Family

Biographies

Raymond Bobgan (Executive Artistic Director)
Raymond Bobgan was Acting Artistic Director of CPT (1995-1997) and served as Associate Artistic Director, Education Director and Resident Director at various times in the theatre’s history, most recently from 2004-06. Bobgan specializes in creating new work through an ensemble-driven process. He was the founding artistic Director of Wishhounds (aka Theatre Labyrinth) and has directed and collaboratively conceived/created over twenty new theatrical works. Recent creations include:  Blue Sky Transmission, A Tibetan Book of the Dead, co-produced by CPT and La Mama ETC (NY), which was a recipient of a Rockefeller MAP Fund Grant, and The Confessions of Punch and Judy, co-produced by CPT, NaCl (NY) and Number 11 Theatre (Toronto), which continues to tour periodically throughout the US, Canada, and Europe. Raymond directed CPT’s recent production of Thornton Wilder’s Our Town, as well as Tennessee Williams’ Summer and Smoke and Wilder’s The Skin of Our Teeth. Bobgan initiated, designed and implemented numerous educational programs including CPT’s STEP program and the Y-Haven Theatre Project. Raymond’s theatrical work has been featured in American Theatre Magazine, Canadian Theatre Review, Theatre Journal, and in Lisa Wolford’s book Grotowski’s Objective Drama Research, and has been seen in Romania, Brazil, Denmark, Serbia, The United Kingdom, and Canada. He is an alumnus of Theatre Communications Group/Pew Charitable Trust’s National Theatre Artist Residency Program and the TCG/NEA Career Development Program for Directors. Bobgan was a participant and group leader in Jerzy Grotowski’s Objective Drama Research Program at the University of California – Irvine, and is a yearly guest director at Humber College in Toronto where he co-directs a four to eight week intensive on creating original, ensemble-driven works of theatre.

Mindy Childress Herman (Communications Director)
Mindy Herman is a marketing professional with over 10 years of experience in the communications industry. Prior to joining the staff of Cleveland Public Theatre, she was Account Supervisor at a number of small advertising agencies in Cleveland and Philadelphia, most recently Desberg and Associates, Inc. Her client base has been varied, with a focus on education, technology, business to business, retail and industrial/manufacturing. Her specialties include public relations, branding, copy writing, developing and launching new products, trade show development, strategic planning, interactive media development and branding/marketing consultancy. Herman received a BA in Theatre and Communications from Antioch College in Yellow Springs, Ohio and has participated in several continuing education programs for industry professionals. Herman also brings a theatre perspective, having worked for a dozen area theatres as a performer, director, stage manager, staff member and board member. She directed the critically-acclaimed site specific tours of Spoon River Anthology and Lone Star and produced the award-winning tours of Glengarry Glen Ross, Waiting for Lefty and Absurdity in the Streets for Charenton Theatre Company, where she served as Producing Director from 2003-2005. At Cleveland Public Theatre, she has directed David Sedaris’ The Santaland Diaries and AtTENtion Span: A Festival of 10-Minute Plays.

Judith Ross (Development Director)
has served in her present role since April 2002 and was Coordinator of Grants in 2001. Ross has been associated with CPT since 1994 when she joined the Board of Directors. A New York City native, Ross received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Brooklyn College and a Masters degree from the University of Pennsylvania. She lived and worked in Philadelphia before coming to Cleveland in 1990 to take an administrative position. Ross has published extensively in the social work literature and served a term as editor-in-chief of Health and Social Work, a scholarly journal. She has also worked as a consultant, developed numerous successful programs and designed and managed an array of foundation and government grant funded projects in the US and abroad. Ross developed CPT’s successful and well-recognized fundraising event, Pandemonium, which each year, draws many new supporters to the organization.

Chris Seibert (Education Director)

A playwright, director and performer, Chris holds a BA in Theatre and Women’s Studies from Loyola University Chicago. While living in Chicago, Chris performed with such groups as the site-specific performance collective SMaK Attack, Redmoon Puppet Theatre, and Jellyeye Drum Theatre. Her solo performance, Split (Links Hall) earned Critic’s Choice in the Chicago Reader and her first play A Young Tired was showcased in the Chicago Women’s Theatre Alliance New Plays Festival. She has performed in a wide variety of traditional and non-traditional performance venues in Chicago and Cleveland including Daley Plaza, Navy Pier, Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago), the Cleveland Playhouse, and Cleveland Public Theatre. Chris is a recipient of a Chicago CAAP Grant for interdisciplinary performance, and her co-written screenplay entitled Moon Tooth was a semi-finalist in the 2001 Chesterfield Screenwriting Competition (LA).

Prior to becoming Director of Education, Chris served (and continues to serve) as the Director of CPT’s Student Theatre Enrichment Program (STEP). Working collaboratively with Cleveland inner-city teens, Chris has co-directed/created eight STEP original works, including an adaptation of Federico Garcia Lorca’s Blood Wedding, a new play entitled The Young Blood Hungers based on the works of Harlem Renaissance writer Marita Bonner, and the original hip-hop satire Bliss. Chris also works directly with women in recovery through CPT’s Women’s Voices Project, a program offered in partnership with the Elyria YWCA’s Campus Project. Women’s Voices uses theatre to equip formerly homeless women with skills in writing and public speaking, resulting in evening-length showcases of original poetry and stories performed by the women. Through these programs and through CPT’s other Education projects—Y-Haven Theatre Project (serving men in recovery) and Brick City Theatre (serving children residents of CMHA public housing estates)—Chris facilitates the creation, production and tour of 6 to 8 original theatre works each season.

Denis M. Griesmer (General Manager)
Denis Griesmer has served in this role for the past four years but has also served in a variety of artistic and managerial staff positions at CPT since fall of 2001. Denis is also the Director of the Y-Haven/CPT Performance Project, one of CPT’s adult outreach programs. The Performance Project collaborates with residents of Y-Haven’s Addiction Treatment Program to create an original play based on their personal experiences. Notable artistic roles also include Associate Producer for CPT's original production, Blue Sky Transmission: A Tibetan Book of the Dead. Denis brings 15 years of theatre management and project management consulting to his role at CPT. A graduate of the Northwestern University School of Speech Theatre Program, Denis was Production Manager and then Associate Producer for San Francisco's acclaimed Pickle Family Circus. He later worked as Production Coordinator on major feature films by Cleveland writer Joe Eszterhaus including Telling Lies in America and Burn, Hollywood, Burn. Just before joining CPT, Griesmer spent three years at IBM Global Services as an associate project manager working with clients like Kmart, Graybar Electric and Cole Vision.

Curtis L. Young (Technical Director/Production Manager)
Curtis L. Young joined the Cleveland Public Theatre production staff in 2007. A Youngstown native, Curtis is a graduate of Ashland University holding a BA in Theatre and Philosophy. Prior to arriving at Cleveland Public Theatre, Curtis was the Assistant Technical Director for The Cleveland Playhouse and a Technical Assistant at The Beck Center for the Cultural Arts. Curtis has also worked with many Northeast Ohio theatre companies including: Playhouse Square, Stambaugh Auditorium (Youngstown, Ohio), Oakland Center for the Arts (Youngstown, Ohio), Power’s Auditorium (Youngstown, Ohio) Weathervane Playhouse, Kaliope Theatre, Mercury Summer Stock, Clague Playhouse, Ensemble Theatre, Elyria Summer Theatre, Near West Theatre, Rocky River Community Theatre, East Side Cleveland Jewish Community Center and Cuyahoga Community College (Eastern Campus). Curtis also worked with the IATSE Stage-Hand’s Union with the locals in Youngstown and Sharon, PA handling concerts and national touring production all over Northeast Ohio and Western and Central Pennsylvania. Notably, Curtis was also the Technical Director for the 2006 Ingenuity Festival in downtown Cleveland and the acting Technical Director for the 2006 Fusion Festival held at The Cleveland Playhouse. Curtis is also an accomplished actor having performed in over 70 productions in the last 14 years.

Beth Wood (Executive Assistant)
After appearing on the Cleveland Public Theatre stage for the past five years, Ms. Wood recently joined the CPT staff as Executive Assistant to the Executive Artistic Director. An actress and educator, she holds a BA in Communications and Theatre from John Carroll University. A former Actor-Teacher for Great Lakes Theater Festival, Ms. Wood now teaches a variety of theatre and acting courses at Lakeland Community College and The Beck Center. Beyond education and performance, she has also served as the Technical Director for John Carroll University, Lakeland Theatre, and Stagecrafters. CPT stage credits include Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Mrs. Bob Cratchet’s Wild Christmas Binge, A Bright Room Called Day, Fefu and Her Friends, Our Town and PULP.

Rebecca Bash (Development Associate)

Sean Higgins (Graphic Design)
Sean has served as the graphic designer for CPT since 2004. In addition to his work at the theatre, Higgins is also a partner in The Bubble Process, a New York based design firm that works with various entertainment and fashion based clients including The Love Brigade, Dave Matthews Band and Fuled By Ramen Records. In his time away from CPT, Higgins also works as a freelance illustrator, working with numerous editorial clients including Resonance and Skyscraper magazines. Graduating from Kent State University in 2005, Higgins moved back to Cleveland to pursue a design and illustration career in his hometown. Higgins has had his work featured in CMYK Magazine a juried design/illustration publication.

Edward A. Sotelo (Box Office Manager and Volunteer Coordinator)
Near West Side native Edward Ángel Sotelo is a graduate of St. Ignatius High School and Vassar College. His previous credits include Editorial Assistant at the Cleveland Free Times, and Assistant Manager at live music venue Beachland Ballroom and Tavern. He still works as a freelance writer and performing musician.

David Ellison, A.I.A. (Project Architect of The Gordon Square Theatre)
David Ellison was trained at the Cooper Union in New York City and has practiced architecture in Cleveland since 1987. He was the set designer for CPT's Marat/Sade, Kitchen Table U., Street Sense and Measure for Measure.

James A. Levin (Founder of Cleveland Public Theatre)
Award-winning director, playwright and producer, James A. Levin founded the Cleveland Public Theatre in 1982, bringing innovative off-off Broadway-style theatre to Cleveland after three years with Dario D'Ambresio's Pathological Theatre Company in residence at Cafe LaMama in New York City. He has envisioned, launched and supervised the renovations of both the James Levin Theatre and Gordon Square Theatre. He has launched many regionally recognized projects such as the New Plays Festival, Danceworks, the Performance Art Festival, The American Indian Festival and Vaudeville. He has produced most of the work at CPT since its inception and all of the Shakespeare productions. Directing credits include Atomic Vaudeville, Marat/Sade, Beirut, Dolores Rain, The Sam Shepard Festival, and Killer Joe. Except in the courtroom, he has not acted for several years, the last major part being the title role in The Triumphant Return of Blackbird Flynt by Peter Ullian. He has written lyrics for various rock bands and for theatre productions including Lysistrata 2085, Marat/Sade and Star Wares and Let the Knowing Speak, a jazz cantata featuring Jon Hendricks, Jackie Byard and Phil Wilson. Writing credits include Star Wares (a rock musical in collaboration with Linda Eisenstein), which won a fellowship from the Ohio Arts Council and CPT's late night satire, The Titanic, the true story. Born in Cleveland, James graduated from Shaker Hts. High, the University of Michigan, and CWRU law school.