Assassins
JUSTIN LEADER (Executive Producer, Executive Director), who produced last semester’s smash success Random Acts of Music 6 as President of the AG Theater Troupe, builds on that success as Executive Producer of the Melodramatics. Justin has been trained in performance and direction at NYU’s Stella Adler Conservatory of Acting and the Russian Art Theater at Columbia University. He has appeared in over forty separate productions, performed at the Lincoln Center, starred off-off-Broadway, and can be seen in Kevin Klein’s recent film The Emperor’s Club. Justin Leader believes it is very important to work with and give back to the Ithaca Community.
CARLOS DOMINGUEZ (Executive Orchestra Director) is an undergraduate student at the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at Cornell, and is currently studying Plant Science. As a musician, Carlos has played flute for 11 years, but has also picked up clarinet and saxophone. He has been in orchestras for many different productions including Fiddler on the Roof, Crazy For You, Carousel, and Guys and Dolls, in which he was an assistant conductor. Last semester he was the Pit Coordinator for the Anything Goes Theater Group. This year, he comes to the group as a Orchestra Director for the Melodramatics Theater group. Aside from the Melodramatics, Carlos is also involved in the Big Red Marching Band and the Big Red Pep Band. As one of the Founders, Carlos has worked very closely with Justin Leader to make this show a very successful one. He wishes everyone in the Cast, Orchestra and Crew the best of luck and knows that this show is going to be amazing!!
BECKY WADDLE (Artistic Director) is a native Georgian who moved to Western New York six years ago. Besides being Artistic Director for the Melodramatics, she’s very active in Sigma Alpha and Cornell’s brand new Women’s Club Hockey team. Her previous experiences in the arts involved painting sets for Grease during her senior year and creating an ad for her local radio station at the age of eleven. Her more numerous experiences in sports include following her two older brothers to place at the 1994 AAU National Junior Olympics in Track and Field under her father’s coaching and competing at a national tournament for high school ice hockey players. She was co-captain of her hockey team during her junior year and lead them to a third place finish in the league. The following year she played an integral role in her team’s first place finish during league playoffs, despite suffering a serious injury during a preliminary game.
JUSTIN NISLY (Music Director) was raised on a dairy farm in central Kansas. He attended Hutchinson Community College for two years, where he edited the literary paper, performed with vocal ensembles, and occasionally did solos with the Jazz Big Band. Last summer, he gave a sophomore recital on piano, which featured some of his own compositions. He is most proud of several roles he played in the HCC Theater production of “The Laramie Project,” for which he received a nomination to compete for a scholarship at the American College Theater Festival. He is currently an English and Music double major at Cornell University. He would like to thank everyone who has influenced his life in a positive or negative way.
STEPHANIE WYNNE (Assistant Director) is currently a Junior in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at Cornell University. She is an Animal Science major with a concentration in pre-veterinary medicine. Previous acting experience mostly includes community and middle school theatre. This is her first time "behind-the-scenes". Born in Ohio, Stephanie has lived in various places throughout the Midwest. Her parents, younger sister, and two dogs now live in London, England. She has spent some of the past two years traveling across the other half of the globe, most recently to Egypt, Russia, Germany, the United Kingdom, as well as several other countries in northern Europe. While travel has never been a personal interest, it has definitely been an interesting experience.
DANNY BEER (Technical Director) is a junior in the school of Engineering majoring in Electrical Engineering. Hailiing from East Brunswick, New Jersey, he has run Tech in numerous productions during summers in Jewish summer camps.
JACOB LEHMAN (Fight Director) hails from Ann Arbor, Michigan where he is a six-year Senior Scholar with the theatrical combat and stunt troupe The Ring of Steel, and in 2003 he founded The Ring of Steel: Ithaca. He has performed in over a dozen shows, from his debut as the Pirate King in Young People’s Theater’s Pirates of Penzance to professional stunt performance for Otello with the Michigan Opera Theater. This is his 10th show as a fight director, having worked most recently on Cornell University’s Hamlet, Black Umbrella Productions’ Macbeth, and the film Kit’s Run. Jacob is a junior and an English major at Cornell.
ANDREA OLMOS (Director of Marketing) is from San Francisco, California. She is a junior premed Chemistry major in Arts and Sciences. Andrea is a member of Cornell Tradition Student Advisory Council. She enjoys rock climbing, camping, and photography. She’s like to congratulate everybody in the Melodramatics on a show well done.
DANA MUIR (Stage Manager)
RIVKAH DARABANER (Business Manager) is a sophomore premed student in the college of Human Ecology, majoring in Human Biology, Health and Society. She served as the secretary and treasurer for the Senior Chorus at her HS, which involved organizing a 2-week tour of Spain for 5 musical performance groups. However, she is thrilled to be breaking into the wonderful world of musical theater, by working with the Melodramatics on their premier production.
BILL ZINSSER (Graphic Designer) attends the college of Engineering as an Information Sciences, Systems and Technology major in his junior year. Although actively involved in theatre and music in high school, this is his first college performance. He has also recently renewed his interest in music as the lead singer/sax player for the Portside Pirates, Cornell’s rockinest ska band. After college he will receive a commission as an Officer in the US Navy, most likely as an aviator. After that, he will pursue his life-long dream of working in the game industry as an artist, producer, or programmer. He aspires to get promoted into game design and hopes to one day own his own company.
SAREN SEELEY (Property Master) is in the 12th grade at the Alternative Community School and plans to attend college to major in musical theatre next year. Previously she has worked with the Cornell Savoyards, the Orange Tree Theatre Company, the Kitchen Theatre and the Hangar Theatre, as well as various school productions.
ROBERT BERG (Lead Creative Consultant) has performed in numerous theatrical productions in middle school, high school, and community-theater, including Alice in Wonderland, Fiddler on the Roof, Barnum, Grease, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Romeo and Juliet, Bye, Bye, Birdie, and The King and I. He was also involved in the school chorus and the Hazamir Chorus with the YM/YWHA of Rockland County. He is currently a senior Liberal Arts major at SUNY Purchase, and is interested in literature, writing, journalism, and film studies. He wants to thank Justin for being a great friend and for always inspiring and pushing him, and his mom for being such a constant source of love and guidance.
ESTHER POLEVOY (Production Assistant) is a junior double majoring in Astronomy and Math in Arts and Sciences. She hails from Ashland, MA, and as a result she is a passionate Red Sox fan. She’d like to congratulate the cast, orchestra, and crew for all of their hard work in putting together an excellent show.
NIKKI DAVIES (Production Assistant) was born and raised in Rockland County, New York. She attended high school at The Frisch School in Paramus, New Jersey. During her senior year, she worked as a technician constructing the set for the school production of Pat Cook’s The Money In Uncle George’s Suitcase. Marissa is now a freshman at Cornell University in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. As an animal science major, Marissa plans on attending veterinary school and eventually opening her own practice. She is very glad to be working with the Melodramatics and looks forward to future productions. Finally, Marissa would like to thank her family and friends, without whom none of this would be possible.