The Arsonists

BRIAN J. GILL (Director) is an Associate Professor and chair of the Department of Theatre Arts at the University of Wisconsin, Parkside.  He has been a professional stage actor for over 30 years, appearing at such theaters as Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Next Act Theatre, Milwaukee Shakespeare, Renaissance Theaterworks, First Stage Children’s Theatre, and Milwaukee Repertory Theatre.  Chicago credits include Goodman Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Victory Gardens, Drury Lane Oakbrook, and Remy Bumppo Theatre Company; Regionally Brian has performed at Theatre at the Center, the Illinois and Texas Shakespeare Festivals, and the historic Ford’s Theatre in Washington DC.  International credits include the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, London where he trained as a member of the first International Artistic Fellowship.  Brian has staged violence for Next Act Theatre, UW-Parkside, the College of Lake County, Harper College, Elgin College and the Southwest Shakespeare Company where he is a core company member.  He a proud member of Actor’s Equity Association and an Advanced Actor-Combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors.

JULIANA CAMPOS-TAYLOR (Assistant Director) is a fourth-year Theatre Arts major with concentrations in Musical Theatre and Stage Management.  Previous roles at UW-Parkside include A House in Winter (Stage Manager), Cabaret (Frenchie), Our Town (Emily), Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley (Lydia Wickham), Mr. Burns (Stage Manager), Macbeth (Donaldbain/Lord), Dead Man’s Cell Phone (Assistant Stage Manager), Hand to God (Jessica/Jolene), Carrie: the Musical (Assistant Stage Manager), Peter & the Starcatcher (Ensemble, U/S Grempkin/Fighting Prawn/Mack/Sanchez/Bill Slank/Hawking Clam), and The Laramie Project (Ensemble).

APRIL SERSEN (Stage Manager) is a third-year Theatre Arts major with concentrations in Design & Technology and Stage Management. Prior credits include Cabaret (Assistant Scenic Designer), Our Town (Head Electrician / Light Board Operator), Spain (Helen), Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley (Charge Artist), Mr. Burns (Asst. Stage Manager), Macbeth (Co-Charge Artist), Dead Man’s Cell Phone (Assistant Stage Manager), and Carrie: the Musical (Light Board Operator) at UW-Parkside, Matilda the Musical (Lighting Designer) at the Stagecraft Theatre Company, and And Then There Were None (Assistant Lighting Designer) at the Milwaukee Repertory Theatre.

JEFF BRAIN (Scenic Designer, Assistant Technical Director, Scene Shop Supervisor) is a graduate of UW-Parkside (2020) with focuses on performance, carpentry, and props design. Parkside credits include Mr. Burns – A Post-Electric Play (Scenic Designer), Romeo and Juliet (Friar Lawrence), Love’s Labour’s Lost (Longaville), and War of the Worlds (Announcer #2). Jeff’s most recent work has included scenic designs for Native Gardens (Theatre EVOLVE / Chicago) and Prayer Circle (Redtwist Theatre / Chicago). Jeff has also worked as a carpenter and props artisan for theatres including The Alley Theatre (Houston, TX), Fireside Dinner Theatre (Fort Atkinson, WI), Victory Gardens (Chicago, IL) and more. He spends his summers as a carpenter at American Players Theatre (Spring Green, WI), who is the recipient of the 2026 Tony Award for Regional Theatre. He is an ensemble member of Redtwist Theatre and Nonsense Theatre in Chicago, where he continues to expand his portfolio of performance, carpentry, and props design. Thank you for supporting live theatre!

LESLIE VAGLICA (Costume Designer / Costume Shop Supervisor) is a costumer whose foundation in fashion and art has enriched her focus in theatrical costuming. She has worked as a costume technician for Off-Broadway productions of Trevor, The Musical and Boswell, as well as for professional companies, including American Players Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, the Florentine Opera Company, Skylight Music Theatre, and Milwaukee Chamber Theatre. Professional regional design credits include The Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Sugar Creek Opera, Milwaukee Opera Theatre, Florentine Opera Company, Luminous Theatre, UW-Milwaukee Dance and Musical Theatre, Peter Stathas Dance, and Renaissance Theaterworks. She has also served as Costume Shop Manager at Hope Summer Repertory Theater in Holland, MI. Leslie is a graduate of UW-Eau Claire and holds a certificate in Apparel Product Design and Development from Mt. Mary University. Most recently at UW-Parkside, Leslie was the Costume Designer for Hand to God.

PETR WILLIAM is a Midwest-born-and-raised multi-hyphenate theatre artist specializing in lighting and media design, and a recent graduate of UW-Parkside Theatre. Petr has recently returned to the Milwaukee area after spending a year in Memphis as a resident designer at a regional theatre. In January of 2025 he received the ACTF Region 3 Excellence in Design Award in both lighting and media design. He moved on to the National ACTF Festival where he was awarded two National Awards: Second Place in Lighting Design and Third Place in Media Design. He was also awarded a Lighting Design Fellowship at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center in Waterford, CT. 

His recent credits include: Playhouse on the Square – Jesus Christ Superstar (Lighting Design), JOB (Lighting Design), Seussical (Lighting Design), The Wizard of Oz (Lighting & Media Design), Murder on the Orient Express (Lighting Design); Next Act Theatre – Circle Mirror Transformation (Associate Lighting Design), The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity (Assistant Lighting Design); Forward Theatre – A Case for the Existence of God (Assistant Lighting Designer); NYU Tisch – Titanic (Assistant Media Design). 
 
His upcoming work includes: Milwaukee Repertory Theatre – JP Coletta’s Rock & Roll Piano Man (Lighting Design), Footloose (Assistant Lighting Design), Twelve Angry Men (Assistant Lighting Design), John Proctor is the Villain (Assistant Lighting Design), Somewhere (Assistant Lighting Design); Milwaukee Chamber Theatre – Songs Without Words (Lighting Design); Milwaukee Ballet – MKE MIX (Associate Media Designer); WAWM Youth Theatre – Something Rotten (Scenic Design), Finding Neverland (Lighting & Media Design), Shrek the Musical Jr. (Lighting & Scenic Design), Oklahoma (Lighting Design).

KEVIN GRAY (Sound Designer) is UW-Parkside’s Sound Manager and Instructor, working with both the Theatre Arts and Music departments to produce art and events on campus. Kevin received a BA in Sound Design with a minor in Music Composition from Michigan Technological University. UW-Parkside Design credits include When We Dead Awaken, The Laramie Project, The Aliens, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Cinderella, and Stupid F##king Bird, for which he received a KCACTF National Award for Excellence in Sound Design.

ANNE PLUMMER (Projections Designer) is a third-year Theatre Arts major with a concentration in Design & Technology.  Prior credits include Cabaret (Scenic Charge Artist), Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley (Associate Scenic Designer), Mr. Burns: a Post-Electric Play (Lead Carpenter), Macbeth (Asst. Projections Designer) and Carrie: the Musical (Asst. Projections Designer) at UW-Parkside, and My Fair Lady, Damn Yankees, The Boys from Syracuse, The Merry Widow, The Yeomen of the Guard, The Red Mill, Guys & Dolls, The Sound of Music, Me and My Girl, The Gondoliers, The Count of Luxembourg, The Arcadians, Camelot, How to Succeed at Business Without Really Trying, No, No, Nanette, H.M.S. Pinafore, Arizona Lady, and Orpheus in the Underworld (Carpenter) at Ohio Light Opera.

EMILIO DE ANDA ACOSTA (Hair & Makeup Designer) is a fourth-year Theatre Arts major with concentrations in Musical Theatre and Acting.  Previous credits include Mamma Mia! (Ensemble, U/S Sam, U/S Bill), Britmas (Isaías), and Dreams (Aladdin, Hades, Ensemble) at Britstudio Entertainment in Mexico City, Mexico, and A House in Winter (Talo), Cabaret (Kit Kat Swing), Macbeth (Porter/Lord), and Carrie: the Musical (Mr. Stephens) at UW-Parkside.

JODY SEKAS (Technical Director) is a production designer for theatre & film, whose recent designs include the Off-Broadway debut of Boswell, and the feature film What Happened to Dorothy Bell.  In 2021 he won the KCACTF National Scene Design award for his UW-Parkside design of Stupid F##king Bird.  He has worked for such venues as the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, First Stage Children’s Theatre, Next Act Theatre, Door Shakespeare, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Renaissance Theaterworks, Dell’Arte International, Rochester Civic Theatre, Omaha Theatre Company for Young People, The Western Stage, and on the feature films What Happened to Dorothy Bell, The Music Inside, Bigfoot: The Lost Coast Tapes, FLEA, and The Wine of Summer.  He taught Scenography for Theatre, Film, & Dance at Humboldt State University in northern California; Scenic/Lighting Design & Technology at UW-Eau Claire and was the resident scenic & lighting designer for the Sioux Falls Playhouse in South Dakota.  He is now in his fourteenth year at UW-Parkside as Associate Professor of Scenic Design & Technology.  See examples of his work at www.d4production.com.

LEVI OFSANIK (Charge Artist) is a fourth-year Theatre Arts major with a concentration in Design & Technology.  Prior credits include Cabaret (Props Designer) and Our Town (Charge Artist) at UW-Parkside, Jagged Little Pill (Props Carpenter), Into the woods (Props Designer), Lions of Illyria (Props Designer), Complete works of William Shakespeare: abridged (Props Designer),  Desdemona: a play about a handkerchief (Props designer), and When She Had Wings (Scenic Designer) at the College of Lake County, and Chicago: high school edition (Assistant Technical director) and Antigone now (Assistant Technical Director) at Grayslake Central High School.

CODY HURM (Props Head) is a fourth-year Theatre Arts major with a concentration in Stage Management.  Previous credits at UW-Parkside include A House in Winter (Director), Our Town (Wally Webb / Joe Stoddard), Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play (Asst. Director), The Effect (Stage Manager), Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley (Asst. Stage Manager), Macbeth (Assistant Stage Manager), Hand to God (Deck Crew), and The Altruists (U/S Ethan, Ronald, Lance). They will be assistant director for our upcoming production of RENT this semester.

AINSLEY MCKELLIPS (Assistant Stage Manager / Choreographer) is a senior Theatre Arts major with a concentration in Musical Theatre.  Previous credits include Heathers (Veronica Sawyer), Not Now Darling (Maude Bodley), and Murder Ballad (Sara) at State Fair Community College in Sedalia, MO, and Cabaret (Fräulein Schneider), Carrie: the Musical (Margaret), and Mr. Burns (Jenny / Marge / Marge), Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley (Choreographer), Our Town (Assistant Stage Manager), and Macbeth (Lady Macbeth) at UW-Parkside.

LUMI SHALAEV (Assistant Sound Designer) is a third-year Theatre Arts and Music double-major with a concentration in Design & Technology. Prior credits include Cabaret (Production Electrician), Mr. Burns (Asst. Lighting Designer), Macbeth (Asst. Lighting Designer), Lighting & Projections Designer for the 2024 Video Game Concert, Lighting Designer for the spring Jazz concert, and The Nutcracker (Light Board Operator) at UW-Parkside. Most recently, Lumi was an Electrics & Props Apprentice at the Santa Fe Opera.

HUGO DUMS (Production Electrician) is a fourth-year Theatre Arts major with a concentration in Acting. Previous credits include Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley (Production Electrician), Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play  (Nelson), Macbeth (Assistant Director), Waiting for Godot (Boy / Swing), Hand to God (U/S Jason/Tyrone), Carrie: the Musical (Head Electrician), True West (Saul), Peter & the Starcatcher (Boy/Peter) and The Laramie Project (Ensemble) at UW-Parkside, Hamlet (Production Manager) and Love’s Labour’s Lost (Don Armado) at Summit Players Theatre, One Senior, One Adult (Andrew) at None of the Above Theatre Company, and All is Calm (Tenor 1) at Vanguard Milwaukee.

SAM ROSE (Wardrobe Supervisor) is a second-year Theatre Arts major. Previously at UW-Parkside, she was Wardrobe Crew for Cabaret.

MARIBEL MUÑOZ (Assistant Production Electrician) is a third-year Theatre Arts major with a concentration in Design & Technology. Prior credits at UW-Parkside include Carrie (Deck Crew), Macbeth (Deck Chief), Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley (Light Board Operator), and Cabaret (Sound Board Operator).