Company cast:

Abilene Olson

Benjamin Dutcher

Corissa Bussian

Gary Briggle

Isa Condo-Olvera

KrisAnne Weiss

Lizz Windnagel

Maurice Fields III

Tony Potts

Company Swings:
Joni Griffith

Margaret Matejcek

Sif Oberon

Zach Staads

Christina Baldwin, stage director

Ches Cipriano, stage manager

Claudia Errickson, lighting designer

Dominique Herskind, puppeteer

Dylan Rickard, puppeteer

Kelly M Turpin, executive producer

Lizz Windnagel, puppet director/creator

Marco Real d’Arbelles, music director

Patrick Adkins, pianist

Rose Windnagel, puppet designer

Sonya Berlovitz, costume designer

Bronson Talcott, costume design assistant

Abilene Olson is so excited to be making her AOT debut with The Cradle Will Rock. She is a performer in the twin cities, and a graduate of Stephens College. Some of her favorite credits include Ghost Quartet & In the Green with Theatre Elision, and Loch Mess & Scrooge in Rouge with Open Eye Figure Theatre. When she's not acting, she can be found spending time with her pets, Emma and Merle, avoiding her household chores, and shamelessly promoting her next project. Catch her in Lizzie at Open Eye Figure Theatre in fall 2024!

Gary Briggle (he/him) is a versatile singer-actor, director and coach with over 45 years of professional experience in the full range of music-theatre genres. He is nationally-renowned for his performances of Gilbert & Sullivan operas and work in contemporary opera. Locally he has been featured at The Ordway, History Theatre, The Jungle, Frank Theatre, Nautilus Music-Theatre, Skylark Opera, Park Square Theatre, Artistry, etc. He has staged productions for GSVLOC, and proudly made his AOT debut in their premier production “The Consul” (2018). Gary is the executive director of Raison D’etre Opera.

Lizz Windnagel (they/them) is an interdisciplinary performer and creator. They have always been interested in where artforms meet and how they can inform one another. As a performer they have performed and directed with Open Eye Theater, In the Heart of the Beast, We are Married, and Mixed Precipitation. They also created several original works that premiered in the Twin Cities, Chicago, and Calgary, Canada. Lizz holds an MFA in directing from the University of Calgary. They founded the theater programming at the Down Syndrome Association of Minnesota where they currently teach devised theater classes.

Benjamin Dutcher is a Twin Cities based singer, actor, and educator who has been seen on theatrical stages across the country. Delighted to be joining AOT for the first time, Benjamin’s repertoire covers a vast range of both musical theater and opera, and includes on-camera appearances for History Channel and PBS. Previous engagements include work with Theater Latté Da, Asolo Repertory Theater, Artistry Theater, Trademark Theater, Six Points Theater, Opera Columbus, Out of the Box Opera, Skylark Opera, Mill City Summer Opera, St. Croix Valley Opera, and Minnesota Opera. Most recently, he made his straight play debut in the critically acclaimed Ironbound with Frank Theatre. Benjamin was a part of the Drama Desk Award winning Cast of All is Calm presented Off-Broadway at the Sheen Center in NYC, and especially loves being a dad. benjamindutcher.com.

Isa Condo-Olvera (she/her/ella) is thrilled to be collaborating with An Opera Theatre for the first time! Born and raised in San Jose, Costa Rica to an Ecuadorian dad and a Mexican mom, Isa was always captivated by music, storytelling, and the power of words. She moved to Minneapolis to pursue her training at the UMN Guthrie BFA Actor Training Program and has since worked locally as an actor with Ten Thousand Things, Guthrie Theater, Playwrights’ Center, Yellow Tree Theatre, and History Theatre. Outside of Minneapolis, she has performed at Milwaukee Chamber Theatre, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Texas Shakespeare Festival, the National Theatre of Costa Rica, and Teatro Auditorio Nacional. When she’s not onstage, Isa finds joy in spending time with her loved ones, nerding out about dialects, writing her feelings, interviewing strangers, eating tacos al pastor and playing board games. More info on her website: isacondoolvera.com

Maurice Fields III (they/them) is making their debut with AOT in The Cradle Will Rock. Described as a “brassy” dramatic tenor, Maurice is a graduate of a Masters of Music in Vocal Performance and Literature at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. At this institution, they had the luck of studying under the likes of Nathan Gunn and Sarah Wigley whilst flourishing in the Lyric Theatre at Illinois program. Before their time in graduate school, Maurice played a variety of roles at Concordia University Saint Paul, ranging from character voice acting for Audrey II (Little Shop of Horrors) or playing the UPS Guy in Working: The Musical. Maurice has most recently played Stine (City of Angels), Gherardo (Gianni Schicchi) and Father (Children of Eden). Maurice's adventures in theatre extend to directing, dramaturgy, and dance. Recently they were the assistant director, dramaturg, dialect coach and surtitleist for A Little Night Music. Maurice is excited to be back in Minnesota and working as an actor and vocalist.

Corissa Bussian was most recently seen as Juliet in Mixed Precipitation’s Pick Up Truck Opera Vol. 3: Romeo & Juliet, singing Lady Macduff in Macbeth and the Weïrd Sisters in Theater Latté Da’s Next Festival, and made her principal role debut at Minnesota Opera as Chue Moua in Jocelyn Hagen’s world premier of The Song Poet. Corissa was the lucky recipient of Opera Reading Project’s first IDEA Singer Fellowship in 2021-2022. During that season she sang the role of Pamina in Die Zauberflöte with ORP, performed the same role in Mixed Precipitation’s Pick Up Truck Opera Vol. 2: The Magic Flute and as the Inquisitor in the U.S. premier of Besse with Skylark Opera, where she also enjoyed covering the roles of Mother in Amahl & the Night Visitors and Beatrice in Jake Heggie’s Three Decembers. Favorite roles include Mimì La Bohème, Susanna Le nozze di Figaro, Zerbinetta Ariadne auf Naxos, Despina Così fan tutte, and Nella Gianni Schicchi. Corissa received her Bachelor of Music degree in vocal performance from DePaul University and holds a Masters of Music in vocal performance and opera studies from The Shepherd School of Music, Rice University. Corissa enjoys baking, puzzles, boba, traveling abroad, and adventures around the cities with her husband and young two sons.

KrisAnne Weiss (she/her), mezzo-soprano, performs an eclectic array of music-theater and concert works, appearing with Skylark Opera Theatre, An Opera Theatre, Lyric Opera of the North, Nautilus Music-Theater, and Opera on the Lake, among many others. Most recently, she played the role of Romeo in Mixed Precipitation’s Romeo and Juliet, an adaptation of Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi, and the role of Ruth in Dark Sisters with Journey North Opera. She hosts and facilitates An Opera Theatre’s Voice Labs, a free monthly artistic development and community-building resource for local singers at any point in their careers, and she is on the voice faculty at St. Olaf College. She is interested in genre-bending collaborations, mutual aid, cutting her own hair, and physical revelry of all kinds.

Minnesota based baritone Tony Potts has been described by the Pioneer Press as having “not only swagger, charm and charisma, but a baritone voice that blends beautifully...” He has worked with companies such as Theater Latté Da, Minnesota Opera, Skylark Opera Theatre, St. Croix Valley Opera, and Dallas Opera. He is a two-time finalist at the international Lotte Lenya Competition and holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Vocal Performance from University of Northwestern, St. Paul and University of North Texas, respectively. (tonypotts.org)