Honor our Feast of Crispian cast members - help meet their needs with an actors’ stipend on opening night
Military veteran actors and an FoC staff prompter perform an explosive scene from our original drama, “And Comes Safe Home”. The 2019 update of the play kicks off the First National Veterans Theater Festival on Thursday, May 23 at 7:30pm.
Sponsor a veteran/actor
And Comes Safe Home 2019 has the biggest cast to date for our full production. This year, for the First National Veterans Theater Festival, we have an amazing group making great sacrifices while addressing the tedious work of rehearsing a play. Most of them have a disability designation and many of them are un-employed or under-employed. They also make long drives from out of town for meetings, rehearsals and the shows.
We ask you to sponsor one or more of our cast members to ease the financial burden of the And Comes Safe Home project. We’ll use your generous donation to pay these men and women a stipend for the week of the Festival.
For $150.00 you can support one of our wonderful veteran actors complete this life saving project. We will accept any donation – just let us know who you care to support and if you want to be recognized.
Thank you for serving those who served us so faithfully!
Please visit our Gofundme page and make a donation now.
Here’s the cast list:
Bill Martin
Bill has been in every one of our full productions. His big voice and tall stature make him unmistakable on stage! Bill had major back surgery last Fall and has been working to catch up after two months off of work.
Bob Balderson
Bob has been a great friend to FoC since he joined us in 2016 for the first And Comes Safe Home. He served a full career in the Army and is a Vietnam veteran. As an officer, Bob brought his Unit “safe home” and is deeply involved in veteran well being.
Carissa DiPietro
On 100% disability, Carissa is still the backbone of our productions, keeping her cast mates on task and watching out for the ones having a hard day. She has been the only female vet in our last three productions.
Charlie Walton
Charlie joined FoC a year ago and this is his first production with us. A Vietnam combat veteran, Charlie has worked hard to heal himself and now brings his spirit to the job of helping others find healing. Disabled.
Denise Bleakly
Denise is helping Carissa amplify the voice of women veterans. She is disabled and also works for the VA. We are expecting great things from her in the future!
Grant Larson
Grant has been a cherished member of our organization for over three years but this is his first go at a full production. Grant drives an hour round trip to make rehearsals. He does this with disability.
Jeff Peterson
Jeff is our most distinguished member as he not only has been in all of our full productions, but has been a FoC member since our inaugural weekend in the VA in 2013! Jeff also makes a long drive from Racine County.
Larry Reed
Larry is a Vietnam combat veteran who has been with FoC a little less than a year. Larry sings like an angel and has added his voice to this production along with his powerful stories.
Mark Ard
Mark recently joined our FoC staff and makes his acting debut with ACSH – 2019. Mark is a Marine vet who served in Fallujah. He is dedicated to making the transition home, work for veterans and bring them “home safe” in all ways. Disabled.
Mike Keppert – Mike is recognizable to FoC audiences from all our productions including playing the title role in our 2017 production of Othello, where he was an actor-hero, taking over the entire play when a second Othello had to drop out. Mike is a disabled vet.
Michael Pikuleff
Michael served during peace time before Vietnam and therefore is our “Elder”! His good spirits and kindness is a gift to the cast – especially on those long days!
Raymond Hubbard
Raymond joined us for the first go-around of And Comes Safe Home and his story is integral to our story of the veteran’s journey home. Raymond is fiercely dedicated to his veteran brothers and sisters. He drives two hours round trip to rehearsal, which he juggles with his, also fierce, dedication to his family. FoC audiences will know that Raymond has an amazing (dis?-abled) story.
Ronnie Graham
A BFA acting graduate from UWM and a Navy veteran, Ronnie brings an energy and dedication that is the heart of FoC. A widower with four kids, Ronnie drives from Chicago to be a part of ACSH! Ronnie makes this long drive to be in every FoC production.
Tim Schleis
Alphabetically last but Tim has become integral to the FoC mission. A career Army Vet, Tim struggled to find his place back in civilian society and now finds his place with FoC, supporting his veteran brothers and sisters as well as trauma survivors in other communities in Milwaukee. Here is our soul. Tim says yes to every opportunity to impact people in need and drives an hour round trip every day to do it.
Jordan Watson, FoC’s prompter
We would also like to ask one additional financial favor. One of the most unique and wonderful things about our productions is our magnificent prompter. As far as we know, Jordan Watson is the only professional prompter in the theater world and truly, she makes it possible for the veterans to stand before hundreds of people in the lights and tell their stories with confidence. Without Jordan, PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury would make this experience nearly impossible for these men and women. We would love to have a special sponsorship for our Professional Feast of Crispian Prompter, as she begins to write curriculum for her work so that who stands on stage and makes story come alive is no longer limited to those who can memorize lines.
