Cast & Crew
Julie E. Ballard
Lighting Designer
Natasha Blagojevich
Composer
Lori Grupp
Whitney Hayes
Heath Hays
Scenic Designer
Heath is a BackStage Ensemble member, where he has designed set for On An Average Day, The Memory of Water, Beauty on the Vine, Bloody Bess and Zombies from the Beyond as well as the Jeff-recommended shows Waiting for Lefty and Medea. He also designed sound for BackStage's The Ruling Class and Seanachi Theatre's drama Whistle in the Dark. He designed set for Infamous Conmmonwealth Theatre's Keely and Du, GreyZelda's Jeff-recommended production of A View From The Bridge as well as their Desire Under the Elms, and Hell in a Handbag's Caged Dames. Heath has also worked for Grounded Theatre, Arena Dinner Theatre, and Village Players.
Heath Hays
Scenic Designer
Jules Lambert
Chris Lopez
Sarah Luse
Stage Manager
Peter Navis
Michael Pacas
Director/Props Designer
Michael Pacas is currently performing in BackStage Theatre's production of Edward Albee's, THE PLAY ABOUT THE BABY. He recently appeared in City Lit’s MACBETH, directed by Susan Hart. Last season, performed the roles of Musgove in Griffin Theatre’s THE ROBBER BRIDEGROOM; Mr. Peachum in The Hypocrites’ THE THREEPENNY OPERA and John Barrymore in William Luce’s tour-de-force, BARRYMORE (which he also directed and produced). A BackStage Theatre ensemble member, Michael played leading roles in their productions of THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH and TERRA NOVA. He also directed their production of MEDEA, in which he incorporated American Sign Language. He appeared in CORPUS CHRISTI (Ulysses/Bailiwick), which received a Joseph Jefferson Citation and an After Dark Award for Ensemble. Other acting credits include productions with Lifeline; Irish Repertory; Circle and Signal. Michael gives special thanks to Tim and his extended family including the Cult of Susan and Jeffrey. Visit http://pacas.ws for additional information on his theatrical activities. Later this summer, Michael will be attending the Eight Annual International Cabaret Conference at Yale University: an invitation only intensive nine-day teaching program in the art of cabaret performance and trains professionals for the live entertainment industry.
Michael Pacas
Director/Props Designer
Eric Paskey
Eric Paskey has been an ensemble member with BackStage since 2006. He is a graduate of Kent State University and the ImprovOlympic training center. Credits with BSTC include Denise Druczwski's Inferno (Phil Ligras), The Skin of Our Teeth (Telegraph Boy), Medea (Son), The Ruling Class (Dinsdale), and Aunt Dan and Lemon (Andy). Eric has also had the pleasure of working with the National Theatre for Children, Collaboraction, Signal Ensemble Theatre, Dramatis Personae, Rubicon Theater Project, Halcyon Theatre Company, Arts/Lanes, and New Leaf Theatre. He is a devoted fan of Cleveland's professional sports teams and a pitcher for the Second City and iO softball teams. Little known fact: as a child, Eric had Who Framed Roger Rabbit completely memorized!
Karensa Peterson
Keta Roth
Erik Santoro
Assistant Director
Allen Schaefer
Jill Slattery
Kerith Wolf
Costume Designer
Karen Yates
Seth Zurer
Seth has been in the Backstage ensemble since 2004 and served as Company Manager from 2005–2008. Backstage performance credits include Dr. Benjamin in Waiting for Lefty, the Tutor in Medea, the Stage Manager in Skin of our Teeth, and Edgar "Taffy" Evans in Terra Nova. He is especially proud of his work as co-creator and performer in The Mayor's Mouth, a live theatrical cooking show that chronicles the recent political history of Chicago through the recipes of its last six mayors.
