JERRY R. FOUST
Director of Artistic Learning
Click here for Jerry’s bio

CHRISTOPHER DUNN-RANKIN
Resident Music Director
Music Director for Little Shop of Horrors, Annie & Willy Wonka
Christopher Dunn-Rankin is a local composer, music director, vocal coach, and sound designer.  He received his Bachelor’s of Music in Composition from Oberlin Conservatory, and focuses on writing vocal chamber music, music for theater, musical theater, and opera.  His passion for teaching led him to found a teaching/coaching studio, where he teaches voice, piano, composition, theory, and coaches singers for auditions and performances. As a music director and arranger, Christopher has most recently worked with Piven Theater Workshop on Cities of Light, a cabaret musical, and The Last Days of Judas Iscariot at Columbia College Chicago, for which he composed original music.  Christopher directs the choir at Third Unitarian Church of Chicago, where he is the music director.  He is also the Artistic Director and co-founder of Coriolis Theater Company, a collaborative and interdisciplinary theater company.

KATE LESLIE
Spring Break Camp Director / Lead Teacher
Summer Camps Director / Lead Teacher
Kate Leslie attended Sewanee University where she received a B.A. in Theatre Arts with a concentration in education and directing.  She also holds a Mississippi Educator’s License with an endorsement in Drama (K-12).  From 2008 to 2012, Kate taught middle school drama for the Oxford School District in Mississippi.  In addition to leading the middle school drama program, Kate also assisted and directed for the award-winning Oxford High School Theatre program.  Currently, Kate is teaching drama at Willard Elementary, a part of Evanston/Skokie School District 65, in addition to her work at American Theater Company in the Education department.

VICTORIA MONTALBANO
Lead Teaching Artist / Director – Evanston Summer Programs 2013
Victoria Montalbano has as Bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University in acting.  She has been an actress and teaching artist in the Chicagoland area since 2006.  As an actress she has been seen locally in Tony n’ Tina’s Wedding (Donna/Terry), Much Ado About Nothing (Ursula/Verges), Arms and the Man (Louka), Dead Man’s Cell Phone (Hermia), and Hay Fever (Clara), among many others.  As a teaching artist she has co-directed Annie Jr, Willy Wonka Jr, Godspell Jr, Seussical Jr, and Fiddler on the Roof Jr.

LASHERA MOORE
Assistant Director, Little Shop of Horrors
Assistant Director, Willy Wonka
LaShera Moore is a Native Chicagoan and a recent graduate of Columbia College Chicago, where she received B.A. in Music, with the Concentration in Vocal Performance. She participated in shows under Henry, Hendricks and Weddington and The Journeymen Theater Company under Frank Pullen, with whom she also worked as the Assistant Director for “Oliver.” She has performed with many musicians in residence at Columbia College.  LaShera is currently working on a project for a show with the Vocal Coordinator of the Columbia College Music Department and vocalist for the Chicago Jazz Ensemble, Ms. Bobbi Wilsyn, which whom she studied voice with at Columbia College. She also studied with former vocal and ensemble instructor of Columbia College and friend Ms. Mimi Rohlfing. LaShera joined Youth Company Chicago in August 2012 to work with the Grades K-2 and 4-7 productions of Aladdin.  She is thrilled about the opportunity and feels that her dream – to work with kids in the arts – has come true.

SAMANTHA MITCHELL
Assistant Teaching Artist – Summer 2013
Samantha Mitchell just recently moved to Chicago after a year performing with the National Tour of Fiddler on the Roof. She graduated with a BFA in Music Theatre from the Hartt School in Harford, Ct and has been seen on numerous professional stages including the Monomoy Theatre on Cape Cod and Goodspeed Opera House. Samantha was the program director of the Creative Drama program in Northbrook, Il and the Assistant Director of the Summer Music Theatre Workshops in Newtown, Ct. Samantha is incredibly excited to begin her journey with Youth Company Chicago and continue to bring theatre to the next generations of artists!

MEGAN BERO
Choreographer for Annie, Little Shop of Horrors & Willy Wonka
Megan Bero began her training at the age of thirteen at the First Street Academy of Dance in Menominee, MI under the direction of Susan Bunting.  She continued her training at the University of Wisconsin- Stevens Point in modern, tap, jazz, ballet, and composition with Joan Karlen, Michael Estanich, Jeannie Hill, and Pamela Luedtke.  Megan graduated from UWSP in May 2012 with a Bachelor of Arts double majoring in dance and arts management.  She has performed in the faculty-choreographed Danstage, as well as the student-choreographed show Afterimages, including The Angel and the Albatross (2009) and The Attic Room (2011) by Michael Estanich; The Sum Is Greater (2012) by Jeannie Hill and Here and Now by Kayla Schetter (2008).  Megan has performed in Footloose (2009) as a featured dancer and A Chorus Line (2010) as Connie at Theatre on the Bay, Marinette, WI.  Megan has created two original works featured in Afterimages, Esprit de Corps (2010) and Afterimages Outtakes, To Whom It May Consume (2011).  She has taught at First Street Academy of Dance, Dance Education Center in Stevens Point, and Trollwood Performing Arts Center, Fargo, ND.       

CASI MAGGIO
Lead Summer Teaching Artist / Show Director
Director of Disney’s Aladdin
Casi Maggio comes to Chicago from the San Francisco Bay Area where she has been an active performer and teacher. Casi completed the two year training program with the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts. Before PCPA, she received her B.A. in Theatre Arts with an Acting Option and a Minor in Marketing (cum laude), from Cal State East Bay. She began teaching young artists with PCPA’s Young People’s Project, and since then, has taught with numerous professional Bay Area Theatre Companies including: Berkeley Playhouse, California Shakespeare Theatre, New Conservatory Theatre, SF Arts Education, StarStruck Theatre and TheatreWorks. She has served as a lead teaching artist both for summer camps, after school programs, and in TheatreReach programs, taking live theatre into local schools. As a professional theatre artist she is passionate about bringing theatre to the next generation of young artists.

MADDIE BAIRD
Assistant Teacher, Aladdin Chicago
Lead Teacher / Director for Glencoe Summer Camps
Maddie Baird grew up in the Chicago-area and is currently attending DePaul University as a theater major. She began studying voice and dance at a young age and has performed throughout Chicago as a vocalist at venues that include Orchestra Hall, Fitzgerald’s and Pops of Highwood. Her professional credits include a two-year run as Felicity and Josefina in The American Girl Revue, Emerald City Theatre’s production of High School Musical at Victory Gardens and Number the Stars with Apple Tree Theatre. Having attended the Eileen Boevers’ Summer on Stage theater camp for four years, Maddie is excited to now be able to share her passion for theater with today’s youth.

TAMICA GRADY
Intern / Assistant Teacher for Glencoe Summer Camps
Bio Coming Soon

OLIVER!
Official Summer Camp Mascot
TOTO in Wizard of Oz?