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Meet The Team Of Company

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Mr. Ikpeama is a third-year D.M.A. student in vocal performance at UNL and a multi-media artist who loves drawing artistic inspiration everywhere he can. He strives to inspire people to be free in creating their own art and is excited and thankful to perform again at The TADA Theatre. Our patrons may remember his stellar performance as Collins in last season’s production of RENT. Other recent performances include being the featured tenor soloist with the Omaha Symphonic Chorus, and guest vocalist/conductor with the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company in collaboration with music director Nick Hallett for the company’s production of What Problem?

DANIEL IKPEAMA
(Robert)

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Ms. Christy made her TADA debut 12 years ago in Happy Days: A New Musical. She continued to perform with the theatre in productions including It’s the Housewives, Secrets Every Smart Traveler Should Know, and Midlife: A Crisis Musical. In 2013, Anna made her way to Saint Paul, MN, to continue her education at McNally Smith College of Music. She graduated with a bachelor of music in vocal performance and began gigging around the Twin Cities. Anna returned to Nebraska and The TADA Theatre stage this summer with Godspell and is excited for the opportunity to perform in Company.

ANNA CHRISTY
(Sarah)

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A sophomore at The University of Nebraska Omaha, Mr. Kischer is proud to be back at The TADA Theatre after appearing in last season’s production of A Very Merry Christmas Cabaret. From Omaha, Matthew was recently named a finalist in West Central Regional NATS. His wide array of acting credits includes playing Gaston in Beauty and the Beast at The Elkhorn Community Theatre, Edgar in King Lear at The Bluebarn Theatre, and Richard in One-Sided at The Omaha Fringe Festival.

MATTHEW KISCHER
(Harry)

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Mrs. Kaslon returns to The TADA Theatre after such memorable roles as Morticia in The Addams Family the Musical and Frau Bleucher in Young Frankenstein. A graduate from Nebraska Wesleyan University, Paula is the director of loan administration for Midwest Housing Development Group and enjoys singing in Abendmusik. She has also worked under Mr. Rook’s direction in such productions as The King and I in the role of Mrs. Anna and as Smitty in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

PAULA KASLON
(Susan)

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Mr. Maltas is thrilled to be back at The TADA Theatre where he has played many memorable characters including Douglas Panch in the regional premiere of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, LM in Pumpboys and Dinettes, Pastor Oglethorpe in Smoke On The Mountain, Eddie in The Rocky Horror Show, Harold The Hermit / Inspector Kemp in Young Frankenstein the Musical and Warnock Waldgrave in The Nerd. Also a talented musician, Bill has served as musical director and band leader in an array of TADA productions. When not on stage, Bill is serving up delicious waffles as The Waffleman!

BILL MALTAS
(Peter)

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Originally from Willmar, MN, but raised in Nebraska, Ms. Knofczynski studied vocal performance at Wayne State College and later attended the University of Nebraska at Omaha where she majored in business. Since graduating college, Kelsey has performed as Carlotta in Phantom of the Opera and as Cinderella in Cinderella. Most recently, she was in the cast of Godspell at The TADA Theatre.

KELSEY KNOFCZYNSKI
(Jenny)

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Born in Liberal, KS, Mr. Schnoor moved to Nebraska when he was eight and graduated high school from Wilcox-Hildreth. John continued his education studying music at Central Community College in Columbus, NE. John made his TADA Theatre debut as Freddie Trumper in Chess the Musical. Since then, he has performed at TADA in The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber where he was showcased in an array of songs including The Phantom of The Opera. Last season he was seen at The TADA Theatre as Jesus in Godspell and as a cast member in A Very Merry Christmas Cabaret.

JOHN SCHNOOR
(David)

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Ms. White recently moved to Lincoln after spending 10 years studying, performing, and teaching music and theatre in Washington, DC, Philadelphia, and NYC. She received her bachelor of music in musical theatre from Catholic University, and has since worked as a professional singer, performer, and church cantor, while simultaneously teaching private voice, music, theatre, and dance in a variety of capacities, including elementary education. Julie was a member of the National Broadway Chorus, performing at The Kennedy Center in DC and was selected to take part in a master class by world-renowned soprano, Renee Fleming; and has performed in musicals, new works, and a variety of cabarets local. Her favorite roles include Liesl in the Sound of Music, and Sandy in Grease.

JULIE MARIE WHITE
(Amy)

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Mr. Hiscock is the director of performance-music at Hastings College. In addition to his teaching duties in the music department, he works in tandem with the Office of Student Engagement to support student growth and success. Jared is also the co-founder and artistic director of the Salt Creek Song Festival, the first art song festival in Nebraska, and serves on the faculty of the Vocal Academy of Opera in Bodrum, Turkey. Prior to joining Hastings College, Jared spent three years as a Holland Community Opera Fellow at Opera Omaha. Recent solo performances include Mozart’s Requiem with the Resonance Festival Orchestra, Handel’s Messiah with Union College, a new production of Argento’s The Andrée Expedition and the world premiere of Kurt Knecht’s Dover Beach/Dover Bitch. Jared holds a D.M.A. from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where he worked as a graduate teaching assistant.

JARED HISCOCK 
(Paul)

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A musical director for over 30 years, and with more than 200 productions to her credit, Mrs. Rook has appeared extensively on stage, including a tour of Side by Side by Sondheim, the regional premieres of Forbidden Broadway, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Rona) and Gilligan’s Island the Musical (Lovey Howell). She also appeared as Lucy in the Midwest premiere of Jekyll & Hyde the musical and as Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd featuring the Nebraska Symphony Chamber Orchestra. Cris received her masters degree in music performance from UNL where she performed in several operas and musical theatre productions and was a company member of The Nebraska Repertory Theatre. Other favorite acting credits include Helen in Fun Home, Dot in Sunday in the Park with George, and the Witch in Into the Woods. Cris is the proud wife to her husband Bob and mother to daughter Megan.

CRIS ROOK
(Joanne)

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Mr. Scott has been involved in community theatre since high school, where he played Cliff Bradshaw in Cabaret. Some of Harold’s most memorable roles include Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Professor Marvel/Oz in The Wizard of Oz, Max Bialystock in The Producers, and the Narrator/Mysterious Man in Into the Woods. At TADA, Harold has played Uncle Fester in The Addams Family the Musical, the Innkeeper in Man of La Mancha, the Monster in Young Frankenstein, Sanders in Lend Me a Tenor, the Skipper in Gilligan’s Island the Musical, Father Mark in Tony ‘n Tina’s Wedding, an array of ensemble roles in RENT, and the narrator in The Rocky Horror Show. Harold is proud to serve as vice president for the TADA Board of Directors.

HAROLD SCOTT
(Larry)

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Ms. Luedtke is excited to debut at TADA! She recently was in Elkhorn’s Beauty and the Beast as Madame de La Grande Bouche. Other favorite roles include: Narrator in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat, Daniela in In the Heights, Sour Kangaroo in Seussical, and Tuptim in The King and I. Jamie studied music education at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and currently teaches vocal music for Omaha Public Schools.

JAMIE LUEDTKE
(Marta)

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A graduate from UNL’s Glenn Korff School of Music, Ms. Linder is excited to join this cast for her second show with The TADA Theatre. She first fell in love with the space and people while performing in Catherland four years ago. She is now working as an administrative assistant in Omaha.

LAURA LINDER
(Kathy)

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Mr. Brown is a piano performance major at UNL under the direction of Dr. Paul Barnes. He came to Lincoln from Houston, Texas where he has performed for other local theaters. He has been playing piano since he was 4 years old and is an avid performer. In his spare time, he accompanies, performs with UNL ensembles, and plays for a church. This is his second show with the TADA Theatre after playing second keyboard on Godspell in their 14th season.

NATHANIEL BROWN
(Accompanist)

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Ms. Peterson is a multi-talented instrumentalist and will be playing seven instruments for this show. This is her fouth show at The TADA Theatre having previously played in CHESS, A Grand Night for Singing and The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber. In her spare time she works in special education for Lincoln Public Schools

ASHLEY PETERSON
(Woodwinds)

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Mr. Rook has been an award winning director for 35 years and over 300 productions, including the critically acclaimed Midwest premiere of Jekyll & Hyde the musical, the tour of Side by Side by Sondheim, the regional premieres of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Forbidden Broadway, Happy Days: A New Musical, and Gilligan’s Island the Musical. He has collaborated as the director on several productions with Lincoln's Symphony Orchestra as well as the productions of Big River and South Pacific with Lincoln Choral Artists and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee with the Lied Center For Performing Arts. Additional directing credits include RENT, Avenue Q, Sweeney Todd, CHESS, Fun Home, Man of La Mancha, Chicago, Sunday in the Park with George, Evil Dead The Musical, Into The Woods, and countless others. Mr. Rook has also acted in numerous motion pictures and commercials, toured nationally as a headlining stand-up comic and is a voiceover recording artist

ROBERT D. ROOK
(Director)

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A musical director for over 30 years and 200 productions, Mrs. Rook received a Master’s degree in music performance from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln where she studied with Donna Harler-Smith. She has collaborated as the musical director on several productions with Lincoln's Symphony Orchestra and Big River and South Pacific with Lincoln Choral Artists and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee with the Lied Center For Performing Arts. Mrs. Rook has also been the musical director on such shows as RENT, Avenue Q, Fun Home, Gilligan’s Island the Musical, Man of La Mancha, Chicago, Beauty and the Beast, Beehive, The Addams Family A New Musical, The Great American Trailer Park Musical, Evil Dead The Musical, Forever Plaid, Young Frankenstein, CHESS and countless others.

CRIS ROOK
(Musical Director/Choreographer)

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Mr. Heimes is proud to be the resident production manager of The TADA Theatre and has overseen such shows as Godspell and A Very Merry Christmas Cabaret. A 2018 graduate from Lincoln Southwest High School, Mr. Kameron was deeply involved in the speech program where he was extremely successful as well as in the theatre department. TADA Theatre audiences may recognize him from his role in the mainstage production of Young Frankenstein The Musical. Kameron is still active in speech where he coaches teams in different parts of the country.

KAMERON HEIMES
(Production Manager)

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Mrs. Williamson received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of South Dakota in 2014 where she gained skills and experience in scenic design, painting, carpentry, props, and puppetry. After working for theaters in Vermont and South Dakota, Jenna moved to Lincoln and became the Technical Coordinator for The TADA Theatre for several years. During that time, her scenic design and painting work included such shows as Young Frankenstein, Evil Dead The Musical, Man of La Mancha, The Addams Family A New Musical, Into The Woods and many more. She is excited to be back as the scenic designer for TADA where last season she designed Why Do Fools in Love, RENT, Greater Tuna and Godspell. Jenna also recently became the Theatre Technical Director at Lincoln Northwest High School.

JENNA WILLIAMSON
(Scenic Designer)

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As a professional scenic artist, Mr. Kruse has painted over 250 productions and served as scenic artist for Circle Theatre in Ft. Worth for 35 years. He was also the properties master for the Ft. Worth Opera for 14 seasons and the Ft. Worth/Dallas Ballet for 4. Recently retired as a journeyman stagehand from IATSE, Jon and his wife Donna moved to Nebraska City in 2017 from the Ft. Worth, Texas area. An Iowa native, Jon received his degree in Speech and Theatre from NWMSU. Jon is also a talented bass player who played professionally in several bands and has appeared in over 100 roles from community to professional theatre. He is pleased to be a member of the production team for The TADA Theatre where he has done work on such shows as Why Do Fools Fall In Love, Always, Patsy Cline, RENT, Greater Tuna and Godspell.

JON KRUSE
(Technical Coordinator)

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Mr. Welch serves on the TADA Board of Directors and recently retired from the United States Post Office after 32 years of employment. Kevin has built an array of projects and is happy to be showing off his skills as TADA’s carpenter and craftsman having worked on such shows as Why Do Fools Fall In Love, Always, Patsy Cline, RENT, Greater Tuna and Godspell. He has also performed in several shows for TADA Productions including Chess, Big River, South Pacific and Chicago

KEVIN WELCH
(Assistant Technical Coordinator)

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A veteran of The TADA Theatre where she’s served as both Stage Manager and Costume Coordinator, Karen has overseen costumes for Evil Dead The Musical, Catherland, I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change, Chess, Fun Home, Pumpboys and Dinettes, The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, The Great American Trailer Park Musical, A Grand Night For Singing,The Santaland Diaries, Why Do Fools Fall in Love, Greater Tuna, RENT, Godspell and more. She has been part of the theater community in Lincoln since 1993.

KAREN STATHAM
(Costume and Hair Coordinator)

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