Bios of Faculty & Staff

Jason Epperson (Production Coordinator)

Jason is a freelance lighting designer, technical director, production manager, and producer throughout the Midwest. Jason’s lighting work has been seen in concerts such as; The Men and Their Music starring Ron Hawking, As Long as I’m Singing - the Music of Bobby Darin staring Dennis Tufano of the Buckinghams, Come Fly With Me at the Mercury Theater, Foghat, Molly Hatchet, and The Gin Blossoms (festival tours), in theater productions such as; The Secret Garden for Porchlight, The Buddy Holly Story at the Mercury Theater, Ghost Watch for Polarity, Miss Saigon with Night Blue Theater, Dance performances for the Joel Hall Dancers, and Architectural lighting work for The McCormick Freedom Museum, the flagship McDonald’s, The Lincoln Park Zoo, The Chicago Policeman’s Memorial and many, many, more. Jason has worked as production manager and technical director for numerous commercial theater productions in Chicago and served four years as technical director and then general manager of the Mercury Theater. Jason studied lighting at Columbia College Chicago, and has studied management and producing at the Commercial Theater Institute.

Doreen Feitelberg (Voice)

B.A., English, Classics, University of the Witwatersrand; Speech, Drama, University of South Africa; Speech, Drama Teaching Licentiate, Trinity College, London; voice and acting coach, actor; Joseph Jefferson Award Committe Member; author of The Sound of Voices; awarded Honorary Life Vice-President of the South African College of Speech and Drama Teachers.

 

 

 

 

Kirsten Fitzgerald (Acting)

is a proud ensemble member of A Red Orchid Theatre; she was most recently seen there in The Sea Horse, for which she has been nominated for a Joseph Jefferson Award.   Over the summer you may have seen her at the Royal George Theatre, in Leaving Iowa and later this fall you can catch her up at Next Theatre Co, in Christopher Durang's Miss. Witherspoon.  At Columbia Kirsten teaches Voice I, Acting I:Basic Skills and Acting I:Scene Study.   She also teaches at Acting Studio Chicago and manages Thresholds Theatre Arts Project; a project commited to sharing the rarely heard artistic voices of people living with mental illness.

Mark Fleischer (Styles and Crafts)

Mark serves as the Producing Artistic Director of the Adirondack Theatre Festival (ATF) in Glens Falls, New York.  ATF is a professional summer theatre focusing on new and contemporary works.  Prior to ATF Mark served for eight years as the Artistic Director of Plano Repertory Theatre in suburban Dallas, Texas.  As a director some of his favorite productions include Favorite projects before graduate school include A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, and The Tempest, revivals All My Sons, Not About Nightingales, Talley’s Folly, and The Diary of Anne Frank, musicals My Favorite Year, A Chorus Line, The Good Bye Girl, Passion, and Sunday in the Park with George and the regional premieres of The Only Thing Worse Your Could Have Told Me and Bash. He has also served as a guest director for Santa Clara university, the University of Texas at Dallas, The University of Michigan’s Gilbert and Sullivan Society. Mark holds an MFA in directing from the Theatre School at DePaul University and a BA in English Literature and Communication Arts from Austin College.

Linda Fortunato (Musical Theater Dance)

BFA Millikin University, Acting/Dance.  Freelance choreographer and actress.  Linda has choreographed shows for Marriott Theatre, Writers’ Theatre, Theatre at the Center, Timeline Theatre, Provision Theatre, New Tuners, Remy Bumppo, American Eagle Productions, Famous Door, and an Off-Broadway showcase for Daybreak Productions.  She has also choreographed for Loyola University, Elmhurst College, Millikin University and several Chicago-area high schools.  As an actress, Linda has worked with Marriott Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare, Drury Lane Oakbrook, Drury Lane Evergreen Park, Theatre at the Center, Chicago Dramatists, Fulton Opera and Peninsula Players.

Lillian Frances (Improvisational Techniques)

discovered improvisational theater as an undergrad at Northwestern University where she received a Bachelor of Science in Theater. Favorites include the iO house teams Frank Booth and JANE, and Close Quarters, POV, and Calendar Girls, all at the Second City e.t.c. Lillie assistant directed and performed in Amsterdam with Boom Chicago. Directing credits also include a Second City National Touring Company, the all women’s improv group Sirens, and various ensembles at iO (formerly ImprovOlympic) and The Playground. She was on the Core Faculty at the Second City Training Center for three years, and was a lead facilitator with Second City Business Communications. She currently owns Laugh Out Loud, a comedy theater in Schaumburg, and Chicago Comedy Company, which does corporate entertainment and training. She has been teaching improv at Columbia College since 2001.

Heather Gilbert (Lighting Design)

has been freelancing as a lighting designer for over 10 years.  In Chicago Heather’s designs have been seen on stage at the Court Theatre, Chicago Children’s Theatre, Steppenwolf, Lookingglass Theatre, About Face, Chicago Center for the Performing Arts, Gift Theatre, Griffin Theatre Company, Organic Theatre Company, Noble Fool Theatre, and Rivendell Theatre Company among others. Outside of Chicago Heather’s designs have been seen in London, LA, Seattle, and many others including theaters in Singapore, Houston, San Antonio, Louisiana.  As an assistant and associate designer Heather has transferred shows to Broadway and London.  Heather also participated in the National Endowment for the Arts/ Theatre Communications Group Career Development Program for Designers.  Heather holds an MFA from the Theatre School at DePaul University and did her undergraduate work at Trinity University.   

 

Jeffrey Ginsberg* (Acting and Voice)

He is a graduate of Boston University’s School of the Arts and the Yale School of Drama B.F.A- Boston University School of the Arts. As co-artistic Director of the National Jewish Theater for four years, he supervised, directed or acted in over twenty classics, as well as Chicago and world premieres. He was also co-artistic director of the Immediate Theater Company where he directed Jeff recognized productions of Seduced, Two Small Bodies, Apocalyptic Butterflies and Ragged Dick.  Recent projects include (as director): the world premiere of Alex Kotlowitz’s and Amy Dorn’s An Unobstructed View at Pegasus Player’s Theatre (co-directed with Susan Padveen) and (as performer/creator): Field House Lab’s inaugural production, Orpheus Now  at the City of Chicago’s Storefront Theatre. Jeff directed Morocco for Trap Door Theater, True West as the inaugural production of the Accidental Theater, The Pineapple Story for New Tuners Stages 2000, Caryl Churchill’s Ice Cream and Craig Lucas’ Blue Window for The School at Steppenwolf and two new plays for the Pegasus Players Young Playwrights Festival. Jeff received a Presidential Scholar in the Arts Teaching Award and has twice been nominated for an Excellence in Teaching Award from Columbia College.  Jeff Ginsberg spent the summer teaching with Susan Joy Padveen at the Columbia College High School Institute, and his fourth summer at The School at Steppenwolf.

Sean Graney (Styles and Crafts)

Sean Graney is the Artistic Director and Founder of The Hypocrites. Sean has directed most of The Hypocrites productions. He was born and raised in Boston. He received his BFA in Theater and Writing from Emerson College in Boston. He won a Joseph Jefferson Citation and After Dark Award as Director of Machinal by Sophie Treadwell. He was nominated for Joseph Jefferson Award a few times for adaptation, but never won. He is a current recipient of the NEA/TCG Career Development Program for Directors. He was called Chicago’s Best Avant-Garde Director by Chicago Magazine and Chicagoan of the Year (in Theater only) by the Chicago Tribune.  

John Hildreth (Improv Techniques)

Kristen Hill (Make-up)

B.A., Interdisciplinary Arts, Columbia College; freelance make-up artist and designer

Joe Janes (Improv Techniques, Acting )

is working on Conrad Brunst presents...DANSE MACABRE, an improvised show done in the style of 1930's and 40's horror films. It's the fifth mounting of the show. His company, Teatro Bastardo, does it every Halloween.  And there is usually a small run at Second City's cabaret space. This year, we're doing a six week run, three shows a week, at the Atheneum.  He also, has directed Some Jerk Stole Our Pants, a sketch comedy revue by Fool for Thought, presented at Donny’s Sky Box. 

Precious Jennings (Body Movement)

Christi Kerr (Musical Theater Dance)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tom Keiffer (Costume Construction/Design)

is the Costume Shop Foreman and teaches Costume Construction 1 and Costume Construction 2 at Columbia College.  He has worked for such Chicago area theaters as Chicago Shakespeare, The Goodman Theater, Writer’s Theater and City Lit Theater Company.  Nationally, Tom has worked for theater companies in New York, Massachusetts, Ohio, Michigan and Washington State. Of the over 100 shows that he has designed in his 25 year career, some of his favorites include Major Barbara (Columbia College), Hello Dolly!, Guys and Dolls, The Music Man, The Glass Menagerie, The Man Who Came To Dinner, Kiss Me Kate (Huron Playhouse), Our Town, Angel City, American Buffalo (Berkshire Public Theater), Tartuffe (City Lit Theater, Jeff Citation winner) The Importance of Being Earnest (City Lit Theater), Incident at Vichy and Fallen Angels (Writer’s Theater).

Lori Klinka (Acting)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Caroline Dodge Latta* (Acting)

Distinguished Professor of Theater. Ph.D. Theater, University of Illinois (Champaign);M.A. Theater, University of Illinois; B.A. Theater, University of Maine.  Former Academic Dean of Columbia. Former member of Joseph Jefferson Committee. Freelance actress. Recent projects include: a trip to Stratford, Ontario with a group of faculty and students to see five Shakespearean plays in three days--a wonderful exciting time full of play going, and talks with actors and directors.  In July she wrote an article for our own Columbia magazine, exploring with Barbara Robertson the role of Hermione in Shakespeare's Winter's Tale.  In August she made two conference presentations:  one at the 26th Annual Women & Theater Conference--she and Estelle Spector hosted nine Chicago women theater professionals in a Roundtable discussion on the opportunities/challenges the city has presented to these women.  She also presented at the American Theater Higher Education 20th Anniversary Conference as part of a panel on the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Acting. In November of 2007 she directed CCC’s first mainstage production of the season, Pack of Lies by Hugh Whitemore.

Elizabeth Lentz (Body Movement)

is happy to be in her 5th season with Lucky Plush Productions. She graduated magna cum laude from Carleton College with a BA in Religion and a Concentration in Women’s Studies. Elizabeth has toured France, Brazil, Mexico and the U.S. while dancing with Tennessee Dance Theater, Chicago Moving Company, Breakbone DanceCo., Mark Dendy, Cindy Brandle, Sheldon B. Smith, Sonje Mayo, Rachel Bunting, and many other amazing independent artists. Currently, she teaches in the Dance and Theater Departments of Columbia College Chicago, as well as at Loyola Academy.  Elizabeth also choreographs sketch comedy and leads workshops and retreats on Spirituality and Movement, including for the Pastoral Care Unit at Northwestern Hospital and First United Methodist Church in Evanston.  Each fall Elizabeth co-produces/curates The Other Dance Festival, proudly presenting many of Chicago's finest modern dance companies and choreographers.

Julie Lutgen (Department Receptionist)

is a Scenic and Costume Designer and most recently designed sets and costumes for Mending Dolls with Susan Philpot and The Box Theatre Group. She has also worked with Babes With Blades, Blackbird Productions, Flush Puppy Productions, Theo Ubique Theatre Company, Emerald City Theatre Company, TimeLine Theatre Company, Pegasus Players Theatre, the Duncan YMCA Chernin’s Center for the Arts, the Chicago Center for the Performing Arts, Chicago Opera Theatre, and Columbia College Chicago.B.A., Theater, Design Concentration, Columbia College; freelance set designer

Michael Maddux (Design Faculty)

Purdue University; freelance set designer

 

 

 

 

 

 

Jonathan Maestro (Staff Accompanist, Acting for Musical Theater)

Jonathan began at Columbia as a substitute accompanist for various musical theater classes and has been the musical director for many of Columbia’s past musicals. He is excited about continuing his work in the constant development of the Musical Theater Department and his opportunity to work with the diverse and passionate group of students.  Jonathan graduated from Northwestern in ’97 with an undergrad in theater and then traveled to Ireland where he received his masters in Irish theater at Trinity. Upon his return to Chicago, he began working with friends on a project called Barrel of Monkeys, an arts and education company, working with children in low-income areas around Chicago. Jonathan has also worked within the Chicago improv circuit, performing at places such as Second City, as well as with Chicago Children’s Theater, The Goodman, and The Neofuturists. 

Frances Maggio* (Costume Design)

M.F.A., Costume Design, DePaul University; freelance costume designer

Cyndi Maxey (Adjunct Instructor, Speaking Out)

CSP (Certified Speaking Professional since 2000 with National Speakers Association); MA Northwestern U. Communication Studies; B.A. Illinois State, Theatre Education.  A professional speaker, she has spoken in 38 states and authored over 75 published articles on communication and speaking. Cyndi is coauthor of five books, including the upcoming Speak UP for Women (St. Martin’s Press 2008) and Present Like a Pro, (July 2006, St. Martin's Press). Owner of Maxey Creative Inc. since 1989, she specializes in communication that drives profitable performance for her corporate and association clients. Cyndi has directed competitive speaking events, musicals, plays and readers theatres. A member of SAG/AFTRA, she has appeared in over 30 professional productions as well as many television and radio commercials, narrations, and industrials since 1982.

Ed Mazzocco (Department Administrative Assistant)

Full-time staff member at Columbia College since April, 1988: Records Office, Undergraduate Admissions and Bursar's Office. He has been with the Theater Dept since September, 1999.  Theater Dept Administrative Department Assistant.  BA in Journalism from Eastern Illinois University.  Staff reporter Charleston Times-Courier (IL).  Staff editor Daily Eastern News (IL).

Terry McCabe* (Directing)

M.F.A., Directing, Northwestern University; freelance director; author of Mis-Directing the Play

John McFarland (Stage Combat)

B.F.A., Theatre Performance, Wayne State University, M.F.A., Performance, Brandeis University; actor, fight director, Movement, Acting & Voice Coach; Co-Founder and former coordinator for Largest Regional Stage Combat Workshop in the nation, The Winter Wonderland Workshop John has been a Fight Director, Teacher or Actor in cities such as Boston, New York, London, Las Vegas, Chicago and Detroit. He's taught as a Guest Artist at University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa; British Academy of Stage and Screen Combat's National Workshop, London; Columbia College, Chicago; Impulse Studio Theatre, Chicago and New American Theatre, Rockford IL. Acting includes: regional theatre, commercials, industrials, trade shows and live training seminars. Favorite roles include: The Creature in Playing With Fire, John Brodie in Nicholas Nickleby, Little John in Robin Hood, Big Jule in Guys And Dolls, Alcippe in The Liar , King Henry in Henry IV Part 1 & 2 and Dr Treves in The Elephant Man.

Stacey Mitchell (Program Assistant, Musical Theater Performance)

A graduate of Columbia College Chicago with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Musical Theater Performance and Photography, Stacey Mitchell also earned her Associate of Arts degree in Liberal Arts from Point Park College in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. While working briefly with Chicago Children's Theater, she helped to organize a benefit production in conjunction with Broadway in Chicago. Stacey shoots photography freelance around the city, and is now the Program Assistant for the Musical Theater Performance BA and BFA programs at Columbia College Chicago.

Bradley Mott* (Acting)

B.S.S., Theater, Northwestern University; freelance actor

 

 

 

 

Tom Mula*(Acting, New Plays Workshop)

has been an award-winning playwright, actor, and director for nearly 30 years. He received 2 Joseph Jefferson Awards in 1991 for his play Golem at the National Jewish Theatre and for his work on Nicole Hollander's hit musical, Sylvia’s Real Good Advice.  In 1995, Adams Media published his novel Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol (the backstage version of Dickens' Scrooge story told by Marley's Ghost); it became a Chicago Tribune bestseller. The audio version was broadcast nationwide on NPR for six seasons; the play version received the prestigious Cunningham Prize from the Goodman School of Drama at Depaul. It premiered at Chicago's Goodman Theatre and received an After Dark Award. Since then, it has been performed at more than 50 theatres across the country and in Canada. Mula's Almighty Bob, a “heavenly fantasy,” premiered at Peninsula Players in Wisconsin, and has had several successful productions. His most recent work, W!, a cabaret-style satire on the Bush administration, recently played in Chicago and Portland, and received a Jeff Nomination for Outstanding New Work. In the fall of 2007, Tom co-directed Romeo and Juliet at CCC with Sheldon Patinkin.

Claire Nolan (Acting)

B.F.A., Music/Theater, Illinois Wesleyan University; writer, actor, director, private coach; previous Artistic Director of the Blind Parrot, adjunct faculty at Seabury/ Western Theological Seminary, core professor for Association of Chicago Theological Schools Doctor of Ministry in Preaching Program; recipient of two Joseph Jefferson Award Citations. She is a founding member of Sweat Girls, which most recently performed at the Live Bait Filet of Solo Festival, Around the Coyote Arts Festival, and at the Acorn Theater in Three Oaks, Michigan.  They are working on a new piece currently that should go up in the spring.

D Nisbet (Voice)

Bill O’Connor (Text Analysis)

Kevin O’Connor CSP (Speaking Out)

is a professional speaker and consultant specializing in medical and technical professionals leading teams. Kevin teaches at Columbia and at Loyola University of Chicago. He holds three masters degrees and has earned the CSP, Certified Speaking Professional, designation. Less than 500 persons in the world hold this honor for speaking excellence. He is the co-author (with Cyndi Maxey, CSP) of the book "Present Like A Pro: A Field Guide to Mastering the Art of Business, Professional, and Public Speaking" (co-authored with Cyndi Maxey, CSP) St. Martin's Press. 2006

Cecilie O’Reilly* (Voice and Acting)

B.S., AEA, Theater and Education, Illinois Wesleyan University; B.A., Music, Columbia College Chicago; training at A.C.T.: The American Conservatory Theater Training Center; freelance actress, singer, director and voice and accent coach, recipient of Lilly Diversity Grant. She most recently performed as Winnie in Samuel Beckett’s Happy Days at the Prop Theater for Rhino Fest.  She also coached accents for Steppenwolf’s The Unmentionables summer of 2007, and in the winter for Milwaukee Rep’s Translations.

Scott Olson (Acting, Voice)

most recently appeared as Lancey in Translations and Alex in The Cocktail Party with Caffeine Theatre and in Wintertime with Reverie Theatre.  He has appeared with numerous theatres including Denver Center Theatre Company, Florida Studio Theatre, Idaho Shakespeare Festival, Commonweal Theatre Company, Zebra Crossing, Chicago Dramatists, Café Voltaire, Urbus Orbis, Chicago Shakespeare, and, for a year, as Tony in the long-running play Shear Madness.  Scott is also an accomplished director.  Having directed at Bailiwick, Boxer Rebellion, the Shakespeare Project, Synergy Therapy Theatre and Act One Studios.  He also is the first-year Core Acting Teacher at Act One Studios Conservatory program. 

Susan Padveen* (Directing, Acting)

M.A., Depaul University, School for New Learning; freelance director; former co-Artistic Director, National Jewish Theater; co-Director, Green Room Project, member Joseph Jefferson Committee A/T Team.  A few recent credits include: An Unobstructed View, and The Waverly Gallery for Pegasus Player’s Theatre, co-directed with Jeff Ginsberg. In the summer of 2007 she collaborated with two recent Columbia graduates to produce and direct three plays in repertory at EP Theatre. 

 

 

Sheldon Patinkin* (Department Chair. Musical Theater History, Directing, History and Comedy)

Artistic Director of the Getz Theater of Columbia College, Artistic Consultant of The Second City and of Steppenwolf Theatre, and Co-Director of the Steppenwolf Theatre Summer Ensemble Workshops.  Among recent directing projects outside of the College have been Boy’s Life for the Gift Theater Company, South Pacific at the Metropolis Art Center, Uncle Vanya at Steppenwolf, Long Day’s Journey into Night at the Irish Rep and at the Galway Festival in Ireland and "Krapp's Last Tape" for the Buckets of Beckett Festival, both starring John Mahoney, and concert stagings of opera scenes and excerpts for the Lyric Opera Center at the Grant Park and Ravinia Festival Concerts.  He received a Jeff Award for directing his Irving Berlin revue Puttin’ on the Ritz, and a special Jeff for his contribution to Chicago theater.   His translation of Brecht's The Good Person of Setzuan was directed by Frank Galati at the Goodman Theatre.  His book The Second City: Backstage at the World's Greatest Comedy Theater was published by SourceBooks in 2000, and Keeping Up with the Times, his text book on the history of the American musical, will be published by Northwestern University Press in the Winter of 2005.

 

Jackie Penrod* (Design Faculty)

B.F.A., Theater Design, University of Illinois; freelance set designer

 

Kathleen Perkins* (Text Analysis, BFA Coordinator)

Kathleen Perkins holds an M. F. A. from the University of Minnesota, and was a Professional Theater Program Fellow at the University of Michigan.   A freelance actress and director, Kathleen has acted on diverse stages throughout the U.S. and Canada including the Guthrie and the Cricket Theaters in Minneapolis, Manitoba Theater Center in Winnipeg, and Harvard Summer Repertory Theater in Cambridge, MA.   She is a member of Actors Equity and SAG, and has appeared in several TV and theatrical films including Judgment Night and the Coen brothers' The Hudsucker Proxy.  A 1999-2000, Carnegie Foundation Scholar (the first in theater), Kathleen is deeply involved in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL) movement supported by the Carnegie CASTL program.   She has presented at SOTL conferences all over the U.S. and Canada, has served as a mentor at the National CASTL Institute for the last four years, and was instrumental in bringing the Institute to the Columbia campus from 2005-2007.  She is a Founding Fellow of the Teaching Academy for New Millennium Studies, the core Humanities course for Columbia College freshmen.   For the Theater Department, she teaches acting and Text Analysis, coordinates the BFA and Assessment programs, and directs, most recently, The Possibilities, an edgy modern drama by Howard Barker (a Freshman Project), and the Main Stage production of The Changeling, a Jacobean tragedy by Thomas Middleton.

 

Keith Pitts (Drafting)

 

Susan Philpot (Dialects)

Freelance actress and dialect coach

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brian Posen (Acting and Improv)

B.A., Psychology, B.A., Criminal Justice, Indiana University; B.A., Theater, Columbia College; M.F.A., Acting, University of Illinois; actor, director, producer, musician; Executive Producer, Lukaba Productions; Artistic Director, Chicago Sketch Musical Comedy, The Cupid Players, Broutil & Frothingham. Brian is a native of Chicago. He is also a faculty member at Act One Acting Studios. He has taught at Steppenwolf, Actor's Theater of Louisville, University of Illinois (where he won the Charles Luckman Award for excellence in teaching), Renaissance Faires, various Colleges, High Schools & corporations. Besides teaching, he acts (over 100 productions), directs, produces all around Chicago. He is a member of both SAG & AFTRA. Brian is Artistic Director of the award winning theater company Lukaba Productions, and the musical sketch comedy troupe “The Cupid Players”. He also produces ‘The Annual Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival’ which is entering hosts close to 350 sketch comedy troupes from around the country (1,000’s of artists). In addition to theater, he can be caught on the tube doing commercials.

David Puszkiewicz (Production Manager)

B.A., Biology, St. Mary's University; Players Workshop of Second City, St. Nicholas Theater New Work Ensemble, Absolute Theater Co., founding member; freelance manager/ technician: Mayors Office of Special Events, Ravenswood Special Events, Big Creek Productions, Production Contractors.

 

Julia Rhoades (Body Movement)

Patti Roeder (Costume Construction)

Tony Sancho (Acting)

Barbara Robertson (Acting)

B.F.A., University of Illinois. Credits include: Angels in America: Part I & II (National Tour), Hamlet, A Little Night Music (Chicago Shakespeare), Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Mary Stuart, La Bete (Court), Grand Hotel (Water Tower), The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?, Garden, Pal Joey, Black Snow (Goodman), Kabuki Medea (Kennedy Center), Emma’s Child (Victory Gardens), and many Television appearances including: Will of Their Own (NBC) and Untouchables (Paramount). Barbara’s received seven Jeff Awards, a Helen Hayes Award, four After Dark Awards, and a Sarah Siddons.

 

Patricia Roeder (Costume Shop Manager)

B.S., Loyola University, freelance costume designer and stitcher

Lisa Schlesinger* (Playwrighting)

MFA Iowa Writers Workshop, University of Iowa; MFA Iowa Playwrights' Festival, University of Iowa. Recipient of the TCG/NEA Playwrights Fellowship and CEC Artslink International Fellowship, Iowa Arts Council Fellowship, BBC International Playwriting Award, Tampa Bay Performing Arts Award, and grants form the NEA, Iowa Arts Council, and the Bush Foundation. Lisa Schlesinger’s plays include Wal-martyrs, Celestial Bodies, Twenty One Positions (with Naomi Wallace and Abed Abu Srour), Same Egg, Manny and Chicken, Rock Ends Ahead, Bow Echo, The Bones of Danny Winston, and Harmonicus Mundi, an opera. She has received commissions from the Guthrie Theatre, the BBC, Portland Stage Company and Ensemble Studio Theatre and fellowships from the NEA, CEC International, and the Sloan Foundation. She is recipient of the NEA/TCG Playwrights Award and winner of the BBC International Playwriting Award. The Artist of Transparency is included in New Monologues for Women by Women II.

Brian Shaw* (Associate Department Chair, Acting, Movement)

Brian is the Associate Chairperson of the Theater Department of Columbia College Chicago, where he teaches acting, physical theater, community-based theater and theater history.  He is the departmental representative to the Center of Community Arts Partnerships, and oversees the developing relationship between the Theater Department and community-based organizations.  In this capacity, Brian has developed numerous projects that engage students and faculty from Columbia as teachers, artists and administrators in the development of original works of youth theater.  Brian is a founding member of Plasticene, a physical theater company devoted to the creation of new works of physical theater.  Plasticene productions have been performed in Chicago at the Steppenwolf Studio, Chopin, Viaduct and National Pastime theaters, in New York at Pace University, in North Carolina, Wisconsin and at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.  Brian has also worked in numerous theaters as a freelance actor and director, including Famous Door, RedMoon, National Jewish, Curious Theater Branch, NeoFuturists, Blind Parrot, Stage Left and Theatre for the Age of Gold.  He has performed at the Festival des Ameriques in Montreal and The Hispanic Theater Festival in Miami.  Brian has taught workshops in storytelling and community development through performance with Plasticene, FreeStreet, Association House, Scrap Mettle SOUL and Gallery 37.  From 2001 to 2003, Brian developed an exchange program with the Academy of Arts of the University of Novi Sad in Serbia.  This program culminated in “Scale/Vaga”, an original performance created for the International Festival of Alternative and New Theatre in Novi Sad in July 2003 with students from both schools performing together in both ‘official’ languages.  In the fall of 2007, Brian went abroad to continue development on an exchange program with Newham Sixth Form College and the University of East London around themes of civic engagement and community arts practice.

Stephanie Shaw* (Acting)

B.A., Columbia College Chicago; freelance actor and director. Stephanie performed many shows with Chicago’s wildly creative collective, the Neo-Futurists. Before leaving for a semester in London, fall 2007, she directed Columbia College’s highly touted production of Urinetown, The Musical.

 

 

 

 

 

James Sherman (Improv, Playwriting Workshop)

is the author of the plays Magic Time, The God of Isaac, Mr. 80%, The Escape Artist, Beau Jest, This Old Man Came Rolling Home, Jest a Second!, Romance in D, From Door to Door, The Old Man’s Friend,  Affluenza!, and Half and Half. James was a theatre student at Illinois State University in the early 1970’s.  He began his professional career as a writer and performer with The Second City in Chicago and received an M.F.A. degree from Brandeis University.  Since 1986, he has been a Playwright-in-Residence at the Tony Award winning Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago and he is currently a member of the Victory Gardens Playwrights Ensemble.  He has been a teacher of Playwriting and Acting on the faculties of DePaul University, The Second City Training Center, Chicago Dramatists Workshop, and Victory Gardens Theater.  He was a visiting professor for the spring ’01 semester in Seoul, South Korea at the Korean National University of the Arts.  He led workshops in Improvisation at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California in 2004 and 2005.  He has been the recipient of fellowships from The MacDowell Colony, the Ragdale Foundation, The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and Yaddo.  He is a member of The Dramatists Guild of America.  He lives in Chicago with his wife, Linnea Todd, and their sons, Isaac and Avery.

Nana Shineflug* (Body Movement)

M.A., Interdisciplinary Arts, Columbia College Chicago; dancer, choreographer; performance artist; photographer; founder and Artistic Director, The Chicago Moving Company; recipient, 1990 Ruth Page Award and 1996 Columbia College Lifetime Achievement Award

Jennifer Shook (Text Analysis and Dramaturgy)

B.A., English, Religion and Women's Studies, Swarthmore College; certificate in Irish Film and Literature from University College Galway; freelance director and dramaturg; Artistic Director, Caffine Theatre, member of Dramaturgs of the Americas; dramaturged Joseph Jefferson Award winnning productions and After Dark Award winning productions. Jennifer recently directed The Cure at Troy (A Version of Sophocles’ Philoctetes) for Caffeine Theatre, acted as Script Develop Dramaturg for Caravaggio at Silk Road Theatre Project, and as the Production Dramaturg for The Hypocrites’ Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.  In the summer of 2007 she participated in the annual conference of the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas, and in April spoke on a panel on Dance and Dramaturgy with Chicago Dancemakers Forum. 

Catherine Slade* (Voice)

B.A., Columbia College Chicago; freelance actress and director; founding member, The Working Theater, New York; founder and Artistic Director, Manhattan Bridge Company, New York; member of Kristen Linklater’s Company of Woman, Harvard University

 

 

 

 

 

Estelle Spector* (Musical Theater History, Musical Theater Workshop)

has been a performer, producer, director, and choreographer, as well as a teacher, throughout her long career. In the past ten years, she has directed 19 musical plays at Columbia College Chicago. Since 1985 she has developed/co-developed all current courses taught within the Musical Theater curriculum, developed and co-facilitated the curriculum for the BA in Musical Theater Performance (in conjunction with the Music and Dance Departments), developed and co-facilitated the curriculum for the BFA in Musical Theater Performance and corollary revised BA in Musical Theater Performance (in conjunction with the Music Department). Professional Organizations and Union Affiliations include: Joseph Jefferson Awards Committee, American Theater Association, Actors’ Equity Association, American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA), American Guild Variety Artists (AGVA).

Craig Spidle (Acting)

B.F.A., University of Nebraska; M.F.A., Illinois State University; freelance actor, director; Joseph Jefferson Award nominee. has performed in Chicago with such theatres as Marriott Lincolnshire, Court, Steppenwolf, Victory Gardens, Lookingglass and Shakespeare Repertory Theaters, and was most recently seen in Passion Play: A Cycle at the Goodman Theater. Mr. Spidle has worked at such regional theatres as Northlight Theatre, Court Theatre, Arizona Theatre Company, Utah Shakespearean Festival, Indiana Repertory Theatre, the Pittsburgh Public, The Huntington (Boston), American Players Theatre (Wisconsin), Freedom Theatre (Philadelphia), and the Cherry Lane Theater in New York. Film and TV credits include Prison Break, Road to Perdition, and The Waking.

Joe Szaday (Director of Audio/Visual Department)

Meg Thalken (acting)

Professional actress/voiceover artist.  B.A. Speech & Dramatic Art, University of Iowa; M.F.A. Acting, University of Illinois/Champaign-Urbana.  Member of the Screen Actors Guild, Actors Equity Association, American Federation of TV & Radio Artists.  Theater credits include: Laundry and Bourbon and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Travel Light Theater), and Voice of Good Hope and Winter (Victory Gardens Theatre).  Meg can also be see on the big and small screen in The Company (directed by Robert Altman), Drangonfly (directed by Tom Shadyac, E.R. and Chicago Hope, amongst many others.

Mick Thomasson (Scenic Design Faculty)

Suzanne Thompson (Movement - Feldenkrais )

M.A., Theater, Speech Therapy, East Texas State University; post-graduate work, Dallas Theatre Center; actor, director, choreographer, certified Feldenkrais practicioner; teaching faculty, Victory Gardens Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Professional School

Kendra Thulin (Voice)

 

 

 

 

 

Dragan Torbica (Acting)

 

Amy Uhl (Musical Theater Dance Coordinator)

Amy has worked as an actress, singer, dancer, director/choreographer and teacher for over 20 years in New York City.  She continues to work as a freelance Director/Choreographer and has also been a member of the hair/make up department for such Broadway productions as Beauty and the Beast, All Shook Up, Dracula, Little Women and 42nd Street.  Amy has been on faculty at STEPS dance studio in New York City.  She has also been on faculty at New Jersey School of Ballet, Wagner College and Ithaca College. Some regional choreography highlights include Oklahoma! starring Sandy Duncan, Guys & Dolls starring Eddie Mekka, A Chorus Line (Director/Choreographer-award winning production), and Beauty & the Beast.  Amy holds a degree in Drama from Jacksonville State University. Union affiliations:  AEA, SSDC, IATSE Local 798

Wendi Weber (Acting, Text Analysis)

B.F.A., Performance, Illinois Wesleyan University; M.F.A., Acting, University of Iowa; Associate Artist, Chicago Dramatists; AEA; SAG; Best Actress Award, My Yeti Dreams, Collaboraction’s Sketchbook; freelance actor and director. Wendi has performed at Apple Tree Theatre, The Shakespeare Project Chicago, Remy Bumppo, and A Red Orchid, amongst others.

A Wilder (Accents and Dialects)

Albert Williams* (Artist-in-Residence, co-coordinator of the Musical Theater Performance Major)

A 1973 graduate of Columbia College and a faculty member since 1985, Williams has extensive experience as a writer and performer theatrical productions in Chicago and off-Broadway. He is also senior theater critic for the Chicago Reader and has contributed to other publications including the New York Times Book Review, Entertainment Weekly, the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times, and American Theatre Magazine. Winner of the prestigious George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism as well as two Lisagor Awards, he was inducted into the City of Chicago's Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame in 2003 for his "important contributions to the cultural life of Chicago."

Celeste Williams (Voice)

B.A., Journalism, B.A., Theatre, St. Mary's University, M.F.A., Acting, Graduate Fellow, University of Illinois; actor; Co-founder, Onyx Theatre Ensemble; four-time Joseph Jefferson Award nominee.

 

 

 

 

Dennis Wise* (Body Movement)

B.F.A., Dance, Bringham Young University; community performance director

David Woolley* (Stage Combat)

is one of fourteen members of the Society of American Fight Directors’ College of Fight Masters (since 1994). As a free-lance fight director,  he has choreographed violence for over 300 productions in Chicago since 1982; beginning with Class Enemy at the Next Theatre; and the World and New York premieres of David Mamet’s Edmond. Woolley received a Joseph Jefferson Award (1988) for Consistent Excellence in Stage Combat Choreography (for his work in the “88 Chicago season) and the Off-Loop Theatre Award for Best Fight Direction 1991 (Les Liasons Dangereuse). A professional director/ actor/ and practioner of  Theatrical Swordplay,  he is now in his 20th year as Artist in Residence at Columbia College of Chicago teaching stage combat for the actor and overseeing violence for their season of plays, as well as numerous directing projects and classroom scenes.  Recent work includes: Henry IV parts 1 & 2 for the Lakeside Theater (Michigan); American Buffalo for Raven Theater; and his 17th season as Guido Crescendo in Dirk and Guido: the Swordsmen! at the Bristol and Ohio Renaissance Faires (He’s Guido...) Woolley also directed the Babes With Blades’  Affair of Honor: Satisfaction at the Viaduct Theater this past Spring (as part of the One Act Play competition, which he sponsored).  In the fall of 2007 he choreographed all fights and violence for Romeo and Juliet at Columbia College.

John Zuiker (Design Faculty)