GET Staff
Anita Allen-Farley - Producing Artistic Director
Anita Allen-Farley, (she/her) co-founder of Georgia Ensemble Theatre, has held the position of Managing Director for 25 seasons and now takes the role of Producing Artistic Director. She studied theatre at the Pasadena Playhouse College of Theatre Arts, where she met co-founder and partner Bob Farley. As Managing Director, she has produced over 150 shows over the past 25 seasons. By far, her most ambitious production and the one she is proudest of are two beautiful, talented and gracious daughters, Laurel and Heather, who have blossomed into strong and capable women in their own right. She has served on the Atlanta Arts and Business Council, Atlanta Arts Think Tank, the Board of the Atlanta Coalition of Performing Arts, is a member of the Cottage School Advisory Committee, was District Chair of ALL-GA, a graduate of the MAACC Arts Leadership Program and is a member of the Johns Hopkins Listening Post Project. She is also a proud member of the Roswell Rotary Club.
Laurel Crowe - Education Director
Laurel Crowe (she/her) has the distinct pleasure of being the very first student in the Conservatory back in 1992, and joined the staff of the Education Department in the 2009-2010 season! Laurel holds a B.A. in Speech and Theatre Arts from the University of West Georgia. She has worked in the Conservatory in every position including Director of the Performance Camp productions Seussical the Musical, Peter Pan, Willy Wonka Junior, and Disney’s The Little Mermaid Jr. and most recently, James and the Giant Peach Jr. Laurel appeared as “Mrs. Little” in the 2008 Theatre for Youth production of Stuart Little, and has directed and led the Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) productions for many years. Notable favorite projects include Ramona Quimby, James and the Giant Peach , Junie B. Jones the Musical, The Giver, The Jungle Book, A Wrinkle in Time and Topher Payne's S.T.E.A.M. TEAM. It was an incredible honor to direct Driving Miss Daisy on our main stage in the 26th season, taking the helm of a ship that her father steered for so long.
Lauren Frost - Education Associate
Lauren Frost (she/her) is a graduate of Kennesaw State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre and Performance Studies. At KSU, Lauren’s focus areas were stage management, directing, musical theatre, and theatre education. She previously worked as a Drama Camp Counselor and Choreographer at the Marcus Jewish Community Center of Atlanta and at the Global Village Project as an English and Drama teaching intern. Lauren is passionate about teaching theatre and is so excited to join the Georgia Ensemble Theatre team!
Akeria Gant - Production Manager
Akeria Gant (she/her) is a singer/actor and stage manager based in Atlanta, GA. She was last seen in A Year with Frog and Toad at (Bay Area Children’s Theatre). Her Atlanta credits include: Caroline, or Change (Jennie T. Anderson Theatre), Guys and Dolls (Atlanta Lyric), Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds, Mirandy and Brother Wind (Synchronicity Theater), and Black Nativity (Dominion Entertainment). Akeria is a graduate of the University of West Georgia, where she earned a B.A. in Theatre. She is so excited to be joining the GET family! She gives honor to God, and sends thanks to her friends and family for all of their support.
Gabrielle Hines - Education Manager/Social Media Manager
Gabrielle Hines (she/her) is a Coatesville, PA native and graduate of Muhlenberg College with degrees in theatre and music. Gabrielle has studied theatre and music at Goldsmiths University in London, England. Past credits include Charlaine in Ain’t Misbehavin’, Grace in Annie, Danielle in Bring it On: The Musical, Lady in Brown in For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow is Enuf, and Yvonne in Sunday in the Park with George. Offstage, Gabrielle has directed and choreographed Revival Productions’ Ruby: The Ruby Bridges Story, directed and choreographed Limelight Theatre Company’s elementary, middle, and high school productions of Matilda, and assistant directed Lancaster Bible College’s Ruth, a collaboration with Sight and Sound Theatres. Gabrielle has enjoyed teaching in many capacities: as teaching artists with Philadelphia Young Playwrights, creating curriculums for Revival productions and even coaching cheerleading.
Savannah Rootes - Program Outreach and Patron Services Manager
Savannah Rootes (she/her) Savannah Rootes is so excited to be a part of Georgia Ensemble Theatre! Savannah is an Atlanta-based Stage Manager and graduate of Oglethorpe University. She is so glad you are here!
Mary Saville - Communications Director
Mary Saville (she/her) earned her Master’s degree in Theatre Education from Emerson College (Boston). She has appeared on stage at GET (in Ramona Quimby and Calendar Girls), has taught in the Conservatory since 2008, and joined GET full time in 2013. Mary has taught theater in high schools and extra-curricular programs for over 20 years. She has also worked as an actor and director with companies such as Aris Theatre, Actor's Express, Synchronicity, the Shakespeare Tavern, Stage Door Players, and many others in both Boston and Atlanta.
In Memoriam - Robert J. Farley, Co-Founder/Artistic Director
Robert Farley - as the co-founder of the Georgia Ensemble Theatre and Conservatory, Bob was the Artistic Director since its inception in 1992. He was a vital part of the Atlanta theatre scene for decades, beginning in the late 80s as Artistic Director of the Tony Award-winning Alliance Theatre at the Woodruff Arts Center. While at the Alliance, he directed the area premiere of Driving Miss Daisy which went on to become the biggest hit in the history of theatre in the Southeast. He has directed many shows at GET including productions of Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Suicide Club, The Man Who Came to Dinner, Inherit the Wind, Arsenic and Old Lace, Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story and Ring of Fire, the Johnny Cash Musical Show. In later years his work was seen elsewhere including the Florida Studio Theatre in Sarasota, and here in Atlanta at Theatrical Outfit and Theatre in The Square. He directed John Steinbeck’s The Grapes of Wrath for Gainesville Theatre Alliance, and a revival of Driving Miss Daisy in Hilton Head, South Carolina. He had the humble good fortune to be the recipient of several awards and honors. These include a Lifetime Achievement Award for his significant contributions to the American Theatre from the Pasadena Playhouse (the State Theatre of California), and, with co-founder Anita Allen-Farley, Public Broadcasting Atlanta’s Lexus Leaders of the Arts, and the Leitalift Foundation’s Visionary Leaders Award. In September, 2011, Bob was honored as a significant Arts Leader for his body of work in the metropolitan Atlanta community by Kennesaw State University with the 2011 Flourish Award. In 2017, he and Anita were recognized with the Suzi Bass Award for Lifetime Achievement in the theatre. Bob passed away November 30, 2017.
