THE RITZ STAFF
Bruce A. Curless
Founding Father
BRUCE CURLESS (February 5, 1948 – October 28, 2026) founded The Ritz Theatre Company in 1985 and served as the Producing Artistic Director and guiding light of the organization for forty years. Among his myriad accomplishments, he was a two-time Mid-Atlantic Emmy Award winner for his children’s show character Ritzy the Wolf. In 2006, he directed and appeared in the New York Premier of Blue Lou and the Bullyfish, as part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival. Among his favorite directorial projects were Candide, Master Class, and Sweeney Todd, for which he received a Philadelphia Barrymore Award nomination. He was a guest director at The University of Pennsylvania, Foundation Theatre, Off Broad Street Theatre, and Rowan University. He appeared in the featured role in the Philadelphia Project Twenty 1 Film Festival winning entry, Ghost Light. He received the Applause Award for outstanding community contributions in the area of theatre and Camden County’s Martin Luther King’s Freedom Award. He was the co-creator and director of The Magick in the Music of Stephen Schwartz, an original musical revue developed at The Ritz Theatre Company with Stephen Schwartz. Bruce’s vision, skill, and heart-on-his-sleeve stewardship have left an indelible mark on the region, our theatre, and our hearts. 💜
Matthew Weil
Associate Artistic Director / Production Manager
MATTHEW WEIL is a multidisciplinary theatre artist and storyteller. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from Rowan University with a concentration in directing and acting. Since graduating, Matt has enjoyed a prolific artistic career working in the Greater Philadelphia area as a director, actor, set designer, lighting designer, electrician and theatre administrator – earning acclaim from the public and theatrical contemporaries alike. Overseeing all of the artistic programming on our stage, he currently serves as the Associate Artistic Director and Production Manager of the Ritz Theatre Company and is the designated successor to Founder and Producing Artistic Director, Bruce Curless.
Dana Wilson
Managing Director
DANA WILSON has enjoyed productions at The Ritz since childhood, and she is thrilled to now be a member of the theater team. She is an alumnus of Rutgers University-Camden (B.A.) and University of Phoenix (M.B.A.). She brings experience in bookkeeping, office management, and event planning to The Ritz.
Robert Repici
Director of Education
ROBERT REPICI is a director, teacher, and dad who oversees all Educational Programming here at The Ritz upon launching the celebrated Stage Starz youth theatre initiative in 2022. An alumnus of Rutgers University (B.A.) and Arizona State University (M.A.S.), he has worked full-time at The Ritz since 2018, managing Communications, Social Media, Casting, and Group Sales at one point or another. Over the past eight years here at The Ritz, he has directed a variety of youth/teen productions, including High School Musical, The Olympians, Sweeney Todd: School Edition, Peter/Wendy, Mean Girls: High School Version, David Lindsay-Abaire’s Snow Angel, A Chorus Line: Teen Edition, Chicago: Teen Edition, Once Upon a Mattress, and You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown. He also helmed a successful mainstage production of The Wizard of Oz in the summer of 2025.
Lori Aleixo-Howard
Director of Development
LORI ALEIXO-HOWARD is so happy to join The Ritz Theatre Company’s full-time staff as the new Director of Development. She began her development career at Florida Studio Theatre in Sarasota and eventually became the Assistant Director of Development at Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia. During her ten years on staff there, she and the development team successfully raised 1.1 million dollars in contributed income each season. She is also an active teacher, director, and performer, appearing on the Ritz stage most recently in Fiddler on the Roof.
Maria A. Bryan
Box Office & Group Sales Manager
MARIA A. BRYAN is delighted to represent The Ritz Theatre Company as the Box Office and Group Sales Manager. Maria brings extensive experience in office management, administrative process development, and event management, having worked at executive levels within large corporations such as NCR Corp, AT&T, and CDI. A lifelong theatregoer, and a Mom to a talented performer, she truly enjoys being a part of the extraordinary behind-the-scenes efforts that make magic happen on stage for our audiences.
Megan Iafolla
Resident Costume Designer
MEGAN IAFOLLA has been part of the Ritz family for the past four years. She has been the Resident Costume Designer here at The Ritz since the start of 2022. Since 2021, she has also had the privilege of designing the costumes for the Ritz Senior Camp shows in the summer and for the Ritz Stage Starz shows in the autumn and spring. Megan also volunteers for her local high school’s theatre program.
Seth Chaffin
Technical Director
SETH CHAFFIN is a South Jersey/Philadelphia based Technical Director and Set Designer. He has a BFA from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia with a concentration in Set Design and Technical Direction. He has been part of the creative team in numerous productions throughout the Philadelphia and South Jersey areas. Seth’s love for theatre began as a child, taking the stage in numerous school plays and musicals. As a teenager, his interest turned away from the stage and more behind the scenes toward the technical and production side of theatre, ultimately leading to his career choice of Technical Director and Set Designer. Seth enjoys being part of a creative team that brings the separate artistic mediums of set design, lights, sound, props, music, dance, and acting to imaginative and cohesive story-lines that engage and positively impact the audience and their love of the arts and theatre as a whole. As theatre is constantly evolving, Seth works towards practical and creative solutions to make any idea or design into a reality. In his spare time, Seth enjoys woodworking, jewelry making, blacksmithing, and playing DnD. www.chaffinscenic.com