Our Mission

Olmsted Performing Arts' mission is to instruct, develop, and advance acting, music, and dance skills, to edify and positively affect all individuals involved in our organization, and to motivate staff, students, and volunteers to work at their best ability. We seek to serve the community with quality and affordable entertainment and to create a safe environment. Our practices are designed to build character, build confidence, build relationships, and encourage creative expression. Our goal is to operate a successful organization without compromising our values.

History

Olmsted Performing Arts began with theater classes held at the Olmsted Community Center in 2003 culminating in its first production, The Sound of Music, that summer. Soon after, shows began to sell out, and it was obvious that a bigger space was needed. Auditions and rehearsals are still held at the Olmsted Community Center, but performances have been held at River Church since summer, 2005. OPA is thrilled to be able to use River's state-of-the-art theater which holds 1200 people.

Since its beginning, OPA has grown to attract over 100 youth at each audition, a staff of 12-15 people, a crew of wonderful volunteers, and a growing audience. Its focus has been, and will continue to be, a solid program that strives to focus on the kids who participate and to constantly provide them with an experience in keeping with its mission statement.

Contact

(440) 465-3355 · Olmsted Performing Arts · PO Box 38265 · Olmsted Falls · Ohio · 44138

Need customer service assistance? Contact Toni Fenimore.

Interested in working with Olmsted Performing Arts? Email your résumé to Angela Boehm.

Our Staff

Click on the name of a staff member to contact via email.

Angela Boehm Artistic Director, Main Stage Director
	Angela Boehm is no stranger to the stage. She started young, performing in her high school theater program, at The Beck Center for the Arts, and at Huntington Playhouse. She attended a college in Albany, NY and Tri-C in Parma. She has directed shows for Olmsted Performing Arts since 2003. She is passionate about musical theater and loves working with children and young adults. She would like to thank God for her family and for the many people who support her career. "I never imagined OPA would get so far so fast; it has been a wonderful experience! I love everything about our theater and am excited to see where we are going. Our biggest goal for the future is to have our own facility, where we can have main stage productions for youth and adults. We also hope to offer classes for instrumentalists and other fine arts. We have big dreams that may be a distance away, but we are determined to get there and to have fun in the process."
Aaron Calafato Acting Instructor
	Aaron Calafato, born in Berea, Ohio, is also a native of Medina, Ohio. Aaron is a Bowling Green State University Theater/Film Alumnus who has been training and working as an actor for the last three years in New York City. Aaron professionally trained at HB studio and most recently, at the Michael Howard Studios Conservatory Program. He has performed in Television (The Bronx is Burning), NYC Theater (The Maderati, Shadows, Relative Insanity), New Jersey Regional Theater (The Glass Menagerie), Independent films (No Faces, Forgotten Promise), and as a voice-over artist. Aaron was directed in a staged reading by, acting guru, Larry Moss at the Producers Club in New York City. Some of his former instructors include Austin Pendleton (My Cousin Vinny, A Beautiful Mind), Olympia Dukakis (Moonstruck, Steel Magnolias), and Karl Bury (The Majestic, Brotherhood). Regionally, Aaron played Karl Lindner in Lorrain Hansberry's, A Raisin in the Sun at the Civic Center in Cleveland Heights. Local actor and playwright Nina Domingue (Glover) directed the play. Aaron has been constructing, writing, and developing a solo piece entitled, You Can See the World from Cleveland. He was commissioned to perform the reading through the Cleveland Public Theater's "Little Box Program". In February, he will be directed by Terrence Spivey in The Great White Hope portraying District Attorney Cameron at Karamu in Cleveland, Ohio. Aaron also serves as an acting instructor at Solon Center for the Arts, and is a teaching artist for Weathervane Playhouse as part of its theater outreach program.
Judy Crandall Vocal Music Director
	Judy Crandall has been a music educator in the public schools for the past twenty-eight years. She began teaching in Maple Heights before becoming the director of the Olmsted Falls Middle School choral program. Over the next nineteen years, she taught students in the building which is now the police station and community center. She then took over the High School choral program where she directs the Chorale, Treble Choir, Concert Choir, Mens Ensemble, and the Vocal Jazz Ensemble. Choirs under her direction have earned consistent high ratings at district and state level adjudicated events and several groups have been invited to perform at state music education conventions. She is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, the International Association of Jazz Educators and the Ohio Music Educators Association, and serves as an adjudicator for OMEA. She is listed in "Who's Who of American Teachers". She currently serves also as musical director for the Olmsted Falls High School Masquers. Her favorite thing about teaching and directing is watching cast members surpass their personal best time after time after time.
Marie Diamond Fundraising Coordinator
Christina Haviland Main Stage Assistant Director
	Christina's love of theater began with her first production at the age of 13, in Aurora Community Summer program's The King and I (Aurora, Colorado). After graduating High School, Christina received education at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in California. She has performed in community theaters in Colorado, California and Ohio, and finds the work greatly rewarding as it both deepens a "neighborly connection" and allows her to share her passion and talent for the stage.
Morgan Haviland Hip Hop Dance Instructor
	Christina's love of theater began with her first production at the age of 13, in Aurora Community Summer program's The King and I (Aurora, Colorado). After graduating High School, Christina received education at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in California. She has performed in community theaters in Colorado, California and Ohio, and finds the work greatly rewarding as it both deepens a "neighborly connection" and allows her to share her passion and talent for the stage.
Cathy Hongosh Stage Manager, Main and Youth Stages
	Cathy has worked with OPA since 2003, as a parent volunteer and then as stage manager for Guys and Dolls, Once Upon A Mattress, West Side Story, and Babes in Toyland, High School Musical, Beauty and the Beast, Annie Get Your Gun, Singin' in the Rain, The Sound of Music, High School Musical 2, the reprise of Beauty and the Beast and It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas. She feels blessed to be able to combine two of her favorite things, kids and musical theater. Cathy is an RN working as a school nurse, and lives in Olmsted Township. She is married to Ron, and is mom to 3 beautiful daughters who also love to be involved in musical theater.
Jacquelynn Hongosh Graphic Designer, Webmaster
	Jacquelynn is proud to be a part of Olmsted Performing Arts' creative team. With Olmsted Performing Arts since 2003, she has stage managed and designed lighting for over a dozen productions, has designed show posters and marketing materials since 2007 and served as OPA's webmaster beginning in 2009. Other credits, with Grove City College, Olmsted Falls High School, and Oberlin College include lighting design for Proof, and Oberlin's 2010 Student One Act Festival, direction for William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing and Dorothy Parker's Here We Are and stage management for Little Shop of Horrors. She currently works for Oberlin College.
Megan Hyde Jazz Dance Instructor, Summer 2010 Youth Stage Director
	Megan, a veteran of the Olmsted Performing Arts theatre and dance programs, is thrilled to be joining the dance instruction staff and her passion for dance grows more every day. Choreographer for 2009's production of Aristocats Kids, Megan will be returning this season and sharing her talents with the casts of Into the Woods, Jr. and Disney's Mulan, Jr.
Michelle Mannino Ballet Dance Instructor, Modern Dance Instructor, Dance Program Administrator, Front of the House Manager
	Michelle graduated from Hope College (Holland, MI) with a major in Dance Performance/Choreography and a minor in instrumental music. While at Hope, Michelle studied modern, period, and social dance in addition to ballet, tap, and jazz. She also enjoyed performing in many of the dance concerts put on by the Hope Dance Department each year. Michelle began dancing at the age of three and has been teaching for about nine years. She also served as a choreographer with Kids Healing Kids for two years. Currently, she enjoys performing with the Duffy Liturgical Dance Ensemble here in Cleveland. Michelle is excited to join the dance department of OPA as a ballet instructor.
Erin Quellhorst Dance Instructor
	Erin is originally from New Bremen, Ohio and currently resides in North Royalton. She has been studying dance for 24 years. For four years, she performed at Cedar Point in the summer live entertainment shows as a singer/dancer. Erin was nominated as Best Female Performer for the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions. She graduated from Eastern Michigan University with a Bachelor of Music Therapy degree and a Dance Performance major. She's also had the privilege of performing in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for the National Dance Education Organization Conference. She was recognized as a top student in the dance and music departments and given the opportunity to represent both departments in the University Symposium Concert for four years, a prestigious and invitation-only performance opportunity. In college, she studied jazz, ballet, pointe ballet, tap, and hip hop. During high school, she studied with two local dance studios for 15 years and focused her studies on jazz, ballet, pointe ballet, tap, tumbling and lyrical during those years. Currently, Erin works full-time at The Music Settlement in University Circle on Cleveland's east side. She teaches dance classes for typically developed children and teens, as well as tailoring the classes for individuals with special needs from ages 24 months to older adult. During the summer, she teaches dance and choreographs for camps and musical theater groups in the Department of Early Childhood and Department of Music Therapy. In addition to her dance training and experience, Erin is a Board-Certified Music Therapist. Erin is excited to share her passion of dance and musical talents with the dedicated dancers of Olmsted Performing Arts.
Janet Strukely Main Stage Choreographer, Ballet Dance Instructor, Dance Company Choreographer
	Janet Strukely has been dancing professionally for 8 years and has over 6 years of teaching and choreography experience across the Midwest. After graduating Magna Cum Laude from Mercyhurst College with a B.A. in Dance in 2004, she joined the Saint Louis Ballet under the direction of Gen Horiuchi. She is currently performing with Ohio Dance Theatre, where she is the focal point of director Denise Gula's newest piece, "Silent Witness," that is touring throughout Ohio and Pennsylvania. Strukely's career highlights include the Sugar Plum Fairy in "The Nutcracker," the title role in "Cinderella," and Waltz Girl in Balanchine's "Serenade." As a teacher, Strukely brings a strong sense of technique, anatomical knowledge and artistic presence to the classroom. In addition to being on faculty at Olmsted Performing Arts, School of Ohio Dance Theatre, Cleveland Ballet Conservatory, and teaching various master classes, Strukely heads the "Kids in Motion" program in Lorain County, where she teaches the National Dance Institute's Methodology developed by Jaques D'Amboise in public elementary schools in the underprivileged communities in Northeast Ohio.
Jessica Trakimas Pauch Autumn 2010 Youth Stage Director
	Jessica graduated from Hope College (Holland, MI) in 2004 with a B.A. in Theatre. Her first love of theatre came through a show done in elementary school where she was a clown in the First Grade Circus. She has enjoyed working both onstage and backstage in the costume shop during her school years. Since graduating college, she has enjoyed performing in local community theatre in shows such as A Midsummer Night's Dream and Inherit the Wind. Jessica is thrilled to be rejoining the staff at OPA where she can combined both her loves of working with children and theatre.
Lawrence Wallace Orchestra Conductor