Staff and Board

Derek Charles Livingston is thrilled and humbled to start his first season as artistic director of Stages.  Most recently, he spent four seasons at the Utah Shakespeare Festival (USF) as the Director of New Play Development.  During that time, he also served two seasons as the Interim Artistic Director; acted in the one-person play Thurgood, depicting the life of Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall; and directed lauded productions of A Raisin in the Sun and Henry VIII as well as a reading of Polar Bears, Black Boys, and Prairie Fringed Orchids. As a new play developer, he managed USF’s Words Cubed program, which, in three seasons, produced four plays selected for professional productions at other theaters.  His new play development work in San Diego as part of Playwrights Project saw him lead four different new play development processes in partnership with multiple San Diego theaters.  Prior to his time in San Diego, Derek was a successful theater director and producer in Los Angeles, including serving over four years as the Managing Artistic Director of Celebration Theatre, the second oldest continuously operating LGBT theater in the United States. 

Selected work as a director: Six Degrees of Separation, Tru, Sweeney Todd (LA Scenie Awards – Best Musical, Best Director), M. Butterfly (LA Scenie Award – Best Director, LA Weekly Nomination, Best Director), Shakespeare’s R&J (Ovation Nomination – Best Director), Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Ovation Award – Best Musical), Insurrection: Holding History (LA Weekly Nomination, Best Director), Naked Will (GLAAD/LA Nomination –  Best Play), Jesus Christ Superstar, Love!Valour!Compassion!.  As an actor, he’s played multiple lawyers: Pridamont (The Illusion), Jerome, et al (Merrily We Roll Along), Billy Flyn (Chicago), and Thurgood Marshall (Thurgood – twice!).  Some favorite roles include Simon (The Whipping Man), Hoke (Driving Miss Daisy – New Hampshire Drama Award, Best Actor), Tupolski (Pillowman), Jackson (Judy at the Stonewall Inn), Capulet (Romeo and Juliet). 

Derek earned his BA in Theatre at Brown University and his MFA in Filmmaking from UCLA’s School of Film and Television.  Separate from performing arts, his long social-justice history includes serving as a national co-chair of the 1993 March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, & Bi Equal Rights and Liberation – the largest LGBT march on Washington in US History.  His portrait, taken at the Million Man March, is featured in the Smithsonian Museum of African American History. He makes his home in Houston in the historic Third Ward.

Gwen Watkins is a native Houstonian who has been working in Houston’s vibrant cultural sector for more than 15 years and possesses a passion to connect the community’s diverse audiences through the arts. She joined the Stages team this season as managing director, overseeing fundraising, marketing, finance, and operations teams. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Texas A&M University and an MBA from Rice University. Prior to joining Stages, she served as the Houston Symphony’s Chief Marketing & External Relations Officer. During her time with the Houston Symphony, Watkins spearheaded transformation within the marketing department, oversaw community engagement and education initiatives, and was a part of the leadership team that stewarded the organization through the pandemic. Before her time at the Symphony, Watkins served as Associate Head of Marketing & Communications at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH) where she managed marketing initiatives in support of the many facets of the institution including its hundreds of thousands of square feet of gallery space, tens of thousands of art objects, art school, art house film program, cafes, shops, and more, as well as serving a key role in the communications and marketing plans for their $450MM capital campaign project. Earlier in her career, Gwen held marketing roles at the Houston Zoo and the Houston Galleria.