"I thank my lucky stars for such an amazingly well-rounded education I got and officially I can say that I apply it to my work EVERY SINGLE DAY - building sets, costuming understudies, making props, networking, recalling some obscure reference to theatrical antiquity, or even how to efficiently throw an opening night party (didn't think they taught that at school did you?)" -- Ben Calvert '02.
Evan Kasprzak - BFA Music Theatre '10 is best known for finishing third on Season 5 of Fox's hit dance show "So You Think You Can Dance;" Broadway and Paper Mill Playhouse production of Disney's "Newsies" (Elmer); New Theatre in Kansas City Joseph...Dreamcoat (Brother/Asst. Choreographer) and the ill-fated revival of the Sherman Brothers' "Over Here!" at the Saban Theatre, Beverly Hills.
Bryonha Parham – BFA Music Theatre '07 (most recently on Broadway in "The Gershwin's Porgy and Bess" [Serena]; "Ragtime" [Sarah's Friend] on Broadway and at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Seaside Music Theatre's productions of "Crowns," other credits include "Civil War" in Gettysburg, PA)
Richard Jenkins '69 of Cumberland, Rhode Island, was nominated for an Academy Awardas best actor for his starring role in The Visitor. Jenkins has more than 80 screen credits including Hannah and Her Sisters, Flirting With Disaster, There's Something about Mary, and The Mod Squad. He also starred in HBO's series, Six Feet Under
Frankie R. Faison - BA actor'79 (many TV [2010 The Good Wife, 2009 Grey's Anatomy] and film roles including "Coming to America," "The Silence of the Lambs," "Hannibal" and "Red Dragon," "True Colors," "Freejack," "Maximum Overdrive," "Prey." He also starred in HBO's series, The Wire). 2003 IWU Alumni Guest Artist
Kevin Dunn- BA '77 actor (many TV and film roles including the Transformer franchise, Nixon, Dave, Hot Shots!, Mad Love, The Beach Boys: An American Family, The Path to 9/11, Live Free or Die, Gridiron Gang. Most recently he can be seen on ABC's Samantha Who? starring Christine Applegate. His sister is actor/comedian Nora Dunn. 2008 IWU Alumni Guest Artist.
Bill Damaschke - BFA Music Theatre '86 Bill Damaschke is the President of DreamWorks Theatrical and co-president of production, DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. Damaschke joined Old DreamWorks Studios in 1995 and he worked his way up to president in little over a decade. He's been integrally involved with animated films including: Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Madagascar and Madagascar 2, Kung Fu Panda, Monster vs. Aliens, Shrek and it's sequels, and Shark Tales. In addition, Damaschke is the Executive Producer of How to Train a Dragon, Shrek Forever After, Megamind, and Puss and Boots.
Frank Vlastnik - BFA Music Theatre '87 (A Year With Frog and Toad, Sweet Smell of Success and Big, Stephen Sondheim's Saturday Night, Kander & Ebb's new All About Us and I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change! Co-author of Broadway Musicals: The 101 Greatest Shows of All Time)
Amanda Dehnert - BFA Music Theatre '94; freelance director, musical theatre professor at Northwestern (former Artistic Director of Trinity Rep, recently directed The Fantasticks for Arena Stage, other recent credits include Lookingglass, Arena, Oregon Shakespeare and the Stratford Shakespeare Festivals. She is currently teaching MT at Northwestern University. 2010 IWU Alumni Guest Artist.
Lisa Karlin - BFA Music Theatre '05 currently in Chess as Florence at the Arvada Center in Colorado. Previously, The Addams Family on Broadway (Ancestor/ Wednesday u/s). Recent credits include Sunset Blvd. in Portland, the 2009 Broadway revival of Ragtime, Cats at Sacremento Music Circus and the MUNY as well as Evita and Chicago.
Elizabeth Auman - BFA Theatre '91. Managing director of TImeLine Theatre in Chicago, IL. Prior to that she was the General Manager at Victory Gardens Theatre. She has also held positions at Chicago Shakespeare and DePaul University's Blackstone Theatre (now the Merle Reskin Theatre.). She has also served on the Board at Straw Dog Theatre and Step Right Up Productions.
Case
y Erin Clark - BFA Music Theatre '04 actor/pianist (currently 25th Anniversary National Tour of Les Miserables (Fantine u/s; Ensemble) Off-Broadway: Frankenstein with Hunter Foster, Shout! the mod musical, Friends Like Theses, Her Song. Regional: Little Women, Spitfire Grill, Into the Woods, Joseph..Dreamgirl, Cats, Big River, State Fair, City of Angels, Jeckyll and Hyde, Oklahoma!). 2009 IWU Alumni Guest Artist.
Penny Ayn Maas - BFA MT '87 (Cabaret [Broadway, Roundabout Revival, 1998] Fritzie (Kit Kat Girl), Texas (Kit Kat Girl), Fraulein Kost; Swingtime Canteen [Off-Broadway, Original Off-Broadway Production, 1995] Performer; Damn Yankees [Broadway, Broadway Revival, 1994] Betty/Hi-Tone; Crazy for You [Broadway, Original Broadway Production, 1992] Betsy/Patsy (Understudy). 2012 IWU Alumni Guest Artist.
Elizabeth Laidlaw - BFA actor '93 Elizabeth Laidlaw has worked in the professional theatre in Chicago for 18 years. Acting credits include work with Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Writer's Theatre, Chicago Dramatists Workshop, The Next Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Court Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, About Face Theatre, Running With Scissors, Lifeline Theatre, Bailiwick Repertory, Strawdog Theatre Company, Pegasus Players (Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Supporting Actress "The Kentucky Cycle") and Angels In America with The Journeymen, (5 Jeff Awards including Best Production & Ensemble.) Her regional credits include A Servant of Two Masters and Mrs. Warren's Profession (Irish Classical Theatre Company, Buffalo NY) and The Birthday Party (American Repertory Theatre, Cambridge MA.) Ms. Laidlaw is the Artistic Director and Founder of Lakeside Shakespeare Theatre, producing or co-producing every season, as well as acting and/or directing each season. She was the producer of the long-running award winning late night show The Hick, the Spic and the Chick as well as producing 5 seasons of The Crossing Boundaries Playwrights Festival for Strawdog Theatre. Film/TV credits include the feature films "Into the Wake," "Eastern College," "Dimension," "Three Days" as well as "T*U*R*K*S" and "The Chicago Code." Her voice can be heard in numerous television commercials, audiobooks, and video games.
Mariann Mayberry - BA actor '86 has been an ensemble member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company since 1993. While at Steppenwolf she was nominated for a Jeff Award for Actress in a Supporting Role in a Play for" Time of My Life," and again for Actress in a Principal Role in a Play for" Hysteria," directed by John Malkovich. She originated the role of Karen Weston in Tracy Letts' multi-award-winning "August: Osage Country" - Steppenwolf/Broadway/London's West End. Other credits include: "Time to Burn," "Space," "A Fair Country," "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," "The Pain and the Itch," "Love Song," "The Diary of Anne Frank" all for Steppenwolf and "The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci," "The Odyssey," and "Mirror of the Invisible World" all at the Goodman Theatre; "How I Learned to Drive," at Northlight Theater and Alliance Theatre; "Metamorphoses," "Argonautika," and "The Master and Margarita" all at the Lookingglass Theatre; "Proof" at Virginia Stage Company and "The Time of Your Life" at Seattle and San Francisco Theatres.
Matt Raftery - BFA Music Theatre '95 recent credits include Marriott Theatre "Legally Blonde," "42nd Street," "A Chorus Line" (Larry), "All Shook Up" (Dean), "The Producers," "Shenandoah," "Grease" (Roger), "State Fair" (Wayne), "Oliver!" (Artful Dodger), "A Funny Thing...Forum" (Hero) and "Beauty and the Beast" (Le Fou). He has appeared on Broadway in "Beauty and the Beast" and in the national tour of "Show Boat." Other Chicago credits include "Footloose" (Ren) and "Joseph...Dreamcoat" (Joseph) at Theatre at the Center, Curtains (Randy), "Miss Saigon" and "Meet Me In St. Louis" (Lon) at the Drury Lane Oakbrook Theatre and "Peter Pan" (Peter Pan) at Chicago Shakespeare. Matt directed and choreographed "Guys and Dolls" at the Marriott, as well as Theatre for Young Audiences shows "Sleeping Beauty" and "Aladdin." He also choreographed "The Music Man" (Jeff Nomination), "The Bowery Boys" (Jeff Nomination), "My Fair Lady" and "Les Miserables.
Christina Moore – BFA Music Theatre '95 comic actor recently on HBO's True Blood and Disney's Jessie, (recurring roles on MADtv impersonating Christina Aguilera among others), Hawthorne, That '70s Show, Two and Half Men, The Bad Girl's Guide, 24, Just Shoot Me, Friends, Suddenly Susan as well as stage musicals like Annie, Cinderella and Big River. Founding member of Bitches Funny, an all-female sketch comedy group, she appeared in Stuff magazine in 2005)
Brian Bogin – BFA Tech/Design '99 (Proud AEA Stage Manager currently stage managing "War Horse" at Lincoln Center Theatre; other Broadway credits include "The People in the Picture," "Elf," "Rent," "Good Vibrations," "Wicked," "The Phantom of the Opera" - (Broadway and tour); Spamalot (tour), Wicked (Chicago), Urinetown (tour), White Christmas (Boston). Regional: Robin & the 7 Hoods (Old Globe Theatre). Off-Broadway: The Toxic Avenger Musical, WPA Theatre, Classic Stage Company and Primary Stages
Amy Arbizzani - BFA Music Theatre '98 First national Tour of "The Light in the Piazza" (Swing/Signora cover); NYC credits: "Seasons, the musical" (Mrs. Jones); "Theodore & Co." (Mrs. Sapphire Blissett); "The Legacy" (reading - Marisia); "Warsaw (concert version - Helena); Chicago/ Regional: "The Light in the Piazza" Franca & Signora covers/Ens) - Goodman Theatre; "Les Miserables" (Old Beggar Woman/Ens.) - Marriott Theatre; "Parade" (Lucille Frank-received a Jeff Award forOutstanding Actress in a Musical) - Bailiwick Repertory & Mercury Theatre; "Anything Goes" (Reno Sweeney) - Summer Place Theatre; "Evita" (Eva Peron) - Fox Country Theatre; "The King and I" (Anna Lenowens) - George Papp Theatre; "Footloose!" (Vi Moore) -Summer Place Theatre; "The Christmas Schooner" (Alma Stossel) - Bailiwick Repertory Theatre; "Jekyl & Hyde" (Lucy Harris) - Pheasant Run Dinner Theatre; "The Secret Garden" (Rose).
Kevin Schuering - BFA Music Theatre '09 most recently "Miss Saigon," Ast. Commissar/Ensemble at Ogunquit Playhouse; Disney's "Aladdin," Male Swing (3 tracks) at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre; "The King and I," Kralahome & u/s King at Dutch Apple; "The King and I," Kralahome & u/s King at Bway Palm; "Man of La Mancha," Inkeeper Theo Ubique; "Thoroughly Modern Millie," (RP) Bun Foo at Timberlake Playhouse; "Apocalypse Story," (WP) Allen at Capitol Fringe; "High School Musical," at Maples Rep; "The First Noel," (WP) at Maples Rep and "Gifts, Greens, and Evergreens," Bob/Joe at Maples Rep
Nic Dimond, BA '93 - Actor/Director returned to Chicago's Strawdog Theatre Company in the fall of 2002 for their 15th-season opener: a bold, new interpretation of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar." He was joined by Carm Grisolia '91 as Octavius and Shannon Hoag '00 as Portia. Bel Calvert '02 functioned as the play's dramaturg. He directed Lonnie Carter's" Ring-o-Levio" at Victory Gardens in the spring of 2003. In the summer of 2003, the Strawdog hired Nic to helm the Company as Artistic Director. Dimond has refined the way the Company runs and strengthened the Board of Directors. He has continued to push the ensemble in new and challenging artistic directions, including the creation of original material, the use of live music and elevating the design elements to match the acting sophistication inside the ensemble
D. William Duell '49 of NYC, appeared as a retired scientist, Klinglehoff, in a production of Steve Martin's The Underpants (March to May 2002), which garnered great reviews and sold out for its entire run. Duell was also busy with television work, including a promo for the Comedy Central cable channel and a role in an episode of the NBC series Ed that ran in October. He also filmed a scene with actor Matthew McConaughey for the film How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. To start out 2003, Duell returned to the stage to take on the role of the Caretaker in Comedians, an English play about a school for comedians. The show had a limited run through February at the Beckett Theatre.
James Sutorius '67 of Sherman Oaks, CA, was cast to star in the world premiere of a play by Arthur Laurents, who penned The Way We Were and Gypsy. Titled 2 Lives, the play ran through April 12, 2003 at Boston's Lyric Stage Company, and had a September run at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in NYC.
Harlan Hogan '68 of Chicago, IL, is a very successful voice-over actor. You may have heard his voice in radio and TV commercials for companies such as Kraft, Cadillac, Ameritech, McDonald's, and Budweiser. His voice is also heard on educational films, movie trailers, and recorded books.
Alison Vesely '79 of Clarendon Hills, IL, launched her own theatre company, First Folio Shakespeare Festival, in Chicago's western suburbs. They produced Vesely's adaptation of Antigone and Twelfth Night, which was Jeff Recommended. Audiences range between 5,000 and 6,000 per summer season, from all over the country. They also produce 4-5 educational touring productions each fall. A large building on the Peabody Estate (where they produce their shows) is currently being renovated by the DuPage County Forest Preserve into a Performing Arts Center, which will be their permanent year-round home. During the summer of 2003 they produced The Comedy of Errors. Projected productions for Summer, 2004 are Hamlet and A Midsummer Night's Dream. Their web address is www.firstfolio.org. Larry Neumann Jr. '81 of Chicago, was featured August 2002 in Performink, Chicago's bi-weekly entertainment trade paper. The article focused on Neumann's "omnipresent" career on the Chicago stage, "with a talent for humanizing a range of off-kilter characters." In addition to his theatre work, Neumann has appeared in numerous film and TV productions.
Lisa Marie Gigante D'Amico '87 recently got the chance to reprise one of her favorite roles in the Theatre Conspiracy production of Sylvia, a comedy about a stray dog (played by D’Amico) that changes the dynamics of a marriage. The production ran for two weeks in August at the Foulds Theatre in Fort Myers, Fla. Half of all of the ticket sales for Sylvia were donated to the Animal Refuge Center. D’Amico has performed many times with the Theatre Conspiracy, as well as other Fort Myers area troupes, and occasionally sings professionally.