People

Board of Trustees

Responsibilities of Court’s Board of Trustees include fundraising, approving the strategic direction and plans of the theatre, approving and regularly monitoring the theatre’s annual budget and advocating for Court Theatre in the community. The Board works in close concert with the University of Chicago, which bears final fiduciary and legal responsibility and authority for the theatre. Together, the Board and University guide Court’s mission and vision.

Faculty Advisory Council

Court Theatre’s ongoing creative collaboration with the Faculty Advisory Council is a hallmark of its artistic mission. Faculty members from departments across the University of Chicago gather regularly with Court artistic staff to share their insights and perspectives on the dramatic works each new season brings. Plays at Court Theatre are immeasurably enriched by the contributions of scholars from History, Philosophy, English, Physics, Psychology, Classics, Music, and many other fields.

Staff

Avery Willis Hoffman, Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director
Angel Ysaguirre, Executive Director
Heidi Thompson Saunders, Managing Director

Ron OJ Parson, Resident Artist
esperanza spalding, Resident Artist

Tyler Calhoun, Associate Producer
Becca McCracken, C.S.A., Director of Casting and Artist Cultivation
Celeste M. Cooper, Associate Casting Director
Joanie Friedman, Director of the Civic Actor Studio
Toma Langston, Financial Administrator

Kamilah Rashied, Director of Engagement
Jarrett King, Director of Education
Kelcie Beene, Engagement Programs Manager
Kate Wiseman, Education Programs Manager
Sonia Goldberg, Education Coordinator
Kirsten Baity, India Nicole Burton, Monet Felton, Willow James, and Jamaque Newberry, Teaching Artists

Kaitlyn Anderson, Director of Production
Lorenzo Blackett, Associate Production Manager and Company Manager
Luke Lemanski, Technical Director
Kelly Lesniak, Assistant Technical Director
Cordell Brown, Scene Shop Foreperson
Tony Cooper, House Carpenter
Lara Musard, Head of Props
Liz Taylor, Costume Shop Manager
Jody Schmidt, Wardrobe Supervisor
Andrei Borges, Lighting Supervisor
Josh McCammon, Technical Director of Sound and Video

Leah Cox, Director of Development
Madison Blackwood, Associate Director of Development
Jean Osberger, Senior Assistant Director of Development
Cara Peterson, Assistant Director of Development

Traci Brant, Director of Marketing
Camille Oswald, Deputy Director of Marketing
Matthew P. Sitz, Associate Director of Marketing for Audience Services
Phillip H. Lewis, Audience Development Associate and House Manager
Heather Dumdei, Box Office and Ticketing Software Manager
Abbey Freestone, Associate Box Office Manager
Jordan Brown and Camryn D’Angelo, Assistant Box Office Managers
Samuel Garwal, Front of House Assistant
Clara Bennett, Marketing Intern

UChicago Arts Administration
Nootan Bharani, Director of University Arts Engagement
Ellen MacKay, Interim Senior Advisor to the Provost for the Arts and Deputy Dean for the Arts (Division of the Arts & Humanities)
Jessica Musselwhite, Executive Director
Jen Katz, Director of Finance
Germaine Kindred, Financial and Grant Administrator
Ellen Peterson, Senior Human Resources Business Partner
Cara Parrish, Human Resources Manager 
Tom Popelka, Associate Director of Development

Photo by Michael Brosilow.