Quick Chat: Kenadi Tossing

Meet one of our fabulous new Assistant House Managers - Kenadi Tossing! From performing theater, teaching dance and having an innate love for people - Kenadi brings layers of experience to this fun and interactive role at APT. Read on to learn more!

APT: Hi, Kenadi! How is team House Staff so far this summer?
Kenadi: Hello hello!! Things are going SO well so far this summer! We have a wonderful team of folks on House Staff who are excellent at what they do, and embrace the heat, rain, wildlife, and whatever else Mother Nature likes to throw at us :)

APT: You are all so incredible! So Kenadi, you are new to this role this year. What has your career looked like leading up to APT?
Kenadi: I've had a passion for theater since I was a kid, but I graduated from UW- La Crosse in 2024 with a degree in Theatre Performance and Dance. Since then, I have done various choreography and directing projects at many local school districts. I also grew up working in the restaurant industry as a teenager and throughout college, so I like to say that house staff/ house management is a perfect blend of all my theater and customer service skills. Last summer, I had a blast working on the house staff so I was very excited when Dan asked me to come back as Assistant House Manager this summer!

APT: It sounds like you have a great foundation for this kind of work! So, what exactly does an Assistant House Manager do?
Kenadi: In a nutshell, we are here to support patrons in any way we can once you are here at the theater. We oversee our house staff team who do a lot of things such as drive shuttles, scan tickets, guide in the parking lot, pick up trash, distribute assisted listening devices, operate closed captioning, assist in ticketing or accessibility situations, and much more! My duties specifically also entail setting our amazing volunteer ushers up for success every night. (Shoutout to our ushers, they are a very important part of the team!!) Honestly, a lot of our job is just being ready for anything! Every day is different when you're supporting up to a thousand patrons up the hill.

APT: It sounds like this role brings you a lot of joy! What is your favorite part of your position?
Kenadi: My favorite part of my job is getting to hear all the stories from patrons who have been coming for years or even decades! Many of whom now bring their kids and/or grandkids along to continue the tradition. This is only my second summer working at APT, so it brings me a lot of joy to not only connect with patrons, but to learn more about the legacy and rich history of APT before my time.

My second favorite part is all my lovely coworkers!! Everyone on staff I have had the pleasure of interacting with, regardless of department, has been so kind, supportive, and welcoming, which I am very grateful for. I believe that good people make better art!

APT: Good people also make great memories! Do you have a favorite APT memory thus far?
Kenadi: This is a tough one, as I have so many good memories, even just from my short time here so far. One of my favorites from this summer is when they first started bringing the Tony up the hill for everyone to see and experience. We got to keep it in our information booth for safe keeping during the performance. We (the house staff) were so excited to be "babysitting" Tony and had the cutest little photo shoot with her in the booth!!

It really is hard to pick just one though because like I said before, our team is full of wonderful people and they make me smile and laugh every day! <3

APT: As always, let's end on a fun one. House Staff is known for being the champions of the outdoors. From weather to animals, you see it all. What have been some of the best/worst moments you've experienced?
Kenadi: Oh goodness, even just in the last year and a half we have had a TON of wildlife in and around the theater. Everything from bats in the booth and rain shelters, deer in the picnic area and shuttle driving road, rabbits in the bathrooms and quick change, howling with the wolves at the dumpsters, giant moths, wasps, turkeys, baby turtles- you name it, we've probably seen it and gently encouraged them back into the woods. :) Thankfully I've always been a big outdoors lover, so I have a lot of fun existing among all the woodland creatures!