Meet Our

Leadership Team

Founder & Executive Director

Bill Rudman

Bill is a nationally recognized authority on the American musical who supervises all of TMTP’s programming. His radio show, Footlight Parade, is heard locally on WCLV 90.3 and coast-to-coast on 100 other public stations, and on SiriusXM Satellite Radio (under the title On the Aisle). Bill has created more than 130 concerts and cabarets for TMTP’s The Song Is You! and Rendezvous series and has produced recordings of classic American theater and film songs featuring such vocalists as Peggy Lee and Maxine Sullivan. His recent release on the TMTP/Harbinger Records label is “You Are Tomorrow: Rare Songs by Harold Arlen and Martin Charnin,” featuring two-time Grammy Award winner Sylvia McNair and pianist Kevin Cole. Later in 2025 Harbinger will release the newest CD by Steve Ross, the revered elder statesman of New York cabaret artists; it is an all-Sondheim disc. Bill takes particular pride in Kids Love Musicals!, an artist-in-residence program for students in grades K-4 that he co-created in 2006 with Daniel Hahn. In 2000 Bill became the first recipient of the Robert P. Bergman Award for his work in arts education and community outreach.

Nancy

Maier

Associate Artstic Director

Read Bio

Nancy Maier

Associate Artistic Director

Nancy is well known in the Cleveland area as a music director, vocal coach and accompanist. She spent years in New York City honing her skills in these areas along with doing nightclub work as a singer/pianist. Nancy served for many years as music director for the acclaimed Music Theatre Program at Baldwin Wallace University under the direction of Victoria Bussert. She has music directed often for area theaters including Cain Park, Great Lakes Theater, Porthouse Theatre, Cleveland Playhouse, Beck Center for the Arts, Dobama Theatre, Cleveland Musical Theatre, and Karamu House. Most recently, she conducted Jane Eyre (World Premiere Revised Version) for Cleveland Musical Theatre, and The Music Man and Little Shop of Horrors for Great Lakes Theater. Honors include Northern Ohio Live Award nomination (Songs for a New World, Cain Park), Cleveland Critics Circle Award for Best Music Direction (Next to Normal, Beck Center), and Valedictory Prize, Cleveland Institute of Music. She is currently Associate Artistic Director of The Musical Theater Project, where she music directs and serves as cohost/pianist/vocalist for educational concerts and cabarets throughout the area. She has played keyboard in the pit for numerous touring productions at Playhouse Square, where she also accompanies workshops and masterclasses, including preparation for the Dazzle Awards. She has for several years been on staff for ArtsBridge Summer Musical Theater, and recently assisted as an associate music director for the Blossom Music Center/Baldwin Wallace collaboration, The Sound of Music, conducted by Andy Einhorn.

Barbara

Vitcosky

Director of Marketing & Development

Read Bio

Barbara Vitcosky

Director of Marketing & Development

Prior to joining The Musical Theater Project, Barbara served for nine years as director of development for The Wilderness Center, a nonprofit nature center located in Wilmot, OH. She has more than twenty-five years of fund development and marketing communications experience at institutions such as the American Red Cross Santa Clara Valley Chapter, Humane Society Silicon Valley, and Junior Achievement of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Barbara has a BA in Communications from King’s College (PA). She has been involved with the Association of Fundraising Professionals throughout her career and served on the board of the Northeast Pennsylvania Chapter. Barbara was born and raised in northeast Pennsylvania and lived in the California Bay Area but has lived most recently in Wooster, Ohio for more than 10 years. She brings with her a lifelong appreciation of the arts and is especially delighted to be rekindling her love of musical theater.

Ashley

Bernett

Administrative Associate

Read Bio

Ashley Bernett

Administrative Associate

Before joining The Musical Theater Project, Ashley worked for four years at the Girl Scouts of North East Ohio in the membership recruitment department where she developed her skills of event planning, marketing and sales. Her true passion has always been the arts ever since she began acting in musicals at the Fairmount Center for the Arts in Novelty, OH. She continued to participate both on and behind the stage from childhood to college in shows like Mary Poppins, Sweet Charity, and Peter Pan.She is thrilled to combine her love of theater and working in a non-profit. Ashley has a BA in Communications and Theatre Arts with a minor in Creative Writing from John Caroll University.

Camille

Baron

Financial Director

Read Bio

Camille Baron

Financial Director

Camille founded Baron Financial in 1999 and has had a successful career boasting 30-plus years of bookkeeping and accounting experience. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Dayton as well as an M.B.A. from Cleveland State University. Baron Financial performs comprehensive bookkeeping and accounting services for small businesses on the QuickBooks platform and has held many certifications from Intuit. Camille spends her spare time at her camper in Catawba, riding her bike or tending to various woodworking projects.

Jeremy K.

Benjamin

Production Manager/Lighting Designer

Read Bio

Jeremy K. Benjamin

Production Manager/Lighting Designer

Jeremy spent the last 37 years designing lighting for drama, opera, musical theater, dance, cabaret and theme parks. He has designed for Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music, Cleveland Institute of Music Opera Department, Cleveland Metropolitan School District, Dancing Wheels, Great Lakes Theater, Lyric Opera Cleveland, Oberlin Opera Theatre and Department of Theatre and Dance, Ohio Dance Theatre, Opera Cleveland, Pointe of Departure, Stages Repertory Theatre and Verb Ballets. Jeremy currently serves as director of theater/production manager/technical director at Lorain County Community College.

Mark

Logies

Media Supervisor

Read Bio

Mark Logies

Media Supervisor

Mark, the technical supervisor for TMTP’s radio programs, Footlight Parade and On the Aisle, has been a recording engineer for more than 45 years. Among his projects: national blues artists Travis Haddix and Jimmy Landers, jazz performers Bill Gidney and Ed Michaels, and flamenco guitarist (and Juno Award winner) Robert Michaels. He has designed electronic products used in places as diverse as chocolate maker Philadelphia Candies and the space program at NASA. Mark is also a jazz musician.

Andrea

Belser

Kids Love Musicals! Teaching Artist

Read Bio

Andrea Belser

Kids Love Musicals! Teaching Artist

Andrea is a performing artist and instructor who received her BA from Wright State University in theater studies, with an emphasis on dance and applied voice. She continued her studies in various dance forms, including tap, African folk dance, liturgical/spiritual, jazz, musical theter, modern/contemporary, hip-hop and Latin ballroom. Andrea is proficient in acting, singing, stage management, choreography, and costuming.

Eric

Simna

Sound Designer

Read Bio

Eric Simna

Lighting Designer

Eric is a 22-year veteran of the Cleveland theater scene. Having worked for Tri-C, Lakeland Community College, Lorain County Community College, Mercury Theatre Company, Cassidy Theatre, John Carroll University, Heights Youth Theatre and more, he now focuses his energy on his own production company, A440 Sound. Through A440, Eric enjoys making the vision of his clients, such as TMTP, come true.

President, Board of Trustees

Marilyn "Mebby" Brown

Mebby’s record as a community leader is distinguished. A native of Shaker Heights, she has been involved in many civic and community volunteer organizations and Boards including the Musical Arts Association of the Cleveland Orchestra, Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital, Cleveland Play House, Cleveland Botanical Garden and the Chisholm Halle Costume Wing to name a few.

“It is wonderful to be at the helm of this illustrious group,” said Mebby. “Musical theater is one of my passions, and despite the challenges we face in our society, I feel that TMTP, through Bill Rudman’s careful guidance, is ready to forge ahead in new ways. With help and counsel from our many participants, I promise to give 100% of my energy to this unique and nationally respected organization.”

In Bill Rudman's words:

I’ve been a friend of hers for many years—long before Mebby joined us as a trustee. TMTP is about people coming together, enjoying each other’s company, and working together to support an excellent cause: honoring the classic American musical. And the fact is that all of us at The Musical Theater Project feel honored to have Mebby.

Board of Trustees

Lin Bartel
Community/Cultural Leader

Ted Chapin
Retired President, Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization

David Gotwald
Sound System Designer and Former Broadway Sound Engineer

Robbin Garcia
Independent Account, Cleveland Leadership Center

Bill Rudman
Founder & Artistic Director, The Musical Theater Project

Rebecca Storey
Manager of Digital Analysis, Progressive Insurance, Inc.

Emeritus Members

Kathy Coleman
Robert Conrad
Lainie Hadden+
Janet Kramer
Alec Pendleton
Michael Peterman
Janice Robinson
Barbara Schubert
John Schubert+
Steven Schultz
Dean Slejko
Jane Steger
Linda Striefsky
Lorry Szabo
Dan Treadwell
Paul Vincent
Margie Wheeler
Sylvia Yankey

+ Watching Over Us