Brad Branam is a 3rd-year graduate student, who serves this UMKC Theatre season as technical director for Tartuffe on the Spencer Stage. He has previously been the Assistant Technical Director for Susannah and Pirates of Penzance, for the UMKC Conservatory of Music. Prior to coming to UMKC he served as the Resident Designer and Technical Director for the Lynchburg Fine Arts Center. He also worked with the Ash Lawn Opera Festival as the Production Manager and Technical Director. He has worked with the Denver Center Theatre Company, the Commonweal Theatre Company, and The Old Creamery Theatre Company. He received his B.A. in theatre from Luther College in Decorah, IA. 

Phillip Brulotte returned to UMKC for the fall production of The Heidi Chronicles after working as assistant technical director for Texas Musical Drama this summer. Phillip’s other technical direction credits at UMKC include: In Spite of Thunder: The Macbeth Project, Goodnight Children Everywhere and Boesman and Lena. He was also assistant technical director for Twelfth Night. Phillip is a 3rd-year grad student in technical direction. He received his undergrad degree from Kent State University in Ohio.

Mitchell L. Critel, MFA Candidate in Technical Direction, is the Assistant Technical Director for the nationally acclaimed University of Evansville Department of Theatre, in his third year of residency. Previously, Mitchell served as the Technical Director for several productions at the Nebraska Repertory Theatre and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, as well as UMKC’s productions of The Cure at Troy, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, and The Secret Lives of Losers. He was the Assistant Technical Director for UMKC’s Twelfth Night and the Nebraska Shakespeare Festival’s Pericles and Othello. Mitchell has created special effects for Wide Awake Films, including projects for The National Geographic Channel, Perryville, Jessie James, and Wilson’s Creek. Mitchell holds a BFA in Technical Theatre Production from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.