Meghan Randolph (Director/Producer) is Music Theatre of Madison’s Founder and Executive Director, where she has overseen production on over 35 mainstage shows, a podcast, a children's book, a concept album, a film, and numerous concerts, readings, and, prior to 2018, outreach events. She also founded and oversees the New Musicals Cycle, of which Ten Days in a Madhouse is a part. Recent MTM directing credits include Indecent, Hephaestus, Murder Ballad, Little Miss Sunshine, A New Brain, Nine, Bonnie & Clyde, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, and numerous others since MTM’s inception in 2006. Meghan is also the Artistic Director of the Voices Theatre Project, which  presented a live virtual reading of The Pussy Grabber Plays from twenty different locations. The project raised $2000 for Madison’s Rape Crisis Center. The company also raised $1500 for the Wisconsin Innocence Project in 2017 with its production of The Exonerated and $1300 for Afghan refugee efforts in Madison and Milwaukee with White Rabbit, Red Rabbit. Also a performer, Meghan was recently seen as Miss Trunchbull in Matilda with CTM, Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd with Middleton Players, Charlene in Zombies from the Beyond with Skylight Music Theatre, Lizzie in Lizzie with MTM, Aldonza in Man of La Mancha with Four Seasons, a disgruntled statistician in Forward Theatre's Two Steps Forward monologue festival, and many more. In another life she tap-danced her way across North America as Jennyanydots and the Grizabella understudy on the National Tour of Cats. She holds a BFA in musical theatre from the University of Michigan and a MA in Arts Administration from Drexel University and is currently working toward a PhD in Arts Administration from the University of Kentucky. Meghan is a published writer on marketing lesser-known works of theatre and has spoken twice at the National Arts Marketing Conference through Americans for the Arts. Many thanks to all who have been part of this complicated but exciting endeavor. We will keep art alive no matter what it takes!

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Jennifer Hedstrom (Music and co-lyrics) is an MTM Artistic Associate.  She is a piano-centered singer-songwriter based in Madison, WI.  During her career as a songwriter, she has released two full-length solo albums: Prairie (2018) and Bodies of Water (2011). Jennifer holds a B.M. in Piano Performance from Illinois State University and an M.M. in Collaborative Piano from the University of Wisconsin - Madison.  She moved to Madison, WI in 2010 to pursue her graduate degree and has been based out of Madison ever since. Jennifer has participated in collaborative songwriting projects ranging from a song for a loved one’s 100th birthday celebration, to traditional musical theater pieces.  Locally, she has served as a songwriter for the following arts organizations: Whoopensocker, Music Theatre of Madison, Puppet Laurieate, and Overture Center’s Lullaby Project.  “Ten Days in a Madhouse” is Jennifer’s first full-length original musical. 

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Karen Saari (Book and co-lyrics) is a nationally produced and award-winning playwright based in Madison, WI. As a performer, Karen has appeared in MTM’s Sound of Music and Bonnie and Clyde.  Her play ‘Rain on Fire was chosen for Flint Repertory Theatre’s 2022 New Works Festival, and for a staged reading with NYC’s Broad Horizons Theatre Company. ‘Rain had a virtual reading in 2020 with L.A.’s the Blank Theatre and was awarded the 2020 Talk Back Theatre Playwriting Prize (CA) and Renaissance Theaterworks’ 2019 Br!nk Residency Award (Milwaukee). In a Clearing premiered in 2018 via Asheville’s Magnetic Theatre Company, was a semi-finalist for the O’Neill National Playwriting Conference, a Wisconsin Wrights New Play Festival winner, Last Frontier Theatre Conference PlayLab awardee and a finalist for the 2017 ATHE Award for Excellence in Playwriting. Bad in Bed (A Fairy Tale) premiered in 2018 at Louisiana’s Acadiana Rep, was a 2021 Princess Grace Award semi-finalist and

a Garry Marshall New Works semi-finalist. She is grateful for this commissioned opportunity to explore part of Nellie Bly’s history with the support and collaboration of Jennifer, MTM and the entire cast and crew. Her one-acts have been performed around the country. Karen holds an MFA in playwriting from Augsburg University.

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Mark Wurzelbacher (Music Director) is proud to music direct his eighth show with MTM. Previous shows include Indecent, Hephaestus (orchestrations), Little Miss Sunshine, A New Brain, Arlington, and Nightmare Alley. He also contributed music and lyrics to Beyond the Ingenue: Trailblazers. He teaches music at EAGLE School in Fitchburg, and also maintains a private piano teaching studio. He is the composer and lyricist for The Puppet, which enjoyed a reading in Madison with MTM in 2017. markwurzelbacher.com

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Marin Johnson (Choreographer) Baltimore, MD; BA in Dance from Point Park University. Performing credits: The Judds, Lee Greenwood, Brenda Lee; The Alabama Theatre, Gaylord Entertainment, & multiple corporate events. Choreography credits: Country Tonight Theatre, Celebrity Cruise Lines, Tribute Concerts, and multiple corporate events. Marin & her husband are entering year 17 as owners and directors of Forte Studios, Mt. Horeb. MTM credits include: Floyd Collins, Parade & The Yellow Wallpaper. Thank you Meghan Randolph, for the opportunity to work with this amazing cast!

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Kristen Emery (Stage Manager/MTM Company Manager) manages all contracts and company business. She has stage managed sixteen of MTM’s productions, readings, and virtual events since arriving in 2016. Before moving to Madison, she worked as a general manager for Cardinal Stage Company in Bloomington, IN, where she also stage-managed their mainstage season. Kristen has also worked for Fresco Opera Theatre, Children's Theater of Madison, and SPCT in Madison, Legacy Theatre and the Long Wharf Theatre in Connecticut, and the Abingdon Theatre Company and OnTheSquareProductions in New York. Kristen is an elementary teacher in Sun Prairie and has led her school's drama club program since 2014.

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Maaz Ahmed (Lighting Designer) is a lighting designer based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and will be completing their education at Marquette University in December. They are also a member of the 2022 Cody Renard Richard Scholarship Cohort, created in community with the Broadway Advocacy Coalition to support emerging BIPOC designers. Previous credits include Mamma Mia! at Marquette University and The Light with V.I.P. Theatre. They hope you enjoy the show! https://maazahmed345.wixsite.com/portfolio/.

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Erin S. Baal (Scenic Design) is enjoying her first experience designing for MTM!  Her design work was most recently seen in Ripcord (Strollers Theatre Ltd.) and Ruddigore (Madison Savoyards Ltd.).  This coming season she will be a guest artist with Madison College and is very much looking forward to working with the students and faculty to bring their 2022-2023 season together.  Erin would like to thank her old buddy, Paul, for making her drawings a reality.

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Scott Glogovsky (Sound Design) has done sound design for MTM productions since 2013, including the recent The Yellow Wallpaper, Little Miss Sunshine, Lizzie, A New Brain, and sound design for their audiobook Finding Me. Scott has worked at American Players Theatre, QuantUM, The World's Stage, and more. 

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Resa Fuller (Rehearsal stage manager/Assistant stage manager) is a freelance stage manager and lighting designer. Other recent credits include Harvey (Assistant Stage Manager; Madison College), These Shining Lives (Assistant Stage Manager; Eastern Illinois University Theatre), CapitalQ Theatre Festival (Lighting Designer, StageQ Inc.), All in the Timing  (Lighting Designer, EIU Theatre), and A Grand Night for Singing (Co-Lighting Designer; Central Illinois Stage Company). Big thanks to Meghan and Kristen for bringing her aboard! Enjoy the show! 

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Production Acknowledgements: 

Madison Savoyards, Madison Theatre Guild, Strollers Theatre, Adam Qutaishat, Q-Music, Studio Dansu, St. Luke's Episcopal, Paul Milisch, Liz Angle, James Schrader, Anthony Cary, Jennifer Hedstrom, Karen Saari, Mark Wurzelbacher, Marquette University Theatre, Sharon White, Gayle Worland, Aaron Conklin

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