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Who’s Who in the Company Scott Spence (Artistic Director / Director) is thrilled as always to embark on a new season – in this case – his 23rd at Beck Center! Since 1990, Scott has produced well over 200 productions, directing over 70 himself. The list of favorites grows every season, and includes Parade, A Man of No Importance, Sweeney Todd, Hair, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, The Farnsworth Invention, Reefer Madness, The Fix, Zombie Prom, Tommy, Urinetown The Musical, Evil Dead The Musical, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and the box office smashes The Producers and Hairspray. Last season Scott added to those favorites with productions of Legally Blonde and the much lauded Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. He is very proud of the awards and acclamations Beck Center has received over the past decade, and is especially grateful for having won the 2006 Northern Ohio Live Award for Achievement in Theatre. Outside of these walls, Scott’s directorial assignments have included a remounting of Beck Center’s hit production of Altar Boyz at PlayhouseSquare’s beautiful Hanna Theatre, Das Barbecü at Opera Cleveland, The Last Night of Ballyhoo at Case Western Reserve University Eldred Theatre, Oh Dad Poor Dad.... at Cleveland State University Summer Stages and Noises Off at both Weathervane Playhouse in Akron and Berea Summer Theatre. An adjunct faculty member at Cleveland State University, he has also has the privilege to direct Satre’s No Exit and will tackle Strindberg’s Miss Julie this spring. Occasionally on the other side of the footlights, Scott has appeared in Dick Deadeye (Berea Summer Theatre), Man of La Mancha (Jewish Community Center), The Secret Rapture (Dobama) and closer to home at Beck Center in Big River, The Boys Next Door and Laughter on the 23rd Floor. He also had the privilege of joining the cast of Passion, directed by Victoria Bussert, in his only onstage stint in the Studio Theater. Scott holds an MFA in Directing from Western Illinois University and is a trained stage fight choreographer, having studied extensively with the SAFD. He would like to dedicate this season to longtime local actor and friend Frank Mularo who sadly left us in August. Love you Frankie. Larry Goodpaster (Musical Director) is pleased to be musically directing Xanadu this fall. Xanadu is Larry’s 62nd production and marks the beginning of his 15th year at Beck Center. An award-winning pianist in high school, Larry followed quite a different path and obtained degrees in biology, chemistry, veterinary medicine, and business over the next 20 years. Upon receiving his MBA in 1997, Larry decided to return to musical theater in his recreational time. Larry’s love and passion for the arts soon became an obsession. Beginning in January 2008, he spent his days at Beck Center as a volunteer business consultant with Cindy Einhouse, President and CEO. In the fall 2009, Larry was hired as the director of business operations. Last year, he became the director of finance and administration at Beck Center. Sharing both his artistic talent and business acumen with Beck Center has finally allowed his circuitous career path to come together. Larry would like to thank our audiences and donors for allowing Beck Center to thrive. Likewise, he is also thankful to have survived the tacky ‘80s of Xanadu. **Martín Céspedes (Choreographer) most recently staged Legally Blonde The Musical and Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson for Beck Center for the Arts and The Fantasticks for The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. Favorite productions include Nine: The Musical and Equus for which he received a 2007 Northern Ohio Live nomination for best choreography, and Smokey Joe’s Café, Five Guys Named Moe, Ain’t Misbehavin’, and My Way: A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra. Martín has appeared in several Broadway national tours, including Man of La Mancha with Jack Jones and Ron Holgate; The King and I with Hayley Mills, Marie Osmond, Maureen McGovern and Faith Prince; South Pacific with Robert Goulet and West Side Story with Bebe Neuwirth. In New York, Martín staged choreography for the off-off-Broadway production of Scrooge and Marley and choreographed the opening acts for Earth, Wind and Fire and The Bee Gees. Other television appearances include Dance Fever and NBC’s Weekday Fever, as well as the Washington National Opera’s lavish production of Massenet’s Le Cid, starring Placido Domingo, broadcast live from The Kennedy Center on PBS, for which he also served as Associate Choreographer. An alumnus of the Jacque d’Amboise National Dance Institute at PS 161 in New York City, Martín has won numerous awards and was nominated in 2009 for the prestigious Zelda Fichandler Award, which recognizes an outstanding director or choreographer who is making a unique and exceptional contribution through his or her work in regional theater. Most recently he was the recipient of the 2011 BroadwayWorld Award for Best Choreography in a Musical Theater Production. Martin is dedicating this season to the memory of his dear friend, Amy Brotherton Staskus. Libby Burchmore (Stage Manager) is excited to be a part of yet another fantastic Beck Center production. She has been a part of Beck Center’s Professional Theater program for over 12 years and the 2012/2013 season marks her third as Stage Manager. When she’s not corralling actors and keeping things under control, she’s spending her time helping preschoolers learn to communicate as a speech/ language pathologist for North Ridgeville City Schools. As always, a big thanks to the amazing cast, crew and production staff who make each show a unique and fabulous experience. She would also like to thank her family, friends, and especially Chris for all the support, love and patience. Sam Wolf (Sonny Malone) is thrilled to back at Beck Center having just finished doing absurd things in people’s faces this past summer in Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson. Before that he was seen in Titanic at Baldwin Wallace University. Favorite roles include: Rent (Roger), All Shook Up (Chad), Singin’ in the Rain (Cosmo), and Swing! (Principal Dancer). Sam is a sophomore Music Theatre major at Baldwin Wallace University. Special thanks to Scott S., Larry, Martín, Vicky, Scott P., Bailey, and most importantly, his parents. BWMT15! AmieeCollier(Melpomene / Medusa) is happy to return to Beck Center’s Mackey Main Stage. She has performed at Lakeland Civic Theatre, Cain Park, Cleveland Public Theatre, Tri-C, Mercury Summer Stock, and Stuart Street Playhouse in Boston, MA. Previously at Beck Center: Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (Indians Vocalist/Ensemble), The Marvelous Wonderettes (Betty Jean), Peter Pan (Mrs. Darling), Evil Dead The Musical (Cheryl), Fiddler on the Roof (Fruma Sarah), Urinetown The Musical (Soupy Sue), Jekyll & Hyde (Lucy), Beauty and the Beast (Mrs. Potts), On the Town (Hildy), Moby Dick The Musical! (Starbuck), Seussical The Musical! (Bird Girl), Reefer Madness (Mae), and La Cage aux Folles (Paulette). For Russ, who helped me find my own Xanadu. Leslie Andrews (Calliope / Aphrodite) is excited to return to Beck Center! Past roles include: Legally Blonde The Musical (Paulette) at the Renaissance Theatre, Texas Chainsaw Musical (Gospel Nun) at Blank Canvas Theatre, Jerry Springer The Opera (Zandra/Irene/Mary) at Beck Center, and Girls Night The Musical (Liza) at PlayhouseSquare. Ms. Andrews was a talent and swimsuit award winner as well as first runner-up to Miss Ohio where she was the muse for world peace and butt glue. Leslie holds a BM…no that’s a degree…in music…for voice. Oh, never mind. She thanks her wonderful family for all of their support, especially the guy with the messed up face. Special thanks to Scott, Larry, Martín and the rest of this amazing cast and crew! Obeebum Ebee Bababoo! Maggie Stahl (Euterpe/ Siren/Andrews Sister/ Thetisis) is always happy to be at Beck Center, especially with such a terrific cast and staff. Beck Center audiences may have seen her in a number of her favorites: Urinetown The Musical (Hope Cladwell), Hello Again (Young Wife), and Miss Saigon (Ellen). A big thank you to Scott, Larry and Martín for another amazing opportunity. Love and thanks to Mom, Dad, Aidan, and Abby. And to Rick... Iniibig kita. Cross your fingers that she doesn’t break anything while on roller skates! Huzzah! Kathleen Ferrini (Erato/ Siren/Andrews Sister/ Eros/Hera) is ecstatic to be making her Beck Center debut. She is a recent graduate with honors from Wright State University holding a BFA in Musical Theatre. Recent college credits include Phantom of the Opera (Carlotta), and Little Women (Meg March). In addition, Kathleen had the honor of performing in Leonard Bernstein’s Mass with the Dayton Philharmonic. She also has enjoyed portraying comic characters in I Love You Because (Diana) and Singin’ in the Rain (Lina Lamont). Special thanks to her family and friends who have been a constant source of love and encouragement in all the silly adventures in which she seems to find herself, you know who you are! Psalm 150:6. Matthew Ryan Thompson (Terpsichore / Siren / Young Danny / Tubes Singer / Hermes / Cyclops) is thrilled to skate and tap his way around Beck Center’s Main Stage in Xanadu. He was most recently seen here in Legally Blonde The Musical (Aaron/Kiki the Colorist), as well as productions of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Joseph), Hairspray (Corny Collins); and Beck Center’s revival of Altar Boyz (Mark) in the Hanna Theatre at PlayhouseSquare. Ryan started his performing career on stage as a youngster. When he wasn’t standing on an ottoman belting out Amy Grant tunes or some ‘80s power ballad, he competed nationally as a tap dancer and transitioned into musical theater in high school. He continues to study and perform all over the East Coast and throughout Ohio. Offstage Ryan works as a session and salon stylist (Ichiban Salon/Westlake) traveling all over the U.S. for shows, classes and shoots. He would like to thank his family, friends and mentors for their continued love and support. TPOG Ben Donahoo (Thalia/ Siren / Tubes Singer / Centaur) is ecstatic to be returning to Beck Center for another show after appearing in the 2011 holiday encore production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Naphtali). Ben hails from Pocatello, Idaho, where he earned his BS in Chemistry and minor in Theatre from Idaho State University. Some past credits include: Peter Pan (Mullins/Indian) at Idaho Summer Repertory, White Christmas (Mike Nulty) and Thoroughly Modern Millie (George Gershwin/Ensemble) at Mystique Theatre, the Ohio premiere of Happy Days, A New Musical (Richie Cunningham) at Trumpet in the Land, and most recently, All Shook Up (Dean Hyde), also at Trumpet. Many thanks to Scott, Martín, and Larry for this wonderful opportunity to skate around in a skirt and many more thanks to his family for their undying support in his theatrical endeavors! *Kathleen Rooney (Clio /Kira) is delighted to be returning to Beck Center (and her hometown) for a few weeks! Now a proud New Yorker, she graduated two years ago from the esteemed music theatre program at Baldwin Wallace College. Since then Kathleen has been seen on Law and Order SVU, commercials for Axe Body Spray and Red Lobster, and co-starred opposite several of her Broadway idols in City of Angles (Mallory) for a four-month run at the Tony Award-winning Goodspeed Opera House! She also recently performed in the reading of the new musical, “Beyond the Music” in NYC. Other regional work includes: Gateway Playhouse, The Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Wagon Wheel Theatre, Cain Park, and Great Lakes Theatre Festival. Thank you to Scott, Martín, Larry, this hilarious Xanadu cast, my lovely agents, and of course my incredible family for everything! *Greg Violand, (Danny Maguire/Zeus) is pleased to be back at Beck Center having appeared in The Underpants, Urinetown the Musical, 1776, La Cage Aux Folles, and A Doll’s House. Greg is well known to Northeast Ohio audiences having performed for the past 27 years in numerous productions at Cleveland Play House, Great Lakes Theatre Festival, PlayhouseSquare, Cain Park, Dobama, Beck Center, Lakeland Summer Theater, Actors’ Summit, Ensemble, Cleveland Opera, Cleveland Lyric Opera, JCC Halle, Cleveland State University Summer Stages, The Eldrid Theater, and other venues including the Virginias Musical Theater and Metro Stage in Washington D.C. He is currently enrolled in the Returning Professionals MFA Program at Kent State University. Greg is married to the lovely and talented Maryann Nagel. His greatest joys are bragging about his nine grandchildren and watching his 18-year-old daughter Claire live her life. “Love to my Father!” *Actor appears courtesy of the Actors’ Equity Association (AEA), the union of actors and stage managers. ** Member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers Trad A Burns (Scenic/Lighting Designer) is a lighting and scenic designer based in Boston. Designing over 500 productions during the last two decades, his varied work has been seen around the world. His extensive credits include designs for North Shore Music Theatre (Boston), New York Theatre Workshop (NYC), La Mama ETC (NYC), HERE (NYC), Classic Stage Company (NYC), The Public Theatre (NYC), Cleveland Play House, Cleveland Public Theatre, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Beck Center for the Arts, Cain Park, Boston Ballet, Cincinnati Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Atlanta Ballet, Houston Ballet, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Ballet British Columbia, Washington Ballet, Spectrum Dance, Verb Ballets, Inlet Dance Theatre, Cedar Point, Knott’s Berry Farm, Kings Island, Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disneyland Japan, Disney Sea, Woodstock Ice Productions, and The Family of Charles M. Schulz. Recent designs include: Avenue Q at Cain Park, Bloody, Bloody Andrew Jackson at Beck Center for the Arts, Inlet Dance Theatre & MorrisionDance at Cleveland Public Theatre, and The Four Seasons & The Man in Black for National Ballet of Canada, Cinderella at Louisiana Ballet Theatre. Benjamin Gantose (Associate Scenic & Lighting Designer) is an up and coming lighting designer in Northeast Ohio theater and dance, newly named a resident lighting designer at Cleveland Public Theatre. As Trad A Burns associate designer, Benjamin has worked on The Marvelous Wonderettes, My Fair Lady, The Producers, Altar Boyz, at Beck Center and on various projects at PlayhouseSquare, Verb Ballets, Inlet Dance Theater, and Cincinnati Ballet, including multiple world premieres. Benjamin’s own recent designs include Monster Play, Cut to Pieces, Insomnia, Darwinii, Mother/Tongue, Don’t Call Me Fat and work with the Y-Haven project at Cleveland Public Theatre; Steel Magnolias at True North; A Little Night Music, Big The Musical, The Prime of Miss Jean Brody, Les Miserables, Company, Pippin, at Fairmount Performing Arts Conservatory. Alison Garrigan (Costume Designer) Alison’s design work has been seen on the Beck Center stage for many years. Her work here may be remembered in such productions as the recent Spring Awakening, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, The Producers, The Diary of Anne Frank, Miss Saigon, The Seagull, Hamlet, Parade, Agnes of God, Porgy and Bess, and Jekyll & Hyde the Musical, to name a few. At other theaters, her design work is also represented by such productions as The Oresteia and The Alchemist at Cleveland State University, Speech and Debate and W;t at Dobama Theatre, and Carmen Jones and Hot Mikado for Great Lakes Theater Festival/Cleveland Municipal School District, among many others. Alison is currently resident designer at both Cleveland Public Theatre and for the Opera Stage at Cleveland Institute of Music, where her most recent productions were Massenet’s Cendrillon and Mozart’s La Finta Giardiniera. Richard B. Ingraham (Sound Designer) is happy to return for his ninth season of work with Beck Center. Favorite previous sound designs at Beck Center include: Wings, The Producers, Evil Dead The Musical, The Farnsworth Invention, History Boys, Equus, Beauty and the Beast, The Diary of Anne Frank, Agnes of God, and Of Mice and Men. Richard is a freelance sound designer based in the Cleveland area. He has worked at numerous theaters, schools and attractions in Northeast Ohio and throughout the US including: Ashland University, Cain Park, Chagrin Falls Performing Arts Academy, The Cleveland Play House, Cleveland Public Theatre, Cleveland State University, The Cleveland Theatre Company, Dobama Theatre, The University of Evansville, Hope Summer Repertory Theatre, The Jewish Community Center of Cleveland, The Lincoln Amphitheatre, The Lincoln Library and Museum, Oberlin College, PlayhouseSquare Center, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, Shakespeare and Company, Stone Mountain Park, and Willoughby Fine Arts Association. Richard is an adjunct faculty member at the Carnegie Mellon School of Drama in Pittsburgh where he teaches Sound Design and other related course work. He has also worked as a consultant to award-winning software companies that create products specifically for the needs of live performance including Stage Research and Richmond Sound Design. Joseph Carmola (Technical Director) is in his seventh year as Technical Director at the Beck Center. In the past Joe has served as Technical Director for, the Canton Players Guild, Magical Theatre Company and Paul Green’s Trumpet in the Land. His freelance credits include lighting design and scenic artist, as well as a set design for Les Miserables Jr. which has been seen in many student programs throughout Northeast Ohio. He is the proud father of Clayton.