Kohl's Wild Theater

Meet the Cast & Crew

Kohl's Wild Theater Cast
Actors, shown with animal puppets: Back row (L-R): Megan Kaminsky, Bobby Johnson, Alexis Lasky, David Franz, Emmit Morgans, Johnathan Koller, Kelly Doherty. Middle Row: Samantha Sostarich, Jade Taylor, Lindsey Gagliano. Foreground: Alecia Annacchino, Sherrick Robinson, and Kohl's Wild Theater coordinator Dave McLellan.

THE ACTING COMPANY:

Libby Amato LIBBY AMATO is delighted to join the team at Kohl’s Wild Theater! Other Milwaukee credits include productions at In Tandem Theatre, Optimist Theatre, Chamber Theatre, First Stage Children's Theatre, Alchemist Theatre, and Windfall Theatre among others; and in Madison with Forward Theatre. This coming spring she will add Next Act Theatre to the list with their production of GRACE. Libby is a graduate of Carroll University with a BFA in Theatre Performance. Love and thanks to Joe and Beth Amato for their untiring encouragement and support.
Alecia Annacchino ALECIA ANNACCHINO joined KWT in May of 2012 after graduating from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside with a dual B.A. in Theatre Arts and Communication. Stage credits include Carlotta in Dead Man's Cell Phone,  Miss Havisham in Great Expectations, Frances in Sarah Ruhl's Melancholy Play, Pistol/Rambures in Henry V, Rosencrantz in Hamlet, April in Company, and Kate Hardcastle in She Stoops to Conquer. In 2011, Alecia was the recipient of the Donald Cress Theatre Arts Honorarium. Alecia recently made her directing debut with Miracle On 34th Street at the Mukwonago Village Players and is currently serving as an assistant producer and Juliet in an independent transformation project of Romeo & Juliet at the Bughouse Theatre in Chicago, IL.
Marcus Beyer MARCUS BEYER in excited to be a part of Kohl’s Wild Theater this year! Marcus graduated from Cardinal Stritch University with degrees in Musical Theater and Visual Arts. Since then he has worked with Pink Banana Theater, Worlds Stage, and joined a boy-band at Six Flags Great America. Marcus has also been a long participant in the bi-annual Sketch 22 comedy show. He looks forward to this season with KWT!
James Carrington JAMES CARRINGTON received his BA in Theater (Acting Specialist Program) from the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Since then, he has performed professionally in Minneapolis, Chicago, Madison and Milwaukee. His credits include Hamlet (Laertes), Arsenic and Old Lace (Mortimer Brewster), Rent (Collins), You're A Good Man Charlie Brown (Linus), and The Merry Widow (Pritschitsch). This winter he is making his First Stage début in their critically acclaimed remount of A Midnight Cry. He also serves on the board of Kalliope Vocal Arts as the creative consultant/stage director/acting coach. James is so excited to be working with the Zoological Theatre Society and can't wait to get WILD!
David Franz DAVID FRANZ has a BFA in acting from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Milwaukee credits include Mitchell in The Little Dog Laughed with Theatrical Tendencies, Tupolski in The Pillowman with The World Stage, Tracy Bardwell in Death Speaks Out with Milwaukee Entertainment Group and The Suitor in Cartoon with Youngblood Theater. David has also worked in Philadelphia with the Hedgerow Theater, EgoPo Classic Theater, and New City Stage. Fight choreography credits include Hedgerow Theater, Pink Banana Theater, and The World Stage. David also serves as fight captain for Kohl’s Wild Theater. As a director, David has worked with the Hedgerow Theater and Pink Banana Theater.
Lindsey Gagliano LINDSEY L. GAGLIANO is proud to be an original company member of Kohl’s Wild Theater! Lindsey graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with both her BFA in Acting and her BA in K-12 Theatre Education. Since then she has been working in the Midwest at theatre companies such at Milwaukee Chamber Theater, Windfall Theater, In Tandem Theater, The Alchemist Theater, and more. She also toured with Prairie Fire Children’s Theatre as the Scarecrow in The Wizard of Oz.
Megan Kaminsky MEGAN KAMINSKY is a Milwaukee native and graduated from UW-Milwaukee's Peck School of the Arts with her BFA in Theatre. Since graduating she has had opportunities to work with theatre companies in the city such as Youngblood, The Boulevard Ensemble, Pink Banana, Bunny Gumbo's Combat Theatre, Patrick Schmitz's Sketch: 22, and most recently has been very involved with the inaugural season of The Quasimondo, voted best Physical Theatre Company in Milwaukee (Milwaukee Magazine, 2012).  Megan has also studied with Shakespeare and Company in Lenox, Massachusetts and is a freelance choreographer.
Alexis Lasky ALEXIS LASKY is a graduate of Carroll College, holding degrees in both Theatre and Music. After spending a few years stage managing locally at Skylight Opera Theatre, First Stage Children’s Theatre and In Tandem Theatre, she returned to the stage to travel with Prairie Fire Children’s Theatre as Serifina, the storyteller in Beauty and the Beast. Alexis has always loved the Zoo and has always wanted to save the world, so it just tickles her silly to be working for Zoological Society and to be proactive in spreading awareness about animals, the environment and conservation.
Emmitt Morgans EMMIT MORGANS is thrilled to be part of the KWT team! He would like to thank all of his fellow company members for their support and is looking forward to many fun performances ahead. Emmitt is a 2007 graduate of the UW-Whitewater Acting BFA program and has called Milwaukee home since September 2007. You may have seen him in shows with Skylight Music Theatre ('The Producers', 'Barber of Seville'), Bunny Gumbo (Combat Theatres 19-23), Goats & Monkeys ('Othello', 'Hamlet', 'Taming of the Shrew') or a few others! Allons-y!
Sherrick Robinson SHERRICK ROBINSON is elated to start his first season with Kohl's Wild Theater. Sherrick holds a B.F.A in Theater Performance from Nebraska Wesleyan University, but he’s glad to be back in his hometown of Milwaukee. He has directed and acted in over a hundred productions. Some recent appearances include Six Degrees of Separation, HAIR, A Rising Wind, RENT, and Jungle Book. When not acting, he can be found at Miller Park hanging out as a Brew Crew member. He is grateful for this opportunity to share the gift of theater with kids, and looks forward to many productions at the Zoo!
Samantha Sostarich SAMANTHA SOSTARICH is a graduate of U.W. Madison, receiving her BA as a Theatre Acting Specialist. Milwaukee credits include Prudie Cupp in Pump Boys and Dinettes, Kate Monster/Lucy U.S./Ensemble in Avenue Q, Celeste #2/Elaine in Sunday in the Park with George, Joan in Dames At Sea, Isabel in Pirates of Penzance, Ulla U.S./Usherette in The Producers, Rhoda in White Christmas with The Skylight Music Theatre, Fortuna in Fortuna the Timebender vs. The School Girls of Doom with The Milwaukee Opera Theatre, Miss Nelson U.S. in Miss Nelson is Missing with First Stage Children’s Theater. Samantha is proud to be one of the original workshop members of Kohl’s Wild Theater!
Jade Taylor JADE TAYLOR is very grateful to be returning to Kohl’s Wild Theater! She was a proud member of the KWT acting company from October 2011-August 2012, performing both at the Zoo and at many schools throughout the Milwaukee County area. Jade is currently completing her BFA musical theatre training at UW-Milwaukee where she was recently in the mainstage production of Blood Wedding. Her favorite role thus far has been Dorothy in First Stage Children’s Theatre’s production of The Wiz. As a Milwaukee native, Jade has loved the Milwaukee County Zoo her whole life.
Jenna Vik JENNA VIK is originally from Woodbury, MN, and is a 2010 graduate of Central College in Pella, Iowa with a BA in Theater, Spanish, and Secondary Education. Last year, she completed the acting internship at Milwaukee Repertory Theater where she performed and understudied roles in several productions. She spent the summers of 2010 and 2012 performing at Iowa Theatre Artists Company in Amana, Iowa and, most recently, played the role of Nurse Kelly in the Young Playwrights Festival at Milwaukee Chamber Theatre. Jenna also has a passion for teaching – she currently teaches at First Stage Theater Academy and in 2011 she toured Italy with Theatrino, a children’s theater company that teaches English through drama. Jenna is thrilled to be joining the cast of KWT this summer!

 

CREATIVE AND PRODUCTION TEAM:


DAVE MCLELLAN (Theater Coordinator) joined the Zoological Society in 2010 to begin development of Kohl’s Wild Theater. Since that time, Dave has directed 13 original plays and musicals for the Zoo, as well as many short skits and exhibit interactions. Prior to moving to Milwaukee, Dave spent a year working as a conservation educator for the Walt Disney Company in Orlando, FL. Before moving to FL, he was a company member and assistant director with the Wildlife Theater, performing regularly at the Bronx Zoo, Central Park Zoo and Queens Zoo in NYC. Other selected theater credits include the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Ford’s Theater, Round House Theater, Imagination Stage, Surflight Theater, Capital Repertory Theatre, Cape Rep Theatre, and Universal Studios Florida. Dave now resides in Wauwatosa with his wife, Mary, and two children, Angela and Johnny.

Playwrights and Composers

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Designers

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