Jon Leslie Lynn the eldest son of our Founder, was first a member of our Acting Company in 1969-72. His enthusiasm and hard work caused his fellow Players to name their annual performance awards after him. As an Honorary Player, he earned an “O.D.” award as Best Director. Les served 13 years on our Board of Directors, won Best Actor “Leslies” for the title roles in Death Takes a Holiday and Liliom, and a Best Actor “O.D.” for The Lark. He has been on our stage in I Hate Hamlet, Rumors, It Runs In The Family, The Foreigner, You Can’t Take It With You, Jake’s Women and Harvey, four of which won him Best Actor “Leslie” awards. He has directed Romantic Comedy, Death of a Salesman, The Odd Couple (Female Version), Dracula, Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Noises Off, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Up The Down Staircase, Diary of Anne Frank, Arsenic & Old Lace and is now closing out our 60th season directing All in the Timing.
An Honorary Player is a special membership status bestowed on Kirk Players who have given outstanding service but are unable to continue active participation. This status is our sincere expression of love and appreciation for their past contributions.
Honorary Players
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Makenna Wald became involved with Kirk Players in their summer theatre program, and is our youngest member! She has appeared onstage with KP as Gladys in 1984, and as Zuzu in It’s a Wonderful Life: A Radio Play. She received the “Behind the Curtain Award” for her work on lights for The Diary of Anne Frank. Additional backstage credits include Sound Design, Stage Manager, Costume Crew Chief, Props Crew, and Stage Crew. Makenna is active with the MHS Theatre and Band departments and is a member of Thespian Troupe 2531.
Jessica Rattanasena * has been a resident of Mundelein since 2014. Her experiences in acting have been in films, television shows and commercials. She discovered Kirk Players in 2018 through the casting call for Red Herring. Since then, she has volunteered as costume crew for Red Herring, Prop Master for Fairy Tales and Fables, Assistant Stage Manager for Black Comedy and Video Tech Director for Clue: The Stay-at-home Version. Her continued commitment and her work as Prop Master have earned her a Golden Hammer Award nomination for technical excellence. She has also participated in the adult summer workshop and hosted our annual summer picnic. She was honored to have served as a Board member of Kirk Players and is excited to see what’s in store for her both off and on the stage.
Abbey McFarland started with the Kirk players in the 2024 production of The Enchanted Bookshop as the stage manager and sound designer and absolutely fell in love with the group. Although she’s mostly backstage doing tech, Abbey loves to act with her favorite role being in the Mundelein High school production of the musical Comedy Murders of 1940 as Helsa in 2023.
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Jamie Lee Cortese performed with Second City, Corn Productions, iO, Theatre 121, PM&L Theatre, Six Flags, and more. She hosts “Jammin’ with Jamie” Saturdays at 6am CT on 89.3 WNUR FM. With Kirk Players, she’s been Nina in Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike and Cookson in Peter Pan and Wendy where she also understudied Peter Pan and Wendy. You can follow her on Twitter @JackalopeJamie, visit her website http://jamieleecortese.com/, or read her writing on sites such as Horror Obsessive (https://horrorobsessive.com/author/jackalopejamie/).
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PRESIDENT’S REPORT (2024)
The Board welcomed Vidal Gonzalez, Jeanna Daebelliehn, and Jeff Harding at the start of the 58th Season. As it is with live theater, things happen and we adapt accordingly. Jeff stepped down and Patrick Blake stepped up (from retirement!). Terry stepped down and I stepped up. I wholeheartedly thank Vidal, Jeanna, Patrick, Mandy Stebbins, and Peter Grassl for all the communication, brainstorming, support, and teamwork to achieve all the wonderful things that we have accomplished this season!
This season we had three mainstage shows (Murdered to Death, The Enchanted Bookshop, Arsenic & Old Lace at Mundelein High School) and two other performances (Sherlock Holmes Radio Show at Tighthead and Shakespeare Shorts: Sounds and Sweet Aires as a collaboration with Mundelein Arts Commission).
We’ve made some new friends and have been reacquainted with previous friends through cast, crew, outreach conversations, and volunteer opportunities. It is great to work with talent from other organizations, such as PM&L, Mundelein Arts Commission, Mundelein Historical Commission, Marriott Theater, Lakeside Players at the Rhode. These community partnerships strengthen our involvement and presence. I’m excited to see the talent, experience, and creativity that our members are experiencing by interacting with all these outside sources and then sharing with us. We can continue to build off our mission, vision, and values to learn, grow, diversify, and be better versions of ourselves. I love the passion and enthusiasm of all of us!
Thanks to our sponsors, donors and patrons for enabling us to thrive in a challenging environment. Generous donations, grants, sponsorships, and sales have kept us financially solvent to pursue our mission. We continue to provide scholarships and support for the arts and other needs in our community.
I’m proud and honored to have been your president for 2023-2024 Season 58 term.
Mindi Billock, “I do stuffs AND things!"
The Board welcomed Vidal Gonzalez, Jeanna Daebelliehn, and Jeff Harding at the start of the 58th Season. As it is with live theater, things happen and we adapt accordingly. Jeff stepped down and Patrick Blake stepped up (from retirement!). Terry stepped down and I stepped up. I wholeheartedly thank Vidal, Jeanna, Patrick, Mandy Stebbins, and Peter Grassl for all the communication, brainstorming, support, and teamwork to achieve all the wonderful things that we have accomplished this season!
This season we had three mainstage shows (Murdered to Death, The Enchanted Bookshop, Arsenic & Old Lace at Mundelein High School) and two other performances (Sherlock Holmes Radio Show at Tighthead and Shakespeare Shorts: Sounds and Sweet Aires as a collaboration with Mundelein Arts Commission).
We’ve made some new friends and have been reacquainted with previous friends through cast, crew, outreach conversations, and volunteer opportunities. It is great to work with talent from other organizations, such as PM&L, Mundelein Arts Commission, Mundelein Historical Commission, Marriott Theater, Lakeside Players at the Rhode. These community partnerships strengthen our involvement and presence. I’m excited to see the talent, experience, and creativity that our members are experiencing by interacting with all these outside sources and then sharing with us. We can continue to build off our mission, vision, and values to learn, grow, diversify, and be better versions of ourselves. I love the passion and enthusiasm of all of us!
Thanks to our sponsors, donors and patrons for enabling us to thrive in a challenging environment. Generous donations, grants, sponsorships, and sales have kept us financially solvent to pursue our mission. We continue to provide scholarships and support for the arts and other needs in our community.
I’m proud and honored to have been your president for 2023-2024 Season 58 term.
Mindi Billock, “I do stuffs AND things!"
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