Jessica Sudduth

DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION

479.464.5084 | jessica@triketheatre.org

Jessica joined Trike Theatre in 2020 after more than a decade in education as a music teacher. She studied music education at Boston University (M.M.) and University of Arkansas (B.M.) and has taught music, choir, and voice in Northwest Arkansas since 2004. In addition to teaching in the public schools and community groups, Jessica also worked with the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas’ educational outreach program and operated Jubilee Music, a music studio specializing in the needs of young learners. She was thrilled for the opportunity to return to one of her passions — the theatre — with Trike and use her teaching experience to support creativity in learning through arts integration.

FRAN SILLAU

Artistic director

479.464.5084 | fran@triketheatre.org

Fran Sillau (He/Him/His) is a multidisciplinary theatre artist with a disability and a member of the GLBTQIA community. Fran has worked professionally as a playwright, director, producer, education coordinator, teaching artist, arts administrator, grant writer, and inclusion consultant. He has been working extensively within the world of Theater For Young Audiences (TYA) for over twenty years.

Fran spent seven years collaborating with theatrical producer Deborah Denenberg (Dodger Productions and Big League Theatricals) on The Doll Maker’s Gift, a property for which he obtained permission from the author. He then assembled the creative team, co-wrote the book, and directed the world premiere at the Rose Theater in 2019. The Omaha World Herald said “Families should flock to this one.” He currently is working on his second collaboration with Ms. Denenberg, set for production in 2023. Fran is currently collaborating with Bay Area Children’s Theater and serving as Artistic and Inclusion consultant with Trike Theatre. He is a past Aurand Harris Fellow with The Children’s Theatre Foundation of America and a winner of The Access Grant from The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, where he is a frequent contractor.

Fran serves as the Director of Accessibility at The Rose Theater, where he is leading an expansion of the popular Every Single Child Program (a multi-layered program that serves an average of 35,000 students each year at more than 70 school buildings). The expansion will develop production and residency programming for students in self-contained special education classrooms in the Omaha area. He also directs mainstage productions at the Rose; some of his credits include Shrek: The Musical, Go,Dog.Go! and the Omaha premiere of Hanna’s Suitcase.

He also serves as Executive Artistic Director of Circle Theatre, Omaha’s theater for individuals of all abilities. Circle Theatre has produced several TYA plays. Under his leadership, the Circle co-commissioned My Broken Doll, a play based on the life of holocaust survivor Beatrice Karp and adapted by Ernie Nolan, and Over the River, a play about friendship by Ellen Struve. Both plays recently toured the state of Nebraska. In December of 2016, Sillau directed a regional premiere of A Charlie Brown Christmas. This production incorporated American Sign Language, Shadow Interpreting, Audio Description, as well as actors with various physical and developmental disabilities. He is also currently developing new original TYA work for The Institute For Holocaust Education and Great Plains office of the Anti-Defamation League.

Fran currently serves as the United States representative to International Inclusion Arts Network, a program of The International Association of Children’s Theatre Companies (ASSITEJ). He is also an Emerging Leader fellow for Theater for Young Audiences USA. He holds an MFA specializing in directing and inclusion from Goddard College.

Laura Happel

Assistant Technical Director/Master Electrician

laura@triketheatre.org

For 30 years Laura has kept asking “Is it ART yet?” Survivor of many many many theatrically theatrical Theatre Seasons in (41 of the 50 states) where we (the tech crew) attempted to keep the drama on the stage where it belonged, and often succeeded in failing to do so. Laura’s managed to get a good education in how Theatre actually works despite the reckless pursuit and unsuspected earning/ bestowal/ give-it-to-her-so-she’ll-stop-asking-questions-we-have-no-answers-to, of an MFA. To write it all down is too much, but to talk about it with new friends is divine.

“Logic will get you from A to B. Imagination will take you everywhere.”

-Albert Einstein …

Shannon R. Miller

Production Consultant

shannon@triketheatre.org

Shannon joined Trike Theatre in 2017. He holds an MFA from the University of Southern Mississippi and a BFA from Marshall University. Shannon Miller began his career in 1987 as a stage technician for touring rock bands. From 1987 through the present, he has embarked on a series of challenging career opportunities that fostered his teaching, leadership, entrepreneurial strengths, and talents for entertainment design and technology. During this time, he has held positions at a variety of universities and professional theatres, including Marshall University (WV), Utah Shakespeare Festival, Millikin University (IL), Chicago Designs, Southern Arena Theatre (MS), Southern Opera (MS), Theatre West Virginia, Public Theatre of Kentucky, Barnstormers Theatre (NH), The University of New Orleans, McNeese State Univeristy (LA), Maltz Jupiter Theatre (FL), and University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Mr. Miller has also completed various designs and consultations for groups such as Christian Youth Theatre through his company, SRMDzynes. He is the founder of The Lakefront Youth Theatre Experience, a post-Katrina youth arts initiative and volunteer organization in New Orleans. These varied assignments have provided him with a unique perspective for problem solving in a variety of circumstances with many different personalities, educational backgrounds, artistic visions, and production challenges.