Staff
Our Producer & Directors
Megan Botts, Lori Tassano and Jim Nunes
Jim Nunes has been the producer of Star Quest since it’s inception in 1993. At the time he was the Chief of Police of the Pleasant Hill Police Department, and Chairperson of the Pleasant Hill CASA. Jim created the original idea for Star Quest and starting a local Talent Show for the youth of Pleasant Hill. Jim is very proud of all the young entertainers that have performed in his show over all of these years. Jim retired from law enforcement in 1996 after 33 years in the business, and besides all of the time he spends producing Star Quest, he is a proud Grandfather who spends his time with his family, playing golf, traveling, and enjoying life! Jim is a 35 year member of the Rotary Club of Pleasant Hill and serves on the Board of Directors of the Pleasant Hill Community Foundation. He sees Star Quest as a way of recognizing these talented young people, and making an important contribution back to the community for what Pleasant Hill has given him over the years.
In 2005, Jim Nunes and Star Quest were awarded the Achievement in the Arts Award by the Arts and Culture Commission of Contra Costa County.
Lori Tassano has directed Star Quest since 1994. Early on, she realized that her young daughter, Alysha Umphress, was an extraordinary singing talent. To support Alysha’s aspirations, she became involved with musical theater and hasn’t stopped for the last 21 years! Lori managed the children’s performing group called Dynamite for five years and then moved on to become the Current Director of Star Quest. Lori has unselfishly volunteered her time with Star Quest productions for over thirteen years, spending hundreds of hours supporting the talented youth of our community. The wonderful success of Star Quest would not be possible without her personal coaching and encouragement at our auditions, our rehearsals, and all of the Star Quest productions. Thanks to Lori’s expertise, hundreds of young performers have been touched in a profound and positive way. In an effort to give them additional stage time, over the last several years Lori has expanded our Star Quest efforts by directing Holiday Shows and other year round performance opportunities. We are very thankful to have someone with Lori’s expertise and dedication as the Director of our Star Quest youth talent program.
Jim Nunes and Lori Tassano
Behind the Scenes
Wendy Cannel Nottage is not only the proud mother of three of our cast members, she is also actively involved in managing things backstage during our Star Quest productions. There were nearly 200 costume changes during our Starquest “Back To Broadway” 2006 Talent Show, and things were very busy backstage keeping everything in order. With Wendy’s hard work and dedication everything remained organized and ran very smoothly! Wendy has been involved in theater since she was 4 years old, and appeared in the Chicago production of “Annie” at 13, so she adds a lot of experience and knowledge to the backstage operations at Star Quest. We were very lucky to have Wendy return to her performing roots, and actually appear onstage in a “Hairspray” number during our 2006 show!!