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MCKINLEY CARTER (Mary Jane) is pleased to make her Court debut with James Joyce’s The Dead. Chicago credits include The Visit at Goodman Theatre; Winesburg, Ohio at Steppenwolf; A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Tempest, Antony and Cleaopatra, and Henry IV, Parts One and Two at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre; Assasins and Kiss of the Spider Woman at Apple Tree Theatre; Passion and Company at Pegasus Players; and The Waiting Room at Stage Left Theatre. Regional credits include Proof (Madision Repertory Theatre), A Christmas Carol (Guthrie Theatre), and A Christmas Cabaret (Syracuse Stage). |
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CHRISTOPHER CORDON (Freddy Malins) is thrilled to be making his Chicago debut at Court Theatre. As a graduate of North Carlina School of the Arts, he originated the role of Charles Dickens in John Dillon and Tom Cole’s world premiere adaptation of Little Dorritt, as well as Mr. Griffiths in the remount of Gerald Freedman’s A Time for Singing. In New York, Chris performed at such venues as Todo Con Nada, The Trilogy Theatre, and Town Hall Theatre Off-Broadway. He would like to thank Mom, Lee, Dad and Emma for their love and financial aid. |
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DEANNA DUNAGAN (Aunt Julia Morkan) previously appeared at Court Theatre in eight productions including The Orestia, Jumpers, The Caucasian Chalk Circle and A Gigli Concert. Other Chicago credits include Sunday in the Park with George (Goodman); Slaughterhouse Five (Steppenwolf); The Glamour House (Victory Gardens); A Lie of the Mind (ATC); Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Apple Tree); Quilters (Northlight); Butley (Writers’ Theatre); Coriolanus (Next); and Hamlet (Wisdom Bridge). She has received an Artisan Award, two After Dark Awards, and six Jeff nominations. |
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NEIL FRIEDMAN (Mr. Browne) is happy to be back at Court, where he was last seen in My Fair Lady. Neil comes directly from Theatre at the Center’s production of A Few Good Men. Other Chicago credits include Early and Often and Ghetto (Famous Door); Zoot Suit, Wings, and A Little Night Music (Goodman); 1776, The King and I, Chess, Matador, Brigadoon, and Camelot (Marriott); My One and Only, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Phantom of the Opera, and Jesus Christ Superstar, Joseph Jefferson Award (Drury Lane Oakbrook); Woody Guthrie’s American Song (Northlight Theatre). He was also seen in Pacific Overtures, King Lear, Antony and Cleopatra, and over twenty other productions at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. |
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ROB HANCOCK (Michael) is making his second Chicagoland appearance; his first being Muscle at Pegasus Players. He has performed with several regional companies, including Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, American Folklore Theatre and Utah Shakespearean Festival. Rob is a graduate of the University of Tennessee. He recently spent a season at Milwaukee’s Skylight Opera House as a Resident Artist. |
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SARA MINTON (Mrs. Malins) is thrilled to make her Court Theatre debut. Favorite roles include Jack’s Mother in the second National Tour of Into the Woods, Sarah in Company at Pegasus Players (Jeff Citation-Ensemble), Elizabeth in the Mim workshop at the Lamb’s Theatre in New York, and the entire female ensemble in Baby at Apple Tree Theatre. Other roles include Ms. Goldberg, in In Trousers (Chicago premiere), and the triple roles of Doris, Cyndi, and Mara in Kingsley Day’s Summer Stock Murder. |
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CRISTEN PAIGE (Rita, Young Julia) is making her Court Theatre debut. She most recently played Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. She originated the role of Ottilie in The Visit at Goodman Theatre. Other credits include Penny in Honk! and Kim MacAfee in Bye, Bye Birdie (Marriott Theatre); Bianca in The Taming of the Shrew (Shakespeare Project of Chicago); and Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Anne Frank in And Then They Came for Me (Indiana Repertory Theatre). She received her BFA in Acting from Boston University. |
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JOHN REEGER (Gabriel Conroy) was seen at Court Theatre last season as Polonius in Hamlet and as Col. Pickering in My Fair Lady. He previously performed at Court in Hay Fever, Twelfth Night, Piano, Life’s a Dream, The Learned Ladies, Fair Ladies at a Game of Poem Cards, Gross Indecency, Nora, The Little Foxes, La Bête, Putting It Together, An Ideal Husband, The Cherry Orchard, Old Times, Tartuffe, The Philadelphia Story, The Play’s the Thing, King Henry IV, Travesties, The Misanthrope, The Triumph of Love, Cloud Nine, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, Woyzeck, and The Seagull. He co-authored The Christmas Schooner (music and lyrics by Julie Shannon), which will be revived for its eigth season at Bailiwick Theatre. |
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HOLLIS RESNIK (Molly Ivors) was most recently seen at the Goodman Theatre as Anne Hathaway in The Beard of Avon, and as Charlotte in A Little Night Music at the Ravinia Festival. Her appearances at Court include The Little Foxes, The Learned Ladies, Hay Fever, The Misanthrope, Travesties, La Bête, and The Play's the Thing. She appeared as the Beggar Woman in Ravinia’s concert production of Sweeney Todd, and in a new opera entitled Lovers and Friends, by Michael John LaChuisa, produced by the Lyric Opera at the Merle Reskin Theatre. She was also seen in the title role of Mame at the Marriot and as the Actress in Enter the Guardsman at Northlight. Hollis has performed in numerous productions at the Goodman, the Apollo, Milwaukee Rep., Indiana Rep., and Santa Fe Stages. She recently released her solo debut CD Make Somone Happy, which can be purchased in the Court Theatre lobby or by visiting her website at www.hollisresnik.com. |
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PAULA SCROFANO (Gretta Conroy) has appeared at Court Theatre as Judith Bliss in Hay Fever and as the Wife in Putting It Together, for which she received a Jeff Award. She lists among her Chicago credits Desiree Armfeldt in A Little Night Music and Dot/ Marie in Sunday in the Park with George at Goodman; Kate in The Ballad of Little Jo at Steppenwolf; Bella in Lost in Yonkers and Maria Merelli in Lend Me a Tenor at Royal George; the title role in Victor/Victoria, Ida in Honk, and Meg in Damn Yankees at Marriott Theatre; Mrs. Baskin in Big, Julie in Showboat and a Jeff Award for Lily Garland in On the Twentieth Century at Dury Lane Oakbrook; and Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream at First Folio Shakespeare. |
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ANA SFERRUZZA (Lily) is thrilled to be making her Court debut. She was recently seen as Elsie in Steppenwolf’s The Time of Your Life. Other credits include Steppenwolf’s Maria Arndt (understudy), Chicago Shakepeare’s King Lear (Cordelia), Northlight Theatre’s An Experiment with an Air Pump (Jeff nominated, Best Supporting Actress), Next Theatre’s The Laramie Project (Jeff Nominated, Best Ensemble and After Dark Award, Ensemble), and Goodman Theatre’s Schoolgirl Figure. Ana will appear in Northlight Theatre’s next production, Sky Girls. |
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KATHY TAYLOR (Aunt Kate Morkan) has toured nationally with Les Miserable (Fantine), The Phantom of the Opera (Madame Giry), and Martin Guerre (Madame De Rols). Regional theatre credits include Cymbeline (Queen) at Chicago Shakespeare, Grand Hotel (Grushinskaya) at Marriott, and City of Angels (Alaura) and Follies (Phyllis) at Dury Lane Oakbrook. Also know as Kat’ Taylor, she sings on both Second City Divas CDs and her solo CD, Kat’ Taylor-Music of Chicago Composers. This one’s for Maia. |
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STEPHEN WALLEM (Bartell D’Arcy) makes his Court debut with James Joyce’s The Dead. Other credits include Mr. Erlanson in A Little Night Music (Ravinia Music Festival), Into the Woods (National Tour), Sunday in the Park with George and The Mystery of Irma Vep (New America Theatre), The Rocky Horror Show (Organic), and eight years as both Jinx and Sparky in various companies of Forever Plaid including Chicago, Las Vegas, Denver, Peninsula Players, Theatre at the Center, and the first National Tour. |
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ORCHESTRA
JEFF LEWIS (Musical Director/Piano) is very pleased to be making his debut with Court Theatre. Other Chicago productions include: Little Me, Gypsy, Brigadoon, A Day In Hollywood, Chicago (Marriott); Bubbe Meisis, Master Class, (Northlight), Closer Than Ever (Apple Tree). He has received Jefferson nominations for The Great Gatsby (Wisdom Bridge), Goblin Market (Next Theatre), Quilters and Side Show (Northlight); and Jefferson Citations for Merrily We Roll Along, Pacific Overtures, The Frogs, and Anyone Can Whistle (Pegasus). Off Broadway: Street Scene. Tours: Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, A Chorus Line. Regional work includes: The Old Globe Theatre (San Diego), Great Lakes Theater Festival (Cleveland), Coconut Grove Playhouse (Miami), and the world premiere of Bok Choy Variations for the Minnesota Opera Theatre. Jeff is a member of the faculty of the School of Drama at the North Carolina School of the Arts.
PAUL AMANDES (Guitar) has just finished recording the CD of Two Fools Gold, a western romantic musical comedy he’s written. Next year it will be produced by Columbia College Chicago where Paul is in his 13th year of teaching. This past summer he directed Scarlet Confessions for Victory Gardens, in which he also performed (singer-guitarist-actor). Paul also directed the award-winning production of Hello Dali for Victory Gardens (Tony-winning season). He recently played and sang for The Golden Comb for the Chicago Humanities Festival ’02 and he was a featured performer for the Evenings of Vaudeville at the Irish-American Heritage Center. He will be directing Glengarry Glen Ross for Open Door Repertory Theatre next year. Paul has written, directed, and/or composed music and lyrics for National Public Radio, the Equity Library Theatre, Still Point Theatre, the Curious Theatre Branch, the University of Nebraska, the University of Indiana-South Bend and Columbia College Chicago, where he is a full-time faculty member of the Theatre Department.
MARTINE BENMANN (Cello) has been active in the music field as a teacher (Sherwood Conservatory of Music, Roosevelt University), orchestra player, chamber musician, and soloist ever since she arrived in Chicago in 1988. Her primary interest is in chamber music, and she has toured with duos and trios in Europe, Russia, and the United States. Ms. Benmann’s repertoire extends from the music of the Baroque to contemporary music. She received her musical education in France, Germany, Moscow and the U.S. She is an Artist Diploma Graduate from Roosevelt University.
MARIE MICOL BENNETT(Flute) last appeared in Court Theatre's production of Leonard Bernstein's Candide in 1991. Ms. Bennett maintains an active freelance schedule, performing regularly as a substitute with the Illinois Symphony Orchestra, New Philharmonic and Decatur Symphony Orchestra, as well as a private teaching studio. She has studied with Mary Stolper, Richard Graef, Walfrid Kujala and Susan Levitin. Ms. Bennett holds a BM from Northwestern University (1995) and an MM from DePaul University (2002).
EUGENIA WIE (Violin), born in Chicago, started her studies at the age of five and enjoyed her first radio performance at the age of nine. As a chamber musician and recitalist, she has performed at Hasselburg Castle in Germany, Groznjan, Croatia with members of the Gurzenich Orchestra where the performances were broadcast over Croatian National Radio, St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York, Glencairn Castle in Philadelphia, the Fine Arts Building at Bein and Fushi, and the Harold Washington Library in Chicago. She completed her undergraduate degree at Rice University where she was a pupil of Sergiu Luca and continued her studies at the Mannes College of Music with Daniel Phillips of the Orion String Quartet. Last year she was a recipient of a grant from the Frank Huntington Beebe Foundation allowing her to take her studies abroad to Germany.
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