Jamie Chmielewski (Sister Jane Mooney) is a senior theatre and arts management co-major with a musical theatre minor. Previous credits with MUDT include When We Get Good Again, Echoes of Miami, and The Wolves (among others). Jamie is an Irene Ryan Scholarship semi-finalist and competed for this title at KCACTF last winter. She is also the current president of Alpha Psi Omega. Jamie is so thankful to have been a part of Blood Sisters, and extends her thanks to the cast and crew for making this show happen.
Gion DeFrancesco (Scenic Design advisor) joined the faculty of Miami University in the fall of 2001 and teaches courses in scene design, design communication, scene painting, and American musical theatre. He also designs scenery, serves as scenic charge artist, and as properties director for MU Theatre productions. Favorite designs at Miami include Pentecost, In Quest of Love, Stupid Fucking Bird, The Wild Party, and Angels in America. Regionally he has designed and painted at a number of theatres including Big River at the Gallery Players of Brooklyn, I Love You! You’re Perfect! Now Change! At Florida Repertory Theatre, and The Magic Flute at the Illinois Opera Theatre. Regional design credits include The Santaland Diaries at New Edgecliff Theatre in Cincinnati, Seussical at La Comedia Dinner Theatre in Springboro, and Happy Days at the West Virginia Public Theatre in Morgantown, WV.
Tom Featherstone (Scene Shop Supervisor) received his AS degree from Indiana University Department of Music. He has served as Technical Director for Evansville Dance Theatre, Indianapolis Civic Theatre, Town Hall Theatre in Centerville, and Miami University Summer Theatre. At Miami has served as Scene Shop Supervisor since 1994.
As Scene Shop Supervisor he oversees the day-to-day operation of the scene shop and performance spaces in the Center for Performing Arts with the aid of a paid student staff. He prides himself on creating a safe and comfortable environment for those who have no experience with power tools, large and heavy scenery, or metalworking.
He is married with a daughter. His wife Ellen Price is a professor in Miami’s Art Department and a well-known printmaker. In addition to managing the daily operations of the shop, Tom mentors students in scenery construction. He also serves as the Grillmaster at Department cookouts
Claire Fischer (Stage Manager) is a sophomore theatre major with a focus in stage management. This is her debut as a stage manager at Miami University! Some of her previous credits include: Comedy of Errors (Assistant Stage Manager) and She Kills Monsters (Run Crew). Before coming to Miami, she also worked in high school as a stage manager, costume designer, lighting designer, sound board operator, light board operator, and member of the run crew.
Dylan Gray (Lighting Designer) is a Junior Theatre major with a minor in Musical Theatre. Previous Miami credits include Echoes of Miami (Paahpilweeta), Ceremonials (Acolyte 1/Co-Lighting Designer), 21 Chump Street (Ensemble), Bat Boy (Bud/Pan), Don’t Call Him That (Lighting Designer), She Kills Monsters (Assistant Lighting Designer), and Comedy of Errors (Assistant Director). They would like to thank Marly Wooster for constantly offering her guidance and wisdom.
Julia Guichard (Directing Advisor) has been teaching at Miami University since 1998. She holds a BFA in Acting from the Goodman School of Drama at DePaul University in Chicago and an MFA in Acting from The Pennsylvania State University.
She is a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique, holding certificates from The Performance School and Alexander Technique International. As a guest artist, she has taught the Technique in the BFA acting programs at Carnegie Mellon, the University of Cincinnati, College Conservatory of Music and others. She has worked as a movement and vocal coach for Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati and others. Julia is an active member of the Voice and Speech Trainers Association, and a VASTA Fellow. She has served as the Production Editor and Associate Editor for the Voice & Speech Review, a professional journal presented by VASTA. Her research focuses on improving pedagogy through the innovative use of writing, technology, and assessment in the performance studio. Publications include articles in Theatre Topics and The Voice and Speech Review. Her online learning objects for voice instruction may be found at www.merlot.org.
At Miami, she teaches classes in acting, voice, speech, script analysis and Alexander Technique. She serves as vocal coach for the Miami University Theatre production season.
Lisa Martin-Stuart (Costume Designer) holds an MFA from the University of Texas at Austin,
a BFA from the University of Florida, and 1-year of graduate studies at the Tisch School of Arts at New York University. Her training is in costume design, historical dress research, and sewing technology.
Prior to coming to Miami University Lisa was the head of the MFA costume design program at the University of South Carolina, Department of Theatre and Dance. During her tenure at South Carolina, she designed costumes for over 60 theatrical productions. At Miami, she teaches design and technology courses for both the theatre and fashion programs in the College of Creative Arts; recently she designed costumes for Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead for the Theatre department at Miami.
Design credits in Film include: Ruby in Paradise; winner of the 1993 Sundance Film Festival starring Ashley Judd, Ulee’s Gold (1997) starring Peter Fonda; winner of the Best Actor Golden Globe Award, and Coastlines (2002) starring Josh Brolin and Timothy Olyphant. Lisa has designed costumes for Off-Broadway theatres in NYC and several regional theatres including: American Folklore Theatre, Asolo State Theatre, Aquila Theatre Company of London, Charlotte Repertory Theatre, and Hippodrome State Theatre in Gainesville, FL- her home town.
Delaney McLaughlin (Director) is a senior theatre and social work double major. This is her MUTD directorial debut; some of her previous credits with the Miami University Theatre Department include The Wolves (Stage Manager), Echoes of Miami (Stage Manager), and Bat Boy: The Musical (Assistant Stage Manager). Outside of theatre, Delaney is the Philanthropy Chair of the Delta Beta Chapter of Delta Delta Delta, and the President of The Walking Theatre Project. Delaney would like to thank both Marly Wooster and Julia Guichard for their constant belief in her abilities and guidance.
Curtis Mortimore (technical director) joined the Miami University Theatre Department in 2014 and serves as the Technical Director and Master Electrician. Curtis received his bachelor’s degree from Graceland University in Lamoni, Iowa and his MFA from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Curtis’ professional credits include duties as Assistant Technical Director and Technical Director at Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park. Four seasons with the Utah Shakespeare Festival in roles from carpenter to scenery supervisor. Visiting Assistant Professor at Graceland University. Shop Manager at Stageworks in Little Rock, Arkansas, and most recently as Technical Director at Ball State University. Curtis teaches courses in technical theatre and supervises production stage crews.
Charlotte Perez (Assistant Sound Design) is a sophomore Theatre major with a Social Justice and Inequalities minor originally from Bowling Green, OH. This is her first time working with sound design in her college career and she is very thankful for the opportunity to do so! Previous credits include Ellen in The Actor’s Nightmare for IAS and Light Board Operator for She Kills Monsters at Miami University.
Meggan Peters (Costume Shop Supervisor) received her BFA degree from Miami University in 1994. She has been designing and creating costumes for Miami since 1990, twice winning regional design awards from the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival. Her costume design for The Devils was recognized with a Certificate of Merit from KCACTF. She has been in her current role as Costume Studio Supervisor since 1995.
Meggan has designed costumes for numerous local and regional theatre groups, including GHCT, OxACT, the Fitton Center’s Mad Anthony Theatre Company, and the Dallas based Murder Mystery Players. Other professional credits include costume work for the Miami Valley Dinner Theatre, Porthouse Theatre, the Glimmerglass Opera Festival, and Stages, St. Louis. Her work has been seen in the New York Times, onstage at the New York Metropolitan Opera, and in Oslo, at the opening of the Norwegian National Opera. Her costume design renderings for Miami’s productions, The Devils, All’s Well that Ends Well, and The Drinking Gourd were published in the World Stage Design Catalogue, and in the book, The Art and Practice of Costume Design.
Meggan has enjoyed careers as a commercial artist for Gibson Greeting Cards, and as a featured vocalist with several Cincinnati swing bands, including The Sounds big band, the Cecil Young Orchestra, and the Proctor and Gamble big band. She is Mom to Jake and Nathan Witt, and (Jake’s wife) Linn Hykkerud, and “Grammy” to granddaughters, Etta and Iben. She mentors the students costume construction and costume running crew labs, designs costumes, and teaches courses in stage makeup.
Jason Sebastian (Sound Designer/Engineer) has been working freelance in film, theater and music for over 20 years as a technician, designer, engineer, and composer. After graduating from CCM’s Electronic Media program around the turn of the century he moved to New York and started work as a freelance sound recordist on location for independent films and behind the computer doing audio post-production. Meanwhile, Jason was also following a passion for live performance as a stagehand, sound engineer, designer, and composer. He is still currently the sound engineer for NY based theater company Elevator Repair Service, working on The Select (The Sun Also Rises), Gatz, Arguendo, and Measure for Measure; before the pandemic Gatz was lucky enough for a month long sitdown at Berkeley Rep back in February. During his 10 years in New York he worked closely with Radiohole, Young Jean Lee, MVWorks, Tara O’Con, along with many other NY and international performance companies and theaters. He has been lucky enough to work in many venues both nationally and internationally, even the Middle East. In the southern Ohio region, Jason has worked closely with students who are interested in design, composition, and technology at CCM and Miami University. He was an adjunct faculty and staff for CCM’s Sound Design program for a while, and still occasionally helps them out, having designed last 2018’s Guys and Dolls. He was also the sound designer on Murder for Two at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park earlier that year. Jason is the Production Manager for the BlackBox Performance Series at the Contemporary Art Museum and the This Time Tomorrow performance festival that usually takes place downtown in the spring. He currently resides in Cincinnati with his wife and two sons, but still occasionally gets (got) to travel the world with friends and collaborators.
Charlotte Snee (Sister Mary) is a junior theatre major with a double minor in English Literature and Arts Entrepreneurship. This is her second performance at Miami. Her first was this last spring as the Courtesan in William Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors. Charlotte is also a proud member of Alpha Psi Omega and took an original ensemble devised piece to KCACTF in Madison, Wisconsin earlier this year. She’d like to thank her wonderful family for all their support of her art.
Emily Stowers (Sister Wilhelmina Heintz) is thrilled to be returning to the Miami stage as the powerful and inspiring Wilhemina. A sophomore studying Theatre and Political Science in the University Honors Program, Emily has loved her time in Miami Theatre so far, most recently performing as Sarah in the Independent Artist Series production of The Actor’s Nightmare and Catherine in Stage Left’s production of Pippin. Before coming to Miami, Emily has been seen as a member of the OEdTA All-Ohio companies for Once on This Island, Letters to Sala, and Carrie. Some favorite past roles include Katherine in Newsies, Sally in Charlie Brown, and the title role in Mary Poppins. She wants to thank Delaney for her grace and insight.
Marly Wooster (Lighting Design and Stage Management Advisor) received a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Lighting Design from Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Theatre from Northwestern College in Orange City, Iowa. Marly has designed lighting for productions across the midwest including 2 seasons at the Illinois Shakespeare Festival and 3 seasons as the resident lighting designer for the Clinton Area Showboat where she designed over 20 shows. Some of her favorites included Richard II, Q Gents, Into the Woods, Drowsy Chaperone, and Big River. She has also designed for a number of other theatres in Illinois including Provision Theatre, Citadel Theatre, Fox Valley Repertory, Peoria Ballet, 20% Theatre Company and others. At Miami University Marly teaches classes in lighting fundamentals, stage management, and other courses for the Theatre Department. In recent years at Miami she has designed She Kills Monsters, When We Get Good Again, Bat Boy, Gathering Blue, SFB, and Wild Party.