Milwaukee Chamber Theatre Staff
BRENT HAZELTON (Artistic Director)
A Whitewater native, Brent succeeded Michael Wright as MCT’s Artistic Director on July 1st, 2020. After graduating with a Bachelor of Special Studies Degree (Integrated Theater Studies), from Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, he returned to Wisconsin for an Acting Internship at Milwaukee Repertory Theater. He would go on to serve at The Rep for twenty seasons, including the final ten as Associate Artistic Director, in which position he spearheaded the season planning process, collaborated on ongoing strategic planning and initiative development, and created cross-departmental pathways to program and support productions. From 2003 to 2010, he expanded The Rep’s Artistic Internship Program (now Emerging Professional Residency), into one of the premier professional transition programs in regional theater. From 2011 to 2019, he built and oversaw all aspects of the John (Jack) D. Lewis New Play Development Program including supervising the development of nearly two dozen new plays and served as production dramaturg for the world premieres of FIVE PRESIDENTS, AMERICAN SONG, and ONE HOUSE OVER, among others. His directing work set three all-time Rep sales records, and he is one of only three directors to have staged productions in all four of The Rep’s core performance spaces. At The Rep, he wrote and directed LIBERACE! (subsequently produced at two dozen theaters nationally), conceived the premiere and 2019 installments of REP LAB, directed SONG MAN DANCE MAN, HOW THE WORLD BEGAN, THE WHIPPING MAN, the final installment of the Hanreddy/Morgan A CHRISTMAS CAROL, MCGUIRE, OUR TOWN, and GUARDS AT THE TAJ, as well as numerous readings in collaboration with Ten Chimneys Foundation. Brent is also a former member of the adjunct faculties of Carthage College and the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, and has taught development workshops at colleges, conservatories, and universities both locally and across the country. As an institutional leader, Brent is eager to explore how a regional theater can speak directly to the experience of its community and include everyone who chooses to call it home in that conversation.
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NICOLE ACOSTA (Marketing Director)
Born and raised in Milwaukee, WI, a first generation multi-disciplinary Mexican artist and marketing professional. Whether through visual art, written word or photography-most of Nicole’s work reflects the exploration of her identity, experience and storytelling.
Nicole holds a Bachelor of Arts in Marketing Management from Alverno College with a minor in Elective Studies and is a proud graduate of the Milwaukee High School of The Arts, and prior to her transfer to Alverno, spent years at Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design and Milwaukee Area Technical College studying photography. Nicole is a member of LUNA (Latinas Unidas eN Las Artes) a visual arts collective and Heard Space, a multi-media performance arts collective - both based in Milwaukee, WI. Her HOOPS Portrait Project is being nationally recognized and her current focus.
MEGHAN ROESNER (Director of Development)
Meghan is MCT’s Development Director, leading all fundraising efforts for the organization, including individual donations; major gifts; legacy giving; corporate, foundation, and government grants; and special events. Prior to joining MCT in 2019, she worked at Milwaukee Repertory Theater for three seasons as the Associate Director of Development, Institutional Giving, where she led many grant writing, volunteer management, and donor stewardship efforts. She has held other arts administration positions at the United Performing Arts Fund and the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts. Meghan is a Milwaukee native who attended Nicolet High School (as an active participant in their theater department) and now resides in the Washington Heights neighborhood on the near West Side. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Arts Management from Indiana University – Bloomington.
JOSIE TRETTIN (Data & Communications Assistant)
Josie is a recent graduate of The Theatre School at DePaul University’s BFA Theatre Management Program. Following graduation, she spent a year with Milwaukee Repertory Theater as their Producing Resident. Hailing from Milwaukee, Josie is grateful to return home. She grew up working both administratively and artistically for First Stage Children’s Theater and Milwaukee Rep. Beyond Milwaukee, she has performed at Utah Shakespeare Festival, Victory Gardens Theater, and The Kennedy Center. Josie hopes to create theatre that supports, enriches, and reflects the communities in which she works. Her life’s ambition is to write a Dolly Parton jukebox musical and get it right.
Noele Stollmack (Production Manager)
Noele Stollmack has received international attention as a theatrical lighting designer for her collaboration with directors and artists including Meredith Monk, Ann Hamilton, Andrei Serban and the late Dr. Jonathan Miller. Her lighting has appeared on stage at such venues as The Brooklyn Academy of Music, The Library of Congress Theatre, Carnegie Hall, The Santa Fe Opera, The Houston Grand Opera, and The Sydney Opera House. Noele has contributed to the development of significant lighting fixtures and products as a member of the product development teams for two of the principle theatrical lighting and lighting accessory manufacturers in North America. Her ongoing work as a theatrical lighting designer and lighting product development consultant provides a significant resource for architectural lighting projects.
As Production Manager, Noele supervised the international tours of mercy and impermanence for the House Foundation for the Arts, Meredith Monk. Prior to an 18 year tenure at Milwaukee’s Florentine Opera as Director of Design and Production, Noele served as Production Manager with Tina Packer’s Shakespeare and Co. in Lenox Massachusetts.
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SAMANTHA MARTINSON (Education Associate)
Samantha Martinson is a theater artist and educator—she has worked in administration, education, and production at several regional theaters including Milwaukee Repertory Theater, First Stage, and Door Shakespeare. At Chamber, Samantha facilitates high school playwriting residencies across the greater Milwaukee area and biennially assistant produces the Young Playwrights Festival Showcase. Samantha previously worked for the Zoological Society of Milwaukee, focusing the majority of her work on grant programs, DE&I initiatives, and the power of fostering empathy for one another. She has presented at national conferences with the Association for Zoos and Aquariums and Advancing Conservation through Empathy for Wildlife Network on the importance of cultivating empathy to increase social action. Her recent directing credits include: LEONA LIONHEART SAVES THE WORLD (Kohl's Wild Theater), STITCHED WITH A SICKLE & HAMMER (Renaissance Theaterworks, Br!nk), THE TEMPEST (Mad Rogues), MISS LULU BETT (Voices Freed Reading Series), TWELFTH NIGHT (Milwaukee Youth Theater). Assistant Directing: THE ROOMMATE (Renaissance Theaterworks), MILWAUKEE CARRIES (Cooperative Performance). Recent performances: SAVIOR'S GRACE (Renaissance Theaterworks, Br!nk Briefs); RICHARD III, THE MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM (Mad Rogues).
Katie Avila Loughmiller (Audience Development Associate)
By way of Boston, New York and Los Angeles, Katie has made Milwaukee her home for the past six years committing her work to bridging cultural institutions, artists, and community. In 2017, Katie co-founded LUNA a Latinx visual artist collective that is now a for-profit business where she serves as the Director. From 2018-2019, Katie served as the Arts Project Coordinator for the Milwaukee Public Library overseeing the two-year National Endowment for the Arts Our Town grant at the Mitchell Street Branch. Katie is a proud past member of Heard Space, a Milwaukee-based multi-media performance arts collective and of Milwaukee Action Intersection, a group that formed to support activism efforts in Milwaukee after the murder of George Floyd. In addition to her work at Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Katie teaches at Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design and in the theatre department at University of Wisconsin Milwaukee. Katie is also the Coordinating Producer for a documentary film about art critics called Out of the Picture. Katie's individual artistic practice has allowed her to perform across the country and participate in artist residencies, most notably at Santa Fe Art Institute, Atlantic Center for the Arts, Vermont Studio Center and Wildacres Residency Program. For the last 5 years, Kaite has been co-hosting a comedy radio show, We Heard We’re Funny, that airs bi-weekly on Riverwest Radio. Katie was the recipient of Milwaukee Magazine’s Unity Award in 2022, the City of Milwaukee’s Vel R. Phillips Trailblazer Award in 2021, named a Milwaukee Repertory Theatre’s SHEro in 2020 and her Op-Ed in Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service was awarded the Best Single Editorial, Statement of Editorial Position or Opinion for the 2019 Excellence in Journalism Awards by Milwaukee Press Club. Katie received her undergraduate degree at the Gallatin School of Individualized Study at New York University and completed her Master of Fine Arts degree in the Public Practice program at Otis College of Art & Design.