Meet Former Acting/Administration Intern - Franny Kromminga

Meet Franny Kromminga

I was an acting/administration intern for the 2016/17 season. I was visible in A Christmas Carol, Mom’s Gift, and (memorably) I Love A Piano, and behind-the-scenes for everything else. Though it wasn’t really that long ago, a lot has happened!

Immediately after my intern season ended, I taught Musical Theatre Techniques at Cranbrook Theatre School over the summer, while my partner (Tom Cilluffo) and I prepared to move out of state. While I had been an acting intern at MBT, I also dabbled as a Wardrobe Technician during Irving Berlin’s I Love A Piano, and so I came back to do more wardrobe duties for Johnny Manhattan that autumn.

Tom & I then moved to Portland, OR; he’s an incredibly talented opera singer, so since we’re both “gig” workers, we play a game I like to call “follow the contract.” Whoever has the longer contract becomes “home base” and the other one flits out for shorter contracts as necessary; this time, Tom had 2 years set up with Portland Opera, so I went too. Of course, I was only there for a few months before I came back to MBT to play Bridget in Nana’s Naughty Knickers in January 2018! Throughout the remaining Portland era, I worked successfully as an actor (Lakewood Theatre, Broadway Rose Theatre, Windy City Players, Jester Educational Theatre), singer (Pinups on Tour), and properties designer (Staged!, Enlightened Theatrics). I also did a few odd jobs here and there, to fill in the cracks: voice teacher, barista, dog sitter… and I began to take commissions for custom paintings.

I have been painting for a while; I have always loved art, and I studied drafting, design, and scenic painting in college (Adrian College, ‘16). However, it wasn’t until after graduation that I began to really learn portraiture and oil painting techniques, and subsequently start selling my work. This business really started to pick up in 2018 or so, and has continued to grow since.

We left Portland in 2019, for higher hills: Denver, CO. (There was a month between leases when I came back to MI to lead a local film: Pirates of the North Coast.) Tom performed with Opera Colorado for a year, and I amped up painting and auditions, taking classes at the amazing Denver Center for the Performing Arts. He and I exchanged rings (which we made ourselves!) on our fourth anniversary, in November 2019. 

I was in the midst of audition season and had just lined up a few wonderful opportunities when the pandemic hit, and nearly everything fell through. Tom was able to wrap up his contract in Denver, and we returned to Michigan. We were lucky; Tom’s parents had some extra space up in Traverse City, so we spent the summer growing an enormous garden and recalibrating.

I did still book a few gigs post-March 2020 and pre-vaccine: a couple of virtual concerts (including one for MBT!) and filming an industrial in Grand Rapids. I taught virtual voice lessons and acting coachings. I even joined AEA, fulfilling a long-term personal goal of mine. However, my major pivot was to reinforce my painting business. This resulted in more commissions, more original works, and a new website: emblemephemera.com (I decided to separate my artist site from my theatre site, which is frannykromminga.com).

This summer, we’ve been in Santa Fe, NM where Tom is performing at the Santa Fe Opera. I have been painting and auditioning and applying and crossing my fingers that this “reopening” for the theatre industry will keep blooming! We even have plans in the works to move to NYC next, so I’m sure there will be more updates in the future. I am also eager to be returning to MBT this winter - stay tuned to find out which show I’ll be in! Getting to look forward to that production has been a real beacon throughout the last several months, and I couldn’t be more excited to finally put it together. See you soon, MBT!

Meet Former Intern - Claire Kaiser

Meet Claire Kaiser

Immediately after my internship at Meadow Brook in 2013, I went on to spend the summer performing in 'Simply Gershwin' and as a village singer at Greenfield Village. I headed to Chicago and spent 2 years working for the Joffrey Ballet, studying improv at iO and performing in musical theater productions with Light Opera Works, Emerald City Children's Theater and Broadway in Chicago. I was lucky to get to reconnect and perform with some of the Chicago actors that I had met during my time at MBT! Chicago gave me the chance to explore my passion for cabaret and I wrote and performed two one-woman shows while I was there (a word of wisdom for current acting interns--if you're not getting cast, cast yourself!).

After a few fun and fulfilling years in Chicago, I ended up in Boston as an AmeriCorps volunteer, running a science-focused after school program in a housing development. My year of service helped solidify my passion for youth-work and the next few years took me to CT, to NYC to pursue my masters in Social Work, to Guatemala, and ultimately landed me back in Boston where I currently serve as the Association Director for Community Hub Schools with the YMCA of Greater Boston.

My time at MBT gave me incredible experience, long-lasting friendships, and a connection to Michigan that I would never have otherwise had. Thanks for checking in! I hope my fellow interns and MBT staff are doing well!

Meet Former Acting/Administration Intern - Mat Pecek

Meet Mat Pecek

Mat Pecek interned at Meadow Brook for the 2014-15 season, where he played Fred in A Christmas Carol and, among others, worked on their amazing productions of Once on this Island and Messugah-Nuns! After leaving the internship, Mat ran around the local professional theatre scene in Michigan, performing at Theatre Nova, Penny Seats, The Encore, The Dio, Tipping Point Theatre, and the Water Works Theatre Company. He also returned to A Christmas Carol, joined the Detroit Regional production of Evil Dead: the Musical as Ash, and sang barbershop and caroler music at Greenfield Village.

For the last few years, Mat has been working around the country at theme parks and concert venues as a rock, pop, country, and doo-wop singer. He has sung at country clubs, casinos, and event halls as a lounge singer; taught and workshopped at universities and colleges around the Midwest; and toured with the Michigan Shakespeare Festival's reduced productions of Romeo and Juliet and Macbeth.

Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, Mat has stayed active as a fencer and, very recently, as an archer. He builds mediocre cosplays and sings karaoke for fun. He could also be heard singing a trio of virtual cabaret shows for Meadow Brook with Dale White, MBT intern 2016-17 and a lifelong friend.

Mat has been so lucky to keep coming back to Meadow Brook over the years to help hang lights, point a spot, move sets, strike productions, perform in his virtual cabarets, and as an actor. The theatre will hold a place in his heart forever. Wherever he goes his bios say his home is Michigan. Thank you Meadow Brook, Travis, Cheryl, Terry, and everyone else at the theatre for what they've given to the world. Stay safe, and best wishes!

Meet Former Scenic Intern - Joseph Fry

Meet Joseph Fry

My name is Joseph Fry and I was a Meadow Brook Theatre Scenic Intern for the 2016-2017 season. I participated in the scenic build and installation (among other things) for productions such as “Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery”, “Why do Fools Fall in Love?”, “Altar Boyz”, and of course “ A Christmas Carol”. The work was hard but I was exceptionally grateful to have been able to receive the experience of working with a full-time theatre of such caliber after undergraduate college.

The fall after my time with Meadow Brook I began graduate school at Virginia Tech. where I am currently earning my MFA in Theater with a concentration in Technical Direction. Meadow Brook taught me a lot about the hard work and dedication necessary for professional theater and I was able to take those skills I developed with me to graduate school.  While at Virginia Tech., I have gone on to participate in numerous productions as several different roles including Scene Shop Supervisor, Automations Engineer and Technical Director.  I graduated in May of 2020.

While in school, for the past two summers I have worked for Peterborough Players, a summer theater in the woods of Peterborough, NH. My first summer I was hired as their Assistant Technical Director and last summer I returned as their Technical Director, a role I will be re-assuming this upcoming summer of 2020. It is an interesting feeling to now have interns of my own. The Peterborough Players produce 9 productions in 4 months and the quality of their productions are fantastic and maintained at a level similar to that of Meadow Brook Theater.

Recently as part of my curriculum at Virginia Tech. I went to the Milwaukee Repertory Theater in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to work for one semester as their Technical Direction Apprentice. There I continued to learn even more about professional theatre and I feel completely ready for wherever I end up working after graduation.