A NOTE OF THANKS FROM THE PRODUCING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

The Oberlin Summer Theater Festival is closing its doors and will not be offering a 2020 summer season. Nagging fiscal and staffing problems, that we’ve found increasingly challenging to overcome, have finally come to a head and made the operation unsustainable.

A group of us started OSTF in 2009 as an experiment. It had a clear mission:

to present professional productions of great masterpieces of our Theater heritage in rotating repertory; to make admission free, so we could attract a diverse audience of all ages and socio-economic backgrounds; to develop a core company of talented theater artists (including Oberlin alumni) and to provide a professional venue for OC’s Theater Department; to develop a business model that treated all artists in the company as equitably as possible, while minimizing administrative expenses; and, to bring people to Oberlin during the summer months, to enjoy not just our shows, but our small town setting, shops and restaurants.

I believe we were able to accomplish all of these goals. By 2018, our total season audience was just shy of 13,000 – about 80% of whom were from out of town, and well over 40% from beyond Lorain County.

My personal goal was to run OSTF for 10 years. And now, after 11 seasons (during which we produced 32 plays, 20 of which I directed) it is time for me to move on to other endeavors. This has truly been a labor of love for me, and so the decision to close the Theater was extremely difficult. I am very proud of the artistic work that our company did over these seasons. I will forever cherish the collaborations and deep friendships that have developed in the company. Every summer, a family of actors, designers and technicians worked tirelessly to make these productions happen. Eventually up to 50 people in the company per season! I can’t possibly list them all, but I want to highlight those who participated over multiple summers.

Our very first season, in 2009, was launched by a core group of Theater professionals, most of whom continued with the company for years:

Karen Nelson Moser (AEA Actor – 10 seasons),

David Bugher (Actor, 10 seasons),

Matthew Wright (AEA Actor– 9 seasons),

Joe Natt (Technical Director – 11 seasons),

Justin Emeka (OC’98, AEA Actor, and SDC Director - 3 seasons),)

Kate McGee (’08, Lighting Designer - 3 seasons),

Alexis McNab (’01, Actor, Puppet Builder, and Director - 3 seasons),

Rebecca Balmer (’09, Associate Producer).

Many area actors have joined our acting company, some for multiple seasons, including:

Debra Rose (8 seasons),

Dave Cotton (7 seasons),

Pete Ferry (OC ’72, AEA, 7 seasons),

Katie Deboer (AEA, 4 seasons),

Tracey Field (AEA, 4 seasons),

Darryl Lewis (AEA 3 seasons),

Erin Bunting (3 seasons),

David Munnell (3 seasons),

Teresa DeBerry (3 seasons),

Andrew Knode (3 seasons),

Neil Thackaberry (AEA, 2 seasons),

Marc Moritz (AEA, 2 seasons),

Skip Corris (AEA 2 seasons),

John Polk (3 seasons),

Laura Starnik (3 seasons),

Gregory James (2 seasons),

Mike Frye (2 seasons),

Allen OReilly (AEA)

and Peter Lawson Jones (AEA).

OSTF could not have gotten off the ground without on-going-collaborations with artists from other Theater programs in NE Ohio; in particular-

Jeremy Benjamin (Lighting Designer – 9 seasons) and April Rock (Costume Designer – 6 seasons) both from Lorain County Community College;

Suzie Campbell (Costume Designer) and all her MFA Costume Design students from Kent State Univ. (including Kerry McCarthy);

and many talented students from Case Western Reserve’s MFA Acting program, thanks to their director, Donald Carrier.

Several other Oberlin faculty and staff have joined us over the years:

Holly Handman (Choreographer and Director),

Joanne Steggall (Head Scenic Artist),

Laura Carlson-Tarantowski (Set Designer),

Caroline Jackson Smith (Director),

Chris Flaharty (Cabaret Director),

Anton Crooks (TD/Electrician),

Janie Spencer (Electrician).

and Deb Zvosec (Bookeeper).

There are many Oberlin Alumni who have participated in various capacities; those who did for multiple seasons include:

Joey Rizzolo (’98, Actor/Fight Choreographer/Director – 6 seasons),

Nicholas Sweeney (’00, Actor/Director – 2 seasons),

Cat Miller (’02, Director),

Aaron Mucciolo (’02, Actor - 4 seasons)

Jes Bedwinek (’05, Actor),

Carolyn Mratz (’05, Set Designer),

Clare McNulty (’07, Actor),

Darylle Johnson (’07, Actor),

Courtney Merrell (’08, Actor - 2 seasons),

Derrick Bean (’09, Actor),

Meg Lindsey (’09, Production Stage Manager – 2 seasons),

Alex Huntsberger (’09, Actor – 3 seasons),

Benjamin Sandberg (’10, ATD/TD and Actor – 6 seasons),

Donnie Sheldon (’10, Actor 2 seasons),

Tip Scarry (’11, Actor - 2 seasons),

Ebony Burton (’11, ME & Lighting Design - 3 seasons),

Anya Kazimierski (’11, Set Design/Actor - 3 seasons),

Billy Ferrer (’12, Actor/AD – 2 seasons),

Marina Shay (’12, Actor – 3 seasons),

Aaron Profumo (’12, Actor - 2 seasons),

Ralph Johnson (’12, Actor – 2 seasons),

Atty Siegel (’12, Actor – 2 seasons),

Eleanor Philips (’12, Actor - 2 seasons and all our web/graphics/poster designs),

Julia Perez (’13, Production Stage Manager - 3 seasons),

Llewie Nunez (‘13, Actor – 2 seasons),

Sam Fisher (’14, Sound Designer/Composer – 5 seasons),

Michael Cunningham (’14, Actor and Lighting Design- 2 seasons),

Zack Weinberg (’14, Director/Actor/Associate Producer – 3 seasons),

Colin Wulff (’14, Actor – 3 seasons),

Charlie Spears (’14, Video/Musician – 2 seasons),

Nate Krasner (’14, Actor – 2 seasons)

Hannah Montgomery (’14, Stage Manager – 2 seasons),

Annie Winneg (’15, Actor and Associate Producer – 3 seasons),

Jordan Golding (’15, Actor/Musician – 4 seasons),

Minor Cline (’15, Actor – 2 seasons)

Axande Oge (’16, Actor – 3 seasons)

Katy Early (’16, Actor/Director – 2 seasons)

Noah Guthman (’16, ATD – 2 seasons)

Olivia DeToma (’17, SM and Video – 2 seasons)

Ti Ames (’19, Actor – 2 seasons)

Hanna Shykind (’19, Actor – 2 seasons)

Paige Baskin (’19, Actor – 2 seasons)

Casey McKinney (’19, Actor – 2 seasons)



Numerous people at various offices of Oberlin College have cheerfully and faithfully supported OSTF every year – in Human Resources, Payroll, Conference Services, Facilities (especially our custodians!), Printing Services, Security and more.

Special thanks to former President of Oberlin, Marvin Krislov, for buying into my original “pitch” and standing behind this “gift to the community” even when resources got thin. Even more special thanks to Pamela Snyder (Executive Director of Foundation, Government and Corporate Grants) who was instrumental in making OSTF a reality; she’s been a true partner in sustaining OSTF as long as we possibly could.

There have been several funders who have generously backed OSTF every year – primarily, The Nord Family Foundation, the Nordson Corporation Foundation, the Ohio Arts Council, and the City of Oberlin. And of course, Oberlin College & Conservatory.

But most importantly, we are all very honored that so many in the community, supported our shows as patrons (and as donors), returning year after year, and bringing an ever expanding audience to celebrate our summer theater tradition. I know that the actors always felt that our OSTF audience was very unique – as demonstrated through your wonderful ovations and kind words.

Thank you for supporting our artistic work!

Paul Moser

Producing Artistic Director, OSTF (2009 – 2019)