Cynthia Janzen: Executive Director
Cynthia Janzen was chosen Executive Director of American Historical Theatre in November, 2011 and has been Director of History First Hand since 2007. She is a classically trained actor having graduated from the Interdisciplinary Arts Program at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby B. C., Canada. She has worked in arts administration, extensively in technical theatre (including being road crew for the Lilith Fair: Women in Music Festival), and has acted as technical director for many small festivals and theatres.
Cyndi has performed as an actor in Vancouver and Calgary (Canada), and in Philadelphia and Virginia. Since her arrival in the United States in 2001, she has fallen in love with American History and developed her skills in Historical Interpretation. She has portrayed remarkable historical figures such as Betsy Ross, Annis Boudinot Stockton, the Pirate Mary Reed, Caty Greene and Dolley Madison. Eliza (Betsy) Schuyler Hamilton is the newest addition to her historical repertoire. Cyndi also constructs 18th century costume replicas and is a colonial tape weaver.
Janette Fairbanks Paull: Associate Director
Janette came to AHT from Michigan, where she did branding, marketing and PR for the Plymouth Community Arts Council (PCAC). Looking for a new way to raise funds for a small non-profit in a state with a failing automobile market and high unemployment, she designed a 5-ft. puzzle that showcased the organization’s programs over the past 40 years. When PCAC mailed out the puzzle pieces and invited their patrons to invest in a “piece of the big puzzle,” they collected $20,000 in donations.
With a Liberal Arts degree from Harvard University, an English master’s degree from William Paterson University, and a Computer Graphics and Technology background, Janette comes to AHT well prepared to contribute. Besides handling the financials, she contributes by writing, editing and designing marketing collateral for new programming. Recently, she designed and produced AHT’s new website. A published writer, she is now working on a creative memoir.
Janette joined the American Historical Theatre in 2009.
Kim Hanley: Associate Producer
Kim Hanley is an actor, dancer, and singer as well as an historian and costume designer. She holds her BFA from Fashion Institute of Technology (S.U.N.Y) in the Restoration and History of Decorative Arts. Initially trained as a ballet dancer in New York, Kim’s resume includes appearances with the Bolshoi Ballet and New York City Ballet companies, as well as appearances in the first National Tour of the musical “She Loves Me”. Locally, she has appeared at the Media Theatre (Rockwell Productions), with Storybook Musical Theatre for young audiences, and in the Philadelphia Historic District, singing with colonial music ensembles: The Libertytones and the Colonial Consort.
Kim’s cast of character interpretations includes Abigail Adams, the clear-spoken wife of America’s second president; Betsy Ross, a Philadelphia seamstress, upholsterer, and flag maker; Molly Pitcher, a soldier’s wife and heroine of the Battle of Monmouth; Annie Oakley, the famous sharpshooter and show-woman; and Alice Roosevelt, the first daughter of Teddy Roosevelt. She has also appeared in AHTs Victorian Music Hall productions.
Currently, Kim Hanley contributes to the American Historical Theatre as Associate Producer, but she is also an Actor/Historian, wonderfully portraying several important women in history. She has been with the American Historical Theatre since 1997.