Jessica is a director of theater and an educator based in Chicago. Past Northlight credits include Into the Breeches!, The Book of Will, Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley, Shining Lives: A Musical, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Inherit the Wind and Red Herring. At Steppenwolf, she has directed Sex with Strangers, Intimate Apparel, Dead Man’s Cell Phone, No Place Like Home, When the Messenger is Hot (also at 59 E 59th in NYC) and Sonia Flew. Other favorite projects: Richard III (Gift), In the Garden by Sarah Gmitter (Lookingglass), Buzzer by Tracy Scott Wilson (Goodman), Welcome Home Jenny Sutter (Next), As You Like It (Oregon Shakespeare), The Feast: an intimate Tempest (Chicago Shakespeare with Redmoon). She is Director of the Graduate Directing Program at Northwestern University.

Andre has designed the Broadway productions of Metamorphoses, I Am My Own Wife and 33 Variations (Drama Desk Award nomination) as well as the world premiere of The Clean House at Yale Repertory and Lincoln Center. Based in Chicago, his work has appeared on most of the city’s stages including Northlight (Shining Lives with Amanda Dehnert), Goodman, Steppenwolf, Court, and Lookingglass where he is an associate artist. He has composed music and designed sound for theaters around the U.S., most frequently at the Oregon and California Shakespeare Festivals, Berkeley Repertory, Arena Stage, American Conservatory Theater, Seattle Repertory, La Jolla Playhouse and Center Theater Group. Choral works include: Winesburg, Ohio,Eastland, Whitman, Undone (with Ben Sussman), and Paris By Night (with Amy Warren).

Recent productions include: Into the Woods and My Fair Lady (Oregon Shakespeare),Eastland: A New Musical (Lookingglass, world premiere, direction and orchestration), Richard III (Public Theatre Mobile Shakespeare Unit, director/composer), Julius Caesar (Oregon Shakespeare, director and adaptor), The Verona Project (California Shakespeare, world premiere, words and music), Peter Pan (A Play) (Lookingglass, author), Death of a Salesman (Dallas Theatre Center, director and composer), Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Chicago Shakespeare, director, adaptor and composer). She is an Associate Professor of Theatre at Northwestern University.

Chuck Larkin is thrilled to return to Northlight after Shining Lives, A Civil War Christmas, and At Wit’s End. Chuck served as associate conductor for Jersey Boys from May 2007 to January 2010 (Chicago) and for the National Tour from November 2011 to March 2014. He served as musical director for the 2014 Fall season and the 2010 and 2011 Summer seasons of American Folklore Theatre in Door County, Wisconsin, and has toured extensively with local and cabaret artists. Composing credits include Hen Lake and Sophie’s Masterpiece (Lifeline) and the award-winning River’s End with playwright/lyricist Cheryl Coons (Marin Theatre Company, O’Neill Conference, NAMT, NYMF and ASCAP Workshop).

Northlight productions include Away directed by David Petracha, and How I Learned to Drivedirected by Susan V. Booth.  Recent productions include The Good Book, Orlando, Arcadia, The Romance Cycle, James Joyce’s “The Dead,” The Little Foxes, Hay Fever, An Ideal Husband (Joseph Jefferson Award – Court); Into the Woods, King Lear, As You Like It,Julius Caesar, All’s Well That Ends Well (Oregon Shakespeare); The Motherf**ker with the Hat, Dead Man’s Cell Phone, Intimate Apparel, I Never Sang for My Father (Steppenwolf); Stage Kiss, The Clean House (Goodman); The Public, Los Angles Performing Arts Center, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, The Alliance, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Chicago Shakespeare, Utah Shakespeare, Connecticut Repertory, Arden Theatre Company, Maltz Jupiter Theatre, Drury Lane and American Players. Linda is the director of the MFA Design Program at Northwestern University.

Northlight credits include The Beauty Queen of Leenane, The Legend of Georgia McBride, Relativity, By the Water, Charm, Shining Lives, Outside Mullingar, White Guy on the Bus,  Detroit ’67, The Odd Couple, Ten Chimneys, Season’s Greetings, A Life, Grey Gardens, The Retreat From Moscow, Lady, Stella & Lou, The Outgoing Tide, Better Late and Chapatti (the last four also at the Galway International Arts Festival, Ireland). Other work has been seen at Lookingglass, Victory Gardens, About Face, Remy Bumppo, Writers, Steppenwolf and Walkabout. JR designed lighting for seven years of the Steppenwolf TRAFFIC Series, and five Steppenwolf performances in Chicago’s Millennium Park. He has served as head of the Lighting Department at Steppenwolf since 1995.

Previous Northlight credits include Shining Lives: A Musical, Gee’s Bend, At Wit’s End, The Last Five Years. Off Broadway credits include Lookingglass Alice at The New Victory Theatre. Regional theatres include Goodman, Steppenwolf, McCarter, Long Wharf, Milwaukee Rep, Court, Hartford Stage, Congo Square, The Alley, American Theatre Company, Chicago Shakespeare, Drury Lane, Lookingglass, Victory Gardens, Meadow Brooke, Northwestern, Notre Dame Summer Shakespeare, Shakespeare On The Green,  Oak Park Festival,  American Girl Theatre (New York, Chicago),  Skylight Opera and Wright State University Theatre. He has recorded, mixed and produced cast albums for eight musicals and over 400 film, TV, DVD and computer game credits worldwide. He has been nominated nine times for a Jeff Award and won four times. His memberships include USA #829, ASCAP and IATSE #2.

Vanessa is a director and choreographer located in Chicago. Most recently she directed Circuscope at the Actor’s Gymnasium, and this spring she directs The America Play at Oracle. She is most known for her work with Redmoon, where she served as Associate Artistic Director. She enjoyed collaboratively directing & choreographing several Redmoon productions including a remount of The Cabinet, Last of My Species, Winter Pageant, Princess Club and The Great Chicago Fire Festival. Vanessa is also an instructor at Columbia College and University of Chicago.

Rita Vreeland has been a frequent stage manager at Northlight since 2007, with Birthday Candles marking her 42nd production here. Other favorite recent projects include Ernest Shackleton Loves Me at Porchlight Music Theatre, A Christmas Carol at Drury Lane, The Luckiest at Raven Theatre, three years of The Polar Express Train Ride, and productions at Mercury Theatre, Victory Gardens, Route 66 Theatre Company, Theatre at the Center, and The Galway International Arts Festival in Galway, Ireland. She is the proud wife of actor Tom Hickey and mom to ten-year-old Charlie, and this year she celebrated her 22nd anniversary as a member of Actors’ Equity Association. Thank you for supporting live theatre!