Staff
Madi Distefano - Co-Artistic Director - Madi, MFA Temple,  is the founding artistic director of Brat. She founded the company in 1996 as a means of making theatre more accessible to a new generation. She produced, acted, directed and wrote for Brat for 13 seasons before resigning to be a resident artist and pursue her freelance acting and directing work with other companies. Brat Directing credits include A 24 HOUR THE BALD SOPRANO, HAUNTED POE, EYE-95 RE-TARRED She is an eight time Barrymore Nominee in five categories, and winner of Outstanding Actress (EDEN). Her one-woman show, POPSICLE’S DEPARTURE, 1989 won both a Fringe First for new writing and Best Solo Show of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. 

Lee Etzold Daub - Co-Artistic Director - Lee is a Philadelphia-based theatre artist who has also worked in the UK, Spain, Czech Republic, and regionally in the United States.  She has created original work with OBIE award-winning physical theatre companies, New Paradise Laboratories (founding member),  Pig Iron Theatre Company, and with famed clown Bill Irwin for which she received a Barrymore Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in The Happiness Lecture.  She was also awarded a Barrymore for Outstanding Ensemble for The Comedy of Errors at the Lantern Theatre Co., and was a finalist for the Haas award for Emerging Artists.  She received a BA in Theatre Arts and a BA in English from Virginia Tech, worked as an Administrator and Assistant Program Director for the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival, and participated in the Directors Lab at Lincoln Centre Theater.  She has directed and choreographed new and scripted work for Brat Productions, New Paradise Laboratories, Arden Theatre Co., Lantern Theatre, Drexel Players, Philly Young Playwrights, and creates and produces her own work as MyKindaPony.  Lee has taught at University of the Arts, Temple University and has acted as an educator, collaborator and creative consultant for Whitebox Theatre and the National Constitution Centre in Philadelphia.
Melissa Rodis - General Manager - 

Resident Artists
Jess Conda has been working in Philadelphia as an actor, administrator and teaching artist since 2003. With Brat Productions, she has appeared onstage in Moby Dick--Rehearsed, Grease and Desist, Eye 95: Re-tarred, A 24 Hour The Bald Soprano, Haunted Poe and Carrie. As Production Manager: A 24 Hour The Bald Soprano ('10), Naked Cocktail ('08). As Stage Manager: Popsicle's Departure, 1989 (Philadelphia, NYC, Edinburgh and Glasgow premieres).  Jess received a Barrymore Award nomination for Outstanding Ensemble in A 24 Hour The Bald Soprano, and also for Pay Up with Pig Iron Theatre Company. Other acting credits include work with Shakespeare in Clark Park, Flashpoint Theatre Company, The Walnut Street Theatre, Cabaret Red Light, Revival Burlesque and The Martha Graham Cracker Cabaret. BFA: Arcadia University.
 
Erik Ransom is an actor, composer and playwright who splits his time between the stages of New York and Philadelphia. He is an alum of the Walnut St. Theatre Dorothy Haas Acting Apprenticeship Program, has a B.A. in vocal music performance from TCNJ, and has studied private voice with Jerome Hines and Enrico DiGiuseppe. Erik originated the role of Rodney in the ongoing Off-Broadway production of "My Big Gay Italian Wedding", and has starred in "Naked Cocktail" and "Carrie" with Brat Productions. Shortly after closing "Carrie", Erik was able to fulfill the lifelong dream of starring in a musical of his own design, which happened in the form of "Coming: A Rock Musical of Biblical Proportions" for which Ransom wrote the book, lyrics and music. It played at the Prince Music Theatre to rave reviews and packed houses in January 2011. Erik is in the process of planning and preparing for the New York premiere of "Coming". For more on Erik Ransom and his artistic endeavors, please visit reverbnation.com/erikransom for more information on "Coming: A Rock Musical of Biblical Proportions".