Who’s Who at The Marsh

Stephanie Weisman – Founder and Artistic/Executive Director

Stephanie A. Weisman founded and has been the Artistic/Executive Director of The Marsh since its inception in 1989. Under her leadership, The Marsh has grown from a one-night-a-week performance series to producing 600-700 shows annually on its four stages. In addition to its developing work performance series, The Marsh’s programs include: artist-in-residencies, after-school workshops for at-risk youth, and performance development classes and workshops. In 1996 Stephanie spearheaded the drive to successfully buy their 12,000 sq ft facility on Valencia Street in San Francisco. This increased The Marsh’s programs four-fold as well as provided for a stable Bay Area arts organization. In 2010, The Marsh added a second venue in Berkeley. Her most current development is MarshStream, The Marsh’s performance broadcast platform.

For her work at The Marsh, Stephanie has received the Meritorious Achievement Award from Bay Area Theatre Critic’s Circle and was named A Local Hero by the San Francisco Bay Guardian. The plays she has produced have since been produced in theaters both nationally and internationally and have received numerous awards including: more than a dozen Critics Circle and Dramalog Awards; three of the prestigious Will Glickman Playwright Awards (Dan Hoyle’s “Tings Dey Happen,” Charlie Varon’s “Rush Limbaugh in Night School,” and Brian Freeman’s “Civil Sex”) as well as the National Theater Critics Emerging Playwright Award.

In addition to her work as Artistic Director of The Marsh, Stephanie has served as Associate Producer for the movie HAIKU TUNNEL by Josh and Jake Kornbluth, distributed by Sony Classic Pictures; she has curated the Cleveland Performance Festival and the Berkeley Arts Center’s Performance Series. She is a past board member of the Will Glickman Playwright Award and the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce’s Business Arts Council.

Stephanie has a BA in Psychology and a MA in English in Creative Writing from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Under the mentorship of Robert Creeley, she edited the arts journal, The Black Mountain II Review for three years and developed and taught a class, Small Press Publishing. Her journalism, prose and poetry have been published nationally and she was awarded a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) for her poetry performance piece, DANCEMASTERS. More recently she developed and composed an opera APHRODISIA with Ellen Hoffman for a 20-women chorus, 4-piece chamber ensemble, solo performer and dancer, which has since been made into a film by Wei Wang (SF Ballet) and herself. Stephanie also developed a solo performance musical, BREED & RESCUE, about breeding and rescuing dogs and children. She is currently working on a new performance, 180 DAYS, about the end-of-life assisted suicide option.

Weisman lives in Oakland and part-time in the Trinity Alps, in the house she built with her husband, Richard DiLeo, and their American Bulldogs, Junior, Marsha, and the beloved Trinity.

Rebecca Cervantes – MYT Director

Rebecca Cervantes has a B.A. in Politics and that is why she is working in the Arts. She has been working at The Marsh in different ways since 2001. She started as a Dance Teacher, became the Community Liaison and is now the Director of The Marsh Youth Theater (MYT). She is a longtime Mission district community member and has brought many students and families to The Marsh over the years. She loves helping students and families participate in Carnaval, Sunday Streets, and other community events throughout San Francisco. She has choreographed and coordinated many student showcases and special Dia de Los Muertos shows at The Marsh.

She is also the Director of Moving Beyond Productions (MBP), an arts organization dedicated to providing cross cultural arts education and empowering youth. Moving Beyond Productions’ Carnaval contingent has won multiple awards in the Children & Youth category.

Bob Geleta – Finance Director

Bob Geleta, MBA, brings over thirty years of professional experience in financial systems and operations, for public accounting, government, private industry and nonprofit organizations.

Kaitlin Weinstein – Producing Manager

Kaitlin Weinstein (she/her) is a performing arts administrator, graphic designer, stage manager and costumer. In addition to her administrative and marketing work at The Marsh, she stage managed their 2022 production of Overlooked Latinas. Around the Bay Area, she’s worked with theater companies including American Conservatory Theater, Berkeley Playhouse, California Shakespeare Theater, Playwrights Foundation, and Shotgun Players, as well as Broadway at Music Circus and Capital Stage in Sacramento. She holds a B.A. in Theater & Performance Studies and English from UC Berkeley, where she received the Eisner Prize for Stage Management and Costume Design.

Robert Perez – Operations Manager

Robert Perez holds a BA from San Francisco Sate University. He has worked with the disabled for 10 years and in the food industry for five years most recently as a Supervisor at New Belgium Brewing. He was also a Production Assistant at Betty zlachin Catering, assisting sales manager, creating proposals, event planning and on-site support. He has worked at The Marsh since October 2022.

ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF

STEPHANIE WEISMAN – Founder & Artistic/Executive Director
REBECCA CERVANTES – MYT Director
BOB GELETA – Finance Director
KAITLIN WEINSTEIN – Producing Manager
ROBERT PEREZ – Operations Manager
ALEXA ALMIRA – Volunteer Coordinator, Website Administrator
VICKI WONG – Social Media Manager
CARLA BEFERA & CO – Publicist
BRIAUNNA CAVER – Administrative Assistant, MarshStream Producer
SYLVIA ABRAMS-WOLFFSOHN – Administrative Assistant
BLAKE RADIANT – Technical Director
LANCE McGEE – Facilities

PROGRAM DIRECTORS
ALEXA ALMIRA – Monday Night Marsh
REBECCA FISHER & BRIDGET FREDERICK – Tell it On Tuesday
REBECCA CERVANTES – Marsh Youth Theater

TECHNICAL STAFF
BLAKE RADIANT – Technical Director
ALEXA ALMIRA
BRADLEY MARKWICK-COE
ROBERT PEREZ
HALEY BAYNARD
SHAILA SARATHY

HOUSE MANAGERS
ARNIE WARSHAW
BOB HOFFMAN
ELENA KOBYLINA
ELIZABETH DU VAL
LORI GLUMAC
KAREN RIPLEY
PEARL LOUISE
SYLVIA ABRAMS-WOLFFSOHN

BARTENDERS
KAREN RIPLEY
ROBERT PEREZ
SYLVIA ABRAMS-WOLFFSOHN

ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE
DAVID FORD – Director/Playwright
CHARLIE VARON – Performer/Director

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
David Fuchs
Carole Klyce
Sophie O’Shaughnessy
Mark Reisman
Stephanie Weisman

FOUNDATION/FUNDERS
Arts Recovery Grant Berkeley
Berkeley Civic Arts
California Arts Council
Fidelity Foundation
First Unitarian Universalist Church
Fleishhacker Foundation
Grants for the Arts
Meyer Sound
San Francisco Arts Commission
San Francisco Foundation
San Francisco Department of Children Youth & Their Families
Shuttered Venue Organization Grant
Zellerbach Family Foundation
Vanguard Foundation
Woodlawn Foundation
Zitrin Foundation

ADVISORS
Philip Armour
Kristen Bouvier
Mary Anne Cook
Eric Eislund
Ana Linder
Margie O’Driscoll