MARGIE (August 8 - 18th)
Caroline Kouma, she/her
is a versatile artist equally at home on the operatic stage and within the tapestry of an ensemble. Selected roles include Fiordiligi in Cosí fan tutte (BGSU), Semele in Semele (BGSU), Dew Fairy in Hansel and Gretel (LOON), Mabel in The Pirates of Penzance (Little LOON), Rosabella in The Most Happy Fella (BGSU), Meg in Little Women (Duluth Playhouse), and Heidi in [title of show] (OmniArts Nebraska). Originally from Nebraska, she has appeared as soprano soloist for such works as Bach’s Magnificat, Mealor’s Stabat Mater, and Poulenc’s Gloria. In addition to her solo work, Ms. Kouma has appeared with several professional ensembles including sounding light (Michigan), Cantorei (Nebraska), Internationales Vokalensemble Berlin (Germany), Borealis (Duluth, MN), and Central Minnesota Singers (Minnesota).
Ms. Kouma holds Bachelor and Master of Music in Vocal Performance degrees and is proud to have served with the United States Peace Corps in Azerbaijan. In her free time, she can be found exploring the rugged beauty of the north shore of Lake Superior.
MARGIE (August 22 - September 15)
Corissa Bussian, she/her
Corissa is thrilled to be returning for her third production with Mixed Precipitation! Having previously performed the roles of Pamina and Juliet with Pick Up Truck Opera, she continues to explore the exciting fusion of classical and contemporary music. Recently, Corissa portrayed Sadie and Yasha in An Opera Theatre’s production of "The Cradle Will Rock" and Ayo in "NOOMA," a baby opera with Minnesota Opera’s Impact projects. Among her favorite roles are Mimì in "La Bohème" at Theater Latté Da and Chue Moua in "The Song Poet" at Minnesota Opera. In her free time, Corissa enjoys running, baking, traveling, and embracing the everyday chaos of being a mom to her two young sons!
DR. FAUST
Maurice Fields III, they/them
MEPHISTOPHELES
Justin Spenner, he/they
Multi-genre Baritone Justin Anthony Spenner is a "wild and anxious ride" (Star Tribune) known for their captivating work that spans the genres of opera, art song, chamber, experimental, pop, and metal. He has two charming cats named Percy and Motley. Justin has performed with multiple companies that treat artists nicely, such as: 113 Composers Collective, Bach Society of MN, Theater Latte Da, An Opera Theatre, Opera on the Lake, and The Edvard Grieg Society. He has two bands: the sub-genreless metal band (ab)scheid, and the Norwegian cover band Near Norse. Also, one podcast: Is this Music?!?! Happy to be back with the Operetta! Last time, it was a Picnic! [Keep in touch at www.barispen.com]
SIEBEL
Jill Suzanne Morgan, she/her
is a native Minnesotan who is so excited to have another opportunity to perform in her home state! Recently seen on the stage with Skylark Opera Theatre and Minnesota Opera, Jill is honored to get to explore the creativity that Mixed Precipitation brings to the table. A graduate of the music programs of Drake University and The University of Texas at Austin, Jill jumps at any opportunity to show the world how fun and moving opera is, and that you don't have to dress black-tie to see an opera! Jill would like to thank her family and friends for always encouraging her to pursue her dream of music, and would like to send some love to her father, Todd, who she knows would be in the audience supporting his crazy daughter with a crazy dream if he were alive today.
VALENTINE / CELLO
Nick Miller, he/him
ENSEMBLE / CELLO / GRAPHICS & MEDIA
Joni Griffith, she/her
is a singer, violinist, accordionist, and musical saw player (who is very proud to have learned the cello this summer), and movement artist currently residing in Minneapolis, MN. She has toured for six seasons with Mixed Precipitation, bringing joyful outdoor opera everywhere from farms to city centers across Minnesota and Wisconsin. She is an associate artist with Twin Cities physical theater group Combustible Company, helping devise numerous shows blending the boundaries between movement, text, and music. Joni is also a company member of The Birth Play Project (come see an updated and captivating version of Measure for Measure this fall). In addition to performing, Joni has written, recorded, and performed original music for multiple shows in the midwest including A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Monster Heart, The Tempest, and Elemental Body. When not working on music you can find her gleefully riding her bike through the city or across the country! www.jonigriffith.com
ENSEMBLE / CHOREOGRAPHER
Jacob Miller they/he
ENSEMBLE / FRONT OF HOUSE
Joshua Eidem, they/them
(or any pronouns)
ENSEMBLE SWING
Alex Yang
creative & crew
VIOLIN
Galina Đorđević, she/her
MUSIC DIRECTOR / ARRANGER / ADAPTOR
Gary Ruschman, he/him
Called “terrific” by Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Gary is thrilled to return for an eighth summer of conducting Mixed Precipitation's musical mayhem. Alongside a performing career that has spanned four continents and a very broad range of styles, he currently leads the choral and vocal programs at North Hennepin Community College and St. Timothy Lutheran Church of St. Paul. His discography includes a dozen CDs with Cantus (with whom he toured for a decade), classical art song and alt-rock records, film soundtracks, and three solo albums. An American Composers Forum grantee and multiple-ASCAP Plus Award winner, Gary has recently provided scores for BBC Two, C-SPAN, Minnesota Opera, West Point Glee Club, and the Center for Interfaith Relations, and co-wrote an oratorio for the University of Minnesota with countertenor Ryland Angel, jazz accordionist Ben Rosenblum, and WILCO guitarist Nels Cline entitled The Call.
STAGING / ADAPTOR / PRODUCING ARTISTIC DIRECTOR
Scotty Reynolds, he/him
STAGE MANAGER
Stage Manager, they/them
Ches Cipriano (they/them) is a Filipino, Queer, first-generation American. They currently work as the West Metro Community Cultivator for Girl Scouts River Valleys, in addition to being a freelance stage manager, designer, swim instructor and artist manager/collaborator. They earned their B.A in Theater & Dance with a minor in Performance Design and Technologies from Macalester College in 2020. They are passionate about their intersectionality & equity work in the Twin Cities, collaborating on animations, honing their clown and aerial skills, sailing, & being surprised.
CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Max Yeshaye Brumberg-Kraus, they/them
is a writer, director, drag performer, and theologian in Saint Paul, MN. They wrote and directed Circe: Twilight of a Goddess (produced with Siren Island in Point San Pablo Harbor, CA), Henosis (BITE, Beloit, WI), Lepers in Paradise: a Genderbent Revue (Beloit College Spiritual Life Program, WI), and An Immorality Play or the Interlude of Princess Tamar (co. director Alice Gehrke, BITE, Beloit, WI). They received the Horace White Classical Prize for Thrice Great Medea, and a Scholastic Gold Medal for their first play Divinities of the Sun. Max is the Artistic Director of The House of Larva Drag Co-Operative, where they perform as drag ogress Çicada L'Amour. They are the author of two books: The(y)ology: Mythopoetics for Queer/Trans Liberation (punctum books), and Visions of Divine's Love: a Drag Theopoetic (AC Books), a collection of poems inspired by the medieval mystic Julian of Norwich and the 20th century drag queen Divine. Max received their MA in Theology and the Arts from United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities in 2020 and MFA in Interdisciplinary Arts from Goddard College in 2024.
SET DESIGN
Alex Barreto Hathaway, he/him
is an actor, director, writer and designer originally from Guaynabo, Puerto Rico. He graduated in 2013 from the U of M with a thesis in Street Theatre researched in Pernambuco, Brazil. His interests in original work, mask, physical theatre, and clown led him to work with Open Eye, Exposed Brick, HUGE, Children’s Theatre, and the Guthrie. Most recently he performed in Teatro del Pueblo’s Romeo & Juliet adaptation: Love in a Time of Hate. Barreto Hathaway is a recipient of the 2019 ArtsMidwest We The Many Residency and the 2021 Blue Sky Center Vecino-a-Vecino Residency funded by the CDC—both of which focused on healing from the pandemic with rural BIPOC communities. Offstage Alex teaches in highschools and colleges and is active in rural arts resiliency throughout the USA. His next project includes building life-sized dinosaurs on ATV’s in Moab, UT with PlaceBased Productions.
COSTUME DESIGN
Rhiannon Fiskradatz, she/her
is a renaissance woman! She writes and performs her own music as MaMa Faerie and is currently transforming her debut solo album into a Fringe show that will run at Squirrel Haus Arts during this year's festival. She is a vocalist with The Argyle Street Trio, performs with a variety of theatre/puppetry troupes, composes music for theatre and manages a teen choir for VocalEssence. She is a core member of Phantom Chorus Productions & a board member with Frank Theatre. She co-writes & performs a feminist sketch & song series called Songversations with Shanan Custer. She is a master beadweaver and an aficionado of handcrafts. She costumes entertainers & productions of all sorts, and she is gratified to be costuming her 6th Pickup Truck Opera show!
SCENIC ARTIST
Karly Bergmann, she/her
Karly Bergmann conducts experiments in the science of enchantment—often through puppetry, but always through handmade, object-based work. After studying Dramaturgy and Theatre Criticism at The Theatre School at DePaul University, she went on to be fostered in Chicago’s vibrant DIY scene, receive The Edes Prize for Emerging Artists, and moved to Rome, Italy. There, she studied shadow puppetry with masters at Teatro Gioco Vita. Her versatile shadow puppet designs have been seen on stage at Nashville Childrens’ Theatre (A Snowy Day), The Hudson Theatre in Los Angeles (The Mountain Digby, a world premiere), and The English Theatre of Rome (The Belle of Amherst). Karly was recently a 2019-2020 Puppet Lab fellow and is an alumna of The National Puppetry Conference at The Eugene O’Neill Theater Center. She is now based in Minneapolis for the foreseeable future.
Her shadow puppet GIF project Falena Balena has over 23.5 million views on GIPHY.
https://www.karlybergmann.com