WHO'S WHO
MARY PAT SIECK
Artistic/Managing Director
Mary Pat is a founding member of Open Door Repertory Company and was instrumental in Open Door Rep’s move to the new theatre space at 902 S. Ridgeland Ave. She’s directed 15 productions for Open Door Rep; this season’s spring show, Tracy Lett’s Superior Donuts, will be her 16th! Her favorites include Good, The Laramie Project, and Smokey Joe’s Cafe. She received her BA in Directing from Columbia College Chicago. As an Oak Park resident for the past 35 years, she is invested in telling “stories that bind us together” – especially in Oak Park, “a community where people really care.”
STEVE SALINY
Company Technical Director and Facilities Manager
Steve Saliny, an Oak Park resident, is a founding member of Open Door Repertory Company. A talented musician, he performed in a doo-wop group for 12 years, and has been designing sound elements for Open Door even longer! He has most recently sound designed for Small, Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks and Superior Donuts. He has been the company technical director since 1998, at one point designing a series of revolving backdrops that created 32 separate backgrounds for one show! Steve was thrilled to add Facilities Manager to his title when Open Door Rep moved into their new space in the Harrison Arts District. Steve’s favorite Open Door Rep productions include The Sisters Rosenweig, Spinning Into Butter, and Fences.
PAUL KERWIN
ARTISTIC ASSOCIATE
Open Door Rep’s resident lighting designer.
Paul keeps complications to a minimum. Recently, he’s designed Smokey Joe’s Cafe , Train is Comin’, Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks, and Superior Donuts. Reviewer Doug Deuchler praised his work on Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks, “Paul Kerwin’s lighting design is especially fine, creating some beautiful sunsets.”
ETHAN KWAS
ARTISTIC ASSOCIATE
Technical Wizard
For the past twelve years, has been an electrician, set construction assistant and board operator. Ethan likes solving problems. He’s excelled at creating some of Open Door Rep’s more challenging stage tricks – from finessing an overzealous air cannon to drop a ball gently into a waiting catcher’s mitt to showering the audience with feathers from a group of geese tricked into flying past hunters. Recently, he’s served as Assistant Technical Director on Smokey Joe’s Cafe and Superior Donuts, Master Electrician/Rigger on Small, and Master Electrician/Board Op on Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks. His favorite productions include Crowns, Glengarry Glen Ross, and Bleacher Bums.
McKINLEY JOHNSON
ARTISTIC ASSOCIATE
-is a recipient of a 1998 National Endowment of the Arts/Theatre Communication Group-Theatre Residency for Playwrights Program Grant.
In 1996, his play TRAIN IS COMIN’ was awarded “Best Musical” by the Black Theatre Alliance. McKinley’s Being Beautiful, produced by Chicago Theatre Company received two Jeff nominations, including Best New Work. Recently, Congo Square Productions produced McKinley’s The Nativity at the Goodman Theatre. He has been a “Lead Artist” for Gallery 37 in association with the Pegasus Players Playwriting Workshop. McKinley is a graduate of Howard University (BFA) and University of Illinois (MA). He is currently a Resident Playwright with Chicago Dramatists and is an instructor at Dominican University, Illinois Institute of Art, and International Academy of Design and Technology. McKinley is the author of the musical Clara, which will begin it’s run at Open Door Rep on July 12, 2013.
JOSH PRISCHING
ARTISTIC ASSOCIATE
Credits with Open Door include No Witness, Go, Dog, Go!, The Game of Love and Chance, Superior Donuts, Small, Train Is Comin, Crowns, Bleacher Bums, No Witness, Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks, Charlie Brown, Title Of Show, Marvelous Wonderettes, and You Cant Shake it Off, just to name a few. After graduating he wanted to pursue his combined passions of theater and film and landed his first gig as the sound engineer for a small film called "Love, Blood, Kryptonite" and recently was the light board technician for the ABC network series "Betrayal". In his theater life he has designed for Chicago Folks Operetta: credits include Girl on the Train, Peter Paul and the Land of Nod, Pinocchio, Snow White, and Babes in Toyland; for Proud Kate Theater Project, The Dumbwaiter, and a for few local high schools. At the end of the day he always returns to what he calls home - the CAST program at Julian Middle School as their Technical Director.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Richard White
President
Stevan Saliny
Mary Pat Sieck