Cast Biographies
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Emily Bergeron, Mezzo-Soprano
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Cecilia Davis, Soprano
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Emily Bergeron, mezzo-soprano, is a graduate student and teaching assistant pursuing a MM in Vocal Performance at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where she studies under Colleen Brooks. She is from Bemidji, Minnesota, where she graduated with a BA in Vocal Performance from Bemidji State University, studying under Cory Renbarger and Jennifer Olson. Some of Emily’s favorite roles from her time in BSU’s Opera Theatre program include Carmen in scenes from Bizet’s Carmen, The Mother in Menotti’s Amahl and the Night Visitors, and Miss Todd in Menotti’s The Old Maid and the Thief. She was a finalist in Minnesota NATS several times, and recently took first place in the Advanced Classical category at Wisconsin NATS. Emily has enjoyed participating in UWM’s Opera Theatre program, where she has performed in scenes from Dvořák’s Rusalka, Handel’s Alcina, Glass’ Einstein on the Beach, and her most recent role of Prince Orlofsky in Strauss’ Die Fledermaus.
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Cecilia Davis is thrilled to join Impossible Operas! Most recently for MOT, Cecilia voiced the holiday-obsessed mom for its animated project, The Meaning of Christmas. Previous performances include Skylight Music Theatre’s 2021 premiere of Forgotten Voices, and the Skylight Music Theatre/Milwaukee Opera Theatre productions of Carmina Burana (soloist) and The Tales of Hoffmann (Olympia/Dr. Miracle). Other MOT productions include Fairy Queen Fantasy, Ernest in Love, Victory for Victoria, and Handel’s Bestiary. With Skylight, Cecilia has also appeared as Clara in Porgy and Bess and in the featured ensemble of Les Misérables.
Passionate about arts education and youth development, Cecilia has held community engagement, education, and advancement positions with several of Milwaukee’s finest youth arts and educational institutions. She recently appeared as a guest artist with Milwaukee Symphony Youth Orchestra’s Senior Symphony and will also appear as a guest soloist with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra ACE Program this spring. Cecilia’s signature role is being mom to sons Owen and Milo (which itself can be an impossible opera - ha!), with extraordinary love and support from spouse Jon. |
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David Guzmán, Bass
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Allison Hull, Mezzo-Soprano
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Puerto Rican bass David Guzmán has established himself as a regular performer across the stages of the Midwest. Based in Milwaukee, WI, he most recently sang Antonio in Le nozze di Figaro (Madison Opera), Don Alfonso in Così fan tutte: Remix (The Florentine Opera), and Vodník in Rusalka
(Milwaukee Opera Theatre). Previously, he sang the Fifth Jew in Salome (Madison Opera) and the Duke of Verona in Roméo et Juliette (The Florentine Opera). The operatic stage has also seen David as Leporello (Don Giovanni), Truffaldin (Ariadne auf Naxos), Pistola (Falstaff), Sarastro (Die Zauberflöte), Bartolo (Le nozze di Figaro), Plutone (L’Orfeo), and Kecal (The Bartered Bride). Meanwhile, the concert stage has heard David in the bass solos from Bach’s cantatas BWV 4, BWV 12, and BWV 78. David Guzmán holds a Bachelor of Music Degree from the Puerto Rico Conservatory of Music and a Master of Music Degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. www.davidguzmanbass.com |
Allison Hull holds degrees in Vocal Performance from Lawrence University and The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She has served as a young artist for the Skylight, Glimmerglass Opera, and Seattle Opera, where she gave a notable performance as Cherubino in Le nozze di Figaro. Ms Hull has won awards from the Metropolitan Opera Auditions including District Winner and Third Place at Regionals. She is on the voice faculty at UW-Parkside, Carthage College, and the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music. Among Ms. Hull’s performance highlights are the title role of L’enfant et les sortilèges, Historian in Clara, Hansel, Cendrillon, Ljubica in the Milwaukee premiere of Svadba, and the Alto Soloist in The Poe Requiem. Recent and upcoming engagements include an American Songbook cabaret with Ruben Piirainen, Handel’s Messiah, and work with the Belle Ensemble.
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Kathy Pyeatt, Soprano
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Nathan Wesselowski, Tenor
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Kathy is thrilled to be amongst friends again at Milwaukee Opera Theatre, where she was last seen in Thank You. NEXT? and Handel’s Bestiary. Recent local performances include lots of “mother” roles - Mother Abbess (The Sound of Music) and Cinderella’s Step Mother (Into The Woods) with Forte Theatre, and Signora Naccarelli (The Light in the Piazza) with Windfall Theatre. While being the mom is super cool, especially to real life daughter Emma, Kathy delights in portraying a cadre of interesting women. Past favorites include Tosca (Tosca) with Asheville Lyric Opera, Bryan Symphony & Springfield Symphony; Hanna (The Merry Widow) with Winter Opera St. Louis & Muddy River Opera; Rosalinda (Die Fledermaus) with Opéra Louisiane & St. Petersburg Opera; Donna Elvira (Don Giovanni) with St. Petersburg Opera, Asheville Lyric Opera & Peninsula Music Festival; Fiordiligi (Così fan tutte) and Constanza (Abduction from the Seraglio) with Skylight Opera Theater; and Lady Billows (Albert Herring) with Florentine Opera.
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Nathan Wesselowski, tenor, has been seen on stage with Florentine Opera, Milwaukee Opera Theatre, Skylight Music Theatre, Lyric Opera Cleveland, Cleveland Opera, The National Opera Company, Ash Lawn Highland Summer Festival, New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players, In Tandem Theatre, First Stage, Fireside Theatre and many other regional theatres. He received is Master of Music in voice performance from The Cleveland Institute of Music and Bachelor of Music from Baker University.
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Kirk Thomsen, Bluebeard
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Jessi Miller, Judith
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I grew up pretty troubled on the Northside of Chicago and followed my stepdad into the printing industry. At 30, I found the courage to pursue my dream of acting. In my fledgling years at the Boulevard Theatre, Off the Wall and the professional training program at the Milwaukee Rep, I developed onstage and offstage, eventually co-founding Milwaukee’s newest experimental theater venue, The Alchemist in 2008. I made my directing debut with Mamet’s Sexual Perversity in Chicago in 2009, incorporating projections into the scene changes. I’ve always been interested in how interactive environments impact actors and the audience. I’ve also always been interested in dysfunction and absurdity. In 2013, I joined the ensemble of Quasimondo Physical Theatre, training and working collaboratively to devise and present over 36 original productions and have continued developing new ways of presenting theatre through the pandemic using audio and video interfaces with a range of diverse organizations including my own, 53212 Presents. I’ve become a much more holistic director and actor because of physical theatre practices like clowning and treteau which develop character through internal and external physical exploration.
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Jessi Miller is a performer, choreographer, director and the co-founder of Quasimondo. Favorite credits include Buboes, Americlown, Variations on the Death of Trotsky, Bacchanalia, The Seagull 3D, and Paper or Plastic.
Jessi has studied and taught clowning, mask-making, circus, gymnastics, and dance at a variety of institutions in the US, Denmark, Italy, and Haiti. |
Creative Team Biographies
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Janna Ernst, Music Director
Janna Ernst has worked continuously as a vocal coach, repetiteur and music director for over 25 years, most notably with Skylight Music Theatre, Milwaukee Opera Theatre, Florentine Opera, New Orleans Opera, Virginia Opera, and Cincinnati Opera. A dedicated educator, she has held teaching, coaching and collaborative piano positions at Southern Methodist University, the University of Oklahoma and the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. She and her husband, Matthew - Principal Trumpet of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra - perform and tour extensively as a duo, giving performances and masterclasses throughout the country.
Janna has a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance from San Diego State University, a Master of Music in Collaborative Piano from the University of California, Santa Barbara and a Vocal Specialist degree from the University of Michigan where she studied with renowned collaborative pianist and teacher, Martin Katz. She and Matthew reside in Shorewood, Wisconsin with their two daughters, Madeleine and Margaret. |
Jeffrey Mosser, Co-Stage Director
Jeffrey Mosser (Creator) is a champion of devised and ensemble-based work. He interviews collaboratively creative companies from around the world on his podcast, From the Ground Up via HowlRound.com.
Favorite directing credits include: The Compass, Ghost Bike, (Milwaukee Rep) Theatre for Two: The Wedding Party, Imagination (Actors Theatre of Louisville), T: An MBTA Musical (American Repertory Theatre) 44 Plays for 44 Presidents (Bad Habit Productions), How May I Connect You? (Or, Scenes in the Key of D:\) (Project: Project Theatre Ensemble), and bobraushenbergamerica (National High School Institute). He has trained with Dell’Arte International, Pig Iron Theatre Company, Double Edge Theatre, ImprovBoston, Augusto Boal, Giovanni Fusetti, Liz Lerman, Dominique Serrand, and the inmates from Shakespeare Behind Bars. Many thanks to Jill Anna, Brian, and everyone at Milwaukee Opera Theatre and Quasimondo Physical Theatre. This would not have happened without their enthusiasm and navigation of this project after fifteen years of gestation. IG: @Ensemble_Ethnographer; MFA Directing – Northwestern University. www.JeffreyMosser.com |
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Ellie Rabinowitz, Lighting Designer
Ellie Rabinowitz has enjoyed a varied career in lighting, working in everything from animation to dance, fine art to music, teaching, and of course theater. In Milwaukee, productions include 4 seasons as resident lighting designer for UW-Milwaukee’s dance department, 3 seasons of shows for The Constructivists, as well as The Way She Spoke, The Island, and Hoops for Milwaukee Chamber Theater. In the summer she’s most likely to be found herding metaphorical cats as one of Wisconsin’s three regional contacts for Burning Man.
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Tim Rebers, Arranger/Tenor
Tim Rebers, tenor, is a Milwaukee based singer/actor, composer/arranger, conductor, teacher, and director. Previous MOT shows include 1776; The Mikado; Candide; Thank You. NEXT!; Tales of Hoffmann; Carmina Burana; Ruddigore; and most recently, the Prince in Rusalka. Other regional credits include Forte Theatre (The Baker in Into the Woods), Skylight Music Theatre (Kiss Me, Kate; Urinetown), Brew City Opera (Don José in Carmen), Madison Savoyards (Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus), Florentine Opera, and Acacia Theatre. He was the Tenor soloist in South Shore Chorale's recent performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, and has sung with Concord Chamber Orchestra and Southwest Suburban Symphony. Tim is also one third of Tenors MKE, artistic director of Brew City Opera, and frequent collaborator with Maggie, his wife and accompanist. He conducted and music directed shows for MOT, BCO, Skylight, Wisconsin Lutheran College, and Menomonee Falls HS.
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Brian Rott, Co-Stage Director
Brian Rott is the co-founder and artistic director of Quasimondo Physical Theatre. He has created and worked on a variety of theatrical projects in Milwaukee and abroad and is excited to once again be collaborating with Milwaukee Opera Theatre. For more information visit
www.brianrott.com and www.quasimondo.org. |
Anja Notanja Sieger, Shadow Puppetry Designer
Anja Notanja Sieger made the shadow puppets for this production. Previously she organized a community performance piece called "The Advice Tent" and started The Subtle Forces Podcast. Next, she will host a typewriter poet competition called "The Clackathon" at QWERTYFEST, Milwaukee's new typewriter festival June 23-25.
Thank you to Sedra Bee Thomas for helping me in the creation and upkeep of the puppets. www.anjanotanja.com |
