Cast and Production Team

ML Cogar: Director & Dramaturg
Tom Reed:  Producer & Co-Director
Melissa L. Wanke*: Stage Manager
Aleph Null: Assistant Stage Manager

*Member of Actors' Equity Association

Cast
(scroll down for more cast information)

Libby Amato: Queen/Iachimo
Susie Duecker: Imogen/Ensemble
Fabian Guerrero: Guiderius/First Lord/Ensemble
Adam Medina: Cloten/Arviragus
Brielle Richmond: Pisanio/Ensemble
Michael Stebbins*: Cymbeline/Philario
Ken T. Williams:* Belarius/Narrator/Doctor/Cornelius
Zach Thomas Woods: Posthumus/Ensemble
     
*Member of Actors' Equity Association

Production Team

Susan Fry: Executive Director, Founder,  & Producer
Rollie Layman: Production & Technical Manager
Mel Benson: Costumer
Shayla Finley: House Manager
Ron Fry: Production Designer
Alan Piotrowicz: QLab Programmer
Tony Roman: Sound Engineer, Transportation
Katy Lane: Transportation, Flautist, and Admin Assistant
Leah Dueno: Wardrobe
Kaetryn Koneazny: Production Crew


Optimist Theatre Staff

Christie Manussier: Financial & Production
Beth Lewinski: Web, Marketing, & Outreach
Karen Samelson: Development

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Cast Bios

Libby Amato
Queen/Iachimo

Libby is excited to embark on another summer of Shakespeare in the Park! Previous Optimist credits include TWELFTH NIGHT: OR WHAT SHE WILL, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM: THE LOVERS TALE, and A COMEDY OF ERRORS, among others. She also recently appeared in Milwaukee Irish Arts' productions of FAITH HEALER (staged reading), and DEAD MAN'S BELLS. Many thanks to the Optimist team for the delicious opportunity to play the villains! And, as always...love you, Mom.

Susie Duecker
Imogen/Ensemble

Susie Duecker is overjoyed to be returning to Optimist Theater after appearing as Feste in last year’s Twelfth Night, and Helena in A Midsummer Night's Dream the year before that. Other Wisconsin credits include Forward Theater’s 2021 Monologue Festival,  The Twelve Dates of Christmas  at Next Act Theatre,  Drowning Girls  at Renaissance Theaterworks,  Big Fish  at First Stage,  Windjammers  and  Muskie Love  at Northern Sky Theater, etc.
Some of her favorite Shakespeare roles include Rosalind (As You Like It), Mistress Page (Merry Wives of Windsor), Marc Antony (Julius Caesar), Montjoy, Williams, and the French King  (Henry V).
She earned her BFA in drama at NYU Tisch School of the Arts.
Also, she feels incredibly blessed with good parents and that there is no earthly way to thank them enough for all of their love and support.
Enjoy the show!
Huzzah 🙌🏼

Fabian Guerrero
Guiderius/First Lord/Ensemble

Fabian Guerrero (he/him) is a proud resident of Chicago, Illinois, and excited to be back at Shakespeare in the Park in Milwaukee! He is humbled and grateful to be bringing Shakespeare into baseball fields, freshly mowed grass, and the great outdoors. He hopes you will go and search for some more Shakespeare in your everyday life - if you look hard enough, it's all around. Love to his family, always. 

Recent Credits include - Theatre: Romero (Steppenwolf's Lookout Series), The American Life of Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo (Vagrancy Theatre), Midsummer Night's Dream: The Lover's Tale (Optimist Theatre) | Film/TV: Final Summer, Chicago Fire | Voiceover: Saints Row (V). Fabian is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is represented by Grossman & Jack Talent in Chicago.

Adam Medina
Cloten/Arviragus

Adam is excited to be doing his first show with Optimist, as well, to be making his professional Shakespeare debut. Adam first attended school at UW Rock County, and more recently received his Theatre Acting degree from UW Milwaukee. When he's not on stage, you can find him portraying your favorite web slinger through Friend Like Me - Parties and Entertainment, or being your own personal game show host at Game Show Battle Rooms in Brookfield (use code "adam10" for 10% off your booking). He'd like to thank his friends, his family, his past mentors, and anyone who's come out to support him; he wouldn't be where he his today without all of you. He hopes you enjoy the show!

Past credits include: Charlie/Richard Burbage in Whirligig of Time (Sunstone Studios), Clifford Anderson in Deathtrap (The Palace Theatre in the Dells) and Kurt Kelly in Heathers: The Musical (Rock River Repertory Theatre)

Brielle Richmond Pisanio/Ensemble

Brielle Richmond, a Milwaukee native, is excited to be joining the cast of Cymbeline as Pisanio! As a performer, she is thrilled to continue to learn, cultivate, and perfect her craft by broadening her experiences. Brielle has worked with Black Arts MKE; Lights! Camera! Soul!; Marquette Theatre; First Stage; Northern Sky Theatre; Sunstone Studios; and Milwaukee Chamber Theatre. She is elated to work under the direction of so many talented and skilled artists. Special thanks to Tom, ML, and Optimist Theatre for this opportunity and to her family, friends, and most importantly, God. Without God, none of this would be possible! Enjoy the shows and have a wonderful, adventurous summer! Philippians 4:13.

Michael Stebbins*
Cymbeline/Philario

Michael Stebbins*  made his Optimist debut in Much Ado About Nothing in 2017 and is grateful to return this summer. Wisconsin performing credits include Door Shakespeare, Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Theatre Gigante (where he is also board chair), and Peninsula Players. Recent Midwest directing credits include Door Shakespeare, Third Avenue PlayWorks, Rochester Civic Theatre, among others. He is the former Artistic Director of Door Shakespeare, and before that, producing artistic director of Rep Stage, a regional theatre in Maryland.  Michael would like to thank  ML, Susan, Tom, Ron and everyone working with Optimist for their dedication to bringing Shakespeare to the masses.

Ken T. Williams*
Belarius/Narrator/Doctor/Cornelius

Ken is excited to be playing in the parks again this summer. He would like to thank ML, Tom, Susan, Ron, and this amazing cast and crew for a great experience. At Optimist he was previously seen in The Tempest (Stephano), MacBeth (Angus), Pericles Project, and Twelfth Night (Sir Toby Belch). In Milwaukee Ken has worked with some amazing companies including Milwaukee Chamber Theater, Renaissance Theaterworks, First Stage, Acacia, Youngblood Theatre, Cornerstone, In Tandem , and Windfall Ensemble to name a few. Ken has been an actor/educator for more than 25 years and currently serves as the Theatre Director at University Lake School in Hartland. Thank you for supporting the arts. Much love to the kin. Ken is a proud member of Actor's Equity. www.kentoddwilliams.net

Zach Thomas Woods
Posthumus/Ensemble

Zach Thomas Woods has worked as a performer, director, and playwright in the greater Milwaukee area for nearly 10 years. He has appeared at Milwaukee Chamber Theatre (Great Expectations), Next Act Theatre (God’s Spies, The Tin Woman, Red Herring, Laughter on the 23rd Floor), First Stage Children’s Theater (Spongebob, Arthur, Big Fish, Holes, Spookley the Square Pumpkin, Anatole), Skylight Music Theatre (The Full Monty, Les Miserables, Hair, Urinetown), and Northern Sky Theater (Love Stings.) Directing credits include Julius Caesar, Evita, Footloose, Arsenic and Old Lace, Death by Design, and The Miss Firecracker Contest. An award-winning playwright, Woods’ latest show, ‘Neath the Hills of Bastogne, received a staged reading in 2019 through Milwaukee Chamber Theatre’s Montgomery Davis Play Development Series and a full production at Sunstone Studios in 2022.

*Member of Actors' Equity Association