GOBLIN MARKET CREW

Jeff Bouthiette (Musical Director) 

Jeff Bouthiette is currently the Head of the Music Program at the Second City Training Center, and has music directed hundreds of student shows. He has also served as music director for the Second City National Tour, and twice for Second City at sea aboard Norwegian Cruise Lines. He has served as accompanist and/or musical director for many Chicago theaters, including Theatre Building Chicago, Stage Left, Comedysportz Chicago, Victory Gardens, Chicago Children’s Theatre, Lil’ Buds, GayCo, and many others. He is also an actor and playwright, and a founding member of the Improvised Sondheim Project. jeffbouthiette.com

Brayden Kendziora (Stage Manager)

Brayden Kendziora is a senior BA Musical theatre major at Columbia College Chicago. Her most recent credits include the “Toulouse" workshop at the Athenaeum, Circle Theatre’s emerging young artists Into the Woods, and ASM for Saint Sebastian Players Godspell and In the Matter of J.  Robert Oppenheimer. 

Rachell "Rocky" Kolecke (Prop Designer) 

Rachelle “Rocky” Kolecke is a prop and puppet designer. Recent credits: Coraline, The Diary of Anne Frank, Enfrascada, and A Christmas Carol 2012/2013/2014 at Metropolis Performing Arts Center. Her work has also been seen at the Victory Gardens Biograph, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, and Glimmerglass Opera. As a Stage Manager; she has worked with Ghostlight, 16th Street, City Lit, Bailiwick Chicago, Red Tape, The Mime Company at Studio Be, Neo-Futurists, and Gorilla  Tango. Rocky is a Graduate of Northern Illinois University.

Beth Laske-Miller (Costume Designer) 

Beth is thrilled to return to Black Button Eyes for Goblin Market. She previously designed the costumes for Coraline. She also works with City Lit Theatre (Father Ruffian), Promethean Theatre Ensemble (Rosencrantz & Guildenstern are Dead, A Study in Scarlet, The Caucasian Chalk Circle), Irish Theatre of Chicago (Lay Me Down Softly, The Seafarer, In Pigeon House), Midsommer Flight (Macbeth, Much Ado about Nothing, Romeo & Juliet), Hell in a Handbag (L’Imitation of Life), Edge of the Wood Theatre (The Man Who Came to Dinner) and Prologue Theatre (Saturday Night/Sunday Morning, Take Her to See the Maco Lights). 

Chazz Malott (Lighting Designer) 

Chazz Malott originally worked as a freelance designer in Ann Arbor. Chazz moved to Chicago last September and began working with Lookingglass, Provision, Prologue and several other groups. Recent credits include Jacob, Pinocchio, Trafford Tanzi,and In the Matter of J. Robert Oppenheimer. Before the move Chazz was working at the O'Neill Theater Center and designing at the University of Michigan where he won regional awards at KCACTF and for ETC's Student Sponsorship to LDI in Las Vegas.

Kate Merena (Marketing/PR Director)

Kate Merena is owner and curator of Sacred Art Gallery in Lincoln Square, where she represents over 100 independent artists. Kate also serves as Executive Director and board member of Theatre Y in Logan Square, which most recently produced the US and English-language premiere of Peter Handke's The Beautiful Days of Aranjuez. She is a freelance writer, marketer, business consultant and event planner. Kate is thrilled to be reunited with the Black Button Eyes team to build on the success of Coraline. 

Ed Rutherford (Director) 

Ed Rutherford most recently directed the Midwest Premiere of the musical Coraline with Black Button Eyes Productions. A proud graduate of Northwestern’s theater program, he has also directed his own adaptation of the Peter S. Beagle fantasy novel The Last Unicorn with Promethean Theatre Ensemble, where he is an artistic associate. For Promethean he has also directed Brecht’s The Caucasian Chalk Circle and their inaugural production, Christopher Durang’s Beyond Therapy. Also an actor, he has performed with Drury Lane Oakbrook, Porchlight, Theater Wit and many others.  He is also currently pursuing his MBA at Kellogg. ed-rutherford.com

Kailee Tomasic (Set Designer) 

Kailee Tomasic ( Scenic Design/Props) graduated from Ball State University in May of 2013 and has worked on several shows with different companies. Her most recent include The Boy From Oz with Pride Films and Plays Company, These Saints Will Burn with The Plagiarists, Raw with the Deluge Theatre Co., A Nativity Story with Congo Square, and From the Heart with Citadel Theatre. During this past summer, she had a great experience designing Comedy of Errors, Rent, and Avenue Q for an arts camp in Connecticut.  She has a broad range of experiences from scenic designer and props to master carpenter and scenic painting. This is her first show with Black Button Eyes Productions and hopes for more opportunities with the company.  

Derek Van Barham (Movement Director) 

Derek Van Barham is the Artistic Director of The Ruckus and an Artistic Associate with Pride Films & Plays. Directing: Miracle! (Hell in a Handbag), Angry Fags (PFP/Steppenwolf Garage), Some Men (with David Zak), Kill Your Boyfriends (an original piece), and Songs from an Unmade Bed (Jeff nomination). Movement: Coraline the Musical (Black Button Eyes), La Chingada (Inappropriate Theatre), Matawan (The Ruckus), and pieces for Salonathon. This year, Derek was named one of Windy City Times’ 30 Under 30, honoring individuals from Chicago’s LGBTQIA communities. He currently improvises at iO Chicago with the team Baby Wine. MFA: CCPA/Roosevelt University.