People
Face the Future Campaign Donors
- Bonnie Metzgar – Artistic Director
- Jason Held – Executive Director
- Aurélia Fisher – Producing Director
- Eric Rosen – Co-Founder
- Kyle Hall – Co-Founder
- Sara Kerastas – Education Programs Director
- Jane Beachy – Marketing Director
- Erica Sartini & Hannah Fenlon – Casting Associates, Two Birds Casting
BONNIE METZGAR – Artistic Director
Bonnie Metzgar is an award-winning producer, director, playwright, and dramaturg. Before joining About Face, she was a professor and director of the graduate playwriting program at Brown University. In addition to teaching, Metzgar also served as Artistic Director of Brown’s New Plays Festival for three years with Paula Vogel.
Most notable is Metzgar’s involvement as co-creator and producer of the 365 Festival–a national festival based on 365 Days/365 Plays, a yearlong play cycle written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan Lori Parks. Metzgar was the artistic leader for this landmark international event, a shared global premiere by hundreds of theaters, universities and art spaces throughout the U.S. and abroad. Time Magazine named the 365 Festival one of its top ten theater events in 2006.
Also, from 2004 to 2007, Metzgar was Associate Artistic Director of Curious Theatre Company in Denver, where she curated new works and directed for the mainstage. Curious Theatre’s War Anthology, for which Bonnie was lead writer, director, and curator, won Colorado Theatre Guild’s 2006 Henry Award for Outstanding New Play and Outstanding Ensemble. The Denver Post named Metzgar its 2006 Colorado Theater Person of the Year. During this time, Metzgar was also a literary committee member of the National New Play Network.
From 1995 to 2003, she served as Associate Producer at the Joseph Papp Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival under George C. Wolfe, where she oversaw a wide range of works including several Broadway transfers including Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in ‘Da Funk and Elaine Stritch: At Liberty. The Public is an off-Broadway institution with five theaters, including free Shakespeare in the Park at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park.
As founding producer of Joe’s Pub from 1998 to 2001, Metzgar was the creator of a now world-famous performance venue. Her responsibilities included providing creative vision for all aspects of the new venue–programming, staffing, marketing strategy, identity and designing of the performance space; programming entertainment for the seven-nights-per-week cabaret/nightclub space; working with restaurant partners; and overseeing all show-related operations. Metzgar received her B.A. from Brown in 1986. Her thesis advisor was Paula Vogel. She was an M.F.A. candidate in playwriting in the theater department at the University of Iowa in 1987-88.
JASON HELD – Executive Director back to top
Jason Held has a long history advocating for social and economic justice. He has worked for a variety of non-profits and political campaigns in Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Atlanta in the areas of organizing, strategic development, lobbying and fundraising. After working on Tammy Duckworth’s 2006 bid for Congress in Chicago’s western suburbs, he served as the Manager of Grants and Annual Fund for Writers’ Theatre in Glencoe, Illinois. He has also served as the Staff Director for the Center for Justice & Democracy-Illinois, a consumer protection advocacy organization, and as the Director of Development for The Illinois Safe Schools Alliance, whose mission is to promote safety, and support healthy development for LGBTQ youth in Illinois schools and communities. He serves on the Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) Board of Governors and is active in other organizations advocating on behalf of LGBTQ equality. Jason received a B.A. in Political Science and International Relations from American University, and a law degree from Temple University in 2005. He is a member of the bar in California and Illinois.
AURELIA FISHER – Producing Director back to top
Aurélia is a recent graduate of Yale School of Drama, theater management program. She was the managing director of Yale Cabaret, the theatrical laboratory for graduate students at Yale School of Drama, where she produced 20 shows in 28 weeks. She is the co-founder, and former managing director, of Pig Brooch Inc., an ensemble theatre company in New York City. For Pig Brooch, Aurélia produced Happy Mundane and Love is in the Air in the New York International Fringe Festival. While in New York City, she was the technical archivist at the Metropolitan Opera.
KYLE HALL – Co-Founder back to top
Kyle wrote and directed the award-winning productions of A Home at the End of the World, based on the novel by Michael Cunningham, and The Terrible Girls, based on the novel by Rebecca Brown. He also directed the About Face revivals of The Boys in the Band and Cloud 9. As an actor Kyle has appeared in the About Face productions of bash (2001 After Dark Award for Best Actor), Dream Boy (Joseph Jefferson nomination for Best Ensemble), In the Heart of America (After Dark Award for Best Ensemble), and Eleven Rooms of Proust. Regional acting credits include Mary Zimmerman’s adaptation of The Odyssey at The Goodman Theatre, The McCarter Theatre and Seattle Repertory, and Frank Galati’s productions of Everyman and Valparaiso at Steppenwolf. He is the co-author of Theatre BAM’s long-running hit musical Schoolhouse Rock Live! and About Face’s feelings and By the Power Invested. Kyle holds an M.A. in performance studies from Northwestern University and is recently appeared on and off-Broadway in Metamorphoses.
ERIC ROSEN – Co-Founder back to top
Eric is co-founder of About Face Theatre. Original works for About Face include the musical Winesburg, Ohio (Jeff Award, Best New Work and nomination, Best Musical, also seen at the NAMT Festival in New York and the Arden Theatre in Philadelphia), Dream Boy (Jeff Award, Best Production, with many regional productions), Dancer from the Dance, Whitman, Undone, and The Gift, along with Words on Fire and the original Winesburg at Steppenwolf and concept and direction of Adam Guettel’s Myths and Hymns at the Prince Music Theatre (Barrymore nominations, Best Director, Musical). Directing credits include the world premieres of Theater District (Jeff Award, Best New Play) and Fascination (developed at the O’Neill, produced at About Face), the American premiere of Christopher Shinn’s Four, the Chicago premieres of Take Me Out and bash, Albee’s The Sand Plays at the Goodman, and Mary Zimmerman’s Metamorphoses (associate director, Australia, director of St. Louis, Cincinnati, Kansas City, Hartford productions.) Major dramaturgy collaborations include Doug Wright’s Pulitzer Prize winning I am My Own Wife, developed and premiered at About Face, 33 Variations (at Sundance) and One Arm (About Face, Steppenwolf, and Tectonic) all with director Moises Kaufman, and Eleven Rooms of Proust with Mary Zimmerman. Upcoming projects include direction of the About Face world premiere of Zimmerman’s M. Proust, and The Trip to Bountiful at Kansas City Rep. Rosen holds a doctorate in performance studies from Northwestern University.
SARA KERASTAS – Education Programs Director back to top
Sara Kerastas is the Education Programs director for About Face Theatre, where she runs the Education Outreach program as well as the Youth Theatre. Previously, she worked with About Face as a teaching artist director on the youth main-stage production Fast Forward. Currently, she is directing and developing Queertopia: The Anti-Violence Project, premiering summer 2010. She has worked as a director, writer, community builder and educator with such theaters as Strawdog, Redmoon, The Plagiarists, Theatre Seven, New Leaf and DirectorsLabChicago among others. Across Canada, she has directed with Pi Theatre, The Havana, Le Cagibi, F4L Productions and Théâtre Ste. Catherine. She received her B.A. in English-Drama & Theatre and Women’s Studies from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec. Sara is the Associate Artistic Director of 2nd Story, Chicago’s urban storytelling theatre company.
JANE BEACHY – Marketing Director back to top
Jane’s recent projects include SALON SALON (Curator); the Pavement Group/Steppenwolf Visiting Company Initiative production of punkplay (Assistant Director); The Homo Show at About Face Theatre (co-curated with Paula Gilovich); and The Near Far, a multidisciplinary collaboration funded by Kansas City’s Urban Culture Project (co-created with Randall Cohn). Jane moved to Chicago from New York City, where she created marketing and ticketing plans for theatres in Philadelphia, DC, Seattle and NYC at TheaterMania.com. Prior to that, Jane managed the Community School of the Arts at Kansas City Young Audiences, where she also taught outreach classes in public schools and through foster youth advocacy programs, and was an administrator and teaching artist at Seattle Children’s Theatre’s Drama School.
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William J. Michel, President Michael Sullivan, Vice President Peter Calibraro, Treasurer James Andrews, Secretary Nate Berkus Kyle Hall Criss Henderson Drew Kent Chris Landgraff |
Dwight McBride Dennis Remer Greg Rose Eric Rosen Heather Schmucker Ivan Noah Uldall Denis Weil David Wells |
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Amy Beck Steve Futterman Alexandra Billings Joel Butler Megan Carney Brad Cawley Jane C. Cho Geoffrey M. Curley Scott Duff Shelley Echerd Julia Fabris McBride Scott Ferguson |
Brian Goodman Ted Hoerl Patricia Kane Amy Matheny James McKay Andre J. Pluess Steve Scott Mark E. Smith Paul Stovall Ben Sussman Jessica Thebus |
