THE CONDUCTORS
FEB 28, 2025 MAR 1, 2025 6:00 PM 10:00 AM 4:00 PM
SPONSORED BY SEASON SPONSORS
PATRON FRIENDS Tyler Ford & Ronicka Schottel
ABOUT KERFUFFLE
Kerfuffle is an award-winning Chicago-based theatre and dance company devoted to creating aesthetically and emotionally engaging performances for children ages 0-6 years old. Founded in 2015, Kerfuffle centers young children as major creative partners in the development of new work and shares playful, multi-sensory performances in museums, libraries, parks, and other nontraditional spaces. Children’s imagination is at the center of Kerfuffle’s process. In order to understand what engages, delights, and surprises children, Kerfuffle’s plays are developed through creative drama workshops where young people create stories, characters, and worlds in collaboration with adult artists. Kerfuffle is a registered 501(c)3 organization and is the 2020 recipient of the Zeta Phi EtaWinifred Ward Outstanding New Children's Theatre Company Award through the American Alliance for Theatre and Education. Visit www. kerfuffletvy.com for more information.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/kerfuffletvy
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/kerfuffle_tvy/
Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@kerfuffletheatreforthevery8719
Website - www.kerfuffleTVY.com
CAST BIOGRAPHY
SHEA LEE (she/her) is delighted to be working with Kerfuffle again, where she has also been seen in Bookworms and Goose and Gert. Other favorite credits include StarDog (independent project), Extra Yarn and Cat’s Cradle (both at Lifeline Theatre). Shea is an alumna of Northwestern University, where her focuses included theatre for young audiences, musical theatre, and Asian American studies. She is also an ensemble member of Laughing Stock Theatre, Chicago's premiere Commedia dell'Arte theatre company. If Shea could take a magic train anywhere in the universe, she would visit every mountaintop on every planet, then pick the best view to go back and stay.
MADISON HILL (they/them) is a Chicago based actor, deviser, mover, and shaker. Madison has worked with multiple companies in Chicago, is an Advanced Actor Combatant with the SAFD, and is represented by Shirley Hamilton Talent. Offstage and screen, Madison is the Operations Director of Imagination Theater, which is a company that provides educational theater to create a more civil, safe society. If Madison could take a magic train anywhere in the universe it would be to the bottom of the ocean, to explore the 70% of the ocean floor that has been uncharted!
SAMIE JO JOHNSON
(she/they) is a multihyphenate artist who is always eager to embrace an opportunity to play. When not conducting a magic train, Samie Jo is the Artistic Director of Imagination Theater-- a company which uses forum theater to build a more civil, safe society. Performance highlights include being ready to perform any character in Hamlet with Quicksilver Shakespeare in Chicago and dancing through the streets of Italy (literally) for a site-specific production of In. Sight. Out. with La Mama Umbria. If they could take a magic train anywhere, it’d have to be to the moon!
PRODUCTION BIOGRAPHY
MARIAH BENNETT (she/her) is a Texas native with a BFA from University of North Texas and a Masters of Design from Rhode Island School of Design. She gave up her life as an architect to pursue her current career in the realm of film and theater. As a properties designer, she's had the pleasure of working with Chicago Opera, Definition Theater, Haven, Congo Square, Filament Theater, Third Rail, APTP, Refracted Theater, The Gift, Gilbert & Sullivan, DePaul Opera, Shattered Globe, and Northlight Theater. She is currently the resident props designer at Columbia College. If Mariah could travel anywhere on a magic train, it would be to outer space!
JOSH BERNASKI (he/him) is the founding Artistic Director of The Connecting Routes Project and the Tour Manager for The Conductors! Recently, Josh bounced across the country puppeteering Tigger and Eeyore in Disney's Winnie the Pooh. In Chicago, he's worked with Paramount, Manual Cinema, Lifeline, Shakespeare Project, Drury Lane and others. A graduate of Temple University, Josh has also performed at regional theatres across the country, and for audiences across South America, Asia and the Middle East. If Josh could travel anywhere on a magic train it would be to Bulgaria with his brother!
ASHLEY LAVERTY (she/her) is the founding Artistic Director of Kerfuffle. Under her leadership, Kerfuffle has partnered with many arts and non-arts organizations to bring aesthetically exciting, engaging, and accessible theatre experiences to children around the country in museums, libraries, parks, and community centers. With Kerfuffle, she has developed and directed Toddler Hiking Club: An Imaginative Nature Walk, The Conductors, Toad Hall, Goose and Gert, Nested, and The Caterpillar's Footprint. She is a teaching artist and has over 10 years of teaching artist experience, specializing in drama in the early childhood classroom. In Chicago, Ashley is proud to be a teaching artist with Lifeline Theatre, Imagine Performing Arts, and The Stage School. She is also a Kennedy Center teaching artist. Ashley holds an M.F.A in Theatre for Youth from Arizona State University and a B.A. in Theatre Arts with a concentration in Musical Theatre from Point Park University's Conservatory of Performing Arts. If Ashley could travel anywhere on a magic train, it would be to visit Budapest again!
THE CONDUCTORS
CAST
Shea Lee
Madison Hill
Samie Jo Johnson
PRODUCTION TEAM
Tour and Stage Manager: Josh Bernaski
Costume Designer and Coordinator: Ashley Laverty
Costume Stitcher: Izumi Inaba
Production Designer: Mariah Bennett
Production Coordinator: Jeff Sachs
Director: Ashley Laverty