(Photo provided by: Scott Stackhouse)

Beloved Scene Shop Foreman for the Department of Music and Theatre, Sean Leistico, sadly passed away on March 23, 2026.

Leistico was described as kind, quiet, and so helpful by JCCC student Rylee Lindsey. He was an extremely hard worker, she says, and was always working to help the department in any way he could.

“Sean [meant] a lot to a lot of us here in the theatre department, and anyone who was a part of the theatre department in the past,” Lindsey said. “We all miss him very much. It’s not the same without him.”

Theater Artistic Coordinator Scott Stackhouse worked alongside Leistico, starting back in 1999. Stackhouse even directed him in a few shows as an actor until he went to UMKC in 2010.

“He devoted his life to theater,” Stackhouse said. “So he and I didn’t really talk that much because, you know, he was doing theater, I’m doing theater; [and] when you’re doing theater, it’s just full-time.”

Stackhouse got to know Leistico pretty well when he came back to JCCC, although they didn’t get to spend much time together outside of theater due to Leistico’s busy schedule. Not only was he working for JCCC, but he also fulfilled the same position at the Barn Players Theater and took care of his mother, who was suffering from dementia.

“His job with us was a full-time gig, and then he had another full-time gig, and he also had a girlfriend in southern Kansas,” Stackhouse said. “I talked to him for, you know, the 20, 25 or [26] years that I knew him about [how he needed] to figure out how to say no to things. You need to figure out how to slow down, and that was a running joke with us.”

Stackhouse says that Leistico was the nicest guy and that everyone in the theater department would agree.

“You always want to be able to say that, but this is one of those guys [where] he’s not super outspoken, and he doesn’t come into a room and try to take over. He [was] just that steady presence that’s always there. And if asked, he [had] opinions, and [he’d] give them. 
But he didn’t find it his place to jump in and, you know, make it about him. And he would work with the students, he would talk to them and give them the benefit of his experience.”

Lesitico was a big guy with a big voice, according to Stackhouse, but he only used it when he was on stage. Otherwise, he was the gentle giant type.

“He was the guy you could count on, the guy who was, you know, just kind of like that swine for the thing that you were doing. And [he] was very creative,” Stackhouse said.
 “Not many people can do the type of things that he did technically, but then also be able to act pretty well and sing really well. So it was kind of a unique thing that he had going.”

When it came to teaching, Stackhouse says that Leistico was not the most confident, but knew he had the information that students needed and helped with the practical side of things.

“I was talking to him about, you know, [letting himself] have the confidence of [his] experience–because that was not his strong suit, the teaching,” Stackhouse said. “He fought. But when he actually showed them what to do and how to do it, it made sense. 
And they learned from him.”

Despite his lack of confidence, oftentimes Stackhouse would witness Leistico sharing his wisdom with students.

“His office was right outside mine, and when I would come through, it was pretty often that he would have a student there and they’d just be having a conversation. But I knew that he was giving them the benefit of all those years of experience.”

There is a lot of theater in the Kansas City area, and Lesitico was a big part of it.

“Kansas City Theater is pretty thriving, and he was plugged into so much of it. The amount of people that he’s affected over the years is really going to be a big number,” Stackhouse said.

Stackhouse has been in many situations with colleagues where things were counterproductive, but it was never like that with Leistico. For him, he was only ever a good friend and a great colleague.

“We just didn’t have any of the extra obstacles,” Stackhouse said. “[We would] joke around while we were doing it, but get it done. 
And he was a great example [of] ‘show up and get it done, leave when it’s done.’ And our students really need that.”

The theater community has had to deal with some harsh practices that could be damaging to those in it. Leistico was a student of it, but he showed that things could be different.

“We both open in that world and we both understand why that’s there, but we were also both willing to work on how to help these students. You got to put in the time, and he really showed how to do that,” Stackhouse said.

Stackhouse says that Leistico was so young, with so much more he wanted to do. Students were truly benefitting from the things he was doing, and the shock of his passing truly shows how much he meant to them.

“But at the end of the day, what I tell them and what I try to follow is this idea that, you know, instead of being sad about the time you don’t get, is to be really glad that you had time with him,” Stackhouse said.