Scene One: December 28, 1940, A train somewhere west of Chicago. Scene Two: Summer 1942, A park bench near the woods.
Scene Three: Spring 1943, May’s front porch.
Last Train To Nibroc is performed without an intermission
cast and crew
cast
May .................................................................................................. Hannah Duda
Raleigh ........................................................................................ Dominic Luzwick
production and design team
Director..................................................................................Paige Downey
Stage Manager......................................................................... Lilia Hackert
Technical Director ..................................................................... Grace Kirk
Dialect Coach .............................................................. Martin McClendon
Costume Designer ......................................................... Susana Alexander
Lighting Designer ............................................................. Daniel Michalec
Sound Designer ................................................................. Marshall Taylor
Assistant Stage Manager .................................................... Maddie Gibson
Costume Crew Head ................................................ Chaeylah Maldanado
Costume Crew ............................................... Kyra Lewis, Reagan Weitzel
Run Crew ............................................................................... Piper Nelson
Sound Board Operator....................................................... Marshall Taylor
Light Board Operator ............................................................. Philip Steger
Thesis Advisor ..................................................................Herschel Kruger
Any video and/or audio recording of this production is strictly prohibited.
“We Must Let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the one that is waiting for us.” -Joseph Campbell
Throughout this play, there are times when our characters’ lives don’t go as planned. Our two characters must learn to let go of the life they had planned in order to find joy in the unexpected. Holding on to the past is almost never a good thing, and we must remind ourselves not to get stuck on the what-ifs. This touching story reminds us that sometimes, the best thing to do is to let life take its course and remember that things tend to work out even in the most unexpected ways. We may not always like it, but more often than not, there’s a light at the end of the tunnel.
special thanks
To my professor Martin McClendon for teaching me how to be a lighting designer. -Daniel Michalec
To all the theatre faculty here at Carthage, for all your support and encouragement on this project! -Paige Downey
Thank you to Lillia for coming out of stage management retirement and being my biggest support system during this process. I couldn’t have done it without you! -Paige Downey
Hannah Duda (May) is a Sophomore at Carthage college majoring in Musical Theater, Theater, and Secondary Education. She is excited to be back on stage performing! Carthage credits include: LIFE IS A DREAM Spring 2025 (Ensemble), JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR Fall 2025 (Judas U/S, ensemble) Other credits: PUFFS Fall 2024, Lakeside Players (Megan Jones). Hi Mom, I love you!
Dominic Luzwick (Raleigh) is a Junior musical theater major with a directing self design minor here at Carthage and is thrilled to be working in his second play here! Past Carthage credits include, CARRIE (Tommy Ross) NINE (Cardinal/Gondolier) XANADU (Danny) HEAD OVER HEELS (ensemble) THE BLUE BIRD (Father/Time/Grandfather). Dom is involved in many ways here at Carthage including being an RA, serving as the Secretary for the cheer team, and as the Vice President for APO, Much love to his family and friends especially his mom who always pushes him to his fullest potential. Shoutout to Annelise <3 IG: Domluz_arts
production team biographies
Paige Downey (Director) is a Senior Stage Management and Directing double major with a minor in Dance. This is her 13th production at Carthage College. Her Main Stage credits at Carthage included dancing in IN THE MOMENT DANCE SHOW Fall 2022, Co Stage Manager for FML: HOW CARSON MCCULLERS SAVED MY LIFE Spring 2023, Costume Crew for LEGALLY BLONDE THE MUSICAL Spring 2023, Stage Manager for THE GENDERLESS PLAY EXPERIMENT Fall 2023, Costume Crew for IN/VISIBLE DANCE SHOW Fall 2023, Dancer AWAY FROM THE MIRROR spring 2024, Assistant Director LIFE CYCLE OF A STAR Fall 2024, Dancer TO THE GROWTH EDGE Fall 2024, Choreographer/Dancer AWAY FROM THE MIRROR spring 2025, Stage Manager HEAD OVER HEELS spring 2025, Stage Manager JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR fall 2025. Studio credits include Stage Manager for WHEREVER YOU’VE BEEN Spring 2024. Edinburgh Fringe Festival credits include Assistant Director/Stage Manager LIFE CYCLE OF A STAR Summer 2025. Paige is also the recipient of the KCACTF Emerging Stage Manager Award for her work on The Genderless Play Experiment. She would like to give a special thank you to her friends and family, along with the rest of the Production team: “Thank you guys for all your support. I couldn’t have done it without you!” Insta:@Paigemary07
Lilia Hackert (Stage Manager) is a junior at Carthage College, double majoring in marketing and management. She is so excited to be working with this amazing team. She has previously worked with Carthage as an Assistant Stage Manager for THE GENDERLESS PLAY EXPERIMENT and TERMINAL EXHALE, and the Stage Manager for ON THE VERGE and XANADU. She would like to thank the cast and crew of Last Train to Nibroc for their hard work and dedication to this show and especially thank Paige Downey for being such a wonderful director throughout this process. IG: @lilihackert
Grace Kirk-Lazar (Technical Director) is the Technical Director at Carthage College in Kenosha, WI. Grace holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Peck School of the Arts at University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. She has been the Technical Director for Carthage’s productions of JESUS CHRIST SUPER STAR, EVERYTHING YOU TOUCH and THE BLUE BIRD, the last of which she was also the Properties Lead. She has worked as a Shop Sub-Manager for shows such as TWELFTH NIGHT, THE RESISTABLE RISE OF ARTURO UI, FEMALE TRANSPORT, TROJAN WOMEN and A PIECE OF MY HEART. Grace was also the Sound Designer for TWELFTH NIGHT and A PIECE OF MY HEART. She has also been a prop artisan/lead for WITTENBERG, WINTER’S TALE and IN THE NEXT ROOM (or THE VIBRATOR PLAY). Grace has worked at multiple venues in the City of Milwaukee through the I.A.T.S.E. Stagehand Union in positions focused on set up and strike of large scale productions.
Susana Alexander (Costume Designer) is a sophomore costume design major with an education minor. She is very excited to design for the first time at Carthage! She has recently been a part of the costume crew for JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR and has also worked on LIFE IS A DREAM, LIFE CYCLE OF A STAR, and ELEEMOSYNARY. She would like to thank her family and friends for all their encouragement and support as well as Professor Kim Instenes for guiding her along this process.
Daniel Michalec (Lighting Designer) is a first time lighting designer, and it was a wonderful experience for him. This is his 9th production here at Carthage College. His other recent Main Stage production he worked on was BLUE BIRD 2025 as the music composer.
Marshall Taylor (Sound Designer) is a freshman at Carthage College and is excited to be part of this production. They are grateful for the opportunity to continue working in theatre and look forward to many more productions during their time at Carthage.
Maddie Gibson (Assistant Stage Manager) is a freshman and her credits at Carthage include run crew for THE BLUE BIRD Fall 2025.
Herschel Kruger (Thesis Advisor) Department Chair and Professor of Theatre. During the 2008-2009 school year Professor Kruger established the New Play Initiative commissioning original works each year for the Carthage Theatre Program. Professor Kruger has directed five of the new plays from this series including LIFE CYCLE OF A STAR, written by Ali Viterbi (2025 Edinburgh Festival Fringe participant), UP AND AWAY, written by Eric Simonson (KCACTF Citizen Artist Award, Distinguished Costume Design, and eight commendations for Distinguished Achievement, 2019 Edinburgh Festival Fringe participant) NO NAME, written by Jeffrey Hatcher (2014 Edinburgh Festival Fringe participant), GHOST BIKE, written by Laura Jacqmin (2013, five KCACTF national awards including; Distinguished New Play, Directing, Lighting Design, Sound Design, and Outstanding Scenic Design) HONEST, written by Eric Simonson (2010, winner of four KCACTF national awards including Distinguished Curricular Development, Playwriting, and two Distinguished Performance awards). Additionally, Herschel directed the staged reading of Mikaley Osley’s One-Act play MATILDA’S CHARACTER which was named a KCACTF Region 3 winner.
In January of 2024, Professor Kruger was honored with the KCACTF Gold Medallion. The Medallion honors individuals or organizations that have made extraordinary contributions to the teaching and producing of theatre and who have significantly dedicated their time, artistry and enthusiasm to the development of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.
Professor Kruger has directed more than 30 productions at Carthage, and teaches both acting and directing classes, and a variety of other theatre classes. He has led 12 separate J-term study tours for students including Greece, New York City (7), Scotland (3), and Germany to study theatre. He has worked as an actor and director in New York, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. Professor Kruger earned his MFA in acting from the University of Illinois, is a graduate of the National Shakespeare Conservatory Professional Actors Training program in New York City, and holds a BA in Theatre Communication from Cardinal Stritch University.