Stage Left Theatre Ensemble

Cat Dean - Liz Dunker - Christine Gatto - Kevin Heckman - Cory Krebsbach - M.E.H. Lewis - Melissa Lindberg - Drew Martin -
Mia McCullough - David Alan Moore - Brian Plocharczyk - David Rush - John Sanders - David M. Schmitz - LaRonika Thomas -
Don Tieri - Chelsey Wagemaker

Ensemble Emeritus
Leigh Barrett - Larry Dahlke - Marguerite Hammersley - Jessi D. Hill - Jack Short - Jacki Singleton - Jack Tippett - Sandra Verthein

Liz graduated from the University of Florida this past August and quickly came to the "Windy City" to join the Stage Left team. Liz has stage managed numerous productions including Cabaret, Anything Goes, The Visit and the world premiere tour of Ntzoake Shange's lavender lizards and lilac landmines; Layla's dream.

Christine was most recently seen as at Stage Left as Sophia in the LeapFest 2 presentation of Fellow Travellers, and in The Vow. Elsewhere, she was seen in Mary Arrchie's production of Shakespeare Kung Fu, and this past summer as Ariel in The Tempest at Talisman Theatre. She has worked with many theatres around Chicago, including Stage Left, Circle Theatre, Chicago Jewish Theatre, First Folio Shakespeare, Breadline, and Trapdoor. Favorite roles include Bailey in the world premiere of Strange Light at the Bailiwick Pride Series and Jackie in Kinder, Gentler. She holds an MFA in acting from Penn State University, a BFA from Northern Illinois University, and is a Stage Left Ensemble member.

Kevin Heckman has directed several of Stage Left's most memorable shows from the past five seasons, including the Midwest Premiere of Echoes of Another Man (Jeff Recommended), Chagrin Falls (Jeff Nomination - Best Production; Jeff Citation - Best New Work), Burying the Bones (Jeff Nomination - Best New Work), The Vow (Jeff Nomination - Set Design), The Memorandum (Jeff Recommended) and Cyber Serenade. Additionally, he's directed numerous readings for Stage Left and Chicago Dramatists along with the upcoming Feathers In The Wind at Chicago Jewish Theatre and The Tempest and Two Gentlemen of Verona for Talisman Theatre. As an actor he's appeared in The (W)hole Thing, Good Woman of Setzuan and Sing For Your Supper at Stage Left along with appearances at Chicago Shakespeare, Apple Tree, Illinois Theatre Center, The Aardvark and Shakespeare's Motley Crew. He has designed lights for Stage Left's productions of Prairie Lights, Empty and Julius Caesar and won an After Dark Award for light design for his work on Bailiwick Repertory's production of Rope. He has served as Artistic or Managing director of Stage Left since 2000. Originally he hails from New England, growing up in Maine and attending school at Wesleyan University in Connecticut. Presently he lives in Evanston with his fiance Christine and their cat Dinsdale.

Drew has worked for over 20 years in professional theatre as a director, producer, finance manager, designer, technician and educator. Shows he has directed in Chicago have been nominated for nine Joseph Jefferson Awards, winning five, including Outstanding Director for Leander Stillwell. His work includes the World Premieres of Prairie Lights, Police Deaf Near Far, Sing For Your Supper, Watchdog, Tasters Choice, Dapples and Grays, Rage of the Ages, Arthur’s Dream and Maxwell Street. Other directing work includes, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night, Julius Caesar, Out Of Spite: Tales of Survival in Sarajevo, Escape From Happiness, In White America, Theatre II, Bocon, We The People and Kid Dinosaur. He has also managed finances for several commercial and non-profit producers, including Court Theatre, Performing Arts Chicago and Perkins Productions/Royal George Theatre (including the Broadway production of I Hate Hamlet). He was Producer of two episodes of Magic Door Television Theatre and has taught theatre routinely in high schools and colleges. Drew was Artistic Director of Stage Left until 2000 and remains an active Ensemble Member. He is a graduate of Dartmouth College, where he also studied in London with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Mia's plays have received productions in Chicago at Stage Left, Steppenwolf, and Chicago Dramatists. Recent out-of-town productions include Since Africa at Mo'olelo Performing Arts Company in San Diego, and Taking Care at The Victory Theater in Los Angeles. Mia has received commissions from Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival and Steppenwolf Theatre Company, and she is currently working on her first screenplay-for-hire. Awards for Mia's plays include: for Chagrin Falls (produced at SLT in 2001) the Julie Harris Playwriting Award, the ATCA Osborn Award, an After Dark Award and a Jeff Citation; and for Since Africa, a Jeff Nomination and finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Chagrin Falls was published in the Smith & Kraus anthology "New Playwrights: Best Plays of 2001." Taking Care was published by Chicago Dramatists in "New Plays from Chicago." Mia is a Resident Playwright at Chicago Dramatists, an ensemble member at Stage Left Theatre, and a member of The Dramatists Guild. She teaches playwriting and screenwriting at Northwestern University and Chicago Dramatists. She lives just outside Chicago with her husband, son, small menagerie, but currently no kitchen.

David’s full-length drama, In Times of War, received its world premiere in October 2006 at Stage Left Theatre. In Times of War won a Jeff Citation for "Outstanding New Work" in June 2007; the play was also named a Semi-Finalist for the 2006 National Playwrights Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center, a Finalist in the Reva Shiner Full-Length Play Contest at the Bloomington Playwrights Project, and won First Prize in the 2005 Arch and Bruce Brown Foundation Playwriting Contest. His full-length play, The Day of Knowledge, was selected by Stage Left for the inaugural season of its Developmental Residency program and was included in Stage Left's annual new-play festival, LeapFest 4, in June 2007. In August 2007, David's full-length drama, Safe, received a staged reading at Chicago Dramatists, where he is also a Resident Playwright. David’s ten-minute play, Cinderella Checks Her Watch, is a current finalist for the 2007 Heideman Award in the National 10-Minute Play Contest (Actors Theatre of Louisville). In addition to Cinderella Checks Her Watch, David's other short plays, Dinner Redux and These Things, have been published in the literary journal, Crawdad. David is a member of the Dramatists Guild and co-founder of The Hermits’ Tea Party, a Chicago-based playwrights group.

Brian is excited to be joining the ensemble of Stage left after performing in LeapFests 1 & 3, playing Dirk in Somebody Foriegn, and Franz in The Human Capacity. Some of Brian's favorite roles include Edward Hyde in CityLit's Strange Case of Dr.Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Eddie in Over the Tavern, at Theatre at the Center, Proteus in Two Gentlemen of Verona, at the Talisman Theatre, Mr. Mell in The Play's the Thing at the Theatre Building Chicago, and Hugo in the Goodman's staged reading of B.F.E. Brian has also been seen at Chicago Shakespeare-Short Shakes MacBeth and Romeo and Juliet, Lifeline-Velveteen Rabbit and Long Way from Chicago, Mary Archie -Richard II, The Royal George- Verbatim Verboten, and Chicago Jewish Theatre- Stroop Report and The Speaking Head. Brian is also a voice over and film actor in and around Chicago. In addition to his acting credits, Brian also teaches karate and serves as a Board Member for The Gumball Players, a not-for-profit group that promotes the arts on the south side by providing college scholarships to students pursuing performing arts.

David has won several major awards, including the Los Angeles DramaLogue, several Jeffs and Emmys, and three After Dark Awards. Among his award-winning works are four produced by Stage Left – “Cuttings”, “Prairie Lights,” “Police Deaf Near Far,” “Leander Stillwell,” and “Dapples and Grays.” He is a resident playwright with Chicago Dramatists as well as an ensemble member of Stage Left.  He currently heads the Playwriting Program at Southern Illinois University and was named Playwrighting Teacher of the Year, 2002-2003.

John has served as the Director of New Play Development for Stage Left since 2004. He has served as the producer of LeapFest for each of it's four incarnations, and co-produces each show in the mainstage season with Kevin Heckman and the SLT ensemble. John most recently appeared at Stage Left as Max in Fellow Travellers (Jeff Citation - Best New Work). He has been nominated for a Joseph Jefferson Award for Burying the Bones at Stage Left (Supporting Actor), and a Jeff Citation for Arrangement for Two Violas at Visions & Voices Theatre (Principal Actor). He received an AfterDark Award for Ensemble in The Uneasy Chair at Writers' Theatre. He is also an Associate Artist with Chicago Dramatists. Other Chicago credits include Cymbeline and Troilus and Cressida (Chicago Shakespeare), Ten Little Indians (Drury Lane Oakbrook), It's a Wonderful Life...A Live Radio Play (American Theatre Company), Making History (Irish Repertory), Blood Wedding and Henry V (the Hypocrites), Fortinbras (Defiant), and numerous Saturday Series readings at Chicago Dramatists. John has directed two full productions in Chicago, Tens and Twenties for Stage Left, and The Increased Difficulty of Concentration for Ludicrous Theatre.

David is an accomplished director and theatre administrator and has been an ensemble member at Stage Left since 2002, where he will direct the upcoming world premiere of Fellow Travellers. During his tenure, he has directed The Good Woman of Setzuan, the hit musical Prairie Lights and the upcoming Fellow Travellers. Other directing credits include The Cherry Orchard, Our Town and The Diary of Anne Frank (Village Players Theatre), Buried Child, The Measures Taken and Trinkets (Roosevelt University), The Philadelphia and English Made Simple (The Brick Theatre Company), subUrbia and Marat/Sade by Peter Weiss (This Isn't Brain Surgery Theatre Company (TIBS) - Greeley, CO), and the world premiere of Hamlet Crucified (1999 Bailiwick Director's Festival). The former Artistic Director of the This Isn’t Brain Surgery Theatre Company (TIBS) in Greely, CO, David has also been on the Board of Directors for Katharsis Theatre Company, the Uptown Theatre Consortium, and was a member of the Finance Committee of the Village Players Theatre. David served as the General Manager for the Lookingglass Theatre Company, and presently is the General Manager at Steppenwolf Theatre Company. Mr. Schmitz holds a BA in Theatre from the University of Northern Colorado, and an MFA in Directing from the Theatre Conservatory at the Chicago College of Performing Arts, Roosevelt University.

Bob has been a ensemble member at Stage Left for ten years. He is also an ensemble member of A Red Orchid Theatre, Famous Door Theatre and Plasticene. His set and lighting designs have also appeared at Steppenwolf, Northlight, The Next, The Organic, The Apollo, Pegasus, Apple Tree, Mary-Arrchie, New Crime, Live Bait, Irish Repertory, Light Opera Works, Remy-Bumppo, greasy joan, Terrapin, Porchlight and dozens of other theaters in Chicago, New York (Off Broadway), Los Angeles, Dublin, Edinburgh, London (West End), Jerusalem, Singapore and across the nation on the A&E Cable Network. Bob has been nominated nine times and received seven Joseph Jefferson Citations, three After Dark Awards and an Emmy nomination.

The Literary Manager at Stage Left Theatre, LaRonika is also the Director of Education at Writers’ Theatre, a freelance dramaturg and director and the regional VP for Metro Chicago for Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas. She recently completed the New Collaborators Workshop with Chicago Dancemakers Forum, where she paired with Nadia Oussenko, a Chicago dancemaker, to create new movement work. At Stage Left, LaRonika most recently dramaturged the main-stage production of In Times of War. Last season she co-dramaturged Fellow Travelers for Stage Left, curating the art exhibit that accompanied the show. In January of 2005, LaRonika was the recipient of an LMDA residency grant for her work with Stage Left. Other recent Stage Left projects include directing the DSL II reading of Basra, Nebraska, the DSL I & II readings for Fire Escape , and directing Hiding Hannah for Leapfest 2. Recent Chicago dramaturgy credits include: dramaturg for the revival of The Last Two Minutes of the Complete Works of Henrik Ibsen (Northlight/Neo-Futurists); The Body of Christopher Creed (Chicago Theatre for Youth Audiences); You Asked For It!, A Child’s History of Bombing , The Last Two Minutes of the Complete Works of Henrik Ibsen and Evidence (Neo-Futurists); Bald Grace, Pirate Queen (Stockyards Theatre Project); Gaudy Night and Strong Poison (Lifeline Theatre); and Softly Blue (Goodman Theatre New Stages). Other credits include: assistant director for Measure for Measure (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre); verse coach for Henry IV, Part One (Stockyards Theatre Project); and script supervisor for Bounce (Goodman Theatre). LaRonika holds an M.A. in Theatre from Purdue University and a B.A. in Theatre and Anthropology from Indiana University. Her upcoming projects include serving as dramaturg for Live Girls and LeapFest 4, both at Stage Left Theatre.

Don Tieri has performed in over 50 theatrical productions in Chicago and Los Angeles. Chicago theaters include, Steppenwolf, Northlight, Victory Gardens, Organic, and Stage Left where he won a Joseph Jefferson Citation for Leander Stillwell in Best Ensemble. Don’s Los Angeles theater credits include L.A. Theater Works, Writers and Actors Lab, Open Fist, and the Lee Stassberg Theater production of Leander Stillwell, which was voted Best Play in Los Angeles 1996. His TV credits include The Untouchables, Profiler, 7-Days, Dead Last and the TV movie Overexposed.

Chelsey Wagemaker is very pleased to be a part of the Stage Left Ensemble. Since moving to Chicago in 2005, Chelsey stage managed Chicago Jewish Theatre’s World Premiere production of “Feathers in the Wind”, with fellow ensemble members David Rush (writer) and Kevin Heckman (director). She also stage managed for Stage Left’s production of “In Times of War”, written by fellow new ensemble member David Alan Moore. In addition to full-length performances, Chelsey has also worked as the technical director for Donny's Skybox Theatre at The Second City. She currently resides in Lakeview and owes her success to the support she receives from her parents, friends and inspirational boyfriend, John Steeno.