Cortland Rep Welcomes New Hires

Repertory Theatre is announcing the hiring of two new permanent staff members to coincide with the expansion from summer to year-round operations. With the new facility "CRT Downtown" nearing completion and almost ready for the first fall season, the theatre has signed on two long-time summer employees to join the company full time.

Eric Behnke has joined the non-profit organization as the Production and Facilities Manager. Behnke started working for CRT in the summer of 2006 as a Stage Manager, and has continued to work at CRT in almost every summer since. As a Stage Manager, he worked on such CRT productions as "Cats", "Brigadoon", and "Joseph..." to name a few. More recently he has served as Lighting Designer, and worked on "Les Miserables", "The Andrews Brothers", "The Full Monty" and others. Outside of Cortland, Eric has been the technical director and light director for national tours of The Phantom Tollbooth, Chasing George Washington, and Knuffle Bunny based out of The Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., and The Magic School Bus and Fifty Shades! The Musical Parody with Maximum Entertainment. He was also the automation carpenter for the international tour of Dreamgirls. He has served as an electrician with The Hippodrome Theatre in Florida and at many Broadway and Off-Broadway theatres. Additionally, he was substitute electrician for the Daily Show with John Stewart. Just before joining CRT, he serves as Production Coordinator for the Performing Arts Center at SUNY Purchase. In his full time position at CRT, Eric will oversee the technical aspects of all CRT productions and is responsible for maintenance and upkeep on all CRT buildings.

Also joining the CRT staff is Kris Valentine Behnke, who will fill the new position of Program Manager. This position is primarily focused on planning, coordinating and implementing CRT's new Youth Programs which are scheduled to begin in the fall of 2015. She will also serve as booking manager for the reception hall at the Little York Pavilion and events at "CRT Downtown". She worked at CRT as a Stage Manager and Company Manger in the 2009-11 summers on such shows as Unnecessary Farce, Forever Plaid, and Chicago. In the years in between and following, she toured nationally with 50 Shades: The Musical Parody, Maximum Entertainment's The Magic School Bus Live!, Strega Nona: the Musical National Tour, and the Nebraska Theatre Caravan's A Christmas Carol. She has worked with Tada! Youth Theatre in Manhattan, and two Off-Broadway shows: Forever Dusty: The Dusty Springfield Musical, and iLuminate: Artist of Light. Kris also worked at Field Station: Dinosaurs, an educational dinosaur theme park in Secaucus, New Jersey.

The couple met at CRT in the summer of 2009, and were married at the Little York Pavilion in 2013. They have moved permanently to Cortland and are expecting their first baby this July.