Contact Information
Write Us! Call Us!
Juanita K. Hammons Hall Administration
for the Performing Arts 417-836-6776
901 South National Ave Ticket Sales
Springfield MO 65897 417-836-7678
1-888-476-7849 (toll free)
STAFF DIRECTORY
Randy Blackwood - Executive Director, Athletic and Entertainment Facilities
Randy is a long time resident of Springfield and a Speech and Theatre graduate of Missouri State University. He has been involved in public assembly venue management since 1981 serving as the Fine Arts Auditorium Manager at the University of Georgia for 4 years and at Missouri State from 1984 to the present. During his tenure at Missouri State, Randy has served in the administration of Hammons Student Center and Plaster Sports Complex with the last eight years as Director of the two facilities.
Effective July 1, 2005, Randy became Executive Director of the University’s three top public venues, Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts, Hammons Student Center, and Plaster Sports Complex. Randy is a graduate of Leadership Springfield and member of IAAM, the International Association of Assembly Managers.
Joyce Owen-Blackwood, Randy’s wife is a professional organizer and owner of an organizing business in the Springfield area.
Deb Gallion - Director of Marketing and Promotions
Deb Gallion has been with Hammons Hall since August, 1993. Prior to that, she was promotions manager at KY3-TV and served as a regional representative on the NBC Affiliate Promotions Advisory Board; she also worked as creative director at Young and Company Advertising and continuity director at KTTS AM/FM radio. Deb graduated from Missouri State University with majors in Speech and Theatre and English; professional affiliations include Women in Communications and the Writers Hall of Fame; she volunteers for KOZK public television, United Way, and Children's Miracle Network.
Tom Kile - Director of Operations
Tom Kile has been the Director of Operations for the Juanita K Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts since March 1, 2001. Prior to this promotion he was the Technical Director for the Hall since opening in 1992. He received his Bachelor degree in Speech & Theatre from Southeast Missouri State University in 1976. Tom has worked for theatres in Los Angeles and lived in Mainz, Germany for 4 years; working for the Army as a Theatre Specialist in the Community Theatre program that serves the Army and dependent community there.
Tom has served as a lighting designer for the Springfield Regional Opera productions of "CARMEN, GIRL OF THE GOLDEN WEST", and "THE MAGIC FLUTE"; as well as productions of "TOMMY" and "BEST LITTLE WHOREHOUSE IN TEXAS" for Springfield Little Theatre. He has also done the lighting design for Tent Theatre’s Production of "THE BOY’S NEXT DOOR". He has also lit numerous dance shows.
Tom recently earned his private pilot’s license. He married Tina Baumgartner in 2002, who he acted together in theatre productions in high school. Tom has a daughter, Ashley, who will graduate from Missouri State in 2008.
Ed Carson - Technical Director
Ed moved to the Ozarks from Louisiana in 1992 as a staff member for Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts. He received his Bachelors and Masters in Theatre from Louisiana Tech. He worked at the Hall till 2001 when he moved to Arizona to take a job as Cultural Services Administrator. Since then he has spent time touring with a local productions company and spent the last few years working for Silver Dollar City as head of sound for Echo Hollow Amphitheater. Ed, his wife, Martha, and four daughters are pleased that he is back at the Hall.
Jim Grider - Box Office and Business Manager
Jim joined the staff in October of 1998. He received his Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Missouri State University in 1988. Jim came from the Shoji Tabuchi Theatre where he had worked as the audit manager for the last five years. He is a native of Springfield, Missouri, and enjoys the Ozark’s outdoors.
Dian Thompson - Assistant Box Office Manager
Dian has been blessed to grow up in Springfield. She joined the Missouri State TIX Box Office staff as a student in 1996. After graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education in 2001, she continued to work for Hammons Hall as an Assistant Box Office Manager. Dian is responsible for the box office at Juanita K. Hammons Hall and assists with events at Hammons Student Center, Plaster Sports Complex, Coger Theatre, Tent Theatre, and the Ozark Empire Fair. Dian resides in Fair Grove where she enjoys watching old movies, going to flea markets / swap meets, and spending time with her nieces and nephews Daniel, Katlyn, Kelsey, and Joshua.
Carol Munnelly - Assistant Box Office Manager
Carol joined SMS-TIX as Assistant Box Office Manager, after serving as Box Office Manager for six years at Valparaiso University, in Valparaiso, Indiana. She's now Assistant Box Office Manager responsible for ticketing events at Coger Theatre and Tent Theatre. Also, Carol assists in the ticketing for athletic and cultural events at the Hammons Student Center, Plaster Sports Complex, Price Cutter Park and Ozark Empire Fair and the Hall. Carol resides in Springfield with her family which includes three children.Sean is an Medical Doctor, Michael has graduated and plans to continue to get his Masters at Missouri State University, and Ashley is now a senior at Southwest Baptist University.
Shannon Stanton - Assistant Box Office Manager
Shannon is a
Kay Litchy - Director of Development and Sales
Kay grew up locally and graduated from Missouri State University with a degree in Marketing. Prior to the Hall, she worked as an Account Executive for Hallmark Loyalty Marketing Group, a division of Hallmark Cards, Inc. She completed her Master’s Degree in Communications from Drury University in May 2004, before joining the Hall in July 2004. Kay serves on the Board of Directors for the Springfield Chapter of the Association for Women in Communication, serves as President of the Board of Directors for The Deana Kendrick Foundation, and has served over twelve years with the Air Force Reserves. Her hobbies include travel, scrapbooking, reading, and watching the Boston Celtics with her husband Adam.
Anjie Nowell - Coordinator, Center for Arts in the Schools
Anjie has been Coordinator of the Center for Arts in the Schools, the education and outreach program at Juanita K. Hammons Hall, since September 1998. She is an active member of the Kennedy Center’s national Partners in Education network, and serves on the Springfield Public Schools’ Curriculum Development Councils for both Visual and Communication Arts. Anjie holds degrees from Missouri State University in K-12 Music Education and Clarinet Performance. In her spare time, Anjie is a freelance musician, and enjoys performing in the SMS University Community Band, the Ozarks Festival Orchestra, and pit orchestras for local theatre productions.
Jack Wheeler - Events Coordinator
Jack, a native of the Springfield area came to Hammons Hall in January of 1999. After receiving a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from Missouri State University, he helped create "Senior Living", a Senior Citizen Publication and later worked at Bass Pro Shops/Tracker Marine in their creative services department. Jack enjoys the great outdoors and spending time with his daughter Emily.
Linda Snyder - Volunteer Coordinator
Linda was born in NYC and grew up in western Pennsylvania. She worked as a medical secretary in the Department of Artificial Organs at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio and in the Department of Thoracic Surgery at Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina. In 1992 she developed Partners In Performance, the Hammons Hall volunteer program. She continues to enjoy nurturing and managing this wonderful group of volunteers. Her hobbies include ballroom, swing, and Latin dancing, gardening, reading, hanging out at the beach, and music.
Nancy Mills – Executive Assistant
Dick Johnson - Custodial Manager
Dick has been the custodian of the Hall since its opening in 1992. Born and reared in Central Illinois, Dick, his wife, and his two daughters moved to Springfield in 1984 and have no intention of ever leaving. Dick's wife Shae teaches fourth grade at Greenwood Lab School on the Missouri State University campus and his oldest daughter graduated from Missouri State University in December 1996. His duties at the Hall go beyond just cleaning up; he has a staff of 8 student workers that take care of the building daily, work during and after performances, and do all the setups for meetings, dinners and functions held in the Hall. Dick's woodworking skills have also added to his contributions to the Hall.
Adela Generally - House Manager
Adela grew up in the suburbs of St. Louis and came to Missouri State University in the fall of 2004. She is majoring in Psychology and minoring in Criminology. After graduating with her Bachelors she will go on to earn her Doctorate with included Masters in Clinical Psychology from Forest Institute for Professional Psychology. She has held positions as secretary for St. Clair High School and as an assistant at Franklin County Family Support and Childrens' Divisions. Adela began working at the Hall in 2005. In her spare time she likes to attend events on the Missouri State University Campus, spend time with loved ones, and listen to music. She is looking forward to the years she will have working at the Hall.