Theatre Colloquium
Connecting students with one another and with the world.
A key component of the theatre program is the Theatre Colloquium. The theatre department often uses this time to connect students with experts working in the field, particularly Valpo alumni. Recent guests span a number of sub-specialties:
- The Actors from the London Stage (recurrently for many years)
- Piccolo Theatre Ensemble Members
- Kelly Anne Clark — actor and singer
- Isaac Schoepp ’07 — Chicago-based actor
- Lance Baker — Chicago-based actor
- Natalie Weiss — singer, actress, teacher, and riffer
- Nate Santana ’06 — Jeff-nominated actor
- Ed Dzialo — professional Chicago-based actor
- Baize Buzan — professional actor
- Vanessa Hughes ’01 — professional actor
- Casey Barrett — equity actor
- Brian Bielawski — solo-performance artist
- Eva Breneman – Jeff Award-winning, Chicago-based vocal-dialect coach
- Austin Murray – Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center/National Theatre Institute
- David Kelch ’00 and Nicole Kelch – Commedia Workshop, Piccolo Theatre ensemble members
- Katherine Keberlein – Jeff Award-winning, Chicago-based actor
- Jamil Khoury — founding artistic director, Silk Road Rising
- Austin Tichenor — managing partner, Reduced Shakespeare Company
- Amanda Kulczewski — director of finance and operations, Piccolo Theatre
- Rachel Rockwell — musical theatre director
- Jason Buyer — Los Angeles-based casting agent, The Casting Playhouse
- Richard Friedman — general manager, Theatre at The Center, Munster, In.
- David Conison — co-founder and director, La Rinascinta Theatre Co.
- Nora Titone – resident dramaturg, Court Theatre, Chicago
- Thomas Schultheis – sales manager, Disney Performing Arts
- Denise Schneider ’98 – director of communications, Goodman Theatre, Chicago
- Chris Jones – theatre critic, Chicago Tribune
- Amanda Weener-Frederick – stage management
- Zac Davis – general manager, Court Theatre, Chicago
- David Castellanos – production manager, Writers Theatre, Chicago
- Missy Styles — fight choreographer
- Emily Tschiffely — professional dancer and choreographer
- Michael Johnson — stage combat fight choreographer
- Josh Ballard – fight choreography workshop
- Neal Ryan Shaw — resident dramaturg at Silk Road Rising
- Motti Lerner — playwright
- Jesse Bob Harper — filmmaker and screenwriter
- Sandra Seaton — playwright and librettist
- Garry Williams – screenwriter
- JoBe Cerny ’70 — Chicago-based actor, director, producer, and author of “How Actors Make Money and Create”
- Kimberly Senior — professional Chicago-based director
- Eileen Kearney — director, educator, and actor
- Nathan Allen – artistic director, The House Theatre, Chicago
- Brian LeTraunik — stage combat instructor
- Bo Smith — actor and educator
- Timothy Mooney — actor, educator, author, and solo performer
- Salena Watkins — teaching artist, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago
- Brian Forrester — educator and playwright
- Dee Ryan — educator and Second City alum
- Lisa Formosa-Parmigiano — education director, Chicago Street Theatre
- Aaron Todd Douglas — Chicago-based actor, director, and teacher
- Katie Springmann — Chicago-based scenic designer
- Nick Heggestadt ’07 — props and warehouse manager, Drury Lane Theatre
- Yuri Cataldo — designer and entrepreneur
- Elyse Estes ’13 – Chicago-based theatre technician
- Kevin O’Donnell – composer and sound designer, The House Theatre, Chicago
- Amber Porter ’01 – assistant to the production manager, Goodman Theatre, Chicago
- Ann Davis – technical director and production manager, Theatre at the Center
- Kyle Techentin – lighting designer
- Shelley Strasser-Holland – Chicago-based lighting designer and Shattered Globe Theatre ensemble member
- Jack Magaw – Jeff Award-winning, Chicago-based scenic designer