Have
Laptop, Will Travel
Bette Lou Higgins
B.A. -- Baldwin-Wallace CollegeM.Ed. -- Cleveland State University
ARTISTIC DIRECTOR • PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT • EDUCATOR
PROFESSIONAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS
•Author, LOST RESTARAURANTS OF DOWNTOWN CLEVELAND. This book of stories of the historic eateries of Cleveland between Public Square and Playhouse Square is part of Arcadia Press's American Palate series.
•Founding member of Eden Valley Enterprises which produces programs for museums, historical societies, schools and other organizations with direct control of budget, research, writing and program development. Producer for the Emmy-nominated documentary, TRAIL MAGIC: THE GRANDMA GATEWOOD STORY (2017) story which was named "Best Local Documentary" of the Chagrin Film Festival. (2019)
• Creatively combined professional actors with audience participation for the performance of historical re-creations at a time when this type of programming was virtually unknown. Programs range from full scale productions to one-person character programs.
• Developed more than 44 original productions for organizations including: The Steamship W.G. Mather Museum, Healthspace Cleveland, Western Reserve Historical Society, The Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Great Lakes Historical Society, The Cleveland Museum of Natural History and Roscoe Village Foundation.
• Designed and implemented public programming for The Great Lakes Historical Society. Developed 10 original productions including Ballads Of The Inland Seas and Model For Disaster (Or How The Fitzgerald Sank Twice), two curriculum guides for grades 4-6 and a resource guide for the general public. The Great Lakes Historical Society's production of Rise At Sunrise, Rest By Midnight toured to Sandusky for a presentation to approximately 100 students as well as a special production for a conference of Middle School teachers in Columbus, Ohio.
• While earning Master's Degree in Educational Technology, created educational websites for Cleveland Opera On Tour - and the S.S. Mather Museum docents training manual.
• Director of the NASA/Lewis Children's Christmas Program from 1975 - 1993 and worked in various capacities on productions with Clague Playhouse, Dover Playhouse, You Are Cabaret Dinner Theatre, Baldwin-Wallace College, Berea Summer Theatre.
• Served as Assistant Director and Stage Manager for Jacques Brell Is Alive And Well And Living In Paris directed by Joe Garry at Berea Summer Theatre. This production moved to the State Theatre and became Cleveland's longest running play.
• Author of numerous publications, including Your Computer Can't Sing Without You (Or Do Anything Else, For That Matter), Please Welcome Mr. & Mrs. America, Grandma Gatewood: Ohio's Legendary Hiker (with Kelly Boyer Sagert), Victoria Woodhull: Shattering Glass Ceilings (with Kelly Boyer Sagert) and The Past We Inherit.
To see a complete copy of Bette Lou's Curriculum Vita, click here; or find her on Linked-In.Hear an interview with Carma Spense from the book, Public Speaking Super Powers.
