(In Order of Appearance)
Mrs.LarsSnustad(Vivian).....................................................................................HANNAHPECORARO
Mrs.GilmerGilmerson(Mavis) MELISSAANNMARTIN
Mrs.ElroyEngelson(Karin)..........................................................................................LAURAWALLING
MissSigneEngelson.........................................................................................................BEKAHBURGOON
PastorE.L.Gunderson.......................................................................................JORDANB.STOCKSDALE
BEHINDTHESCENES
Director BILLKISKA
MusicDirector......................................................................................................JORDANB.STOCKSDALE
StageManager........................................................................................BETSEYWHITMOREBRANNEN
LightingDesign......................................................................................................................JUSTINM.KISKA
Set&CostumeDesign...................................................................................................................BILLKISKA
Wigs
APRILHORNofHAIRWORXSALON
Scene1:EarlyDecember,1964 “ClosertoHeaven(IntheChurchBasement)”
Scene1:EasterSeason,1965
BEKAH BURGOON (Signe): is excited to step into the church basement after a short vacation in Camelot (Lady Anne). Over the years,she has been a part of many local theatre shows, choruses, and family theatre productions. Favorite credits include The Child Stealer (Amy Carmichael), Jane the Nine Day Queen (Jane Grey), and Annie (July). When not performing, she works at Chick-Fil-A, while working on a Psychology degree.Thankstoherfamilyandfriendsfor all their support, and to everyone here at WOB for making this such a great experience.Enjoytheshow!
MELISSA ANN MARTIN (Mavis): is excited to finally return to the stage at WOB after takingahiatuswhileshewelcomedherfirst son, Grayson, into the world back in September of 2021. Melissa last appearedin ClueonStage asYvetteandback in2020wasin AChristmasSpecialChristmas Show, playing fun roles like Lucille Ball and Dolly Parton.Favorite past roles include Maria in The Sound of Music,Lina Lamontin Singin’ in the Rain, Fiona in Shrek, Miss Shields in A Christmas Story, and Miss Andrews & Miss Correy in Mary Poppins. In 2019, Melissa played Ethel Merman in the post Off-Broadway regional theatre premiere of the new musical comedy The Book of Merman. Love and thanks to my amazingfamily,withoutallofyourhelpthis role would not be possible! Thanks to The Kiskas + WOB for being my other family. Please,enjoyourshow!
HANNAH PECORARO (Vivian): isreturning to WOB after last appearing in Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express as Greta Ohlsson. She is excited to be back performing as a similarly pious character butwithmusicthistime!Somefavoriteroles over her years in theatre in the U.S. and in her homeland of Scotland include: Constanze in Amadeus, Janet in The Rocky Horror Picture Show,Laurie in Oklahoma!, andCalamity in Calamity Jane. She would like to thank her wonderful husband, Andrew, for taking care of their two (very wee) boys, Gabriel and Tony, while she’s
wee) boys, Gabriel and Tony, while she’s beenpursuingherloveoftheatre.
JORDAN B. STOCKSDALE (Pastor Gunderson/Music Director): is WOB’s Artistic Director and Resident Music Director.Since assuming the position in 2010,hehasmusicdirectedallbutahandful of productions; directed Mamma Mia!, Steel Magnolias,and NunsenseA-Men!;co-directed Disney’s Beauty & the Beast; and wrote 2010’s Christmas Follies.Over the years, he has been seen by WOB audiences on stage in Clue (Col.Mustard), MaryPoppins (George Banks), Annie (Rooster), Shrek–TheMusical (Shrek), Pirates of Penzance (Pirate King), Into the Woods (Baker), The Addams Family (Gomez), Hairspray (Edna),and LesMiséable (Valjean). In addition to his stage appearances at WOB, he had performed throughout the region. TOBY’S: King Arthur (SPAMALOT), Patchy (SpongeBob Musical), Nostradamus (Something Rotten); SSMT: Gomez (The Addams Family), Jud Fry (Oklahoma!), Harry (Mamma Mia), Cogsworth (Beauty & the Beast); NORTH SHORE STAGE: Kemp/Hermit (Young Frankenstein), Gomez (The Addams Family), Joey (Sister Act). Several theatre seasons ago, he appeared as Captain Newton in the premiere of the one-act version of Amazing Grace in Washington, DC, under the directionofBroadway’sGabrielBarre.
LAURA WALLING (Karin): waslastseenby WOB audiences earlier this season as Lady Elaine in Camelot. Other WOB credits include the hilarious Sister Mary Downy in Disaster!, Pinocchio in Shrek – The Musical, Pirates of Penzance, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Legally Blonde, and a number of Children’s Theatre productions. When not on the stage, she can be found playing string/electric bass under the stage as a pit musician at theatres throughout the area. She was also co-founder of Stock♦ing Productions, whose company produced William Finn’s A New Brain, Rent, Next to Normal, Into the Woods, and TheRocky HorrorShow.
JANET LETNES MARTIN (Co-author of Growing Up Lutheran): grew up in Hillsboro, ND where the words Norwegian and Lutheran were synonymous. It was no surprise she graduated from Augsburg CollegeinMinneapolis,MNandmarriedNeil Martin, a 100 percent ScandinavianLutheran man from Newfolden, MN. Janet started writing books in 1983. She wrote three books, co- authored three books with AllenTodnem,andonewithhersister,Ilene Lorenz, before she teamed up to write and perform with a college friend, Suzann Nelson. Janet and Suzann have written nine books relating to their Norwegian-Lutheran rural background. Their book Growing Up Lutheran, What Does This Mean? won the Minnesota Book Award for Humor, and is the inspiration for the Church Basement Ladies musical comedies. Janet and Suzann have performed as a comedy duo "Those Lutheran Ladies" from the state of Washington to Washington,DCaswellasin theMedoraMusical.
SUZANN NELSON (Co-author of Growing Up Lutheran): could put “ditto” under Janet’sbio.Theirbooksandperformancesas thehumorousduo,“ThoseLutheranLadies,” draw upon lifeexperiences growing up as hardworking, churchattending,100 percent Norwegian-Lutheranfarm girls. This is the nucleus of the heartwarming Church Basement Ladies musicals. She attendeduniversitiesinMinnesotaandOslo, directed aNorwegian language camp and wrote curricula.Changing from jeans into three-piece suits, she dabbled in government, wrote public policy reports,
government, wrote public policy reports, and struggled to put on pantyhose. In time,humidity, and hot flashes prompted hertoteamupwithJanetforhernextact.
JIM STOWELL (Book): is a Featured Storyteller from the National Storytelling Festival 2011 in JonesboroughTN where he returned in May 2012 to serve as the Storyteller-In-ResidenceattheInternational Storytelling Center. He adapted the novel, The Things TheyCarried byTimO’Brieninto a one man play that was produced by The GreatAmericanHistoryTheater,StPaul,MN in March of 2014. The History Theater then toured theplayinWisconsinand Minnesota in November 2014. He has written and performed eleven one man plays produced by five different theaters working with four different Artistic Directors in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, MN. The film version of his onemanplay, TravelingLight,wasshownat TheSundanceFilmFestivalandpublishedas abookbyMilkweedEditions.
JESSICAZUEHLKE(Book): beganhercareer in theater/education with a puppet stage and classroom in her childhood backyard (Worthington, MN). She pursued her acting career most notably with The Palace Theater, Cricket, KTCA, Paul Bunyan Playhouse, and a host of new plays, while working for the Minnesota State Arts Board and COMPAS. As the author of severalchildren’s plays, Church Basement Ladies is her first venture to co-write with herhusband,theaterartistJimStowell.They have completed a new musical script, A Wagon Load of Shoes (A Family Musical), basedonatruestoryabouttwopenpalgirls
basedonatruestoryabouttwopenpalgirls from Worthington and Crailsheim, Germany attheendofWWII.
DREW JANSEN (Music&Lyrics): isaproud graduate of St. John's University in Collegeville (Class of '83). An Arkansas native, Jansen is in the midst of a multifaceted career as a performer, writer, and composer.In addition to penning the scores for Troupe America's How To Talk
Minnesotan - The Musical and Church Basement Ladies, as well as the History Theatre's The Gangster Musical, he is also one of the busier voice-over actors in town. An accomplished pianist, he has had the honor of accompanying such legends as Celeste HolmandCarmelQuinn.On camera, Jansen enjoyed a two-season run as Ernie the announcer on Comedy Central's Let's Bowl! He was a contributing writer for television's Mystery Science Theater 3000 and created the text for numerous greeting cardsandsyndicatedcomicstrips.
BILL KISKA (Director, Executive Producer): is WOB’s Executive Producer and CEO. Since taking over the theatre in 2002, he has overseen every production, directing a majority of them, including Camelot, Hello, Dolly!, Disaster!, Ruthless! The Musical, Disney and Cameron
Mackintosh’s Mary Poppins, My Fair Lady, Gilligan’s Island – The Musical, Disney’s Beauty & the Beast, Sister Act, Happy Days, Into the Woods, SPAMALOT, Anything Goes, West Side Story, Fiddler on the Roof, Annie Get Your Gun, Les Misérables, Singin’ in the Rain, Sunset Boulevard, Legally Blonde, Meredith Willson’s The Music Man,
Meredith Willson’s The Music Man, Hairspray, as well as most of the theatre’s holiday shows. No stranger to appearing on stage, his list of credits include Captain von Trapp in The Sound of Music, Georges in La Cage aux Folles, Lawrence Jameson in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Sir Danvers in Jekyll & Hyde, Harold in The Full Monty., and Milburn Drysdalein TheBeverlyHillbillies - TheMusical.
MEGAN ELIZABETH WEST (Production Manager): has worked at many theaters in the region over the last several years, including the Old Opera House andThe Apollo Civic Theatre. For WOB, she music directs the Summer Theatre Camp shows, has stage managed Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery and Clue On Stage, and music directed Ruthless! The Musical. In the fallof2019,shemusicdirectedthepost-OffBroadway regional premiere production of the musical comedy The Book of Merman SomeofheronstagecreditsincludeCamelot (Guenevere), Murder on the Orient Express (Countess Andrenyi), The Beverly Hillbillies (Tiffany), Hello, Dolly! (Irene), The Pajama Game (Babe), Disaster! (Marianne), Mary Poppins (Winnifred Banks), Little Women –The Broadway Musical (Jo), My Fair Lady (Eliza Doolittle), Gilligan’s Island – The Musical (Mary Ann), Annie (Grace), Disney’s Beauty & the Beast (Mrs. Potts), and Legally Blonde (EnidHoops). MeganhasaBMEand BA in Vocal Performance from Shepherd University and is currently the Music teacher at Winchester Avenue and Gerradstown Elementary Schools in Martinsburg,WV.
WAY OFF BROADWAY (Producer): The Way
Off Broadway Dinner Theatre, under the directionoftheKiskafamilysince2002,isnow in its 29th Season of producing live theatre. Since it first opened in 1995, the theatre has been aleaderin the area’s theatre community, proudly bringing both classic musicals, as well asregionalandareapremierestotheFrederick stage. Productions have included Disney & Cameron Mackintosh’s Mary Poppins, Mamma Mia!, Disney’s Beauty & the Beast, Sister Act, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Monty Python’s SPAMALOT, Noises Off, The Addams Family, Les Misérables, Sunset Boulevard, Legally Blonde, Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5: The Musical, Hairspray, South Pacific, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Mel Brooks’ The Producers, CATS, The Wedding
Singer, Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Sound of Music, Fiddler on the Roof, Grease, La Cage aux Folles, Guys & Dolls, Steel Magnolias, …Forum, Lend Me a Tenor, Joseph…, Blood Brothers, Mame,and 42nd Street.Inadditiontoitsregular Mainstageseason,WayOffBroadwayproduces a number of special events throughout the year, including family theatre productions and an annual Breakfast with Santa (and Mrs. Claus). Through its outside producing brand, WOB LIVE! Entertainment, Way Off Broadway also presents Marquee Mysteries - an interactive murder mystery series where the audience helps solve the case - not only at the theatre, but regularly on the Walkersville Southern Railroad and other venues throughouttheareaforprivatefunctions.
