Artistic Personnel
William Partlan (Artistic Director) directs each presentation of Triple
Espresso and collaborates with directors around the world to adapt the play
to other languages and cultures. He also serves as Associate Professor in
Directing in the School of Theatre and Film of the Herberger Institute for
Design and the Arts at Arizona State University.
He has directed off-Broadway, regional and international premieres over the
last 25 years. He is known for his work with new plays and playwrights like
Alan Ball, Lee Blessing, Jeff Hatcher, and John Patrick Shanley. He has
directed numerous plays at the O’Neill Center’s National Playwrights’
Conference including premieres of August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black
Bottom and Fences. Bill directed All God’s Dangers, starring Cleavon Little,
at Cricket Theatre, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, off-Broadway and for
PBS’ American Playhouse. His acclaimed American premier production of
Hugh Whitemore’s The Best of Friends was produced off-Broadway by
Michael Douglas and Producers Circle. He directed Swim Visit and Sacred
Journey off-Broadway at Primary Stages. Regionally, he has directed at
Actors Theatre of Louisville, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Alliance
Theatre, The Empty Space, Florida Stage, Jewish Repertory Theatre,
Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, New Mexico Repertory Theatre, Philadelphia
Festival Theatre, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Trinity Repertory Theatre,
Virginia Stage and Yale Repertory Theatre. Bill was the Artistic Director of
Cricket Theatre in Minneapolis for nine years, where he premiered over fifty
new plays, including Triple Espresso.
He has directed for National Public Radio’s Earplay series and has served as
an on-site reporter for the National Endowment for the Arts and as Jury
Chairman for the 2000 Cairo International Festival for Experimental Theatre.
He is a magna cum laude graduate of Dartmouth College and the National
Theatre Institute. He has his MFA in Directing from the University of
Minnesota on a Bush Foundation Fellowship.
Bill Arnold (Author/Buzz Maxwell) started performing in comedy and magic
clubs, and has stayed busy emceeing and entertaining at corporate events
and fundraisers all over the country. He enjoys photography and going to
bed early. www.billarnoldcomedian.com. Enjoy the show!
Michael Pearce Donley (Author/Hugh Butternut) is a songwriter, concert
artist, music director and actor who lives in the Twin Cities with his wife,
theater director Joy Donley, and his 2 kids, Emma and Lewis. He co-wrote
Triple Espresso with Bob Stromberg and Bill Arnold, and has performed the
role of Hugh Butternut since 1995 across the US, London and Dublin. He
composed the music for Stromberg’s Mr. Wonder Boy, and has worked with
Ten Thousand Things, Nautilus Music-Theater, Front Porch Theater,
Plymouth Playhouse, Hey City and other theaters. He recently appeared at
Park Square Theater in 2 Pianos 4 Hands. He's been worship leader at
Roseville Covenant Church since the mid-90's, and he's often seen in TV
and internet commercials and heard in radio ads. His original music has been
featured in the popular children's recording GT and the Halo Express, and he
was the musical director for the national live radio program Sunday Nite. For
the latest news, visit michaelpearcedonley.com. Michael is a member of The
Dramatist’s Guild of America, Inc.
Bob Stromberg (Author/Bobby Bean) Bob Stromberg grew up in the
Allegheny Mountains of rural Pennsylvania. Throughout his early school
years, his deepest desire was to be recognized “class clown”, but as the
sensitive son of a school administrator and a teacher he found his aspirations
unattainable. Receiving an art degree from North Park College in Chicago,
he continued his studies for two years with legendary mime teacher Tony
Montanaro at Celebration Theatre in Maine. Then he began a career
performing his unique blend of story, standup and shtick in venues from
churches, to corporate settings and stadiums. Bob originated the character of
Bobby Bean and played the part for Triple Espresso’s first ten years. He also
created the one-man show, Mr. Wonder Boy, which premiered in 2008 at the
Music Box Theatre in Minneapolis and enjoyed multi-week runs in 2010 at
Nelson Hall at Elim Park in Cheshire, CT and at The Temple Theater in Des
Moines, IA.
Bob has written three books, Why Geese Fly Farther Than Eagles, Finding
the Magnificent in Lower Mundane and the beautifully illustrated, family story
The Miracle at Stinky Bay. Many know him for his appearances on the
awarding winning TV show Bananas. Bob lives in Minnesota with his wife
Judy, and tours extensively as a featured comedian and speaker. In both
capacities it is his joy to advocate for impoverished children through the
Christian ministry of Compassion International, releasing children from
spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty. Please visit
www.compassion.com to learn more about this important work and please
visit Bob at www.bobstromberg.com.
Nayna Ramey (Set Design) is based in the Twin Cities. Her regional work
includes A Thousand Clowns and The Diary of Anne Frank at the Intiman
Theatre; Liliom, Indian Ink and Morningstar at Kansas City Repertory
Theatre; Hamlet and The Comedy of Errors at Shakespeare Santa Cruz;
Othello and Amadeus at Texas Shakespeare Festival; twelve seasons at
American Players Theatre with designs including Hay Fever, Ah Wilderness,
The Play’s the Thing, Romeo & Juliet, Cymbeline, Othello, The Tempest,
Antony and Cleopatra, and Uncle Vanya; Jewtopia, The Miamians, His Eye is
on the Sparrow and Golda’s Balcony at Florida Studio Theatre; My Way and
You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown at the McKnight Theatre/St. Paul; Grease
and Hair at the Historic Pantages Theatre/Minneapolis; Tuesdays with
Morrie, Noises Off and Pygmalion at Indiana Repertory Theatre; Snapshots,
Hiding in the Open and Main Street at the History Theatre/St. Paul, and over
60 productions at Chanhassen Theatres including Footloose, Oklahoma,
42nd Street, Easter Parade, Grease, West Side Story, Anything Goes, Annie,
Cats and My Fair Lady.
Michael Klaers (Lighting Design) was the lighting designer for the original
Triple Espresso—a show that was supposed to run eight weeks. A couple
years later, he also became the Production Manager.
In the rest of his life, he is a lighting designer for theatre and other events.
His work has been seen at Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Florida Studio
Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Great Lakes Theater Festival,
Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Pacific
Conservatory of the Performing Arts, Missouri Repertory Theatre, Indiana
Repertory Theatre, the Guthrie Theater, Madison Repertory Theatre, The
Cricket Theatre, Mixed Blood Theatre and many others.
Kathleen Egan (Costume Design) “Kegan” originally designed the longrunning Triple Espresso for the Cricket Theatre in Minneapolis. In
Minneapolis-St. Paul, she designed for the Guthrie Lab, The Frank Theatre,
and others. For the Indiana Repertory Theatre: Iron Kisses, The Immigrant,
Drawer Boy, Red Badge of Courage, Same Time Next Year and the world
premier of Looking Over the President’s Shoulder, which played nation-wide
and at the Fords Theatre. She’s also designed Off-Broadway, at the Hartman
Theatre and Pennsylvania Stage Company. She was on faculty at the
University of Minnesota and Emporia State University.
With a unique combination of skills and interests, her business, K.Egan,
creates custom fabric projects and window treatments. A founding member
of “reTails,” a pet adoption agency placing shelter animals into loving homes,
she also volunteers for Feral Bureau of Indiana, working to reduce the stray
and free roaming cat population through the humane method of trap, neuter
and return (TNR). She cares for several sterilized cats in her Indianapolis
neighborhood.
John Markiewicz (Sound Design) John Markiewicz has twenty five years
experience in performance audio, live broadcast, recording and installations.
He is the owner of Audio Logic Systems, located in Bloomington, MN, an
installation and full service production company providing audio, video and
lighting services, as well as planning and consultation.