Danny Ahlfeld

Last Five Projects:  
Director of "Streamers,” Assistant Director "White People," played Frank Little in  Mr. Baseball with Sideway Theater.  The Halloween Show and The Clearing with The Gift.

Three Favorite Projects:
Finding, Designing and Building The Gift Theater in Jefferson Park (nuts and bolts wise)

Training: 
Danny has studied with Esper Studio's N.Y.C., Players Workshop of Second City, The Actors Center, The Audition Center (Jane Brody- Rachel Patterson) Truman Jr. College, Center Theater, Mary Ann Thebus, Norm Tobin, Dale Calandra and Eileen Vobach.  

Favorite Inspirations:  
My Mom Marylyn Ahlfeld and friend Joe Britton who are both fighting Cancer.  

Special Thanks:
Special Thanks to all my long time loving friends who grew up between "Da Lake" and Western Ave. and Howard to Irving Park Road.  Also Special Thanks to all my Gordon Tech, St. Gregory Grade School, Local #134 and Chicago Fire Department friend's who paved the way for The Gift to open its doors in Jefferson Park.

Maggie Andersen

Current Projects:
Pursuing a PhD (English-Creative dissertation) at UIC, working as Drama Editor at the Packingtown Review, teaching creative writing

Last Few Projects:
Published in the Southern California Review, Spring 2009; won the Gordon Prize for Fiction, Spring 2008; workshops and staged readings of Stuart Dybek’s Aria, Spring 2008.

Favorite Project:
My book, No Stars In Jefferson Park (A memoir about the early days of The Gift)
 
Inspirations:
Brian Friel, Stuart Dybek, Milan Kundera. Jean Dominique-Bauby, Neko Case, Tony Fitzpatrick.

Special Thanks:
The ensemble, my mother and grandmother

Hillary Clemens

Current Projects:
Talk Radio and The Ruby Sunrise at the Gift

Last five projects:
Picnic (Writers' Theatre), Three Sisters (The Gift), Blithe Spirit (The Gift), A Room With a View (Lifeline Theatre), The Giver (Apple Tree)

Three favorite projects:
Picnic at Writers' Theatre, A Room With a View at Lifeline, Hurlyburly at the Gift.

Training: Loyola University Chicago, The School at Steppenwolf

Favorite Playwrights:
Inge, Stoppard, Williams, Shakespeare, Shepard, Miller, Kushner

Favorite Book: 
Franny and Zooey

Jenny Connell

Upcoming Projects: 
"Summer People" at The Gift (writer) in August 2009, "I've Never Been So Happy" workshop with rude mechs in Austin, TX (actor/singer), moving to Brooklyn, NY to pursue writing, teaching, and acting.  Starting work on a musical. 

Recent Work:
"The Psyche Project" (writer, ensemble member), "101 Ways to..." (co-writer, ensemble member, directed by Halena Kays of The Hypocrites), and Cakegasm Girl in "Foodstuff" by Meghan Kennedy -- all premiering at the Cohen New Works Festival.  "Portrait" (writer/director), "Unmoored" (writer, short screenplay), "Summer People" (writer), Chrysalis (writer).

Training:
UT Austin MFA in Playwriting, School at Steppenwolf, Court Theatre resident apprentice program, University of Chicago BA.

Paul D'Addario

Upcoming Project:
Of Mice and Men (Steppenwolf)

Current Projects: 
Talk Radio (Gift)

Last five projects:
Stop/Kiss, On The Shore of The Wide World (Griffin Theatre), Last Days of Judas Iscariot (Gift), White People (Gift), Three Sisters (Gift)

Favorite projects:
My three nephews and niece Drew, Thomas and Matthew and Julianna

Favorite Movie:
"State of Grace"

Training:
College of Wooster, Jean Shelton, Chris Phillips, School at Steppenwolf, Mary Ann Thebus.

Special Thanks:
Joey, Laurent and Dylan

Brendan Donaldson

Upcoming projects:
"The Servant" by Robin Maugham with Horizon Theatre Rep

Last five projects:
A Reading of "Prophecy" at the Public; Moving to New York; "Streamers" with The Gift; The short film "Audience Award Winner" by Storyboard Productions; "Three Sisters" with The Gift

Three favorite projects:
"Hurly Burly" with The Gift; "The Wooden Breeks" with Lookingglass Theatre; "The Violet Hour" with Steppenwolf Theatre

Recent Books:
"Brendan Behan's New York" with drawings by Paul Hogarth, "Audition" by Michael Shurtleff, "Moby Dick" by Herman Melville, "Dreams From My Father" by Barack Obama, "A Moveable Feast" by Hemingway, Currently: "For Whom The Bell Tolls" and "Yeager" by Chuck Yeager and Leo Janos

Training:
The School at Steppenwolf; Meisner with Mary Ann Thebus; Improv at IO; Indiana University; Trinity High School

Special Thanks:
Lauren, Brian and Gerry, Ellen and Carl, Nora, RPG3, Tha Gift. 

John Gawlik

Current Projects:
Directing “A RUBY SUNRISE”

Last Five Projects:
Acted in “Streamers”, Directed “Wit”, Directed “A Christmas Story”, Acted in “Beauty Queen of Leenane”, Directed “Sylvia”

Three Favorite Projects:
Directing “The Good Thief” and performing in “Language of Angles” for The Gift, and performing in “A Skull in Connemara” at Northlight.

Special Thanks:
Family and Friends

Alexandra Main

Current Projects:
Assistant Director, “Talk Radio”

Upcoming Projects:
The Gift’s production of “The Ruby Sunrise” directed by John Gawlik. Ongoing development of “The Frog Prince,” an arts-in-therapy show for the kids at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago.

Last Five Projects:
All with The Gift: “Stop Kiss,” “W;t” (Jeff Award Nominee Actress in a Principal Role-Play), “Blithe Spirit,” “365 Plays/365 Days” (Director), “Long Day’s Journey Into Night”

Three Favorite Projects:
“W;t”, The Gift; “Crying Woolf,” Zebra Crossing Theatre; “Josephine, The Mouse Singer,” Chicago's Actor's Ensemble

Favorite Book:
“Bel Canto” by Ann Patchett

Training:
Northwestern University, MA in performance studies; Byrne Piven, Piven Theatre Workshop; Rachael Patterson, The Audition Studio; The Second City Conservatory; Mary Ann Thebus

Special Thanks:
David Preis, my long-suffering and generous husband

Ben Montague

Upcoming Projects:
Moving to Los Angeles and throwing my hat in the ring.

Current Projects:
Screenwriting, Writing music, any kind of inspiring work, exploiting anything/everything that I can to make rent without having to get too naked.  Not too naked.

Recent Projects:
Workshop performance of Quick and Dirty by Braden Lubell at the Walt Whitman space
El Fayoumy in The Last Days of Judas Iscariot at The Gift and Victory Gardens
Starred in Counting Backwards, an award winning indie feature still touring the Festival Circuit
(www.countingbackwardsthemovie.com)

Favorite Quote:
”Was it a dream where you see yourself standing in sort of sun-god robes on a pyramid with a thousand naked women screaming and throwing little pickles at you?”
“No…”
“Why am I the only one who has that dream?”

Training:
Mountview Theatre Academy , London , England.

Special Thanks:
Family, friends, Suniti, and David Hasselhoff. God Bless You, Sir

Kenny Mihlfried

Upcoming Projects:
“Notes for a Film,” a film… You’ll see.

Current Projects:
“October Belongings,” a different film.

Last Five Projects:
”Streamers” – Richie, “W;t” – Dr Jason Posner, “The Last Days of Judas Iscariot” – Sigmund Freud / St Thomas, “Three Sisters” – Tuzenbach, “Beauty Queen of Leenane” – sound design, original music.

Three Favorite Projects:
“Tiny Little Creek,” “Trolling Atlantis,” and “What the River Said,” an ambitious trilogy of independent features, produced entirely on video between 1997 and 1999, in close collaboration with Michael Patrick Thornton.

Inspirational People:
Ted Berrigan (a poet), Paul Kapetanopoulos (a psychologist), Steven Leavitt (an artist), Stewart Fischer (a mime), Ray Bradbury (a writer).

Training:
Columbia College, Bachelor of Arts, 2001.

Special Thanks:
Bob Mihlfried Jr., my brother, with whom all sound is possible. My parents, Bob Sr. and Kathy, who support the Gift and everything it stands for.  Michael Gilliland, who lets me play.

William Nedved

Against the Grain, his first play, was part of the 1997 Young Playwrights, Inc. Summer Festival. His second play, The Saved, was a finalist for the Actors Theatre of Louisville Ten-Minute Play Festival. Fate, an original musical, was awarded the first-ever 1997 Leonard Bernstein 'Learning Through The Arts' Interdisciplinary Scholarship through Scholastic, Inc. Full-length works include Not Fade Away (Blank Theatre's Living Room Series), A Young Man in Pieces, County Fair (The Gift), The Three-Way (The Gift Sydney), The Two of You (The University of Iowa), and See Through You (Nuffield Theatre, England.) He also adapted Luigi Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author as '6' for The Gift Theatre Company. His short play Kid was awarded "Best Production" at Collaboraction's Sketchbook 2009. Nedved contributed the screenplay for the 8 Players short All Tomorrow's Parties (filmed in one, continuous tracking shot) that premiered at The ArtHouse Sydney and was screened at the 2002 Los Angeles Short Film Festival. He has served as dramaturg on shows as diverse as Marat/Sade, the Australian premiere of Spinning Into Butter, Orestes 2.0 (The Gift), and Bringing (Di)Visions To Life for the Mostar Youth Festival, Bosnia-Herz. He was a New Dramatists intern and twice a Rotary International Scholar. He was the recipient of a Ragdale Foundation residence, and a Community Arts Assistance grant from the City of Chicago's Department of Cultural Affairs. He was also the Publicist for Steppenwolf Theatre Company. Nedved holds a BA in Theatre Arts from the University of Iowa, an MA in Theatre Studies from the University of New South Wales – Sydney, and an MFA in Film and Television Writing from the University of Southern California. He currently works on the ABC-Disney series Ugly Betty.

Lynda Newton

Last five projects:
with the Gift: Beauty Queen of Leenane, 365 Plays, Hurlyburly, The Pavilion, Language of Angels

Three favorite projects:
Everything Gift, 70 Scenes of Halloween - UMASS Amherst, being an Aunt.

Favorite Movie:
"The Big Chill"

Training:
The Gift Lab, The School at Steppenwolf, UMASS Amherst- Ed Golden & Julie Nelson, NSCC Sha Reardon, Mary Ann Thebus, Father Frank Toste CSC.

Special Thanks:
Family, friends, everyday superheros.

Mary Fons

Upcoming Projects:
Taping multiple episodes of "Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting" for PBS, mime classes with Chicago Physical Theater.

Current Projects:
"Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind" at the Neo-Futurarium.

Last Five Projects:
"TMLMTBGB" for the past few years, "Picked Up," with the Neo-Futurists, gigging with the Speakeasy Ensemble and gigging nationally as a solo poet, "Hurlyburly" with the Gift, "PaperGirl : Live 2006."

Three Favorite Projects:
"Hurlyburly" at the Gift (it's where I met my husband!), "TMLMTBGB," and "PaperGirl : Live 2006."

People Who Inspire Me:
Ayn Rand, Jim Henson, Sonja Moser, anyone making a living doing what they love to do.

Training:
University of Iowa (Theater Dept. Valedictorian), Gift workshops, IO, mime instruction.

Special Thanks:
To my family, the fellows, my husband, and the Gift -- you will always be my first Chicago love.

Sheldon Patinkin

Chair of the Theater Department of Columbia College Chicago, Artistic Director of the Getz Theater of Columbia College Chicago, Artistic Consultant of The Second City and of Steppenwolf Theatre, and Co-Director of the Steppenwolf Theatre Summer Ensemble Workshops.  Among recent directing projects outside of the College have been the world premiere of Cormac McCarthy’s The Sunset Limited at the Steppenwolf Garage Theatre, which was then moved to a limited run at the 59E59 Theatre in New York, and to the Galway Arts Festival in Ireland; The Glass Menagerie and The Beauty Queen of Leenane for the Gift Theater Company; South Pacific at the Metropolis Art Center; Uncle Vanya at Steppenwolf; Long Day’s Journey into Night at the Irish Rep and at the Galway Arts Festival and "Krapp's Last Tape" for the Buckets of Beckett Festival, both starring John Mahoney; as well as concert stagings of opera scenes and excerpts for the Lyric Opera Center at the Grant Park and Ravinia Festival Concerts.  He received a Jeff Award for directing his Irving Berlin revue Puttin’ on the Ritz, and a special Jeff for his contribution to Chicago theater.   His translation of Brecht's The Good Person of Setzuan was directed by Frank Galati at the Goodman Theatre.  His book The Second City: Backstage at the World's Greatest Comedy Theater was published by SourceBooks in 2000, and No Legs, No Jokes, No Chance, his text book on the history of the American musical, was published by Northwestern University Press last summer.

Maureen Payne-Hahner

Directing credits include:
Talk Radio By Eric Bogosian (The Gift Theatre Company)
Copenhagen by Michael Frayn: 
Northwestern University, School of Technical Engineering and Applied Science,
Chicago 2008
Technical University Munich, Germany 2006
Technical University Vienna, Austria 2006
Technical University, Zagreb, Croatia 2006
 Kids These Days (or the Notorious Dunaway High Fiasco),
(Assistant Director) Summer Cabaret at Yale University 2008
Sweet Phoebe by Michael Gow, Theater und so fort! Munich, Germany 2007
Two Conversations, Dark Pony, Litko and Epilogue by David Mamet,
Theater und so fort! Munich, Germany 2005
The Countess by Gregory Murphy (Chicago Premiere) The Gift Theatre Company at The Victory Gardens Theatre 2002
Other credits with The Gift Theatre Company include: Boys Life, Orestes 2.0, Six Characters in Search of an Author

Attended The School at Steppenwolf 2002 and has performed in several productions including Chicago and New York. New York credits include Naked Angels and The Ensemble Studio Theatre. Maureen holds a BA with distinction.

Favorite Directors:
Include; Paul Greengrass, Guillermo Del Toro, Alfonso Cuarón, Sean Penn, David Lean, Werner Herzog

Michael Patrick Thornton

Upcoming Projects:
Of Mice and Men (Steppenwolf) Director; The Ruby Sunrise (Tad) The Gift

Current Project:
Forgiveness.

Last five projects:
Director of The Gift's productions of Stop/Kiss; Santa’s Great American Depression Holiday Show! America; White People; Three Sisters; Long Day’s Journey Into Night

Three favorite Projects:
Every rehearsal with The Gift, healing, growing.

Favorite Play:
"Faith Healer," by Brian Friel.

Training:
Graduate of The School at Steppenwolf, and The Second City Conservatory.  Currently enrolled in The Second City Directing Program and the iO Improv Program and teaches improv and Viewpoints at Second City. Meisner with Mary Ann Thebus, the Plasticene Physical Theatre Intensives, Grotowski and Alternative Approaches to Acting with Eric Forsythe.

Special Thanks:
God, my parents, dogs, DiGiorno Pizza, the ER staff at Resurrection Hospital who saved my life and RIC staff who put Humpty Dumpty back together again. Humble actors who know how to listen, bold playwrights who know how to write.