, Lakeland Community College, Terra State Community College, and Indiana Wesleyan University after spending 3 years working for Ashland University where he was the Theatre Department's Technical Director. In his spare time, J. R. also worked as a stage hand for Cuyahoga Community College's Western Campus Theatre Department and Lorain County Community College's Stocker Center and as Technical Director for Avon High School all while running The Jovialities Entertainment Company from his attic office. J. R. and his wife, Kim, have three children: Kelsey, Will and Hayley, and several pets: Murphy, a big goofy Golden Retriever/Labrador Retriever/Beagle/Hound mix, and Taco, a golden tabby cat that thinks he's the King of the Household. Today he and Kim look forward to building Jovialities into a powerful force in the entertainment world.

J. R. is a proud member of Ohio Educational Theatre Association, the International Thespians Society, the National Honor Society, Alpha Psi Omega (Beta Psi Cast at Kent State University) and American Mensa. He is a former member of the United States Institute of Theatre Technology and the Cleveland Theatre Collective.

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