|
Amanda Brown is a founding member of The Mime Company in Chicago. She has taught Mime and Movement for the Actor at Northwestern University, where she earned a degree in Theatre. Amanda’s work in mime has been presented in the US and internationally at regional theatres and festival.
Adrianne Cury is a Chicago actress/director/teacher. She has acted at numerous theatres here and abroad, including Chicago Shakespeare, Next Theatre, Strawdog, First Folio and ShawChicago, where she is an Associate Artist. She directed Scoundrel Time for CityLit, and was our guest director for Sense and Sensibility. In addition to her acting and directing, Adrianne teaches classes at Acting Studio of Chicago.
Laura Dieli is a member of the CTWS faculty and a former CTWS student. She recently directed the High School Rep show Brick: The play. Laura has been the light designer for several CTWS shows, most recently the CTWS spring show The Stinky Cheese Man and Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing where she also designed the set. Laura is also the Assistant Production Manager/Company Manager at Court Theatre.
Karen Holbert is a member of the CTWS faculty and a TWS Active. She holds a theatre degree from Wesleyan University and is a graduate of the Second City Training Center’s Conservatory Program. Karen has appeared in shows at Second City etc., Improv Olympic and Donny’s Skybox Theatre. She also performs at TWS and other Chicagoland theatres.
Thad Hallstein is the Technical Director at TWS. Before coming to Theater of Western Springs, he worked as a scenic painter for many Chicago theatres, including Lookingglass and Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. Thad has also designed sets for various theatres in Chicago.
David Knezz, a member of the CTWS faculty and a TWS Active, has been creating masks and teaching mask-making workshops for several years. A graduate of National Louis University, David was a founding member and director of the improv group Laughing Gas, and has performed with various companies throughout the Chicagoland area. In 2009, David was awarded an ITA Award of Excellence.
Rob Koon is a Resident Playwright at Chicago Dramatists, where he also serves as Staff Dramaturg. His work has been performed at numerous theatres and festivals throughout the country. His Vintage Red and Dust of the Road won a Joseph Jefferson Award Citation for New Work and was an American Theatre Critics Steinberg Award nominee. Robert has taught at various schools and teaches regularly in the Playwrights Studio at Chicago Dramatists. He is a member of The Dramatists Guild of America.
Kurt Naebig is the Artistic Director of TWS and a member of Buffalo Theatre Ensemble, where he has also directed several shows. He also teaches at Acting Studio Chicago and does a variety of stage, film, and voiceover work. Kurt is a graduate of Juilliard School of Drama.
Jim Schneider is a Chicago-based director and designer. Jim was our guest director for last season’s Lady Windermere’s Fan. Jim recently directed the Jeff Nominated The Philadelphia Story at Circle Theatre where he has directed several other shows including Design for Living, An Ideal Husband (Jeff Nominated, Best Director, Best Production), Hay Fever, and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.
Ric Segovia is on the faculty of Triton College and the Adjunct Faculty at Columbia College. He has taught a variety of Acting and Voice and Articulation courses, as well as serving as Artistic Director of Theatre at Triton. He holds an MFA from the University of Madison – Wisconsin.
Cyndy Soumar is a member of the CTWS faculty. She has arranged musical staging and choreographed a number of the CTWS shows and was Director for Scrooge: The Musical. Trained as a dancer, Cyndy began performing professionally as a young teen and has worked over 50 musical productions, enjoyed over 20 years as Teaching Artist/Choreographer at a large area high school, and coached hundreds of young theater performers.
Rick Snyder is a Steppenwolf Theatre ensemble member since 1983, and an Associate Artist at Steppenwolf for the last ten years. His most recent work with Steppenwolf was the director of Art and an actor in August: Osage County and The Unmentionables. Rick also teaches at Columbia College and has taught acting at Gustavus Adolphus College and advanced acting at Northwestern, DePaul and The School at Steppenwolf. Last year Rick directed our production of Cadillac.
David Rice and Alison Vesely are the founders of First Folio Theatre, located at Mayslake Peabody Estate in Oak Brook. David is Managing Director and his wife Alison is Artistic Director. They have been teaching the Folio Technique for over 15 years, including presentations at conventions, private classes, and in-school residencies. Since its inception, First Folio has received 18 Jeff Nominations for 12 productions.
Jim Wise is our guest director of our Forum Production of Dinner with Friends and is currently a member of the Acting Faculty at Penn State. Originally from Chicago, he was Artistic Director of New Works Series at St. Nicholas Theatre Company in Chicago, which was founded by David Mamet, William H. Macy, and Steve Schacter. Jim has directed over 60 productions at the professional and university level, including 12 world premieres, and taught over 100 acting workshops. |
