ALEX Alford
Managing Director
Serving as Austin Shakespeare’s Managing Director since 2007, Alex previously worked at Austin Opera for 14 years in a variety of positions, from Director of Administration to Director of Board and Volunteer services. His previous experience includes a 12-year stint at ZACH as Box Office Manager, Volunteer Coordinator and Project InterAct Business Manager. He has worked at The Paramount Theatre, The University of Texas Performing Arts and The Harry Ransom Center. He has served as President of the Board of Austin Circle of Theaters and Treasurer of the Board of The Rude Mechanicals. Alex holds a BA in History from The University of Texas at Austin, summa cum laude.
Laura A. Walberg
ASSISTANT TO THE MANAGING DIRECTOR
Serving as Austin Shakespeare's Assistant to the Managing Director since 2014. prior to her arrival, during her tenure as President and CEO of Miniface Corp., she lent her talents in marketing & advertising, accounting, web & graphic design, project management, training, and consulting to their broad range of clients and employers, from Fortune 500 global conglomerates to pro-bono individual artists for over 30 years. Having served in multiple, various roles throughout the Austin, Chicago, and New York professional theatrical communities both onstage and off for the past 45+ years, Laura also currently serves as the Actors' Equity Association Co-Community Leader for the Austin/San Antonio community as an actor & stage manager. She holds a BA in Theater from St. Edward's University in Austin, summa cum laude and studied acting for stage and film at the ASOLO Conservatory, FSU.
JILL SWANSON
Scansion and Text Specialist
Shakes Aloud! Instructor
Jill is an actor, director, writer and teacher with 19 years experience in Austin, mostly with Austin Shakespeare. She assistant-directed A Midsummer Night's Dream and Romeo and Juliet and was dramaturg for Measure for Measure. She leads workshops for the company's 20/20 Program. Jill wrote the chapter "Introduction to Scansion" in the book 111 Shakespeare Monologues and served as its co-editor. She also is a contributor to "The Ultimate Scene Study Series for Teens Volume 1: 60 Shakespeare Scenes." Jill studied Shakespeare at Florida State University and directing at Texas State University.
Cynthia “Cyndy” Florez
Education Coordinator
Young Shakespeare Co-Director
Cyndy has over 30 years experience teaching theatre in Texas public schools. She spent the last fourteen of those years as the theatre department chair of Houston’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts. During her time at HSPVA, she was honored by her students and the United States Presidential Scholar in the Arts Committee as Teacher of the Year in 2008 and 2009. Cyndy has degrees in both Theatre and Spanish and received fellowships to study theatre and culture in Mexico City and directing at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London. She directed numerous award-winning plays with the Texas UIL One-Act Play competitions, advancing to the state level three times. In Austin she has guest directed numerous theatre productions at McCallum High School Fine Arts Academy. She also is the co-director of Austin Shakespeare's Young Shakespeare summer productions. Currently she enjoys teaching acting, directing and coaching students through the very intimidating college audition process with ZACH Acting Conservatory and Performing Arts Academy. However, her favorite time of the day has always been in the rehearsal process collaborating with young actors, designers and managers.