About Us

Bob Stromberg grew up in the Allegheny Mountains of rural Pennsylvania. Throughout his early school years, his deepest desire was to be recognized “class clown,” but as the sensitive son of a school administrator and a teacher he found his aspirations unattainable.

Receiving an art degree from North Park College in Chicago, he continued his studies for two years with legendary mime teacher Tony Montanaro at Celebration Theatre in Maine. It was there he met mask maker extraordinaire Michael Cooper. For over ten years they clowned throughout New England, cutting their performing teeth in over 4,000 school and community shows, In 1989 Bob “went solo” with his unique blend of story, standup and shtick in venues from churches to corporate settings and stadiums.

Risa Brainin resided in Minneapolis from 1987-97 and served on the artistic staff of the Guthrie Theater as Resident Director (1991-93), Associate Company Director (1995-96) and acting instructor in the company's outreach program (1987-97.) Twin Cities directing credits include work at the Guthrie, History Theatre, Illusion Theatre, Cricket Theatre, SteppingStone Theatre, University of Minnesota and Mixed Blood where she recently returned to direct Aditi Kapil’s Love Person. Since leaving Minnesota, she served as Associate Artistic Director for both Indiana Repertory Theatre (1997-2000) and Kansas City Repertory Theatre (2000-2002). From 2001-2003, She served as Artistic Director of Shakespeare Santa Cruz where she directed The Sea Gull, Hamlet, and the world premiere of Brad Carroll’s The Emperor’s New Clothes. Other regional directing credits include: Alabama Shakespeare Festival, American Players Theatre, PCPA TheatreFest, Actors' Theatre of Louisville, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Portland Stage Company, Actors' Theatre of Kansas City, the New Harmony Project, Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis, Idaho Shakespeare Festival and Great Lakes Theatre Festival, where her production of Julius Caesar received the Northern Ohio Live Award. A graduate of the Carnegie-Mellon University Drama Program, Brainin currently teaches acting and directing at University of California, Santa Barbara.  Her work at UCSB has garnered two Santa Barbara Independent Awards for Directing.

Nayna Ramey’s regional work includes Triple Espresso—a highly caffeinated comedy; The Diary of Anne Frank at the Intiman Theatre; Liliom, Indian Ink, Morningstar at Kansas City Repertory Theatre; Hamlet, The Comedy of Errors at Shakespeare Santa Cruz; Othello, Amadeus at Texas Shakespeare Festival; eleven seasons at American Players Theatre with designs including Ah Wilderness, The Play’s the Thing, Romeo & Juliet, Cymbeline, Othello, The Tempest, Antony and Cleopatra, and Uncle Vanya; Jewtopia, The Miamians, His Eye is on the Sparrow, Golda’s Balcony at Florida Studio Theatre; My Way, You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown at the McKnight Theatre; Grease and Hair at the Historic Pantages Theatre; Tuesdays with Morrie, Noises Off and Pygmalion at Indiana Repertory Theatre; Snapshots, Hiding in the Open and Main Street at the History Theatre and over 60 productions at Chanhassen Theatres including 42nd Street, Easter Parade, Grease, West Side Story, Midlife: the Crisis Musical, Anything Goes, Annie, Cats, Big Bang, My Fair Lady and Singing in the Rain.

Michael Klaers is delighted to be involved with Mr. Wonder Boy. His work has also been seen at Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Great Lakes Theater Festival, Portland Stage Company, Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts, Missouri Repertory Theatre, the Guthrie Theater, Madison Repertory Theatre, The Cricket Theatre, Mixed Blood Theatre, among others. He is also the Lighting Designer for the very funny Triple Espresso—a highly caffeinated comedy.

Michael Pearce Donley co-wrote Triple Espresso with Bob Stromberg and Bill Arnold.  He’s performed the role of Hugh Butternut since 1995 everywhere from London to Cleveland; Cleveland audiences were slightly friendlier.  He lives in the Twin Cities with his wife, theater director Joy Donley, and his 2 kids, Emma and Lewis.  Michael is currently writing the score for a new musical written by John Gaspard and Bill Arnold called Stupid in Love.  He’s been a worship leader at Roseville Covenant Church since the mid 90s, and he’s often seen in TV and Internet commercials and heard in radio ads.  He’s worked with Ten Thousand Things, Nautilus Music-Theater, Front Porch Theater, Plymouth Playhouse, Hey City and other local theaters as a composer, musical director and actor.

John Markiewicz has twenty years experience in performance audio, live broadcast, recording and installations. He is the owner of Audio Logic Systems, located in Bloomington, MN, an installation and full service production company providing audio, video and lighting services, as well as planning and consultation. John's many credits include work with Fannie Mae, Interbank, Minnesota Public Radio, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Green Bay's Weidner Center for the Performing Arts, Concordia University, the University of St. Thomas and the College of St. Catherine; and with a wide range of artists including Bobbie McFerrin, Savion Glover, Lee Greenwood, Pam Tillis, Tony Campolo, Phillips, Craig and Dean, Ken Davis, Jaci Velasquez, Juice Newton, Pat Boone, B.J. Thomas, Point of Grace and Jars of Clay.

Benjamin Netzley is originally from Greenville, Ohio, but moved to the Twin Cities for scholarly pursuits in 2001.  He received his B.A. in Theatre from the University of Minnesota in 2003. In recent years, he has stage managed Cosí fan Tutté at Miami Opera in Oxford, Ohio, Triple Espresso, a highly caffeinated comedy, at the Music Box Theatre, and Warm Beer Cold Women this past winter at the Guthrie Theater.

Dennis Babcock, Producer for Wonder Boy LLC, is also President of PalmTree Productions, Inc. and President and Executive Producer for Triple Espresso LLC. He began his professional career in 1973 as an actor at The Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis under the direction of Michael Langham. In 1978, as the Guthrie’s Special Events Producer, he created the Live at the Guthrie series to bring a variety of theatrical and musical artists to the Twin Cities. These included such celebrities as Princess Grace of Monaco, Henry Fonda, James Whitmore, Joel Grey, Julie Harris, Hume Cronyn, Jessica Tandy, Neil Sedaka, Melissa Manchester and Sir Cliff Richard. Dennis was the Managing Director of the Pittsburgh Public Theater from 1982-1984 and returned to the Guthrie Theater to serve as General Manager from 1984-1986. In 1987 he created his own company, PalmTree Productions, Inc. He has created and produced such acclaimed shows as Vincent, with Leonard Nimoy, Grandma Moses — An American Primitive, with Cloris Leachman, and he worked with John Astin in the creation and original production of Edgar Allan Poe- Once Upon A Midnight. Since 1996, Dennis has produced Triple Espresso in 42 cities in the United States, six foreign countries and overseen the translation and producing of the show into German and Flemish.  For five years, he served as President, CEO, and Chairman of the Board of Christmas Carol, Inc., which produced Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol in theaters across America, with stars such as Wilford Brimley and John Astin in the role of Ebenezer Scrooge. For seven years he served as Chairman of the Board of Media Fellowship International, Inc., a Christian ministry, which serves professionals in the media and entertainment industries.

Dennis is an avid runner and averages two to three marathons a year, including one on six of the seven continents. Yes, he has run a marathon in Antarctica and only has Australia to complete to become a member of the “Seven Continents Club.” He served for six years on the Board of Directors of the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon. He and his lovely wife, Diana Pierce— veteran news anchor for NBC television KARE-11—live in Minneapolis and are parents to daughter, Chelsea, and to Bri and Brooke, Dennis’ children; as well as growing numbers of grand children.

Rosalie Miller came to theater by way of radio, where she worked for eight years on the original production of Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion. While working with Mr. Keillor, she produced the recording Prairie Home Comedy and the Grammy-nominated More News From Lake Wobegon. In 1990, she began producing the award-winning regional cable television variety show, The Cedar Social, and in 1991 she joined the staff of the Dale Warland Singers, serving as Personnel Coordinator and Road Manager, and later as Interim Executive Director. Rosalie began working with Mr. Babcock in 1994, when she became Group Sales and Merchandising Manager for Christmas Carol, Inc.’s production of A Christmas Carol. She later authored A Christmas Carol Study Guide and toured with the show as Company Manager. Then along came Triple Espresso — a highly caffeinated comedy. From the expectation of “a fun project for a few months,” it grew into well over a decade of nonstop, whirlwind action, as the show became a hit in city after city around the country and the world. Rosalie continues as Associate Producer of Triple Espresso — but hey, there’s no need to limit once-in-a-lifetime experiences to only one at a time — so she’s delighted to also be a part of  Mr. Wonder Boy and can’t wait to see what’s in its future!