Redmoon Theater

Artistic Director

Frank Maugeri

Frank has been integral to the creation of all the theater’s major spectacles … he is also a recipient of the prestigious NEA/TCG Career Development Award for Directors

Frank Maugeri became the Artistic Director of Redmoon in 2009. He has served as a director, designer, and performer for 15 years; in addition, he shapes the aesthetic of Redmoon’s marketing materials, leads the staff in community vision work, and manages much of Redmoon’s large community of freelance artists and interns.

Frank most recently conceived and directed Redmoon’s critically acclaimed Boneyard Prayer, the Jeff- and After Dark-awarded Once Upon A Time, which recently toured in L.A. in June 2008, and the critically acclaimed The Cabinet; co-directed the Jeff-awarded The Golden Truffle and Sink. Sank. Sunk…; created and co-directed the Jeff-awarded Salao: the worst kind of unlucky; and directed the shadow show in Galway’s Shadow, performed at The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. He has been integral to the creation of all Redmoon’s major spectacles, including the All Hallow’s Ritual Celebrations and ten Winter Pageants (two of which he created and directed), and all the theater’s celebrations and groundbreakings. He has also performed in many popular Redmoon productions, as the Bossman in Sink. Sank. Sunk…, Sorin in Seagull, and a puppeteer in Rachel’s Love, Frankenstein, and the 2000 production of Hunchback.

Among Frank’s recent small works, Laika’s Coffin and Potatoes won Best Director and Best Production at Collaboraction’s Sketchbook 2006 and 2004, respectively; and Jane and the End of Time won Best Production and Best Actress at Sketchbook 2005. Laika’s Coffin recently he toured to New York. He is a recent recipient of the prestigious NEA/TCG Career Development Award for Directors, where he worked extensively with Dogtroepe and Groupe ZUR in Europe.

Frank has served as an instructor and guest artist to Gallery 37, Project LEAP, UIC, Northwestern University, The Jung Institute, Chicago Park District, and Department of Cultural Affairs; he makes his teaching home in the Film and Animation department of Columbia College. Frank was also a founding member of Theater DANK, a collaborative of puppet directors and designers who led the successful Chicago Puppet Festivals in 1998 and 1999, as well as many events and gatherings featuring DANK’s own work and the work of many national puppet theater makers.

Executive Producer

Rebecca Hunter

Rebecca was the Cultural Manager for Creative Partnerships working to give children the opportunity to develop their creativity and imagination by partnering with creative and cultural organizations

Rebecca Hunter joined Redmoon as the Producing Director after serving as Spectacle Producer for Spectacle ’05: Loves Me…Loves Me Not. Since then, she has produced numerous productions and events for Redmoon, most recently Hunchback. Rebecca, who relocated to America from London, England in 2004, has worked in the cultural and arts sectors for over ten years. Aside from her work with Redmoon, she has served as the Cultural Manager for Creative Partnerships, a national initiative in England which worked to give children the opportunity to develop their creativity and imagination through sustainable partnerships with creative and cultural organizations. Previous to this she served as Acting Artistic Director for Young at Art, an international arts festival for children and young people, based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Her experience also includes presenting a physical theater symposium program with international practitioners, producing site-specific theater, and acting as literature consultant for an international arts festival.

Resident Artist

Jim Lasko

Jim Lasko has created numerous original spectacles and theatrical works ranging from massive public celebrations in site-specific locations to stage shows in traditional theater venues

Jim Lasko, current resident artist, served as Redmoon’s Artistic Director from 1992 to 2009. As artistic director he created numerous original theater and spectacle events ranging from massive public celebrations to formal indoor shows. Originally co-artistic director with founder Blair Thomas, Jim became sole artistic director in 1998 and has been a principal voice in over 30 productions in this capacity. Most recently, Jim created The Princess Club, an exploration of gender, fantasy, and beauty. He also created Redmoon’s latest large scale spectacle, Twilight Orchard, in Columbus Park on Chicago’s West Side, attracting 7,500 audience members over seven evenings. Jim’s other productions include The Golden Truffle, a dessert musical, and Galway’s Shadow, which converted the facade of Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art into a giant shadow screen. The All Hallow’s Eve Ritual Celebration, which he conceived and directed, attracted tens of thousands of people to Logan Square for an evening of community spectacle from 1998 to 2002. He also collaborated on a large scale, site-specific spectacle with an international team in Tasmania, Australia entitled Dream Masons, which opened in March 2007. Currently, Jim is designing the Family Center at the Spertus Institute in Chicago. Jim’s work has been commissioned by Chicago’s Field Museum, the City of Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs, the Mayor’s Office of Special Events, the Pritzker family, and the Zell family. Jim is a recipient of the Meier Award for Excellence in the Arts, numerous Jeff citations, an Award for Excellence in Puppetry Arts from the International Puppetry Guild, and he was named an “artist to watch for the next decade” by The Chicago Tribune. Jim completed his course work for a PhD in Theatre and Drama at Northwestern University, but dodged his dissertation and took a Master’s degree instead.
Called “one of Chicago’s most creative individuals” by City of Chicago’s cultural affairs commissioner Lois Weisberg, in July 2009 he was named Chicago’s first-ever artist in residence.

Associate Artistic Director

Vanessa Stalling

For 3 years, Vanessa has directed Redmoon for Hire, where she has led the artistic team in manifesting over 300 public and private events, including Chicago’s first Looptopia, the 2006 Art Institute Womens’ Board Gala, and Elgin’s Foxfire event.

Vanessa Stalling is the Associate Artistic Director of Redmoon where she has served as a primary collaborator since 2003.She has been key to the creation of art at Redmoon as a director, a co-conceiver, as well as a performer.

Most recently, Vanessa directed the critically acclaimed and Jeff nominated Winter Pageant Redux, which was a reinvention of Redmoon’s longest running tradition; co-directed the Jeff nominated Boneyard Prayer and Princess Club, the physical exploration of femininity in fairy tales and pop culture; co-directed Twilight Orchard, a large-scale spectacle that took place in one of Chicago’s unique natural landscapes considered the masterpiece of Jens Jensen; co-directed the Jeff-awarded Golden Truffle.

Vanessa initially joined Redmoon as a performer in 1999. Since that time, she has helped shape numerous characters in several indoor and outdoor productions including Seagull, Loves Me Loves Me Not, The Cabinet, Sink Sank Sunk, Princess Club and Cyrano. Through her character work at Redmoon, she has begun to create a process for teaching character development and story telling through physical exercises and object manipulation. Participants in Redmoon’s Performance Internships, an existing program that Vanessa created in 2008, learn to generate performance material through this process as well as have the opportunity to work side by side with Redmoon’s lead artists and designers in the development of objects, puppets and performance moments for upcoming events.

Neighborhood Arts Program Director

Angela Tillges

As an artist, Angela has served as the Art Director to the Jeff and After Dark awarded Once Upon a Time and Redmoon’s annual benefit Spectacle Lunatique, and has been a key designer to The Cabinet, From Nothing, Loves Me Loves Me Not, The Golden Truffle, Looptopia, and The Princess Club.

Angela Tilges is an artist and educator currently serving as Director of Neighborhood Arts Programs for Redmoon, where she oversees the vision of The Drama Girls, Audobon School Partnership Program, the build shop internship program, and all build volunteer activities. She has collaborated with Redmoon since 2004.

As a Educator, she has spent the past 4 years instructing and developing the curriculum of Neighborhood Arts Programs, which serve 400 students, 17 educators, and 40 emerging artists annually. As a Director, she has shaped several Audubon School Spectacles, which involves over 400 students, staff, and community members. Angela most recently lead Redmoon’s first international residency in Letterkenny Ireland, a public art project that served over 100 students from three primary schools, the Donegal Regional Cultural Center, and Oatfield Sweets Factory. THE SWEET FANTASTIC, was widely celebrated community event.

In addition to her work with Redmoon, Angela co-created the art for Jane and the End of Time and Laika’s Coffin, two of Collaboraction’s Skecthbook awarded productions and is a primary collaborator of Make New Species. She has served a curator to a number of events and groups, including the art exhibit for Walkabouts Impossible Cities. She has served as a an instructor and guest artist to the Museum of Contemporary Art, Northwestern, University of MN, Hyde Park Arts Center, Link’s Hall, Jung Institute, and Ball Horticultural Society.

General Manager

Beth Kaskel

Beth Kaskel currently serves as General Manager, coordinating functions of the Redmoon administrative offices. In a development capacity, she also oversees all Foundation and Government giving.

Beth Kaskel currently serves as General Manager, coordinating functions of the Redmoon administrative offices. In a development capacity, she also oversees all Foundation and Government giving. Beth also manages the Redmoon Administrative Internship Program; the program in which she began with Redmoon in 2006. Prior to stepping into the position of General Manager, Beth served for two years as the Redmoon Administration Manager.

Aside from her extensive work at Redmoon, Beth has worked around Chicago as the Assistant to the General Manager at Victory Gardens Theater and has directed for Element: A New Plays Festival. Before completion of a Bachelor of the Fine Arts in Theater Administration with Highest Honors from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Beth served as Production Manager for the Armory Free Theater, a theater for student directed work in association with the University Of Illinois Department Of Theater.

Beth’s talents also include direction and stage management, serving as Assistant Director to Moises Kaufman as he workshopped 33 Variations before its Broadway Premier and Production Stage Manager for artists such as Mikhail Baryshnikov and Yo-Yo Ma. Additionally, Beth has stage managed and assistant directed for both Redmoon and Redmoon for Hire.

Producer

Lee Potter

Work in the last 5 years has included serving as Lookingglass Theatre Company’s Director of Production during the opening of their new space in the Water Tower Water Works on Michigan Avenue, where she produced their first several seasons, and also the production management of the inaugural productions of Chicago Children’s Theatre.

Lee Potter has worked as a production manager or stage manager in Chicago for over 25 years for theatres and commercial producers including Body Politic, Victory Gardens, Organic, Light Opera Works, Cullen, Henaghan and Platt, Fox Theatricals, Lookingglass, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Chicago Children’s Theatre, Steppenwolf and Goodman Theatre . Work in the last 5 years has included serving as Lookingglass Theatre Company’s Director of Production during the opening of their new space in the Water Tower Water Works on Michigan Avenue, where she produced their first several seasons, and also the production management of the inaugural productions of Chicago Children’s Theatre. She was also production manager for The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee at the Drury Lane Theatre Water Tower Place for Broadway in Chicago. Most recently she has worked as a Theatre Consultant for Schuler Shook, a firm of Theatre Planners and Lighting Designers, in their Chicago office.

Development

Sean Kaplan

Sean has worked in many capacities over a 15-year career in the arts; from performance in television and film, writing and directing for the stage to administration and development, as well as cofounding an award-winning theatre and international school in Italy.

Sean works in several areas of Redmoon development focusing on corporate and sponsorship opportunities, individual giving, new board development and in direct support of Redmoon’s 30 member-strong board of directors. He also initiates all PR initiatives through Redmoon’s media relations.

Born and raised in Chicago, he studied on a series of scholarships at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, the drama school at University of Exeter in England and afterward at Ecole Jacques Lecoq, a theater conservatory in Paris, France.

He co-founded Kiklos Teatro, an Italian arts organization in Padua, where he worked as an administrator and artist in the theatre company, taught coursework at its award-winning international theater school and led the development of a touring educational outreach department that created original productions and events for young audiences across Italy.

He went on to work in a development capacity for an Italian production company, Holon Productions, where he co-raised all investment capital for the development and creation of a cartoon animation as an English language teaching tool for the Italian market of English as a Second Language (ESL).

Stateside, he worked in New Business Development for Type A Learning Agency, a River North based, award-winning woman-owned business focused on consulting and customized elearning services through internal online courses, campaigns and communities. Before that, he worked in the Green Tech and Sustainability sector for Solar Tracking Skylights, Inc in National Sales focused on Fortune 100 accounts.

Locally he has had the opportunity to collaborate with a wide variety of cultural/art organizations around town: A Red Orchid, Bailiwick, Collaboraction, Congo Square, Defiant, Italian Culture Institute of Chicago, Lookingglass, Lyric Opera, Northwestern University Departments of Classics / English / and Italian, Steppenwolf, and the Vittum Theater at Northwestern University Settlement House.

Artistic & Production Staff:
Mike ONeill………………Production Manager
Gabriel Richardson……..Technical Director

Build Shop Interns:
Spring 2010 Build Shop Interns:
Nathalie Avala, Danielle D’Antonio, Vince Gaulin, Daniel Johnston, Andrew Koechling, Daniel Milsk, Dorothee Perin, Sophia Raoata, Lara Rivera

Spring 2010 Artistic Administration Interns:
Sara Haley, Spring Karlo, Sabrina Maxwell, Julie Wunderlein

Administrative & Education Staff

Jackie Egger………………Finance Manager
Emily Reusswig…………..Office Manager
Caroline Defrin……………Teaching Artist
Jenna Deidel……………….Teaching Artist
Jillian Gryzlak……………..Teaching Artist
Virginia Lund……………….Teaching Artist
Tracy Otwell……………….Teaching Artist
Laura Pawson………………Teaching Artist
Nikki Zaleski……………….Teaching Artist
Allie Miller………………….NAP Apprentice

A. C. T. Ltd.: Auditors

All production photos by Sean Williams.

Staff