Directed by Patrick Ciamacco
Music Direction by Oliver Deak
Choreography by Katie Gibson
Stage Managed by Abbey Marshall
Costume Design by Jenniver Sparano
Set Design by Patrick Ciamacco
Lighting and Projection Design by Patrick Ciamacco
CAST
Calvin Adkins (Ensemble) is overjoyed to be back onstage for Rocky! Calvin’s recent credits include She Loves Me (Arpad), Bat Boy: The Musical (Bud, Pan), Five Times in One Night (Adam, Djuna U/S), The Little Mermaid (Scuttle), The Last Starfighter (Jerry, Beta Double, G’nur, others) at Blank Canvas Theatre, and many others. In his spare time, Calvin is a cartoonist, writer, musician, and all-around silly guy. He is also an Oberlin College graduate, a Master’s student at Kent State University, and an employee of the Cleveland Heights Public Library and the Cleveland Museum of Art. Huge thanks to the cast, the crew, and the amazing friends and family who are always there for their pal, Cal!
Steve Brown (Paulie) is excited to make his debut with Blank Canvas Theatre. He is a veteran of 100+ local productions, with favorite roles including Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman, Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls, Professor Plum in Clue: The Musical, Oscar in The Odd Couple and Max Bialystock in The Producers. Steve works in Radio with 93.1FM and Z107.9 FM and enjoys Civil War history, traveling, and all things Cleveland sports. Love to Pamela and the family we share...and thanks to Patrick and the staff for the opportunity!
Nicole Coury (Ensemble) is excited to be back on the Blank Canvas Theatre stage! She was last seen at BCT in American Psycho (Vanden). Some of her favorite performance credits elsewhere include I’m Alive … and Always Will Be (Lang) with Nightbloom Theatre Company, Aida (ensemble/fight captain) at Karamu House, Ada and the Engine (Ada Byron) at Clague Playhouse, and every iteration of Bedroom Culture (Mia)! She would like to thank all the friends, fellow artists, teachers, and family who have supported her. Love always to Zach.
Carolyn Demanelis (Adrian) is thrilled for her first show at Blank Canvas Theatre! She holds an M.F.A. in Acting from The University of Virginia and a B.A. in Theatre from The University of Notre Dame. Locally, she has worked at convergence-continuum, Beck Center for the Arts, Dobama Theatre, Cleveland Shakespeare Festival, and Rubber City Theatre. Carolyn’s Ohio credits include As You Like It (Rosalind), Grounded (The Pilot), The Eight (Vixen), In the Next Room… (Catherine Givings), Dance Nation (Vanessa/Moms), Elf The Musical (Emily Hobbs), After the Blast (Anna), Log Cabin (Pam), Neighborhood 3… (Mother Types), Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train (Mary Jane), The View Upstairs (Inez), Winnie-The-Pooh (Pooh), Prima Donna (Irene Adler), Mamma Mia! (Tanya). Her regional credits of note include Summer & Smoke (Alma, Virginia Repertory Theatre), Macbeth (Lady Macbeth, Wit Theatre Company of Denver), and Our Town (Stage Manager, University of Virginia). All her love to Zach, Tiernan, Marlowe, Granne, and Ladybird.
Matt Deus (Apollo Creed) is ecstatic to be making his debut at Blank Canvas Theatre to play the Master of Disaster himself, Apollo Creed! Matt's theater career started in 2018 as an ensemble member of shows like Spring Awakening, Chess, Big Fish, and 9 to 5 The Musical; his recent credits include RENT (Angel), Gypsy (Tulsa), Kinky Boots (Angel), Anything Goes (Ship Captain), and Beauty and the Beast (Gaston). Matt wants to thank his amazing family, his friends, the cast, vocal teacher Emily Ortolano, Patrick Ciamacco for this awesome opportunity, Tim Valenti for believing in him as both a person and a boyfriend, and his best friend, Paola Ayala, for always pushing him to be the actor he has always wanted to be.
Amani Green (Ensemble) is very excited to be in her first production at Blank Canvas Theatre! Her recent credits include The Music Man (Maud Dunlop), Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella (Madame), and The Little Mermaid (Jetsam), all at Near West Theatre. She hopes you enjoy the show!
John Lynch (Mickey) is happy to be part of this talented cast. Past roles include (Mr. Greenway) in Elf The Musical at Beck Center for the Arts, Polonius in Hamlet with Cleveland Shakespeare Festival, and Dr. Mudd in a staged concert of Infamous the Musical. He has performed at other local venues including Cleveland Public Theater, Karamu House, Cain Park, The Jewish Community Center, and the Ensemble Theater. He thanks you for supporting the arts.
Jillian Mesaros (Ensemble) is so happy to be back at Blank Canvas Theatre for this Cleveland premiere! Her recent BCT credits include Peter and the Starcatcher (Prentiss) and American Psycho (Victoria). Other recent credits include People, Places and Things (Laura) at the Kennedy Theatre in Playhouse Square, Petal Pitches (Petal) at Dobama Theatre, and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at Beck Center. Jillian would like to thank this dedicated cast and production team, her friends for keeping her alive (and fed) during show, her family for their never-ending support, and all of you for supporting live theatre. Welcome to South Philly!
Allison Naso (Ensemble) is thrilled to be returning to the Blank Canvas Theatre stage, having previously appeared in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Ensemble). Her favorite credits include 42nd Street (Dorothy Brock), The Sound of Music (Elsa Schraeder), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Domina), Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Narrator), and Company (Amy). Allison has also served as a director, music director, and accompanist for a number of theatre productions across the region. Big thanks to Patrick for this opportunity! To her husband, Mike: more.
Yoson Porter (Ensemble) is very excited to be a part of the ensemble in Rocky. His debut in the local acting scene came in Euclid High School’s production of The SpongeBob Musical as Squidward Tentacles.
Sullivan Ratcliff (Ensemble) is psyched to be back at Blank Canvas Theatre for this production of Rocky. Sullivan was most recently seen on stage as Peter in BCT’s production of Peter and the Starcatcher. Other recent roles include Luke Sanderson in The Haunting of Hill House, Jetsam in The Little Mermaid, and Actor 1 in Baskerville: a Sherlock Holmes Mystery. He would like to dedicate his performance to Lou Champa, his Golden Gloves great-grandfather who taught him to throw his first punch. He would also like to thank his father, Joe, who introduced him to the Rocky films at a young age.
Katie Remark (Ensemble) is so excited to be making her Blank Canvas Theatre debut in the Cleveland premiere of Rocky! Some of her most recent credits include Matilda the Musical (Mrs. Phelps) at Theatre 8:15, Mamma Mia! (Ensemble) at Carnation City Players, and You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (Sally) at Walsh University. By day, Katie works in development at Playhouse Square. This year, she graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with her Master of Arts Management degree. In her free time, she can be found spending time with friends and family, building Lego, and hanging out with her kitten, Meatball. Enjoy the show!
Michael Snider (Rocky Balboa) is excited to be a part of bringing such an iconic story to the stage, and to return to Blank Canvas Theatre, where he has previously been seen in Kiss of the Spiderwoman (Valentin) and Floyd Collins (Floyd), as well as in benefit and drive-in performances. In recent years, he has performed in local productions of If/Then (Josh), It’s a Wonderful Life (George Bailey), Next to Normal (Dan), Beauty and the Beast (Beast), and Big Fish (Edward Bloom). Michael has a degree in Chemical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University, with a minor in Music (in partnership with the Cleveland Institute of Music), and an M.B.A. from Ashland University. He would like to thank Patrick for this incredible opportunity, and he sends all his love to Trinidad, Kirstin, Colin, Dylan, and Michaela!
Sydney Noelle Warren (Ensemble) is excited to appear in her second show at Blank Canvas Theatre. She is a graduate of Baldwin Wallace University with a B.A. in Film Studies and a minor in Theater. She has a thorough background in music, film, and theater. Sydney has performed a variety roles in shows before and after college including Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella (Cinderella), Hair (Shelia Franklin), Little Shop of Horrors (Chiffon), and, most recently, Head Over Heels (Gynecia). After four years in Cleveland, Sydney is super-excited to work with Pat, the rest of the cast, and all of the creative folks at BCT! She’s never seen a bad show here and hopes that you all enjoy this one!!
STAFF
Patrick Ciamacco (Director, Projection, Lighting and Set Design) is so excited to be back and directing on the Blank Canvas Theatre stage and working with people he loves and respects! Patrick is the Artistic Director and founder of BCT. He dedicates this show to the person sitting in the third row, fifth seat from the left.
Oliver Deak (Music Director) is thrilled to return to Blank Canvas Theatre, having most recently music directed Zombie Prom. Now in his eighth year of music direction/ keyboard work and seventh year of vocal coaching, Oliver has credits including performances at Karamu House, the Rock + Roll Hall of Fame, the Mimi Ohio Theatre at Playhouse Square, The Ohio State University, Weathervane Playhouse, and other local Cleveland and Columbus venues. Recent music direction credits include Spring Awakening at BCT, The Rocky Horror Show at LCC, The Addams Family at Near West Theatre, and The Last Five Years at OSU.
Katie Gibson (Choreographer) first got involved on stage at Blank Canvas Thatre when she played Terry in Extremities. She began choreographing at BCT with the next show, Triassic Parq: The Musical. Since then, she has choreographed most of the musicals you have seen here at BCT!
Abbey Marshall (Stage Manager) is a writer, actor and journalist in Cleveland. A Cincinnati native and Ohio University graduate, she is now a local government reporter for Cleveland's NPR affiliate, WKSU/Ideastream Public Media. Abbey’s favorite recent projects include Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Anthony) and Avenue Q (Kate Monster) at the Akron Civic Theatre and Peter and the Starcatcher (Mrs. Bumbrake) at Blank Canvas Theatre. This is her second time stage managing at Blank Canvas, and she hopes you enjoy this knockout production. Thanks to the cast and crew!
Jenniver Sparano (Costume Designer) has designed costumes for numerous shows at Blank Canvas Theatre, the most recent being the world premiere of comma. Elsewhere, her costume creations have been seen at Beck Center, Clague Playhouse, Cleveland Public Theatre, Cleveland Shakespeare Festival, Dobama Theatre, Ensemble Theatre, Mamai Theatre, Weathervane Playhouse, the Rocket Mortgage Field House, and the Pickwick & Frolic cabaret stage. In addition to her costume work, she is proud to co-produce an annual musical production to benefit the AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland. A Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Mount Holyoke College, Jenniver is employed by KeyBank and would like to remind everyone in the audience how amazing and handsome Patrick is. Seriously, if you are a single, hetero woman, you should date him.