CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE
IN THE PARKS
THE COMEDY
OF ERRORS
July 18 – August 18, 2019
Touring to neighborhood parks across the city
by William Shakespeare
adapted & directed by David H. Bell
CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE
THE COMEDY
Sponsors
THE PLAYERS
DAVID H. BELL (Adaptor/Director) returns to Chicago Shakespeare for his seventeenth production. His work as a director, choreographer, and writer in Chicago has earned him twelve Jeff Awards and forty-five nominations. He has staged productions in London, Paris, Berlin, Zurich, Vienna, and the Barcelona Olympics. He was artistic director for Atlanta’s Alliance Theatre for nine years and artistic director for the historic Ford’s Theatre in Washington, DC. He has directed on and off Broadway, at Carnegie Hall, The Kennedy Center, the Royal National Theatre, Berkshire Theatre Festival, and theaters all over the world. His awards and honors include: the Helen Hayes Award (DC); Dramalogue Award; Mac and Bistro Awards (New York); three After Dark Awards (Chicago); five Carbonell Award nominations (Florida); four Atlanta Constitution Best Director Awards; two National Endowment for the Arts Playwrighting Fellowships; and a Laurence Olivier Award nomination for Hot Mikado (London). David heads the Music Theatre program at Northwestern University.
WILL ALLAN (Dromio of Syracuse) CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE: Debut. CHICAGO: The Winter's Tale, Ah Wilderness!, The Seagull, Dartmoor Prison (Goodman Theatre); Good People, The Flick, The March, We Are Proud to Present..., Animal Farm, A Separate Peace (Steppenwolf Theatre Company); The History Boys (TimeLine Theatre Company); The Whale (Victory Gardens Theater); The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? (Remy Bumppo Theatre Company); productions with First Folio Theatre, Strawdog Theatre Company. REGIONAL: Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Cardinal Stage, The Human Race Theatre Company. TELEVISION: Chicago Fire, Chicago Justice (NBC). EDUCATION: BA in theatre performance, North Central College.
AMIRA DANAN (Adriana) CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE: Debut. CHICAGO: understudy for Southern Gothic (Windy City Playhouse). REGIONAL: world premiere of Ever in the Glades by Laura Schellhardt (The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts). INTERNATIONAL: Little Shop of Horrors (US Embassy to Bosnia and Herzegovina cultural diplomacy tour). EDUCATION: BA in theatre, music theatre certificate, minor in African-American studies, Northwestern University.
WESLEY TRUMAN DANIEL (Second Merchant/Romeo/Waiter) CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE: Pericles, Short Shakespeare! A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Timon of Athens; Chicago Shakespeare in the Parks productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Comedy of Errors. CHICAGO: understudy at Goodman Theatre; four collaborative shows with Lookingglass Theatre Company and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. TELEVISION: The Red Line (CBS); Chicago Med (NBC); Patriot (Amazon Video); Shop Like a Boss (K-Mart commercial). Wesley is certified in advanced combat through FDC, was the stunt coordinator for the film Second Samuel, and has directed fights for both Lookingglass Theatre Company and Chicago Shakespeare.
SAMUEL DOUGLAS (Antipholus of Syracuse) CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE: Debut. CHICAGO: Northlight Theatre, The Shakespeare Project of Chicago, Strawdog Theatre Company. REGIONAL: Gently Down the Stream (Milwaukee Chamber Theatre); Romeo and Juliet (Montana Shakespeare in the Parks); A Midsummer Night's Dream (Nashville Shakespeare Festival). EDUCATION: BA in theater and German, Northwestern University.
NATHANIEL ELFANT (Waiter/Messenger/Jailer) CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE: Debut. CHICAGO: Bobbie understudy in Yen (Raven Theatre), Luigi understudy in The Explorer’s Club (Windy City Playhouse). TELEVISION: Empire, APB (FOX); Chicago Justice (NBC). Nathaniel is currently enrolled at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University and will be receiving his BFA next May.
MAX FABIAN (Angelo) CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE: Snout in Short Shakespeare! A Midsummer Night’s Dream. CHICAGO: Welcome Home Jenny Sutter, Iphegenia 2.0 (Next Theatre Company); Pulcinella, Sita Ram (Lookingglass Theatre Company); Circus Princess (Folks Operetta). FILM: Princess Cyd, Thanks to Gravity, All Wrapped Up, CA$H. FIGHT DIRECTION: Southern Gothic, Noises Off (Windy City Playhouse); 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Lookingglass Theatre Company); Pericles (CST). EDUCATION: BFA in acting, Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University; advanced actor combatant, Rapier Wit School – Toronto. AWARDS: The Chicago Theater Night Hawk Award – Fight Direction for Southern Gothic.
SAM KREY (First Merchant/Officer/Waiter) CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE: Chicago Shakespeare in the Parks production of Twelfth Night (understudy). CHICAGO: Blind Date (Goodman Theatre); Ghosts of War (Jeff Award – Best Solo Performance, Griffin Theatre); Captain Blood (First Folio Theatre). REGIONAL: Circus Juventas. TELEVISION: Gone Baby Gone (pilot, FOX). EDUCATION: BFA in acting, The Theatre School at DePaul University
RUSSELL MERNAGH (Antipholus of Ephesus) CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE: Mischa Bachinski in Ride the Cyclone. CHICAGO: Drew in Rock of Ages (Drury Lane Theatre); Sky in Mamma Mia!, Alex the Lion in Madagascar, Evita (Marriott Theatre); Wonderful Town (Goodman Theatre); Les Misérables (Paramount Theatre). REGIONAL: Les Misérables, All Shook Up, Hands on a Hardbody (Rocky Mountain Repertory Theatre); Rent, The Who’s Tommy, Damn Yankees (Town Hall Arts Center). EDUCATION: BFA in acting, Western Michigan University.
MEGHAN MURPHY (Courtesan/Emilia) CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE: Debut. CHICAGO: Tanya in Mamma Mia!, Oolie/Donna in City of Angels (Marriott Theater); Pattie in Smokey Joe's Café (Drury Lane Theatre); Acid Queen in The Who's Tommy, Joanne in RENT, Fräulein Kost in Cabaret (Paramount Theatre); American Mixtape (The Second City). REGIONAL: world premiere of Something Wicked This Way Comes (Delaware Theatre Company); Tribe Member in Hair (Arizona Theatre Company). FILM: Captive State (Focus Features). EDUCATION: BFA in musical theater, Boston Conservatory. AWARDS: four Jeff Award nominations. Meghan performs the one-woman The Big Red Show around the country and internationally. www.meghanmurphybigred.com
ANDREA SAN MIGUEL (Luciana) CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE: Short Shakespeare! productions of Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth; Chicago Shakespeare in the Parks production of Twelfth Night. REGIONAL: As You Like It (Guthrie Theater); Twelfth Night (Writers Theatre); As You Like It, The Recruiting Officer, Our Country’s Good, The Maids, A Flea in Her Ear, Pericles (American Players Theatre); Appoggiatura (Indiana Repertory Theatre); The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Jungle Theater); Our Town, Company (Theater Latté Da); A Christmas Carol (Children's Theater of Madison). TOURING: The Taming of the Shrew, Cyrano de Bergerac, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Recruiting Officer, Henry V (Montana Shakespeare in the Parks). EDUCATION: BFA in acting, The University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater Actor Training Program.
DREW SHIRLEY (Troupe Manager/Egeon/Luce/Dr. Pinch) CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE: Hamlet, The Heir Apparent; Short Shakespeare! productions of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Twelfth Night. CHICAGO: The New Sincerity (Theater Wit); Born Yesterday (Remy Bumppo Theatre Company); Troll (Fraud & Phony); productions with Erasing the Distance, One Year Chekhov. REGIONAL: The Comedy of Errors, Much Ado About Nothing (Door Shakespeare); Peter and the Starcatcher, Cyrano de Bergerac (Utah Shakespeare Festival); Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare by the Sea); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Kingsmen Shakespeare Company); The Taming of the Shrew (Hermosa Beach Playhouse). EDUCATION: MFA in acting, University of Illinois; BFA in theater, Emporia State University.
ALEC SILVER (Dromio of Ephesus) CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE: A Midsummer Night’s Dream. CHICAGO: Wolf Play, End of Message, Office Hour (Victory Gardens Theater IGNITION Festival of New Plays); understudy in Porcelain (Prologue Theatre); Motherland (MOZAWA); [dot] (Room 916 Collective); Good Zoo (Bittersweet Arts Co.); M. Butterfly, The Tempest, Hot ‘N’ Throbbing (Columbia College Chicago). REGIONAL: Forsythian Dwellers Club (Minnesota Fringe Festival); Peter Pan and Wendy (Burning Coal Theatre Company); Coriolanus, Richard III, Hairspray, Scapin, Picasso at the Lapin Agile (New England Youth Theatre). EDUCATION: BA in theatre, Columbia College Chicago.
LAURENCE STEPNEY (Duke of Ephesus/Balthazar) CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE: Debut. CHICAGO: Harbur Gate (16th Street Theater); The Member of the Wedding (Organic Theater Company). OFF BROADWAY: Othello: The Panther (Nuyorican Poets Cafe). REGIONAL: Michigan Shakespeare Festival, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, The Theatre Project. OPERA: Siegfried (Lyric Opera of Chicago).
TOM BURCH (Scenic Designer) CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE: The Three Musketeers, and multiple Short Shakespeare! productions. CHICAGO: Masque Macabre (Strawdog Theatre Company); Sucker Punch (Jeff Award nomination, Victory Gardens Theater); The Aristophanesathon (The Hypocrites); The City of Conversation (Northlight Theatre); Goodman Theatre, Court Theatre, Chicago Children’s Theatre, The House Theatre of Chicago. OFF BROADWAY: Mistakes Were Made (Barrow Street Theatre). REGIONAL: American Repertory Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Olney Theatre Center, Pasadena Playhouse, Arizona Theatre Company, Cleveland Playhouse. AWARDS: Five Jeff Award nominations, three After Dark Awards. Tom currently teaches in the theatre program at University of North Carolina, Charlotte.
ANA KUZMANIC (Costume Designer) CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE: Romeo and Juliet, The Comedy of Errors, multiple Short Shakespeare! productions. CHICAGO: A Winter’s Tale, The Music Man (Goodman Theatre); Steadfast Tin Soldier (Lookingglass Theatre Company); The Minutes (Steppenwolf Theatre Company). BROADWAY: August: Osage County, Desire Under the Elms, Superior Donuts. REGIONAL: Shakespeare Theatre Company, Guthrie Theater, McCarter Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Trinity Repertory Company, The New Group, Geffen Playhouse, Oregon Shakespeare Festival. OPERA: Eurydice (LA Opera/The Metropolitan Opera); Don Giovanni (Lyric Opera of Chicago); Dallas Opera. Ms. Kuzmanic is an associate professor of costume design at Northwestern University. www.anakuzmanic.com
SCOTTY ISERI (Sound Designer) CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE: 2013 Chicago Shakespeare in the Parks production of The Comedy of Errors. CHICAGO: Steppenwolf Theatre Company, The House Theatre of Chicago, Uma Productions, Northlight Theatre. REGIONAL: Geva Theatre, Cleveland Playhouse, CoHo Productions. He performed live Foley with the original cast of Wet Hot American Summer at SF Sketchfest. He is the creator of The Paper Hat Game, which was adapted into a Drama Desk Award-nominated production in 2016, and the creator and producer of the children’s podcast Heart of the Story.
RICHARD JARVIE (Wig & Make-up Designer) CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE: The Wizard of Oz, Hamlet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Nell Gwynn, Peter Pan – A Musical Adventure, Macbeth, Mary Stuart, Red Velvet, The Taming of the Shrew, Madagascar, Chicago Shakespeare in the Parks: Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare in Love, Short Shakespeare! A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Short Shakespeare! Romeo and Juliet, Love’s Labor’s Lost, King Charles III. CHICAGO: Lyric Opera of Chicago, Goodman Theatre, Court Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Drury Lane Oakbrook. REGIONAL: Guthrie Theater (wig master), Alliance Theatre, McCarter Theatre. INTERNATIONAL: Tom Patterson Theatre (Stratford, Ontario; wig and make-up supervisor).
ROSS LEHMAN (Verse Coach) CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE ACTING: Cyrano de Bergerac, As You Like It, Feste in Twelfth Night, Dudley Marsh/Dromio of Syracuse in The Comedy of Errors, Troilus and Cressida, Henry IV Parts 1 and 2, King Lear, Cymbeline. CST VERSE COACHING: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Henry V. CHICAGO: As You Like It, Hamlet (Writers Theatre). BROADWAY: The Tempest. AWARDS: five Jeff Awards, two After Dark Awards, Helen Hayes Award, Laurence Olivier Award nomination. Ross has taught Shakespeare at CST, DePaul University, and Northwestern University, and currently teaches acting at Loyola University.
ELI NEWELL (Assistant Director) CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE: Debut. CHICAGO: War Paint (Goodman Theatre); By the Water (Northlight Theatre); Southern Gothic (Windy City Playhouse); The Gentleman Caller, The Undeniable Sound of Right Now (Raven Theatre); Masque Macabre, Damascus (Strawdog Theatre Company); Fantastic Mr. Fox (Emerald City Theatre); Don’t Go Gentle (Haven Theatre Company). REGIONAL: Guthrie Theater, Children’s Theatre Company, Ordway Center for the Performing Arts, Playwrights’ Center. EDUCATION: BA, Northwestern University.
BOB MASON (Casting) Bob Mason begins his twentieth season as CST’s casting director, where his credits include over one hundred productions and thirty-two plays in Shakespeare’s canon. In addition to memorable productions with Barbara Gaines of Tug of War, Cymbeline, Troilus and Cressida and many others, other productions of note include: a host of Sondheim musicals (including Pacific Overtures, Follies and Sunday in the Park with George) directed by Gary Griffin; Rose Rage: Henry VI, Parts 1, 2 and 3, directed by Edward Hall (transfer to Duke on 42nd in NYC); The Molière Comedies, directed by Brian Bedford; and Ride the Cyclone (CST, off-Broadway at MCC, and Seattle), directed by Rachel Rockwell. Additional Chicago casting credits include Bounce (Goodman Theatre and the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts), as well as productions for Asolo Repertory Theatre, Northlight Theatre, and Northwestern University’s American Music Theatre Project. He has been a visiting educator for the School at Steppenwolf, Acting Studio Chicago, the University of Illinois at Chicago and Wilmette’s Acting Training Center. Prior to casting, Mr. Mason enjoyed a fifteen-year career as a Jeff Award-winning actor and singer.
KELLY MONTGOMERY (Stage Manager) CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE: Debut. CHICAGO: Twilight Bowl, There’s Always the Hudson, Continuity (Goodman Theatre); The Wizard of Oz, Once (Paramount Theatre); For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf, All My Sons (Court Theatre). REGIONAL: Happy Days (Center Theatre Group); Happy Days (Theatre for a New Audience); Happy Days, Caucasian Chalk Circle (Yale Repertory Theatre); productions with Transcendence Theatre Company, Maine State Music Theatre. EDUCATION: MFA in Stage Management, Yale School of Drama.
CAITLIN BODY (Assistant Stage Manager) CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE: Debut. CHICAGO: stage manager for La Havana Madrid (Teatro Vista); What We're Up Against (Compass Theatre); Forgotten Future, Sketchbook, Gender Breakdown, Connected, Encounter, Blue Island, Peacebook (Collaboraction); For Her as a Piano (Pegasus Theatre); Wild Duck (Halcyon Theatre); Julia De Burgos: Child of Water (Urban Theater Company); Pen the Musical (Chicago Musical Theatre Festival). FILM: production manager for Heath Takes a Trip. EDUCATION: BFA in theatre arts, The Theatre School at DePaul University.
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