Cotton Patch Gospel Creative

Director/Scenic/Lighting Design

Mike Reinhart

Mike Reinhart serves as the Auditorium Director at Merrillville and is a Title 1 Aide at Fieler Elementary. Also the director of Ross Music Theatre and M & M Productions plays and summer musical, Mike is also the technical director for those shows. In addition, Mike is the production manager director and editor for M & M Video Productions. Mike has been recording events, corporate videos, training and special interest videos since 1981. Mike has been involved with community and or school live productions since he was 8 years old, starting out on stage in the chorus of his father's production of Flower Drum Song. Since that time he has played a wide variety of parts from Ebenezer Scrooge to Motel the Tailor, in addition to working on hundreds of shows in a technical capacity. Mike attended Valparaiso Technical Institute where he majored in electrical engineering then went to Indiana University where he majored in Theatre/English Education.

Musical Director/Costumes/scenic Artist

Melinda Reinhart

Melinda is the Merrillville High School Choral Director. She graduated from Indiana University School of Music in 1989 with a Bachelors in Music Education--Voice. While at IU, Melinda had the distinct privilege of studying with renowned soprano Camilla Williams. Also, she performed and toured all over the United States with the Singing Hoosiers and Varsity Dancers. Melinda also performs and has been performing since she was seven. Her favorite roles include: Dolly Levi (HELLO DOLLY), Narrator (JOSEPH), Meg Brockie (BRIGADOON), Mother (RAGTIME), Nancy (OLIVER), and Mary Magdalene (JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR). Melinda was also handed the set painting torch by the late Jerauld Reinhart. He taught her all his tricks of the trade and once told her "I couldn't have done it better myself." Melinda is one of the show's scenic artists.

Technical Director-Master Electrician-Sound Design-Sound Board Operator

Tom Dobes

Tom Dobes (Sound Design & Sound Board Operator) has been involved with RMT/M&M shows for eleven years, beginning with Brigadoon in 1998. Over the years, Tom has also served as technical director for many Merrillville High School drama/musical productions, choir concerts, and for outside organizations who rent Reinhart Auditorium. M&M/Ross love having Tom around because he can fix just about anything. Tom is the one responsible for the live internet broadcast of our 1940s style radio shows. He devised a wireless way to control a battery-operated set of LEDs for Cinderella’s carriage. He single-handedly keeps all 30 of our cordless mics usable. Tom also does all the technical work for Indiana Youth Ballet’s Nutcracker and Peter Pan. Currently, Tom is working in IT at the University of Chicago

Master Carpenter

Edwin Gonzalaz

Edwin has been working on sets since 2014 and has been Master Carpenter for 16 shows including, Phantom of the Opera, Scrooge, Little Mermaid, Memphis, Beauty and the Beast, and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. He helped us make it rain on stage in Leap of Faith and make the prince float to the bottom of the sea in The Little Mermaid. Edwin works in maintenance for the Hobart YMCA, and a local Apartment complex

RSMT Concessions Director

Melissa Gonzalaz

Melissa started running our concession stand in 2015 when all we did was sell pop and homemade goodies. Today that has grown into building sets in the lobby to match the theme of whatever show we are doing. It also means two to four hot food combo selections also to match the theme of the show. It has become the premiere lobby and concession design in Northwest Indiana! In past summers, Missy was excited to transform our concession area into an airport concourse and under the sea grotto, and a French provincial bistro. What will be her muse this summer? Come to the show and find out.

Original Creative Team

Harry Forster Chapin (/ˈtʃeɪpɪn/ CHAY-pin; December 7, 1942 – July 16, 1981) was an American singer-songwriter, philanthropist, and hunger activist best known for his folk rock and pop rock songs. He achieved worldwide success in the 1970s. Chapin, a Grammy Award-winning artist and Grammy Hall of Fame inductee, has sold over 16 million records worldwide.

Chapin recorded a total of 11 albums from 1972 until his death in 1981. All 14 singles that he released became hits on at least one national music chart. Chapin's best-known songs include "Taxi" and "Cat's in the Cradle."

As a dedicated humanitarian, Chapin fought to end world hunger. He was a key participant in the creation of the Presidential Commission on World Hunger in 1977.[1][2] In 1987, Chapin was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for his humanitarian work.[3]

Biography

Harry Forster Chapin was born on December 7, 1942, in New York City, the second of four children of percussionist Jim Chapin and Jeanne Elspeth, daughter of the literary critic Kenneth Burke. His brothers, Tom and Steve, would also become musicians.[4][5]

The earliest Chapin to come to America was Samuel Chapin, who was the first deacon of Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1636. His other great-grandparents on his mother's side had immigrated in the late 19th century.[6]: 4 Chapin's parents divorced in 1950, with his mother retaining custody of their four sons, as Jim spent much of his time on the road as a drummer for Big Band-era acts such as Woody Herman. Chapin's mother married Films in Review magazine editor Henry Hart a few years later.

Chapin's first formal introduction to music was trumpet lessons at The Greenwich House Music School under Mr. Karesick.[6]: 21–22 Harry's younger brothers Tom and Steve were choirboys at Grace Episcopal Church in Brooklyn Heights, and through them Chapin met "Big" John Wallace, a baritone with a five-octave range, who later became his bassist, backing vocalist, and straight man onstage. Chapin began performing with his brothers while a teenager, with their father occasionally joining them on drums. Chapin graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School in 1960 and was among the five inductees in the school's Alumni Hall of Fame for the year 2000. He briefly attended the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and was then a student at Cornell University, but did not complete a degree.

Chapin originally intended to be a documentary film-maker and took a job with The Big Fights, a company run by Bill Cayton that owned a large library of classic boxing films. Chapin directed Legendary Champions in 1968, which was nominated for a documentary Academy Award.[7] In 1971, he began focusing on music. With John Wallace, Tim Scott, and Ron Palmer, Chapin started playing in various nightclubs in New York City.