MEET OUR TEAM
Christy Farnbauch
Leda Hoffmann
Francine Marchelle
Tony Koehler
Wendy Cave
Sarah Mills Bacha
Beth Graham
Leslie Wright
Executive Director
Christy Farnbauch
Christy Farnbauch became CATCO’s executive director in April 2020. She is a highly respected leader in central Ohio’s arts and cultural sector, as well as nationwide. Her professional journey has included managing funding and programs for the Ohio Arts Council, building community partnerships for Hilliard City Schools, managing a first-of-its-kind national study of jazz audiences, and serving as executive director of an association for women business owners. She founded her consulting business in 2006 to support nonprofits and small businesses through strategic planning, board development, and fundraising. Her entrepreneurial and innovative mindset has led to the creative transformation of organizations while strengthening their governance structures. Christy holds degrees from Otterbein University in music performance and business administration. In her free time, you can find her playing cornet in the Brass Band of Columbus, reading, traveling, or spending time with her family.
Artistic Director
Leda Hoffmann
Leda Hoffmann became CATCO’s Artistic Director in August 2020. Previously, Leda was Artistic Director at Strawdog Theatre Company in Chicago. Before that, Leda served on Milwaukee Rep’s artistic staff for seven years, working in the Education and Literary departments and founding Milwaukee Rep’s Community Engagement Department. Also in Milwaukee, as the Artistic Director of Luminous Theatre, Leda produced and directed site-specific productions of Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play and The Penelopiad. Leda’s work as a director has been seen across the country at Milwaukee Rep, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Texas Shakespeare Festival, University of Miami, Door Shakespeare, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Renaissance Theaterworks, Jedlicka Performing Arts Center, Northbrook Theatre, The Alchemist Theatre, Max and Louie Productions, and Riverside Theater Iowa City. Leda has also been a teaching artist for over ten years, directing youth and teaching with Hartford Stage, Milwaukee Rep, Mudlark Theater, Northbrook Park District, and Skyline Studios. Leda is a proud graduate of Grinnell College, a former Milwaukee Rep directing resident, Hartford Stage apprentice, SDCF Observer and a member of Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab.
Education Director
Francine Marchelle
Francine Marchelle, an educator, producer, director, actress, and singer, who has more than 20 years of youth program leadership, curriculum development, youth development, child-care, and education experience, most recently was the director of after-school and summer programming at Broad Street Presbyterian Church. She has a master’s degree in educational leadership, curriculum, and instruction from the University of Phoenix, and has also led youth education initiatives at the YMCA, Crittenton Community School, and Directions for Youth and Families, where she also was the theatre director. Founder of the Achievement Retro Awards, a youth research arts project based in Atlanta, and the founder and director of Amateur Community Theater, a youth academic arts program also based in Atlanta, Marchelle has produced and directed her own staged plays, including a gospel musical love story, A Trip to God’s House, an autobiographic story, For the Love of Me!, and monologues, We the People Telling Hour Story and Men on Pause.
Production Manager
Tony Koehler
Tony Koehler, teaching artist, actor, director, and designer, most recently was production manager at GALA Hispanic Theatre in Washington, D.C., and a teaching artist at The Theatre Lab School of Dramatic Arts also in Washington, D.C. Other positions include properties master at The Folger Shakespeare Theatre, and theatre credits at Constellation Theatre Company and Rainbow Theater Project in Washington, D.C., and Piven Theatre Workshop, Redmoon Theatre, and Northwestern University in Chicago. A graduate of the University of Kentucky with a BA in theatre, he has received numerous awards including a 2019 Helen Hayes Award for Best Musical and Best Ensemble and Broadway World’s 2019 regional award for Best Musical in the Small Professional Theatre Category for FAME: The Musical, and a 2017 Helen Hayes Award for the Spanish language premiere of In the Heights. In addition to his theatre background, he also has several years of business management experience as an operational manager at J.Crew.
Education Coordinator
Wendy Cave
Wendy Cave has performed professionally in and around Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois. Her favorite credits include The Baker’s Wife (Into the Woods), Mabel (Gershwin Revue at the Henry Ford Museum) and Mindy (Cedar Point Live Entertainment). She has taught theatre for 20 years, and is completing her Master’s in Theatre Education this fall from Wayne State University. She is excited to join the incredible CATCO team!
Press Representative
Sarah Mills Bacha
Sarah Mills Bacha is a professional writer and communications/marketing consultant. As president of her own firm, SMB Communications Ltd., which she founded in 1994, she has assisted numerous national and central Ohio companies and organizations with their marketing and communications needs. Before becoming a consultant, she worked as a journalist at daily newspapers. Previous positions include business reporter at The Columbus Dispatch in Columbus, OH, comment page editor at The Journal-Gazette in Fort Wayne, IN, and stringer for Reuters.
Development Manager
Beth Graham
Beth Graham is a Columbus native and longtime CATCO fan. She has served in various fundraising roles with arts organizations in town including the Columbus Symphony and most recently the Columbus Association for the Performing Arts (CAPA) where she has been a partner to CATCO for the last three years. Beth also held a fellowship with the Ohio Arts Council following graduation from Miami University with a degree in Arts Management and Media Culture Studies. She loves supporting local and has even worked for a local jewelry store, Red Giraffe Designs. In her free time, she likes to read, take walks in her neighborhood of Harrison West, and spend time with her rescue cat, Ivy.
House Manager
Leslie Wright
Leslie Wright holds a Bachelor of Arts in Graphic Design from Southern New Hampshire University. Since 2020, she has worked as a freelance Graphic Designer and the Owner and Creative Director of Whimsical Custom Designs and Whimsical Designs, LLC. She is a Columbus native, currently residing in Reynoldsburg with her husband, six children, and miniature poodle. Being an active member of various organizations helped shape and develop her passion for working with others. She firmly believes that her time in these organizations was crucial in developing the ethics she puts into practice today.
