Staff and Board

Austene Van
Executive Artistic Director

Austene has been a local and national theater professional for 30 years, acclaimed as a gifted, "quietly powerful" and "innovative" actor, director and choreographer. Inextricably woven into her artistic aesthetic is her deep passion to advocate for social justice, equity, and equality, which is why Austene also enjoys her roles as an educator, administrator and community builder through varied disciplines of theater. Austene was a 2013-2014 McKnight Fellowship Award winner, an IVEY Award recipient for the Guthrie Theater's Trouble in Mind and a Woodie Award nominee for Best Actor and Best Supporting actor for her multiple roles in both Spunk and Colored Museum at the St. Louis Black Rep. She directed Annie at the Ordway Music Theater, which was awarded Best Play in City Pages Best of 2018. 

  • Guthrie: Skeleton Crew, A Raisin in the Sun, Choir Boy (Choreography)

    Asolo Rep: Intimate Apparel

    Yellow Tree Theatre: Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill, The Rats, The Wasps Nest, Passing Strange, In the Next Room, Skeleton Crew, The Royale

    History Theatre: Lonely Soldiers, A Civil War Christmas, The Defeat of Jesse James (Choreography),

    Theatre North: Ain't MisBehavin' (Director/Choreographer)

    New Dawn Theatre Company: Crowns

    Ordway: Annie,  Blues in the Night

    Ten Thousand Things: Intimate Apparel

    Park Square Theatre:  Rule of Thumb, Gee’s Bend, Lady Day…

    Penumbra Theatre: Black Nativity

    AWARDS: McKnight Theater Artist Fellowship; Ivey Award

  • Guthrie: Steel Magnolias, Familiar, Trouble in Mind, Crowns, A Christmas Carol, The Darker Face of the Earth.

    McCarter Theatre Center/Milwaukee Repertory Theater: Disgraced

    Penumbra Theatre: Wedding Band, The Owl Answers, Detroit ’67, Spunk, The Amen Corner, Ain’t Misbehavin’, Dinah Was, Blues for an Alabama Sky, Seven Guitars

    Theater Latté Da: Aida

    Indiana Repertory Theatre/Cleveland Play House: Radio Golf

    Ten Thousand Things: A Streetcar Named Desire, Henry IV, Into the Woods

    Jungle Theater: In the Next Room

    Park Square Theatre: To Kill a Mockingbird, Might As Well Be Dead

    Children’s Theatre Company: Shrek, Once on This Island, Not Without Laughter, A Very Old Man with Enormous WIngs, Two African Tales

    Ordway: Singin’ in the Rain, A Christmas Story

    Chanhassen Dinner Theatre: Hair

Grace Happe
Box Office Coordinator

Grace is a freelance theatre artist from Buffalo, MN. She has worked as an Assistant General Manager at the Finborough Theatre in London, as well as at Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan.  Grace has been honored by the Hennepin Theatre Trust (now known as Hennepin Arts) and the Kennedy Center’s American College Theatre Festival for excellence in stage management, technical leadership, and directing. Grace is honored to have her work featured in the 5th edition of “The Stage Manager's Toolkit” by Laurie Kincman. 

Recent Stage Management Experience Includes: Powerhouse Theatre: Taming of the Shrew, We are Gathered Together - A Soundpainting Performance, New Works Play Festival, La Crosse Community Theatre: 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche, Dog Sees God, UW-La Crosse: What The Constitution Means to Me, A Secret in the Wings, She Loves Me. GraceHappe.com

Andre Shoals
Marketing Director/Graphics Designer

Bio coming soon!

Yellow Tree Board of Directors:

  • Harry Waters Jr. - Interim Co Chair (Development Committee, Governance Committee, Finance Committee)

  • Amy Edwards-Secretary

  • Marcia Aubineau (Governance Committee)

  • Lisa Rothe (Finance Committee)

  • Jeanne Wickens (Finance Committee)

  • Richard Thompson (Development Committee, Governance Committee)

  • Dr. Rebecca Neal

Ex-officio

Austene Van
Brandon Raghu