Contra Costa Musical Theatre, Walnut Creek CA

About CCMT

Contra Costa Musical Theatre, Inc. (CCMT) was founded in August 1961, for the express purpose of producing Broadway musicals. We are a community based non-profit organization whose mission is to foster appreciation for and involvement in musical theatre of the highest quality. Since those early beginnings, CCMT productions have been presented on a variety of stages. With the opening of the Lesher Center for the Arts in 1990, we found a permanent home in Walnut Creek where we mount full-scale productions in the 800-seat Hofmann Theater. We have been honored with numerous Shellie Awards and Bay Area Theatre Critic Circle Awards for our productions and the artists associated with our productions, and have had the unique privilege of presenting several East Bay Premieres in recent seasons.

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Kris Bonfil (Concord, CA) has served on the CCMT Board of Directors since 2006. She has served on the PEC and CRAM committees, and was responsible for the merchandising sales during both Beauty and the Beast and Cinderella, helping bring in over $15,000 in sales to CCMT. She has assisted in obtaining advertisers for the show programs, gathering donations and sponsors for the Keaka Luau. Kris is an award winning realtor with Century 21 in Walnut Creek with more than 30 years experience. Her daughter Karen has worked crew for every CCMT show since Damn Yankees in 2003. Kris enjoys representing the "average audience member" viewpoint to the Board of Directors.

Merrick Browne, Jr. (Lafayette, CA) is President of Marketing Business Advantage, Inc. which has been based in Walnut Creek for the last seventeen years. MBA Inc. is a manufacturer of environmentally-friendly chemicals for the automotive industry. Prior to founding MBA Inc., Merrick worked for five automotive manufacturers based in Detroit, MI. He and Rachel, his wife of 15 years, and their two daughters, Sophia and Elena, reside in Lafayette. Merrick has been involved in theatrical pursuits for the past 8 years, and has a keen interest in the continued cultural development of our community, with theatre serving as a vehicle for both entertainment and education. Merrick was appointed to fill a vacancy on the CCMT Board in 2007and has provided insight and leadership to CCMT from a small business perspective.

Linda Carter (Oakley, CA) has served on the CCMT Board of Director's since 2000. Since 2001, Linda has served as Treasurer and has been a key asset in providing strong financial guidance to CCMT's Board of Directors. In addition to providing strong financial guidance to CCMT, Linda enjoys being CCMT's company photographer having provided photo documentation for every CCMT production since 2001. By day, Linda is a Senior Vice President for Bank of America and lives in Oakley with her husband, Larry.

Michael Demers (Walnut Creek, CA) has been involved with CCMT since 1992. He has been seen onstage as well as behind the scenes. Michael has served as Production Manager for many shows some of which include Follies, The Who's Tommy, Titanic, the Musical & Disney's Beauty and the Beast. He has also served the board of directors as President, Vice President and most recently as Secretary. Additionally, Michael is the Webmaster for CCMT, ensuring the ccmt.org website continues to meet expectations of CCMT's patrons and auditoneers. He was the recipient of CCMT's Outstanding Contribution to the Arts Shellie Award in 2002. Michael has a B.A. in Theatre Management from Western Michigan University. Michael's day job is Vice President & Branch Manager for Old Republic Title Company in Montclair.

Shannon Strain Demers (Walnut Creek, CA) has been actively involved behind the scenes with CCMT since 1996, Shannon was the recipient of CCMTs Outstanding Contribution to the Arts Shellie Award in 2006. By day, Shannon is a 20 year veteran of Bank of America, where she is a Vice President and Project Manager. She has implemented several key strategies for CCMT, including the new Marketing Partnership with Center REP and together with Scott Strain and Karl Pister, helped to produce ?The Best of Broadway in Concert'. Additionally, Shannon stage managed several CCMT shows, including the award winning Titanic, the Musical and Disney's Beauty and the Beast. Active in Walnut Creek theatre since 1986, Shannon would like to see CCMT continue to raise the bar by producing quality musical theatre with-in budget and to the delight of audiences. Shannon is married to Michael Demers and is the mother of 13-year-old, Grant Strain.

Mark Eichorn (Moraga, CA) Mark has been in the performing arts for almost 40 years. He was born in the church choir and was educated in children's theatre school in his home town of Allentown, PA. Mark received his BA in Theatre Arts (Acting and Directing), with Honors, from Ohio Wesleyan University. He received the prestigious Wesleyan Player's Performer of the Year Award from the national theatre honorary, Theta Alpha Phi in 1979. In his senior year, he was an Assistant to the Producer, Gene Wolsk, on a new Broadway musical called ?Sarava', written by Mitch Leigh (Man of La Mancha), in New York City. There he managed the day to day activities of the production office from auditions to rehearsals and props and worked with the actors, Tovah Feldshuh and Christine Andreas.

Mark has been performing with CCMT and DLOC for over 10 years. During the day he is a Corporate Trainer for U.S. Bank in Walnut Creek. He has over 25 years of experience in the financial services industry, Human Performance Improvement and Training and a member of ASTD, the American Society of Training and Development.

Patricia Hill (Walnut Creek, CA) has been a Bay Area resident for over 20 years. She is a former actress and most recently graduated from U.C. Berkeley with a degree in Social Anthropology. Her affiliation with CCMT began when she volunteered her time to be a part of Disney's Beauty and the Beast cable advertisement. She has two children in the Walnut Creek and Acalanes school districts and is an avid supporter for the arts. Patricia works at The Bentley School in Lafayette as the library and community services assistant.

Alex Logemann (Concord, CA) has just celebrated his fifth year working with community theatre in the greater east bay area. The companies that inhabit the Lesher Center have been the one constant through Alex's life after high school. Being on deck crew for these shows; he has become a familiar face--the rest of him is always in black. Alex has loaded in and assembled many of the sets he's operated, and feels rewarded to be able to take them apart at the final strike. Alex has a positive attitude, and is always willing to share ideas. He understands that, in our theatre family, our goal is always the same--to make the best experience possible. Alex enjoys sharing the big picture and manifesting dreams into reality.

Marty Newton (Oakland, CA) has been a member of the theatre community for over 30 years and brings much theatre experiences as well as life experience in the hope that he might be able to help CCMT meet their objectives and goals for the coming years. Marty has been a Board Member for 2 years, Chairperson of the Performance Enhancement Committee (PEC) for the past year and a committee member for the past 4 years. He has worked onstage, backstage and as Stage Manager and looks forward to using his diverse background with CCMT in the coming years.

Scott Strain (Concord, CA) first became involved with CCMT when he performed in the 1995 production of Guys & Dolls. Since that time, Scott has performed in 10 CCMT productions, most recently in Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella. He has served as production manager for Grease , Urinetown the Musical, and will again serve in that capacity for the upcoming Evita. Scott won the best supporting actor Shellie Award for 2007's production of Guys & Dolls. He has served on the Board of Directors since 2002, including two terms as President. Scott also chaired the PEC committee for four years. Scott has played a key role in several areas of the company, including participating in local parades (Walnut Festival, Danville 4th of July), the DRAA Grant process, an expanded marketing partnership with television advertising, the Summer Best of Broadway in Concert, and acted as Emcee and Auctioneer for all of the Keaka Luau fundraisers. Scott has worked for more than 11 years as a Project Manager for United Behavioral Health in San Francisco. Scott lives in Concord with his partner, Dustin, and is the proud father of 12 year-old Grant Strain.

Kenneth Thompson (Youth Member) (Walnut Creek, CA)

Adam Winship (Walnut Creek, CA) was an appointed Youth Member on the Board for 3 years, and then was elected to the Board of Directors. He has worked onstage and backstage and has a great appreciation for all the hard work that goes into making the magic of live theatre come to life. Adam is a student and bartender, and looks forward to enriching the community with the wonderful theatre that CCMT has to offer; especially in the upcoming season.

Elizabeth Wood (Concord, CA) began her association with CCMT in 1971 and fell in love with Theatre. Since then she has been actively involved as a Performer (42nd Street, A Chorus Line, Titanic and more); Crew Member and Choreographer (Anything Goes, Oklahoma, Sugar, The Music Man, Gypsy, Mame and South Pacific); Production Manager (A Little Night Music, Fiddler and A Chorus Line); Board Member and President more times than she can count. She has received 4 Shellie Awards for Outstanding Choreography and in 2004 was the recipient of CCMT's Shellie Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Arts. Liz chaired the PEC Committee, has been instrumental in revising the By-laws and Standing Rules and has been the Chair of the Matt Plambeck Scholarship Application Committee for the past 6 years. Although she retired from Chevron in 2000 with 30 years of service, she now works part-time in Chevron's Retail Programs Department and part-time at the Law Offices of William C. Vencill. Liz lives in Concord with her husband John Watkins. She is proud to have assisted in the growth and success of CCMT during the past 35+ years and hopes to be able to contribute to its future successes.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:
Shannon Strain Demers - President
Michael Demers - President Elect
Elizabeth Wood - Secretary
Linda Carter - Treasurer
Clay Englar - Company Advisor
Elizabeth Wood - Company Advisor
Daniel J. Boyle - General Manager & Artistic Advisor
Scott Strain - Past President