The Ensemble | Advisors and Associates | Donors

Black Sheep Productions was formed in 2007 by Vance Smith. Its mission is to produce provocative and entertaining theater that explores modern social issues while maintaining an accessible aesthetic in the hopes of reaching a diverse audience.

The Ensemble
Chris Cantelmi, Katie McLean, Lori Myers, Vance Smith, Steve Spencer and Alice Wedoff

	Chris Cantelmi played Will in Black Sheep's production of Steve Spencer's Another Day in the Empire. He has also been seen around town at TUTA (It's Only the End of the World), Writers' Theatre (Othello and Seagull), City Lit Theatre (The Hound of the Baskervilles), Lifeline Theatre (Johnny Tremain), Victory Gardens (Berlin '45), and Chicago Shakespeare Theatre (Amadeus, Hamlet, and Short Shakespeare! Taming of the Shrew). Regionally, he has frequented the Illinois Shakespeare Festival (Cyrano De Bergerac, Hamlet, As You Like It, The Knight of the Burning Pestle, The Two Gentlemen from Verona, King Lear) and Connecticut Repertory Theatre (Red Noses, Measure for Measure, A Cry of Players, Violet, Misalliance, Sweeney Todd, and The Crucible). Originally from Fountain Hill, Pennsylvania, Chris was educated at Northampton Community College (AA), Temple University (BA) and The University of Connecticut (MFA) and is on the adjunct faculty at Columbia College Chicago. He also plays the drums in a rock band called The Holy Ghostly and is a new dad.
	Katie McLean appeared as Judy in Black Sheep's Another Day in the Empire. Katie is a member of the Artistic Ensemble of Lifeline Theatre, where she has appeared in Talking It Over, Crossing California, Gaudy Night, Trust Me on This, Far From the Madding Crowd, Whose Body?, Cooking With Lard, Bongo Larry and Two Bad Bears, and The True Story of the 3 Little Pigs!, and directed Johnny Tremain and The Cricket in Times Square. A native of upstate New York, Katie has been in Chicago for over twelve years and worked on productions with Blindfaith, the Hypocrites, Bailiwick Repertory (including now then again, a Jeff Citation winner for Best New Play in 2000), Greasy Joan & Co., Shakespeare's Motley Crew, Who Threw That Ham?, and Zebra Crossing.
	Lori Myers has appeared in Black Sheep's inaugural production of Another Day in the Empire, and most recently as Trish in The End. This Fall she will play the role Mrs. Gibbs in The Hypocrite's remount of Our Town, directed by David Cromer. Favorite roles include Mother Courage in Vitalist Theatre's critically acclaimed Mother Courage and Her Children, for which she received an After Dark Award for Outstanding Performance, and 'Most Memorable Female Performance 2007' from The Chicago Tribune; Gertrude in The Building Stage's Hamlet, Xiang Xhang in Lee Breuer and Leslie Mohn's White Boned Demon at the Kennedy Center, and The Fool and Cordelia in Vitalist's King Lear. She understudied August: Osage County at Steppenwolf, has worked with Redmoon Theater, Next Theatre, Shattered Globe, Plasticene, and Bailiwick. Favorite London roles include Paula in Mrs. Klein, Aquilina in Venice Preserv'd, and Marina Oswald in The Happiness Compartment at the George Wood Theatre. Lori has her M.A. in Performance Studies summa cum laude from The University of London's Goldsmith's College and her B.S. in Theatre from Illinois State University.
	Vance Smith (Artistic Director) founded Black Sheep Productions in 2007, and directed Another Day in the Empire and The End. As an actor, Vance appeared most recently as Floyd in Fiorello! at Timeline Theatre. Other acting credits include The Killer Angels at Lifeline, Balm in Gilead with The Hypocrites (Jeff Nomination-- Ensemble), Jane Eyre with Lifeline (Jeff Nomination-- Best Play), Fellow Travellers at Stage Left Theatre (Jeff Citation-- New Work), and The Best Man at Remy Bumppo Theatre (After Dark Award-Ensemble), as well as work with Victory Gardens, Northlight, Baliwick, Collaboraction, Factory, CityLit and many others. He is a graduate of Tulane University and The School at Steppenwolf.
	Steve Spencer (Playwright in Residence) is from Dayton, Ohio. His Another Day in the Empire saw readings at Chicago Dramatists & Stage Left before receiving its world premiere with Black Sheep Productions. It went on to be named one of the top shows of 2007 by both TimeOut Chicago and NewCity. This Fall, his play Night Society will receive a staged reading at Stage Left. Spencer’s Whippets & Scotch was featured as part of the Dramatists' Deadline Workshop in the summer of 2006 and his short play An Abortion for Eternity was a finalist for Stage Left's 2007 DrekFest.
	Alice Wedoff served as the Assistant Director for Black Sheep’s inaugural production of Another Day in the Empire. This Fall, she will appear onstage with The Hypocrites in The Threepenny Opera at the Steppenwolf Garage. Alice is also a company member of TUTA and has appeared with them in A Still Life in Color, Tracks and It's Only the End of the World. Other acting credits include Boneyard Prayer with Redmoon, Feast with Chicago Dramatists, as well as work with Hypatia, Festival Theater, and the Illinois Theatre Center. Alice received her B.F.A. in drama from Syracuse Univerisity and spent a year studying theater at Ecole Jacques Lecoq in Paris, France.

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