Meet the Staff

Here are some of the newer faces here at CAST.

Summer Powell (assistant choreographer, Beauty and the Beast) is a graduate of the University

of Illinois at Chicago earning her B.A. in performing arts. Her passion for performing

ts has led her to be featured in commercials, f

ilms, voice-overs and such. Summer is thrilled to be a newbie to CAST and working with such talented children.

We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.

Oscar Wilde

Dylan Stratton (crew councilor) is a rising Sophomore at St. Olaf College. He has thoroughly enjoyed his second year as a crew counselor. He is a CAST Alum and will always remember the fit he threw when he got cast in F.A.M.E. his final year because everyone and their mother knows he can't sing.

Rachel Wilson (co-director, Og) is a writer, actor, and teacher living in Chicago. She is a longtime company member of Barrel of Monkeys, where she coordinates the after-school program, teaches writing, and adapts kids' writing for the stage. Some other companies she's acted with include the Neo-Futurists, Fox Valley Rep, Pegasus Players, Northlight ... To Go!, Adventure Stage, American Demigods, Sprung, Iconoclast, and InGen Productions. Rachel studied theater at Northwestern and earned her MFA in Creative Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts. Her debut young adult novel will be published by Harper Children's in summer 2014.

Jake Shadrake (production assistant, Beauty and the Beast) will be studying music composition at NYU’s Steinhardt this fall. At OPRF you may

Philip Rheinheimer (lighting designer, Arabian Nights) is excited to be working his first year at CAST Summer as shop foreman and lighting designer for One Thousand and One Arabian Nights. He graduated from OPRF in 2012, is at the tail end of a gap year, and will be studying lighting design at Carnegie Mellon University starting in the fall. His previous credits include lighting designer for How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and Fall Orchesis 2012 as well as master electrician for Once on this island all at OPRF.

have seen Jake as Inspector Javert in the Les Mis, and serving as concert/rehearsal pianist forThe 25^th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. He composed and arranged the first movement of a Requiem which was performed by the A cappella choir at the spring concert this year. He fondly remembers his CAST days, and he has enjoyed coming back and working with such a talented group of kids.

Emma Binns (crew councilor) is thrilled to be working with CAST Summer for the first time since graduating from the CAST program in 2008. She worked on stage crew at OPRF throughout high school and was a foreman on that crew her senior year. Previous credits include lighting designer for Intuit Dance (2010-present) and carpentry and lighting design for several OPRF shows. She is currently studying computer science at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA.

Lucas Firpo (crew councilor) is currently attending the University of Illinois studying Materials Science engineering. Luke has worked previously with the Julian Middle School Robotics camp. In 2009 Luke spent a summer working at a cattle ranch in the hidden mountain plains of Idaho. When the barbaric sheepherders burned the ranch to the ground, Luke was the only survivor, and forced to live amongst them until his parents came to pick him up in August. He learned a lot about cattle ranching and sheepherding that summer, skills that he put to use in multiple summer camps across the Midwest.

Sarah Feldman (arts institute manager) will be attending Cornell College in Iowa next year. She recently graduated from Oak Park and River Forest High School where she was an active participant in the theatre department. She performed in many shows, was captain of the speech team, and directed Crimes of the Heart. Working at CAST has been a wonderful experience for Sarah, she is very grateful for all the opportunities CAST has given her, as a student and a staff member.

Jonathan Gilmer (lighting designer, Og) is excited to be the lighting designer for “The Secret World of Og.” Jonathan first became involved in theatre at the age of three when he began as a supernumerary in the first of 12 productions that he would partake in at the Lyric Opera. This is Jonathan’s 7^th year with the CAST program and he continues to be amazed by the remarkable work of the youth. It has been a pleasure for him to return to CAST and give back to the program that sparked his passion for tech theatre. In the fall, Jonathan will be attending London’s Guildhall School of Music & Drama majoring in Scenic Design with a minor in lighting and stage motorization.

Christopher Schenning is a scenic designer raised in Lexington Kentucky. He is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Production Design and minor in Themed Entertainment Design at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD).

His design credits (In Both Scenic and Lighting) include: SCAD Performance Ensemble's "Fire&Ice" with musical director Kevin Wallace, "The Art of the Entertainer" a graduate thesis with Brandt Roberts and director Heather Byrd, "Alice in Wonderland Jr." with director Alicia Henning, and "The Parctice Child" with writer/director Tyler Stuart among a growing number of others. If you’re interested in seeing more of Chris’s work visit his website at www.ChristopherMichaelProductions.com

KT McCammond (Mrs. Potts; assistant costume designer, Beauty and the Beast) first came to Chicago in 1993

with a shiny new equity card and hopes of becoming a Musical theater sensation. Ooops!, Didn’t happen. “I couldn’t get shot on stage.” For the next several years, when she wasn’t auditioning, she toured the country very successfully doing the “ear-prompter thing” as a narrator/presenter at trade shows. Then she discovered the Art of Cabaret! Thanks to the Chicago Cabaret Professionals she found a place where you sing from your heart, create your own brand and choose your own music! The perfect combination. She became heavily involved with CCP, attending as many shows as possible, performing, volunteering and became the Membership Governor for 6 years. During that time and since KT is a 2004 Graduate of the Cabaret Conference at Yale, the recipient of the 2005 Chicago After Dark Award for “Outstanding Cabaret Artist ” and has appeared to acclaim at some of the city’s premier venues including Maxim’s, Davenport’s, The Cultural Center, The Peninsula Hotel, the Royal George Theater, the Park West, and Drury Lane at Water Tower Place. She has lent her vocal talents to many corporate affairs for clients such as Xerox and Miller Corp., the Shedd Aquarium, and the Vero beach Museum of Art. She also frequently performs as Marilyn Monroe. Ms McCammond currently has 4 very successful solo shows and is always in demand throughout the Chicagoland area for private, corporate and public events. KT's CD "Finding My Way Home", is available at cdbaby.com. Please visit ktmccammond.com for more information.

Hannah Legatzke (crew councilor/ Og costumer) has greatly enjoyed coming back to CAST this summer to work with crew and costumes. Next year she will attend the University of Notre Dame where she plans to major in Chemistry and is considering dressing up as an Og for Halloween.