BIOS

Her other work includes assistant director and dramaturg for Bug (Steppenwolf), associate director for His Shadow (16th Street Theater); and associate director for The Shipment (Red Tape Theatre). She is the recipient of 3Arts “Make a Wave” award, a Black Theater Alliance Award, Chicago Reader’s “Best Stage Performer” runner-up, a four-time Jeff Award nominee and has been featured twice as part of NewCity’s “50 Players of the Year.” Proud member of AEA and SAGAFTRA. Represented by Stewart Talent.

Gigi Buffington (Company Voice, Text & Dialect Coach) has worked at Steppenwolf Theatre Company as Company Vocal Coach for five seasons. Steppenwolf: Dance Nation, Lindiwe, The Great Leap, True West, MS. BLAKK FOR PRESIDENT, The Children, A Doll’s House, Part 2, Familiar, Downstate, The Doppelgänger (an international farce), Guards at the Taj, The Minutes, Hir, The Rembrandt, Pass Over, Linda Vista, Dying City, Mary Page Marlowe, East of Eden. Broadway: Clyde’s, Pass Over, Linda Vista, Straight White Men, King Kong: Alive on Broadway. New York: Dying City, Mary Page Marlowe (Second Stage Theater); The Thin Place (upcoming), Heroes of the Fourth Turning, Noura (Playwrights Horizons); Pass Over (LCT3); Uncle Romeo Vanya Juliet (Bedlam); Coriolanus (Red Bull); The Tempest (La Mama); The Merchant Of Venice (Venice, Italy); Elizabeth R.: texts & beheadings (BAM, The Folger); A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet (with David Tennant and Patrick Stewart), Love’s Labour’s Lost (Royal Shakespeare Company); The Maids (director), Pericles, Othello, An Iliad, The Seagull, Hamlet, Romeo & Juliet, Richard III (American Players Theatre). Film: (currently) Spike Lee’s Prince of Cats. Buffington is an Associate Arts Professor at Tisch School of the Arts, New York University. AEA, SAG-AFTRA, VASTA.

Christine D. Freeburg (Production Stage Manager) Steppenwolf Theatre Company: Wally World, Animal Farm, BUG, MS. BLAKK FOR PRESIDENT, La Ruta, Downstate, The Doppelgänger (an international farce), The Minutes, Linda Vista, Constellations, The Flick, John Steinbeck’s East of Eden, The Herd, Airline Highway, The Motherf**ker with the Hat, American Buffalo (also at McCarter Theatre), The Tempest, The Seafarer, The Diary of Anne Frank, after the quake, Cherry Orchard. Chicago: Northlight Theatre, Court Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre, Apple Tree Theatre. Freeburg is the interim Head of Stage Management at The Theatre School at DePaul University and spent nine summers at Weston Playhouse in Vermont. She is happily married to Thom Cox and the proud mother of Joan Marie. For Malcolm.

Kathleen Barrett (Assistant Stage Manager) Steppenwolf Theatre Company: Dance Nation, The Great Leap, MS. BLAKK FOR PRESIDENT, The Crucible, Pass Over, Constellations, East of Eden, The Herd, Airline Highway. Chicago: The Secret of My Success (Paramount Theatre); The Steadfast Tin Soldier, 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas (Lookingglass Theatre Company); additional work for The Hypocrites, Victory Gardens Theater, Porchlight Music Theatre, Broadway in Chicago. Regional: world premieres of Cambodian Rock Band, A Doll’s House, Part 2, Office Hour (South Coast Repertory) and productions with Geva Theatre Center, Florida Repertory Theatre, Pasadena Playhouse, Mason Street Warehouse. Kat is a graduate of Kalamazoo College in Michigan.

THE STEPPENWOLF ENSEMBLE

Glenn Davis Audrey Francis Joan Allen Kevin Anderson Alana Arenas Randall Arney Kate Arrington Ian Barford

Robert Breuler Cliff Chamberlain Gary Cole Carrie Coon Celeste M. Cooper Kathryn Erbe Malcolm Ewen* K. Todd Freeman

Frank Galati Francis Guinan Moira Harris Glenne Headly* Jon Michael Hill Tim Hopper Tom Irwin Ora Jones

Rajiv joseph

Mariann Mayberry* Terry Kinney

Tarell Alvin McCraney

Austin Pendleton Jeff Perry Tina Landau Martha Lavey* Tracy Letts John Mahoney* John Malkovich John Malkovich** Sandra Marquez

James Vincent Meredith Laurie Metcalf Amy Morton

William Petersen Yasen Peyankov Martha Plimpton** Sally Murphy Caroline Neff Bruce Norris

Rondi Reed Molly Regan Karen Rodriguez

Anna D. Shapiro Eric Simonson Gary Sinise Namir Smallwood Lois Smith Rick Snyder Jim True-Frost Alan Wilder

As Steppenwolf enters this next chapter in our history, the ensemble continues to evolve and expand. We are proud to highlight the election of our new Artistic Directors, outlined in red. It is also important to the artists who call this company home that we acknowledge our collective history. This includes recognizing members who have passed* and honoring those who have needed to step away for personal or professional reasons.** In this way, we are celebrating the dynamic relationship between artist and institution that defines an ensemble theater. We honor the extraordinary collection of artists who collectively built Steppenwolf and, by doing so, left an indelible mark on the American Theatre.

By ensemble member Tracy Letts Directed by David Cromer Featuring ensemble members Randall Arney, Carrie Coon and Namir Smallwood with Jennifer Engstrom and Steve Key

November 11 – December 12, 2021 In the Downstairs Theater

We will raise the curtain once again on our blistering and extraordinary revival of BUG by Tracy Letts, featuring ensemble members Carrie Coon and Namir Smallwood. Shut down one week before closing, this production’s return is our bold refusal to let the disaster of COVID rewrite our story. These stunning performances—and this award-winning production— will once again reverberate throughout our building and welcome back our audiences to the Steppenwolf they know and love: brave, brazen and defiant.

By ensemble member Rajiv Joseph Directed by Kenny Leon Featuring ensemble member Glenn Davis with Chris Perfetti

March 3 – April 10, 2022 In the Downstairs Theater

“King” LeBron James’s reign in Cleveland brings promise, prosperity and renewal to a city in desperate need of all three. It also brings together two childhood friends who communicate best when they are talking and arguing about sports. King James is an intimate exploration of the place that sports and athletes occupy in our emotional lives and relationships. It explores the star player’s impact on Cleveland, from his rookie season to the city’s historic championship, and the lives of these two unlikely friends whose turbulent relationship is best navigated through their shared love of the sport in a verbal game of one on one. Though he is never seen in the show, LeBron James serves as a symbol for the hopes, desires and fears that they have bottled up since childhood.

By Anton Chekhov

Adapted and Directed by ensemble member Yasen Peyankov

Featuring ensemble members Tim Hopper, Sandra Marquez, James Vincent Meredith, Caroline Neff, Jeff Perry, Karen Rodriguez, and Namir Smallwood

April 28 – June 12, 2022 In the New Ensemble Theater

In a giant country house filled to overflow on a long summer weekend in the Russian countryside, three generations collide in Yasen Peyankov’s extraordinarily funny and magical adaption of Anton Chekhov’s Seagull, the play that will open our new Round Theater. In classic Chekhovian style, an all-ensemble cast will wrestle with the eternal questions that haunt the intellectual artist class: What is Love? What is Art? When is Lunch? Please join us for this historical moment in Steppenwolf’s journey as we explore the work that inspired us, laugh at the battles that consume us and celebrate, together, all that makes us grateful for each other.

By ensemble member Tarell Alvin McCraney

Directed by Kent Gash Featuring ensemble member James Vincent Meredith with Daniel Kyri

June 16 - July 24, 2022 In the Downstairs Theater

Pharus Young, now a senior at the Charles R. Drew Prep School for Boys, an institution committed to building “strong, ethical black men,” endeavors to be the best leader of the school’s prestigious choir in its 50-year history. But in a world built on rites and rituals, should he conform to the expectations of his peers in order to gain the respect he desperately seeks? Written by Oscar-winning ensemble member Tarell Alvin McCraney (Moonlight), this Tonynominated play—threaded throughout with soulstirring a cappella gospel hymns—is the story of a young gay black man and his battle between identity and community.

GLENN DAVIS Artistic Director

AUDREY FRANCIS Artistic Director

E. BROOKE FLANAGAN Executive Director

ARTISTIC

POLLY HUBBARD Director of New Play Development PATRICK ZAKEM Creative Producer

JC CLEMENTZ Casting Director

ADMINISTRATION AND OPERATIONS

KARENA FIORENZA General Manager JEN HOYT General Manager (Maternity Cover) ELESTER WILLIAMS Interim Director of People and Culture LADONNA LANE Associate People and Culture Director

MARIA NONDORF Director of Finance

ERIC JORGENSEN Assistant Director of Finance

CORY JEANES Director of Operations KATE DELIPOGLOU Food & Beverage Director NIC ANDREWS IT Administrator

THOMAS EICHHORN Operations Manager JAMES HEPPLER Facilities Supervisor MICKEY GRAYER Facilities Supervisor SOLANA OLIVER General Management Associate

ANNIE FARWELL Finance Coordinator

TALESHIA WALKER Food & Beverage Manager CAITLYN BIRMINGHAM GARRETT CLARK ANDREW LIVINGSTON ROSEMARY VIGIL JULIA TONEY Barista and Food Handler

MARSHALL KIOUS Lead Bartender

BRIAN KEYS Lead Bartender

GEORGETTE KIRKENDALL ANDREA SHERWOOD CAMERON FLUIATT FELIPE MEDINA Bartender

DEVELOPMENT

ERIC EVENSKAAS Interim Director of Development ADRIANE FINK Institutional Partnerships Director MERCEDES ROHLFS Campaign Director COURTNEY ANDERSON Donor Engagement Director LUPÉ GARCÍA QUÍLES Events Director

KRISTA BONDI Institutional Partnerships Manager JESSICA GRETCH Individual Giving Manager JONATHAN PACHECO Campaign Coordinator JULIAN LEAL Development Assistant and Board Liaison

NATASHA FREEMAN Donor Services Assistant

MARKETING, COMMUNICATIONS, AUDIENCE SERVICES & EXPERIENCE

MADELINE LONG Senior Communications Director

JOEL MOORMAN Creative Director

ERIKA NELSON Senior Marketing Director KERSTIN ADAMS Digital Marketing Director DANIELLE SPARKLIN Audience Services Director

RUKMINI GIRISH Associate Director of Audience Services

DEREK VAN BARHAM Communications and Content Manager CHRISTOPHER HUIZAR Lead Designer BRANDON JONES Video Producer

SYDNEY COX Digital Marketing Associate MEGAN KAMINSKY Associate Director of Audience Experience STEPHANIE HELLER Audience Services Memberships Manager KATHERINE DAVIS ELIZABETH ELLIS CRAIG BARNES MEGAN WESNER Audience Services Associate MEGAN SHUCHMAN Director of Education

AMANDA ACEVEDO Senior Manager of School Programs JARED BELLOT New Building Opening Engagement & Events Producer

ABHI SHRESTHA Manager of Teen Programs RAE TAYLOR Manager of Education Partnerships LAUREN KATZ Education Programs Assistant and Teaching Artist MONET FELTON Assistant Facilitator, Young Adult Council and Teaching Artist DANA MURPHY JAZMIN CORONA AYSSETTE MUNOZ KONA N. BURKS TYRA BULLOCK ALEXIS A. TORNEZ MARTINEZ CHARLES ANDREW GARDNER ANASTACIA NARRAJOS JARRETT KING ABIGAIL PINON STEWART ROMEO ABIGAIL THOMPSON JALYN GREENE JEREMY OHRINGER Teaching Artist

PRODUCTION

TOM PEARL Director of Production

ERIN COOK Company Manager & Assistant to Artistic Directors

ELISE HAUSKEN Assistant Production Manager ZAVARIE Z. IRONS Interim Production Administrator

MIKE DONOHUE Technical Director

CHAD HAIN Associate Technical Director

LYDIA STRINI Assistant Technical Director

TOM EGAN Scene Shop Supervisor KYLE LAND RUSSELL SCOTT BROPHY TOLBERT ZOE SHIFFRIN Scenic Charge Artist SARAH LEWIS Assistant Scenic Charge Artist JENNY DILUCIANO Properties Director JAY TOLLEFSEN Associate Properties Director

CHARLES MOSER Master Properties Artisan MELISSA HUNTER Props Artisan SHANNON HIGGINS Wardrobe, Hair and Make Up Supervisor MELISSA MOTZ Assistant Wardrobe Supervisor DAISY LINDAS Costume Director

ANGELA ENOS Assistant Costume Director

MAE HASKINS Assistant Costume Designer LYNAE VANDERMEULEN Work Room Supervisor & Draper EMILY WAECKER Costume Draper DANA NESTRICK Crafts Artisan MEGAN TURNER Outside Projects Coordinator

J.R. LEDERLE Lighting Supervisor NILS FRITJOFSON Master Electrician

KAREN THOMPSON Lighting Board Operator & Programmer RICK HAEFELE Stage Operations Supervisor EMILY FERGUS House Carpenter MARTHA WEGENER Sound Supervisor GREGOR MORTIS Associate Sound Supervisor AARON STEPHENSON Sound Technician

MATTHEW CHAPMAN LookOut Production Supervisor CHRISTINE D. FREEBURG LAURA D. GLENN MICHELLE MEDVIN KATHLEEN BARRETT JACLYNN JOSLIN Stage Manager

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Eric Lefkofsky, Chair Keating Crown, Vice Chair Stephanie B. Smith, Vice Chair Deborah H. Quazzo, Secretary Paul Goodrich, Treasurer Carole L. Brown Douglas R. Brown Dennis Chookaszian Nora Daley Glenn Davis Amy Eshleman Rich Feitler Audrey Francis Jon Michael Hill Lynn Lockwood Murphy Karen Rodriguez Bruce Sagan Matthew Shapiro Helen Zell

TRUSTEES

Michael W. Bender Susan O. Berghoef Amy Bluhm Meredith Bluhm-Wolf Marlene Breslow-Blitstein Ebs Burnough Beth Boosalis Davis D. Cameron Findlay Asheesh Goel Robert J. Greenebaum, Jr. Racquel Harris Dennis D. Howarter Rebecca L. Johnston Ronald J. Mallicoat, Jr. Tarell Alvin McCraney David E. Mendelsohn Christopher M. Murphy Yasen Peyankov Anne M. Phillips Robert S. Rivkin Brenda Robinson Marilynn Rubio Cari B. Sacks Robert Sanborn Anna D. Shapiro Colette Cachey Smithburg Elliot A. Stultz Bryan Traubert

EMERITUS TRUSTEES

J. Robert Barr Lawrence Block Michael Cahan John N. Fox, Jr. Lawrence M. Gill John H. Hart Donna La Pietra Kenneth J. Porrello Merle Reskin Randall K. Rowe Gloria Scoby John R. Walter

PAST CHAIRPERSONS

William L. Atwell Larry D. Brady Douglas R. Brown Nora Daley Laurence Edwards John N. Fox, Jr. Elliott Lyon Gordon Murphy William H. Plummer Bruce Sagan Gloria Scoby Donna Vos

TRUSTEES (cont.)

Join us in the celebration of a new building, a new season and a new era at Steppenwolf. We are thrilled to invite you into our expanded home, unveiling the stunning new 50,000 square foot Liz and Eric Lefkofsky Arts and Education Center. Two new bars will be ready for business, the education wing—called The Loft—will be activated with teens and our stages will be set to bring you visceral performances and evocative artistry.

We’ve saved you a seat.

AD

LEAD SPONSORS

ZELL FAMILY FOUNDATION

Anonymous Paul M. Angell Foundation Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity

PREMIER SPONSORS Doris Duke Charitable Foundation‡ John Hart and Carol Prins Lefkofsky Family Foundation‡ Anne and Don Phillips Robert and Louise Sanborn

Shubert Foundation, Inc. Smart Family Foundation of Illinois

The Wallace Foundation‡

Ann and Richard Carr

Joyce Chelberg The Crown Family‡ Edgerton Foundation Rich and Margery Feitler

Lead Sponsor of Accessibility

John Hart and Carol Prins

Veterans’ Night Sponsor

Gary Sinise Foundation

Julius Frankel Foundation John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation‡ The Orlebeke Foundation‡ Polk Bros. Foundation‡ Cari and Michael J. Sacks‡ Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust‡ Bryan Traubert and Penny Pritzker

Lead Underwriter of fundraising for The Campaign for Steppenwolf

The Elizabeth Morse Charitable Trust

Official & Exclusive Airline

United Airlines

Individuals recognized above with a “‡” have made multi-year commitments to help develop special ensemble-driven projects.

Rendering by Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture

BUILDING ON EXCELLENCE: THE CAMPAIGN FOR STEPPENWOLF

We invite you to play a part in shaping the next 40 years of social and cultural life in Chicago. Contact Mercedes Rohlfs at 312-654-5694 or mrohlfs@steppenwolf.org. You may also learn more by visiting steppenwolf.org/buildingonexcellence.

Leaders of the New

Steppenwolf ($1 Million +)

Anonymous, in memory of Martha Lavey Douglas R. Brown and

Rachel E. Kraft The Bluhm Family Foundation The Crown Family The Harris Family Foundation State of Illinois Liz and Eric Lefkofsky Pritzker Foundation Pritzker Traubert Foundation The Rowe Family Foundation Cari and Michael J. Sacks Bruce Sagan and Bette Cerf Hill Robert and Louise Sanborn Mr. Matthew Shapiro Zell Family Foundation

Founders of the New

Steppenwolf ($500,000+)

Julie and Roger Baskes Dennis and Karen Chookaszian The Orlebeke Foundation The Negaunee Foundation Rich and Margery Feitler Jim and Kay Mabie Rebecca Johnston and

Jeffrey Maling Janet Melk Anne and Don Phillips Deborah and Stephen Quazzo John and Carol Walter

Family Foundation

Sponsors of the New

Steppenwolf ($100,000+)

Michael Bender and

Sheridan Prior Joyce Chelberg Liz and Matt Connelly Nora Daley and Sean Conroy Shawn D. Donnelley and

Christopher M. Kelly Thomas W. Dower Foundation Malcolm D. Ewen Cameron and Amy Findlay Julius Frankel Foundation Paul and Valerie Goodrich Bob and Amy Greenebaum John Hart and Carol Prins Marian S. and Fruman Jacobson Andrew Keyt Martha Lavey Tracy and Carrie Letts Laurie Metcalf The Elizabeth Morse

Charitable Trust Amy Morton and Rob Milburn Lynn Lockwood Murphy and Barrett Murphy Northern Trust Jeff Perry and Linda Lowy William and Gina Petersen Kenneth Porrello and

Sherry McFall Prince Charitable Trusts Chuck Smith and Julie

Rademaker Stephanie and Gerald Smith Smithburg Family Bill and Orli Staley Elliot Stultz

$50,000-$99,999

Bob and Trish Barr Sarah Beardsley Henry and Leigh Bienen Carole Brown Ebs Burnough Kent and Liz Dauten Anne and Don Edwards Nene Foxhall and Stephen Jetton Lawrence Gill and

Christine Albright Joan M. Hall David Hawkanson Pam and Dennis D. Howarter Susan Lichenstein and

John Rokacz Ron and Paula Mallicoat Susan and David Mendelsohn Verett Mims Heather and Kenny Mitchell Christopher and Eileen Murphy and Adele and Michael

E. Murphy Pam and Ashley Netzky Manny Sanchez and Pat

Pulido Sanchez David and Alexis Schmitz Moira and Gary Sinise Anna D. Shapiro and

Ian Barford