Leadership Team

Nicole Hertvik

Editor-in-Chief and Publisher

Nicole Hertvik is Publisher and Editor-in-Chief at DC Theater Arts. She is a contributing writer to several publications in the DC region and beyond. Nicole studied international affairs at Columbia University and journalism at Georgetown. She was a 2019 National Critics Institute fellow at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center and a 2022 Entrepreneurial Journalism fellow at CUNY. Her reporting for DC Theater Arts was a 2022 finalist in the Society of Professional Journalists Best of DC Dateline Awards. Nicole lives in Maryland with her three daughters, two rabbits, and one very patient husband.

John Stoltenberg

Executive Editor

An accomplished writer, John holds master's degrees in theater arts from Columbia and in public relations and communications from Georgetown. He has more than three decades of experience working professionally in publishing and graphic communications. Member, American Theatre Critics Association.

Megan Wills

Communications Director

Megan serves as marketing, advertising, and scheduling manager at DCTA. She brings many years of theater and nonprofit administration experience with her. Along with writing and editing, she loves teaching, coaching, acting, singing, comedy, improvisation, and animals. She co-founded Charm City Comedy in 2014.

Gregory Ford

Program Manager, DC Theater U. Program

Gregory Ford, a graduate of St. Johns College (Santa Fe, 1972), has been an actor, director, and singer in the Washington, D.C. area. In the 1990s, Gregory discovered and began to study Playback Theater. He founded Positive Image Performance Project (PIPP) and used Playback Theater as a platform for people affected by HIV/AIDS to explore and share their stories. Gregory has performed with DC Playback and Synergy in Action Playback Theater companies. He studied psychodrama as an intern at St. Elizabeths Hospital. For several years, Gregory served as a Helen Hayes Judge.

Deb Miller

NYC Critic

Deb Miller (PhD, Art History) is the Senior Correspondent and Editor for New York City, where she grew up seeing every show on Broadway. She is an active member of the Outer Critics Circle and served for more than a decade as a Voter, Nominator, and Judge for the Barrymore Awards for Excellence in Theatre. Outside of her home base in NYC, she has written and lectured extensively on the arts and theater throughout the world (including many years in Amsterdam, London, and Venice, and extensive work and personal connections with Andy Warhol and his circle) and previously served as a lead writer for Stage Magazine, Phindie, and Central Voice.

Julian Oquendo

Editor and Social Media Manager

Julian Oquendo is a data science and automation expert. When he is not writing code, he is writing reviews and social media content for DCTA. You can find some of his previous writings on theater and restaurants here, and some of his code writing here.

Brett Widmann

Website Manager

Brett has been a full-time freelance developer since 2012, and was a pit musician while growing up in Central Wisconsin. When he isn't coding, he can be seen at concerts in Chicago and posting food pics to his Instagram.

Founder

Joel Markowitz

Publisher Emeritus and Editor Emeritus

Joel Markowitz founded DC Metro Theater Arts in 2012 and oversaw it until succumbing to ALS in November of 2017. He is sorely missed by the entire Mid-Atlantic theater community.

Editor

Hannah Estifanos

Editor

Hannah Estifanos is an editor and nonprofit professional based in Washington, DC. She is a graduate of Lafayette College, where she enjoyed writing and performing poetry and collaborative/multidisciplinary art pieces with fellow students through Writing Organization Reaching Dynamic Students (WORDS). Her love of words has since found expression in DC not only as an editor for DCTA and other publications, but as a volunteer with Free Minds Book Club and Writing Workshop and a founding board member of the Friends of Deanwood Library.

Writers