These Shining Lives


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These Shining Lives by Melanie Marnich January 8, 2009			Cast Catherine - Rebecca Spence Rebecca is honored to make her Rivendell debut. Theatre credits include her most recent role as Alice in Remy Bumppo’s The Voysey Inheritance. Other Chicago credits include: The Crucible, Household Spirits, As if Body Loop, The Human Capacity, Our Lady of 121st Street and the world premiere of Pacific with Steppenwolf Theatre. She has also appeared in Touch(ed) and IN with Northlight Theatre; Twelfth Night (Noble Fool Theatricals); Dracula (Defiant Theatre); Days of Wine and Roses (Keyhole Players) and Desdemona: A Play About a Handkerchief (TriArts). Regional credits include: Roxanne in Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s Cyrano and its subsequent tour. Film credits include: Public Enemies, Grace is Gone and The Break Up. She has appeared on the FOX Television show Prison Break and the upcoming A&E drama The Beast.
Jeff Recommended! Sponsored by The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation Reviews			Tom - Sean Cooper Sean has been acting in Chicago for fifteen years. Recent theatre credits include The Final Toast (International Mystery Writers Festival), Wedding Play (About Face Theatre), Honus and Me, Dandelion Wine (Chicago Children’s Theatre), Cradle of Man (Victory Gardens), Red Herring (Northlight Theatre), Mojo (Mary-Arrchie) Eurydice, Melancholy Play, Mad Forest, Book of Days (Piven Theatre), Merchant of Venice (Strawdog Theatre), A Lesson Before Dying (Steppenwolf Theatre), Lysistrata (Running With Scissors), H2O, and K. (The Neo-Futurists), and a slew of shows with The Shakespeare Project of Chicago. His film and television work includes Whirlybird, A Pirate’s Life, The Malcontents, and a guest starring role on The Beast.
848 Dueling Critics Chicago Tribune - 3 Stars Chicago SunTimes - Highly Recommended Time Out Chicago - 4 Stars Windy City Times Talkin' Broadway			Charlotte - Justine C. Turner Justine C. Turner is thrilled to be making her Rivendell debut. She is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago. She is a proud founding member of The Plagiarists where she was just seen in Promiscuous Stories. She was part of the Jeff Award winning ensemble of Cider House Rules: Pt 1 and 2 with Famous Door and the Jeff Citation award winning ensemble of Action Movie the Play with Defiant theatre. She has also worked with Writers’ theatre, A Crew of Patches, The Journeymen, and Noble Fool theatricals. This spring she can be seen in Strawdog Theatre’s Red Noses. She would like to thank the lovely group of folks who work to tell this story, Tara for keeping her in line and mind, and her amazing folks for keeping her under roof.
			Pearl - Ashley Neal As an ensemble member of Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, Ashley is very excited to be a part of "These Shining Lives". The last production Ashley was seen in was "Expecting Isabel" and she made her Rivendell debut in "Be Aggressive". She has also worked with other Chicago companies such as: Seanachi Theatre, greasyjoan and co. , Chicago Dramatists, Citadel Theatre, and more.
			Frances - Jessie Fisher Jessie Fisher is thrilled to be working with Rivendell Ensemble. She recently performed the one woman show My Name is Rachel Corrie with Purple Bench Productions. She has worked with Profiles Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre, The Artistic Home, Colorado Shakespeare Festival and Curious Theatre Branch, among others. Jessie is a recent graduate of the School at Steppenwolf and can be seen in Of Mice and Men this spring for Steppenwolf's TYA series. Jessie would like to thank Erica for the support and Mad Animal's for the constant love and inspiration.
			Mr. Reed - Ron Wells Ron was most recently seen as Peter in Caffeine Theatre’s fall production of Many Loves. He also received the 2008 Non-AEA Jeff Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of the psychopathic killer Sean in Mary Arrchie Theatre’s A Prayer For My Daughter. Other recent roles include Michael in The Fourposter at Citadel Theatre and Annibale Carracci in Silk Road Theatre’s Caravaggio. Other Chicago credits: Voyeurs de Venus at Chicago Dramatists (where he is an Associate Artist); A Trip To Bountiful, Medea, and Skin of our Teeth at American Theatre Company (where he is an Affiliated Artist); Cuttings, The Waiting Room, and Prairie Lights at Stage Left; The Grey Zone at A Red Orchid Theatre; and Detail Of A Larger Work at Steppenwolf.
			Crew Director - Rachel Walshe Rachel is a recent graduate of DePaul's Theatre School where she earned her MFA in 2008. While there she directed Machinal, the Bald Soprano, Eurydice, Living Out, and Breath, Boom. She recently served as Associate Director for the Hypocrites' critically acclaimed Our Town, and was the Assistant Director for the Goodman's world premiere of Brett Neveu's Gas For Less. She has directed and dramaturged productions at the Goodman, Steppenwolf, Chicago Dramatists, Caffeine Theatre, and Rivendell Theatre Ensemble. She is a proud member of Rivendell's ensemble and heads their New Play Devlepment program. Upcoming, she will direct The Changeling for Caffeine Theatre opening in March.
			Assistant Director - Shera Street Shera Street has been a member of Rivendell Theatre Ensemble since 2001. Production Management credits include 6 seasons as Assistant Production Manager with the Goodman Theatre and Production Manager for RTE’s Fresh Produce, Be Aggressive, The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek, and Faulkner's Bicycle. Shera was also the Producer for Rivendell’s production of Indulgences in the Louisville Harem and Associate Producer for RTE’s Silence. Shera’s acting credits include 365 Days 365 Plays with Lifeline Theatre and Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, Expecting Isabel, and Silence (performing understudy) also with Rivendell. She has also performed in Chicago area productions of Romeo and Juliet, Lost In Yonkers; Arsenic and Old Lace, and King Lear with the Iowa Shakespeare Project. She received her BFA in Theatre from Drake University and currently works as a Project Manager for exhibits and programs at the Adler Planetarium.
			Scenic Designer - Jessica Kuehnau Jessica is pleased to be designing her first set for Rivendell Theatre. Ms. Kuehnau is a recent graduate of Northwestern University receiving her MFA in both set and costume design. Her Chicago credits include designing for Pegasus Players, Griffin Theatre, Lifeline, MPAACT, Adventure Stage Chicago, Light Opera Works, and Metropolis Performing Art Center. Jessica is currently the resident set designer and design professor at North Park University and full time teaching faculty at Northeastern Illinois University. Look for her costume designs this spring with Steep, Circle Theatre and Adventure Stage Chicago.
			Lighting Designer - Diane Fairchild Diane is a proud ensemble member of Rivendell and an Artistic Associate of Next Theatre. Previous designs for Rivendell: Psalms of a Questionable Nature. Other Design Credits include: Chicago: Next, TimeLine, Northlight, Pegasus Players, Neo-Futurists (at Northlight), Redmoon, Infamous Commonwealth, Noble Fool, The Side Project, Wheaton College, Court Theatre; NYC: The Juilliard School, Dixon Place, The Kitchen, Joyce Soho, HERE, New Georges; Regional: INTIMAN Theatre, Trinity Repertory, Syracuse Stage. Ms. Fairchild holds an MFA in theater design from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, and she earned her BFA in design and technology for the theater from Wright State University in her hometown, Dayton, Ohio. Much thanks and love to F.L. and XanMan.
			Costume Designer - Ruthanne Swanson Ruthanne is thrilled to be working on These Shining Lives as her first production with Rivendell Theatre. Most recently she designed Many Loves for Caffeine Theatre. Other design credits include Tristan & Yseult (National High School Institute, Theatre Arts) G. B. Shaw's Misalliance, A. A. Milne's The Man in the Bowler Hat, and Peter Shaffer's White Lies (Vanderbilt University), and Cheaper By the Dozen (Summer Place Theatre). By day Ruthanne is a stitcher at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre and Northwestern University. She holds a BA in Theatre from Vanderbilt University.
			Sound Designer - Nick Keenan Nick is thrilled to be working with Rivendell for the first time. Nick has designed over 100 shows in Chicago with companies including A Red Orchid (Not a Game for Boys), BackStage (How I Learned to Drive), Raven (Book of Days, A Few Good Men), Greasy Joan & Co. (Sueño, Woyzeck) and his artistic home, New Leaf Theatre (Touch, Six Years, The Dining Room). Nick has assisted at the Chicago Shakespeare (Amadeus) and the Goodman Theatre (Trip to Bountiful, Shining City) Nick is a sound operator at the Goodman, and explores behind-the-scenes on his blog theaterforthefuture.com.
			Composer/Associate Sound Designer - Stephanie Sherline Stephanie is thrilled to be making her Rivendell debut with this exciting production! Stephanie is a recent graduate of Northwestern University's theatre department where she composed music for several plays. In Chicago, she has sound designed and/or composed for The Mill, Apex Theatre Company, PEOPLES Theatre of Chicago, Profiles Theatre, The New Colony, and Curious Theatre Branch. Thanks to Nick Keenan and Rivendell for this opportunity.
			Dramaturg - Martha Wade Steketee Martha Wade Steketee has been a script reader for Washington, DC theatres (Theatre J and Studio Theatre), Chicago theatres (Steppenwolf, Goodman, and Northlight), and online publisher Playscripts, Inc. She has dramaturged productions at Writers' Theatre, readings at Columbia College and Chicago Dramatists, and reviewed Chicago theatre for Aislesay.com. Our radium girls along with HEDDA GABLER and Jeff Committee membership currently fill her days and nights with theatre. Steketee is a happy immigrant to Chicago after an eight-year stint in Washington, D.C., most of those with a national court research organization.
			Stage Manager - Stephanie Hurovitz Stephanie is very happy to have found a home with the Rivendell Theatre Ensemble. She assistant stage managed Rivendell’s joint production of Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue with Teatro Vista at the Steppenwolf garage. She most recently stage managed Continental Divide with Pegasus Players. She has also worked with Lifeline Theatre Company; Bailiwick Reparatory; Theatre Building Chicago (where she worked with Hancock Productions); Walk-About Theatre Company, in conjunction with Lookingglass; Collaboraction Theatre Company; (the since re-named) International Theatre of Chicago; Brown Couch Theatre Company; and (the since dissolved) Pywackett Theatre.
			Assistant Stage Manager - Coco Ree Lemery CoCo is a technical theater student at Columbia College Chicago. Aside from working at Columbia, she has worked at numerous theaters including, The Lyric Opera House, Pegasus Players and Black Ensemble. Most importantly, she is grateful for the opportunity at Rivendell and looks forward to work with them again.


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