Meet the Creative Team

SHEAR MADNESS

WARNER CROCKER (Director) is delighted to return to Mercury Theater Chicago where he has previously directed The Man Who Murdered Sherlock Holmes and Bunny Bunny. Recent projects include Shear Madness at Circa ’21 Dinner Playhouse, Peter Pan, Junk, The Seven-Per-Cent Solution as well as work with the International Voices Project. In past lives he has served as Artistic Director of the Wayside Theatre, New Tuners Theatre, Pegasus Players and the Absolute Theatre Company, which he founded. He is the recipient of a number of Chicago’s Joseph Jefferson Awards and other awards for his work as a director and designer. He is the author of Robert E. Lee and John Brown: Lighting the Fuse. With composer and lyricist Steve Przybylski, he has written the musicals Southern Crossroads, Southern Crossroads: New Orleans, a musical version of A Christmas Carol, and a musical adaptation of The Three Musketeers with composer and lyricist Gregg Opelka that had its world premiere in Omsk, Russia.

BRUCE JORDAN (Original Co-Producer and Director) & MARILYN ADAMS (Original Co-Producer) are the owners and creators of Shear Madness, the longest-running non-musical play in the American theater history. These two New York actors anticipated the trend for interactive theater and acquired the world stage, film and television rights to an obscure murder mystery originally titled Scherenschitt, written by German play right Paul Portner. In 1978, the play made its debut in the United States as a summer stock production in Lake George, New York. Mr. Jordan directed and created the role of Tony Whitcomb, salon proprietor, and Ms. Adams created the role of Barbara DeMarco, the gum-chewing manicurist. This exuberant duo oversees the Shear Madness companies across the USA and in diverse international cities such as Paris, London, Rome, Budapest, Athens, Johannesburg, Buenos Aires, Seoul, Barcelona and Madrid. While each occasionally takes time out to pursue other stage and film work, both make frequent visits to Shear Madness cities, where Mr. Jordan directs and maintains the artistic quality of the productions and Ms. Abrams handles sales and marketing.

BEN LIPINSKI (Scenic Design) is thrilled to be designing his first set on the Mercury Theater Chicago stage with Shear Madness! Working as the resident Technical Director at the Mercury, Ben has previously worked on constructing the set of Monty Python’s Spamalot and will be designing the set of Priscilla Queen of the Desert in the Venus Cabaret Theater in Spring 2020. Ben studied Scenic Design and Technical Direction at the Conservatory of Theater Arts at Webster University in St Louis.

RACHEL BOYLAN (Costume Design) is a proud Mercury Theater Chicago alum, and is happy to be returning for Shear Madness! Other Mercury costume design credits include: Pippin (Jeff nomination), Avenue Q (2018 & 2014), Mary Poppins, I Left My Heart. Other regional credits include: Hello Again (Theo Ubique), Leavings (Polarity Ensemble Theater), All Girl Dracula (The Mammals), Who Too, The Dancing Plague (The Right Brian Project), Hello & Goodbye (Bluebird Arts), and Beautiful Broken (Broken Nose Theater). Rachel recently earned her MFA in Costume Design from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, where she designed costumes for Godspell, Ariodante, and La Clemenza di Tito. When she’s not designing shows of her own, Rachel can be found around town working as an assistant costume designer for theaters such as Writers, Steppenwolf, and Drury Lane. Her work can be found at www.rachelboylan.com

KRISTOF JANEZIC (Lighting Design) works and lives in Chicago, acting in many roles including lighting designer, scenic designer, technical systems designer, scenic painter and production manager. His most recent projects in theatre include Luck of the Irish with UIC (lighting designer), Buttcracker 2019 with Subversive Productions (lighting & scenic designer), and Creede Repertory Theater’s 2019 Summer Season as resident lighting designer (Peter and the Starcatcher, Ripcord, Little Shop of Horrors, Pride and Prejudice & Hazardous Materials) as well as scenic designer for their children’s show (Derringer-Doo) and camp counselor for Heroes and Villains Day Camp. Other unique and interesting projects include Systems Director and Associate Production Manager for Hebru Brantley’s Nevermore Park Chicago in Pilsen (current) Lighting Director for Polar Express 2016 & 2017, and Resident Lighting Designer for Redmoon Theater (2013 to 2015).

CARL WAHLSTROM (Sound Design) is ecstatic to be designing Mercury Theater Chicago’s first two productions of their 2020 season (Shear Madness and Priscilla Queen of the Desert) with a dream-team of collaborators. Carl grew up in Maine where he got his start working in theater at Penobscot Theatre Company, one of the few remaining wooden-grid hemp-houses in the country. Now living in Chicago, he works in sound design for theaters, curating playlists for businesses in River North and West Loop and producing music. Some of Carl’s favorite design credits include Mercury Theater Chicago’s I Left My Heart, Hair, Little Shop of Horrors, and Monty Python’s Spamalot, along with the productions of Company and Pippin in the Venus Cabaret Theater, Firebrand Theatre’s production of Queen of the Mist and Hundo4U’s production of Pounding Nails in the Floor with my Forehead.

KRISTI J. MARTENS* (Production Stage Manager) is happy to be returning to Mercury Theater Chicago with Shear Madness. She also had the privilege of being the PSM for Monty Python’s Spamalot, Little Shop of Horrors, Bunny Bunny, Hair, Mary Poppins, I Left My Heart, The Man Who Murdered Sherlock Holmes, The Producers, The Addams Family, Avenue Q (2014 and 2018), and The Color Purple. Some other theaters that she has worked at: Drury Lane Theater (Oakbrook Terrace), Northlight Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Goodman Theatre, The Royal George Theater, Drury Lane Evergreen Park, Drury Lane Water Tower, Fox Valley Repertory, Oak Park Festival Theater, Fulton Opera House (Lancaster, PA), Maine State Music Theater (Brunswick, ME), Theater at the Center (Munster, IN), Carousel Dinner Playhouse (Akron, OH), Dallas Theater Center (Dallas, TX). A proud Equity member for over 28 years, Kristi started stage managing with children’s theater.

CASIE MORELL (Deck Manager) is excited to return to Mercury Theater Chicago for Shear Madness after serving as the ASM for Monty Python’s Spamalot.  Most recently she has worked at Victory Gardens and Rivendell Theater Ensemble. A proud Nashville native, Casie has also worked at the Chicago Children’s Theatre, First Folio, the Drury Lane, 16th Street Theater, Theatre at the Center, Marriott Theatre, Porchlight Music Theater, Music Theatre Works, and the Northwestern Opera. She has also worked regionally at the Clarence Brown Theatre in Knoxville, TN, The Weidner Center in Green Bay WI, and Peninsula Players Theater.

L. WALTER STEARNS (Executive Producer) As Executive Director of Mercury Theater Chicago, Walter is a champion for Chicago artists and productions and has overseen the physical and cultural revival of a beautiful theatre. He has directed over 40 musicals including his Jeff Award-winning productions of The Addams Family and Ragtime as well as the Jeff Award nominated productions of Mary Poppins, The Producers, The Addams Family, Avenue Q, The Color Purple, Barnum-The Circus Musical, The Christmas Schooner, Nine the Musical, Ragtime, Gypsy, The Secret Garden, Sweeney Todd, Company, A New Brain, Into the Woods, Merrily We Roll Along and Falsettos. He was pleased to produce The Man Who Murdered Sherlock Holmes, which was awarded the Jeff Award for New Work. He opened the new Venus Cabaret Theater with Stephen Sondheim’s Company and Stephen Schwartz’s Pippin. Walter has received the Jeff Award, BroadwayWorld Award, After Dark Awards, the Larry Sloan Advocate Award (for his support of Season of Concern), the first Guy Adkins award for his contributions to the art of musical theatre and the Franny Award as a distinguished alumnus of the University of Illinois at Chicago.

EUGENE DIZON (Business Manager) has worked in human resources and accounting at a number of Chicago firms including HFR, Navteq, Jenner and Block, and Hunter Douglas. Eugene opened Dizon Consulting, LLC in 2018 to offer human resource services. In theater, Eugene has been musical directing for over two decades garnering 6 Jeff Awards (Ragtime, Sweeney Todd, Amadeus, Company, Into the Woods, Merrily We Roll Along), as well as Jeff nominations for A Grand Night for Singing, Candide, Nine the Musical, Closer Than Ever, A Little Night Music, Passion, Colette Collage, and Falsettos; 4 After Dark Awards (Ragtime, Sweeney Todd, A New Brain, Merrily We Roll Along), a BroadwayWorld Award for Mercury’s Avenue Q and a BroadwayWorld nominations for Little Shop of Horrors, Hair, Mary Poppins, and The Color Purple. Additionally, he has musical directed Monty Python’s Spamalot, Pippin, The Producers, and Barnum and the upcoming production of Priscilla Queen of the Desert. Eugene is honored to have been inducted into the Chicago Filipino Hall of Fame, Eugene has co-produced 6 “Season of Carols” CD’s and the most recent CD “Second City Divas Live in Concert at Mercury Theater Chicago”, for which Season of Concern awards him the 201 Larry Sloan Advocate Award and the Season of Concern 2018 Larry Sloan Legacy Award for “consistently and passionately being a trailblazer on behalf of Season of Concern.