Merrick is thrilled to be back on the stage of the Lancaster Opera House again! He graduated SUNY Fredonia in 2022 with a BFA in musical theatre and since then has been seen all over Buffalo. You may have seen him here before in Chess (Anatoly), Man of La Mancha (Padre), The Sound of Music (Rolf), and Grand Horizons (Brian). He has also appeared as Robert in The Bridges of Madison County with Aurora Players, Curly in Oklahoma! with O’Connell & Company, and Ted in Bellissima Productions’ Bonnie and Clyde. Special thanks to the incredible cast and crew for contributing to such a fun production, as well as my loving friends and family for their unending support.

Todd Benzin last appeared at Lancaster Opera House long ago in Moon Over Buffalo (Paul). In 2018, Todd was awarded the first-ever Artie for Outstanding Character Performance in Kavinoky Theatre’s The Producers (Franz Liebkind). He has also appeared at Shakespeare in Delaware Park (nominated – Artie for Supporting Actor), Shea’s 710 Main Street, Irish Classical Theatre, Alleyway Theatre, Torn Space, Road Less Traveled Productions (RLTP), the Ujima Theatre, Theatre of Youth, and MusicalFare (nominated twice – Supporting Actor). Todd is a Conservatory graduate from Toronto’s prestigious Second City and improvises with Buffalo Improv House, Unscripted at RLTP, and Babushka!

Scott Borish is an actor, director and educator. He holds an MA in Theatre and Performance Studies from the University at Buffalo and a BFA in Theatre Performance from Florida Atlantic University. Scott was the Program Director of the award-winning theatre department at Edgewater High School in Orlando, Florida, before relocating to Buffalo, NY. Local credits include Night Watch (Appleby/Vanelli/Hoke) at Lancaster Opera House, Junie B. Jones (Herb/Grandpa Miller) at Theatre of Youth, and Henry VI Part 2 (Cade/Gloucester) at University at Buffalo. Regional performance credits with Palm Beach Dramaworks, Florida Stage, City Theatre, Actors Playhouse and Orlando Family Stage.

Nicole Cimato is thrilled to be performing at Lancaster Opera House. She was most recently seen as Ma Strong in Urinetown for Second Generation Theatre, Nikki in Sweet Charity for Kavinoky Theatre and Angie in The Prom for MusicalFare Theatre. Nicole has worked professionally in Buffalo for over 25 years and has worked for TOY, Irish Classical, Kavinoky, and MusicalFare. She won an Artie Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Musical for her role as Princess Lucille at TOY. She teaches musical theater and dance locally at Celebrity Dance Emporium. Her greatest role is wife and mother and is grateful for her wonderful family.

Thomas is so excited to be back on the Lancaster Opera House’s raked stage, since last being seen in RHP’s production of Legally Blonde in 2015. He has been a busy bee this season, from Urinetown (Barrell) and Mamma Mia! (Pepper) with Second Generation Theatre, to White Christmas (Ensemble) with MusicalFare. He is looking forward to finishing off the 25-26 season with Ghost Brothers of Darkland County at Road Less Traveled Productions. Thank you to John and Tara for bringing me into this wonderful show, and to his fiancé Bobby for being his favorite person in the whole world.

Lisa Miller was last seen on the LOH stage in The Producers and is excited to return in this hilarious show! She is a proud graduate of Fredonia and Canisius. Favorite credits include: Grand Horizons (Jess), Rumors (Chris), and The Littlest Snow Monster (Monty’s Mom). Offstage Lisa wears many hats including the Acting Coach for St. Mary’s School for the Deaf (where she also works as a Special Education Teacher), teaching music classes to toddlers and littles (716MusicandMore.com), and mothering her two bright stars, Liam and Riley. Up next she will be working with the youngest group at LOH’s StageEd summer camps.

Jen is delighted to be making her first appearance with this company and couldn’t be happier to be part of the fun of Lucky Stiff at Lancaster Opera House. A passionate arts coordinator, educator, and performer, Jennifer has spent over 35 years doing what she loves most—creating on national, regional, and local stages. Some recent credits include Boeing Boeing (Taylor Theater), Blue Xmas (Alleyway), Disaster! (MusicalFare), and Rent (Starring Buffalo). She also directed I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, a highlight of 2025, and frequently appears in staged readings whenever she can’t resist a good script.

Ashleigh Chrisena (Annabel Glick) is so happy to be back at Lancaster Opera House with this incredible cast! Most recently you might have seen her in String (Clotho) at The D’Youville Kavinoky Theatre, Pippin (Catherine) or Oklahoma! (Laurey) at O’Connell & Company, or Crazy For You (Mitzi) at Lancaster Opera House. When not on stage, Chrisena is the Host for WNED’s ‘Let’s Go!’ (Emmy Nominee) and voices various cartoon characters in Transformers: Rescue Bots Academy, Transformers: Cyberverse and Mini Beat Power Rockers. Off-Broadway credits include Honestly Abe: The Musical and Come Back Once More. She would like to thank her family, friends, husband Chris, and doggie Otis for their support. Adopt, don’t shop, save the dogs!

Matt is over the moon to be playing Mr. Witherspoon in Lucky Stiff! Matt holds a BFA in Music Theatre from University at Buffalo. Favorite credits include Newsies (Crutchie) with Kavinoky Theatre, The Gentleman Caller (Tennessee Williams) with Buffalo United Artists, Golden Girls: The Lost Episodes (Sophia) with O’Connell and Company, The Producers (Carmen) and The Rocky Horror Show (Riff Raff) with Lancaster Opera House. Matt is also the Literary Producer and playwright of Drunk Theatre Buffalo. Written works include Drunk Peter Pan, Drunk Wizard of Oz, and Drunk Murder Mystery.

Michael Wells is thrilled to be returning to Lancaster Opera House! Michael graduated from the University at Buffalo with a BFA in Music Theatre. Some recent credits include The Night Before Christmas (Fafnir), Crazy for You (Lank Hawkins), and The Wizard of Oz (Zeke/The Cowardly Lion) with Lancaster Opera House, String (Chorus) and Sweet Charity (Ensemble) with D’Youville Kavinoky Theatre, Elephant & Piggie’s “We Are in a Play!” (Gerald) with the Kenan Center. Oklahoma! (Jud Fry), Reefer Madness (Artie Award Winner for Best Ensemble), and Plaid Tidings (Frankie), with O’Connell and Company. He would like to thank his partner, Taylor, friends, and family for their constant support in everything he does.