100 Drury Lane
Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181
Box Office: +1 (630) 530-0111
E. FAYE BUTLER (Director) Excited to return to Drury Lane last seen in Chicago! as Mama Morton for which she received the Jeff Award. Supporting Actress Musical. Her career spans over 40 years performing and directing both musicals and plays nationally, internationally. After years of standing in front of the footlights she now enjoys passing forward all the pearls of wisdom given to her during her fruitful acting career. Directing credits include: One Mo’ Time Anacostia Playhouse, Marie and Rosetta Northlight Theatre which will transfer to Milwaukee Rep. (Fall 24’), The Wiz Fulton Theatre, The Color Purple Maine State Music Theatre, (Best Direction) BroadwayWorld, and Vickie Award, Goods Artemisia Theatre (nomination Best Direction Stream) BroadwayWorld, Ain’t Misbehavin Portland Stage, Beyond The Door Tender Touch productions (Fall24’), Ain’t Misbehavin Michigan Ensemble Theatre, Five Guys Named Moe Beverly Arts Center. E. Faye cultivates new works and directs solo performances, cabarets, staged readings. Recipient of nine Jeff, two Helen Hayes, Barrymore, After Dark, three Black Theatre Alliance, Ovation, R.A.M.I., Sarah Siddons, Excellence in Arts, Kathy, Rosetta LeNoire, Guy Atkins, Heller & Hover, two Black Excellence, E.P.I.C. awards. Accommodations Lunt-Fontanne Fellow, inducted into Women in The Arts Museum in Washington D.C., RPS Fine Arts Hall of Fine, Chicagoan of the Year, NewCity Stage Player. For upcoming projects www.e-fayebutler.com
MZ. FLO WALKER HARRIS (Choreographer) is honored and humbled to make her choreographic debut at Drury Lane on the exclaimed production of Ain’t Misbehavin. Mz. Walker-Harris’ Professional Regional Theatre productions include – The Wiz at Fulton Theater; The Color Purple at Main State Music Theater; Marie and Rosetta at NorthLight Theater; Sophisticated Ladies (Jeff nomination) Women of the Year, Scottsboro Boys (Jeff Awarded) at PorchLight Theater. Additional experiences include non-equity performances 5 Guys Named Moe at Beverly Arts Center; Once on this Island at Drama Group and ETA (non equity Jeff Nominated) She also holds a Bachelors of Science in Sociology and Black & Latin Studies from SUNY New York and a Master’s Degree from National Louis University. With three decades of varied experience, MzFlo is most proud of her work as a conceptual and creative innovator, who provides access and opportunity for current and future artistic leaders and influencers.
WILLIAM FOSTER McDANEIL (Music Director/Conductor) began his career in musical theatre as pianist-conductor of off-Broadway long-running The Fantasticks. He has since served as conductor for Broadway and National Touring companies of Timbuktu!, Bubbling Brown Sugar and Ain’t Misbehavin. He has conducted several European productions of Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies. In addition to conducting and arranging for many popular performers and theatrical productions, Mr. McDaniel’s own compositions have received performances by the Yonkers Civic Philharmonic Orchestra, the New Symphony of New York, the Mozart Society Orchestra at Harvard, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, the Topanga Symphony and the BBC Concert Orchestra in London. Mr. McDaniel is a graduate of Capital University and Boston University, and has studied as a Fulbright Scholar in Paris.
ANDREW BOYCE (Scenic Design) is a Chicago based designer working in Theatre, Opera, Dance, and Film/TV. At Drury Lane: A Chorus Line; Murder On The Orient Express (Jeff Award); And Then There Were None. Recent Chicago credits: Thanksgiving Play, No Man’s Land (both @ Steppenwolf); Layalina (Goodman); Beautiful (Marriott). Andrew’s work has been seen on Broadway, Off-Broadway, London, and most major regional and LORT theaters across the U.S. Opera and Dance: Lyric Opera of Chicago, Opera Theater of St. Louis, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Ballet Idaho, Boston Lyric Opera, Curtis Opera, Philadelphia Orchestra, among others. TV/Film: Shining Girls (Apple TV); Poker Face (Peacock). Yale School of Drama. Associate Professor of Design at Northwestern. www.andrewboycedesign.com
McKINLEY JOHNSON (Costume Design) Full-time Lecturer, McKinley Johnson, has taught technical and creative fashion design courses at Dominican University and various institutions around Chicago for over twenty-five years. He has thirty-five years of experience in costuming and producing ready-to-wear for fashion designers. His craftsmanship as a master-tailor/cuter, in the Chicagoland theatre community and especially the Goodman Theatre, has spanned over three decades. He has built costumes for such legendary Broadway designers as Paul Tazewell (Hamilton), Susan Hilferty (Wicked), and Catherine Zuber (Moulin Rouge). In 2016, as the production manager and cutter for local Chicago fashion designer Michael Alan Stein’s Spring Collection, his skills were on full display during New York’s Fashion Week where his handiwork was noted by critics for its fit and cut. Currently, he is researching and developing a musical, with a local playwright, that focuses on 1930’s Zoot Suits and the political upheaval those outfits garnered as the first protest garments to be seen in American culture. He holds a BFA from Howard University and MA from University of Illinois at Chicago.
LEE FISKNESS (Lighting Design) returns to Drury Lane for his 15th show: recently Guy and Dolls, Ring of Fire. Chicago: Steppenwolf, The Goodman, Chicago Shakespeare, Victory Gardens, The Marriott Theatre, The Court Theatre, Writers Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre, Lightscape (Chicago Botanical Garden). Regionally: The Old Globe, Kennedy Center, Manhattan Theatre Club, Mark Taper Forum, Cincinnati Playhouse, Milwaukee Repertory, Emerson Colonial Theatre, Merrimack Theatre, Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, Two River Theatre, Arsht Center. Opera: Chicago Lyric, San Jose, Dallas, Portland, Kentucky, Colorado, Florentine. International: Jurassic World Exhibition (China), Marriage of Figaro (Japan), Movement Stories (Abu Dhabi). He has worked on the lighting teams for TV shows including: The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Rosie Show, The Steve Harvey Show, Fox Sports, Chicago Bears Network. Lee was the Lighting Director at The Santa Fe Opera where he has worked for 18 seasons. www.leefiskness.com.
STEPHANIE FARINA (Sound Design) is a Chicago based sound designer and musical mixer. Past Drury Lane credits include Associate Sound Design for Forever Plaid, Mama Mia, and 42nd St. Regional Sound Design credits include Dreamgirls (McCarter Theatre), Revolution(s), Naicrema Society, New Stages 2022 and 2023 (Goodman Theatre), and Fannie (Indiana Rep). Associate Sounds Design credits include Life After, Music Man (Goodman Theatre), Once on this Island (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Fannie (Seattle Rep, Goodman Theatre), and Fun Home (Kansas City Rep). Stephanie’s mixing credits include, Blue, Twilight: Gods (Michigan Opera Theatre), Proximity, Factotum, Fiddler on the Roof, Twilight: Gods, West Side Story, Light in the Piazza, Jesus Christ Superstar (Lyric Opera of Chicago), and 10 years at the Goodman Theatre. Stephanie is the Interim Head of Sound Design at The Theatre School at DePaul University, as well as a Journeymen in the IATSE Local 2 of Chicago.
CASSY SCHILLO (Props Design Supervisor and Warehouse Manager) is thrilled to be with the Drury Lane family and honored to be a recipient of the 2019 Jeff award in Artistic Specialization for Properties design. Drury Lane credits include Fiddler on the Roof, Cinderella, Ring of Fire, The 39 Steps, Grease, A Chorus Line, Elf the Musical, Murder on the Orient Express, Steel Magnolias, R&H The King and I, Evita, Holiday Inn, Forever Plaid, An American in Paris, Mary Poppins, The Color Purple, And Then There Were None, Matilda, Mamma Mia!, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Little Shop, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, South Pacific, Joseph…, 42nd Street, Rock of Ages, The Gin Game, Chicago, Saturday Night Fever, Crazy for You, & Smokey Joe’s Cafe. Jeff Nominated for DL’s Deathtrap as well as First Folio’s Salvage and All Childish Things. Designs in the Midwest include: productions for Marriott Lincolnshire, Theatre Wit, Theatre at the Center, Music Theater Works, Theo Ubique, Griffin, BoHo, Stage Left, Porchlight, Northwestern Opera, Piccolo, Sideshow, Black Ensemble, and Mammals. BFA from University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and training at Tisch School of the Arts. Founding member of To the Point, a theatrical combat troupe that specializes in sword fighting & storytelling. Gratitude and love to Rodion and my family for their eternal support.
KEVIN FOSTER II (Wig Designer) is elated to be making his Drury Lane debut! Regional credits include: The Fulton Theatre, The Maltz Jupiter Theatre, Maine State Music Theatre, The Peterborough Players, Tuacahn Center for the Arts, Virginia Repertory Theatre, and Virginia Stage Company. Kevin is a NYC based Wig Designer and he holds a B.A. in Theatre from Virginia Tech. Many thanks to E. Faye Butler for allowing him to be a part of this creative team. Representation: Summit Entertainment. www.kevinsfosterii.com. Instagram and Tiktok: @wigsbykevin
LARRY BAKER (Production Stage Manager) Credits include: Chicago with E. Faye Butler, Ain’t Misbehavin’ with Billy Foster McDaniel, The Color Purple with Alexis Roston, Guys & Dolls with Alanna Lovely and Austin Nelson Jr., Jersey Boys with James T. Lane, Rock Of Ages with Sharriese Hamilton, Little Shop of Horrors with Lorenzo Rush jr. and Heartstrings with Nell Carter. Other career highlights: Billy Elliott, Radio City Christmas Spectacular, The Color Purple, Olympic Torch Relay, Elaine Stritch At Liberty, Comedy Hall Of Fame Awards, Promises Promises,Tony Awards, Holland America World Cruise, APLA Commitment To Life, Same Time Next Year, Aspen Comedy Festival, And The Band Played On and the Barney And The Backyard Gang video series, Thank you for supporting live theatre.
LANITA VANDERSCHAAF (Assistant Stage Manager) is thrilled to make their Drury Lane debut. She was most recently an Assistant Stage Manager for Beautiful: The Carole King Musical at Paramount Theatre. Additional credits include Billy Elliot, Little Shop of Horrors, School of Rock, Into the Woods, Dreamgirls, Groundhog Day, Cinderella (Paramount), BULL: a love story, Hand to God, Sweat (Copley Theatre), Matilda Jr. (Paramount School of the Arts) and Celebrating the Black Radical… (Williamstown Theatre Festival).
