Sarah Marty is Director of the Bolz Center for Arts Administration in the Wisconsin School of Business at University of Wisconsin-Madison where she teaches courses on Arts Entrepreneurship, Arts Management and Leadership, and Hamilton: An American Musical. The 2008 winner of the UW Bartell Award for the Arts, additional producer credits include shows and events for Madison Early Music Festival, Forward Theater, Wisconsin Public Television, 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, and two decades as the director and production manager for the UW Varsity Band Show. In addition, she has been a member of Board of Directors for Overture Center for the Arts since Fall 2019. Master’s Degree in Business from the Bolz Center for Arts Administration, MS in Curriculum & Instruction, Bachelor of Music Education degree at UW-Madison.
Portrait Illustration by Kathryn Rathke
Tamara Norden Brognano (Outreach Coordinator) auditioned for her first FST production with her two-year-old son on her hip, and she hasn’t looked back since (that son is now in college). 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 is a proud graduate of Oklahoma City University and the Bolz Center for Arts Administration in the Wisconsin School of Business at University of Wisconsin-Madison. Madison directing credits include: Four Seasons Theatre’s All is Calm (2019), Spamalot, Les Misérables, She Loves Me, and South Pacific; Capital City Theatre’s Hunchback of Notre Dame; and Children’s Theater of Madison's Matilda, Tuck Everlasting, Seussical, and The Wizard of Oz. Skylight Music Theatre, director and choreographer of 25th...Spelling Bee. Brian has served as guest director and choreographer at Clinton Showboat Theatre, Binghamton University, and Oklahoma City University. As an actor, National Tours: Annie (Mr. Bundles/Dance Captain), Something Rotten (Ensemble, u/s Nostradamus, Brother Jeremiah).
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.
Recently retired 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 (Podcast Producer) is a local musician, actor, and music director. He has collaborated both on and off stage with Children’s Theater of Madison, Forward Theater, Overture Center, and many local schools. Sam has been a part of FST programming since 2006, most recently in all productions of All is Calm, playing bass in the orchestra for An Evening of Rodgers & Hammerstein, and behind-the-scenes producing the Listening with Leckrone podcast. Outside the theater space, Sam works as a teaching artist with Overture Center’s Lullaby Project, a songwriting outreach program, and is on the operations team at Breese Stevens Field.
Zak Wolff, Administrative Associate, is a local artist, who graduated from UW-Madison with a degree in Theatre and Drama followed by a year of studies in Chinese Linguistics at Nanjing University. While he is predominantly a performer, he also enjoys working in various capacities backstage. Zak performed with FST in All is Calm (2021, 2022), and has worked various backstage roles with them since 2022. He currently is a Systems Estimator at Electronic Theatre Controls, and the props designer for UW-Madison’s University Opera program for their 2023-24 season. Other credits include Avenue Q (Princeton), Musical of Musicals the Musical (Billy), Little Shop of Horrors (Seymour), and A Killer Party (Jeremy Jordan).
Martie Barthel serves as Technical Advisor for FST after several seasons as Company Stage Manager. Favorite FST stage management credits include The Little Mermaid, Spamalot, Assassins, Kiss Me, Kate! (Rehearsal SM) and A Little Night Music. Favorite non-FST Stage Management credits include The Mojo and The Sayso (Theatre LILA), The World We Make/ Change Your Mind, Change the World (Panel discussion with His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama: 2013, 2016), UW Varsity Band Show (2015, 2016), American Kaleidoscope (Celebrating the Overture 10th Anniversary, 2014), Observe The Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme (Strollers Theatre), and HAIR (Strollers Theatre). Martie stage managed in the Madison area for nearly 20 years before relocating to Colorado.
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).