Click on the names below to see headshots and read all about your favorite Mopco performers.

During MICHAEL BURNS’s highly productive youth, he dabbled with busking, briefly sang with a folk trio, and occasionally stage-managed for The No Elephant Circus. He studied theatre at SUNY Purchase, then improv with David Shepherd in New York. There, Michael directed for the American Modern Dance Theatre and the American Folk Theatre, and was a member of The Big Apple Experience, a short-lived but cleverly named improv troupe. In 1981, while living in a borrowed tent in the Adirondacks, he realized that he was done with Manhattan. (Which was a good thing, as he didn’t have the bus fare to get back.) He has since worked for several upstate theatres including Home Made Theater, The Theatre Barn, and Steamer 10 Theatre. Michael developed (with David Shepherd) the Compass Institution, an improv troupe that toured senior centers and hospitals. He directed inmate-written plays for Very Special Arts at Greene Correctional facility, and has created youth theatre troupes for several human services agencies. He is the author of First You Sit on the Floor, a Guide to Developing a Youth Theatre Troupe. Currently, Michael teaches video production and art at The Charlton School, a residential facility for adolescent girls with emotional and learning difficulties.

Already a seasoned veteran improvisor, PETER DELOCIS was thrilled to throw his lot in with Mopco. (He can claim to have worked with more local improv companies than anyone in the Capital Region.) Pete has studied with the Upright Citizens Brigade in New York City, and works there with the improv group, “Scissors, Paper, Rock”. He offers his financial savvy free of charge (by day Pete is a bookkeeper). Perhaps the most important and energizing quality Peter shares with his fellow company members: his truly maniacal laugh.

 

Alex DiCicco (Piano) is an adjunct instructor at the College of St. Rose and music director/organist for Good Shepherd Lutheran Church. In addition to being a teacher and performer, he is the composer for a documentary series titled “Reflections.” The five part series, now in its second episode, explores the history and memory of New Hampshire communities. A native New Englander, DiCicco studied music in New Hampshire, graduating Franklin Pierce University with a degree in piano performance. Outside of music, Alex enjoys farmers’ markets, hiking and any kind of dancing.

REBECCA DOUGLAS got bit with the stage bug in school plays at Lake George High. She went on to get her Bachelors degree in Communications and Media at Western New England College. There, Rebecca took Improv Comedy and Acting Class with Hillary Bucs. Rebecca became founder and Co-President of WNEC’s “Improv on the Rocks” Troupe. Recently, she has appeared in 2 Off-Broadway plays at Proctors, Tony N’ Tina’s Wedding” as Madeline Monroe and The Awesome 80’s Prom Night as Inga Swanson. Rebecca is ecstatic to be back on stage working and learning from a dynamic group of talented and dedicated members!

Katie’s improv career began at Dirty South Improv in Chapel Hill, NC four years ago, and she has been enthusiastically improvising with the Mop and Bucket Company for almost two years now. She is proud and honored to be a member of this professional, intelligent, inspiring, crazy group. Katie hopes that everyone at some time in their life can experience the beauty and innate wisdom of the art of improvisation. She is committed to being a student for life, give it a try and you will see why! Katie is also a professional singer-songwriter and musician and has released 3 full-length albums to date. She was recently voted Best Female Singer-Songwriter in the Capital Region by Metroland for 2008. You can learn more about her music at www.myspace.com/katiehaverlymusic

KAT KOPPETT is a 20-year improv veteran, including stints with Theatresports companies in New York City (Freestyle Repertory Theatre) and San Francisco (BATS Improv). In 1995, TheaterWeek Magazine named Kat one of the year's "Unsung Heroes" for her creation of the improvisational theater format, Spontaneous Broadway, which is now performed regularly all over the world. Her acting credits include the title role in The Diary of Anne Frank both Off-Broadway and in the Soviet Union; Rosalind in As You Like It with the Manhattan Stage Company and Fiddler on the Roof with Theodore Bikel. She has been seen in television ads for Pillsbury, Quaker Oats, and Dr. Pepper (she was a Pepper!). In 1998, her short play, Don't Get Around Much Anymore, was a winner in Playground's Emerging Playwrights Festival in San Francisco. http://kop Kat holds a B.F.A. in Drama from NYU/Circle in the Square and an M.A. in Organizational Psychology. In addition to performing, Kat is the founder of Koppett and Co., a consulting and training company specializing in the use of improvisation and storytelling to enhance workplace effectiveness. Her book Training to Imagine: Practical Improvisational Theatre Techniques to Enhance Creativity, Teamwork, Leadership and Learning was published in 2001 by Stylus Publishing, Inc. Kat's favorite improvisational endeavors involve her daughter, Lia. http://www.koppett.com/

NICK MUSCATIELLO A veteran performer and irrepressible joker, Nick has been delighting audiences from the time he was in grade school. Armed with a rapier wit, a penchant for silliness and a voice that stretches like rubber, Nick is thrilled to take the stage with the Mop & Bucket Co. Erin, here is your shoutout. Enjoy it.

NIKKI PLYEM is proud to be a member of the Mop & Bucket Company. She recently graduated with a B.A. in theatre from SUNY Plattsburgh and is excited to see what the world has to offer. Her theatre and film credits include the title role in Alice, Aunt Eileen in The Cripple of Inishman and Ms. Thompson in BLTV (PSTV). Nikki would like to thank her friends and family for helping her pursue her dreams while keeping her firmly rooted in reality.

BRENNY RABINE, actor, director, playwright, and educator, developed the curriculum for New Visions Theatre Arts for BOCES in 2001. Holding a MA in composition studies, Brenny combines her more than twenty-five years of theatre experience with more than a decade of full-time teaching. Brenny is a member of the Dramatists Guild, Inc., a partner in Artful Antics, teaching artist for Adirondack Theatre Festival, and guest lecturer at Siena College, University at Albany, Saratoga County Arts Council, and Temple Sinai, among others. Improv experience includes membership in Mop & Bucket Co. and Wit&Will. Brenny has studied with Keith Johnstone, William Hall, and Rebecca Stockley at BATS Improv Co., in San Francisco. A NYS certified English teacher, she's taught for the Chatham and Saratoga Springs High Schools,acting, improv, and creative writing in several venues, including Home Made Theatre, Siena College Summer Camp, Saturday Scholars in Shenendahowa, Saratoga County Arts Center, and Knowledge Network. Brenny's plays include the NYSCA grant winner Catching Babies and holiday favorite Santa's List. Brenny's been published in Saratoga County Living, The Sun, and Journal for Living. www.brennyrabine.com

KEVIN SCHOLZ You may know me as Kevin Rush on the radio for almost the past ten years on 99.5 the River...good lord, the secret is out! Now I'll need to get body guards! I have loved improv with a passion for as long as I can remember. I minored in theatre during my college days at Hudson Valley and SUNY Albany, and took several independent acting and improv classes following college. After losing touch for a decade or so, my love was re-discovered after seeing a round of The Mop & Bucket Company's Theatre Sports. I knew immediately that's what I wanted to be doing. I signed up for classes right away, and shortly thereafter was invited to join The Mop & Bucket Company, and I have been grateful and privIleged for such an opportunity! I currently reside in Guilderland with my very loving and patient wife, Chrystean, and our four wonderful pets...Mia and Lexi (the dogs) and Sonny and Cher (the cats.)

Born into a family of performers, ALEXANDER M. STERN resisted the siren call of the stage for as long as he could...which wasn’t that long at all. At 12 he made his professional debut in the Theatre of Youth production of “A Christmas Carol” as the little boy Scrooge sends to buy a goose. He spent the next ten years appearing in summer theatre productions and doing occasional stand-up comedy and improv. During this time he appeared in such plays as “The Sandcastle,” “Witness for the Prosecution,” and “Waiting for Godot.” He also directed productions of Samuel Beckett’s “Krapp’s Last Tape” and Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis.” Alexander took a long break from performing to start a family and find himself a round hole to fit his square-peg of a self into, eventually settling on teaching – which he does for the Schenectady School District. In spring of 2007, Alexander returned from his seventeen-year-hiatus from the stage in the Schenectady Civic Players production of “Our Country’s Good.” Since then, he has appeared in productions of “Othello” (as Lodovico), “It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Show” , and “The Triangle Factory Fire Project”. This fall he will be appearing in the Schenectady Civic Players production of “Moonlight and Magnolias” in the role of David O. Selznick. He is thrilled to be working with the Mop and Bucket Company, giving his atrophying improv skills a real run for their money. He lives in Altamont, NY with his long suffering wife and brilliant, talented, and adorable daughter.

AMY TIERNEY an ensemble member newbie, is delighted and honored to join the cast! She makes up for what she lacks in formal training with enthusiasm and willingness to play nice with the other kids in the sandbox. An accomplished Adirondack Toastmasters club member and defender of insurance reputation by day, her alter ego has been witnessed lurking behind the cantor stand or keyboards at a church or two. Prone to arbitrary outbursts regarding her remarkably unexceptional existence, vile song lyrics and eruptions of deliciously obscene humor, she’s embracing this creative endeavor whole heartedly. Special thanks to family and friends for their support.

We are pleased to release Krest from his self imposed stage retirement, so he can delight you with his questionable morals and ridiculous antics! He has been known to incite riots in small children, cause grown men to lose control of their bodily functions and leave audience members mumbling, “Did he really just say that?” The answer is most often and quite assuredly…”Yea... he did!” It is generally agreed that Mopco is having a civilized influence on Krest. He is proudly owned and operated by his lovely wife and two beautiful daughters.