Lifeline Theatre Announces New Marketing and Education Directors

Lifeline Theatre continues its 26th anniversary season by welcoming new Marketing Director Robert Kauzlaric as of December 22, 2008, and new Director of Education Lea Pinsky as of March 2, 2009.  Kauzlaric and Pinsky will team up with Artistic Director Dorothy Milne and Operations Manager Erica Foster to shepherd the organization through its 2008-2009 season, which continues with two world premiere stage adaptations – the KidSeries show "Flight of the Dodo" (running December 20, 2008 – February 22, 2009), and the MainStage production "Mariette in Ecstasy" (running February 13 – April 5, 2009).  Tickets, including group discounts and Rogers Park Theatre Flex Passes (for multi-theatre and restaurant discounts), are available at 773-761-4477.  Lifeline's previous Director of Marketing and Education Coordinator, Frances Limoncelli, recently joined Amble Resorts as Marketing Director, though she continues as member of Lifeline's artistic ensemble, and will adapt Lifeline's world premiere adaptation of Dorothy L. Sayers' "Busman's Honeymoon," which runs May 1 – June 21, 2009.

Kauzlaric will implement and oversee all marketing efforts for Lifeline Theatre, including the production of marketing and advertising materials for each six-show season, and for subscription campaigns, annual giving campaigns, benefits and other special events.  He will also head Lifeline's audience development efforts and act as the company's Web master, is a member of Lifeline's artistic ensemble and has been working with the company since 2000.  He has appeared on The Lifeline stage in ten productions, including "Around the World in 80 Days," for which he received a Non-Equity Jeff Award for Supporting Actor-Play, and most recently, "The Mark of Zorro," which received an After Dark Award for Outstanding Production.  He has written four world premiere stage adaptations for Lifeline, including "The Island of Dr. Moreau," which received five Non-Equity Jeff Awards, including New Adaptation and Production-Play, and the recent "The Picture of Dorian Gray," which opened Lifeline's 26th anniversary season. Kauzlaric spent eight years in the group sales and marketing department of Chicago Kimpton Hotels, and is a freelance Web site designer and Web master.

Arts educator, program manager, and community-based muralist Pinsky will be responsible for the management and administration of all in-school residencies, professional development workshops, on-site classes and educational special events for Lifeline Theatre. She began her professional arts career in theatre, earning her BFA at NYU and acting on Broadway in the 1997 Tony-winning revival of "A View From the Bridge."  She then returned to Chicago to pursue a MA in Performance Studies at Northwestern University. In graduate school, she studied autism therapies for children and the role of performance in healing. After school, she founded a summer arts program for teens with the City of Evanston in 2000 called YAP (the Young Artist Program), and served as the Children's Festival program coordinator at the Chicago Humanities Festival until 2002.  For five years following, she worked with Columbia College Chicago's Center for Community Arts Partnerships, managing after-school and community programs.  In the last year, she was Manager of Artists and Residencies with Urban Gateways, helping to strategize their future and nurture their transition in leadership. 

Lifeline Theatre also announces that Managing Director Angelo Barone has departed Lifeline to join the senior finance and accounting team at Howard Brown Health Center.  Barone leaves the organization in a strong position of cash flow and profitability, and a search for new Managing Director is in progress.

In addition to Milne, Kauzlaric, Pinsky, and Foster, Lifeline Theatre is led by an active group of 20 artistic ensemble members, including Patrick Blashill, Christina Calvit, Victoria DeIorio, Alan Donahue, Kevin D. Gawley, Peter Greenberg, James E. Grote, John Hildreth, Paul S. Holmquist, Elise Kauzlaric, Frances Limoncelli, Katie McLean, Shole Milos, SAndy Snyder Pietz, Suzanne Plunkett, Phil Timberlake, Jenifer Tyler, and Elizabeth Powell Wislar.

Lifeline Theatre's 27th anniversary, 2009-10 season, is slated to be announced in February 2009.

Lifeline Theatre's programs are partially supported by The Albert Pick, Jr. Fund; Alphawood Foundation; The Arts Work Fund; Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation; The Chicago Community Trust; CityArts 3 grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs; Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation; The Richard H. Driehaus Charitable Lead Trust; Lloyd A. Fry Foundation; The Grover Hermann Foundation; Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; Mayer and Morris Kaplan Family Foundation; MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture and the Prince Charitable Trust; The Polk Bros. Foundation; S&C Foundation; and the annual support of businesses and individuals.

Now in its 26th season, Lifeline Theatre is known for specializing in original literary adaptations. Its ensemble of artists uses imaginative, unconventional staging to portray sprawling stories in an intimate space. Lifeline is committed to promoting the arts in its Rogers Park neighborhood and is an anchor of the Glenwood Avenue Arts District.  We aspire to create art that is relevant to our culturally diverse, increasingly youthful neighborhood.  Lifeline Theatre – Big Stories, Up Close.        

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