Officers
Anne Blum :: Chair/Interim Treasurer (she/her/hers)
Anne has spent the majority of her career working with organizations in the area of organizational development and learning. She focuses on developing solutions to enhance the skills of their people – from building competency maps and career pathways to delivering training programs. Specific areas of expertise include learning experience design, leadership, and communication. Currently, Anne is a Senior Instructional Designer with Medical Mutual. Anne received her Bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and her Master’s degree from Case Western Reserve where she was the first student to combine concentrations in Entrepreneurship and Organizational Behavior. She was recently awarded a Master Trainer Certificate in Experiential Education from the Institute for Experiential Learning.
Rannigan Walsh :: Vice Chair :: (she/her/hers)
Rannigan, a previous Ensemble Board Member (2016-2019), is excited to rejoin the Board in their new home at Notre Dame College. She and her husband, Ed Walsh, have been members of Ensemble’s Stagewrights’ playwriting group since 2012. Some of her years before retirement were spent as an Educator/Reading Specialist in the Cleveland and Oakland, CA. schools. She also worked in a variety of marketing jobs after her return to Cleveland. Here she discovered Ensemble Theater and its dedication to memorable productions. The opportunity to write plays with Ensembles’ Stagewrights Workshop fulfilled a life-long interest in theater, which she will always be grateful for. Rannigan is excited to have a role on the Board at a time when Ensemble Theatre is having its first season at Notre Dame College. She is delighted to be part of a brand new chapter in Ensemble Theatre’s continuing dedication to theater that matters.
Cynthia Dettelbach :: Secretary :: (she/her/hers)
Cindy has been an Ensemble devotee in many settings. For years she and her husband John attended Ensemble productions at the former Cleveland Play House and at the Civic. Then, as now, she loved the choice of plays and the excellent quality of the productions. In or around 2007 a small notice in a Cleveland Heights Public Library flyer announcing an Ensemble playwriting workshop being held at the library caught her eye… and, soon after, her heart. Thus began her new “career” as a playwright. The timing was perfect. She had recently retired from her longtime position as editor of the Cleveland Jewish News and was casting about for an opportunity to continue writing within a collaborative, caring and like-minded community. StageWrights, as the group came to be called, proved just the ticket! As she worked at honing her craft while she also marveled at the company’s “sweat equity” transformation of the desolate Coventry School into two exciting Ensemble Theater spaces. In addition to her ongoing roles as audience member and Stagewrights participant, Cindy looks forward to her newest role as Ensemble board member.
Trustees
Deborah Buckley :: (She/Her/Hers)
Deborah was born and raised in Cleveland, Ohio. A graduate of Regina High School, Deborahwent on to receive a degree in Retail Merchandising from Ursuline College. Following college, Deborah worked as a women’s ready-to-wear Buyer for Halle’s and Gold Circle stores beforere locating to the west coast: San Francisco and Seattle. In addition to retail, Deborah has extensive professional and volunteer experience in marketing, sales, public relations, fundraising, advertising, tourism, senior living communities and real estate. After three, overseas tours with Peace Corps and two years’ pandemic work for the Government, Deborah is back in her hometown to enjoy a much deserved and welcomed retirement. A life-long lover and patron of the arts in the many cities in which she has lived and places she has traveled, Deborah is thrilled to be joining the Board of Ensemble as a contributing member of the Marketing Committee and looks forward to continuing her commitment to and enjoyment of all aspects that define Theatre!
Scott Esposito :: (he/him/his)
Scott joined the Ensemble Board in 2013. Scott is a graduate of Denison University with a BFA in Theatre Performance and Case Western Reserve University School of Law. He is Associate General Counsel for University Hospitals Health System, Inc. with a practice that focuses on a wide variety of corporate and regulatory issues. In addition to practicing law, Scott is an actor who has performed in a variety of venues around Cleveland, including Ensemble Theatre in The Normal Heart and Angels in America, Parts 1 & 2. He is married to the love of his life, his fantastic husband, Vince.
Benoy Joseph, PhD :: (he/him/his)
Following more than 30 years on the business faculty of Cleveland State University, Benoy joined the Ensemble board in 2013. He specializes in the marketing of services including not-for-profit organizations. His research and teaching also focused on business-to-business marketing, consumer behavior, and business ethics with articles appearing in a variety of national and international scholarly journals. Before entering academics, he worked in the marketing division of NCR Corporation. A consultant to various business and nonprofit organizations, Benoy has conducted strategic market planning seminars and numerous customer satisfaction studies and public opinion polls for business and public sector organizations. In retirement, he volunteers with various area organizations, and with his wife Sue enjoys attending theater and musical live performances, movies, improvising in the kitchen, and taking brisk daily walks in the neighborhood. He and Sue have two sons, a playwright and a classical musician, and—to their grateful relief—both making a living in the arts!
Tom Moore :: (he/him/his)
Tom Moore is the President of Moore & Associates Inc., a Cleveland-based advertising and marketing agency. Moore founded his company in January 2001, following 25 years with large Cleveland agencies, including Liggett-Stashower (EVP) and the Wolf Group (CEO). His clients have included Sherwin-Williams, KeyBank, Dirt Devil, Sears, Newell/Rubbermaid, Evenflo, Little Tikes, and Invacare. Moore’s industry credentials include an article in the Harvard Business Review and multiple articles in Advertising Age. He has been the subject of a New York Times advertising column. Tom has a B.S.J. in advertising from Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism and an MBA from Cleveland State University. He is a member of the Cleveland Advertising Hall of Fame, and won the national Silver Medal Award from the American Advertising Federation in 2005. Tom has judged ADDY and NSAC competitions on both the local and regional level. Moore has been president of the board of directors for AAF-Cleveland, National President of the Year, board president of the Center for Mental Retardation, national communications chairman for the Association for Retarded Citizens, and a trustee of many other Cleveland-area non-profit organizations, including the Shaker Schools Foundation, Beech Brook, and North Coast Community Homes. Moore and his wife Shirley are long-term residents of Shaker Heights, Ohio. They have three adult children and dog that sheds.
LaWanna White :: (she/her/hers)
LaWanna graduated from Ohio University in 1965 with a degree in Education and spent 33 years working with students, teachers, principals and fellow curriculum administrators in Cleveland Schools. She served as Supervisor of Elementary Science Education, introducing such programs as the Elementary Science Fair Program/Teacher/Parent Development; the Invent America creativity program; NASA’s Young Astronaut Program; and the CREST elementary school site science leadership program. She served as the K – 12 Director of Science Curriculum and Instruction in her last 10 years in the district. Her skill in and devotion to collaboration led to her leadership on a team that secured a $15 million NSF math and science grant for the district. She was instrumental in the creation and development of the Cleveland Schools K-12 Science Collaborative with area foundations, universities, and corporations. The Science Collaborative supported exciting and unique teacher and principal leadership and enrichment learning experiences at sites all across the country. A founding member of the Ebony Bobcat Network, a black alumni network striving to connect bobcats of color across the globe, LaWanna served as its first local Cleveland affiliate President, and as its first National Board President. EBN Cleveland began an 11 year relationship/partnership with the Ensemble Theater family with unlimited possibilities of future projects.
Michael Beyer :: (he/him/his)
He is a Cleveland native working professionally and academically as a Lighting Designer. He is on the Faculty and is the Lighting Designer and Production Manager at Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, MI while also freelancing as much as he can. His BA in theatre is from Ashland University, and his MFA in Lighting design is from Wayne State University. Recently Michael has designed for Wayne State University, Lansing Community College, Lansing Children's Ballet Theatre, Flint Youth Theatre, and he is a member of the Board of Directors for Ensemble Theatre in Cleveland, OH. He also works with a number of touring rock and roll bands when he is able to, and most recently assisted the design of the Electric Forest Festival in Rothbury, MI. From 2007-2009 he was the Resident Lighting Designer for Michigan Shakespeare Festival. In 2009, his design for "Glass Menagerie" at the Boarshead theatre earned a "Thespie Award" from the Lansing State Journal. Some notable theatre credits include: Edinburgh Fringe Festival (Scotland), Theatre By The Sea (Matunuk, RI), The Performance Network (Ann Arbor, MI), Michigan Shakespeare Festival (Jackson, MI), Boarshead Theatre (Lansing, MI), Jewish Ensemble Theatre (Detroit, MI), Hilberry Repertory Theatre (Detroit, MI), Cain Park (Cleveland, OH), Goodspeed Opera House (East Haddam, CT), The Ensemble Theatre (Cleveland, OH), and The Attic Theatre (Appleton, WI). He has a fond place in his heart for the Ensemble Family, and is more than pleased to be a part of the team!
Advisory Board Members
Keith Benjamin (former Trustee) , Jessica Colombi (former Trustee) , Rajiv Joseph, Peter Lawson Jones, Matthew Marrone(former Trustee) , Sarah May, Nancy Patete Esq., Derdriu Ring (former Trustee), Charles Smith, Cheryl Stephens.
In Memoriam:
Reuben & Dorothy Silver
Interested in joining the Ensemble Board? Please fill out the the from below!
“Board Interest” should be in the subject line. Please feel free to share what you would like in the message box.
An Ensemble Staff and/or a board member will reach out to you!!
Generous Support Provided By:
