Edward P. Gallagher, LPMT, MT-BC became President & CEO of Beck Center for the Arts in April 2025. He is also a Board Certified Music Therapist. He holds a Bachelor of Music in Music Therapy from Cleveland State University and a graduate certificate in nonprofit management from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and founded Beck Center’s Creative Arts Therapies program in 1994. He currently serves on the Board of the Cleveland Arts Education Consortium, CreativeOhio, and is recent past co-chair of the Ohio Music Therapy Task Force which obtained licensure for Music and Art Therapists in Ohio. He is Past President of the Cleveland Arts Education Consortium as well as the Great Lakes Region of the American Music Therapy Association (GLR-AMTA) and the Association of Ohio Music Therapists (AOMT). He received the AOMT Service Award in 2023 as well as the GLR-AMTA Service Award, the AOMT Past President’s Award and has been inducted into the Ohio State Fair Hall of Fame. He has been recognized by the City of Lakewood for bringing the healing power of music to the community. He is also Director of Operations for the All-Ohio State Fair Band and Youth Choir, two organizations featuring the talents of 300 talented high school instrumentalists and vocalists which are comprised of students from throughout the state.

Larry began at Beck Center in January of 1998 as Musical Director for the theater. Following two years volunteering (2008-2009) as a business process and software consultant, he was hired as Director of Business Operations in 2009. Larry currently is the Vice President for Operations. His expanded role allows him to focus his extensive experience in finance and operations towards developing strategies to increase both contributed and earned revenue while overseeing Beck Center’s operations. Goodpaster brings a wealth of business experience from his time as Assistant Dean for the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University and as a regional director for Kaplan Educational Services.

Julie joined the Beck Center team in September 2018. She has a BS in theater from Texas Woman’s University. Prior to moving to Cleveland she worked at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts for nine years, first on the resident theatre company side which was awarded the 1998 Regional Theater Tony Award®, then the Broadway touring division, launching national tours such as The Lion King. In Northeast Ohio she has worked for Playhouse Square, The Cleveland Orchestra, and spent ten years with Cleveland Play House, during which they were awarded the 2015 Regional Theater Tony Award®. She is a member of the Cleveland Bridge Builders’ Class of 2013, PRSA (Public Relations Society of America), AFP (Association of Fundraising Professionals), and the Arts & Culture Levy 2024 Marketing Committee. She is on the board of Art Possible Ohio, and enjoys volunteering with area non-profits, including College Now Greater Cleveland as a mentor, and Habitat for Humanity in Medina County.

Scott Spence has been Beck Center’s Artistic Director since 1992. Spence holds a BA in Theatre from the University of Nebraska and a Master of Fine Arts degree in Directing from Western Illinois University. He has also held adjunct faculty positions at Cuyahoga Community College in Cleveland, Baldwin Wallace University in Berea, and taught the Directing curriculum at Cleveland State University from 2010 to 2015. He is the recipient of the 2006 Northern Ohio Live Award for Theatre Achievement. Matilda the Musical, in summer 2019, marked Scott’s 100th production he has directed at Beck Center.