Bobby Bodford is a veteran of stage and screen. As a professional director, playwright, and actor, he has over 50 years of experience. A graduate of UNCG, he began directing and acting on the dinner theatre circuit in the 1970s. In 1980 he moved to Los Angeles where he worked 12 years in the film and television industries as a costume designer and wardrobe supervisor, culminating in three years on Murder She Wrote where he served as department head and Angela Lansbury’s personal costumer. Bobby moved back to NC in 1992 with his wife Nicole. He has spent the last three decades directing for numerous theatres and organizations in the Triad. He co-wrote and directed productions of the award-winning Wildwood Flowers, The June Carter Musical, starring Carlene Carter as her mother, June, at the Cape Fear Regional Theatre and the Roy Acuff Theatre in Nashville Tennessee. He was the Artistic/Executive Director of the Children’s Theatre of Winston-Salem and the Artistic Director of the Andy Griffith Playhouse. He has directed the Christmas shows for RYTC for the last 17 years including multiple productions of his original works, Once Upon a Christmas Eve, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, and A Children’s Christmas Carol. His other plays include The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Treasure Island Arrrr Comedy, Robin Hood and His Merry Merry Men, The Best Western Melodrama Ever, Mystery @ Sunset, Hamelot, and Phantom of the Opera the Non-Musical. He and his wife, Nicole, currently own and operate Adventures in Theatre conducting summer theatre camps throughout North Carolina.
Devan Walsh, a 31-year veteran teacher, is the high school theatre arts director and head of the cultural arts department at Dalton McMichael High School. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English, a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Arts, and a Master of Education in Theatre Arts Education from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Devan has built an award-winning theatre program at four N.C. high schools. She directs over 4 shows a year at DMHS including North Carolina Theatre Conference competition plays, full-length shows and musicals, and Children’s Theatre. RYTC has also employed her as a director for 18 years. After winning the C.C. Lipscomb Directing Award in 2000, she was asked to sit on a committee to design the theatre arts curriculum for North Carolina. She also directs community theatre shows in Rockingham County and Martinsville, VA.
Jim Shover has directed and choreographed extensively across the Triad and the East Coast. A long-time veteran of the Theatre World, he began as a child, appearing on the stage at age six. Ever since, theater and dance have been his favorite pastime; he owned and operated a dance studio for over 20 years. Jim’s direction and/or choreography credits include Annie; Anything Goes; Carousel; Children of Eden; Fiddler on the Roof; Gypsy; Hello, Dolly!; High School Musical; Into the Woods; Jesus Christ Superstar; The Jungle Book; The King and I; Li’l Abner; The Little Mermaid; Mamma Mia!; My Fair Lady; The Music Man; The Nifty Fifties; Oklahoma!; Once Upon a Mattress; Peter Pan; The Sound of Music; South Pacific; Spamalot; and many more. Recently retired as HS ELA Instructor at Triad Math and Science Academy, he is known as “Pa Jim” to 10 adorable grandchildren.