🎭 Member Spotlight: Doug Meyers

If you’ve been involved with Center Stage Jackson anytime in the last two decades, chances are you know Doug Meyers – or at least you’ve seen the impact of his work.

Doug has worn just about every hat imaginable at CSJ: actor, director, producer, tech director, board member (including multiple terms as president), and perhaps most notably, co-founder and ongoing leader of the CSJ Youth Theater. Since its founding in 2007 alongside Don Mansfield, Jen Ann Guy, and Kurt Snyder, Doug has helped guide more than 30 youth productions, shaping the theatrical lives of hundreds of young performers.

Doug first stepped onto the CSJ stage in The Rainmaker back in 2000, playing a Barney Fife-esque deputy named File. It kicked off a run of character roles and a love for storytelling that hasn’t slowed down since. With 18 main stage performances under his belt – including a crowd-favorite turn as Lurch in The Addams Family (2014), where he improvised a unique pantomime bit each night – Doug has built a legacy on laughter, creativity, and connection.

Outside the theater, Doug’s been organizing an annual multi-day golf trip with friends for nearly 40 years – because when he commits to something, he’s in it for the long haul.

So, what’s still on his theatrical bucket list? Fiddler on the Roof. Despite being a longtime favorite, the timing’s never quite worked out. But if you know Doug, you know he’ll find a way.

Why does community theater matter to him? Doug says it best:

“Community theater has allowed me to work with literally hundreds of amazing people over the years… People with different backgrounds that I would otherwise never have had a chance to get to know. To stand before people and deliver a line that gets a laugh is one of the biggest highs that I have experienced. To know that you may have touched someone’s life in a positive manner is truly humbling.”

We’re incredibly lucky to have Doug as part of our CSJ family – and even luckier that he keeps showing up, on stage and off, to help bring stories to life.