Step Right Up, Ma’am

Nedra Bobo-Boyles (MBA; actor) (aka "Phenomenal Nebo") was last seen in TNW's “Wit & Wisdom, Now What” and “Take Care.” She has portrayed historical figures such as Rachel Robinson in Children’s Theater of Madison's “Most Valuable: The Story of Jackie Robinson” and Sojourner Truth in UW-Madison's “To Find Our Piece of Ground.” She co-wrote, directed and performed in “Million Dollar Miracle - Life of Madam CJ Walker.” She is a voice-over actor, Hambone extraordinaire and lover of percussion and dance. Outside the theater, Bobo-Boyles is a wife, mother, "glam-ma,” real estate investor, REALTOR® and the broker/owner of Capella Realty Group, LLC.

Fabu Phillis Carter (writer) is a poet, culture columnist, storyteller and teaching artist with an extensive career designing innovative programs to benefit African American children, families and elders in Madison. A graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison with two master's degrees, one Afro-American literature and another in African languages and literature, Carter has a PhD from The African Women Studies Centre, University of Nairobi, Kenya. Selected as the first African American Madison Poet Laureate (2008–2012), she is professionally known as Poet Fabu. A columnist, storyteller and teaching artist who writes to encourage, inspire and remind, Carter is the author of eight books of poetry. She has enjoyed working with TNW Ensemble Theater and joins them as a writer in their latest production “Step Right Up, Ma'am.”

Danielle Dresden (writer, co-producer, actor) is co-founder and co-producing artistic director of TNW Ensemble Theater and an award-winning playwright. One of her 38 produced plays, “Ben Franklin and Baron von Steuben vs the Paine County School Board,” was recently published by Next Stage Press. She is a member and one of two Ambassadors for Wisconsin for the Dramatists Guild. She serves on the Advisory Board for the Bolz Center for Arts Administration and the Barrymore Theater Board of Directors.

Eileen Koteles (actor) has performed on stage since she was seven. After graduating from the University of Florida with a BFA in theater, she got her Actor’s Equity Card and worked as an award-winning performer and choreographer in multiple musicals across Florida. She also worked for The Mendez Foundation in Atlanta as theater manager creating, writing, directing and performing in musicals as well as teaching life skills for young children through their program “Too Good for Drugs and Violence.” Now based in Atlanta, Georgia, Koteles continues her work in theater, dance and voice over, touring the one-woman show “Becoming Dr. Ruth.”

Dale M. Kushner (writer) is a poet, novelist and essayist. Her debut novel “The Conditions of Love” published by Grand Central was nominated for the Texas Library Association Award for Outstanding Adult Fiction. The selections seen in “Step Right Up, Ma’am” are from “M,” her new collection of poetry. Her study of Jungian psychology and dreamwork informs “Transcending the Past,” her popular monthly online column for Psychology Today. Kushner’s widely regarded writings on the divine feminine, creativity and intergenerational trauma are published in anthologies and collected works and her short fiction was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. She teaches workshops that reflect her scholarship in depth psychology, spirituality and the creative process. She is currently working on her second novel.

Liz Light (actor) received her BA in theater from The Ohio State University. She has appeared in several TNW performances, including “Ben Franklin & Baron von Steuben,” “Typhoid Mary,” “Patient Zero...and the M Factor” and “Wit and Wisdom.” She is also a gifted visual artist.