KATIE VAN CLEAVE (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 (General Manager, Stage Manager) is a junior in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, majoring in Biology and Society and Education. This is her fifth season with MTC, and her third as stage manager. She made that choice when she realized that being super organized (read OCD) could be put to great use! Beyond Melodramatics, she is a member of Kappa Delta Sorority, of which she was the philanthropy chair last year. She is very excited to be with the company, and would like to thank the cast and crew for their stupendous efforts this semester on this gargantuan show!

BRYAN BOTTI (Director) is really excited for his sixth 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.

JEFF COX (Musical 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. 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.

CHRIS TOLBERT (Pit Director) 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 theater has extended not only to conducting and playing in semi-pro and professional pit 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!

MELINDA ZOEPHEL (Technical Director/Scenic Designer)

CHRIS WOOD (Director of Marketing)

JESSICA WESTON (Director of Photography) 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)

WEI LI SHI (Lighting Designer)

LAO OWENS (Makeup Designer)

ANDRE VALEZQUEZ (Graphic Designer)

TIM FASANO (Property Master), 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), and Cabaret (Ernst Ludwig). 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.