2018-2019 Season
PRESIDENT
Corinna Christman
Corinna is a founding member of the HPCP, and has been involved in every HPCP show since 2009. Her directing credits include Picasso at the Lapin Agile, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and The Marriage of Bette and Boo. Corinna’s acting roles include the Chorus (Antigone), La Presidente de Tourvel (Les Liaisons Dangereuses), Catherine (Proof), and Bev (Clybourne Park). Corinna will direct As You Like It in the summer of 2018.
VICE PRESIDENT
Paul Baker
Paul is the founder of the Hyde Park Community Players and served as President for seven years. His directing credits include Riders to the Sea, Arcadia, Proof, and The Lady’s Not For Burning. Paul has also designed sets for many HPCP productions and appeared on stage in numerous roles, including Sagot in Picasso at the Lapin Agile, the Writer in The Good Doctor, Lord Caversham in An Ideal Husband, and Russ/Dan in Clybourne Park.
TREASURER
Dan Heinz
Dan’s first acting role with the Players was as a member of the angry mob in Antigone. His other roles with the Players include Freddy (Picasso at the Lapin Agile), Big Willy (Musical of Musicals: The Musical!), Stephano (The Tempest), Humphrey Devize (The Lady’s Not for Burning), and Jim in Clybourne Park.
SECRETARY
Leslie Halverson
Leslie has been a member of the HPCP for several years and has appeared as the Boatswain (The Tempest), the Chaplain (The Lady’s Not For Burning) and Matt (The Marriage of Bette and Boo). She directed Twelfth Night in July 2017.
Ron Chafetz
Ron is a longtime veteran of the Shakespeare workshop and appeared in Twelfth Night in 2017.
Vanessa Ellis
Vanessa made her adult acting debut in the Players’ production of The Good Doctor. Since then, she has staged managed Proof and produced The Tempest, and was the assistant director and stage manager of The Lady’s Not For Burning. She directed the 2015 production of An Evening of Horror and Suspense in the Old Time Radio Tradition, as well as staged readings of Lorraine Hansberry’s classic A Raisin in the Sun and Raising the Roof, which she also co-wrote. In May of 2017, Vanessa directed the Players’ production of Clybourne Park.
Samantha Fenno
Samantha grew up in Long Island, attended graduate school in Baltimore, and came to Hyde Park as a postdoctoral fellow in the humanities at the University of Chicago. She appeared as Malvolia in The Tempest in 2017.
Susan Harris
Susan joined the HPCP in 2009 and has directed or co-directed several productions, including On Baile’s Strand (with Paul Baker) and An Ideal Husband. She has also appeared as Ginny (For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls) and the Nurse (Romeo & Juliet). She manages the HPCP’s website and Facebook page. Susan is a professor of English and Irish Studies at the University of Notre Dame.
Laura MacGregor
Laura started acting as a teenager with a community theater in Kona, Hawaii, and went on to study theater and history in college. Over the years, she has worked with many academic, professional and community theaters in Portland, OR, Ithaca, NY and here in Chicago. Some of her favorite roles were Blanche DuBois, Olivia in Twelfth Night, and Lady Croom in Arcadia. When she’s not acting, Laura plays with children at the University of Chicago Family Resource Center, and does children’s storytelling. Laura has directed Bittersweet Love, The Tempest, and Les Liaisons Dangereuses for the HPCP, and appeared in numerous acting roles (most recently as Ruth Steiner in Collected Stories). Laura produces our Friday Staged Readings series.