AMERICAN PLAYERS THEATRE - Key Persons

Aaron Todd Douglas

Job Titles:

Member of the Board of Directors
Artist
Founding Ensemble Member

Aaron Todd Douglas is a theatre artist who acts, directs, writes and teaches. Aaron Todd happily relocated to the Twin Cities and is currently the Director of the University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater BFA Acting Program. Previously based in Chicago, Aaron Todd is a Founding Ensemble Member and was a Playwright-in-Residence, and longtime Associate Artistic Director of Congo Square Theatre Company. He is a member in good standing of AEA and SAG/AFTRA, and has served several times as an NEA Art Works Panelist. He was the inaugural Next Generation Management Fellow at Victory Gardens Theater. He was a member of the acting faculty at Northwestern University, and prior to that he spent a number of years at Loyola University where he began his academic career. While at Loyola, he designed and led The Arts Infusion Initiative, an enterprise providing professional development to a cohort of 45+ teaching artists from 12 non-profit arts organizations throughout the city of Chicago serving justice system related youth, 40% of which resided within juvenile detention. In addition to his academic and leadership pursuits, he balanced a thriving career as a freelance actor and director in Chicago's vibrant theatre community, working at its Regional Tony Award winning major stages (Goodman, Steppenwolf, Chicago Shakespeare, Victory Gardens) in Chicago's signature storefront scene (Raven, Chicago Theatre Co, Eclipse, Silk Road Rising), as well as on-camera work in film and network tv (Chicago PD, Resurrecting McGinn(s), He Sends Rain, You're So Talented). Aaron Todd made his playwriting debut with Upstate, produced by MPAACT Theatre. He received an International Ibsen Scholarship from The Norwegian Ministry of Culture in cooperation with Teater Ibsen for his play, The Master Comic. The play was also produced by MPAACT Theatre, and went on to win multiple African American Arts Alliance Awards. Aaron Todd met his wife, Annie in grad school at The University of Illinois @ Urbana-Champaign, and they currently reside in St. Paul, Minnesota with their two amazing daughters.

Adrianne Moore

Job Titles:

Core Production Staff Member

Alfred P. Moore

Job Titles:

Member of the Board of Directors
Trustee Emeritus

Alys Dickerson

Job Titles:

Master
Teaching Artist
Teaching Artist / Actor / Rehearsal Assistant, a Raisin in the Sun

Alys Dickerson is a Master actor from Chicago Illinois, by way of Indianapolis Indiana. This is her fourth season at APT. Alys holds her MFA from Northern Illinois University and has studied acting at the MXAT; Moscow Art Theatre, in Russia. She is one of six siblings and loves faith family and good food! Since the pandemic Alys has shifted her creative efforts to focus on conversations of change and racial fluency within the education programs at American Players Theatre. Roles she has slayed before are Lady MacDuff in Macbeth , The Jewish Wife in Fear and Misery, Antigone in Antigone and The Commissioner in Titanic the Commissioners Inquiry.

Amy Alcott

Job Titles:

Staff Member

Andrew Oppman

Job Titles:

Core Production Staff Member
Assistant Director / Understudy Actor
Assistant Director / Understudy Actor / Assistant Director / Understudy Actor, Stones in His Pockets

Andrew is thrilled to be at APT. Dreams do come true. Favorite credits include A Valentine for Sondheim (Fiasco Theater), Much Ado About Nothing - Tour (Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival), The Winter's Tale (Shakespeare Festival St. Louis), All's Well That Ends Well (Great River Shakespeare Festival). Andrew is a New York City based actor from southeastern Wisconsin who trained with Fiasco Theater in their inaugural conservatory and received his BFA in Acting from The Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University. He is a Brontë enthusiast and member of The Brontë Society. Thanks to Erin for her endless love and support and Tim for his continued friendship.

Andrew Oppmann

Anne M. Connor

Job Titles:

Member of the Board of Directors
Owner and Principal Artist at Driftless Studio

Anne M. Connor is the owner and principal artist at Driftless Studio: Nature Gallery & Gifts. Together with her sister, she owns Bell Laboratories, a manufacturing firm on Madison's east side. A long time lover of the arts, Connor has attended American Players Theatre productions with her family since its inception in 1980. In addition to her Board service at APT, Connor has served on the board of the University of Wisconsin's School of Veterinary Science and is currently President of the Malcolm Stack Foundation, which manages 160 acres in SW Wisconsin's beautiful Driftless Area. She is involved in several community initiatives and is a dedicated patron of the arts. She is honored to be affiliated with American Players Theatre.

Annie Louis

al..@americanplayers.org

Job Titles:

Associate
Development Director
Gift Shop Staff Member

Barb Ferguson

Job Titles:

House Staff Member

Beatrice Kuenn

Job Titles:

Donor Relations Manager
Gift Shop Staff Member

Beth Novak

Job Titles:

Box Office Staff Member

Bob Willoughby

Job Titles:

Box Office Staff Member
Musical Director / Administrative Assistant
Musical Director / Administrative Assistant / Musical Director, Rough Crossing / Associate Musical Director, the Gift of the Magi

Bob Willoughby is a musician and piano accompanist with area schools and theaters. He has acted and directed for various community theaters over the years. Highlights include directing Into the Woods and acting in True West and The Glass Menagerie. Having acted in Arcadia for APT in 2016, he is happy to be helping with another Stoppard show. His current day job is also at APT, as Administrative Assistant. In his spare time, Bob enjoys reading, travelling and solving fiendishly difficult crossword puzzles.

Brenda DeVita

Job Titles:

Artistic Director
Director

Brenda is thrilled to celebrate her 28th season with APT. She joined in 1995 as Company Manager, and was soon promoted to Casting Director, and then to Associate Artistic Director in 2004. She was honored to be appointed Artistic Director in 2014. Brenda was instrumental in creating APT's Core Acting Company, the Acting Apprentice program and developing the Voice and Text department, which has become one of the most robust and respected in the country. Or her most important work Brenda has actively lead APT to vigorously work to become an equitable space so all people may feel welcome and successful here in the woods. Brenda studied theater at the University of Northern Iowa and the Professional Theatre Training Program at the University of Delaware. She trained with Tadashi Suzuki in Japan and worked many years as a professional actress. Brenda's directing credits for APT include A Doll's House, Part 2, Born Yesterday, Shakespeare's Will, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, The Year of Magical Thinking and Mary's Wedding. Other favorite directing projects include; The Other Place for Forward Theater Company; and The Seagull for University of California - San Diego. Brenda also helped create 4PeteSake, a local organization that raises funds for River Valley residents who face extraordinary financial hardship. Brenda and her husband, Jim DeVita, reside in Spring Green and have two grown children of which they are very proud, Gale and Sophia. She is grateful for the unwavering support from the APT family, colleagues and audience alike. You are remarkable.

Bri Humke

Job Titles:

Stage Management Assistant

Brian Cowing

Job Titles:

Choreographer
Choreographer / Choreographer, Love's Labour 's Lost

Brian is delighted to be choreographing his first show at APT! He has worked as a director/choreographer for Children's Theater of Madison, Forward Theater Company, Four Seasons Theatre, Music Theatre of Madison, Madison Opera, Capital City Theatre, Skylight Music Theatre, University Theater and Clinton Showboat Theatre. He has performed around the country and the world with the National Tours of Annie and Something Rotten! Brian is a proud graduate of Oklahoma City University's musical theater program and received his Masters from University of Wisconsin-Madison, Bolz Center for Arts Administration. Love and gratitude to his friends and family!