visiting artists

Overview
Five years ago Village Theatre Guild launched a program designed to bring theatrical professionals in to advise us on our productions. These people were plucked from the ample pool of Chicago-area talent from which the theatre community is comprised. They would offer us insight into the creative and technical aspects of our productions. The result became the Village Theatre Guild Visiting Artists Program.

Today, this widely respected program offers members opportunities to study under some of the area’s most well respected professionals. We offer acting and directing classes as well as technical workshops to develop our members’ skills. Additionally, our Visiting Artists consult each production during the rehearsal period providing invaluable support in helping our casts and crews achieve the finest quality productions. This unique program is available at no additional cost to VTG members, while workshops are open to the public on a space-available basis for a nominal fee.

For our members, the ongoing input from an outside professional is an extraordinary opportunity to learn and grow. For our audiences, the payoff lies in the promise of outstanding production quality.

Meet Our Visiting Artists

Mary Badger (Technical) is the Producing Director for the Theatre Department at Columbia College. She teaches stage management for the department. She is the resident lighting designer for the Cerqua Rivera Art Experience and The Joel Hall Dancers. She recently designed “Free Man of Color” at Victory Gardens Theatre, a new work by Charles Smith that was commissioned by Ohio University for their bi-centennial. Last season Mary designed for Apple Tree, Live Bait, and Victory Gardens Theatres. She is the chair of the Michael Merritt Steering Committee, an organization that gives scholarships to design students. Mary is a regional officer in United Scenic Artists LU 829.

Ted Hoerl (Acting and Directing) has extensive directing credits which include productions for the New American Theatre, the New Tuners Theatre, the Turtle Creek Theatre Company, the Front Page Cabaret Theatre, the Prairie Dell’Arte Theatre Company, the Cobalt Theatre Company and Roosevelt University, where he is an adjunct professor of acting. He has appeared in over 75 productions at theatres including the Goodman, the Next Door Theatre Company, Remy Bumppo, the Organic Theatre, the About Face Theatre, Shaw Chicago, the Eclipse Theatre, Houston’s Alley Theatre, Pegasus Players, and the Court Theatre in Beloit, WI. Ted is also a member of the teaching staff at Actor’s Center. This season he will direct “Six of the Deadly Seven” and appear in Tom Stoppard’s “Arcadia” for Remy Bumppo at Victory Gardens.

Kurt Naebig (Acting and Directing) has worked professionally in theatre, film, television and radio for over twenty years. A Julliard graduate, he studied at Moscow School of the Arts in Russia. He is a member of Buffalo Theatre Ensemble and has worked at Steppenwolf, Portland Stage, Milwaukee’s Pabst Theatre and the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. His film and television work includes, “Road to Perdition,” “Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer,” “The Relic,” “Dillinger” and “ER.” Kurt recently played Stanley Kowalski in Buffalo Theatre’s production of “A Streetcar Named Desire.” He’ll direct “Lost in Yonkers” there in the spring.

Interested in Applying to Become a Visiting Artist?
Open applications for Visiting Artists for next season are being accepted through the end of May. Applicants should send a resume and letter detailing their availability from July this year to June of next year to visitingartists@villagetheatreguild.org. Please include your specific background in your area of interest (technical or acting / directing). This is a paid position on a contracted hourly basis.