Roger Morgan
Founder and Director of Design

Roger Morgan is a pioneer in the world of theatre design consulting and the Founder of Sachs Morgan Studio where he has directed the department of design for 35 years. Mr. Morgan received his training in scenic design and stage lighting at Carnegie-Mellon University, and he is the Tony Award-winning lighting designer of over 200 plays On Broadway, Off Broadway, and in our country's finest resident theatres. He became interested in theatre architecture while working as an assistant to the legendary scenic designer Jo Mielziner, who became his mentor. He is co-author of Space for Dance, a book commissioned by the National Endowment for the Arts on the design of dance facilities, now out of print and considered a classic in the architectural arena. Mr. Morgan has gained a reputation as that rare designer who is equally at home providing technical theatre systems, architectural programming and space planning, interior design, and architectural lighting.

Mr. Morgan’s lighting design credits include Edward Gorey’s Tony Award-winning Dracula with Frank Langella, in which his partner Ann Sachs played the leading lady; the Sherlock Holmes thriller, Crucifer of Blood for which he won both the Tony and Drama Desk awards; and hundreds of plays and musicals in this country and abroad. He has been a keynote speaker at USITT, the organization that honored him with a Lifetime Achievement Award (when he was in his 40’s), and a guest speaker in the Architecture Department at Carnegie-Mellon University, as well as at OISTAT international theatre conferences in England, Italy, and Poland. He and his partner Ann Sachs collaborated on an article for the international publication Auditoria, “Everyone Welcome,” about accessibility for the disabled in theatres, an area in which the studio is nationally acknowledged as providing trendsetting solutions.

Roger and Ann have been personal and professional partners since 1970, and enjoy hiking in the Adirondack Mountains. They are the proud parents of two grown children, Abigail, an acupuncturist, and Sam, an architectural photographer.

Ann Sachs
President and CEO BACK TO TOP

Ann Sachs spent twenty-five years working as a professional actor prior to becoming President and CEO of Sachs Morgan Studio in 1992. She runs the business and Mr. Morgan is the Director of Design. The firm has one foot in the theatre and one foot in architecture, and is nationally recognized for designing theatres that work for their owners, their patrons, and the theatre professionals that use them. Ann and Roger were the subject of a feature article about their longtime personal and professional partnership in Lighting and Sound America (June, 2007) and Ann recently received the 2008 Lifetime Achievement Signature Award from the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) in New York City.

In 2006 Ann launched an online quarterly publication with useful information related to theatre buildings: Theatre By Design, of which she is the Editor. She founded Theatrical Intelligence in 2007, a subsidiary of the Studio that provides professionally facilitated workshops to the business community. Using collaborative theatre techniques, the workshops identify and unleash hidden inspiration in our personal and professional lives. She is currently writing a book on the subject.

A graduate of Carnegie-Mellon’s Drama Department, Ann's knowledge of "the business of show business" came as a result of working onstage from 1967-1992, in leading roles on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and in our country's finest resident theatres. During the late eighties she collaborated with four other women to write Mama Drama, a play about motherhood published by Samuel French and performed by professional and amateur groups nationwide. Since 1998 Ann has been a member of the Women Presidents' Organization (WPO), an international peer advisory organization for successful women business owners. As a member, she participates in monthly meetings with other women presidents, to brainstorm about business issues in a confidential setting. She also serves as a Facilitator of two WPO Chapters in NYC.

Ann and Roger have been personal and professional partners since 1970, and enjoy hiking in the Adirondack Mountains. They are the proud parents of two grown children, Abigail, an acupuncturist, and Sam, an architectural photographer.

Alison Ford
Senior Designer BACK TO TOP

Alison Ford received her Master of Fine Arts. in Theatre from Yale University in 1982 and Bachelor of Fine Arts. in Painting and Sculpture from Molloy College for Women in Rockville Center, NY, in 1974. She has designed scenery for leading resident theatre companies including ACT in Seattle, Missouri Repertory Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Yale Repertory Theatre, and the New York City Opera Touring Company. Ms. Ford held a tenured appointment as Head of Design for the Theatre Arts Department of the University of Iowa, and joined SMS in 2001 during her sabbatical year. She happily returned to the Studio in 2004, after moving back to the East Coast. Her experience in a wide range of theatre venues is put to use daily in Studio projects such as Dodger Stages; a feasibility study for a new theatre at Bryn Mawr College in Bryn Mawr, PA, and the Neil Simon renovation, which set new standards for accessibility for the disabled on Broadway (and tripled the ladies room capacities!). Currently she is the project manager for a new arts center for Montgomery County Community College in Takoma Park, MD, and is involved with the Kennedy Center Eisenhower and Family Theatre renovations.

Steve Rust
Director of Technical ServicesBACK TO TOP

Steve Rust has provided project management and technical systems oversight of Sachs Morgan Studio designs since 1999, from initial project phases through construction. His areas of specialization include theatre infrastructure design, support space programming, stage lighting system design, rigging system design, and architectural lighting. Steve’s main activities center on design collaboration with theatre owners, architects, and engineers. Responsibilities include contract document supervision, equipment cost estimation, contractor liaison, and construction site installation review.

Completed projects at the Studio include the National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C. and New World Stages, the Off-Broadway complex in mid-town Manhattan, as well as the collaborative design of the stage lighting and rigging system for the $12mil Roschel Performing Arts Center at Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA. In 2007 Steve completed the triple-award-winning Architectural Lighting of Temple Emanu-El in New York City, and is currently SMS Project Manager for Bryn Mawr College and the historic Granada Theatre in Santa Barbara, California. Other SMS projects include the Pantages Theatre in Hollywood and the Palace and Neil Simon Theatres on Broadway. He received his BA, in Economics, from Connecticut College in 1981, and Certification in AutoCAD from Pratt Institute in 1996.Professional affiliations include USA Local 829 since 1989, and NCQLP LC since 2003.

Steve resides in Upper Montclair, New Jersey, with his wife Elaine Rust, owner of Rustic Food Custom Catering.

Jonathan Spencer
Technical AssociateBACK TO TOP

Jonathan Spencer has collaborated with the Sachs Morgan Studio team since 2001 in the design of stage lighting, stage rigging, and architectural lighting. Current Studio assignments include the Kennedy Center's Eisenhower Theatre, the Granada in Santa Barbara, California, and Completed projects include New World Stages, Waterbury Palace & Magnet School, Kennedy Center Opera House, and Temple Emmanu-El, among others.

Jonathan is a member of The United Scenic Artists Local 829 and is a lighting designer for regional, Off-Broadway, special events and architecture, as well as an associate designer on Broadway productions. He has designed several productions of Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses and spent two seasons as resident lighting designer for the Hartt School musical theater training program in Hartford CT. New York credits include the Off Broadway productions of Who Is Floyd Stearn?, Squeeze Box, and The Public Theater’s production of John Moran’s Book of the Dead: Second Avenue. His architectural lighting can be seen by attending services at The Church of Our Savior on 38th & Park in NYC, where he provided a new design for the eastern end of the sanctuary in a 2002 renovation.

Mindy Srebnik
Studio ManagerBACK TO TOP

Mindy Srebnik earned a Masters Degree in Education from Springfield College in Springfield, MA and a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Alfred University in Alfred, NY. Thirty years of administrative experience includes a wide range of industries such as finance, public relations, crisis intervention/rehabilitation services and trade show displays and graphics. As Studio Manager she serves as Executive Assistant to Roger Morgan, and keeps the organization running smoothly with savvy and good humor. A native New Yorker, she had the good fortune of coordinating visits from the Easter Bunny to children’s hospitals nationwide. Her interests include reading, pilates, theatre, and weekend adventures of piling in a car with friends and driving without a destination, seeing which little town they can discover.

Kurt Wehmann
Design AssociateBACK TO TOP

Kurt Wehmann (Design Associate) joined Sachs Morgan Studio in 2001, and has collaborated with the Studio team on architectural design, AutoCAD drafting, project coordination, presentations and model making. He has become a specialist in seating plans and sightlines while working closely with Roger Morgan on the Granada Theatre renovation in Santa Barbara, California, New World Stages in mid-town Manhattan, and the Family Theatre at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Kurt’s contributions to Studio projects include expansion of the Ladies Rooms at the Richard Rodgers Theatre on Broadway for the Nederlander Organization, the Mark Taper Forum renovation at the Los Angeles Music Center, the Eisenhower Theatre at the Kennedy Center, Bryn Mawr College, the Palace Theatre and Arts Magnet School in Waterbury Connecticut, and the Smithsonian's Discovery Theatre in Washington, DC.

Kurt was previously an architectural intern for Kallmann, McKinnell & Wood Architects in Boston. He graduated from Wentworth Institute of Technology in 2000 with a Bachelor's Degree in Architecture, cum laude. A native of New Hampshire, Kurt's passions include photography and writing, and he spends much of his free time cycling, running, and swimming with a US Masters swim team.