6-8-07
Throughlines for June 8, 2007
Appointments
The Illinois Theatre Association finally has found a worthy successor to longtime executive Wallace Smith, who retired last year. The ITA’s new managing director, as of March, is Aimee-Lynn Newlan, who resigned last December from Imagination Theatre after 10 years as executive director. Newlan now can be reached at the ITA office, 312/265-5922.
Chicago Dramatists has named Cynthia Frahm as development director. A one-time student of dance and music at Indiana University, she also was director for the Bloomington Playwrights Project before making a career in non-profit management. For the last six years, Frahm has been director of development for the AIDS Legal Council of Chicago, and before that was grants/project manager at Children’s Memorial Hospital’s HIV Program. We hear she also plays a mean rock bass. She reports to CD managing director Brian Loevner.
Goodman Theatre has welcomed Willa J. Taylor as director of education and community programs, overseeing Goodman’s Student Subscription Series, Teacher Training Initiatives, General Theatre Studies Program and Audience Education. Taylor is a 20-year veteran of arts education for organizations across the nation, among them Arena Stage, Lincoln Center Theatre and New Victory Theatre. Taylor also served as cultural director for Gay Games IV, overseeing the presentation of more than 200 cultural events. Taylor served in the US Navy for 12 years as a Russian and Arabic linguist. In 2001, she graduated from the Kendall College culinary program and promptly opened Taylor-Made Cuisine and the Home Cafe here in Chicago. Aha! Now we know why Steve Scott hired her!
Remy Bumppo Theatre Company has named actor Gregory Anderson as its newest artistic associate. He has performed with Remy Bumppo in Power and The Best Man and will play the role of Sandy Lord in the 2007-2008 season production of The Philadelphia Story. Among Anderson’s credits are work with American Theatre Company, Noble Fool Theatricals, Actors Revolution Theatre and Court Theatre where he’s just completed the run of Arcadia. He’s a graduate of Duke University’s Department of Biological Anthropology and Anatomy, and its Department of Theatre Studies. Gosh, I majored in Theatre and History and folks thought that was odd.
Thunder & Lightning Ensemble recently expanded its resident ensemble from six to nine with the addition of Alex Feigelson, Michael Larimer, and Kimberly Logan. Texas-born Feigelson has little formal theatre training, but nonetheless acts, directs produces, writes, designs, performs stand-up/improv/sketch comedy. He’s worked with Infernal Bridegroom Productions, dos chicas productions, Noble Fool, Shapeshifters Theatre Company, Steep Theatre, Speaking Ring Theatre, Masquerade Theatre, Theatre Southwest, Express Theatre, and Frowbiz Productions.
Michael Larimer, from Iowa, majored in theatre at Santa Monica College in California. In Chicago, he’s trained with IO and The Second City’s conservatory program. His credits include several shows at Donny’s Skybox Theatre, plus indie film work.
Michigan-bred Logan studied acting in London and then interned with the Asolo Theatre (Sarasota, FL) and the Peterborough (NH) Players. She’s also performed with the Michigan Shakespeare Festival and various Chicago troupes.
Passages
Penny Schaefer, longtime member of The Saints and twice board president, passed away March 8 after a long struggle with multiple sclerosis. A teacher by profession, and later an administrator for City Colleges of Chicago, Schaefer joined The Saints shortly after the collapse of the St. Nicholas Theatre Company, and was among those who guided the volunteer group to its new identity as a service organization for all Chicago theatre. Said Mark Jeffries, among the founders of The Saints, “Truth be told, there would not be a Saints today if it wasn’t for Penny’s leadership.” Writing to his fellow Saints, Jeffries—who worked with Schaefer for 25 years—said, “She was committed to anything that she set her mind to, from the Saints to her home to her family. She didn’t suffer fools gladly, as I found out many times, but if she liked something you did, she’d be the first to compliment you. She may not have physically been the fastest person in the world, but her mind was always faster than yours and her attention to detail only made our organization better.”
Most papers in town already have reported the March 26 death of Jeff McCourt, co-founder, publisher and editor-in-chief of the Windy City Times, 1985-2000, until illness forced him to sell the paper and retire from public life. They have noted his enormous contributions to LGBT life in Chicago and to alternative journalism nationally. At PerformInk, we simply want to add that McCourt was a gung-ho theatre enthusiast who put his money where his mouth was. McCourt was among the producers of Angels in America, which played six months at the Royal George before embarking on a national tour, and he also served as board president of American Theatre Company, where he personally produced Toys in the Attic.
Another death has come to our attention which will be news to many here in Chicago, although it isn’t recent. Director and teacher Travis L. Stockley was killed in a car crash in North Carolina last Aug. 24. He was 50. A noted musical theatre specialist, Stockley earned his BA at Illinois Wesleyan and his MFA at Northwestern University before launching an active Chicago directing career that included numerous Off-Loop gigs and also the helm of Drury Lane Oakbrook Terrace. He was a multiple Jeff Award nominee, and won a directing Jeff for a production of Sweeney Todd. An ebullient figure, Stockley moved to New York, where he won the Outer Critics’ Circle Award for an outstanding Off-Broadway musical. In 2002, he accepted an assistant professorship at the University of North Carolina (Pembroke, NC) where he established a musical theatre degree within the Department of Music. By all local accounts, Stockley was a popular and well-regarded member of the faculty.
Awards and Honors
Actress Pam Grier was the final awardee at the 19th annual Awards for Excellence of The Theatre School at DePaul University. She joined the previously-announced award recipients, Alec Baldwin, Michael Rooker, Shirley R. Madigan and LaSalle Bank. The DePaul Honors, as they often are called, were presented at an April 18 gala. Grier spoke with students at The Theatre School the following day.
Shakespeare’s birthday, April 23, was the date of the 13th annual gala for the Michael Merritt Endowment, supporting scholarships in design at Columbia College Chicago and other area universities. The Merritt Award for Excellence in Design and Collaboration was presented to costume designer Catherine Zuber, and the Michael Maggio Emerging Designer Award went to costume designer Ana Kuzmanic. The gala also presented three scholarships to design students (all costume design candidates) at Columbia College, Northwestern and DePaul.
The Silk Road Theatre Project has received the Milestone Makers Award from the Asian American Institute, in recognition of Silk Road’s contributions to the Asian American community and to Asian American arts. Milestone Makers are distinguished for combating stereotypes of Asians and Asian Americans, and for advancing the overall profile of the Asian Pacific communities. The award was presented to Silk Road co-founders Malik Gillani and Jamil Khoury on April 26.
On May 18, Steppenwolf for Young Adults presented its first Inspire the Future Awards, underwritten by Fidelity Investments. The awards honor local educators who have dedicated themselves to the advancement of youth through theatre and the arts in Chicago area schools. The first recipients were Carolyn Begley (Harlan Community Academy) and Anthony V. Costa (Roberto Clemente Academy), two outstanding Chicago Public School teachers. Steppenwolf for Young Adults also honored Dr. Amy Narea (LaSalle Language Academy) with an award as Outstanding Principal.