Lifeline Theatre Announces New Producing Director Leadership Structure With 2024-25 Mainstage Season

Lifeline Theatre's Board of Directors has announced that it will launch a new ‘Producing Director' structure with the start of its 2024-25 MainStage season.  A Producing Director Team composed of artistic ensemble members Heather Currie, Elise Kauzlaric, Anthony Kayer, and Chris Vizurraga will provide creative and production oversight for the theatre and its four upcoming productions. In an effort to streamline expenses, the Producing Directors will be fulfilling duties currently performed by the Artistic Director (Ilesa Duncan), the Production Manager (recently Addoris Davis), and Marketing & Communications Director (Victoria Andrus) effective November 1.

This announcement comes on the heels of the Theatre's recent and unprecedented S.O.S. (Save Our Stage) fundraising campaign addressing the 42-year-old company's deficit budget due to rising expenses and decreased funding.

“To protect the financial health of our company, the Lifeline Board has made the decision to shift to a more ensemble-driven, volunteer leadership structure – bringing some roles in-house – that regrettably results in the elimination of three full-time salaries. Unfortunately, our recent S.O.S. campaign did not hit its target, and this plan will help ensure the production of the current season and provide time and space for determining what a ‘new' Lifeline will look like.” said Board Chair Neil Sondgeroth.

“Ilesa Duncan has been an invaluable member of the Lifeline Theatre leadership team, and the company has grown immensely under her direction and oversight for six years.  We cannot begin to thank her enough for serving as a leader of Lifeline and her dedication to the company,” added Lifeline Managing Director Elizabeth Rupp. “We are grateful to each of the staff members whose positions this restructure affects, and we wish them all the best for the future. Lifeline is fortunate to be in the position to have Ensemble members with these talents and skill sets, and will be empowering four of them to each manage one production this season, making both artistic and hands-on production decisions. Audience members and the greater Rogers Park community can expect to see the same high-quality, story-centered theater for which Lifeline is known.”

The 2024-2025 Lifeline MainStage season features a one-man show starring Lifeline ensemble member Phil Timberlake of Tom Mula's holiday tale, Jacob Marley's Christmas Carol (November 29  – December 22, 2024), followed by a new hip-hop adaptation of the novel The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain and first-time collaboration with Salvadoran-American artists Brian and Marvin Quijada in Kid Prince and Pablo (January 3 – February 16, 2025). In spring 2025, Lifeline ensemble members John Hildreth (adaptor) and Heather Currie (director) will bring a contemporary Chicago version of the sci-fi thriller The War of the Worlds (May 23 – July 13, 2025) based on the novel by H.G. Wells. The KidSeries season will feature the world premiere of ensemble member Amanda Link's adaptation of Sandra Dieckmann's Leaf (March 16 – April 20, 2025), a story that navigates our relationships with each other and our planet. Additionally, Lifeline Theatre will produce the 29th annual Fillet of Solo Festival, a two-week, multi-venue solo performance and storytelling festival in November 2024, as well as the 4th annual Adaptation Development Workshop in July 2025 featuring new playwrights and their world premiere works. Season memberships for 2024-2025 are on sale now. To purchase season memberships or for more information call the Lifeline Theatre Box Office at 773-761-4477 or visit www.lifelinetheatre.com.

Lifeline Theatre is located at 6912 N. Glenwood Ave. in Chicago's Rogers Park neighborhood.

Lifeline Theatre explores, interprets, and reimagines books and other literary works to create stories that move us beyond the margins of our own lives.

Founded in 1982, Lifeline is known for staging innovative adaptations of great works of fiction as well as commissioning original work. In 1987, Lifeline added KidSeries plays for children and families, and has been producing full seasons of programming for both adults and children ever since.  Over the course of forty-two seasons and over two hundred productions, Lifeline Theatre has made not only an indelible mark on the Chicago theater scene, but an invaluable contribution to the theater world at large. Lifeline's dedicated artistic ensemble has developed one hundred and forty-six world premiere literary adaptations and original plays, nearly forty of which have had a life beyond their Lifeline premieres, with over three hundred subsequent productions spread across over forty U.S. states, six Canadian provinces, plus productions in England, Ireland, Australia, South Africa, and Guatemala. Additionally, four scripts developed at Lifeline Theatre have gone on to U.S. national tours, and over a dozen have been published. Lifeline Theatre has garnered a total of fifty-three Jeff Awards (Equity and Non-Equity), including sixteen for New Adaptation, New Musical, or New Work.

To post a comment, you must register and login.