David Belew – David’s professional acting career includes stints with theatres in Texas, Missouri and Illinois. Since moving to Chicago in 1999, David has been a very busy actor and director in the area. His Chicagoland acting credits include George in “Moon Over Buffalo”, Harry Witherspoon in “Lucky Stiff”, Judge Roan in Bailiwick’s much acclaimed production of “Parade”, and numerous productions of “Greater Tuna”. For the past 4 years, David has been one of the directors at Metropolis Performing Arts Center in Arlington Heights, directing productions of “The Foreigner”, “Out of Order”, “The Boys Next Door” and “Nunsense”. Later this season, David will be directing “There’s A Girl in My Soup” and producing “Accomplice” at MPAC. David lives on the Northwest side of Chicago with his adorable little dog Amos and a condo full of Broadway memorabilia.
Michelle Annette - Michelle is grateful to be a part of Eclectic Theatre Company and proud to working side by side with some of Chicago’s most talented artist. Michelle’s selected Chicago credits include: The Women (Circle Theatre), The Boys Next Door (Metropolis Performing Arts), The Boarding House (Citadel Theatre), Nunsense (Saint Sebastian Players), A Year in the Death of Eddie Jester (Jedlicka Performing Arts), Best Christmas Pageant Ever (Village Players OakPark), Company (Village Theatre Guild), as well as other performances around the Chicago area. Michelle is a proud graduate of Bradley University where she received her undergraduate degree in Theatre Performance and Secondary English Education.
Jessica Lauren Fisher – Jessica is a proud company member of the Eclectic theatre company. She has been performing since she was very young having filmed her first commercial at the age of 7. As a child she trained at Eileen Boeverʼs Apple Tree Theatreʼs Performing Arts Workshop. She completed her education at The Theatre School of Depaul at the Barat Campus. She has spent most of her life performing at places such as; Theatre at the Center, Bailiwick Chicago, Stage 773, Chamber Opera Chicago, Illinois Theatre Center, Light Opera Works, and Citadel Theatre. She was also a three year company member with The Northbrook Theatre for Young Audiences where she also taught and directed childrenʼs theatre. When not on stage, she is teaching, directing, and choreographing for places such as Citadel Theatre, LoMastro Performing Arts Academy and The Improv Playhouse.
Alyssa Jaksa – Alyssa is thrilled to be part of Eclectic. The product of an artistic household, Alyssa was exposed to many art forms throughout her childhood, and fell in love with theatre in middle school. She has been involved in the technical side of things since she started doing makeup in high school. A smattering of past projects includes Coyote on a Fence, Waiting for Lefty, Bury the Dead, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and of course, Six Degrees of Separation. When not stage managing, you can find Alyssa off running somewhere in training for her next marathon, or perhaps at a record store growing her LP collection.
Adam Kander - Adam has worked with numerous theater companies throughout the Chicagoland area, including Metropolis, BoHo, Theo Ubique, Piccolo, Muse of Fire, Prologue, Livewire, Chicago Dramatists, and The Journeymen. He is a founding member of Michigan Youth Theater, and has taught youth theater classes at theaters and schools throughout the Midwest region, including The MAD Factory in Ohio and Class Act Drama in Michigan. In 2008, Adam was the recipient of an After Dark Award for Outstanding Performance (Merchant of Venice, BoHo Theater).
Jeff Irlbeck – Jeff graduated from Butler University with a Bachelor’s in Theatre Arts. Not only does he design and build for Eclectic, Jeff also enjoys performing as well. Throughout college he helped design and perform in numerous shows, such as “The Merchant of Venice” with director Tim Hardy from the Royal Shakespeare Company. In Chicago, Jeff has performed alongside Andrew Pond with an educational company called Caton Enterprises, and was recently seen in Bikini Shakespeare’s performance of “The Tempest”, for which he served as both technical director and performer. Jeff feels truly grateful to be a part of this new, up and coming theatre company, and cannot wait to see what the future has in store for all his wonderful colleagues.
Jesslynn McVicker - Jesslynn has a BA in acting and directing from Barat College of DePaul. Her love for theatre began at the age of 7 when cast as a dancer for “Sesame Street Live!” Ever since that day, Jesslynn could be found in a dance studio, a theatre, or on stage. She has worked for the Mary Godfrey Playhouse, Improv Playhouse, the Historic Atlas Theatre, and the Cheyenne Little Theatre Players. After a brief hiatus in the performing arts to teach preschool (instead of the usual actors waiting of tables) and to have her two wonderful little boys, Jesslynn is so excited to be part of such an amazingly talented theatre!
Julie Partyka - Julie is honored to be an Eclectic Theatre Company member. She has worked as an actor in Chicago for over 10 years and has had the good fortune to work for some of Chicagoland’s finest theatres that include Bailiwick Repertory, Stage Left, Timeline, Eclipse, First Folio, and Buffalo Theatre Ensemble among others. Julie is also a founding Collective Member of Bailiwick Chicago. With the arrival of Julie’s second child, she has been focused on raising her two sons with her husband, Peter. She received her MA in theatre from Northwestern and has trained at the Artistic Home, Act One and the Audition Studio. Striving to find the balance between family life and creative life is her new passion.
Andrew J. Pond - Originally from West Allis, WI, Andrew spent seven years in Miami, FL. While there, he studied with the likes of Burt Reynolds, José Quintero, and Charles Nelson Reilly. Since moving to the Chicago area in 2002 (for the weather, seriously) he has been seen in, dare we say, an eclectic collection of roles. Various credits in no particular order: Langley Collyer (Clutter, The True Story of the Collyer Brothers Who Never Threw Anything Out; MadKap Productions at the Greenhouse Theatre–Midwest Premiere); Arnold Wiggins (The Boys Next Door, Metropolis Performing Arts); Hugh (That Face, Redtwist Theatre); Joel Travis (Fraternal Instinct, Diamante Productions–World Premiere); Richard Willey (Out of Order, Metropolis Performing Arts); Harry Brown (Man From Nebraska, Redtwist Theatre–Non-Equity Jeff Award–Best Production 2011); Arthur Hoyle (Up ʻNʼ Under, Circle Theatre); Thomas Devereaux (Murder In Green Meadows, Citadel Theatre) He has worked extensively as an actor, director, and playwright with several childrenʼs theatres, and is a founding member as well as Chairman of the Board for the Eclectic Theatre Company. Andrew is deeply committed to making Eclectic Theatre a vital part of the life of the community and re-introducing the wonder and joy of theatre as entertainment for the masses. He is also an Elvis impersonator, juggler, magician, balloon artist, plays with puppets, does Muppet voices, performs stand-up comedy, and has a degree in philosophy so he can use words like “epistemology” at parties. (See? ECLECTIC)
Lisa Savegnago - Lisa is thrilled and honored to be working with the Eclectic Theatre Company. She recently played Tamara in Eclectic’s inaugural production of Music from a Sparkling Planet. Other favorite roles include: Diary of Anne Frank (Mrs. Edith Frank) and Out of Order (Pamela) at The Metropolis; No Exit (Estelle) at Albright; Miracle Worker (Mrs. Keller) for Actor Factor Theatre, Don’t Dress for Dinner (Jacqueline) at Steel Beam Theatre; Company (Kathy) at VTG; Closer (Anna) at the Riverfront; ‘night Mother (Jesse); The Taming of the Shrew (Katherine); and Italian American Reconciliation (Janice) at The Buffalo Theatre Ensemble. A special thanks to Sophia and Randy, her muses.
Marshall Stern – Talk about eclectic, Marshall spent ten years in Nashville as a professional songwriter while teaching and directing Improv and winning awards for his work. With the Ruth Sweet Award from the Tennessee Performing Arts Center, he attended the Players Workshop of the Second City and in three years moved to Chicago and eventually became the Director there. Marshall is the creator and co-host of the Zenprov podcasts and teaches Improv internationally. When not doing shows for Celebrity Cruise Lines Marshall hosts a radio program, Awakened America, and has appeared in 5 shows at Metropolis including turns as Scrooge in A Christmas Carol, Ziggy in Bleacher Bums and Otto Frank in The Diary of Anne Frank. By the way, Marshall can also do Past Life Regressions. Like I said, eclectic.
Mara Sullivan - Mara is excited to be working with Eclectic Theatre. She brings with her many years of working in museums, box offices, and sales. Currently, she works at the Adler Planetarium in the advance sales office.
Angela Woods - Angela has experience in music, marketing, nonprofit management and health administration. She currently works at Insight Psychological Centers in Utilization Review. She is ecstatic to be part of Eclectic!
Michael Woods - Michael has worked professionally all over the nation in film, television, and theatre. He has worked with several theaters in the Chicagoland area including Metropolis, Raven, Apollo, RedTwist, CityLit, and Citadel. He has been a part of several improv touring groups and is an active member of the SAFD and SAG.