CHICAGO (February 23, 2022) — The Sarah Siddons Society, dedicated to funding scholarships for promising theater arts students at top Chicago area universities, is pleased to announce the formation of the Siddons Artistic Council. The group will offer mentoring, networking and guidance to recent Siddons scholarship recipients and members of the Chicago area professional theater community, while acting as a conduit with the Society's leadership.
The inaugural council includes Kaiser Ahmed, Kayla Boye, Sar Cohen, Christopher Chase Carter, Donterrio and Jermaine Hill. Board member Brian Shaw is the Board Liaison to the Council.
Comments Sarah Siddons Society President Martin Balogh, "The Siddons Artistic Council was created as an opportunity to offer recent theater school graduates and working theater professionals a place to mentor and network. We could not be more pleased than to begin this new initiative with the talents of such a stellar group forming the inaugural Council."
The new Artistic Council is hosting three free events in February and March 2022 for recent scholarship recipients, theatre students and the Chicago-area theatre community. Advance registration is required at sarahsiddonssociety.org .
Monday, Feb. 28 at 7 pm CST
Zoom Webinar: Adjusting Your Path During a Pandemic
As a theater artist, what are my options to reposition myself in the field?
Join the Artistic Council for its inaugural event, a free 45-minute webinar hosted by Council members Kayla Boye and Donterrio. These two Chicago-based multi-hyphenate artists will lead an informal and lively conversation focused on artists repositioning themselves in a new role within their fields, the return to their dream job and a few "artistic hacks" that may help with the uncertainty artists may face. Attendees can submit questions in advance when they register.
Monday, March 14 at 7 pm CST
Keeping It Going: Life After Theatre School
Courtyard Theater at The Getz Theatre Center
Columbia College Chicago, 72 E. 11th St., Chicago
A free, in-person dialogue with a panel of recent theatre school graduates and working professionals covering topics including best resources to find work and collaborations, financial stability versus creative pursuits, the difference between what you learned in school and the reality of the industry, creating your own work and building partnerships.
Panelists: Chloe Baldwin, Sar Cohen, Lucas Looch Johnson (see bios below).
Tuesday, March 22 at 7 pm CST
Zoom Webinar: Keeping It Going: Life After Theatre School
A free, virtual dialogue with a panel of recent theatre school graduates and working professionals covering topics including best resources to find work and collaborations, financial stability versus creative pursuits, the difference between what you learned in school and the reality of the industry, creating your own work and building partnerships.
Panelists: Sar Cohen, Bre Jacobs and Remy Laifer (see bios below).
About the Artistic Council
Kaiser Ahmed is a director, producer, teacher, and actor. Kaiser is Artistic Director of Jackalope Theatre Company where he served as Founding Artistic Director from 2008 to 2011. Born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and raised in mid-Michigan, Kaiser holds a BA in Theatre Directing from Columbia College. Named on NewCity's "Players 2019: Fifty People Who Really Perform For Chicago", Kaiser is a 2016-17 Victory Gardens Directors Inclusion Initiative recipient, a 2015-16 Eugene O'Neill National Directors Fellowship Finalist, a proud member of SDC, and SAG-AFTRA, and represented by Gray Talent. As a teaching artist, Kaiser works with Northlight Theatre, Raven Theatre and Mudlark Theatre. kaiserahmed.org
Kayla Boye is a Chicago-based artist and administrator. A member of Actors' Equity Association, her performance credits include Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Drury Lane Theatre, Porchlight Music Theatre, Mercury Theater Chicago, Music Theater Works, The Fireside Theatre, Capital City Theatre, Bigfork Summer Playhouse and Huron Playhouse. Her one-woman show, Call Me Elizabeth, has streamed with Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Broadway On Demand, Porchlight Music Theatre and The Youngstown Playhouse. Presentations of the piece have been awarded grants from Illinois Arts Council and the Arts Midwest Touring Fund. As an arts administrator, she has worked in development, marketing and finance for Goodman Theatre and Writers Theatre, and she has served as a producer for Steppenwolf Theatre Company's Garage Rep series. As a consultant for Artistic Fundraising Group, her portfolio included work for Arts of Life, BrightSide Theatre, Chicago Composers Orchestra, Chicago Mosaic School, Oak Park Festival Theatre and Snow City Arts. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she served as Executive Director of The Youngstown Playhouse, shepherding the 98-year-old institution through a concentrated period of comprehensive administrative restructuring while completing a capital campaign and sustaining the entirety of the operating budget via contributed revenue sources, including several high-profile grants. The organization has since successfully emerged from the pandemic to critically acclaimed and sold-out performances. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Professional Writing & Editing from Youngstown State University and is a Certified Nonprofit Professional (CNP) through the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance. www.kaylaboye.com
Christopher Chase Carter is the Artistic Director of Mercury Theater Chicago. Before moving to Chicago, Christopher studied in Michigan, where he began his theater career performing, directing and choreographing award-winning community and college productions. He attended Grand Valley State University achieving his Bachelor of Arts while on scholarship. After graduating, Carter became an active participant in the Chicago dance and theater community. In 2019, he directed and choreographed the pilot production of Scottsboro Boys, working closely with Musical Theater International (MTI) and Susan Stroman at the International Thespian Festival. He followed that up by directing a history-making production of Legally Blonde at Northwestern University. Christopher has been honored with many scholarships throughout his career. In 2005, he moved to Los Angeles where he was awarded a scholarship to the Debbie Allen Dance Academy. After training at DADA, he returned to Michigan to finish his degree. He was one of four dancers chosen for a scholarship to study abroad in Kingston, Jamaica to further his training and education at The Edna Manley School. After graduating, this inspired Christopher to start his own scholarship, The Christopher Carter Arts Scholarship, to help underprivileged artists pursue their dreams. With a true passion for creativity and art Christopher is excited about the future of theater and looks forward to being part of the evolution of performance and artistry.
Sar Cohen is an actor, dancer and creative raised in Mexico City, Mexico. She is represented by Grossman & Jack Talent and graduated from Columbia College Chicago, where she received a scholarship from the Sarah Siddons Society. Sar is lucky to have had the opportunity to create during the pandemic, you can catch her in the shorts Baddie (2020) and Crybaby (2021) with Bouyett Films. Theatre credits include, Under the Bed (Candlehouse Collective), A Separate Peace (The Point Theatre), The Wizard of Oz, and a bunch of original stage readings through Zoom. She is excited to join the Siddons Artistic Council and hopes to make lasting connections with fellow artists, in addition to making positive contributions to the Theatre community in Chicago.
Donterrio is a multi-hyphenate performance artist with a focus on storytelling through the lens of the theatre. His work as the former Social Media Manager of the social change theatre group Collaboraction has enabled him to use his education from the American Musical and Dramatic Academy to advance the collective vision of theatre as a whole. Donterrio is the former Artistic Director of the LGBTQIA+ theatre company PrideArts (formerly known as Pride Films and Plays) and is currently a Professor at Columbia College Chicago.
Jermaine Hill is an award-winning music director, singer, arranger and vocal coach who served as music director, pianist and conductor for the Goodman's production of The Music Man, directed by Mary Zimmerman. Other Chicago credits include Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies (Porchlight Music Theatre); The Color Purple (Drury Lane Oakbrook); Too Heavy For Your Pocket (TimeLine Theatre); The Total Bent (Haven Theatre); Nell Gwynn and Madagascar (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); Memphis (Porchlight Music Theatre); and Ragtime (Griffin Theatre). As an actor, he has worked with Erasing the Distance, the Onion Labs, and was a guest star on Chicago Med. He is Assistant Chair of Theater, Boston Conservatory at Berkeley. Formerly an Assistant Professor of Theatre and Coordinator of Musical Theatre at Columbia College Chicago, and an Ensemble Member of Griffin Theatre Company. A proud graduate of Ithaca College and the New England Conservatory of Music, he is represented by Gray Talent Group.
Additional Panelist Bios
Chloe Baldwin is a graduate of The Theatre School at DePaul, is currently understudying two tracks in Mary Zimmerman's Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci at Goodman Theatre, after recently playing Perdita there in The Winter's Tale. Chicago credits include productions with Remy Bumppo, Oak Park Festival Theatre and Backroom Shakespeare Project. She appeared in the first U.S. National Tour of The Woman in Black from the West End. Film and television credits include Widows, Utopia, Code Switched, The Immediate Unknown, and the upcoming Shining Girls. She is also a fight choreographer and stunt woman, shares time between Chicago and Los Angeles, is a recipient of the Sarah Siddons Society Scholarship and is represented by Stewart Talent Chicago. ChloeBaldwin.net
Bre Jacobs Since graduating from Columbia College Chicago in 2020, Bre has continued her journey as an actor in Atlanta, GA where she spends time auditioning, training and collaborating with other creatives on local projects. She is represented by Shirley Hamilton Talent in Chicago and has recently signed with Forward Talent in Atlanta.
Lucas Looch Johnson is a French/American actor, drummer, writer and producer who has an authentic passion for connecting with people through the art of performance. Past projects include: Theatre — Hundred Days (Kokandy Productions), Peter and the Star Catcher (Big Noise Theatre), Murdering Macbeth (Fearless Fiction Productions). Film — Lacy's Christmas Do-Over (Golan Productions), Sour Patch Kids (David), The Big Leap (FOX) and Write B!tch (Snack Shack Productions).
Remy Laifer is a recent graduate of Northwestern University's Theatre department. Since graduating he has worked on NBC's New Amsterdam (co-star) and HULU's The Food That Built America (guest star). Along with acting, he is also a music enthusiast, and has released original music under the title "Remy Quinn"
About Sarah Siddons Society
Since its inception, the mission of the Society has been to fund scholarships to promising theater arts students at top Chicago area universities including; The Theater Department, Columbia College; The Theatre School at DePaul University; Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University and Northwestern University School of Communications. For additional information, visit sarahsiddonssociety.org .
