Devanand Janki (Director and Choreographer) returns to Chicago Shakespeare Theater, where he choreographed How Can You Run with a Shell on Your Back?. Broadway concert credits include: director for Hair with an all-star cast, featuring Jennifer Hudson (Grammy Nomination), choreographer for Funny Girl featuring 16 Fanny Brices, including Whoopi Goldberg, Bebe Neuwirth and Jane Krakowski, and associate choreographer for Dreamgirls (The Actors’ Fund). Off Broadway credits include: Zanna, Don’t! (Director/Choreographer—Lortel, Callaway and GLAAD Media Awards); Junie B. Jones (Lortel Nomination); Henry & Mudge (Lortel Nomination), Cupid & Psyche and John Patrick Shaneley's Romantic Poetry (Manhattan Theatre Club). Lincoln Center credits include Amahl and the Night Visitors, Babes in Toyland and Anything Goes in Concert. Regional credits include: Asphalt Beach (American Musical Theater Project), Man of La Mancha (Maltz Jupiter Theatre); The Full Monty (director, Foothills Theatre); The Scarlet Pimpernel (Gateway Playhouse); the workshop of Lily (Huntington Theatre); and One Man’s Dream II (Tokyo Disney). Live industrial credits include projects for Coca-Cola, MAC Cosmetics, Benjamin Moore Paints and Dove. Mr. Janki served nine years as an Artistic Associate for Broadway Bares, which benefits Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

Ben Johnson (Music Director) returns to Chicago Shakespeare Theater, where his credits include pianist and conductor for Passion. Other Chicago credits include work with Drury Lane Oakbrook, Victory Gardens Theater, Theatre Building Chicago, Drury Lane South, The Marriott Theatre, and soprano Angelina Reaux. He was the musical director/pianist for the long-running Chicago production of Forever Plaid at the Royal George and spent three and one-half years as a vocal coach for the tour of The Lion King. Regional credits include work with Seattle Repertory Theatre and Theatre at the Center.

Brian Sidney Bembridge (Scenic Designer) returns to Chicago Shakespeare Theater, where his design credits include Funk it Up About Nothin’, Sunday in the Park with George and Romeo and Juliet (at CST and on NEA tour). Other Chicago credits include work at Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Court Theatre, The Second City, The Chicago Theatre, Writer’s Theatre, Timeline Theatre Company (Artistic Associate), Lookingglass Theatre Company (Production Affiliate), Uma Productions (Artistic Associate), Teatro Vista (Artistic Associate), Drury Lane Theatre, Northlight, Victory Gardens Theater, among others. Regional credits include designs at The Guthrie Theater, The Children’s Theatre Company, Arden Theatre Company, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Madison Repertory Theatre, Two River Theater, Opera Omaha, Virginia Opera and Circle X Theater Co., among others. Film credits include production design for Wallace Shawn's Marie and Bruce, Holding Out, Stray Dogs and Late for Church, and sets for Muppets from Space. Brian has received multiple Joseph Jefferson, After Dark, Los Angeles Drama Critic Circle, Garland, and LA Weekly Awards.

Debbie Baer (Costume Designer) returns to Chicago Shakespeare Theater, where her design credits include Short Shakespeare! A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Funk it Up About Nothin’. Other Chicago design credits include: First Look Repertory of New Work (2007 & 2008), and Huck Finn (Steppenwolf Theatre Company); Rose and the Rime (Jeff Nomination), The Attempters, The Nutcracker and Dave DaVinci Saves the Universe (The House Theatre of Chicago); Curtains (Drury Lane Oak Brook); Remember Me Like This, Aqui Estoy, God's Work (Albany Park Theater Project); Well (Next Theatre Company); The Puppetmaster of Lodz (Writers' Theatre); and Young Lady from Rwanda (Victory Gardens Theater). Regional and Off Broadway credits include When the Messenger is Hot (59E59 Theaters); and The Neverending Story (First Stage Children's Theatre). Ms. Baer was an invited designer at the Lincoln Center Directors Lab and is a company member of The House Theatre of Chicago.

Jesse Klug (Lighting Designer) returns to Chicago Shakespeare Theater, where his design credits include Short Shakespeare! A Midsummer Night’s Dream, CPS Shakespeare! Macbeth, How Can You Run with a Shell on Your Back?, The Three Musketeers and Seussical! The Musical. Other Chicago credits include work at: The Marriott Theatre, Drury Lane Oakbrook, Noble Fool Theatricals, Teatro Vista at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, American Theatre Company, Porchlight Theatre, Victory Gardens Theater, Uma Productions, Chicago Dramatists and Timeline Theatre Company. Mr. Klug received an After Dark Award for Three Sisters with Strawdog Theatre. Mr. Klug is the resident lighting designer for Chicago Tap Theatre.

James Savage (Sound Designer) is head of the sound department at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, where his sound design credits include: Twelfth Night, Short Shakespeare! A Midsummer Night’s Dream, CPS Shakespeare! Macbeth, Funk it Up About Nothin’, Willy Wonka, Othello, CPS Shakespeare! Romeo and Juliet, Passion, How Can You Run with a Shell on Your Back?, CPS Shakespeare! Hamlet, Hamlet, A Flea in Her Ear, The Princess and the Pea, Seussical! The Musical, Peter Pan, Much Ado About Nothing, A Little Night Music, and work on other CST productions since 2002. His special effects design credits include: Macbeth and Cymbeline. He has served as the lead mix engineer with the Alabama Shakespeare Festival and the Utah Shakespearean Festival. Regional design credits include sound design for Sondheim’s Saturday Night and assistant sound design for Hot Mikado (University of Cincinnati—College Conservatory of Music).

Melissa Veal (Wig and Makeup Designer) has designed wigs and makeup at Chicago Shakespeare for over 30 productions, including: Willy Wonka, How do You Run with a Shell on Your Back?, Seussical! The Musical, Twelfth Night, Macbeth, Amadeus, The Comedy of Errors, Othello, Passion, Troilus and Cressida, The Three Musketeers, Hamlet, A Flea in Her Ear, Henry IV Parts 1 and 2 (at CST and on tour to Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford-upon-Avon), Much Ado About Nothing, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Molière Comedies, A Little Night Music, Rose Rage: Henry VI Parts 1, 2 and 3 (at CST and The Duke on 42nd Street), The Taming of the Shrew, and as wig supervisor for The School for Scandal. She worked with the Stratford Festival for 10 seasons, where she received four Tyrone Guthrie Awards, including the Jack Hutt Humanitarian Award. Ms. Veal was the recipient of the 2007 Hurkes Award for Artisans and Technicians.

Meredith Miller (Puppet Designer) returns to Chicago Shakespeare Theater where her design credits include SS! A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Willy Wonka. Chicago credits include design and fabrication for: The Snow Queen (Victory Gardens Theater); The Selfish Giant (Chicago Children's Theater with Blair Thomas and Company); Hunchback, Galway's Shadow and Unbinding Isaac (Redmoon Theater); The Ox-Herder’s Tale, The Cabaret of Desire, A Rabbit's Tale and Pierrot Lunaire (Blair Thomas and Company); A Christmas Carol (Trinity Repertory Theater with Blair Thomas and Company); The Nutcracker (Incurable Theater); The Sandman (The Incurable Theater); and Salome (The Side Project). Ms. Miller is a graduate of The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

The Creation of the Iago Puppet From sketch to performance, follow the creation of the puppet for Iago the parrot.