Bethany Thomas is beyond thrilled to make her Northlight debut and to finally share space with you all again. Credits include Into the Woods, A Moon for the Misbegotten (Writers Theater); Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Songs For Nobodies, The Color Purple (Milwaukee Rep); The Tempest (Chicago Shakespeare); Marry Me a Little (Porchlight Music Theater); and Porgy and Bess (Court Theater). She’s also frequently entangled with The Neo Futurists, Steppenwolf, Second City, The Fly Honeys, The Paper Machete, and The Hideout. As a singer/songwriter, BT tours and records with Jon Langford, and recently released an album with Tawny Newsome entitled Material Flats, and a solo album entitled BT/She/Her. Find Bethany’s music on iTunes, Bandcamp, Spotify, and everywhere else. Love to Rob. @bethanyt80

Joanna Murray-Smith is a Melbourne-based playwright, screenwriter and novelist. She has written over 20 plays including, Honour, Rapture, Bombshells, Nightfall, Redemption, Love Child, Flame, and The Female of the Species. Honour has been produced in over two dozen countries, including productions on Broadway and at the National Theatre in London and in the West End. Both Honour and Rapture won the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Best Play. Joanna has also published three novels Truce, Judgement Rock, and Sunnyside.

Rob Lindley (Director) is excited to return to Northlight after directing the Jeff Award-winning Songs for Nobodies in 2021. Other directing credits include Songs for Nobodies (People’s Light Theatre); Far From Heaven, How to Succeed in Business…., Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill (Porchlight Music Theatre); and 50 Shades!: The Music Parody (Off-Broadway and National Tour). Rob also directs many cabaret evenings from intimate club engagements to large-scale galas for many Chicago organizations including Court Theatre, Porchlight Theatre, Northlight Theatre and the Chicago Humanities Festival. As an actor, Northlight audiences might remember Rob from his performances in Andy Warhol in Iran (Jeff Nomination) and Funnyman. Other acting credits include: Monsieur André in the National Tour of Phantom of the Opera; Fun Home (Victory Gardens); The Sound of Music (Marriott Theatre); The Tempermentals (About Face Theatre); Candide (Goodman); Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, The Secret Garden, Angels in America, Caroline or Change, James Joyce’s The Dead, Carousel (Court Theatre); and Oh Coward! (Writers Theatre) for which he won a Jeff Award for Best Actor in a Revue. This summer Rob will curate and host Mancini at 100, his second concert at Ravinia with the CSO, starring Norm Lewis, Karen Mason, and Jessie Mueller. IG: @RobLindley

Andra is pleased to make her Northlight debut. She works extensively in Chicago and around the country as a music director, adapter/arranger, pianist, educator, and vocal coach. Regionally, her work has been seen at Actors Theatre of Louisville, A.R.T. in Cambridge, Berkeley Rep, Brooklyn Academy of Music, NYU’s Skirball Center, Olney Theatre Center in Maryland, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Pasadena Playhouse, and Three Oaks in Michigan. In Chicago, she has had the pleasure of collaborating with Chicago Children’s Theatre, Firebrand Theatre, Goodman Theatre, The Hypocrites, Steppenwolf, Theater Wit, Writers Theatre, and dozens of others. She is a Practitioner in Residence at Columbia College Chicago, where she has taught musical theatre performance since 2008. Special thanks as always to Jamie. www.AndraVelisSimon.com

Jeffrey D. Kmiec is an award-winning New York-based Production Designer for Theatre and Television. His designs have been seen on NBC, Apple+, Comedy Central, and the CW as well as Norwegian Cruise Line, The Rev, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, The Lyric Opera, Theatre Under the Stars, Paramount Theatre, Drury Lane Theatre, Marriott Theatre, Timeline Theatre, American Players Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Porchlight, Raven Theatre, The Artistic Home, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre, Heritage Theatre Festival and The Children’s Theatre of Charlotte. Jeffrey received his MFA from the University of Virginia, BA from Illinois State University, and is a member of USA 829.

Credits include designs with Goodman Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Steppenwolf, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Court Theater, Writers Theatre, Lyric Opera Unlimited, Lookingglass Theatre, Paramount Theatre, Marriott Theatre, Remy Bumppo, Second City, Redmoon, The Hypocrites, Chicago Children’s Theatre, About Face Theatre, Steep Theatre, Theater Wit, Albany Park Theater Project, Manual Cinema, and the Under the Radar Festival at The Public Theatre. She won a non-Equity Jeff award in 2020 for First Love is the Revolution at Steep Theatre. She is proud to be a member of USA829. www.miekavanderploeg.com

Credits include the National Tour of The Screwtape Letters. Off Broadway: The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity (Second Stage, Lortel and Hewes Nomination), The Screwtape Letters (Westside Arts), Romulus (Guggenheim Museum), The Hourglass (NYMTF). Chicago: Northlight, Chicago Shakespeare, Drury Lane, Goodman, Victory Gardens, Lookingglass, Steppenwolf, Court, Writers, Marriott, TimeLine, American Theatre Company, Noble Fool, Chicago Dramatists, American Theatre Company. Regional: Fulton Theatre, Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble, Portland Center Stage, Boars Head Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Milwaukee Repertory. Resident Lighting Designer for Drury Lane, Route 66 and Chicago Tap Theatre. Jeff and After Dark award winner. www.jessekluglightingdesign.com

Broadway: Slave Play, The Nap, Bronx Bombers, and A Time to Kill. Off Broadway: Privacy (The Public Theater), Bootycandy (Playwrights Horizons), Rx (Primary Stages), Top Secret (New York Theatre Workshop), and many others. International: Royal Shakespeare Company, Stratford Festival, many others. Regional: South Coast Repertory, Arena Stage, Goodman, McCarter, Steppenwolf, Guthrie, Hartford Stage, Chicago Shakespeare, Woolly Mammoth, and others. Film scoring: The Brass Teapot (Magnolia Pictures) and the Academy Award–winning A Note of Triumph (HBO Films). Audio drama work includes A Streetcar Named Desire for Audible, and the award-winning weekly podcast for children The Imagination Neighborhood. Lindsay has received two Tony Award nominations for Best Score and Best Sound Design of a Play, seven Joseph Jefferson Awards and 24 nominations; two Ovation Awards and three nominations; and many others. www.lindsayjones.com.

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!