Kevin Bellie (Artistic Director) has been one of Circle Theatre's co-Artistic Directors for three years and a company member for over 19 years. Kevin is also the current Co-Director of Circle Theatre's Emerging Young Artists Program. Kevin's direction and choreography credits at Circle include The Mystery of Edwin Drood (JEFF Nominated), Hello Again (JEFF Recommended), Nine (JEFF Citation Recipient), Triumph of Love (JEFF Citation Nominee), The Life (JEFF Citation Recipient), Grand Hotel (JEFF Citation Recipient) and Rags (JEFF Recommended). Also, he choreographed She Loves Me, and The Secret Garden (JEFF Citation Recipient). In addition to his work at Circle, Kevin has choreographed Anyone Can Whistle (Pegasus Players), A New Brain (Porchlight, JEFF Nominated), Closer Than Ever (Porchlight, JEFF Recommended) and Being 11 (Serendipity.) During the day, Kevin is an Educator at St. Ignatius College Prep High School.

Bob Knuth (Resident Scenic/Graphic Designerr) has been a Circle company member for 8 years, where he has directed/scenic designed the productions of Jane Eyre, She Loves Me, and The Secret Garden (nominated for 10 JEFF Citations including Direction and Design; winner of 4 JEFF Citations including Best Musical Production). Bob has earned numerous design awards for his work at Circle, including a JEFF Citation for Steel Magnolias; JEFF nominations for best scenic design for The Life, Triumph of Love and The Secret Garden; and After Dark Awards for 2001 Outstanding Season (Set, Lights & Graphic Design) for Cosi, The Life, and Sanctuary, & 1998 Outstanding Scenic Design for Grand Hotel. Other Circle sets have included Credeaux Canvas, Judas Kiss, Golf, Drood, Fool for Love, In The Blood, Shape of Things, and The Wild Party. After 6 years as the Senior Graphic Designer for the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Bob has recently moved to The Second City Theatre as their marketing Art Director.

Lori Willis (Managing Director) Lori Willis has worked with Circle in a variety of roles, almost all of them behind the scenes. After some quick research she was able to recall she scene painted her first Circle show, Cyrano, during the 1998/99 season. Since then she has painted MANY shows at Circle. Her favorite shows/sets include: The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Design for Living, Escanaba in da Moonlight, Meet Me in St. Louis, An Ideal Husband, Can Can, Enchanted April, The Who's TOMMY! and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. She stage managed Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and has worked on several Circle Fundraisers including Private Party and the Birthday Bash. She enjoys working with CTEYA and is looking forward to the upcoming season.

Jake Autizen is crazy pumped to be a company member in the Circle Theatre family tree. Since moving to Chicago from the cornfields of Nebraska, he has been very humbled with the work he's produced in the city. With Circle, Jake has done The Wedding Singer and Kiss Me, Kate! Other companies he has worked with include Ouroborus, Big Noise, Hobo Junction, Falling High Productions, and Perspective Productions. Favorite roles include Joseph "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat", Rocky "Rocky Horror Picture Show", and Jimmy Harper "Reefer Madness". Thanks must go out to Mamma, Pappy, Big Seester, Seester, Brudder, Aunt Linda and friends for their unyielding support! Love to S.

Jen Bludgen is delighted to be an associate company member. She has appeared in Circle's Dear World and Secret Garden. Other companies she has worked with include Light Opera Works and Theatre at the Center. Her favorite role, however, is that of doggie mom to her two furry children, Googles and Mocha.

Carolyn Brady Riley often switches gears between being on stage and providing music direction for Circle's main stage and its CTEYA program. Music direction at Circle includes Meet Me in St. Louis - JEFF Recommended, & Dear World. Other music direction credits include Nunsense, Company, Quilters at Triton College, Little Shop of Horrors and South Pacific at Moraine Valley College, and for opera The Old Maid and the Thief and The Telephone for St. Xavier University. Carolyn serves as an Adjunct Professor in the Music department at St. Xavier where she teaches voice, conducts choral ensembles, and directs the opera. She is currently preparing the SXU Chorale for a performance of the Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the Southwest Symphony. After training for her B.M. in Vocal Performance/Minor in Theatre (Illinois State University) and M.M. in Vocal Performance with Honors (Roosevelt University), Carolyn has performed on stage in the opera, musical theatre, and concert genres. Credits include: Brahms Liebeslieder, Giovanna in Rigoletto and La Maetressa in Suor Angelica (Intimate Opera), Ella in Mack & Mabel, Miss Scatcherd/ Lady Ingraham in Jane Eyre (JEFF Nominated & Citated), and Ensemble in Harry Connick Jr.'s Thou Shalt Not (Circle Theatre), Miss Segstrom in A Little Night Music (Porchlight), Micaeala & Mercedes in Carmen (Vocal Arts Group), Beggar Woman in Sweeney Todd (Effective Theatre), First Lady in The Magic Flute (Brevard Music Center), Du Page Opera Theatre & Grant Park Symphony Chorus. Carolyn is proud to be a part of Circle's talented and dedicated company.

Tommy Bullington is thrilled to be a part of the wonderful Circle Theatre company!  Past Circle credits include Kiss Me Kate and The Wedding Singer.  He has worked on and off stage for such companies as Stage 48 Productions, Civic Opera Studio Theatre, Alphabet Soup Productions, Drury Lane Oakbrook and Booth Tarkington Civic Theatre.  Tommy is a proud Musical Theatre graduate from Ball State University in Muncie, IN.  Much love always to Cookie Bullington!

Catherine Ferraro has enjoyed growing up at Circle Theatre since she first performed here in Annie in 1985. Recently she has had the honor of being a cast member in Circle's productions of Hay Fever (Jeff Recommended), Can Can (Jeff Recommended), An Ideal Husband (Jeff Nominated Best Production), Mack and Mabel (Jeff Recommended), Sweet Smell of Success (Jeff Recommended), The House of Bernarda Alba, Steel Magnolias (Jeff Nominated - Best Ensemble), The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Jeff Nominated - Best Production), and Thou Shalt Not. She is most sentimental about the Emerging Young Artists' program here in which she is active behind the scenes. In the past she has directed Once on This Island, Damn Yankees, Footloose, Seussical the Musical, Fiddler on the Roof, Anything Goes, Into The Woods, Disney's High School Musical and All Shook Up with CTEYA. She has also designed the costumes for many CTEYA productions. Catherine is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and is now in the final stages of obtaining her master's degree in education from DePaul as well as her reading endorsement from Northeastern. She teaches elementary school in a Chicago Public School.

Brooke Sherrod Jaeky is honored to return to Circle as a company member. Past Circle credits include performing in The Secret Garden (Martha - Jeff nomination), She Loves Me (Amalia) and The Man Who Came to Dinner (Harriet), and assistant directing The Analytical Engine. Brooke has worked as an actor, producer and assistant director with Porchlight Music Theatre, Bohemian Theatre Ensemble, Emerald City Theatre, and one memorable stint wearing Manolo Blahniks in The Light in the Piazza at the Goodman. By day, Brooke is a marketing and communications coordinator for Alliant Credit Union.

Jon Landvick is thrilled to be a new company member with Circle. He has appeared on Circle's stage as Uncle Ernie (Tommy), Mr. Erlanson (A Little Night Music), and ensemble (Kiss Me, Kate). He has also worked with Metropolis Performing Arts Center, Bohemian Theatre Ensemble, Light Opera Works, and Porchlight Music Theatre. Outside of performing, Jon has music directed / vocal coached with Wishing Star Theatre, Theatre Nebula, and Metropolis School of Performing Arts.

Melody Latham is thrilled to be one of the newer Associate Company Members at Circle Theatre. She has appeared in Circle's productions of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and The Wedding Singer. She recently had the the great privilege of work-shopping the new musical, Ribbon Around a Bomb, in a role written for her with Prologue Theatre Company in Chicago. Her favorite roles include Sunny in The Last Night of Ballyhoo, Papagena in The Magic Flute, and Maggie in A Chorus Line. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Southern Mississippi, and would like to thank her family back home and her new friends in her home away from home.

Elizabeth "Betsy" Morgan is honored to be a member of Circle. Productions at Circle include: A Little Night Music, Kiss Me Kate, and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. She has performed with many other companies around Chicago including Backstage Theatre Company, Boho, Theatre Building Chicago, Rogue, Quest Ensemble, Point of Contention, and 2nd Story. As a director and music director, she has worked with Point of Contention, Appetite Theatre, Quest Theatre Ensemble, and Rascal Children's Theatre. Betsy is a graduate of Miami University (Ohio), with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting.

Donna Oswald is honored to be a company member at Circle Theatre, where she has previously stage managed and/or otherwise worked on shows including, As You Like It, Lips Together, Teeth Apart, Hedda Gabler (thank you DK for letting me paint the world white!), Whatever Happened to BB Jane, and The Wild Party. She has stage managed, produced, run box office, built sets, run lights and/or sound and done just about anything else that did not require her to actually go on stage while the curtain was up and the lights were on! Favorite productions throughout Chicago in the past include Painting Churches, Bells Are Ringing, The Ransom of Red Chief, Much Ado About Nothing, Early One Evening At The Rainbow Bar & Grille, Six Degrees of Separation, Pippin, Beauty & The Beast, and The Who's Tommy. She is a also a member of The Saints and currently serves as their coordinator for Circle Theatre.

Gregory “Greg” Payne is grateful to be a member of Circle Theatre. Previous Circle credits include The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas (Jeff Recommended), The Philadelphia Story (Jeff Recommended) and Kiss Me Kate. He has also appeared with several other theatre companies around Chicago including The Murder Mystery Theatre Company, Bailiwick, CityLit, Hubris, I.O., The Second City and The Wishing Star Theatre. Greg is a graduate of Lees-McRae College where he obtained his Bachelor of Science in Musical Theatre.

Shawn Quinlan Circle Theatre shows include: Though Shalt Not, Dear World, Mack and Mabel, Seven Brides For Seven Brothers,Sweet Smell Of Success, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and was most recently seen as George in The Wedding Singer. He has also choreographed and costumed several shows for the CTEYA program. Other theatres he has worked with in the Chicagoland area include The Victory Gardens, About Face Theatre, The Bailiwick, Light Opera Works, Porchlight Music Theatre, and Hubris Productions (also a Company Member) to name a few. Please visit: http://shawnjquinlan.blogspot.com/ to find our what’s next with Shawn!

Patti Roeder has been a company member at Circle since performing in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Subsequently she played Grandma Rosie in The Wedding Singer and Madame Armfeldt in A Little Night Music. Patti is also a costume designer, with Little Women and Kiss Me, Kate at Circle. Patti has performed in Chicago theatres including City Lit (Jeff Citation nomination – Penelope Budd in Oh, Boy!), Eclipse, Pegasus, Next, Jackalope, Pendulum and Theatre of Western Springs. Other costume designs at Apple Tree, Victory Gardens, Oak Park Festival Theatre, Columbia College, Pendulum (Jeff Citation nomination – Abundance) and TWS. Patti lives in Oak Park with husband John – thanks to her built in audience – Eileen and Jason, Maggie and Drew, Bubba and Stacy, Danny and Daria and the next generation, Sam, Molly and Isaac.

Beth Scheible has been a company member for over 15 years. She works with Circle's Emerging Young Artist Program. Beth has Staged managed many shows at Circle. She's had the honor of working with Rebecca Gilman, Rupert Holmes, Michael John LaChiusa, and even Russell Crowe, but feels none hold a candle to the people that she works with regularly at Circle. During the day she is in charge of running the family daycare. Beth is the proud mother of her beautiful daughter, Vivian Grace.

Kelly Schumann has appeared in numerous Circle Theatre productions, including What's Wrong With Angry? for which she received a 2006 Joseph Jefferson Citation Nomination and Steel Magnolias, which resulted in a 2004 Joseph Jefferson Citation for Supporting Actress in a Play. This winter, Kelly appeared in Los Angeles' Celebration Theatre's production of Beautiful Thing. An active staff member of Circle Theatre's Emerging Young Artists Program, Kelly has co-directed Seussical the Musical, Fiddler on the Roof, Anything Goes, and Into the Woods. She will be co-directing Blood Brothers and High School Musical this summer. Kelly graduated in 1996 from the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. In Chicago, she has studied with Steppenwolf Theatre Company and Piven Theatre Workshop and with Jackie Bartone and Peter Jensen in New York.

Noah Sullivan has been active for many years on area stages, and is delighted to be a part of Circle’s fine group of artists. Recent Circle Theater credits include Mr. Stanley in The Man Who Came to Dinner, General Harrison Howell in Kiss Me Kate, and Sherriff Earl Dodd in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, which earned him a Jeff nomination.

Kirk Swenk has had the opportunity and privilege of being involved in a number of productions as performer, director, techie, choreographer, author, theatre co-founder, improvisationist and more. Originally from Michigan, he’s performed on local stages in The Music Man, The Fantasticks, Chicago, Damn Yankees, ...Forum, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, and more. Roles at Circle include: Dr. Otternschlag in Grand Hotel, Deguiche in Cyrano, Robert/Esmond Sr. in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, The Governor in Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Harry/Baptista in Kiss Me Kate, Fredrik in A Little Night Music, the Marquis in The Baker's Wife. Kirk is also a proud husband and father and is a Senior Writer at The Bradford Group.

Ali Lamacki (junior associate) is so happy that she has the opportunity to be further involved at Circle Theatre. She began at Circle in the CTEYA program as a Follies Girl in Crazy For You in 2005, and has been in 20 consecutive shows as of 2010. She has played memorable roles such as Little Becky Two Shoes in Urinetown, Constable Dogberry in Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, Mayor Matilda in All Shook Up, Kelsi Nielson in High School Musical 2 and Helena in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Ali has also been a dance captain for several shows, and she stage manages the musicals and plays at her high school. Circle Theatre has been a second home and the company has been a second family to her. Ali thanks her first family for all of the love and support throughout the years. She looks forward to more laughs, memories, and fantastic shows at Circle in the years to come.

Maggie Paloucek (junior associate) is honored and excited to be a part of the Circle family. She was introduced to Circle Theatre when she was eleven years old and played Mongo in High School Musical. Maggie has continued to participate in CTEYA productions over the years including Urinetown, How to Succeed in Business, Les Miserables, All Shook Up, Ragtime, and Annie Get Your Gun. Some of her favorite roles include Slightly in Peter Pan, Violet, the Sharpette, in High School Musical 2, Alice in Alice in Wonderland, and Snug in A Midsummer Night's Dream. Outside of the performances at Circle, Maggie has performed in School House Rock Jr. and has danced in various roles for The Nutcracker Ballet. She would like to thank everyone affiliated with the CTEYA program for welcoming her into the Company. She is looking forward to many exciting productions in the future.

Jacquie Skokna (junior associate) is thrilled to be part of the Circle family as a Junior Company Member. Ever since she was 11, and was in her first show, Urinetown, Circle Theatre has been an increasingly important and fun part of her life. Her favorite roles include Peaches the Sharpette in High School Musical 2 and the Cheshire cat in Alice in Wonderland. Other musicals she was happy to be in were How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, All Shook Up, Peter Pan, Les Miserables, Annie Get Your Gun, Ragtime, and soon The Importance of Being Earnest. She feels so lucky and grateful to have such a great opportunity and would like to give a big thanks to all of her family and friends for their never ending love and support, especially her dedicated parents and Grandpa. She can't wait to be able to grow in experience and continue theatre at Circle, a place where she can express her love for the stage but mostly all the people around her.

Katelyn Smith (junior associate) SMITH is excited to be a Junior Company Member and looks forward to many adventures with this talented group. She has been performing since age 9 at Circle Theatre (CTEYA and Main Stage), Jedlicka Performing Arts and several Community Theatres. Professional Training includes The Piven Theatre Workshop, Acting Coach (Jim Schneider), Voice Coach (Kim Frost), Village Players (Improv, Scene Study), High School Drama and Music programs.

Heather Zurowski (junior associate) Sis a senior in high school and has been performing since she was three years old. She started dancing at a local dance studio-taking tap, jazz, and ballet. She currently is at another studio, studying ballet, modern/contemporary, tap, and jazz. She is actively involved in many different programs. Mainly, Circle Theatre, in Oak Park and her high school. She has been in numerous Circle Theatre performances since she was eight years old, performing in the “Kid’s Chorus” in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolored Dream Coat. Recently at Circle, Heather worked on Alice In Wonderland JR. as choreographer and assistant director, favorite stage roles at Circle have included  Evelyn Nesbit in Ragtime, Annie Oakley in Annie Get Your Gun, Sylvia in All Shook Up, Flute in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and a featured Doc Lady in Les Miserables. At OPRF High School where she recently has performed in The Importance of Being Earnest (Ms. Prism), Good Night Desdemona-Good Morning Juliet (Desdemona), Once On This Island (Mama Euralie), Tick, Tick...BOOM! (Karessa), Damn, Yankees! (Gloria), Slow Dance on the Killing Ground (Rosie), and Godspell. Other memorable roles include Mrs. Hannigan in Annie and Violet in Charlie Brown. Heather sings in the A Capella Choir, Six Chicks, an small a cappella group, and in Madrigals at OPRFHS. This past summer Heather had a great learning experience by attending Carnegie Mellon’s Pre-College Musical Theatre Intensive. Heather is planning on pursuing theatre as a life career.