Spring Awakening Cast

Samuel Marazita (Melchior Gabor)
Samuel is stoked to return to Avenue Arts for Spring Awakening, and to be working alongside so many familiar faces! He is currently studying theatre at Kent and works as a home health aide when not on the stage. His favorite past roles include The Fish Must Die (Tom), Three Tall Women (The Boy), and The Shawshank Redemption (Tommy).
Morgan Brown (Wendla Bergman)
Morgan is honored to bring Spring Awakening to life at Avenue Arts. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Studies and is two months away from earning her Master of Arts in Teaching. Morgan currently serves as the Theatre Arts teacher for North Canton Middle School. Past credits include The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Logainne Schwartzandgrubbenierre), Of Mice and Men (Director), Jesus Christ Superstar (Props Master), and Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Stage Manager).
Keenan Carosielli (Hanschen Rilow/Dieter)
Keenan is fortunate to be joining the cast of Spring Awakening. You may have seen him in past productions of Bent (Wolfgang Granz), My Mother******* College Life, and The Crucible (Reverend John Hale). Keenan would like to thank his better half, Selena Juarez, as well as his brother, sister, aunt Theresa, grandmother, father, and most importantly his mother for all of their love and support. Like all productions he is apart of, Keenan would like to dedicate this performance to his grandfather, John Anthony Carosielli.
Erin Moore (Ilse)
Erin is excited to be part of such a talented ensemble and to be making her Avenue Arts debut! She is a 2012 graduate of Malone University. Previous post-grad credits include: A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Hermia), Harvey (Myrtle Mae Simmons), The Beverly Hillbillies (Elle May), The Comedy of Errors (Adriana), And Then There Were None (Vera), A Christmas Carol (Ghost of Christmas Past), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Puck), Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (Nina), Murder of the Nile (Louise), Blithe Spirit (Edith), Life With Father (Mary Skinner), Charley’s Aunt (Amy), and August: Osage County (Jean), as well as various staged readings and virtual performances. Many thanks to her family and friends, as well as everyone involved in this production! Love to fiancé, Alex, and dog, Peewee.
Michael Porter (Moritz Steifl)
Michael is excited to be returning to the Avenue Arts Stage in this production of Spring Awakening. Michael graduated from Kent State in 2021 with a major in Theatre Management and minor in Theatre Performance. You may have seen him in past productions on the Avenue Arts stage, which include: The Crucible (Giles Corey) , The Eight Reindeer Monologues (Comet) , and American Son (Officer Larkin). Outside of acting, Michael is also a Stage Manager and has stage managed shows at Avenue Arts, such as Steel Magnolias, God of Carnage and The Shawshank Redemption. Outside of Avenue Arts, you may have seen him in Of Mice and Men (Carlson) at Kent State Stark and A Midsummer Nights Dream (Lysander) Orville Community Theatre; as well as being a part of various other productions at Kent State Stark. Theatre has become incredibly important to Michael over the years and it grew ever more close to him when he started acting in 2017. He is thrilled to be joining this wonderfully talented cast and crew and he hopes you enjoy this production of Spring Awakening.
Joe Soriano (Robert/Reinhold)
Joe is an actor, director, stage manager, and combat choreographer in the northeast Ohio area. He currently works at Rubber City Theatre, a professional equity theatre in the Akron area, as their director of artistic and audience administration. Joe graduated from Kent State University where he studied theatre and hospitality management. Some notable acting credits include George Bailey in It’s A Wonderful Life and Bill Fordham in August: Osage County at Avenue Arts; Nick Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Roving Rogue Productions; and Cedric/Voldy in Puffs at Broadview Heights Spotlights.
Trenton Eaves (Lammermeier/Rupert)
Trenton is super excited to be part of this incredibly talented cast, with so many familiar faces! Trent is planning on studying musical theatre, and will be attending OU starting next fall! You may have seen him in other shows at Avenue arts, such as Hello Herman (Herman), The Whale (Elder Thomas), The Eight Reindeer Monologues (Cupid), and Falsettos (Whizzer). Trent would like to thank his family & friends for their overwhelming support, as well as Jared, for continually keeping him active in the theatre community.
Donathan Dillard (Otto/Helmut)
Donathan is excited to be part of his first Avenue Arts production! He is currently attending Kent Stark University where he will graduate next semester. His favorite past roles include Aladdin (Aladdin Jr.), Agwe (Once on this Island), and Crutchie (Newsies).
Angel Valenzuela (Ernst Robel/Gaston)
Angel is ready for his Avenue Arts debut. Previously on stage, you may have seen him on stage in The Rocky Horror Show (Tricia/Ghost), Rent (Angel), And Hair (Woof) - All at Milennial Theatre Project. Other stage credits include Tiemp Muerto (Samuel) and La Siempreviva (Dr. Espitia) at LatinUs Theater Cleveland. Coming up, Angel invites you to see him in upcoming projects such as Disaster! The Musical (Scott) at Broadview Heights and La Apuesta (Satan).
Cassandra Brode-Scott (Martha Bessel)
Cassie is thrilled to return to Avenue Arts after a 2 year break from theatre while living in Hawaii. You may have seen her in past productions at Avenue Arts including Rocky Horror (Phantom), The Laramie Project (Ensemble), Hello Herman (Sheila) & My Mother******* College Life (ensemble). Other credits include Season of Light (Toot) at Silver Spring Stage & Hairspray (Tammy) at Rockville Community Theatre, both in Maryland. When not on stage, she enjoys spending time with her family, traveling and snuggling her 9 month old baby girl. She is thrilled to share the stage with so many familiar faces & wants to thank her family, specifically her husband for supporting her & making it possible for her to return to theatre less than a year after having a baby. Cassie would like to dedicate this performance to her dad, Russ Brode, who always helped her believe in herself & always made sure to be in the audience.
Alyssa Crowley (Thea)
Emily Weiss (Ina Muller)
Emily is excited for her very first show in the W.G. Fry Theatre. Emily is a 2017 graduate from Kent State University at Stark with a B.A. in Applied Communication. When not on stage, she takes on the role of a Digital Marketer at The Karcher Group. Past credits include: Newsies (Specs & Darcy) at Weathervane Playhouse, Steel Magnolias (Annelle Dupuy-Desoto) and various staged readings at Avenue Arts, The Diary of Anne Frank (Miep Gies) at the North Canton Playhouse, Into The Woods (Florinda) at Jackson Players, The Nerd (Clelia Waldgrave) and various other productions at the Kent State University at Stark Theater. You may also have seen Emily in Stan Hywet Hall & Garden’s 2018 and 2020 editions of Murder in the Mansion and in the Player’s Guild Theatre’s 2016 production of A Christmas Carol. The arts have always been a major aspect of her life and loves that she can continue to be a storyteller. Emily would like to thank her family, fiancé and friends, as well as the cast and crew, for all of their support, guidance and giving her the opportunities to help her do what she loves.
Brad Vincent (Man #1)
Brad is excited to be sharing the stage with this incredibly talented cast. Previously Brad has performed with Shadow of the Run Productions, Avenue Arts (Laramie Project, Shawshank Redemption, Rocky Horror Show), Theater 8:15 (Matilda, Annie, Oliver), North Canton Playhouse and numerous other venues over the last 40 years. Brad would like to thank Jared for this opportunity and Zen and Anna for love and constant support.
TJ Hayes (Man #2)
TJ is thrilled to be returning to Avenue Arts in Spring Awakening! Previous Avenue Arts credits include Escape Room: a 10 minute play in Avenue Arts’ 24 hour theatre Festival and the Ohio premiere of the theatrical adaptation of The Shawshank Redemption (Rico) Recent regional credits include Western Reserve Playhouse, The Access Theatre Project, Avenue Arts, Chagrin Arts, Playwrights Local, and Convergence Continuum. TJ is a proud alumnus of Cleveland State University’s Department of Theatre and Dance, Class of 2017. TJ had the opportunity to return to CSU in summer, 2021 to assist in shooting a promotional video department for the theatre and dance department. TJ would like to thank his friends and family for their love and support. And a special shout out to his dad for his retirement after working incredibly hard for almost fifty years. I love you, dad!
Manuel Halkias (Man #3)
Manuel feels truly blessed to be performing for the first time at the W.G. Fry Theater. A graduate of the University of Akron , he is an educator at Canton McKinley HS where he is the Director of Speech and Debate. At McKinley he has coached hundreds of state and national qualifiers including the 2022 National Runner Up in online Prose Reading and the 2021 State Champion in Drama. Writing and acting are two of his passions. His stage credits include The Whale (Charlie) , It’s A Wonderful Life (Clarence), The Rocky Horror Show (The Narrator) , The Laramie Project (Ensemble) , The Dry Season (Pete), Screwtape (Wormwood), and many other roles at the Kathleen Howland Theater and other theaters in the area. Most recently he was seen as Peter Quince in the Roving Rogue’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in Massillon. He believes that creation of characters both on paper and on stage is his way to present people with meaningful experiences and each performance or piece of writing is his gift to audiences. He truly does feel blessed to work with this amazing company and looks forward to this performance.
Mark Dillard (Man #4)
Mark is thrilled to join this talented cast. He has been fortunate to perform with many organizations around the county including Avenue Arts, Canton Players Guild, and VOCI. Notable roles include Godspell (John/Judas), Memphis (Delray), and The Little Mermaid (King Triton). He'd like to thank his family for their support.
Channon Booth (Woman #1)
Channon is delighted to join this amazingly talented cast. She has worked with Avenue Arts in the past portraying M'Lynn in Steel Magnolias, and was in the ensemble cast of The Laramie Project. She was also a member of the ensemble cast of The Vagina Monologues at the Helen Hayes and played Kay Carter in Consider the Oyster at Kent Stark. Channon holds a BA in Theater from Kent State University. She also enjoys teaching children's theater classes, reading, and spending time with her daughter, Mirren. Thanks to Jared for this incredible opportunity!
Bridget Bazzinotti (Woman #2)
Bridget feels incredibly blessed to be working with such amazing actors and Director in the WG Fry Theatre! She has been involved in theatre since high school and college at Marshall University - too many years to count! Some of her favorite productions over the years include The Curious Savage, On Golden Pond, Barefoot in the Park, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Company, The Addams Family, The Wiz, Bugsy Malone and Schoolhouse Rock! Other stage credits include August Osage County, Screwtape, Baby and the Bath Water, The Other Place, Hell for the Holidays, The Dry Season and The Crucible!
Kate Cottrill (Woman #3)
Kate is excited to join the cast for Spring Awakening with new and old friends. She is graduate of Kent State University and holds a Master’s in Nursing. She dreamed of coming back to theater after being an active member of her high school drama club. A few of her favorite roles she played were Merry Murders at Montmarie (Helen), Pink Panther Strikes Again (Mrs. Leverlilly), and The Man Who Came to Dinner (Mrs. McCutcheon). She returned to the stage 15 years later for Avenue Arts’ The Crucible (Ann Putnam/Sarah Good). Other stage credits include The Reindeer Monologues (Dancer). Kate would like to thank her family and friends for encouraging her to go back to theater and to doing what she loves.