ONSTAGE

Profiles Theatre is a not-for-profit professional theatre company and has been producing plays in Chicago for over 20 years. Founded in 1988 by five Eastern Illinois University alumni, the company was originally called Profiles Performance Ensemble. Profiles produces World, US and Midwest Premieres by promising new playwrights, as well as established writers whose work has been seen across the country and around the world.

Joe Jarhaus Joe Jahraus (Founder and Artistic Director) was most recently seen as Frank in Profiles' Midwest Premiere of Body Awareness by Annie Baker, as well as multiple roles in the U.S. Premiere of The Wonderful World of Dissocia by Anthony Neilson. Prior to that, he appeared in Profiles' Midwest Premieres of Things We Said Today and autobahn by Neil LaBute, which received an After Dark Award for Outstanding Ensemble. Other recent appearances at Profiles include The Glory of Living, Reparation and Noise. Joe received a 1999 Jeff Award Nomination for Ensemble for his performance as Wells in Stray Dogs. He has previously been seen in Profiles' productions of Wonder of the World, Snakebit, Jump to Cow Heaven, Some Voices, Dogs Barking, Popcorn, Eye of God, Paddywack, The Baby Dance, Geography of a Horse Dreamer, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Twilight Zone: The Series, How the Other Half Loves, The Water Engine, Minor Demons, Orphans, Battery, and True West.

Joe will be directing Profiles' upcoming World Premiere of Assisted Living by Deirdre O'Connor. He most recently directed Profiles' Midwest Premiere of Fifty Words by Michael Weller. Joe's other directing credits with Profiles include the acclaimed World Premiere of Kid Sister by Will Kern and the Midwest Premieres of Jailbait by Deirdre O'Connor, The Mercy Seat by Neil LaBute, Great Fallsby Lee Blessing and The Thugs by Adam Bock. He directed the American Premiere of Apple by Vern Thiessen and the long-running hit Fat Pig by Neil LaBute for which he received a Jeff Award Nomination for Outstanding Director. Joe directed the Jeff Award winning Blackbird, Babylon Gardens, the Jeff Award nominated Carnal Knowledge and Sexual Perversity in Chicago. He was the co-director of Profiles' productions of The Water Engine, The Twilight Zone: The Series and How the Other Half Loves. Joe has designed numerous sets for Profiles including Stray Dogs, for which he received a 1999 Jeff Award nomination for Set Design.



Darrel W. Cox

Darrell W. Cox (Artistic Director) will be seen next in Profiles' Midwest Premiere of The Break of Noon by Neil LaBute. He most recently appeared in Profiles' Midwest Premiere of A Behanding in Spokane by Martin McDonagh, as well as Profiles' Chicago Premiere of Fifty Words by Michael Weller. Prior to that, he was seen as Bobby Gould in Speed the Plow and John in Oleanna, as part of the Mamet Repertory at American Theatre Company. Darrell received his fourth Joseph Jefferson Award for Actor in a Principal Role for his performance as Joe Cooper in Profiles production of Killer Joe by Tracy Letts. Other recent Profiles' credits include the Chicago Premiere of reasons to be pretty by Neil LaBute and the World Premiere of Kid Sister by Will Kern. Darrell has appeared at Steppenwolf in the World Premiere of Men of Tortuga (where he originated the role of Taggart), the Midwest Premiere of Orange Flower Water (which traveled to the Galway Arts Festival), and the World Premiere of Wendall Greene. He has also been seen at the Goodman in The Shawl and Home as part of the David Mamet Festival, the Chicago Premiere ofThe People's Temple at American Theatre Company as Jim Jones, and the World Premiere of Martin Furey's Shot at TimeLine, among others. He has won four Joseph Jefferson Awards for Principal Actor for his work in Profiles' productions of Killer JoeBlackbird, Some Voices, and Eye of God. In addition, he has received two After Dark Awards for Outstanding Performance for Profiles' productions of Popcorn, and Carnal Knowledge.

Darrell's directing credits include Profiles' U.S. Premiere of The Wonderful World of Dissocia by Anthony Neilson, Profiles' Midwest Premiere of This is How it Goes by Neil LaBute, "Coax" and the titular play in the evening of short plays, Things We Said Today, also by Neil LaBute. Other directing credits include autobahn by Neil LaBute, The Radiant Abyss by Angus MacLachlan, and Wonder of the World by David Lindsay-Abaire. Appearances in other Profiles' productions include Mercy Seat, Great Falls, In a Dark, Dark House, Some Girl(s), Apple, Fat Pig, The Glory of Living, Reparation, Snakebit, Jump to Cow Heaven, Dogs Barking, Babylon Gardens, Paddywack, The Baby Dance, Geography of a Horse Dreamer, Glengarry Glen Ross, Zara Spook and Other Lures, The Twilight Zone: The Series, How the Other Half Loves, The Water Engine, Minor Demons, Orphans, Battery and True West.



Eric Burgher Eric Burgher (Ensemble Member) will next be seen in Profiles' Midwest Premiere of Bachelorette by Leslye Headland. He most recently
appeared in Profiles' Midwest Premiere of A Behanding in Spokane by Martin McDonagh. Prior to that, he was seen in the World Premiere of A Beautiful Spell by Greg Kalleres, with Rare Terra Theatre at the Royal
George. Eric's most recent Profiles appearances include the Midwest Premiere of Jailbait by Deirdre O'Connor, and the World Premiere of Kid Sister by Will Kern. Other appearances at Profiles include Fat Pig, Graceland, This is How It Goes, Body Awareness,  "Land of the Dead" as part of Profiles' Midwest Premiere of LaBute shorts,Things We Said Today, autobahn, The Glory of Living, The Radiant Abyss and Noise. Eric is an Adjunct Faculty member at Columbia College Chicago where he teaches acting.

Eric's technical credits include Sound Designer on Men of TortugaIn a Dark, Dark HouseThings We Said TodaySome Girl(s)AppleFat Pig, autobahn, The Glory of LivingThe Radiant Abyss, Reparation and Noise, as well as Assistant Director for Apple and Assistant Director/Stage Manager on Blackbird, Wonder of the World, Snakebit, and Jump to Cow Heaven



Maryann Carlson (Ensemble Member) is Profiles' Internship Coordinator and Administrative Assistant for the Advanced Scene Study Intensive. She has stage managed several productions at Profiles including Graceland, Men of Tortuga, and In a Dark Dark House. She comes to Chicago from the great state of Massachusetts. She graduated with a BA in Theatre from the University of Vermont in 2004. Maryann has served as assistant stage manager at Lowell Merrimack Repertory Theatre in Lowell, MA and a scenic painter at both Theatre By The Sea in Matunuck, RI and The Arundel Barn Playhouse in Arundel, ME. She toured for two years with Missoula Children's Theatre. Most recently she has performed with Chicago Kids Company in their production of Cinderella.


Marget BrueMarget Brue (Marketing Director) joined Profiles' administrative staff to organize new marketing initiatives, fundraising, grant writing and to assist in audience and board development.  She began her career as commercial real estate broker at Studley, LLC before becoming marketing and business development manager at The 8 Colors. She received her B.A. in History from Northwestern University.



Greg Yaeger (Ensemble Member) last appeared onstage with Profiles as Cody in Geography of a Horse Dreamer. Prior to that Greg played Aaronow in Profiles' production of Glengarry Glen Ross. Other Profiles credits include appearances in Death Knocks, The Twilight Zone: The Series, How the Other Half Loves, The Water Engine, Rumors and Dogg's Hamlet. Greg has also been seen in Zymotic Theatre Company's productions of Ball Boys and The Popcorn Knot.



Sal V. Armano (Ensemble Member) has been a member of Profiles Theatre since 1993. Primarily a costume designer, Sal has designed costumes for numerous Profiles productions including Babylon Gardens, Eye of God, The Baby Dance, Minor Demons, and Carnal Knowledge. He received his BA in Speech and Drama from Trinity University in San Antonio where he designed the costumes for Have You Seen Packy? and the World Premiere musical, Dale's Rail. Sal has also worked with the company as a Props Master and set dressing coordinator.



Wayne Karl (Technical Staff) has long been a fan and supporter of Profiles Theatre and its ensemble. A graduate from the University of Iowa, Wayne has designed or assisted with most technical aspects of the company's productions including sound design, lighting, set construction for such shows as Stray Dogs, Babylon Gardens, Eye of God, Paddywack and The Baby Dance. He also works as a graphic designer and has created many of the company's posters and artwork.

Profiles was in residence at the Wright College Theatre Building until 1990, when Artisitic Director Joe Jahraus directed Profiles' first play at the theatre's current home (4147 N. Broadway) - a hit production of David Mamet's Sexual Perversity in Chicago. The following year, Artistic Director Darrell W. Cox joined the ensemble. Darrell has a B.F.A. in Theatre from Sam Houston State University in Texas and first performed with Profiles in their long-running production of Sam Shepard's True West. Profiles shortly thereafter became the resident company at the Broadway address, formerly known as Red Bones Theatre, and took over all management responsibilities for the 50-seat theatre.

The ensemble officially changed the name of the company and of the theatre space to Profiles Theatre in 1995. Today, Profiles still maintains a small, tightly knit ensemble whose other members include Eric Burgher (2003), Maryann Carlson (2010), Jeremy Hersh (2010), Greg Yaeger (1994), Sal V. Armano (1993) and Wayne Karl (1990).

Profiles Theatre's primary goal is to bring new works to Chicago that illuminate the determination and resiliency of the human spirit. They produce World, US and Midwest Premieres by promising new playwrights, as well as established writers whose work has been seen across the country and around the world. They take pride in carefully selecting scripts that combine integrity with risk and are particularly drawn to playwrights with a unique narrative style and use of language. Profiles Theatre is committed to producing plays that tell a story in a captivating way, ones that will complement the ensemble and speak to their audience.

 

 

Contact Us Classes

The Advanced Scene Study Intensive is taught by Profiles' Artistic Director Darrell W. Cox and Steppenwolf Ensemble member Rick Snyder. It offers a practical, Meisner based, very human approach to contemporary scene work. Audition is required as class size is limited to ten students.

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Profiles announces the opening of The Second Stage, an intimate 50 seat theatre in Lakeview, now available for rentals.  We are currently booking slots for prime time, off and late night productions, rehearsals, classes and benefits at very affordable rates.  Call 773-549-1815 for information. 

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