Jill Anna Ponasik, Producing Artistic Director
Singer-actor Jill Anna Ponasik has been hailed as “puckish and adorable” by The Washington Post, “amusing” by The New York Times, and “lovely, rending, and plaintively honest” by the St. Paul Pioneer-Press. A fearless, adventurous artist, she has maintained a commitment to new work, fresh approaches to the classics, and working with excellent, innovative companies throughout her career. As a performer, she has appeared in productions with Nautilus Music-Theater, Theatre de la Jeune Lune, St Paul Chamber Orchestra, Minnesota Opera, Skylight Opera Theatre, VocalEssence, Theatre Latte Da, Skylark Opera, Ohio Light Opera, Bronx Opera, New Dramatists and Alchemist Theatre among others.
In fall 2008, Jill Anna was appointed artistic director of Milwaukee Opera Theatre and is reveling in the opportunity to direct, perform, program, and support artists and their work. Her first season (2009-10) included The Last Five Years, Winter Revenge: The Valkyries are Calling! and 26, an original work created by Ponasik, composer Nathan Wesselowski, and choreographer Kelly Anderson. Last season (2010-11), MOT presented the premiere professional reading of Jason Powell’s Superhero Operetta Fortuna the Time Bender vs. The Schoolgirls of Doom!, a special toy-theater production of Amahl and the Night Visitors, Voyage, a winter concert inspired by the impulse to travel and a double bill of Dominic Argento’s From the Diary of Virginia Woolf and Nautilus Music-Theater’s Meditations on Arion. Now, in 2011-12, we're in the midst of our most ambitious season to date: Maria de Buenos Aires, co-produced with Danceworks Performance Company and The Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra; The Eurydice Project, a week-long workshop to develop a new piece of lyric-theatre; the fully-staged return of Fortuna the Time Bender vs. The Schoolgirls of Doom!; Home, our annual winter concert; and finally, Iolanthe, our first production of Gilbert and Sullivan.
Jill Anna has received awards from The Metropolitan National Council Auditions, The Schubert Club of St. Paul, Milwaukee's Civic Music Association and the Wisconsin and Minnesota chapters of NATS. She holds degrees from the University of Minnesota and the Rice University Shepherd School of Music.
In fall 2008, Jill Anna was appointed artistic director of Milwaukee Opera Theatre and is reveling in the opportunity to direct, perform, program, and support artists and their work. Her first season (2009-10) included The Last Five Years, Winter Revenge: The Valkyries are Calling! and 26, an original work created by Ponasik, composer Nathan Wesselowski, and choreographer Kelly Anderson. Last season (2010-11), MOT presented the premiere professional reading of Jason Powell’s Superhero Operetta Fortuna the Time Bender vs. The Schoolgirls of Doom!, a special toy-theater production of Amahl and the Night Visitors, Voyage, a winter concert inspired by the impulse to travel and a double bill of Dominic Argento’s From the Diary of Virginia Woolf and Nautilus Music-Theater’s Meditations on Arion. Now, in 2011-12, we're in the midst of our most ambitious season to date: Maria de Buenos Aires, co-produced with Danceworks Performance Company and The Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra; The Eurydice Project, a week-long workshop to develop a new piece of lyric-theatre; the fully-staged return of Fortuna the Time Bender vs. The Schoolgirls of Doom!; Home, our annual winter concert; and finally, Iolanthe, our first production of Gilbert and Sullivan.
Jill Anna has received awards from The Metropolitan National Council Auditions, The Schubert Club of St. Paul, Milwaukee's Civic Music Association and the Wisconsin and Minnesota chapters of NATS. She holds degrees from the University of Minnesota and the Rice University Shepherd School of Music.
Danny Polaski, Company Manager
After a decade in front of the audience, Danny Polaski was named Company Manager of Milwaukee Opera Theatre in August 2012, where he is enjoying the opportunity to interface with both emerging and established artists, as well as enthusiastic patrons.
Born and raised in Brookfield, Wisconsin, Danny attended Carroll University in Waukesha, where he graduated in 2012 with a degree in Communication–Public Relations and minors in Theatre Arts and Business Management. While at Carroll, Danny was a member of the Carroll Players, the oldest active theatre organization in Wisconsin. As a performer, past credits include Anything Goes (Billy Crocker), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Miles Gloriosus), Crazy for You (Bobby Child), Fiddler on the Roof (Lazar Wolf), and the world premiere of Juliet (Lord Capulet), a modern-day adaptation of Shakespeare’s masterpiece.
In 2011, Danny worked as a Foundations Intern for the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts in Brookfield, where he monitored the Center’s grant-writing endeavors and assisted the Development Department in the execution of various fundraising drives and events. Then, beginning in October 2011, Danny served as a member of Milwaukee Opera Theatre’s unique Carroll University Management Team, where he concentrated primarily on grant-writing and fundraising initiatives. For the past six years, Danny has also served as a judge for elementary and middle school forensics competitions in the greater Milwaukee area.
Born and raised in Brookfield, Wisconsin, Danny attended Carroll University in Waukesha, where he graduated in 2012 with a degree in Communication–Public Relations and minors in Theatre Arts and Business Management. While at Carroll, Danny was a member of the Carroll Players, the oldest active theatre organization in Wisconsin. As a performer, past credits include Anything Goes (Billy Crocker), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Miles Gloriosus), Crazy for You (Bobby Child), Fiddler on the Roof (Lazar Wolf), and the world premiere of Juliet (Lord Capulet), a modern-day adaptation of Shakespeare’s masterpiece.
In 2011, Danny worked as a Foundations Intern for the Sharon Lynne Wilson Center for the Arts in Brookfield, where he monitored the Center’s grant-writing endeavors and assisted the Development Department in the execution of various fundraising drives and events. Then, beginning in October 2011, Danny served as a member of Milwaukee Opera Theatre’s unique Carroll University Management Team, where he concentrated primarily on grant-writing and fundraising initiatives. For the past six years, Danny has also served as a judge for elementary and middle school forensics competitions in the greater Milwaukee area.
Carroll Management Team
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Created in the fall of 2011, the Carroll Management Team is composed of four students and one faculty member at Carroll University. Designed to aid Milwaukee Opera Theatre in whatever ways possible, the 2012-13 team consists of James Zager, faculty advisor; Melissa Gall and Danny Slattery, co-chairs of the Department of Awesome; and Amy Laufenberg and Katelynne Rosera, Goddesses of Graphic Design.
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