Jeff and Heidi McKerley are theater partners who prefer their drama onstage

Credit: Photo by Dave Malloy

Credit: Photo by Dave Malloy

Both artists grew up in the South, and their paths crossed once they moved to Atlanta. Jeff grew up in Anniston, Alabama, halfway between Atlanta and Birmingham, and studied theater at Jacksonville State University. After college, he took a job singing and dancing at the now-defunct North Carolina theme park Ghost Town in the Sky. After a few years, his roommate, a professional magician, said he was moving back to Atlanta and asked Jeff to come with him. With no ties to the area, Jeff agreed. That was in 1987.

Once in Atlanta, the actor quickly started to get work. Jeff’s first metro Atlanta role was in the play “Tribute” at Stage Door Players in Dunwoody, then he spent a year at Neighborhood Playhouse in Decatur. “It seemed to be the place to work,” he recalls. After roles in “Mousetrap” and “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” he nabbed his first lead in the company’s “Little Shop of Horrors.”

Born in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, Heidi studied music and theater at the University of Southern Mississippi and later received her MFA in directing at Florida State University. She came to Atlanta in 1988 to be an acting/directing intern at the Alliance Theatre, part of a crew that included performers such as Tess Malis Kincaid, Carolyn Cook, David de Vries and Suzi Bass. Although she assumed she would do only two years in the city and then head to New York, she opted to stay when a directing job offer came up. Her first Atlanta acting gig was playing Phoebe in “As You Like It” at Shakespeare Tavern Playhouse, while her directorial debut was “West Side Story” at Onstage Atlanta.

It was at Actor’s Express that the two met, when Heidi was directing “Summer and Smoke.” Both were very involved in the second and third seasons of the company and have fond memories of that time. Heidi was part of the original “The Harvey Milk Show” in 1991, a production that helped put Express on the map and create a subscriber base.

Another early collaboration was Horizon Theatre’s musical “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change,” where Jeff began as a swing (a cast member who learns multiple roles and fills in as needed) before getting a lead role.

Credit: Photo courtesy of Jeff and Heidi McKerley

Credit: Photo courtesy of Jeff and Heidi McKerley

It was during “Love’s Labour’s Lost “at Shakespeare Tavern in 2007, though, that a personal relationship began. They married in 2009. “What we like to tell people is that there was a mutual admiration society way before this,” says Heidi. “We were married to other people for a long time, and it just became a point that we were available at the same time. If you had ever told me that Jeff would have ever been interested in me as anything other than as a colleague, I would have laughed in your face. And yet, it was super simple.”

Besides his acting on metro stages, Jeff has been involved with regional and national tours, while one of Heidi’s more noted accomplishments is serving as the founding producing artistic director for Soul-stice Repertory Ensemble from 1991 to 2002. Finding directing gigs for a young woman in the early ‘90s was challenging, and it became clear she would need to produce her own work. After meetings with several mentors, including Robert Farley, the artistic director of the Alliance at the time, she struck a deal with Del Hamilton at 7 Stages and began Soul-stice, which specialized in classic works.

“We got the fever and kept going,” she said. “Building the skills and camaraderie that comes with a rep company — that was of great interest to me.”

Both Heidi and Jeff have had long, prolific theater careers, including Suzi Award wins for both.

In all, the pair has worked on more than two dozen productions together. One of their favorite collaborators happened just after they became a couple: a Shakespeare Tavern version of “Cabaret” that Heidi directed and Jeff starred in as the Conductor.

Heidi works full-time as director of speeches and drama, as well as the head of fine arts, at Saint Martin’s Episcopal School. This is her 22nd year, and she also teaches debate and public speaking. Jeff has handled music direction and choreography for some of his wife’s shows there, and the two often serve as co-choreographers for other productions.

Credit: Photo courtesy of Jeff and Heidi McKerley

Credit: Photo courtesy of Jeff and Heidi McKerley

The McKerleys live in Edgewood and have two children from Heidi’s previous marriage. Hannah Rose, 28, is in politics and acted throughout middle and high school, while Arden, 21, is a senior in Point Park University in Pittsburgh, majoring in acting, directing and playwriting, with a musical theater minor.

Having known each other for so long, there are few secrets when Heidi and Jeff embark on a new project. They know what each other is looking for. “When I am being directed by Heidi, it’s about her asking questions that make me better as a performer and teacher and person,” says Jeff. “The way she directs is to get the best out of a performer; she knows what to ask. There is always a collaboration, and that thrills me as a creator. My time never feels wasted.”

Jeff is Heidi’s favorite kind of actor: one who can adapt and is not afraid of trying new takes. As a director, Heidi always tells her actors that she has “zero interest” in seeing them do a scene the same way twice, especially early on. “I want you to be an inventor and take a little bit of this and a little bit of that,” she says. “I want to carve things out and not dictate. The reason I tell people Jeff was my favorite actor before he was my husband is the greatest thing you can ever ask for as a director is somebody who has a sense of play or invention.”

When they were gearing up for Horizon’s third “Comet” run, they admitted that neither expected Dave Malloy’s musical to take off locally the way it did. “I do not know why it became such a phenomenon,” Jeff says. “Especially in Atlanta of all places.”

Heidi concurs. “What is there about that musical that seems like it would be a big box office hit? It’s so heady. I feel like we just had the right people in the room and the hearts of them and they all bought into the immersive idea. It was entertainment that you could not get on any screen that you own. You were in it. All part of the community.”

She promised some subtle tweaks this time around, working again with almost the entire original cast. It’s important for her, when staging remounts, to challenge herself to get better.

Although Jeff and Heidi work closely together, they are not an arguing couple. “We have a lot of late night discussions, but they are not heated,” says Jeff. “It’s more talking it through after rehearsals are over.”

Heidi says they joke that if they had gotten together in their youth, they would have killed each other.

“But at this point, we know how to navigate each other so well. When we do choreography, I am going to do something, and Jeff will complement what I do. I have to let my ego go out the back door and say — you are right. Let’s do it like that!”

Jim Farmer was the recipient of the 2022 National Arts and Entertainment Journalism Award for Best Theatre Feature and a nominee for Online Journalist of the Year. A member of five national critics’ organizations, he covers theater and film for ArtsATL. A graduate of the University of Georgia, he has written about the arts for 30-plus years. Jim is the festival director of Out on Film, Atlanta’s LGBTQ film festival, and lives in Avondale Estates with his husband, Craig.

Credit: ArtsATL

Credit: ArtsATL

MEET OUR PARTNER