KATIE VAN CLEAVE (General Manager, President) is a senior in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University, majoring in Atmospheric Science. She has served as Stage Manager for MTC’s productions of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street as well as Andrew Lippa’s The Wild Party and served as General Manager for The Last Five Years, Songs For a New World, and Cabaret. I Love You Because marks her sixth season with the MTC. She would like to thank her ever-supportive family and friends. Congratulations to a wonderfully talented and dedicated cast and crew!

RACHEL MAYER (Assistant General Manager, Stage Manager) is very excited to be working for the MTC for her fourth semester, having previously served as Makeup Artist on company productions of Little Shop Of Horrors, The Last Five Years and Songs For a New World and stage manager for Cabaret. She is a junion at Cornell, majoring in Biology and Society, with a concentration in women’s health. Rachel is also in Kappa Delta Sorority. She would like to thank the directors, Katie and the rest of the company for putting together such an amazing show!

DAVID MUSSELWHITE (Director, Scenic Designer, Lighting Designer) is a senior in Cornell’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations. Hailing from the land of Jimmy Carter, Little Richard, peaches, and peanuts, David has spent the past two years educating Ithacans about the true charm of a Southern gentleman. Past MTC credits include Jamie in The Last Five Years and Assistant Director for Cabaret. Other theatre experience includes three semesters with Anything Goes, Andrei in Anton Chekhov’s The Three Sisters, Robert in David Auburn’s Proof, as well as directing a regional debut of Marsha Norman’s ‘Night, Mother. He would like to thank the MTC staff and crew for being such thoroughly lovely people, and his grandparents for their unending love and support.

JULI KLEIST-MENDEZ (Assistant Director)

ADRIANNE FEDORCHUCK (Music Director) is a senior at Ithaca College, double majoring in Music Education and Vocal Performance. She is delighted to be returning to MTC for this season’s production, having previously been on staff for last spring’s Cabaret. Although she has been a part of numerous musical theatre productions, herself, Adrianne loves being a part of the creative process as well. Working on this show has been an absolute pleasure! Unending praise and thanks go out to the cast and the rest of the staff for being so incredibly talented and wonderful to work with.

JEFF COX (Assistant Music Director) is grateful to be part of a fantastic production team and to have worked with a really awesome cast. A freshman at Cornell from Syracuse, New York, Jeff has been involved in other student organizations including Risley Theatre and Anything Goes. This is his first directing position; in the past he has enjoyed performing in musicals and various ensembles. Recent roles include Dr. Horrible in Risley Theatre's Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, Andrews in a concert version of Titanic and Chad in All Shook Up at the Jamesville-DeWitt High School. He would like to thank the staff for a great first experience in music directing, his music teachers past and present, and his family for their constant support.

NANCY KANE (Choreographer) has been a professional performer, choreographer, and teacher for over twenty years. Her works have been performed in London, New York, Italy, and France, using a wide variety of genres. She recently began working with stage combat and is recognized as an advanced actor combatant by the Society of American Fight Directors. Currently President of the National Dance Association (on leave), she teaches in the musical theatre program at SUNY Cortland and directs the dance program at the Trumansburg Conservatory of Fine Arts. To the cast and crew: as dancers traditionally say, “Merde” (which kind of means “break a leg”) and thanks for letting me be part of this production!

CHRIS TOLBERT (Orchestra Director, Conductor) is currently a senior at Ithaca College majoring in Music Education. As a trumpet player, he is on the substitute list with the Syracuse Symphony Orchestra and is a member of the brass quintet Five Cents Sharp. Conducting has become one of his prevailing interests since his first production with the MTC in the spring of 2007. Since then, his involvement in musical theatre has extended not only to conducting and playing in semi-pro and professional orchestras, but also to arranging and composing for Cornell’s Schwartz Center and other private theater projects. Special thanks to the outstanding MTC staff, looking forward to another year of making great music!

JEFF PALEY (Technical Director), hailing from Cincinnati, OH, is a Senior at Cornell University studying biological engineering. He built sets in his high school theater, and has worked in the Schwartz center scene shop since his freshman year. This is his fourth season with the MTC.

CHRIS WOOD (Director of Marketing)

JESSICA WESTON (Director of Photography, Graphic Designer) is a senior English major and photography minor at Ithaca College, originally from Western New York. She is also in her third semester at The Actor’s Workshop of Ithaca, where she studies the technique of Sanford Meisner under the inspiring direction of Katie Spallone. I Love You Because marks Jessica’s second production with the MTC, having performed in Cabaret. She has previously performed in George M!, Guys and Dolls, Bye Bye Birdie, and How to Succeed In Business Without Really Trying. Jessica would like to thank her family and friends for supporting her in everything she does and is so excited to have the opportunity of sharing this experience with such a wonderful cast and crew!

ELIZABETH WHEELER (Costume Designer)

BRYAN BOTTI (Property Master) is really excited for his fifth MTC production, having performed in MTC’s Andrew Lippa’s The Wild Party, Little Shop Of Horrors, Cabaret, and having directed MTC’s The Last Five Years. He is a sophomore Biology major, premed, at Cornell University. He has been in various shows back home in Livingston, NJ as well as here in Ithaca. He’d like to thank the MTC for this opportunity.

ANDERS BENSON (Scenic Artist) is a Junior in the Hotel School at Cornell and plans to one day be a chef. He is a self-declared Renaissance man and enjoys creating in all forms. He has helped MTC produce shows since his freshman year and designed Audrey II for Little Shop Of Horrors, served as Scenic Designer for The Last Five Years and Songs For a New World, and Assistant Scenic Designer for Cabaret.

TIM FASANO (Production Assistant), originally from North Haven, CT, is currently a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences at Cornell University, majoring in English and Psychology, with a concentration in biopsychology. MTC credits include The Wild Party (Eddie), Little Shop Of Horrors (Mushnik), Cabaret (Ernst Ludwig), and Songs For a New World (Stage Manager). Past credits include Rumors (Ernie), Twelfth Night (Toby Belch), and The Tempest (Caliban). Tim can currently be seen in Romeo and Juliet (Paris) at Cornell University’s Schwartz Center. He would like to thank all MTC members, new and old, for their enthusiasm and dedication.

ROBERT BERG (Senior Copywriter) has been involved in the MTC since its first production of Assassins and has since performed such varied company roles as Lead Creative Consultant, Associate Producer and Dramaturg. Robert holds a Masters in Theatre History and Criticism from CUNY Brooklyn and a Bachelors in Liberal Studies from SUNY Purchase. He is also the proud co-founder and co-president of Striking Prose, Inc., a professional freelance copywriting company. Additionally, he is a reviewer and has been published in David Hofstede's "5000 Episodes and No Commercials: The Ultimate Guide to TV Shows on DVD 2007." Robert currently lives in New York, NY, with his partner and somewhere around 400 DVDs and 500 books.