STAFF
CARLA MILARCH
Founding Artistic Director
is a former Artistic Director of the award-winning Performance Network Theatre, whose passion for new plays led her to found Theatre NOVA. As a dramaturg, director and artistic director, she has brought over 25 brand new plays to world premieres, as well as hundreds to staged readings, including those at the Michigan Playwrights Festival, the Fireside New Play Festival, the National New Play Network (NNPN) National Showcase of New Plays, and the Kennedy Center's MFA playwright's showcase. She served as a board member on the NNPN for 10 years, and co-founded the Michigan Equity Theatre Alliance, on which she served as Board President from 2011-2014. Some awards include “Best Overall Season/Artistic Direction” from the Oakland Press, “Outstanding Contributions to an Ensemble” from The Detroit Free Press, “Most Valuable Performer” from the Oakland Press, and the Between the Lines “Angel” award for outstanding contributions to the LGBT community, as well as numerous awards for acting and direction. Carla started her career as an actress. By her early teens, Carla's love for the arts flourished and she was accepted to the world-famous Interlochen Arts Academy in the acting department. Attending high school with Jennifer Ehle and Elizabeth Marvel, and later college with Parker Posey, Seth Gilliam, and Reno Wilson at SUNY Purchase, Carla studied alongside some of today's most talented actors. Carla’s love and experience for both sides of the stage have taken her from producing theater at The Barn Theater in Port Sanilac Michigan, to co-founding a theater in Amarillo, TX with her Purchase classmates, to working at MiraMax Films in New York City, to helping establish Performance Network as an artistic leader in Michigan, to producing theater in a barn again, this time in the middle of a world class city, at Theatre NOVA. She is a proud resident of Ann Arbor, where she lives with her husband Phil Powers and son, William Tyrone, a proud producer of regional theater, and a proud advocate of the American New Play.
DAVID WOLBER
Producing Artistic Director
is an actor and director. He is a Producing Artistic Director at Theatre NOVA. He served as the Artistic Director at Performance Network Theatre from 2007 to 2014. Recently, Wolber directed Apple Season by E.M. Lewis for Theatre NOVA. He also directed and co-devised Dream Deferred: Detroit, 1967 at Matrix Theatre. In 2018 he received a Wilde Award, "Best Play" for directing The Revolutionists by Lauren Gunderson at Theatre NOVA. In 2017 he received three Wilde Awards: "Best Teamwork" with Pete Prouty and Cheryl Turski in Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery at Meadow Brook Theatre. Then "Best One Person Show" for directing 2.5 Minute Ride by Lisa Kron at Matrix Theatre. And finally, he received "Best Actor" for his performance as Winston in 1984 at Williamston Theatre. Favorite shows he has directed include Dear Elizabeth by Sarah Ruhl, Katherine by Kim Carney, Other Desert Cities by Jon Robin Baitz, I and You by Lauren Gunderson, Good People by David Lindsay-Abaire, Dead Man’s Shoes by Joseph Zettelmaier (Best New Script – Wilde Award 2012, and a co-production with Williamston Theatre), The Clean House by Sarah Ruhl, Necessary Targets by Eve Ensler, and many more. David has performed and directed shows at Meadow Brook, Performance Network, Tipping Point Theatre, Matrix Theatre, the Jewish Ensemble Theatre, Williamston Theatre, Boarshead Theatre, Detroit Repertory Theatre and the Edinburgh Fringe in Scotland. You may have seen him in a handful of commercials and independent Michigan films. David is an alumnus of Wayne State's theatre program. He is a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association, and he's an Associate Producer on Jasmine Rivera's short film American Prophet. Follow your path.
BRIANA O'NEAL
Resident Stage Manager and Company Manager
graduated from Eastern Michigan University in 2018 with a Bachelor's degree in Theatre Arts and Political Science. While at Eastern, she studied technical theatre, acting, and directing. She has experience in many areas of theatre including properties, set construction, makeup design, acting, directing, and stage management. Some of her favorite credits include The Trojan Women, Harvey, and The Butterfly at Eastern Michigan, and directing The Girl with the Golden Locks with Ann Arbor Civic Theatre.
SARAH ELISABETH BROWN
House Manager​
is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter based out of New York and Ann Arbor. Ms. Brown is currently a member of Workshop Theater in New York, a founding member of Chicago’s Theater Oobleck, and served in the past as Playwright-in-Residence for Theaterwork in Santa Fe, New Mexico where she penned “Spirit Club; Stories of Mental Discomfort and Healing,” and “Lovebird Jamboree; Love Stories from the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Community,” both story-collecting projects funded by the Santa Fe Community Foundation. Successful productions of her play, Bermuda Triangles: The Non-monogamy Experiment, lead to the film version, Mango Kiss, distributed by Wolfe Video. She holds a BA in “Playwrighting: An Off the Desk Approach” from Hampshire College, and has studied scriptwriting extensively at The Jacob Krueger Studio in New York.
MEGHAN VANARSDALEN
Elementary Education Instructor
is a Michigan native. She holds a BA in theatre from Siena Heights University and an MFA from the New School for Drama. She has appeared on stage at the Actors Studio, the Hudson Guild Theatre, and the Tank in New York City. Locally, she has been seen in Constellations (Theatre Nova), Welcome to Paradise (Purple Rose Theatre), Be a Good Little Widow and Doubt (Open Book Theatre), and All Childish Things (Roustabout Theatre Troupe). Meghan has taught with Wild Swan Theatre and Arts Detroit and is currently teaching with Theatre NOVA.
BECKY FOX
Business Manager and Education Director
was the Director of the Children’s Theatre Network at Performance Network Theatre for 25 years, where she directed and/or performed in two to four shows a season, touring to schools and community centers all over southeast Michigan. Becky believes the arts can change the world because she has seen that happen firsthand. She has taught hundreds of students of all ages through theatre workshops and classes as the Director of Educational Outreach at Performance Network, Drama Supervisor for the Ann Arbor Public Schools Community Education and Recreation, and now as the Education Director at Theatre NOVA. Becky has witnessed the power of theatre and creative drama which awakens the creativity, intellect, and compassion of students for further learning in all of their studies. Becky started her career as an actress performing in summer stock and dinner theatre productions and has a Bachelor of Science with a theatre major and marketing minor from Eastern Michigan University. She and her husband, Michael Fox own the Fullhouse Restaurant in Ypsilanti and have a daughter, Hallie Fox attending the University of Michigan’s Honors Program. Becky is proud to be on staff at Theatre NOVA because the shows are so darn good!