Miss Bennet

AMY BATES (Director) is a senior Theatre Arts major with a concentration in Directing. Prior Directing Credits include Dead Man’s Cell Phone (Director), and Carrie: the Musical (Assistant Director) at UW-Parkside, The 39 Steps (Assistant Director) at Third Avenue Playworks, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Director) at Stagecraft Theatre Co., and A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder at the Malthouse Theatre in Burlington, WI (Broadway World Milwaukee Award Winner) and Double Trouble a Musical Tour de Farce, Little Women: the Musical, and The Drowsy Chaperone at Stage Productions in Orlando, FL. Previous acting credits include Always a Bridesmaid (Charlie) at the Waukesha Civic Theatre, The Roommate (Sharon) at Millbrook Playhouse, Spring Awakening (The Adult Woman) and The Cripple of Inishmaan (Aunt Kate) at Valencia Theatre, and Hand to God (Margery) at UW-Parkside.

ABBY BONHAM (Dramaturg) is a second-year student majoring in Secondary Education with a minor in Theatre Arts. Previously at UW-Parkside, she was in When We Dead Awaken (U/S Maja).

INSLEY MCKELLIPS (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 Carrie: the Musical (Margaret), and Mr. Burns (Jenny / Marge / Marge), and Macbeth (Lady Macbeth) at UW-Parkside.

SAM SIEPLER (Stage Manager) is a second-year Theatre Arts major with a concentration in Stage Management. Previous credits include Mr. Burns (Asst. Stage Manager), Macbeth (Asst. Stage Manager), Carrie: the Musical (Deck Crew), Hand to God (Deck Crew), and Waiting for Godot (Light Board Operator) at UW-Parkside.

JODY SEKAS (Scenic Designer / 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, 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 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 twelfth year at UW-Parkside as Associate Professor of Scenic Design & Technology. See examples of his work at www.d4production.com.

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.

SAVANA ANDERSHOCK (Lighting Designer) is a UW-Parkside alumni (2025) and is the Lighting Supervisor for the Rita. Last summer, Savana worked as a Lighting Apprentice at Great River Shakespeare Festival. Previous credits at UW-Parkside include Dead Man’s Cell Phone (Lighting Designer), Carrie: the Musical (Lighting Designer), Peter & the Starcatcher (Asst. Lighting Designer), The Altruists (Stage Manager), When We Dead Awaken (Head Electrician), Meteor Shower (Lighting Designer), The Aliens (Light Board Operator), As You Like It (Assistant Stage Manager), The Wolves (Master Electrician), She Kills Monsters (Assistant Stage Manager), Indecent (Assistant Master Electrician), and The Penelopiad (Deck Crew). Recent acting credits include She Kills Monsters (Narrator), The Thanksgiving Play (Logan), and Macbeth (Doctor, Lord, Hecate). See examples of her work at www.savanaandershock.com

TESS OGDEN (Composer / Pianist) is a first-year Theatre Arts major with concentrations in Acting and Musical Theatre. Previously at UW-Parkside, Tess was seen in Mr. Burns (Quincy / Business Woman / Bart 2). Other prior Credits include Les Miserables (Fantine) and Mamma Mia (Tanya) at Young Star Musical Theatre, The Passion Prophecies (Yocheved, Composer) at BellaFolk Productions, Shrek Jr (Fiona) at CYT Milwaukee, and Newsies Jr. (Katherine Plumber) and Mary Poppins Jr. (Mary Poppins) at Infinite Joy Studios.

ANNAGRACE MCCURDY (Sound Designer) is a senior Theatre Arts major with a concentration in Musical Theatre. Previous credits include Mr. Burns (Edna Krabappel / Choragus), Macbeth (Assistant Sound Designer), Dead Man’s Cell Phone (Hermia), Carrie: the Musical (Sue), The Altruists (Sound Designer), When We Dead Awaken (Irene), Burn: The Musical (Rosie), As You Like It (U/S Rosalind), The Wolves (Sound Board Operator), The Laramie Project (Sound Board Operator) and Spring Awakening (Wendla).

MARK WARDEN (Props Designer) is a senior Theatre Arts Major with concentrations in Acting and Design & Technology, who transferred to UW-Parkside from the College of Lake County. Previous credits include Mr. Burns – A Post-Electric Play (Matt / Homer 1 / Mr. Burns), Macbeth (Asst. Scenic Designer), Waiting for Godot (Vladimir),True West (Austin / Co-Scenic & Props Designer) and Hand to God (Lead Carpenter) at UW-Parkside, and Evil Dead: the Musical (Ash), Picasso at the Lapin Agile (Picasso), The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged (revised) (Adam / Actor 3), Into the Woods (Wolf / Cinderella’s Prince), The Squirrels (Scenic Designer), The Chairs (Scenic Designer), and Assistant Scenic Designer for Picasso at the Lapin Agile and Evil Dead: the Musical at the College of Lake County. He is also a scene shop assistant at UW-Parkside and an overhire carpenter for Skylight Music Theatre in Milwaukee.

KENNEDY FRICK (Hair & Makeup Designer) is a senior Theatre Arts major with a concentration in Design & Technology. Kennedy transferred here from Allen Hancock College in CA, where her credits include Costume Designer for No Exit and Calabasas Street. Additional professional credits include Stitcher for Wolf at the Door and The Virgin Queen Entertains her Fool at American Players Theatre, Costume Designer for The Music Man and Evita at Saint Joseph High School, and Emma (Asst. Costume Design), The Sound of Music, Into the Woods, Cinderella, River Bride, and Bright Star (Stitcher), and Native Gardens (Wardrobe Crew) at the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts. Kennedy is a costume shop assistant and her credits at UW-Parkside include Dead Man’s Cell Phone (Costume Designer), Carrie: the Musical (Asst. Costume Designer), True West (Costume Designer), Peter and the Starcatcher (Asst. Costume Designer), The Laramie Project (Wardrobe Supervisor) and Meteor Shower (Asst. Costume Designer).

ANNE PLUMMER (Associate Scenic Designer) is a second-year Theatre Arts major with a concentration in Design & Technology. Prior credits include Mr. Burns (Lead Carpenter), Macbeth (Asst. Projections Designer) and Carrie: the Musical (Asst. Projections Designer) at UW-Parkside, and 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.

APRIL SERSEN (Scenic Charge Artist) is a second year Theatre Arts major with concentrations in Design & Technology and Stage Management. Prior credits at UW-Parkside include Mr. Burns (Asst. Stage Manager), Macbeth (Asst. Charge Artist), Dead Man’s Cell Phone (Assistant Stage Manager), and Carrie: the Musical (Light Board Operator).

MARY MACDONALD KERR (Dialect Coach) is delighted to be part of the University Wisconsin-Parkside Theater Arts faculty. She has been a professional theater artist in the Milwaukee area for 28 years, both as an actor and director. She has been part of productions at Next Act Theater, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Renaissance Theatreworks, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, First Stage Theatre, In Tandem Theatre, Forward Theater and Milwaukee Shakespeare. Favorite acting roles include Anna in Burn This and Zelda in The How and the Why at Renaissance Theatreworks, Dana/Darryl in Sweetest Swing in Baseball and Sally in Voice of the Turtle at Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, and Terry in Side Man and Maggie in Red Herring at Next Act. Recent directing projects include Moon for the Misbegotten at Milwaukee Chamber Theater, Mousetrap at Next Act Theater, Actually at Renaissance Theaterworks, Mary Jane at Forward Theater, West Side Story at Hope Rep (MI) and Cyrano at Titan Theater (NYC). Mary is a proud member of Actors Equity Association and the Screen Actors Guild.

BRETT J. OLSON (Intimacy Director) is thrilled to join the University of Wisconsin–Parkside Theatre Arts faculty. He has been a professional theatre artist for 17 years, working nationally as an actor, director, and educator on more than 100 productions. Performance credits include work at the Kennedy Center, the NYC International Film Festival, the East Village Film Festival, Fresh Black Films, Crossroads Repertory Theatre, Gorilla Tango, and North Dakota Shakespeare. Favorite directing projects include productions at Perry-Mansfield (Steamboat Springs, CO), Okoboji Summer Theatre (Okoboji, IA), Stephens College (Columbia, MO), and Minot State Summer Theatre (Minot, ND). He was a founding member of the Conservatory for Performing Arts at Stephens College and has served as Associate Artistic Director for both Minot State Summer Theatre and North Dakota Shakespeare. Brett holds an MFA in Acting from Western Illinois University and an MA in Theatre Arts (Stage Direction) from the University of North Dakota. He is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association, Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, the Society of American Fight Directors, the Voice and Speech Trainers Association, and Intimacy Directors and Coordinators.

HUGO DUMS (Production Electrician) is a third-year Theatre Arts major with a concentration in Acting. Previous credits include Mr. Burns (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, and Love’s Labour’s Lost (Don Armado) at Summit Players Theatre.

CAITLIN EKORNAAS (Wardrobe Supervisor) is a senior Theatre Arts major with a concentration in Musical Theatre. Her prior credits include Evil Dead: the Musical (Cheryl), Picasso at the Lapin Agile (Suzanne/Countess/Female Admirer), School House Rock – Live (Dina), The Squirrels (Chordata), and Desdemona (U/S Emilia) at the College of Lake County, and Mr. Burns (Maria / Lisa 1 / 2nd FBI / Scratchy), and Macbeth (U/S Donaldbain / Lord, Gentlewoman / Lord) at UW-Parkside.

JEFF BRAIN (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). He also designed props for Silent Sky and served as Lead Carpenter for The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Jeff has also worked as a carpenter and props artisan for theatres including The Alley Theatre (Houston, TX), American Players Theatre (Spring Green, WI), and Fireside Dinner Theatre (Fort Atkinson, WI). He is an ensemble member of Redtwist Theatre in Chicago, where he continues to expand his portfolio of performance, carpentry, and props design.