Rep Lab to Return to Milwaukee Repertory Theater

Milwaukee Rep will bring back Rep Lab in the Stiemke Studio June 24-26, 2022. Featuring Milwaukee Rep's Emerging Professional Residents (EPRs), actors, directors, stage managers and designers, Rep Lab is an opportunity to showcase the skills that the EPR's have learned throughout their time this past season at Milwaukee Rep. EPR's have played an integral part of Milwaukee Rep's productions for over 50 years, forging relationships and skills to grow in their careers and perform professionally all over the world.

Rep Lab 2022 will feature two short plays Hidden in This Picture by Aaron Sorkin and The Last Nickel by Jane Shepard. Hidden in This Picture is a delightful satire about the joys and realities of movie-making, directed by Daniel Andres Blanco and features Jared Brandt Hoover, Kyle Johnson, Kelty Morash and Max Pink. The Last Nickel is a play tinged with fun and sisterly nostalgia, directed by Emma Johnson and featuring Jared Brandt Hoover, Kelty Morash, Sophie Murk and Tia René Williams.

Rep Lab creative teams include costume design by Sparrow Matthews, lighting design by Emily Ottinger, sound design by J Jumbelic, stage managed by Krista Kanderski and assistant stage manager Hannah Steele.

Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at www.MilwaukeeRep.com, by calling the Ticket Office at 414-224-9490 or in-person at 108 E Wells Street in downtown Milwaukee. Performances are Friday, June 24, 7:30pm; Saturday, June 25, 7:30pm and Sunday, June 26, 2pm.

For more information please visit www.MilwaukeeRep.com.

Cast Biographies:

Jared Brandt Hoover (Craig in Hidden in This Picture, Puppeteer 1 in The Last Nickel)

Jared is from Evansville, Indiana. He graduated in 2021 with a BFA in Musical Theatre from Point Park University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He is beyond excited to be a 2021/22 Season Emerging Professional Resident at Milwaukee Rep! He is eager to bring his talents and experiences to the Milwaukee theatre scene. His favorite performances include Harold Hill in The Music Man, Pippin and King Charlemagne in Pippin and Matt in The Fantasticks.

Kyle Johnson (Jeff in Hidden in This Picture)

A New York state native, Kyle is beyond honored to be joining Milwaukee Repertory Theater for the 2021/22 Season! Kyle is a recent graduate of SUNY Geneseo earning his BA in Musical Theatre. His past credits include A Christmas Carol and La Cage Aux Folles at Geva Theatre Center in Rochester, NY, as well as a multitude of productions on his college campus such as Babes in Arms, Pippin, Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens.

Kelty Morash (Reuben in Hidden in This Picture, Puppeteer 2 in The Last Nickel)

Kelty is incredibly grateful to spend a season at Milwaukee Repertory Theater as an acting resident! She studied musical theatre at Cornish College of the Arts and received her Master's degree in Spain. Favorite past credits include Little Red in Into the Woods (Woodminster Summer Musicals) and Babe in The Pajama Game (San Leandro Performing Arts Center). Kelty is eager to once again tell stories which inspire meaningful dialogue and reinforce community - we are not alone. Thanks to family, friends and teachers who continuously support the journey. keltymorash.com

Sophie Murk (Jamie in The Last Nickel)

Last seen as Kate in Titanic The Musical and Audrey in As You Like It, Sophie is honored to call Milwaukee Rep her artistic home for the year as an acting resident. She received her BFA in Musical Theater from Webster Conservatory of Theatre Arts in 2018 where her credits included Fiona in Brigadoon and Goodman in Men on Boats. Recent professional credits include Daddy Long Legs (Awaken Theatre), The Hundred Dresses (Metro Theater Company), The Burden of Proof (SATE Aphra Behn Festival), The Polar Express at Chicago Union Station and The Wizard of Oz (Variety Children's Theatre). Sophie is a certified fellow for Artists Striving to End Poverty and works as a youth theater director, private acting coach and teaching artist for children across the Chicago suburbs.

Max Pink (Robert in Hidden in This Picture)

Max is from York, England and came to the US as a child. He was a member of First Stage's Young Company and an inaugural member of Milwaukee Rep's Professional Training Institute. Max studied in London at Rose Bruford College of Theatre and Performance and also at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. He has performed with several Milwaukee theatres and last appeared as Bellboy in Titanic The Musical at Milwaukee Rep.

Tia René Williams (Jo in The Last Nickel)

Tia, from New Orleans, Louisiana, is more than excited to join Milwaukee Repertory Theater for the 2021/22 Season. She feels lucky to be able to perform and learn at such a renowned theatre during this time in history. She received her BA in Theatre in 2018 from Franklin College in Franklin, Indiana and recently earned her MA in Theatre from Louisiana Tech University. Some of her credits include Mary in On the Verge, Frosine in The Miser and Helen in Trojan Women.

Creative Team:

Daniel Andres Blanco (Director, Hidden in This Picture)

Daniel is an award-winning director, actor, writer and editor, and a recent graduate of the BFA Acting Program at UCSB. Since graduation, Daniel has been focused on continuing his work in creating and presenting unique stories about the Latinx experience through both film and theater. He is very excited to be joining Milwaukee Repertory Theater for the season! Daniel has most recently co-directed On the Verge Santa Barbara's Home Project and directed Center Stage Theater's Malcolm and UCSB's Trumpus Caesar. Aside from theater, Daniel has also written and directed the Salsa-Noir film "Sorpresas," as well as the SBIFF Stay-at-Home Showcase Audience Favorite "El Cantante" and is currently wrapping up a new three-part series "De La Luna, Del Sol." Daniel's dream is to write and direct a jukebox Fania musical about his family, but will settle on starting a Salsa band if that doesn't pan out.

Emma Johnson (Director, The Last Nickel)

Saint Paul native, Emma, is thrilled to join Milwaukee Rep this season as a directing resident! She graduated with a BS in Theater and English Education at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls in 2019 and has worked as a high school language arts teacher and theater artist ever since. While at River Falls, Emma was a co-founder of the university's improv troupe and directed a student-led production of Beyond Therapy before receiving a Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Certificate of Merit for her direction of Proof. Outside college, Emma has worked in the Twin Cities as a classroom assistant at SteppingStone Theatre and as a stage manager with Shakespeare & Company-Minnesota and Mosaic Productions.

Sparrow Matthews (Costume Designer)

Sparrow is a designer, technician and playwright based in Detroit. They graduated from Wayne State University with a BFA in Theatre Design & Technology in 2020, with a focus on costume and scenic design. Their work outside of educational theater includes a summer internship stitching at the Great River Shakespeare Festival in 2017, and more recently, serving as draper in the costume shop at Hope Summer Repertory Theatre in 2019. Some previous productions include Xtigone (costume designer), Medea (costume designer), Bus Stop (scenic designer) and Shakespeare in Love (draper). In 2018, their adaptation of Medea with co-writer Lavender Moran was produced through the Hilberry Studio Theatre's summer program, and their play The Company of Fools won first place in the 2020 Heck-Rabi Student Playwriting competition. They are deeply honored to be working with the team at Milwaukee Rep.

Emily Ottinger (Lighting Designer)

Emily is delighted to design at Milwaukee Rep where she also holds the position of Assistant General Manager. Her most recent work, Momentum, was seen onstage at Baumgartner Center for Dance with Milwaukee Ballet II. As a Wisconsin native she has worked in many different roles for companies such as Milwaukee Ballet, American Players Theatre, Peninsula Players and more. She would like to thank her family, friends and those who continue to uplift young designers.

J Jumbelic (Sound Designer)

Regional credits include: The Handmaid's Tale (Boston Lyric Opera), A Doll's House, Part 2 (Huntington Theatre Company), 9 Parts of Desire (Capital Repertory Theatre), Small Craft Warnings (Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival), Lost Tempo, The Honey Trap and Faithless (Boston Playwrights' Theatre), The Boys in the Band, The Submission, Bent and The Normal Heart (Zeitgeist Stage Company), Ghost Train and Spamalot (The Barnstormers Theater), as well as frequent sound compositions in collaboration with choreographers and visual media artists.

Krista Kanderski (Stage Manager)

Krista is delighted to return to Milwaukee Rep this season. She is a Milwaukee-based stage manager and graduate of Marquette University. Some favorite credits include: Get Happy, New Age, Antonio's Song, Piano Men, West Side Story, Dad's Season Tickets and A Christmas Carol (Milwaukee Rep), truth: The Testimonial of Sojourner Truth (Hope Summer Rep), The Pillowman (The Constructivists), Hamlet (Voices Found Repertory) and Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Jersey Lily (Milwaukee Chamber Theatre). Love and gratitude to A.

Hannah Steele (Assistant Stage Manager)

Hannah is a recent graduate of the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse with a BA in Stage Management with minors in Arts Administration and Design/Technical Theatre. At UWL, she stage-managed several outstanding productions such as Little Women the Musical, Middletown and The Country Wife. Outside of collegiate productions, Hannah has spent two seasons with the Great River Shakespeare Festival where she worked on Every Brilliant Thing, White Rabbit, Red Rabbit and Love's Labour's Lost (stage manager) and Macbeth (asst. stage manager). In her free time, Hannah loves caring for her plants, cuddling with animals and watercolor painting.

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