Volunteers
It is so lucky to have so many people working to make a difference in LGBTQ+ erasure! Below are the descriptions for the theater experts, judges, and other individuals involved in our event.
Theatre
Benji Kern| he/him
Bio coming soon!
Kyle Odum| he/him
William Kyle Odum is from Harlem, Georgia but now calls Nashville home. He currently works at The Harpeth Hall School as the Assistant Technical Director, an A/V Assistant and a director. Kyle gravitates toward new works and theatre that is transgressive and theatre that tells stories in a unique and challenging way. Since founding Woven with his partners he has directed a world premiere every year. He is a Director, Sound Designer, Actor, Technician and all around Theatre Creator. Recent credits include Opus: The Totally Real Not Made Up Story of a Boy and his Skeleton,TRUTH/DARE and the Pitchforks with Woven Theatre, Smart People and Inherit the Wind with the Nashville Rep, Kimberly Akimbo and The Flick with Verge Theatre and Dragons Love Tacos with the Nashville Children's Theatre. Kyle holds a B.F.A. in Directing from Belmont University. He is also a member of the The Theatrical Sound Designers and Composers Association (TSDCA) and the Association of Sound Designers.
Nettie Kraft| she/her
Nettie Mae Kraft received her MFA from Roosevelt University in Chicago where she interned at Steppenwolf, working with Tracy Letts and Amy Morton. Prior to that she studied theater in England, eventually attaining a BFA from The University of Colorado at Boulder where she worked with the Colorado Shakespeare Festival for four years and began a theater company. While in TN she has worked in TV, film, and on stage with Blackbird Theater, Nashville Rep, TWTP, Actor's Bridge Ensemble, and NSF. She routinely teaches at various local Universities, was the dialect coach for 4 seasons of the TV drama "Nashville", acted in the film Novitiate which premiered at Sundance, coached and acted in the film Above Suspicion with Emilia Clarke (GOT) and Jack Houston (Boardwalk Empire), played Mama Cash on CMT's Sun Records, and is a proud co-founder of Verge Theater Company.
Archaeologists
Dr. Tiffiny Tung| she/her
Associate Professor of Anthropology at Vanderbilt University
Professor Tung is an anthropological bioarchaeologist who examines the health impact of ancient imperialism, colonialism, and state decline. She analyzes mummies and skeletons from archaeological contexts in the Peruvian Andes to investigate how ancient imperial policies and practices structure health status, exposure to violence, and lived experience of ruling and subject peoples. Generally speaking, her research interests include paleopathology, violence-related trauma, diet, the use of the body and body parts in rituals, and bioarchaeological perspectives on embodiment. She has received the Cuninggim Women's Center Mentoring Award, the Vanderbilt A&S Award for Mentoring Graduate Students, and the Madison Sarratt Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching. She has been mentoring high school students in the Nashville Public School District for the last six years, and she is pleased to be a part of Terrance Loewl's exciting program.
Judges
Don Schlosser| he/him
Don Schlosser is the Artistic Director of Music City’s LGBTQ and allies chorus, Nashville in Harmony, and the gender expansive youth chorus, the Major Minors. Don has a Bachelor’s degree from Alderson-Broaddus University, and a Masters in Church Music from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. After a 20-year career in the ministry and in church music publishing, Don was fired from LifeWay Christian Resources for being gay, and now works as a relationship manager with the American Chemical Society in scientific research publishing. Don and his husband, Brian, are happiest in their empty nest, a 1920’s era bungalow they restored on the bluff of the Cumberland River.
Dr. Kristin Rager| she/her
Bio coming soon!
Dr. Marisa Richmond| she/her
Dr. Marisa Richmond currently teaches history and women’s and gender studies at Middle Tennessee State University. She is also a member of the Metro Human Relations Commission in Nashville, and the only openly transgender member of the Democratic National Committee. Previously, she served many years as the President and Lobbyist for the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition.
She is a prolific author and speaker on transgender rights, and has served on many boards at the Local, State, and National levels. She has been recognized for her work with many awards.
She has three degrees, all in U.S. History. Her A.B. is from Harvard University, her M.A. from the University of California, Berkeley, and her Ph.D. from George Washington University.
Shae Crowell | she/her
Shae Crowell is an award-winning public school educator, a role she has happily filled for over two decades as a history/economics teacher and GSA sponsor and advocate. As a teacher-leader, she served as president of the Rutherford Education Association, Mentor to MTSU student teachers, and Department Chairperson. Shae volunteers as the Program Director for Major Minors, an LGBTQ+ chorus for teens, age 12-18, and she serves on the Board of Directors of Nashville in Harmony, an LGBTQ+ chorus for adults. Finally, Shae is mother to two roguishly intelligent and hilarious teens and wife to an incredible and supportive partner of 20+ years.
Founder
Terrance Loewl| he/him
Terrance is a senior at Big Picture High School. He has lived in Nashville for 10 years. He is interested in pursuing a career in anthropology and is very passionate about making inclusive history more common and accessible. He combined this ambition with his love of theater to create Filling In the Blanks. Terrance is enjoying the internship of a lifetime at the Department of Anthropology at Vanderbilt University. He is also involved in Oasis Center's Students of Stonewall, Major Minors- the youth portion of Nashville In Harmony- and is president of his school's LGBTQ+ Club. In what little free time he has left, he listens to musicals, watches crime shows, plays Animal Crossing, and wishes he had a dog. He dreams of attending Warren Wilson College in North Carolina and living in New Zealand.
