Benny Sato Ambush (Director)

Benny Sato Ambush is a veteran professional stage director and longtime member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC), an independent national labor union. He has directed extensively throughout the U.S. at numerous professional regional theatres and university/college theatre training programs, among them (partial list): American Conservatory Theater; Old Globe Theatre; Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Portland; South Coast Rep; Alabama Shakespeare Festival; TheatreVirginia; Merrimack Repertory Theatre, Arizona Theatre Company; Magic Theatre; Geva Theatre; Playwrights Horizon; Ford’s Theatre; American Repertory Theater Institute; Philadelphia Festival Theatre for New Plays; Florida Stage; Lincoln Center Theater Institute; Heart of America Shakespeare Festival; New Harmony Project; Alaska Theatre of Youth; International Theatre Festival of Chicago; Sacramento Theatre Company; National Black Theatre Festival; Lyric Stage Company of Boston; Gloucester Stage; TheatreSquared; Underground Railway Theater; Florida Rep; Actors Shakespeare Project; NYU Graduate Acting Program; University of North Carolina School of the Arts; Cornell University; Emerson College; Brown University; Minneapolis Playwright Center’s PlayLab, North Carolina Black Repertory Company, NPR Radio, The Lost Colony, Tennessee Williams Theatre Festival, Brooklyn College; Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training. He has artistically helmed three theatres prior to coming to Venice Theatre, has taught acting and directing collegiately across the nation (MFA, BFA, and BA), has Chaired an academic department, adjudicates for the American Association of Community Theatre, and has served the field in numerous capacities. B.A. - Brown University; MFA - University of California, San Diego.

Alisha Tyler-Lohr (Stage Manager)

Alisha is thrilled to be back at Venice Theatre! Recent credits include: Yard Sale (Venice Theatre), Reefer Madness (Random Acts) All Shook Up, Singin’ in the Rain (The Players Centre), Ragtime (Asolo Rep), Fun Home, Regional Premiere, The Little Mermaid and Rock of Ages (Millbrook Playhouse). “Much love and thanks to all involved as well as friends and family.”

Nate Blaweiss (Sound Designer)

Nate is the Resident Sound Designer at Venice Theatre, recently designing for Almost, Maine (composer); john and jen; Love Letters (composer); Menopause: the Musical; and Good People. Nate studied music at Florida State and remotely at University of Chichester, earning his MA in film scoring in 2018. You can see and hear some of Nate’s work at nateblaweiss.com.

Tim Wisgerhof (Scenic Designer)

Hailing from Des Moines, Iowa, Tim is Venice Theatre’s Resident Scenic Designer. In Des Moines, he has designed for Stage West, Des Moines Onstage, The Des Moines Metro Opera and was previously the Resident Designer for The Des Moines Playhouse. Prior to returning to his home town of Des Moines, Tim worked in New York City. While there he served as the Window and Creative Director for Saks Fifth Avenue for 12 years, in addition to designing numerous theatre and television projects. He is a graduate of Drake University.

John Michael Andzulis (Lighting Designer)

In his 13th season at VT, John is glad to be a part of the VT family. He has a B.A. in Technical Theatre from Lycoming College in Williamsport, PA, and has continued his technical career with lighting and scenic designs for productions such as: Handy Award winning Metamorphoses; The Jungle Book; Urinetown; Inherit the Wind; Peter Pan; Ragtime; Sweeney Todd; Godspell; Boeing Boeing; Avenue Q; Hello, Dolly!; Smokey Joe’s Cafe; Radio Gals; Dreamgirls and A Christmas Carol. John thanks Harper for her continuous constructive criticism.

Francine Smetts (Costume Designer) 

Francine graduated from Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles with  a BFA in Fine Art and Illustration. She has worked in fashion and children’s illustration. Francine has designed costumes for over 30 shows over the past 12 years. She is also designing costumes for Hamlet this season.

James R. Monaghan (Dramaturg)

Prior to becoming the literary manager and resident dramaturg at Asolo Repertory Theatre (Sarasota, Florida), James wrote about theatrical design as the Tow Foundation Fellow in the Roundabout Theatre Company Archives, created a one-on-one theatrical experience entitled [antidote] for the National Theatre of Croatia in Rijeka, and worked in the literary department of the Play Company in New York. He has been a resident artist at the Catwalk Institute, was recently featured in the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas’ newsletter and recently directed a digital production of Spring Awakening with the Georgetown Gilbert and Sullivan Society. Before completing his MFA at Columbia University, James received his BFA with honors from New York University, and worked as an educator and director in his hometown of Houston, Texas.