Download Who`s Who in the Company - Beck Center for the Arts

Who’s Who in the Company
Scott Spence (Artistic
Director) This marks
Scott’s 23rd season at
Beck Center! Since 1990,
he 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 smash hits The Producers
and Hairspray. Last season Scott added to those
favorites with productions of Legally Blonde The
Musical 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 Northern Ohio Live Award
for Achievement in Theatre in 2006. 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’s 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, Scott 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 of last year. Love you Frankie.
Russ Borski (Director/
Scenic Designer) is no
stranger to the Beck
Center stage as a designer,
but is happy to be making
his directorial debut with
his favorite play, The
House of Blue Leaves.
Crafting his theater
chops in Chicago, he is the recipient of seven
Joseph Jefferson Awards for excellence in theater.
Nationally he has worked from Anchorage
Opera to North Carolina Shakes to Florida
State Opera to the Odyssey and McCadden
Theatres in LA to Dance Theatre Workshop and
Merce Cunningham Studios in New York, and
many points in between. Locally, Mr. Borski has
directed/designed at PlayhouseSquare, Dobama
Theatre, Great Lakes Theater, Cleveland Play
House, Dancing Wheels, Willoughby Fine
Arts, Karamu House, Cain Park, Porthouse
Theatre, Kalliope Stage, CSU Summer Stages,
and Ensemble Theatre. In 2012, he was named
Cleveland Scene Magazine’s Best Director of a
Musical for last summer’s production of Avenue Q
at Cain Park, after receiving the Best Directorial
Debut award in 2002 for his direction of The Late
Henry Moss. He currently resides on the faculty
at Cleveland State University.
Becky Adams (Stage
Manager) is pleased to be
back at Beck Center after
having most recently
assistant stage managed
the holiday hit Annie on
the Mackey Main Stage
and previously stage
managed The Little Dog
Laughed in the Studio Theater. Becky earned a
BA in Theatre from Baldwin Wallace University.
Since graduation, she has worked on God of
Carnage and The Mighty Scarabs at Dobama
Theatre. Becky stage managed Children of Eden
at TrueNorth Cultural Arts. Other projects
include: A Little Night Music, The Prime of Miss
Jean Brodie and Company at Fairmount Performing
Arts Center. She also assists on productions for
North Coast Men’s Chorus and Verb Ballets in
Cleveland. Special thanks to all her friends for
their unending love and support.
*Robert Ellis (Artie
Shaughnessy) is thrilled
to make his Beck Center
debut and delighted to
work with Russ Borski
once
again.
Credits
include: A Carol for
Cleveland (Steve), Galileo
(Federzoni)
and
A
Soldier’s Tale (General)
at Cleveland Play House; Circle, Mirror,
Transformation (James) and The Late Henry Moss
(Earl) at Dobama Theatre; Stone Cold Dead
Serious (Cliff) at Cleveland Public Theatre; Of
Mice and Men (Lennie) at Ensemble Theatre;
and Annie Get Your Gun (Sitting Bull) and The
Foreigner (Owen) at Porthouse Theatre. Bob is
a professor of Theater at Cuyahoga Community
College and sits on the selection committee
for Region 3 of the American College Theater
Festival. He is also a founding member of
Something Dada. When he is not rehearsing
in some cold theater, Bob spends time with the
presidents, Carter, Madison and Kennedy and his
obese beagle, Snickers.
Ni c ho l a s
C h o ka n
(Ronnie Shaughnessy)
is elated to grace the
Mackey Main Stage at
Beck Center. As a lifelong
Lakewood resident, it has
always been one of his
dreams to perform here.
He is a current Theatre
major at Cleveland State
University. Past credits include: Bus Stop (Virgil
Blessing) directed by Corey Atkins at Cleveland
State University. Nicholas also performed in the
world premiere of Stars Fell All Night (Edmund)
written by Mike Geither and directed by Jacqi
Loewy at Cleveland Public Theatre. Special
thanks to Russ Borski, Holly Holsinger, Terry
Pieritz, Aaron Benson, Dr. Michael Mauldin,
and the rest of Cleveland State University’s
Department of Theatre and Dance. Nicholas is
immensely grateful for his friends and family. If
you are loved by someone you are never rejected.
Decide what to be and go be it.
Carla Petroski (Bunny
Flingus) makes a swift
return to the Beck Center
stage after most recently
appearing in the box
office smash, Annie. “Yes,
and...” now she is happy
to be reunited with her
esteemed former company
member, Bob Ellis, from
the improvisational troupe Something Dada!
Carla is a graduate of Cleveland State University
and over the past 25 years has performed at
numerous Northeast Ohio theaters. Favorite
roles include: Hellcab at Blank Canvas Theatre,
and The Diary of Anne Frank (Mrs. Van Daan)
and Steel Magnolias (Truvy) at TrueNorth
Cultural Arts. She has also been seen in Who’s
Aftraid of Virginia Woolfe (Martha) at Ensemble
Theatre, The ThreePenny Opera (Jennie Diver)
at Fine Arts Association, and The Odd Couple
(Gwendolyn Pigeon) at Fairmount Performing
Arts Center. Carla will always have a special
affection for her first Beck Center production,
Cabaret (Sally Bowles). Although she performed
in the full two-plus-year run of Tony n’ Tina’s
Wedding at the Hanna Theatre, she hopes her
actual wedding won’t take that long to come to
fruition...she’s talking to you, fiancée!
*J uliette
Regnier
(Bananas Shaughnessy)
is thrilled to be playing
Bananas and grateful
to Russ Borski and
Beck Center for giving
her this beautiful role
to play. Juliette’s stage
and film credits are
many both locally and
regionally. She is an award-winning actress
but is most proud of her one-woman play, Shorn,
directing Necessary Targets, studying with the
Moscow Art Theatre at Harvard, and her most
recent cabaret, Elsewhere. Juliette will perform
Elsewhere again this summer at Cain Park on
July 25. In addition, she is the facilitator for an
open community contemplative and meditation
service at University Circle United Methodist
Church, a certified American Sign Language
interpreter, yoga practitioner, hiker, bullmastiff
owner, mother, and blissfully married to actor,
Michael Regnier. Chr i sti n e
Fa l l o n
(Corrinna Stroller) is
delighted to be sharing the
stage with this incredible
cast at Beck Center.
Since receiving her BFA
in Acting from Wright
State University, she
has been seen in The
Tempest (Ariel Double)
at Great Lakes Theater, Books (Mrs. Rabble) at
Halcyon Theatre in Chicago, and Barefoot in the
Park (Corie) at Great Plains Theatre in Kansas,
among others. She is proud to be represented by
the Docherty Agency which has cast her in film,
commercial and print. When not acting and
modeling, Christine enjoys chasing chickens in
her community garden and spending time with
her “seesters.” Thanks to Russ for this amazing
opportunity, and of course Ann and Dan for
years of love, support and chauffeuring.
Patricia Walocko (Head
Nun) This is Patricia’s
Beck Center debut and
she is delighted to portray
the Head Nun. Patricia
has had the opportunity
to appear on stages in Des
Moines, Iowa where she
was seen in I Remember
Mama (Ms. Moorehead),
Every Little Crook and Nanny, Trouble at the Talent
Show (Cheryl Parker-Banks), and Lend Me A
Tenor. Since returning to the Cleveland area,
she has performed in Haunting of Hill House
(Mrs. Dudley) at Broadview Heights Spotlights
Community Theater, Pray for the Missing Girls
(Rayell’s Mother/Tia/Ensemble) at Cuyahoga
Community College Western Campus, Hit and
Misdemeanor (Julie) at Canal Fulton Players,
and The Wizard Of Oz (Aunt Em/Ozian/Guard/
Optimistic Voice) at Garfield Heights Players; as
well as worked on the independent film Blue Eye
Sing Me Softly (Liv’s Mother) which was filmed
here in Cleveland. Special thanks to her husband
of 33 years and her friends for all of their love
and support.
Hannah Storch (Second
Nun) is jazzed to make her
Beck Center professional
debut on the stage where
she grew up taking Youth
Theater classes. She is a
recent graduate of Kent
State University with a
Theatre major, English
minor.
Past
credits
include: Henry V (Montjoy) at Pennsylvania
Renaissance Faire; Robin Hood (Alice) at Actors’
Theatre of Columbus; Dancing At Lughnasa
(Rose) and Three Tall Women (C) both at
Weathervane Playhouse; Jet of Blood (Nurse) and
Six Characters In Search of an Author (Mother)
both at Kent State University; and Antony and
Cleopatra (Iras) with Cleveland Shakespeare
Festival. Hannah has worked with the Ravenna
Police Department acting in scenarios for
their crisis intervention training, Kringle’s
Inventionasium (Goody Chimes) at Cleveland’s
Tower City, and Karamu House in their Theatre
Performance Outreach series. Hannah would
like to thank Russ for this opportunity, as well
as her family and Ebby for their continued love
and support.
Tali Cornblath (Little
Nun) is excited to make
her Cleveland debut
at Beck Center! She
recently graduated from
Tufts University with a
BA in Drama and Child
Development. Favorite
credits include: The
Importance of Being Earnest
(Cecily) and The Arabian Nights (Girl), both with
Tufts University Department of Drama. Special
thanks to her family and Sheriden Thomas. Joey Dienes (M.P.) is
ecstatic to make his Beck
Center debut with such
an amazing cast and crew.
He is a Lakewood native
and recently graduated
from Hiram College with
a degree in Theatre and
Sociology. Joey was most
recently seen in Psycho
Beach Party (Nicky) at Blank Canvas Theatre
and can also be found working backstage at Beck
Center and Cleveland Play House. Other credits
include: Tartuffe (Cleante), The Last Days of
Judas Iscariot (Judas), Cloud Nine (Joshua/Gerry),
and Dog Sees God (CB).
Barry Friedman (The
White Man/The Pope)
makes his Beck Center
debut in this production.
He has performed at
various theaters including
Weathervane Playhouse,
Coach House Theatre,
Ohio
Shakespeare
Festival, Chagrin Valley
Little Theatre, and Aurora Theatre. His resume
includes roles in Richard III, One Flew Over
the Cuckoo’s Nest, The Great White Hope, A
Midsummer’s Night Dream, Light Up The Sky,
Mousetrap, and Kiss Me Kate, to name a few. Barry
has also appeared in two feature-length films;
Welcome to Collinwood and My Summer Story. He
is retired from the diamond importing business
after a 45-year career and resides in Hudson with
his beautiful and talented significant other, Dede
and their two Westies, Percy and Cece.
Todd Hancock (Billy
Einhorn)
may be a
new face to Cleveland’s
theater scene, but he
has been making quite
a name for himself
just east of here in
Youngstown. As director
and co-founder of Easy
Street
Productions,
Youngstown’s only professional stock theater
company, Todd has spent the past 25 years
producing, directing and starring in musicals at
the DeYor Perfoming Arts Center. Easy Street
musicals have raised over 1.5 million dollars for
local charities and non-profit organizations to
date and last May Todd was named Distinguished
Alumni 2012 by his alma mater for his company’s
charitable work in the community. Todd has
enjoyed performing as an “extra” for NBC
and ABC, most recently 666 Park Avenue, but
Clevelanders will remember him from last
summer’s production of Avenue Q (Trekkie
Monster) at Cain Park. Other favorites include:
The Will Rogers Follies (Will), The Music Man
(Harold Hill), Beauty and the Beast (Lumiere),
and Annie (Rooster). Actors’ Equity Association
Candidate.
Terry Piertiz (Costume Designer) is relieved
that after too many years to count...she can
finally take “collaborating with Russ on The
House of Blue Leaves” off of her bucket list! Terry
earned her MFA in Theatre Design from Case
Western Reserve University and has taught
Costume Design and Construction there as well
as the University of Akron, Beaumont School
and currently at Cleveland State University
where she also manages the costume shop for
the Department of Theatre and Dance. She has
designed costumes for theater, dance, opera,
industrials, and film where her work has taken
her to such places as Skylight Opera Theater
(Milwaukee), Florida State Opera (Tallahassee),
Human Race Theater (Dayton), and American
Movie Channel (New York City). Cleveland
credits include: PlayhouseSquare, Cain Park,
Lyric Opera Cleveland, and Dobama Theatre.
Joseph Carmola (Lighting Designer/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.
Carlton Guc (Sound Designer) is excited to be
back at Beck Center. Beginning as a pit musician
over a decade ago in many shows here, Carlton
took some time off when he transitioned into
being a dad. Recently his sound designs have
been heard at Fairmount Performing Arts Center
(Legally Addicted), TrueNorth Cultural Arts
(Ain’t Misbehavin’), Actors’ Summit Theatre,
and in some touring exhibits (Titanic; Dialog
in the Dark). When not designing sound, he
spends time writing software for theater sound
and lighting; develops corporate networks; and
enjoys spending downtime with his family.
*Actor appears courtesy of the Actors’ Equity
Association (AEA), the union of American actors
and stage managers.