Greater Chicago Area
Having over 30 years' experience in the theater as an administrator, producer, director, casting director, teacher, and actor, I know I can bring a diverse and unique perspective to any professional theater position. My objective is to pursue administrative opportunities in dynamic and challenging atmospheres where I can help the arts flourish in their respective communities. I am convinced that I can help take each organization, show, or individual I have the opportunity to work with to the next level in theater arts. While I love producing everything from plays and musicals to concerts and family programming, one area of great interest to me is new works. I have produced everything from new musicals and plays to cabarets, memory pieces, and historical dialogues, all exploring thought-provoking issues in a variety of manners. My philosophy of directing is to always respect the individual artist; to develop an ensemble among all the actors, designers and technicians for each project; to establish an environment that encourages and celebrates exploration and discovery; and to produce the highest quality experience and production possible each time I direct. My philosophy of teaching is to provide a safe environment for my students to explore their craft, to encourage innovative and original choices, and to provide the students with the tools necessary to create honest and well-rounded characters. I love to act because it offers me the opportunity to reinvent myself in countless ways, all the while delving into the psyches of individuals written by some of the greatest or most obscure playwrights and composers spanning centuries of time. It is a gift that I feel compelled to share with my community as a means to offer understanding of our plight as humans in this world – to bring the community together for a short time, whether it is to laugh or to cry or to be educated or to be enlightened.
I am an adjunct professor of On-Camera Acting, Improvisation, Images of Women in Drama, and Acting Fundamentals classes for majors, minors and theatre appreciation students at Dominican University and have directed several university theatrical productions.
The Midwest Arts XPO (MAX) is an arts conference created by Heartland Performing Arts, Inc., a nonprofit organization, which brings together arts professionals to encourage innovation, create educational opportunities, strengthen artist touring relationships, and support arts advocacy throughout the central United States. The organization was founded by agents, artists, and state consortia leaders from Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin, and beyond. As the Administrative Assistant for the MAX conference, I serve on committees for Showcases, Professional Development, Mentorships, and act as a production manager for the opening and closing Plenary sessions.
As a Production Manager, I provided daily oversight of all production needs across the organization, including creating and managing production schedules, calendars, contracts, weekly payroll, meetings for Production and all Main Stage productions and assisting in creating and maintaining annual production budgets; supervising, leading, and managing the production Stage Managers and Assistant Stage Managers and direct reports; onboarding actors, directors, designers, and creative teams in implementing MPAC policies and procedures; setting design guidelines and deadlines for creative teams and designers and ensuring on-time deliverables completion; and serving as the communication conduit across all production teams and MPAC departments.
As Casting Director for Metropolis Casting, I was responsible for the casting all season shows at Metropolis PAC. I also assisted with casting for other theatres and organizations through Metropolis Casting such as Arlington Heights' Suburban Chicago's Got Talent contest, Citadel Theatre, and Encore Musical Theatre Company. I attended all Chicago showcases, recruited new talent, and managed season generals auditions, which culminated in seeing 1400+ new artists each year. I am a SDC director that has directed many shows at Metropolis since 2004, and was also the Lead Artistic Associate since 2017.
I was a private acting coach and teacher at Metropolis and have taught students from ages 2-93 in all areas of acting training. One of my favorite programs that I started was the Acting Through Life series, which is an acting program designed for adults 55+ who are either just being introduced to acting for the first time or are seasoned professionals.
As Executive Producer/Production Manager, I served to ensure the company’s overall growth and diversity, both in hiring and artistic endeavors. As Executive Producer, I was responsible for overseeing the Williams Street Repertory (AEA) and Raue Center School For the Arts productions, helping create and maintain new systems, building out Williams Street Repertory and Raue Center School For the Arts artistically through the establishment of new roles, assisting with marketing plans/visions, and contributing to season building.
Director for "Emma! A Pop Musical", by Eric Price (2019); "Love Letters", by A. R. Gurney (2018); "First Date", book by Austin Winsberg and Music & Lyrics by Alan Zachary & Michael Weiner (2017); Chicago premiere of "Tenderly: The Rosemary Clooney Musical" by Janet Yates Vogt & Mark Friedman (2016).