216.521.2540 x27 | sclare@beckcenter.org

Sarah has a Bachelor’s degree in Dramatic Arts from Cleveland State University with an

emphasis on performance and directing. In addition she has a RESA teaching license in

Integrated Language Arts for grades 7-12. In addition to her role at Beck Center for the

Arts, Sarah the resident choreographer and co-director for Rocky River Middle School’s

spring musical. She has worked throughout the Cleveland area as a performer, director,

choreographer, costumer, and teacher.

Carolyn Demanelis – Acting

Carolyn Demanelis has worked as a theatre educator, actor, and director nationally and internationally, and is thrilled to be back home in Cleveland. She has worked as a teaching artist in Denver, New York City, Washington DC, and Columbus, working with young artists ages 3-18. She was the Drama instructor for Aspen Academy (K-8) and the Theatre Instructor at Whitman Middle School through Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia. In addition to working with younger students, Carolyn has also taught undergraduate courses in Acting, Improv, and Theatre History at The University of Virginia and John Carroll University.

Matthew Dolan – Voice, Musical Theater

Matthew has a MM in Choral Conducting and BM in Music Theory and Composition from the

University of Akron. Currently is the Director of Music at Peace Lutheran Church in Canton.

Over 10 years of experience working as Creative and Musical Director for many area theater

productions. Current Musical Director for the Hudson Theater Camp. Matthew has also

appeared as a clinician and accompanist for many area school choirs. An active composer

and arranger his works have been performed across northeast Ohio. Matthew is also a cast

member of Something Dada.

Russel Stich – Acting, Improvisation

Russ is the Artistic Director and founding member of Something Dada Improvisational Comedy

Co. Has over sixteen years of improvisational performance experience including playing the

Best Man in Tony ‘n Tina’s Wedding. Directs for Olmsted Falls High School and served as Camp

Director at Hudson Theater Camp for sixteen years.

John Krol – Voice, Musical Theater

John holds a MA in Composition from Cleveland Institute of Music and MA in Conducting from

Southern Methodist University. Career includes full-time instrumental, choral and general music teacher; has freelanced in directing, music directing, choral conducting, teaching

theater, and vocal coaching. John lives with his family in South Euclid.

Rachel Spence - Acting, Playwriting

Rachel is a longtime theater educator, playwright, and director for Beck Center’s Theater

program and served as Associate Director of Outreach Education for 17 years. She has 20

years of early childhood education experience and is a former theater instructor with the

Strongsville City Schools and director of the Children’s Theater with the Royalton Players. As a

playwright has written over 2,000 speaking roles for Beck Center and area school productions.

She is also an award-winning actress with an extensive resume in television and theater.

Rachel enjoys reading her Kindle, rocking out to obscure bands, and snuggling with her Shih Tzu.

Sarah is a native Clevelander who holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and a minor in Dance from Baldwin Wallace University and is currently working towards her Master's as a Licensed Mental Health Counselor with a Specialization in Dance/Movement Therapy at Lesley University. Sarah has been trained in multiple dance forms for the past seventeen years and loves to share her passion with others. Sarah also choreographs at local community theaters and well as St. Edward High School, while still finding time to perform for herself.

Kierstan holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theatre from Cleveland State University with an emphasis in Performance. During her time at CSU, she had the opportunity to learn and perform locally in Cleveland and abroad in Nantes, France. Collegiate credits include Richard III (Richard III), The Moors (Moor Hen), MOLIÈRE (Dom Juan, Lucinde, Angélique), Into the Woods (Florinda), Sweeney Todd (Ensemble, u/s Mrs. Lovett). At CSU and beyond, when she is not acting she coaches and assists with a variety of accents and dialects. A Cleveland native, Kierstan grew up learning, performing, volunteering, and interning at the Beck Center for the Arts, and she is thrilled to be returning as an acting instructor!

Rachel Gold is a senior BFA acting student at Baldwin Wallace University, expecting to graduate May of 2023. She is originally from Columbus, OH where she graduated from Bexley High School. Her most recent credits include Hamlet (Rosencrantz) with The Cleveland Shakespeare Festival, The Crucible (Rebecca Nurse) with BW, and The Modern Prometheus (Mary Shelley/Creature) with BW. She also produced BW’s 24-Hour Theatre Festival in September of 2022 and will be directing some radio plays with Radio on the Lake this year. She has been learning stage combat for about two years and has been working as Dusten Welch’s teaching assistant at Baldwin Wallace for the past two semesters. She has also fight captained multiple shows through BW and regionally as well. Rachel has a passion for learning which is why she has been producing and directing more recently. She is so excited to share her knowledge with students and create some really special theatre!

Emily got her start in community theater at the age of 9 when she played a yellow brick in the Wizard of Oz at the VWCT. After doing several shows in primary, middle and high school she took a bit of a break (almost 27 years) and only performed in shows at church. She jumped head first back into community theater in the spring of 2019 when she auditioned for Little Shop of Horrors at the VWCT and was cast as part of the Greek chorus. This was a dream role! She has since performed with the Fort Findlay Playhouse and the Black Swamp Players, Perrysburg Musical Theater Company and the Star Theater doing back to back shows until live theater took its 'intermission" during COVID. Since the return to live theater, she has worked both on stage and backstage in 6 shows. Emily is a full time childcare center director. She has worked in the field of early childhood for 26 years. She is brand new to Lakewood and is thrilled to be a part of the Beck Center faculty.

Ryan William Downey (He/Him) is an actor, playwright, and co-director of Title:Point, an experimental theater company that has been producing and presenting work in New York City for more than a decade. His play Sleeping Car Porters was a New York Times Critic’s Pick and Biter (Every Time I Turn Around), which he co-wrote, was one of Helen Shaw’s (The New Yorker) 10 Best Plays of 2015. Other plays include Periscope (featuring Richard Foreman and Mary Harron), Heavy Sleeper, Persistent Dream Body, The Assassination of Julius Caesar. He co-wrote and starred in Post:Death, Never Odd or Even, Everything of Any Value, and SPACEtruck. He has performed at The Whitney Museum of American Art, La Mama ETC, Incubator Arts Project, Dixon Place, The Brick, Invisible Dog, AS220, Silent Barn, the Gowanus River (in Jeff Stark’s The Dreary Coast) and many more venues in NYC and around the United States. As a voice actor he has been heard on podcasts, audiobooks, in many plays and, most notably, on Pokémon film and television series playing a variety of characters.

Theo is an actor, director, and dramaturg from Cleveland, Ohio. He holds an MA in Performance Studies from New York University and a BA in Theatre Directing from Cleveland State University. He has worked with several local theaters including the MAD* Factory and Near West Theatre as well as Beck Center. He grew up attending classes and camps at Beck Center and is thrilled to return as an instructor!