Download Artistic Personnel

Artistic Personnel
William Partlan (Artistic Director) directs each presentation of Triple Espresso and
collaborates with directors around the world to adapt the play to other languages and
cultures. He also serves as Associate Professor in Directing in the School of Theatre
and Film of the Herberger College of Fine Arts at Arizona State University.
He has directed off-Broadway, regional and international premieres over the last 25
years. He is known for his work with new plays and playwrights like Alan Ball, Lee
Blessing, Jeff Hatcher, and John Patrick Shanley. He has directed numerous plays at
the O’Neill Center’s National Playwrights’ Conference including premieres of August
Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Fences. Bill directed All God’s Dangers,
starring Cleavon Little, at Cricket Theatre, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, offBroadway and for PBS’ American Playhouse. His acclaimed American premier
production of Hugh Whitemore’s The Best of Friends was produced off-Broadway by
Michael Douglas and Producers Circle. He directed Swim Visit and Sacred Journey
off-Broadway at Primary Stages. Regionally, he has directed at Actors Theatre of
Louisville, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Alliance Theatre, The Empty Space,
Florida Stage, Jewish Repertory Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, New Mexico
Repertory Theatre, Philadelphia Festival Theatre, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Trinity
Repertory Theatre, Virginia Stage and Yale Repertory Theatre. Bill was the Artistic
Director of Cricket Theatre in Minneapolis for nine years, where he premiered over
fifty new plays, including Triple Espresso.
He has directed for National Public Radio’s Earplay series and has served as an
on-site reporter for the National Endowment for the Arts and as Jury Chairman for the
2000 Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theatre. He is a magna cum laude
graduate of Dartmouth College and the National Theatre Institute. He has his MFA in
Directing from the University of Minnesota on a Bush Foundation Fellowship.
Michael Pearce Donley (Author/Hugh Butternut) is a composer and performer who
lives in the Twin Cities with his wife, theater director Joy Donley, and his 2 kids,
Emma and Lewis. His collaboration with his partners Bob Stromberg and Bill Arnold
continues. He composed the music for Stromberg’s Mr. Wonder Boy, as well as the
songs for Arnold’s new musical Stupid in Love, written with John Gaspard. He’s
worked with Ten Thousand Things, Nautilus Music-Theater, Front Porch Theater,
Plymouth Playhouse, Hey City and other local theaters as a composer, musical
director, pianist and actor. His original music has been featured in the popular
children's recording GT and the Halo Express, and he was the musical director for the
national live radio program Sunday Nite. For concert booking information, visit
thebarryagency.com. Michael is a member of The Dramatist’s Guild of America, Inc.
Bill Arnold (Author/Buzz Maxwell) Bill has performed at comedy and magic clubs,
as well as corporate events, all over the world. He has co-written a romantic comedy
called Stupid in Love, Head over Heels in Doubt, opening in 2009. He can be reached
at www.billarnold.org
Bob Stromberg (Author/Bobby Bean) Bob Stromberg grew up in the Allegheny
Mountains of rural Pennsylvania. Throughout his early school years, his deepest
desire was to be recognized “class clown”, but as the sensitive son of a school
administrator and a teacher he found his aspirations unattainable. Receiving an art
degree from North Park College in Chicago, he continued his studies for two years
with legendary mime teacher Tony Montanaro at Celebration Theatre in Maine. Then
he began a career performing his unique blend of story, standup and shtick in venues
from churches, to corporate settings and stadiums. Bob originated the character of
Bobby Bean and played the part for Triple Espresso’s first ten years. Most recently he
created the new one-man show, Mr. Wonder Boy, which premiered in Sept ’08 in
Minneapolis at the Music Box Theater.
Bob has written three books, Why Geese Fly Farther Than Eagles, Finding the
Magnificent in Lower Mundane and the beautifully illustrated, family story The
Miracle at Stinky Bay. Many know him for his appearances on the awarding winning
TV show Bananas. Bob lives in Minnesota with his wife Judy, and tours extensively
as a featured comedian and speaker. In both capacities it is his joy to advocate for
impoverished children through the Christian ministry of Compassion International
releasing children from spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty.
Please visit www.compassion.com to learn more about this important work and
please visit Bob at www.bobstromberg.com.
Nayna Ramey (scene designer) is based in the Twin Cities. Her regional work
includes Liliom, Indian Ink and Morningstar at Missouri Repertory Theatre/Kansas
City; Voice of the Prairie at Next Act/Milwaukee, Hair at the Historic Pantages
Theatre/Minneapolis; Hamlet and The Comedy of Errors at Shakespeare Santa
Cruz/California; The Tempest, Cymbeline, Antony and Cleopatra, Mrs. Warren’s
Profession and Uncle Vanya at American Players Theatre/Spring Green,
Wisconsin; My Way, You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown at the McKnight
Theatre/St Paul; Noises Off, Talley's Folly and Pygmalion at Indiana Repertory
Theatre; Sisters of Swing, Hiding in the Open and Main Street at the Great
American History Theatre and over 48 productions at Chanhassen Theatres
including Anything Goes, Annie, Cats, Sound of Music, Oil City Symphony, Big
Bang, My Fair Lady and Camelot.
Michael Klaers (Lighting Design) regional credits include Talley’s Folly, Mother
of the Movement, and To Kill A Mockingbird at the Indiana Repertory Theatre;
Greater Tuna at Actors Theatre Louisville; Many Colours Make the Thunder King,
The Mystery of the Rose Bouquet, The Short Plays, A Christmas Carol and The
Merchant of Venice at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, where he also served as
lighting supervisor on the tour of k: Impressions of the Trial and Old Times. Also
in the Twin Cities he designed Sacred Journey, The Cover of Life, Scotland Road,
Tribes, and Lonely Planet for the Cricket Theatre; O Pioneers! for the History
Theatre, Letters From Manila for the Southern Theater; among many others.
Kathleen Egan (Costume Design) designed Having Our Say at Indiana Repertory
Theatre. Her Twin Cities credits include Howard Mohr’s How to Talk Minnesotan
at the Plymouth Playhouse; The Short Plays at the Guthrie on First; and the
Midwest premiere of The Kentucky Cycle at the History Theatre; and several
projects for Cricket Theatre, including The Cover of Life, Three Postcards, Five
Women Wearing the Same Dress, Scotland Road, and Lonely Planet. Nationally,
Egan’s work has been seen off-Broadway at the Hartman Theatre, Pennsylvania
Stage Company, for dinner theatres and for several colleges and universities across
the country. She taught Costume Design at Emporia (Kansas) State University and
for the University of Minnesota and was the Costume Manager at Indiana
Repertory Theatre.
John Markiewicz (Sound Design) has twenty years experience in performance
audio, live broadcast, recording and installations. He is the owner of Audio Logic
Systems, located in Bloomington, MN, an installation and full service
production company providing audio, video and lighting services, as well as
planning and consultation. John’s many credits include work with Fannie Mae,
Interbank, Minnesota Public Radio, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts,
Green Bay’s Weidner Center for the Performing Arts, Concordia University, the
University of St. Thomas and the College of St. Catharine; and with a wide range
of artists including Bobbie McFerrin, Savion Glover, Lee Greenwood, Pam Tillis,
Tony Campolo, Phillips, Craig and Dean, Ken Davis, Jaci Velasquez, Juice
Newton, Pat Boone, B.J. Thomas, Point of Grace and Jars of Clay.