SHOCKHEADED PETER CAST
Ellen DeSitter (Ensemble)
Ellen DeSitter is an actress and movement performer. She studied theatre at Northern Illinois University and at the Moscow Art Theatre. Ellen has had the pleasure of working with various Chicago companies including: Walkabout Theatre, Manual Cinema, Strangeloop and Steep Theatre. She is a company member of a movement based performance troupe called Imaginez Ensemblez and the podcast group Starlight Radio Dreams. Ellen has also created her own characters for freelance performance under the name EllEntertainment. To learn more, check out her webpage ellendesitter.com. She is very excited to be working with Black Button Eyes Productions for the first time!
Kat Evans (Ensemble)
Kat Evans is delighted to be working with Black Button Eyes. She was last seen in London Assurance (Grace) with City Lit, Gross Indecency (Harris/Parker) with Promethean, Thespis (Mercury) with the Savoyaires, and HAUPTMANN (Anne Morrow Lindberg) with City Lit. You can see her live every month with Starlight Radio Dreams; you can listen to her on podcast Our Fair City. You can watch her in web series Lucky Jay (Seasons 1 & 2), and Why Don't You Like Me?, and feature film NONTRADITIONAL. Kat is proud to be represented by Gill Hayes Talent.
Jessica Lauren Fisher (Alternate for Caitlin Jackson on Aug 31, Sept 3, Sept 7, Sept 10 and Sept 14)
Jessica Lauren Fisher is a Chicago based actress and founding member of Eclectic Full Contact Theatre. Notable performances with Eclectic include Mrs. Cratchitt in their recent co Production with Metropolis Performing Arts Center of A Christmas Carol, last summer's production of Make Me a Song: The Music of William Finn and Sarah Daniels in Spinning into Butter. She has performed throughout the Chicago and Indiana area in theatre, musicals, and opera playing everything from mice to men. Favorite roles include Lucy in Jekyll and Hyde, Adele in Die Fledermaus and Joan in Murder in Green Meadows. When not on stage, Jessica can be found teaching music at Saint Thecla School or choreographing and directing children at The Metroplis Peforming Arts Center and The Wip Training Center. She is ever grateful to her partner in everything Andrew. LVYA Mom!
Caitlin Jackson (Ensemble)
Shockheaded Peter marks Caitlin's 2nd Black Button Eyes production after appearing as "Miss Spink" in Coraline. She is an ensemble member with Hell in a Handbag (Lady X-The Musical, Skooby Don't, Bette Live at the Continental Baths, Christmas Dearest, Miracle!) Cowardly Scarecrow (Musical Horror Story, Musical of the Living Dead) and New American Folk Theatre (TRASH, Dark of the Moon, Witches Among Us, Marvelous Land of Oz, Salome!). She has also worked with Refuge Theatre Project ("Liz" in High Fidelity), Ghostlight, Factory Theater, Wayward Productions and Strangeloop, among others. In 2001 she saw the Tiger Lillies original touring production of Shockheaded Peter and it instantly took top spot on the list of the best performances she has ever seen and remains there to this day. She's incredibly proud to be involved in this production!
Cody Jolly (Father)
Cody is thrilled to join the cast of Shockheaded Peter! Past performances include: The Music Man, Unnecessary Farce, Spamalot, An Inspector Calls, Young Frankenstein, Rumors, Les Miserables, Peter Pan, Greater Tuna, A Funny Thing…Forum (Timber Lake Playhouse); Blood Brothers (Theo Ubique); All in the Timing (Stage 773/ (re)discover theatre); A Christmas Carol, Little Red, Scary Poppins (The Great American Melodrama); Cabaret, The 39 Steps, The Tempest (Festival 56). Directing: Charlotte’s Web, Gaslight, The Prince & The Pauper (Timber Lake Playhouse); Wendigo (Stage 773/ (re)discover theatre). Check out his photos @codyjollyphotography. BFA; The Conservatory of Theatre Arts at Webster University.
Josh Kemper (Ensemble)
Josh Kemper is a newcomer to Black Button Eyes Productions. Prior to Shockheaded Peter this summer, he will be featured in the ensemble of Guys in Dolls with William Street Rep. He recently worked with Hell in a Handbag Productions on Lady X: The Musical and Skooby Don't. Josh originally hails from Maryland where he was a company member with Red Branch Theatre Company. Favorite credits include Rod in Avenue Q, Jeff in [title of show], and Bobby in Company. Josh holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting from UMBC.
Genevieve Lerner (Ensemble)
Genevieve is excited to be joining the cast of Shockheaded Peter! She is a transplant from Buffalo, NY, where she graduated with a BFA in Theatre Performance from the University at Buffalo. Favorite Chicago credits include Peter and the Wolf (Od Theatre Company), The Tall Girls (Shattered Globe Theatre), and a commercial where she got to cry over a spilled milkshake. She is also a recent graduate of the Second City Conservatory. Genevieve is also a rollercoaster fanatic, dinosaur enthusiast, and a forever supporter of the Oxford comma. www.genevievelerner.com
Pavi Proczko (Ensemble)
Pavi Proczko is an Actor, Composer, Writer, Singer, and Audiobook narrator. His stage performances range from Shakespeare (Chicago Shakes Theatre, Muse of Fire), to musicals (Paramount, Porchlight, Circle, Bailiwick Chicago, Brown Paper Box), to opera (Chicago Opera Vanguard), avant guard plays (Trap Door, Red Theatre, Oracle Theatre), to sketch comedy and stand up (Scribble Bibble, Storefront). He composes for piano, chamber ensembles, symphonies, and voice. He is currently composing for the webseries “Line Please”. Pavi composed the music for the new musical Beowulf (Red Theatre Chicago), in which he played the title role. His audiobooks are available at audible.com.
Stephanie Stockstill (Mother)
This is Stephanie's second show with Black Button Eyes, following Goblin Market. Favorite roles include Johanna in Sweeney Todd (Porchlight Music Theatre), Tilly in Melancholy Play a Chamber Musical (Piven), and Catherine in Northanger Abbey (Lifeline) for which she received a Jeff nomination.
Gwen Tulin (Ensemble)
Gwen Tulin has worked in Chicago as a performer, composer, and teaching artist since 2006. She is the Music Director for Barrel of Monkeys and can be seen in their long-running critically-acclaimed hit That’s Weird, Grandma most Monday nights at 8pm at the Neo-Futurarium. In Chicago, Gwen has trained in Meisner technique at The Artistic Home and teaches private piano, cello, and voice lessons. She is the founder and Artistic Director of Brain Arts Productions (brainartsproductions.org). Gwen earned her BA from Brandeis University near her hometown of Lexington, Massachusetts, and is delighted to be a part of Chicago’s unparalleled theatre and music community.
Kevin Webb (MC)
Kevin Webb was last seen with Black Button Eyes in Coraline and Amour. Kevin is a company member with Pride Films and Plays and has been featured in their productions of Songs from an Unmade Bed (Jeff nomination-Principal Actor), Angry Fags, Design for Living, Under A Rainbow Flag and Bite: A Pucking Queer Cabaret. Other Chicago credits: The Secret Garden, Court Theatre; Sweeney Todd, Porchlight; WOZ, Victory Gardens; The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (Jeff nomination-Ensemble) and The Duchess of Malfi, Trap Door; The Pitchfork Disney, Interrobang; Myths and Hymns and Marie Christine (Oct-Dec 2017), BoHo; Assassins, GoForth/Viaduct. kevinwebb.org
Anthony Whitaker (Ensemble, Shadow Puppetry)
Anthony Whitaker grew up in Greenville, SC, where,he began performing at age 10. Since leaving South Carolina, he has performed in Atlanta (Center Stage Atlanta and Georgia State University), The Lost Colony in Manteo, NC, The Golden Apple Dinner Theatres in Sarasota and Venice, Florida and many venues in Chicago (The Royal George, Emerald City, Beverly Arts Center, Theatre on the Lake). In addition to performing, Anthony teaches elementary and junior high music in the public and Catholic School systems, and directs productions for various south side schools and the Beverly Arts Center. Anthony wrote, directed, and performed in New American Folk Theatre’s debut production, Two from the Trailer Court: Dirty Girl and Salome Goes All the Way!, wrote and directed the musical, The Marvelous Land of Oz, music directed Dark of the Moon, and directed Witches Among Us. He also appeared in the role of Erroneous in Porchlight Theatre’s A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and directed the Jeff Recommended, The Summer of Daisy Fay, based on "Daisy Fay and the Miracle Man" by Fannie Flagg.