Thank You To Our Ensemble Members!

A decade ago, when I began my journey with Imagination Theater, one of the things that most impressed me about this company was its seemingly limitless flexibility.  Then and now, our actors and teaching artists regularly adjust content on the fly to fit the needs of our audiences.

This season, our ensemble has really upped their flexibility game!  In a short period of time we've created multiple original programs for high school empowerment days, two completely customized versions of our No Secrets program, new pieces about kids and dads, healthy decision making, corporate workshops, diversity trainings, and more!  Our actors and facilitators have been learning, perfecting, and performing new scripts and navigating new content on a regular basis since the top of August.

I've been fortunate enough to attend a few of these customized performances and witness how ensemble members expertly lead audiences through these brand new experiences.  Facilitators intuitively know when they need to linger on a concept and when they can move to the next scene.  Audiences have been enthusiastic and our feedback has been unanimously positive.

As we approach Thanksgiving, I am definitely thankful for our team of artists and their incredible dedication to our mission.  Whether the material they're working with is seasons old or completely fresh, their craft is always exemplary.  I am so impressed by and grateful for each and every one of them.

As always, you can learn more about our programming at www.imaginationtheater.org.

— Jeremy Schaefer, Associate Artistic Director

The Fast Pace of the 2015/16 Season

It seems like every year I respond to the arrival of fall weather by commenting that it came so quickly.  This year, however, fall feels like it's arrived particularly early.

Imagination Theater has had an incredibly busy and wonderful start to our 2015/16 season.  We're extending our mission of interactive, social issues theater into brand new horizons. 

Here are just a few highlights from the past couple of months:

We welcomed four new and incredibly talented actors into our ensemble.

We trained new facilitators and got them up in front of audiences.

We've continued to expand our children's sexual abuse prevention program, No Secrets, into communities outside of Chicago.  Every new school to experience the program has responded with enthusiasm and gratitude.  We've even customized brand new versions of the script for district wide programming!

We showcased Ease the Tease at Premier Showcase and Centre East Showcase 2015.  After both performances schools were eager to share an assembly with their students.

We booked an extremely busy performance schedule in September, October, and November.  We've also started reserving dates for our holiday program, Show Some Respect: Holiday Edition, this coming December.

Finally, we are about to embark on our first international workshop: a corporate training in London!

With everything happing at Imagination Theater the past couple of months, it's no wonder that autumn's arrival felt like it came early.  Our 2015/16 season is moving forward at an awesome pace and we look forward to every second of it!

As always, you can learn more about Imagination Theater at www.imaginationtheater.org.

— Jeremy Schaefer, Associate Artistic Director

Summer Rehearsals

Imagination Theater is grateful to welcome some superb new talent into our ensemble this season!

It's been absolutely wonderful to experience a whole new perspective of our programming during this year's summer rehearsals.  Familiar scenes spark new and meaningful discussions, while our opening games have a fresh burst of energy.

This year's new ensemble members bring more to the work than their acting talents.  They have a genuine compassion for young audiences and a desire to use their theatrical skills to make a positive impact.  After rehearsing this past month, I have no doubt that they will leave an awesome footprint on our 2015/16 season!

As always, you can learn more about Imagination Theater and our programming at www.imaginationtheater.org.  

— Jeremy Schaefer, Associate Artistic Director

Ensemble Member of The Year: 2015!

Imagination Theater’s ensemble is an incredibly dedicated group of actors, facilitators, and teaching artists with huge hearts and tremendous talent.  It takes stelar individuals to make a beyond stellar ensemble!

Every year, our ensemble members vote to name one of their peers the ensemble member of the year.  Here are the credentials we ask everyone to consider when casting their vote:

“This person has gone above and beyond the call of duty throughout the season, and is well-rounded in all areas of IT’s programming as an actor, moderator, improviser, facilitator, educator, and writer.  The ensemble member of the year has a positive attitude both on stage and off, and is looked upon as a leader within the company.  This person shows remarkable commitment to IT, having volunteered his/her time on numerous occasions, and is consistently reliable and professional.  The ensemble member of the year truly understands IT’s mission, and strives to incorporate “IT skills” into his/her life.” 

The votes are in and the winner is… Dimokratia Michalopoulos (for the second time)!

Here’s a sampling of what Dimokratia’s fellow ensemble members had to say about her:

“She has a warm sense of humor during shows and on car rides.” 

“She has a great balance of focus while still having fun and being supportive and engaging."

“I've never heard anything but positivity from her about what we do when we're doing it.”

Dimokratia started with Imagination Theater as an actor and she still continues in that role after taking on facilitation responsibilities as well.  This season she trained to facilitate our Children’s Sexual Abuse Prevention Program, No Secrets.  By taking on the title of No Secrets facilitator, she has been instrumental in allowing that program to extend beyond the city limits in accordance with Erin’s Law.

I have been fortunate enough to watch her facilitate and act in a number of shows this past season.  Regardless what role she’s playing, her commitment to our social issues mission is a gift to our audiences.  Younger audiences gravitate to her warm energy and overflowing positivity.  Older audiences easily relate to her and feel comfortable asking her questions or accepting her invitations to join the actors on stage.

In addition to our social issues shows, Dimokratia volunteered at our annual benefit and participated in the pilot program for a corporate workshop on the east coast.  I was fortunate enough to tour with her for that corporate workshop and witness the way she carries her onstage positivity into every aspect of touring from navigating airports to finding a good meal in a new city.  

She’s an omnipresent force within our company, and it’s a privilege to celebrate her this year (yet again) as your Ensemble Member of The Year!  

Congratulations Demi, and thank you for everything you do!

As always, you can learn more about Imagination Theater’s ensemble and programming at www.imaginationtheater.org.

— Jeremy Schaefer, Associate Artistic Director

Wrapping Up Auditions

The talent in Chicago’s theater community is astounding!  After four rounds of auditions, Imagination Theater saw nearly 60 actors interpret our interactive scenes and improvise positive resolutions to realistic conflicts.  

It was really fantastic to witness new takes on familiar characters and to see fresh blood in some of our most popular scenes.  Every group of auditioning actors evoked both laughter and conversation from their peers.

We are so grateful to be a part of such a phenomenally talented theater community!

In the next couple of weeks we’ll be introducing the newest members of the Imagination Theater ensemble!  

We’re looking forward to a fantastic ensemble and another great season of social issues theater!

As always, you can learn more about Imagination Theater at www.imaginationtheater.org.

— Jeremy Schaefer, Associate Artistic Director

Audition for Imagination Theater!

Imagination Theater is looking to welcome new talent into our social issues ensemble!   Who Is Imagination Theater? We are a year-round touring ensemble delivering interactive plays to schools and community centers that explore social issues like teasing, respect, bullying, sexual abuse prevention. healthy decision making, and more!  Every show consists of games, scripted scenes, and audience role plays.  You can see a video breaking down one of our most popular programs, Ease the Tease, at http://imaginationtheater.org/easethetease.html  What is the Commitment? We ask for three days of daytime availability (until 5:00 PM) per week.  Performance assignments are distributed two weeks in advance.  A typical day is between 4 and 6 hours long.  Early mornings are common. There will be rehearsals over the summer from 9 am - 1 pm on Tuesdays and Fridays starting July 14 - August 14 (it is possible we will not rehearse all of those days).  If you have conflicts with rehearsals, please let us know at the audition as we may be able to work around your schedule. Is There Pay? Yes.  Actors are paid hourly starting the moment the cast arrives in our office through the moment the carpool returns to the office after the show.  The initial summer rehearsals are unpaid, but all rehearsals and shows after that are paid. How Can I Audition? For the audition there will be cold readings from our shows (one from a K-5 script and another from a 6-8 script).  After each scene, we'll ask you to improvise a positive conclusion to that scenario with an Imagination Theater staff member playing the role of a student volunteer.  Small groups will also have an opportunity to improvise scenes together based on audience suggestions ( ie: "My brother won't let me play in the treehouse, because he says there are no girls allowed.") Instead of a traditional call backs we will schedule interviews the week of July 6-10. To schedule an audition contact Steve at (773) 327-6788 or Steve@imaginationtheater.org by Tuesday June 23rd and sign up for either a 10:00 - 11:00 audition on Thursday June 25 or a 2:00 - 3:00 audition on Tuesday June 30. Questions? If you have any questions at all, feel free to contact us.  We hope to see you this June! As always, you can learn more about Imagination Theater at www.imaginationtheater.org — Jeremy Schaefer, Associate Artistic Director

Diversity and Inclusion Workshops

Imagination Theater, in partnership with The Felicity Group, is on tour this June leading diversity and inclusion workshops for corporations on the east coast.

Our interactive style fills the workshop with an unmistakable energy.  From the very beginning, participants are moving around, meeting new people, and drawing insights from lively discussions.  This is most certainly not a talking heads diversity training.

We're thrilled at how much fun people have during these insightful sessions.  Learning through laughter is a terrific way to learn!

At the day's conclusion, participants acknowledge layers of diversity that they hadn't previously considered and recognize ways (both small and large) that they can actively foster inclusion in their office.

Perhaps our favorite part is witnessing meaningful collaborations emerge from our discussions.  When groups of people are invited to discuss vital issues, no obstacle is too large to be tackled.

As always, you can learn more about Imagination Theater at www.imaginationtheater.org.

— Jeremy Schaefer, Associate Artistic Director