Executive Committee

Bernice Garfield-Szita (President)
Bernice has been involved with theater and the arts for more than 40 years. She has taught Art and Drama on the secondary school level, sung and acted in numerous productions over the years, and directed award-winning shows for Center Players. She is Executive Co-Director of GIERS: Grief Information, Education & Recovery Services, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and is Co-Director of Contemporary Counseling Center and ActionArtz Training Institute of Freehold. She uses her entrepreneurial skills to lead Center Players to be artistically excellent and fiscally responsible. She serves on the board of the Monmouth Regional Chamber of Commerce as Diversity Committee Chair.
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Elfriede Lamhut (Vice President)
Elfriede is the office manager at Paul-Mark Printing located in Freehold Borough. She was a volunteer at opening night of Center Playhouse and has helped out in many ways over the years. Her present role is ticket manager for the Playhouse.
Email: Elfriede

George M. Feldman (Treasurer)
A former Certified Public Accountant, George has been working in the financial services field since 1995. A resident of Freehold along with his wife and three daughters, he is active in his community. Having been the former Treasurer of Monmouth County Arts Council, he was happy to join Center Players as Treasurer in 2014.
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Roberta Fallon (Secretary)
Roberta is a member of the Leigh Agency, a Trusted Choice Independent insurance agency in Freehold. She is the insurance agent for the Center Players and is proud to be the Secretary to their Business Board. As a member of Center Players, Roberta works in many different areas such as tickets, refreshments and fund raising. She is always willing to help out wherever needed. In addition to the Center Players, Roberta is active in the insurance community. She was President of the Insurance Professionals of Monmouth County for 3 years and serves as Membership Chairperson of the NJ State Counsel. She is also on the State board of the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of New Jersey as well as on the board, and past President of, the Independent Insurance Agents of Monmouth and Ocean Counties.
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Board Members

Mafalda Cavanaugh
Mafalda Cavanaugh (Marketing Committee) is a communications professional and a life-long theatre lover. She is currently Marketing and PR Director for the American Theater Group, a professional theater company in Somerset County, and is happy to bring her marketing expertise to help bring audiences to Center Playhouse — a true gem in downtown Freehold. Mafalda resides in Manalapan with her husband, Jim, and their three children, and in her free time loves attending both professional and community theatre and traveling.
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Michele Coppolino
Michele has been a Property investor for the past seven years. Prior to that she was a business partner in a medical practice for 23 years while raising 3 daughters. Her training was in Personnel for many years. She launched a Temporary Division of a successful agency on Wall Street as well as being responsible for opening accounts with New York retailers for Designer clothing lines. Michele’s degree is in Education and studied at NYU, the acting school of Lee Strasberg.

Anthony Marinelli
Anthony is an award-winning film and video editor whose work has aired during the Super Bowl, the Oscars, and the Olympics. In 2002, he was nominated for an AICE Award for his work on NY Dept. of Tourism’s New Day commercial, which was the first post-9/11 “I Love NY” spot, a way of helping to revitalize the city after the terrorist attacks. In 2008/2009 he worked with Alicia Keys on the Webby-award winning documentary, “Alicia in Africa” which was used to help children and families receive antiretroviral drugs to combat the AIDS epidemic. In 2024 he received the prestigious honor of being included in Shoot Magazine's New Director’s Showcase, a way for the ad and film industries to discover emerging talent. You can read his interview here:
https://nds.shootonline.com/nds/profiles/Anthony-Marinelli/

Bob Szita
Bob is Co-Director of Contemporary Counseling Center, ActionArtz Training Institute of Freehold, and GIERS: Grief Information, Education & Recovery Services. As a Trainer, Educator, and Practitioner of Psychodrama, Bob uses role-playing to assist people in coping with life’s transitions. He is often seen working offstage as House Manager and chairs the House Committee.
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Michael Tota
Michael has been an actor and director at Center Players for the past 13 years. Prior to that he was the director of the Stager Society at St. John’s University; directing their Fall plays and Spring musicals for 7 seasons. He worked at The American Place Theatre and George Street Playhouse. He studied acting with at Academy award nominee William Hickey at HB Studios.
Artistic Board

Michael Tota (Artistic Director)
Michael has been an actor and director at Center Players for the past 13 years. Prior to that he was the director of the Stager Society at St. John’s University; directing their Fall plays and Spring musicals for 7 seasons. He worked at The American Place Theatre and George Street Playhouse. He studied acting with at Academy award nominee William Hickey at HB Studios.

Michele Coppolino
Michele is Currently directing a dramatic read for an original production called Dancing on Glass in NYC. Her recent credits include directing a dramatic read at the Tank theater in nyc, Walking Charlie, as well as the Live Radio Production of It's A Wonderful Life here in NJ.

Anthony Marinelli
Anthony writes and directs for both stage and screen. On stage, he produced and directed Sam Shepard’s Fool for Love and Terrence McNally’s Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, in NYC. His original one-act plays include Acoustic Space (Winner Best Play, 2014 Strawberry Festival), Another Famous Dead Artist (semi-finalist, 2015 New York New Works Festival), Max & Domino, and Visitors. His screen adaptation of Acoustic Space won Best Short in the 2018 Ridgewood Guild International Film Festival and Best Original Screenplay in the 2016 Richmond International Film Festival. Another short film (which originated on stage), Walt Whitman Never Paid For It, written by Angelo Berkowitz, won the Audience Choice Award at the Richmond International Film Festival in 2014. Other short films include Marital Arts, Subway, and Why I Had To Kill You While You Slept. He is also a self-published author whose novella, Simple Things (based on his unproduced web series), is available on Amazon Kindle and in paperback. Visit his website for more: www.anthonymarinelli.net

Dave McGrath
bio to come

Bernice Garfield-Szita
bio to come