Nick Zadina
Nick is originally from Columbus, Nebraska where he graduated from Scotus Central Catholic High School in 1997. He then went onto Creighton where he received his BFA in Theatre in 2001 and then to UNO to receive his MA in Theatre in 2006. Nick has been with the R.E.S.P.E.C.T.2 program since 2001 and became the Artistic Director after many years as an actor/educator. He also has written three plays for R.E.S.P.E.C.T.2 including Choices, Reporting, and Good Teammates.
Nick also acts in many community theatres in Omaha and has received many awards for acting, directing, and playwriting. Nick enjoys spending time with his seven pets and his wife Erika Hall.
Brandon Rohe
Brandon graduated from the University of Nebraska – Omaha with a Bachelor of Arts in Dramatic Arts in 2002. While at UNOmaha, Brandon received numerous acting awards including the 2002 Undergraduate Theatre Student of the Year award. He has been seen on many local Omaha stages including the Omaha Community Playhouse, Blue Barn Theatre, Shelterbelt Theatre, Bellevue Little Theatre, and the Dundee Dinner Theatre.
Brandon has also served with the Nebraska Shakespeare Festival as an actor in Romeo and Juliet, and as an educator with Camp Shakespeare and Shakespeare Unbound. He also served as a Camp Counselor at the Bauen Camp in Wyoming.
Brandon has been with R.E.S.P.E.C.T.2 since 2001. In 2004 and 2005, Brandon took a couple years away R.E.S.P.E.C.T.2 to serve as an educator at the Omaha Children’s Museum. He is thrilled to be back with R.E.S.P.E.C.T.2, not as an actor-educator, but also serving as the Program Director.
Haley Piper
Haley Piper, originally from Yankton SD, is a graduate of Creighton University with a BFA in Theatre. In addition to her work with the R.E.S.P.E.C.T.2 program, Haley does issue-education through theatre with the Camp Fire Girls and Boys of America.
Haley's favorite roles include Irene in The Dresser recently performed at the Blue Barn Theatre, Omaha, Babe in Crimes of the Heart which was her BFA project at Creighton University, and Rosannah in Brilliant Traces also at Creighton University.
Haley finds inspiration through volunteer work at her church and workshops and camps for children and young adults.
Kay Vivian
Kay Vivian has been with the R.E.S.P.E.C.T.2 Program for 7 years. She has performed in many local theatre productions. Some of her personal favorites are Scotland Road and Dracula at the Omaha Community Playhouse, The Beautiful Sisters at The Blue Barn Theatre and Picnic at The Bellevue Little Theatre.
She has also acted in many commercials including Nebraska Furniture Mart, Godfather's Pizza and Cox Communications. Some of her other credits include a starring role in a music video for Saddle Creek Records specifically for the band Cursive, and a featured role in the movie About Schmidt. She also runs a talent agency called Take-1 Talent where she has cast many local and regional commercials.
Kay would like to thank everyone who is a part of the R.E.S.P.E.C.T.2 Program and for the incredible experience and opportunity in which the organization has provided her.
Holly Fix
Holly Fix originally hails from the Los Angeles area and has lived in the midwest since 1998. Since her first acting gig in 4th grade, she has been almost constantly involved in community and school-affiliated productions, and is an alumna of the award-winning Tri-School Theatre Conservatory in Anaheim, CA. In college, she enjoyed working both onstage and backstage, and completed a concentration in technical theater. She was also an actor/educator for the HIV/AIDS education program, REACHOUT.
Holly received her B.A. in Theater from Creighton University in 2002 and did graduate work in Biology at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. In addition to her work with R.E.S.P.E.C.T.2, Holly occasionally teaches biology classes at Metropolitan Community College. As a new mom, Holly particularly enjoys working with the preschool-aged children and feels ever more grateful to be part of the work that R.E.S.P.E.C.T.2 does to help teach kids kindness and respect for each other.
Ashley Spessard
Ashley graduated from the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 2007 with her degree in Theatre. Ashley has acted in several area productions including The Crucible at the Omaha Community Playhouse, Love's Labour's Lost with the Nebraska Shakespeare Festival, and Hamlet and Tartuffe at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. This past year, Ashley was named the 2007-2008 Outstanding Undergraduate Student in Theatre at UNO.
In addition to her work with R.E.S.P.E.C.T.2, Ashley has worked for several summers with the Nebraska Shakespeare Festival's Camp Shakespeare Program and in 2007 developed the curriculum for a middle school theatre camp with UNO's AIM for the Stars.
Sean Carlson
Sean is entering his first year with R.E.S.P.E.C.T.2 An Omaha native, he is currently a student at the University of Nebraska Omaha and will graduate in December with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre. While at UNOmaha Sean has enjoyed being a part of The Birds, Art, Our Country’s Good, and Hamlet. After his graduation in December Sean is looking forward to a professional theatre career.
Sean has spent the last two summers on stage with Nebraska Shakespeare and has acted with the Blue Barn’s Witching Hour in the past including a favorite show of his Grimm Reaping.
Shannon Jackson
Shannon is originally from Hastings, NE, where she worked with the Sunny D's, a peer outreach program that worked with the Red Cross to educate students on healthy lifestyle choices, and REACHOUT, which used theatre to tell the stories of Nebraskans that had been affected by HIV and AIDS. In Omaha she has acted in productions at UNO (where she will eventually earn her BA in Theatre), the Nebraska Shakespeare Festival, and the Omaha Community Playhouse. She also enjoys designing costumes and props, and has done so for The Witching Hour, Brigit St Brigit, The Omaha Moving Company, UNO's FAUST, and the Henry Doorly Zoo's butterfly house fundraiser.