designer credit: Kedar Joyner
Special thank you to the Marquette Neighborhood Association (MNA) for their financial contribution to Broom Street this year. The proceeds are being used to beautify the green spaces around the theater building. We appreciate your support!
Cast/Crew Bios
Stephanie Albrecht (Assistant Director) Stephanie (she/her) is excited for the opportunity to assist with directing Our Home States-Mountain Region. She currently performs in The Dinner Detective and recently assisted with stage managing Committed. Other Broom Street Theatre performances include Bloody Aftermath and Doed Koecks. At the Bartell Theatre she has performed in Dr. Ride’s American Beach House and The Untold Story of the Collyer Brothers.
Kali Becker (Lane – Throw Me Out; Town Member 2 – Aliens File a Complaint; Ringdocus – Belly Up to the Bar) Kali is super excited to be involved in her neighborhood theatre of Our Home States- Mountain Region. Kali has trained in screen acting at Babcock Studios in Denver and also attended a one-year professional conservatory studying Meisner technique at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City. This is Kali’s first production with Broom Street Theatre! When not binging movies or television, Kali enjoys casual hangs with her dogs and cooking up healthy foods.
Jacob Bortell (Stage Manager)
Michelle Butcher (Megan Johnson – Tee Time; Chairperson – Aliens File a Complaint; Bigfoot – Belly Up to the Bar)
Camille Danielson (Props/Costumes) Camille is excited to be helping with her first play at Broom Street by helping with props and creating some funky alien masks! She worked on stage crew for a play or two way back in high school and since then has been enjoying many different artistic pursuits including pastels, colored pencils and stained glass. She found it rewarding to use her creativity to support the theater community!
Anna Dickfoss (Town Member 1 – Aliens File a Complaint; Chupacabra – Belly Up to the Bar) Anna is excited to be acting in her first project at Broom Street Theater. She recently acted in Know Better Production’s Witness for the Prosecution in Madison, but is looking to get back into acting after taking a break for a while. Outside of theater, she loves science, crochet, and playing violin. Anna is looking forward to putting on a great show for the Madison community, and looks forward to seeing everybody at the show!
Fashion Joe (James – Tee Time; Pudgy Man The Colorado Packers; Cooper – North Temple; Alien 2 – Aliens File a Complaint) Fashion Joe is a multipurpose actor who enjoys performing for the BST Community. Destined for greatness after his thrilling Goat performance in the Wackadoo Zoo, Fashion has dedicated himself to a life of performing. Whether it’s drunkenly nodding off in the back of an Uber, or filing a complaint with the New Mexico Board of Tourism, Fashion brings the Heat with this years Our Home States – Mountain Region. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll have a strange craving for human flesh. If there’s one thing that can be guaranteed, it’s that Fashion Joe will need a shower after the show.
Courtney Fine (Lighting Designer) Courtney (they/them) is excited to serve as the Lighting Designer for Our Home States – Mountain Region! They’ve served in several roles for previous Broom Street Theater productions, including Stage Manager for The Returns and Inertia Follies, and Lighting Designer for Unfathomable Showscapes and Committed. Learning lighting design has been incredibly creatively fulfilling, and they’re excited to continue growing their skills in future productions. They’re thrilled to learn and work alongside the cast and crew of Our Home States – Mountain Region and stay creatively engaged in the Madison community.
Grant Gottschall (Playwright, North Temple) Grant is also the author of Dog Door, which had a successful world premiere in Los Angeles in October 2023. His latest play, Our Cemetery, is currently featured in this year’s Hollywood Fringe Festival under the umbrella title Amazing Graves. He has written numerous award-winning short plays that have been produced around the country. Originally trained as an actor, Grant spent fifteen formative years in Salt Lake City, where his family has very deep roots. He is delighted to represent the spirit of this special place with Wisconsin audiences.
Donna Latham (Playwright, Belly Up to the Bar) Donna (she/her) is thrilled to be part of Our Home States! She’s an award-winning playwright whose work champions unruly women. Her plays have been produced coast to coast and across the ponds. ALL THE WAY BACK received the Climate Justice Award, and AND WE WILL SHARE THE SKY received the Kennedy Center’s David Mark Cohen Playwriting Award. A proud member of the Dramatists Guild and Honor Roll! Playwrights, Donna grew up in a haunted house in the wilds of Chicagoland. Get the scoop at donnalatham.com.
Ned Liebl (Rick Johnson – Tee Time; Larry – A Modest Proposal II) After 21 years as a stage, film, and television actor in Los Angeles, Ned is thrilled to make his Broom Street Theater debut. His latest stage credits include Leonard in Seminar (Chance Theater), Lou D’Marco in Light Sensitive (Moth Theatre), the Aviator in The Little Prince (Chance Theater), the Mechanic in Middletown (Chance Theater), and Le Bret in Cyrano de Bergerac (Ruskin Group Theatre). On screen, Ned made his television debut as the lead in the Discovery Channel drama Guilty or Innocent? In addition to several independent films and commercials, Ned made his studio feature debut as Saint, the vigilante priest, in Sony Pictures’ Cross, a role he later reprised in the sequel, Cross Wars.
David MacGregor (Playwright, A Modest Proposal II) David was born in Detroit and writes plays and screenplays. He is a Resident Artist at The Purple Rose Theatre (Chelsea, MI), where ten of his plays have been produced. His work has been produced from New York to Tasmania and published by Playscripts, Heuer Publishing, and Theatrical Rights Worldwide (TRW). He adapted his play Vino Veritas into a feature film starring Emmy-winner Carrie Preston, and his short play For Old Time’s Sake was adapted into the film Easy Way Out starring Oscar-nominee John Savage. His newest play, Mildred Whiskey, will premiere at the Purple Rose in January 2027. His writing has been publicly burned and he has been hanged in effigy. (david-macgregor.com)
Rex McGregor (Playwright, Throw Me Out) Rex is a New Zealand playwright. His short comedies have been produced on four continents from New York and London to Sydney and Chennai. Website: https://www.rexmcgregor.com/
Melissa Minkoff (Director) Melissa (she/they) is delighted to be directing Our Home States – Mountain Region. Originally from Wisconsin’s Driftless Area, Melissa studied theater at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville and has performed at venues throughout Southwest and South Central Wisconsin. Previous BST acting credits include the roles of Lampito in BST’s 50th Anniversary production of Lysistrata, Betsey Hamilton/Mary Hamlin in Hamilton: The Original 1917 Broadway Smash Hit, and Delphyne/Beth/South Wind in Hark! A Lark!. More recently, Melissa served as Stage Manager for Our Home States – Midwest Edition and Paul Blart 3: Blart of Darkness; and as Lighting Designer for The Returns and Prometheus Rex. Directing credits at BST include Our Home States – Northeast Edition and Our Home States – Pacific Edition, as well as Do It To Julia!, premiering this coming fall. Melissa is exceedingly grateful to her friends and loved ones for their support, as well as the playwrights, cast, and crew for helping her bring this show to life. She is also grateful to you, the audience, for supporting live, local theater. Enjoy the show!
Colleen Murphy (Debra – Throw Me Out; Carol – A Modest Proposal II) Colleen is thrilled to be working with this excellent cast and crew! She has performed with several theatre companies in Madison, as well as Baraboo and Portage. Her most recent appearance at BST was as Salome, in Head on a Silver Platter; In Defense of Salome. She has also appeared in Our Home States-Midwest Edition, and Our Home States-Pacific Edition. Colleen is a teaching artist with Whoopensocker, a collaborative arts group through the UW Madison, working with MMSD elementary schools on creative writing and improv. She lives in Portage with her husband and daughter. She thanks the playwrights for great scripts, Melissa for her trust, and the cast/crew for the good times and collaboration. Most thanks to you, the audience, for supporting community theatre!
Peter Olson (Wisco Man – The Colorado Packers; Lloyd – Doomsday Road) Peter is honored to be part of Our Home States-Mountain Region. This is his third year doing the Our Home States plays. Other shows include Measure for Measure and Women Beware Women with Madison Shakespeare and The Untold Story of the Collyer Brothers with MPT. He hopes you all enjoy the show!
Rose Popma (Carly – Doomsday Road; Alien 1 – Aliens File a Complaint) Rose (she/they) is very excited to be a part of this year’s Our Home States! They previously played Bucky Beaver (“Wake the Humans”) in Our Home States – Pacific Edition and Florence/Hephaestus/Epimetheus/Chorus in Prometheus Rex. She would like to thank her family and friends for their endless encouragement, as well as everyone involved at Broom Street for being such an amazing and unique theater community.
Carol Robinson (Mary – North Temple; Mama – Doomsday Road) After a 12 year hiatus, Carol was cast in Broom Street Theatre’s Our Home States – Midwest Edition. Since then, she has been in Mother Courage, POTUS, Wintertime, and C’est La Vie with Madison Public Theatre, and Falconbridge Players A Timely Intervention by the Former Barber of Saville; Figaro’s Final Adventure. Carol can be occasionally seen in staged play readings or spotted in a 48 Hour Film Project. The entire cast and crew are truly lovely. Thank you for supporting local theatre.
Joel Sacramento (Playwright – Tee Time, Aliens File a Complaint) Joel is an award-winning filmmaker and multidisciplinary storyteller working across documentary, narrative, and commercial media. A Chicago native now based in Madison, he still can’t get over the wild turkeys and abundant parking. Joel loves collaboration and telling stories that connect with audiences.
Susan Shoemaker (Playwright – The Colorado Packers) Susan is a writer, poet, performer, and creative arts lover who is thrilled to have BST staging her play. Susan hopes the audience enjoys the show as much as she did writing it. Susan lived in Colorado for 20 years, has been to Lake City, and almost wishes it was all true!
Lisa Sipos (Props Assistant, Playwright – Doomsday Road) Lisa has been part of BST for over 10 years! She has enjoyed contributing as an actor and a writer. She wrote Menace to Society: A Mormon in Milwaukee and It’s All Overboard. Lisa was excited to have a script selected for this show. Doomsday was a lot of fun to write.
Heidi Weitz (Al – The Colorado Packers; Bev – A Modest Proposal II; Flessie – Belly Up to the Bar) Heidi is thrilled to be making her Our Home States debut! She most recently appeared in Oracular Studios’ 12 Angry Jurors (Juror 6) and BST’s Head on a Silver Platter: In Defense of Salome (Dancer). Like her character Al, Heidi works at her multigenerational family business, Vitense Golfland, though she’d like to assure everyone that the similarities stop there. Heidi also enjoys reading, crafting, and other creative ventures. She’s grateful to the cast & crew and thanks you for supporting community theater!
Byron E. Yanzapanta (Marty – Tee Time; Derek – Doomsday Road) Byron is excited to work with Broom Street Theater again and to perform in this year’s Our Home States. His first BST performance was with Are We Delicious? in their Are We Dell’arte? 2024 production and 2025 Green Bay Fringe Festival performances as a Performer/Writer. He has also worked with Oregon Straw Hat Players in their production of She Kills Monsters as Chuck. As well as Edgewood College’s production of Twelfth Night as Sebastian. Outside of the theater, Byron enjoys spending time with his family and friends. Exploring the world of food, whether it be trying or cooking food, he’s always looking for a new experience to try. He also enjoys dancing, letting the rhythm flow through him and expressing himself through movement. Byron is really grateful to the OHS team to have given him this opportunity and for being very patient with him. Also, he’s thankful to his family and friends for being very supportive of him and of his dreams. He hopes you enjoy the show.