3-28-08
Gunzberg to Leave AB&C
Appointments and Disappointments
Let’s start with departures. The Arts & Business Council of Chicago has announced that executive director Joan Gunzberg will retire this coming summer after 19 years of service. She arrived when the Az&BC (originally Business Volunteers for the Arts) was only four years old, and has built it into a vital and solid community resource with a permanent staff, dedicated to developing arts/business partnerships based on staff and board training for Chicago nonprofits. Under Gunzberg, A&BC has become one of the largest and most accomplished chapters of the Arts & Business Council of Americans for the Arts. Each year, A&BC programs reach 350 nonprofit arts organizations. Said Gunzberg, “I am looking forward to having time to pursue some personal interests, and I intend to remain connected to my colleagues in the arts through consulting and board activities. It’s been a joy to work with so many talented, committed and creative people from organizations, of all sizes and disciplines, throughout nearly two decades. “
Joffrey Ballet has announced that seven-year veteran executive director Jon H. Teeuwissen will retire following the end of the 2007-2008 season, June 30. A national search has been launched to find his replacement. Under Teeuwissen, the Joffrey Ballet solidified its position as a leading Chicago cultural institution, successfully negotiated the purchase and funding for a new home in Joffrey Towers and selected a new artistic director to succeed company co-founder Gerald Arpino.
On March 7, Caroline Krajewski left The Silverman Group after what she called “five amazing years” to take a position with the much larger and more diverse Golin Harris public relations agency in Chicago. While at The Silverman Group, Krajewski handled such accounts as Navy Pier Imax, the Grant Park Music Festival and Cirque du Soleil, all of which remain with Beth Silverman and her cohort.
On the arrivals side, Seanacha' Theatre Company has appointed actor John Dunleavy as artistic director, taking over from Jacquelyn Flaherty. Dunleavy co-founded Seanacha' 13 years ago and previously served as the troupe’s managing director. Among his acting credits: Famous Door, Apple Tree, Candlelight/Forum, Illinois Theatre Center, National Jewish Theater, Next Theatre, Steppenwolf and numerous out-of-town engagements. Dunleavy has an MFA from Florida Atlantic University and a BA from University of Kentucky.
At Shattered Globe Theatre Company, the new managing director is actor, writer and producer Tiffany Carter, who returns to Chicago after a sojourn in Los Angeles, where she worked with the Sacred Fools Theatre Company and in film. She has numerous Off-Loop acting credits here and also authored a bi-weekly column for the arts and political forum www.getunderground.com. Her plays have been produced and read in New York, Los Angeles and Chicago.
The Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Millennium Park has named Cheryl L. Shure executive VP for external affairs, beginning May 1. Her numerous responsibilities include oversight of strategic vision and operations of the Development Dept. and Marketing/Communications Dept., support for the continued growth of the Harris Theater’s Board of Trustees, advancing philanthropic goals and overseeing marketing of the Harris Theater’s Presenting Series. Prior to joining the Harris Theater, Ms. Shure spent
13 years at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago in several senior positions in which she ran major funding campaigns raising more than $150 million. Altogether, she’s spent 20 years in development and communications in Boston and Chicago. A Massachusetts native, Shure has an Amherst BA and a General Management Certificate from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business.
Jeff DeLong is the new marketing director for Theatre Building Chicago, succeeding Tom Ballentine as of Feb. 6. DeLong’s Chicago background in consumer marketing includes consulting work with Comcast Cable and as promotions and sponsorship manager at the Museum of Science and Industry. He’s also worked in New York with Women’s Entertainment Television and AMC. DeLong also has performed with the Tempo Players in Oak Brook and served on the board of the Free Associates Theater Company.
Strawdog Theatre Company has appointed two new ensemble members, writer and composer Hank Boland and actor Michaela Petro. Boland launched Strawdog’s writing initiative and authored the troupe’s first musical outing, The True Ballad of Falls Blessings. Petro has appeared in several Strawdog shows and is co-creator of the troupe’s The Game Show Show…and Stuff.
Also bulking up is Halcyon Theatre, with eight new artistic associates: Aimee Bravo, Antonio Bruno, Jesus Contreras, Minita Gandhi, Michael Graham, Christine Lin, Tom McGrath and Greg Poljacik. Sounds like the characters in a WWII platoon movie. Halcyon also has promoted Juan Castaneda from associate to company member.
Steep Theatre also is growing, and has named actors Caroline Neff and Melissa Riemer, and actor/playwright Egan Reich to the ensemble. Neff is a recent Columbia College Chicago grad with credits at Steep, Mary-Arrchie and Infamous Commonwealth. London-trained Riemer notches Griffin, Piven, side project and Backstage companies on her theatrical gun. Reich has acted in several Steep shows and has had his plays produced by Pinebox, at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and at Proctor’s Theatre (Albany, NY).
Hubbard Street Dance Chicago has announced a number of changes in the company roster. Joining the main company are Ana Lopez (25, born in A Coruna, Spain), Kevin Shannon (23, Baltimore) and Benjamin Wardell (25, Memphis). At the same time Hubbard Street has promoted apprentice dancers Kellie Epperheimer (23), Jessica Tong (25) and Tiffany Vann (25) to main company members. Hubbard Street 2 (HS2) also has appointed new members Ethan R. Kirschbaum (20, Oakland, CA) and Eduardo Zu-iga (22, Santiago, Chile). In a final appointment, Jacqueline Burnett (20, Pocatello, ID) has been named a Hubbard Street Dance Center apprentice, and will split her time between the main company and HS2.
Awards and Honors
Leaders of the Victory Gardens Theater Access Project accepted the MetLife Foundation Award for Excellence and Innovation in Access in a Jan. 15 presentation made in New York City at the Association of Performing Arts Presenters national awards. VG’s Access Project—for writers, performers and audiences—has become a nationally recognized model outreach effort for people with disabilities in all aspects of theater. VG associate artistic director Sandy Shinner and Access Project coordinator Mike Ervin accepted the award and a $10,000 cash prize.
The Theatre School at DePaul University will bestow its annual Awards for Excellence in the Arts upon the Bank of America (Corporate Award) and Lois Weisberg (Leadership Award), long time Commissioner of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs. The April 22 black tie event at the Four Seasons Hotel will be the 20th annual DePaul honors. Theatre School alumna Amy Pietz will host and among the celebrity recipients (others to be named later) is actor Zach Helm (Stranger Than Fiction) accepting the Alumni Award. The swank dinner dance is open to the public with tickets starting at $500. But for Equity members with headshots, just $499. Proceeds benefit The Theatre School scholarship fund.
Final Bow
Chicago-based circus artist Ottavio Canestrelli died Jan. 16, only 37 years old. An exceptional “new vaudeville” performer, Canestrelli was descended from eight generations of circus performers. As a solo act, he perfected a variety of physical comedy routines among them his signature comedy chair act, a ladder act, juggling, teeter board and trapeze. He performed extensively around the United States and the world before moving to Chicago, where he performed with Vaudeville Underground and at the Actors Gymnasium.