After more than twenty years of service as the faculty advisor to the OnStagers Dramatic Society, Merrimack College’s oldest student organization, Dr. Kathleen Sills has stepped down. Her departure marks the end of an era defined by student-centered leadership and a belief in the transformative power of theatre.
Moving forward, two alumni and longtime collaborators, Ally Lewis and Sean Dooley, will take over as co-advisors. Both were former students of Sills and now work at Merrimack. They credit her and the OnStagers with helping them pursue careers in theatre and arts administration.
For Sills, who joined Merrimack in 2002, advising the OnStagers was one of her earliest responsibilities. “At that point, they were the only producing organization on campus,” she says. “I wanted to get to know them, understand their goals, and support what they were already doing well.”
That mutual trust took time. Sills recalls that it was two years before the group invited her to direct her first show, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. It was the beginning of what would become a two-decade-long partnership, during which Sills directed numerous productions, advocated for increased resources, and helped create the Theatre Arts minor and major.
Her work goes beyond the stage. Sills served as mentor, producer, negotiator, mediator, and advocate, often all at once. “The E-Board of the OnStagers isn’t like most student clubs,” she explains. “They act as actual producers. They negotiate with professionals, manage budgets, and have real responsibilities. It’s a unique leadership experience.”
That experience wasn’t always easy. The COVID-19 pandemic brought devastating setbacks, including budget reductions and the loss of key staff in the Roger Center. At one point, an entire production had to be canceled due to the inability to find a music director, an unprecedented moment in Sills’ tenure.
Still, she is reminded of the success the OnStagers are capable of. “There were definitely some rough patches,” she says. “But also moments of real triumph. The one show that sold out the Roger Center for all four performances was Grease. People were waiting in line to get tickets. It was crazy.”
For Ally Lewis, those triumphs are personal. Now Senior Administrator for the Department of Creative Arts, Design and Architecture (CADA), Lewis first became a stage manager because Sills asked her to try it. “She said, ‘I think you’d be good at this,’” Lewis recalls. “I was already bitten by the theater bug, and that just opened a whole other door for me. And now I’m here!”
Dooley, now Technical Director for Event Venues at Merrimack College, shares a similar story. “Kathleen, got me into the OnStagers and actually doing theater work, whereas prior to that it was really music and concerts that I was interested in,” he says. “Then I went on and got a job working in a theater, and now I’m back here again.”
Both Lewis and Dooley remember a time when the campus was brimming with theatre with four or more shows a year, packed houses, and an infrastructure of support that extended from faculty to the Roger Center staff. That kind of vibrancy, they say, is worth fighting for and rebuilding.
“It’s clear the OnStagers want to grow,” says Lewis. “This year’s board is organized, motivated, and full of ideas. They’re asking questions about grants, fundraising, and community engagement. We’re here to support that. We’re not here to run things for them. We’re here to help make sure they’re successful.”
That balance between support and autonomy is something Sills intentionally emphasized in her handoff. “I think it’s healthy for students to have new mentors with new perspectives,” she says. “Ally and Sean already know the organization, they care deeply about it, and they have the energy to help it grow in new ways.”
Sills, remaining advisor to the MackBelievers Improv Club, continues to teach and direct in the Theatre Arts program, but she’s confident her successor team is the right one to lead the OnStagers into their next chapter. “They’ve seen what success looks like,” she says. “And now they’re in a position to help create it again.”
As Merrimack’s longest-standing student group, the OnStagers have survived changes in leadership, funding, and even global pandemics. What hasn’t changed is their commitment to student-led theatre—and to the community it builds. Thanks to a legacy of guidance from Dr. Sills, and a new era of collaborative leadership from Lewis and Dooley, the stage is set for what’s next.
