Sarah Marty is Director of the Bolz Center for Arts Administration in the Wisconsin School of Business at University of Wisconsin-Madison. Producer credits include Madison Early Music Festival, Forward Theater, Wisconsin Public Television/PBS Wisconsin, Wisconsin Public Radio, Madison Opera, and Madison Theatre Guild. Career Highlights include: Overture Center 10th Anniversary Celebration, 2013 and 2016 events with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, WPR Centennial Event, two decades as the director and producer for the UW Varsity Band Show (2001-2023), and Producer of the Wisconsin Union's Badger Bash season. Triple Badger: Master’s Degree in Business from the Bolz Center, MS in Curriculum & Instruction, Bachelor of Music Education degree at UW-Madison.
Portrait Illustration by Kathryn Rathke
Tamara Norden Brognano auditioned for her first FST production with her two-year-old son on her hip, and she hasn’t looked back since (that son graduated from college this year). Favorite FST appearances include Mother in Ragtime, Amalia in She Loves Me, and Margaret in The Light in the Piazza. Tamara wrote our Great American Songbook scripts and has written and produced our community outreach programming since 2010. By day, she is a technical writer with ETC, and in what free time she has, Tamara reads to excess, annoys her kids, and is annoyed by her cats. She also enjoys taking road trips, rambling on hiking trails, and doing jigsaw puzzles with her favorite nerd (he knows who he is).
Brian Cowing has worked as a director/choreographer for Four Seasons Theatre, American Players Theatre, Children’s Theater of Madison, Madison Opera, Forward Theater Company, Music Theatre of Madison, Capital City Theatre, Clinton Showboat Theatre, Oklahoma City University, Skylight Music Theatre, and UW-Madison University Theatre. He has performed around the country and the world with the National Tours of Annie and Something Rotten! Brian is a proud graduate of Oklahoma City University’s musical theater program and received his Masters from University of Wisconsin-Madison, Bolz Center for Arts Administration. Brian is Artistic Director of Children’s Theater of Madison.
Thomas Kasdorf is proud to be on faculty at UW-Madison, as Lecturer in Vocal Coaching, working on University Opera’s upcoming production of Sweeney Todd. FST credits include: The Little Mermaid, Souvenir (Cosme McMoon), 1776, Vintage Valentines, The Sondheim Confessional, The Spitfire Grill, Big Fish (co-production with Theatre LILA), The Light in the Piazza, Great Dames Songbook, The Fantasticks, Side by Side by Sondheim, and Aspects of Love. Thomas earned his Doctorate in Collaborative Piano Performance in May 2020 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and is currently Artistic Director for Middleton Players Theatre and Artist in Residence for Middleton Community Orchestra. Thomas “Keep the arts alive!”
Professor Mike Leckrone joined the staff of Four Seasons Theatre in 2020 as an Artistic Associate and brings his considerable knowledge of jazz, musical theatre, and popular music to FST audiences in online Zoom classes, the forthcoming "Listening with Leckrone" podcast, and an upcoming new series of outreach events at Cafe Coda jazz club. In addition, Leckrone and FST staff will collaborate on the development of an original Great American Songbook show each season.
Retired since 2019, after 50 years at the helm of the University of Wisconsin Marching Band, Mike Leckrone is a legendary performer and educator whose musical arrangements, halftime shows, UW Varsity Band Spring Concerts, and popular music history courses have been enjoyed by thousands. His many accolades include the “Lifetime Achievement Award” from the Wisconsin Foundation for School Music in 2007, the “Spencer Tracy Award for Distinction in the Performing Arts” from the Wisconsin Historical Society in 2010, and the Michael St. John Lifetime Achievement Award from the Madison Area Music Association in 2013.
Sam Taylor is a Madison-raised performer, music director, and songwriter. He has collaborated both on and off stage with Children’s Theater of Madison, Forward Theater, Overture Center, Middleton Players Theatre, and many local schools. Sam has been a part of FST programming since 2006, and he most recently performed in Company, All is Calm, and played bass in the orchestra for An Evening of Rodgers & Hammerstein. He recently moved to Chicago, but he continues to collaborate with his Madison arts & theater family as much as he can!
Zak Wolff Headshot
Zak Wolff is a local artist, who graduated from UW-Madison with a degree in Theatre and Drama. While he is predominantly a performer, he also enjoys working in various capacities backstage. Zak performed with FST in An Evening of Rodgers & Hammerstein, All is Calm (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024), Company, and has worked various backstage roles with them since 2022. He is currently a Systems Estimator at ETC, and the Props Designer for UW-Madison’s University Opera program. Zak is honored to be a part of Four Seasons Theatre for multiple years, and strives to help grow the Madison art community in any way he can!
Alissa Berman returns for the 2025-2026 season, having recently worked on Company (SM, 2025), All is Calm (SM, 2023 and 2024), and A Celebration of Rodgers & Hammerstein Classics (ASM, 2023). Alissa is currently an active member of Middleton Players Theatre as a Board Member and was their Production Stage Manager for their 2023, 2024, and 2025 seasons. Highlights from her past work with MPT include Avenue Q (2023, SM and Set Designer), The Spitfire Grill (2023, SM), Parade (2019, SM), and among many other productions since 2015.
Marja Barger retired from FST in January 2020 after working on every production for Four Seasons Theatre since its inception in 2005. Credits include director (RENT and Great Dames Songbook), props designer (My Fair Lady, A Little Night Music, RENT, and Les Misérables), assistant stage manager (The Last Five Years). As a staff member, she oversaw program production and advertising. In addition, she has worked with Forward Theater (Collected Stories, Sons of the Prophet, Or), worked on the production team for the Dalai Lama at the Overture Center in 2013 and 2016, and for the last four UW Varsity Band Shows. Favorite roles with FST are The Spitfire Grill (Hannah in 2010 and 2017) and Follies (Phyllis).