Artistic Ensemble

Patrick Blashill
Patrick has been an ensemble member with Lifeline since 1996 and has been performing at Lifeline since 1994's Miss Bianca where he played Bernard the mouse. Other favorite animal roles include Ferdinand the bull in The Story of Ferdinand, and the Mighty Gorilla in The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death, which was later remounted for Chicago Theatre on the Air with guest star Brent Spiner. Other favorite Lifeline roles include Edgar Drake in The Piano Tuner (After Dark award for outstanding performance), Victor in Lizard Music, Hugh Thane in The Talisman Ring, Tom in Pistols for Two (Jeff citation nomination for Best Ensemble), and Bunter in Strong Poison (Jeff citation nomination for Best Ensemble). He is especially proud to have acted in all three books of Lifeline's Lord of the Rings trilogy that spanned The Fellowship of the Ring (1997), The Two Towers (2000), and The Return of the King (2002). Patrick has worked with numerous other Chicago theatres (including an opportunity to play Mr. Knightley in Reverie Theatre's adaptation of Jane Austen's Emma) including Victory Gardens, Organic Lab, Theatre on the Lake, Stage Left, and Shakespeare's Motley Crew. Patrick is a graduate of the American academy of Dramatic Arts.

Christina Calvit
Christina has written over a dozen theatrical adaptations which have been performed throughout the United States, including: A Room with a View, Queen Lucia, A Musical Romp, with Composer/Lyricist George Howe (2005 After Dark Award; 2006 Non-Equity Jeff Award for New Work), Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging (Non-Equity Jeff Award, 2004), Jane Eyre, Pistols for Two (Non-Equity Jeff Award, 2001), The Talisman Ring (Equity Jeff Award, 1996), and Pride and Prejudice (Non-Equity Jeff Award, 1986). Original plays include Snowflake Tim's Big Holiday Adventure, Purloined Poe, Chaos (co-writer) and Several Voices from the Cloud (Agnes Nixon Award, 1981).

Victoria DeIorio
Combining her careers in theatre and as a singer-songwriter, Victoria has become an acclaimed sound designer and composer in Chicago. Lifeline shows include: Gaudy Night, The Talisman Ring (2005), Sirens of Titan, Snowflake Tim's Holiday Adventure, Long Way from Chicago, Strong Poison, The Shadow, Far From the Madding Crowd, and Around the World in 80 Days. As a sound designer she has received two Joseph Jefferson Citations for Outstanding Sound Design for Around the World in 80 Days and The Shadow (both with Lifeline) and a nomination for Alarms and Excursions (Cobalt Theatre Ensemble). She has received 2 After Dark Awards for The Shadow (Lifeline) and Fiddler on the Roof (Light Opera Works). Victoria was a finalist for 2003 NEA/TCG Career Development Grant for Designers. She has worked Off-Broadway at the Actor's Studio on the new Sam Shepherd play and at Primary Stages. Regionally she has worked with The Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, Milwaukee Reparatory, Northlight Theatre, Writers' Theatre, The Next Theatre, People's Light (in Malvern, PA), and Geva Theatre (in Rochester, NY). In Chicago she has designed productions with Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, Remy Bumppo, Light Opera Works, and other smaller storefront theatres. She has produced two CD's of her own original music on her independent label Papaya Productions. Victoria has a BFA in Musical Theatre from Syracuse University and studied at RADA and LAMDA in London. For more information visit www.victoria-sound-design.com or www.toyband.com.

Alan Donahue
Alan joined the ensemble in 2000, although his designs for Lifeline date back to the 1991 production of Jane Eyre. As scenic designer his Lifeline work includes The Piano Tuner, Pistols For Two, Lizard Music, Johnny Tremain, Far from the Madding Crowd, Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type and its sequel Giggle Giggle Quack, among many others. Lighting designs include The Killer Angels and The Talisman Ring (2005). He received Jeff Citations for his designs of The Little Sister, Jane Eyre (2001), and Around the World in 80 Days at Lifeline. Since joining the ensemble he has adapted Donald E. Westlake's Trust Me on This and Adam Langer’s Crossing California for the mainstage and Daniel Pinkwater's Bongo Larry and Two Bad Bears for KidSeries.

Kevin Gawley
Kevin has been an ensemble member of Lifeline Theatre since 2001. As a designer at Lifeline, Kevin won the Jeff Citation for his design of Jane Eyre and the After Dark Award for his design of Strong Poison. Other notable designs at Lifeline were the lighting designs of Queen Lucia, Around the World in 80 Days, and Click Clack Moo, and the scenic design of the 2005 production of The Talisman Ring. As a freelance lighting/scenic designer in Chicago, Kevin’s work has appeared in numerous productions at Organic, Porchlight, Theatre on the Lake, Metropolis, StoreFront, Loyola University Chicago, Revels Chicago, Midwest Jewish and the North Carolina Shakespeare Festival. Kevin is currently teaching Lighting Design at Loyola University Chicago and previously taught the Introduction to Lighting Technologies course for two years at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Kevin is also a resident designer and technical theatre instructor at St. Scholastica Academy. He holds a M.F.A and B.F.A. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and an M.B.A. from DePaul University.

Peter Greenberg
Peter has appeared on the Lifeline stage in Strong Poison, Trust Me On This, Far From the Madding Crowd, Around the World in 80 Days, Whose Body?, Jane Eyre, Pistols for Two, Cotillion, and The Talisman Ring. He also directed Lifeline's 2004 production of Bunnicula. Other Chicago acting credits include The Beaux' Stratagem with Powertap, The Heidi Chronicles at the New American Theatre in Rockford, Thank You, Jeeves with CityLit, and The Sweat Offensive with the Sweatgirls. Regionally Peter has performed the works of Shakespeare, Moliere, Middleton, Chekhov, Dickens, Sam Shepard and Neil Simon in Boise, St Petersberg, Sacramento, Boston, Atlanta, and New York City. In 1988 Peter helped to found the Actors Shakespeare Company in Albany, New York. For seven years he acted in or directed every one of its 23 productions and served as Co-Artistic Director.

James E. Grote
Jim has been a member of the artistic ensemble since 1999. He began performing with Lifeline in 1992, playing Tucker Mouse in the world premiere of The Cricket in Times Square (and reprising that role in 1996). Some of his other favorite roles at Lifeline include Mr. Hatch in Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch; various captains, sailors, and Englishmen in Around the World in 80 Days (Jeff Award: Outstanding Ensemble); John Hancock and Merchant Lyte in Johnny Tremain; Mr. Primm and Mr. Grumps in Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile; and Lt. Col. Fremantle in The Killer Angels. Jim became a playwright for Lifeline in 2000 with his adaptation of C.S. Lewis’ The Silver Chair, which was named the best family show of that year by the Chicago Tribune. Jim’s other adaptations for the MainStage include The Piano Tuner (After Dark Award: Outstanding Production) and A Long Way from Chicago. For KidSeries Jim has adapted Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type and Giggle, Giggle, Quack (featuring music by George Howe), as well as this season’s Duck for President, all based on the book series by Doreen Cronin and Betsy Lewin. He has also adapted The Dirty Cowboy and Deep in the Jungle for Lifeline’s KidSeries. Outside of Lifeline, Jim has appeared in Everyman at Steppenwolf Theatre, The Secret of the Old Queen at Stage Left Theatre, and has toured with the National Theatre for Children, HealthWorks Theatre, and Windy City Gay Chorus. Jim has also served as one of Lifeline’s artists-in-residence at Kilmer Elementary School, and he authors Lifeline’s KidSeries study guides. Jim is a graduate of Northwestern University.

John Hildreth
John has been a Lifeline ensemble member since 1999. He directed our MainStage productions of Crossing California, The Shadow and Scary Home Companion, our KidSeries production of Rumpelstiltskin Revisited, and adapted Johnny Tremain (Joseph Jefferson Citation for New Adaptation), The Sirens of Titan, Cat's Cradle and Around the World in 80 Days (Joseph Jefferson Citation for New Adaptation). He also appeared in the 2004 KidSeries productions of Bunnicula and Snowflake Tim's Big Holiday Adventure. John teaches improvisation at the Second City Conservatory and Columbia College.

Paul S. Holmquist
Paul joined the ensemble in 2006 and has appeared on the Lifeline stage in Strong Poison, The Talisman Ring (2005) and The Picture of Dorian Gray. For the Mainstage, he directed The Island of Dr. Moreau (winner of 5 Non-Equity Jeff Awards including Best Production-Play) for Lifeline's 25th Anniversary Season and will direct Busman's Honeymoon. For Lifeline's KidSeries, Paul directed Rikki Tikki Tavi and Other Just So Stories and The Flight of the Dodo. Other area acting credits include The General From America (Timeline Theatre), TS Eliot's The Cocktail Party (Caffeine Theatre), Toast of the Town (Factory Theatre) and The Batting Cage (Shattered Globe). Paul is also a Griffin Theatre company member where he directed The Constant Wife and The Robber Bride Groom and where he has acted in Journey's End, All the Way Home, A Night In Mantua and as the bad kitty Angus in Christina Calvit's award winning adaptation of Angus, Thongs and Full Frontal Snogging (Jeff Citation for Ensemble). He has worked as a movement consultant on Lifeline's A Room with a View and on Griffin's production of Stardust, both directed by Dorothy Milne. Paul holds a BFA in Acting from the Theatre School at DePaul University and a Graduate Laban Certificate in Movement Analysis from Columbia College Chicago, where he teaches and works.

Elise Kauzlaric
Elise has worked with Lifeline for many years and has been a member of the ensemble since 2005. She has appeared in the Lifeline MainStage productions of Talking It Over, Queen Lucia, The Sirens of Titan, Strong Poison, and The Silver Chair, as well as the KidSeries productions of Hen Lake, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, and My Father's Dragon. Other Lifeline credits include her adaptions of Half Magic and The Velveteen Rabbit, direction of The Emperor's Groovy New Clothes, and dialect coacing for numerous Lifeline productions, most recently The Mark of Zorro and The Piano Tuner. For the upcoming 2008/2009 Season, she will be directing Christina Calvit's adaptation of Mariette in Ecstasy. Other area acting credits include King Lear at The Goodman Theatre, directed by Robert Falls, Tartuffe and The Importance of Being Ernest at City Lit, Nine at Circle Theatre, Cabaret and A Christmas Carol at Metropolis, The Last of Mrs. Cheney at Bailiwick Repertory, and A Midsummer Night's Dream with First Folio Shakespeare. Elise graduated from the Webster Conservatory of Theatre Arts with a BFA in Musical Theatre.

Robert Kauzlaric
Robert has appeared in the Lifeline productions of The Silver Chair, Return of the King, Around the World in 80 Days (Non-Equity Joseph Jefferson Awards: Supporting Actor-Play and Ensemble), Trust Me On This, The Killer Angels, Strong Poison (Jeff nomination: Ensemble), Sirens of Titan, The Talisman Ring (2005), A Room with a View and The Mark of Zorro. At Lifeline, Robert has also adaptated The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs! and Flight of the Dodo for the KidSeries, and The Island of Dr. Moreau (Non-Equity Joseph Jefferson Awards: Best Production-Play and New Adaptation) and The Picture of Dorian Gray for the MainStage. Other area acting credits include War and A Whistle in the Dark (Seanachaí Theatre Co.); A Many-Splendored Thing (Strawdog Theatre); Sueño and The Nose (Greasy Joan & Co.); Balm in Gilead (The Hypocrites; Jeff nomination: Ensemble); Tartuffe (City Lit); Candida (Circle Theatre); The Last of Mrs. Cheney (Bailiwick Rep); A Christmas Carol (New American Theater); Getting Away With Murder, Macbeth and Julius Caesar (Theatre at the Center); Henry IV and Merry Wives of Windsor (Lakeside Shakespeare Theatre); The Tempest and Twelfth Night (IL Shakespeare Festival); and Macbeth, Romeo & Juliet, Julius Caesar, Twelfth Night, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Taming of the Shrew with A Crew of Patches.

Frances Limoncelli
Frances is proud to be an ensemble member at Lifeline. She has appeared in their productions of Pistols For Two, Precious Bane, Pinocchio, Bunnicula and as the title role in Mrs. Piggle Wiggle. She has also directed several productions at Lifeline including Simple Jim And His Four Fabulous Friends, The Story Of Ferdinand, Miss Bianca, Half Magic, and Cooking with Lard and Queen Lucia: A Musical Romp. As an adaptor she created The Emperor's Groovy New Clothes and Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch with Queen Lucia's composer/lyricist George Howe and the Dorothy L. Sayers mysteries Whose Body?, Strong Poison (Non-Equity Joseph Jefferson Award: Adaptation) and Gaudy Night (Non-Equity Jeff Award: Adaptation). Around Chicago she has appeared in Shear Madness at the Blackstone; The House Of Martin Guerre and Cry, The Beloved Country at the Goodman; Master Class at Northlight Theatre; Falsettos at Appletree Theatre; Lifeline's Pride And Prejudice for Chicago Theatres On The Air to name a few. At Vermont's Weston Playhouse she has played some of her favorite roles including Mary in Merrily We Roll Along, Emma Goldman in Ragtime, Carrie in Carousel, Fraulien Kost in Cabaret and Mrs. Montgomery in The Heiress. Frances graduated from the Boston Conservatory with a BFA in theatre performance and an emphasis in directing.

Katie McLean
Katie has been a member of Lifeline's artistic ensemble since 2006. She adapted The Mark of Zorro in the spring of 2008, and directed Johnny Tremain for the 2005-2006 Mainstage season and The Cricket in Times Square for Lifeline's KidSeries in 2003. As an actor, she has appeared in Talking it Over, Crossing California, The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs!, Gaudy Night, Trust Me On This, Far From the Madding Crowd, Whose Body?, Cooking With Lard, and Bongo Larry and Two Bad Bears. She also assistant directed Lifeline's multiple-award-winning Around the World in 80 Days. A native of upstate New York, she has been in Chicago since 1993 and worked on productions with Black Sheep Productions (where she is also a founding Artistic Ensemble member), BlindFaith, the Hypocrites, Bailiwick Repertory (including now then again, a Jeff Citation winner for Best New Play in 2000), Greasy Joan & Co., Shakespeare's Motley Crew, Who Threw That Ham?, and Zebra Crossing. Katie is excited to appear in Mariette in Ecstasy on the Mainstage in 2009, and is writing a full-length novel in her spare time.

Dorothy Milne
Dorothy has been the Artistic Director of Lifeline Theatre since 1999. She has directed numerous productions here including Around the World in 80 Days, Jane Eyre, Gaudy Night, The Talisman Ring and The Mark of Zorro. Outside of Lifeline, she most recently directed Stardust for Griffin Theatre and is a 14-year member of the writing-performing collective Sweat Girls, which performs in Chicago and nationally. Dorothy is also one of the organizers of the Glenwood Avenue Arts Fest, an annual arts/music/theater festival in Rogers Park.

Shole Milos
Shole is a graduate of Loyola University of Chicago with a degree in Theatre and Communications who works as an actor, movement specialist, choreographer and director. An ensemble member since 1999, Shole has directed Lifeline's KidSeries productions of Long Way From Chicago, Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type, Giggle Giggle Quack, Brave Potatoes, Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, Hen Lake, Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel, and Sophie's Masterpiece. He has also been seen on the Lifeline stage in The Piano Tuner, Johnny Tremain, Whose Body?, Trust Me On This, My Father's Dragon, Simple Jim and His Four Fabulous Friends, Mr. Popper's Penguins, One Hundred and One Dalmatians, The Emperor's Groovy New Clothes, and Click Clack Moo: Cows That Type. In addition to his work at Lifeline, he has appeared in productions of Breaking The Code, Bouncers, A Chorus Line, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and When She Danced in theatres throughout the Chicago area and Midwest. Shole has also served as choreographer/movement coach for productions of Equus, Piaf, Kismet, Personals and Where The Wild Things Are in addition to directing Emerald City Theatre's productions of Rapunzel and Stellaluna.

Sandy Snyder Pietz
Sandy, a graduate of Northwestern University, is a founding member of Lifeline. She performed in Lifeline’s very first production of Split. Over the course of twenty-five years, some of her favorite roles have been in Strong Poison (Non-Equity Jeff Nomination, Best Supporting Actress - Play), A Room with a View, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Lizard Music and A Wrinkle in Time. KidSeries roles include Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch and Giggle Giggle Quack. Sandy has also directed My Father’s Dragon, Bunnicula, and Stuart Little. As a co-founder of Lifeline’s educational outreach program, she serves in that program as a teaching artist in the Chicago Public Schools. Currently, Sandy is excited about integrating drama into curriculum as she works towards an MAT in Elementary Education at National Louis University.

Suzanne Plunkett
Suzanne is a founding member of Lifeline. She served as the company's first Managing Director for seven years, and then as Production Coordinator for five years. She takes all of Lifeline's pictures, and has owned a photo studio for fifteen years where she specializes in portraits for actors.

Phil Timberlake
Phil appeared on the Lifeline stage in The Island of Dr. Moreau, Queen Lucia (Non-Equity Jeff Nomination, Best Supporting Actor-Musical) and The Two Towers. He also coached dialects for Strong Poison, Gaudy Night, Talking It Over, and A Room With a View. Other Chicago acting credits include First Folio Shakespeare (The Tempest), Apple Tree (Violet), Powertap (The Beaux’ Stratagem), ShawChicago (Misalliance), City Lit (Playboy Stories), and Shakespeare’s Motley Crew (Twelfth Night, Midsummer Night’s Dream, King Lear). Phil has also coached dialects at The Goodman (Gas For Less), Stage Left (Fellow Travellers), Signal Ensemble (Closer, She Stoops to Conquer), and New World Repertory (A Streetcar Named Desire). He is the resident Voice and Dialect Coach at First Folio Shakespeare, and is an Assistant Professor of Voice and Speech at the Theatre School, DePaul University. Phil joined the ensemble in 2006.

Jenifer Tyler
Jenifer has been an ensemble member since 2001. She has appeared at Lifeline as Kitty in Cotillion, Lydia in Pride and Prejudice, Mina in Dracula, and Jane in Jane Eyre for which she received a Jeff Citation for Outstanding Actress in a Principal Role (2001). She has also been seen in Chicago at greasy joan & co., and in many Touchstone/Organic productions including Into the Woods, The Seagull, and Hedda Gabler. Jenifer is also a “Sweat Girl” whose credits as writer and performer include I'm Sweating Under my Breasts, Sweat Dreams, I Just Oops Until I Wow, (The Sweat Girls are) Pigs at the Trough of Attention, and The Motherlode. Jenifer is a teacher with Lifeline's in-school residency program.

Elizabeth Powell Wislar
Elizabeth Powell Wislar (Shaffer) has been designing Costumes in the Chicago area for over 8 years. Eizabeth spent 5 years (1996-1999, 2002) as the Assistant Designer/Head Draper for the annual Baroque Handel Opera Festival in Göttingen, Germany. Elizabeth is the 2004 recipient of the Michael Maggio Emerging Designer Award, the 2006 After Dark Award for her design of Queen Lucia with Lifeline Theatre, and 2008 Jeff Award for her design of An Ideal Husband with Circle Theater.

Ensemble Emeritus

Eric Lane Barnes
Eric joined the Lifeline Theatre ensemble in 1996; his Lifeline KidSeries adaptations include The Amazing Bone, Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel and Simple Jim and His Four Fabulous Friends. Eric is the author of the critically acclaimed and award-winning Fairy Tales, which has enjoyed successful runs in Chicago, London, New York, Minneapolis and Houston, and continues to run in numerous cities around the country. While living in Chicago, Barnes wrote extensively for such theater companies as Pegasus Players, City Lit, Apple Tree Theater, Poison Nut Productions, Live Bait Theatrical and Bailiwick Repertory, which included the Jeff Award-winning Don Juan on Halsted. Eric is Assistant Artistic Director of Seattle Men's Chorus. Of his many musical tasks with SMC, he particularly enjoys writing for and directing the comedy vocal ensemble Captain Smartypants. Barnes has written pieces on commission for many GALA Choruses, including Seattle Men's Chorus, New York City Gay Men's Chorus, Gay Men's Chorus of Washington DC, Cincinnati Men's Chorus, Windy City Gay Chorus, One Voice Charlotte, and Desert Voices, among others.

Meryl Friedman
Meryl is a co-founder of Lifeline Theatre and served as Producing Director until 1998. Directing credits at Lifeline include: Lizard Music; Precious Bane; The Left Hand of Darkness; The Little Sister; The Phantom Tollbooth; which received a Jeff nomination for best direction; Dracula; The Promise; Jane Eyre; A Wrinkle In Time; Burning Bright; Praying for Sheetrock, Love Medicine and Purloined Poe. Her productions of Jungle Book and Pride And Prejudice both received Jeff Citations for direction. Meryl's adaptation of Journey of Sparrows, produced at Lifeline in 1996, was selected by the American Alliance of Theatre and Education to receive the Distinguished Play Award in the Elementary category. Meryl served as Executive Producer at the Falcon Theatre in California and is currently the Executive Director of The Virginia Avenue Project, a nationally acclaimed arts mentoring program for youth. Her adaptation of Mark Twain's Pudd'n Head Wilson received an LA Weekly Theatre Award for best ensemble, two LA Weekly Theatre Awards nominations for best production of the year and best adaptation, and two Garland award nominations for best direction and adaptation.

Rebecca Hamlin
Rebecca has designed numerous sets for Lifeline, including Long Way from Chicago, The Motherlode, Cotillion, Love Medicine, The Journey of the Sparrows<, The Left Hand of Darkness, The Story of Ferdinand, Dracula, On the Road to Graceland, and Pinnocchio. She has designed extensively in the Chicago area at theaters including Milwaukee Shakespeare, Ars Viva, Apple Tree, Next Theatre, Bailiwick Repertory, Oak Park Festival Theatre, Sheanachai, City Lit Theatre and others. Rebecca is a resident designer and teacher for Mudlark Theater in Evanston. In addition to theater, Rebecca has designed for many public and private institutions, including the Chicago Botanic Garden, Garfield Park Conservatory (Chicago Park District), the Shedd Aquarium, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Music Institute of Chicago, the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation and the League of Creative Musicians.

James Sie
James has been an ensemble member since 1985 and has written, acted, and directed at Lifeline. As a writer for the stage, he has received a Joseph Jefferson Citation for his adaptation of Island of the Blue Dolphins, for which he was also nominated for director. James has also garnered two Jeff Citation nominations for his Lifeline adaptations of Dracula and A Wrinkle in Time, which was produced at Lincoln Center Institute in New York. He has received an After Dark Award for The Road to Graceland. His other adaptations include Randy Shilts' Talking AIDS to Death and Daniel Pinkwater's The Snarkout Boys and the Avocado of Death, which was also broadcast on WFMT's “Chicago Theatres on the Air.” James resides in Los Angeles.

Steve Totland
Steve is a founding member of Lifeline Theatre where he has worked on more than 45 productions in the company's first sixteen years. Performance credits at Lifeline include work in The Overcoat, Pride and Prejudice, The Servant of Two Masters, Stuart Little and Shouts and Whispers for which he received a Jeff Citation for Actor in a Principal Role. At Lifeline he directed Fanshen and Wintery Tails and written adaptations of No Flying in the House, Uncle Lemon's Spring and STRANGE CASE: Jekyll and Hyde. Other Chicago credits include work at The Goodman Theatre, Remy Bumpo, Bailiwick Repertory, and the Next Theatre. In L.A. Steve has performed at The Falcon Theatre, The Blank Theatre, and the Odyssey. He appears in the films The Princess Diaries and The Collaborators. He is an artistic associate with The Playwrights Projects and a frequent collaborator with The Virginia Avenue Project. Steve holds a Ph. D. from Northwestern University and is on the teaching faculty at Pomona College where he teaches classes in performance and playwriting.