Lisa Wagner-Carollo
Founder/Executive Director
Lisa Wagner-Carollo is the Founder and Artistic Director of Still Point Theatre Collective. She founded the company in 1993, motivated by a strong desire to combine ministry and theatre. Ever since, she has toured the country and overseas with Haunted by God: The Life of Dorothy Day. Wagner has also performed in and produced (for Still Point), the internationally toured Points of Arrival: A Jean Donovan Journey, a play that explores the life and commitment of one of the four North American church women killed in El Salvador in 1980. Lisa also works as a facilitator in Still Point’s outreach programs. Her education includes a B.S.E. from Emporia State University. She completed her certification as a spiritual director at Siena Center in Racine, Wisconsin and has begun a spiritual direction practice in the Chicago area. Lisa is also honored to serve on the NCPD's Council on Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities.
Awards: Outstanding Recent Graduate, Emporia State University, 1997 Seeds of Hope Award, Wheatridge, 2009. Click here to view Lisa's book, Above Along Inside and Through, published in 2017.
Carmen Romero
Associate Director
After Carmen completed her BS in Psychology at Syracuse University, she spent the next 10 years managing retail businesses and ultimately creating her own personal business. After selling that business she took a career change to resume studies at the graduate level at Erikson Institute, pursuing an M. Ed. early child education and managing multi-site childcare centers on the west and south side. Several years later when her kids arrived, Carmen stepped down to care for her growing family, volunteer, and care for her mother. Presently, she is enjoying working in administrative support for Still Point, rebooting her career.
LEADERSHIP
Kevin Aoussou
Associate Director
Kevin Aoussou (He/Him/His) is a Chicago based actor, director, producer, and educator from Abidjan, Côte D’Ivoire. Originally an actor, Kevin has been using his toolbox to become an effective leader and facilitator hoping to find the balance between living life and practicing life, by collaborating on projects that investigate theater, education, and social change. Kevin graduated with a double major from Winthrop University in Theater Performance and Mass Communication in 2018. In the summer of 2020 Kevin came to Chicago to earn his MFA in Acting from Northwestern University and will be graduating this summer. He also founded The SuperHuman Collective (SHC) and The Local Lab Co. , organizations focused on artistic collaboration, reflecting current events and experiences, and creating community impact.
Margie Gallaway
Marketing Director
Recently retired after 30 years with Nestle Purina in sales and marketing, Margie is excited to combine her expertise with theatre. A frequent volunteer as a “theatre mom”, she loves the welcoming and inclusive spirit in theatre communities. Her interests also include music, sports, travel, wine, and spending time with family and friends. Margie received a BSJ in Advertising from the University of Kansas.
FACILITATORS
James Cornolo
Program Facilitator
James has been teaching music for over 15 years to a wide range of people including very young children, senior citizens, and persons with disabilities. He has studied jazz at the American Conservatory of Music and currently holds a B. A. in Classical Guitar Performance and Pedagogy from Northwestern Illinois University. James has a strong professional background in World Music including Latin and Caribbean styles in addition to rock, jazz, and classical. James uses his rich experience to find the best approach for each individual student’s growth and enjoyment.
Nate Smith Actor/Booking/
Program Facilitator
Nate Smith is an actor in three different documentary pieces with Still Point: The True Cost: Stories of Human Trafficking; Visionary at the Helm; and the soon to perform He Walks Through Lightning: St. Norbert Speaks. He is also an outreach program facilitator who has worked in Cook County Jail, in programs with adults with developmental disabilities, and began two programs as part of the Sage Workshop working with the elderly.
In 2020 he began a new initiative, The 6th Festival, an international fringe festival of all types of events where anyone, anywhere can contribute to be part of raising awareness and solving the greatest issue our species has ever faced: the climate crisis.
To find out more, visit www.thesixthfest.org
Joy Valdez-Pappas
Facilitator & Actor
Joy Valdez-Pappas is inspired to be a part of Still Point Theatre Collective as they continue to use theatre to uplift, inform and share humanity’s epiphanies’. As a producer, writer, improviser, actor, and musician in Chicagoland, she has performed and/or had collaborative works produced in both film and theater in Los Angeles and Chicago. Her training includes Black Box Studio, The Acting Studio, Second City Music Conservatory and UCLA’s Extension Entertainment & Screenwriting Program. Joy also has a B.S. in Business Management and a minor in biology. She works as a clinical actor at various medical schools and corporations and during the holiday season you may find her in Dickensian attire singing carols with the Frozen Robins. Joy lives in Chicago with her husband, Dean and her son, Peter.
Mónica Sánchez
Program Facilitator
Mónica Sánchez is a teacher, writer, and grad student from Chicago, IL. She graduated from Knox College with a Bachelor's in Elementary Education with an Early Childhood Endorsement and minors in Spanish and Anthropology & Sociology. She is currently pursuing her EdM in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is a preschool teacher at University Primary School. Mónica facilitates the monthly Intergenerational Writing Group at Still Point which is open to artists and people of all ages who want to write. She has very wide interests that include teaching, research, and creative writing. Her previous works include writing a play that was selected and performed at Lane Tech’s Play Festival and performed at the world's largest youth poetry slam competition Louder Than A Bomb. Mónica believes in working towards creating more equitable spaces in schools and community spaces through art by exploring creativity and reflection.
Emma Lou Andrews
Facilitator
Emma Lou Andrews is a recent graduate of Otterbein University where she received her BFA in Acting and her BA in Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies. While there, she was a part of the MainStage Improv troupe, and performed in several plays including Butterflies are Free (Jill) and School for Scandal (Lady Sneerwell). She also had the opportunity to direct a workshop production of Reasons to be Pretty, by Neil LaBute. She is currently taking improv classes at Second City and performs comedy around Chicago.
Kya Rognstad
Facilitator
Kya choreographs and teaches with a team that’s focused on body confidence, and creating a positive and comfortable environment to uplift women. She also spends her time performing all around the city and showcasing her arts.
Bob Hart
Podcast Host/ Facilitator
Bob Hart is a theatre artist who has worked professionally as an actor, director, playwright and educator. He earned his BA in Communication and Theatre from Emporia State University and MFAs in Acting and Playwriting from the University of Arkansas. A Kansas City native, he lives in Olathe, Kansas, where he is a board member of the Olathe Civic Theatre Association.
Daphne Agosin
Facilitator
Daphne (she, hers) is a theater designer for lighting, with previous experience in urban design. She is interested in the relationship between theater and community engagement, in how design can heighten an event, create better experiences, and improve people's quality of life. She is doing an internship in Still Point while participating in different outreach workshops. She co-founded the outdoor performance group Grass Studio Theatre with director Hamid Dehghani, experimenting with retaining passerby audiences and public space interactions after the months of isolation during the height of the pandemic. Some of her designs include the US premiere of Tebas Land [2022], and co-designed Intimate Apparel at Northlight [2022].
Madelyn Loehr
Facilitator
Madelyn Loehr (she/they) is an actor, writer, solo performance artist, yoga instructor, and long time vegan. After growing up in Denver she moved to Chicago where she has worked and resided for the past 8 years. They received their MFA in Acting from DePaul University in 2024, and since then have been diving deeper into their personal writing practice, working with different theater companies, and expanding their artistic community. Madelyn has worked with various theaters including Redtwist Theatre, City Lit, Akvavit Theatre, The Factory, and The Understudy. Her solo show, FLESH, had its professional debut with Redtwist in the fall of 2024. Her TV credits include Chicago Justice and Chicago PD. She is excited to work with Still Point and expand her community even further!
CONTRIBUTORS
Raj Kharvari
Financial Manager
Raj received his B.S in Finance from DePaul University in Chicago and has a strong professional background in accounting and finance. Full-time, Raj works as a portfolio manager for a large private equity real estate investment firm. As the financial manager at Sill Point, he oversees all routine accounting and finance responsibilities such as payroll, AP, AR, and budgeting.
Cody Kruetzer
Executive Assistant
Cody Kreutzer currently serves as the assistant to Still Point's Founder and Executive Director, Lisa Wagner-Carollo. He is also a Teaching Artist with Johnson County Parks and Recreation Department in Overland Park, Kansas. He teaches Intro to Acting, Intermediate Acting, leads various performing arts programs, and directs Academy productions for students ages 5 – 18. In addition to his work as a Teaching Artist, Cody is active in local theatre groups, both as a performer and creative team member. He has performed in professional and community theater productions with The White Theatre at The J, Theatre in the Park, and The Blue Curtain Project. His work in the arts has been recognized at local and regional levels, earning 3rd Place at the National Association of Teachers of Singing annual scholarship auditions in the Musical Theatre division, in addition to a nomination for a Regional Broadway World award for his performance as the Escapologist in Matilda: the Musical at The White Theatre at The J. Along with performing, Cody has also been a member of several production teams serving as a choreographer, costumer, and director. Cody received his Bachelor of General Studies with an emphasis in Theatre and Master of Liberal Studies with an emphasis in Music from Fort Hays State University in Hays, Kansas, along with a Master of Arts Leadership and Cultural Management from Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado.
Daniel Villanueva
Videographer
& Photographer
Daniel Villanueva, a 2024 graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago with a Bachelors in Communication, has continually collaborated with Still Point’s Founder and Executive Director Lisa Wagner over the many years of their friendship. He first met Lisa in 2011 when she hosted a weekly youth group gathering at Ravenswood Presbyterian Church and then went on to co-host the same youth group from 2017-2022. In 2024, Daniel became Still Point’s videographer and enjoys bringing awareness to social justice issues.
Isabeau Pogue
Andy Torres Intern
J. Isabeau Pogue (she/they) is an actor, director, producer, stage manager and theater creator from the Chicago area. She is currently studying theater at Lake Forest College. She started as an actor in community theater from a young age and transitioned to directing and theater creation in her late teens. This built a life long love of the art form and an appreciation of theater as a powerful tool for expression. She is very invested in new plays and supporting new playwrights. She produced a workshop in 2023 showcasing the work of three young playwrights and took on multiple roles with the new plays festival at The Dunes Summer Theater during the festival's first two seasons.
Jade Gray
Laura Callahan-Hazard Intern
Jade Gray (she/her) is a Chicago-based teaching artist, writer, performer, and graphic designer with a passion for promoting inclusive, arts-based experiences. As a performer, she has worked with the Dakota Prairie Regional Center for the Arts and the Cody Center for the Performing Arts. Jade collaborates with organizations such as Chicago Children’s Theatre, where she helps implement theatre programs for autistic youth and leads residencies that center neurodivergent learning. She also partners with Once Upon Our Time Capsule to bring accessible and engaging arts-based education to youth across the city.
Jade believes in the power of music and art to reconnect individuals with their bodies and foster healing. She seeks to join shared spaces that promote joy, connection, and belonging for those who may not always have access to them.
Lori Navarrete
Laura Callahan-Hazard Intern
Lori Navarrete is a Mexican interdisciplinary artist based in Chicago, Illions. Her work is an epistemological and ontological exploration of identity, gender, race and sexuality that centers the experiences of womxn of color. Lori is currently working on her first solo work, “Abue Lipa” in collaboration with Glass Half Full Theater Company in Austin, Texas. Her recent acting credits include Mud ( Northwestern), Yamel Cucuy (GHFT), Saving Salvador (Placid Productions), and Love & Death (HBO). Lori has worked as an curator and arts education administrator for the Smithsonian Institute, Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center, Women and their Work, The Contemporary Austin, and the Dougherty Arts Center. As a producer Lori was a founding member of the Echame un Ojo Theatre and Arts Festival. She graduated with a bachelor's in Theatre Performance and Art History from St. Edwards University, and is currently earning her MFA in Acting from Northwestern University.
Daphne (she, hers) is a theater designer for lighting, with previous experience in urban design. She is interested in the relationship between theater and community engagement, in how design can heighten an event, create better experiences, and improve people's quality of life. She is doing an internship in Still Point while participating in different outreach workshops. She co-founded the outdoor performance group Grass Studio Theatre with director Hamid Dehghani, experimenting with retaining passerby audiences and public space interactions after the months of isolation during the height of the pandemic. Some of her designs include the US premiere of Tebas Land [2022], and co-designed Intimate Apparel at Northlight [2022].
Lindsay Porter
Program Facilitator
Lindsay Porter has been acting, directing, teaching and writing plays in Chicago for over 20 years. At Still She has been a facilitator for the Persephone Project at Lake County Jail since 2008. She co-directed Feeling Beautiful All Over, performed by Sisters Rising. Lindsay has directed and performed at dozens of Chicago theatres and was a founding member of Running With Scissors where she appeared in The Man Who Fell in Love with the Moon and wrote and directed her adaptation of Lysistrata. Lindsay recently forayed into Chicago’s Live Lit and storytelling scene, where she’s performed her own writing with Story Sessions, True Story, Tellin’ Tales and Loose Chicks. Lindsay’s plays and monologues have been performed at Trap Door, Chicago Dramatists, Organic, Running with Scissors, and Collaboraction in Chicago and at Live Girls in Seattle and Riverside Theatre in Iowa. She also directed and performed in The Conscience Monologues, a project of the Eighth Day Center for Justice, with Still Point Founder Lisa Wagner. Lindsay lives in Chicago with her husband and son.
Stewart Romeo
Associate
Stewart Romeo (he/him) is an actor, carpenter and teaching artist on the scene in Chicago. Born and bred in Chicago, he began his work at the Goodman Theatre Youth Arts Program (originally known as G.T.S.) in 2013. While studying theatre at Tennessee State University, he participated in multiple shows and honed his skills as an actor and carpenter by working on each set he performed on. Upon his return to Chicago, he began working at Black Ensemble Theatre doing the same. He is an avid lover of the arts and arts education. Stewart is extremely excited to be apart of the StepEd cohort as a new teaching artist contributing to the development of the next generation of theatre participants.
Ashaki McClain
Facilitator
I. Ashaki Williams McClain is a youth advocate specializing in establishing meaningful connections that inspire people to fully be themselves.
Ashaki earned her BA in Business Administration from Florida A&M University and stayed in Florida to work in the public and private sector. In 2001, she moved to Chicago to support the family consulting business. While freelancing as a teaching artist, Ashaki developed youth programs for several Chicago Public School high schools and launched her own after school program focused on arts and academics at Shoesmith Elementary School. This program infused the tools they gained from the arts into their academics, and she witnessed the transformative impact it had on the student’s experience of learning. As a result, she spent decades advocating for youth and their communities and designing and directing programs in arts activism, leadership development, increasing access to technological equipment and education, and the healing arts.
In her spare time, Ashaki is a mother of four biological children and a bonus mother to many. She is a dancer and a doula and enjoys traveling and continuing to learn, teach, and explore the healing arts, including various styles of yoga.
Carson Grace Becker
Artistic Associate
Carson Grace Becker earned her MFA in playwriting from the University of Iowa. She most recently served as the Artistic Director of Chicago Dramatists, and is the founder of The Root & The Bloom Collective, an Arts & Humanities in Butte, MT. Her stage plays and awards include: A MISLAID HEAVEN, Joseph Jefferson Award (Chicago), ADA Award (Los Angeles) for Best New Work, with numerous productions around the country; BY THE MUSIC OF THE SPHERES, commissioned/produced by the The Goodman Theatre; GIRL’S CHOICE, commissioned/produced by Honolulu Theatre for Youth; THE EROTIC LIFE OF PROPERTY, featured at The Williamstown Theater Festival, The Playwright’s Center, The Southwest New Plays Festival (Stages Theatre, Houston); BOOK OF MERCY produced by Chicago Dramatists, workshopped at the Midwest O’Neill Festival and Montana Repertory; INK & ELKSKIN commissioned/produced by Nebraska Repertory; NEBRASKA NEXT commissioned/produced by The Angel Theater Company; REMEMBERING HELOISE, Award for Playwriting Excellence, The Kennedy Center; GIFT OF THE MAGI, commissioned/produced by The Riverside Theater. Her screenplay DARK GARDEN won 2nd Place in the Los Angeles New Wave Film Festival, was a finalist at the Austin Film Festival and the Creative World Awards and semi-finalist in The Blue Cat competition; her screenplay LOST IN PARADISE is currently in development with 2nd Frame Productions in NYC. Ms. Becker has worked as Literary Manager at Honolulu Theater for Youth, Director of the Playwrights Network at Chicago Dramatist, and Dramaturg for The Mark Taper Forum (New Play Festival). She’s received two Illinois Arts Council Grants, two residencies at The William Inge Center for the Arts, taught Playwriting and Screenwriting at The University of Chicago/Graham School, Columbia College, Roosevelt University and Chicago Dramatists, and has been a guest artist at NYU, Ohio University, University of Nebraska, University of Illinois (Chicago) and Oklahoma State.
Lisa Biggs
Guest Artist
Lisa Biggs is an actor, playwright, and performance studies scholar. She currently works as an Assistant Professor of the Arts and Africana Studies at Brown University. Originally from the Southside of Chicago, Lisa worked for more than a decade as a professional actress and teaching artist in local and regional theatres before earning a PhD in Performance Studies at Northwestern University (2013). At Brown she teaches courses in African American culture, Black theatre, and performance studies. Her forthcoming book, The Healing Stage: Black Women, Incarceration, and the Art of Transformation, will be published in late 2022 by the Ohio State University Press.
Luz Espinoza
Associate
Luz Espinoza is a proud Mexican artist from the Mexico/US borderland. Luz is an actor, director, movement coordinator and educator. She recently earned her MFA in Acting from Northwestern University. Recent credits are Marisol (Marisol), Charlotte Corday (The Revolutionists) and Jania (Exit Strategy). She was also participant of the Chamizal’s Siglo de Oro Festival where she directed A Bicycle Country. Luz’s work is based on research through movement expression and her values are centered on inclusion, representation of the latinx voices and community.
Steve Grossman
Director, Technical Theatre Support
Steve has an M.A. in Theater and Film, and has directed scores of amateur and professional productions. In 1966, he was founding director of the Creede Repertory Theatre in Creede, Colorado. He has been a Peace Corps volunteer and staffer, a screenwriter and journalist, and has taught at universities in Kansas and Missouri.
Virginia Smith Director
Virginia is the Head of Directing at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and until recently was the Artistic Director of Nebraska Repertory Theatre. She received the Mayor’s Choice Award from Lincoln’s Mayor Chris Beutler and the Lincoln Arts Council in 2015. She has been working with Lisa Wagner-Carollo and Still Point since the very beginning of the company, and directed Haunted by God, Deep Listening, and Living Water.
IN MEMORIAM
Raj received his B.S in Finance from DePaul University in Chicago and has a strong professional background in accounting and finance. Full-time, Raj works as a portfolio manager for a large private equity real estate investment firm. As the financial manager at Sill Point, he oversees all routine accounting and finance responsibilities such as payroll, AP, AR, and budgeting.
Andy Torres
Actor/Co-Facilitator
Andy Torres was a spectacular actor. For over 20 years, beginning in 1991, he was part of Still Point’s Imagination Workshop at Esperanza Community Services. He loved directing and would often co-lead our workshops. Andy also participated in the Ray Graham Training Center and Garden Center Services. He participated in the Special Olympics for many years, was also an artist whose artwork was featured on two different Special Olympic calendars and also displayed at various charitable events. One of his pieces was on display at a local Starbucks for over a year. Andy was involved in performing arts and acted in various plays such as Phantom of the Opera (we will never forget his portrayal of the Phantom- a performance that he fully imbued with his heart and soul), Grease and the Wizard of Oz, to name a few, while a member of Still Point.
In Memoriam
Laura Callahan-Hazard
Senior Facilitator
Laura Callahan-Hazard holds a degree in Directing from Barat College, and has a background in Chicago theater working as a designer, dramaturg, and director. She is the lead facilitator for the Ravenswood Players, and has also led other Imagination Workshop programs with Still Point, including partnerships with SEARCH Inc., L’Arche Chicago, and Orchard Village.
In Memoriam
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Sara Moslener,
PRESIDENT
Sara Moslener is a former tour manager for Still Point whose love for theatre and social justice
work has remained strong even as she pursued graduate work in religious studies. Today, Sara
is a lecturer in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at Central Michigan University where
she teaches course on religion, racism, and sexuality.
Steve Grossman, Secretary
Steve has an M.A. in Theater and Film, and has directed scores of amateur and professional productions. In 1966, he was founding director of the Creede Repertory Theatre in Creede, Colorado. He has been a Peace Corps volunteer and staffer, a screenwriter and journalist, and has taught at universities in Kansas and Missouri.
Yahaira Landaverry,
TREASURER
Yahaira Landaverry of Guatemalan descendent, came to the Windy City at the age of ten and has lived in Chicago since then. Graduated from Fox College in 2004 with an Associate's Degree in Associate of Applied Science in Administration. Soon before graduating, she started working for The National Federation of Priests' Councils until February of 2014 where she met Lisa Wagner.
At the present moment, she volunteers as the Secretary for her church, Sublime Gracia; she's also part of the Administrative Board, and leads the Youth Group along with her husband of 14 years. They have a 7-year old boy, Nathan and a 4-month puppy, Rocket.