2023 Awards

2023 Michael Merritt Awards

The Michael Merritt Award for Excellence in Design and Collaboration

Heather Gilbert

Heather is a lighting designer, Chicago to her core who came up designing in the storefronts and assisting in the big houses; always supported by production managers, directors, designers, actors, and the brilliant stage managers and staff that make Chicago the best theatre city in the United States. For over 25 years Heather has designed for countless challenges, from shows lit with incandescent light bulbs in the Chopin basement all the way to a Broadway musical with 100 moving lights. Her current work includes the Broadway production of Parade as well as Adam Rapp’s The Sound Inside at Studio 54 for which she won the Drama Desk Award, was an honoree for the Outer Critics Circle, and was nominated for a Tony Award.

Regionally, Heather’s designs have been seen at theaters from LA and Houston to Washington, D.C. and Boston. Heather has been a member of The Hypocrites, Next Theatre, and Chicago Children’s Theatre. She is a member of Design Action. In 2012 Heather was a recipient of the 3Arts Award, and in 1999 2001, she participated in the NEA/TCG Career Development Program. Heather has proudly run the Lighting Design program at Columbia College Chicago for many years, and her students, both current and former, have made her a better designer and a better person than she would have ever believed possible. They remain the best part of her life, along with the colleagues she shares them with. Mentoring students and supporting young designers as partners and associates is a major focus of Heather’s life.

The Robert Christen Award

Michael Brosilow

Michael is one of the country’s leading theatre production photographers, known for his compelling images of live performance. Since photographing Steppenwolf Theatre’s production of Educating Rita nearly 40 years ago, Michael has photographed virtually every Steppenwolf show, plus approximately 3,000 productions staged by other companies. His clients have included Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, The Guthrie Theatre, SITI Company, The Second City, as well as Court Theatre, Northlight Theatre and Writers Theatre. Michael’s photographs are featured frequently in books, published plays, textbooks and other publications, including American Theatre magazine and The New York Times. A life-long Chicagoan, Michael and his wife of 34 years, Debra Schwartz, live in the Old Irving Park neighborhood.

The Arts Advocacy Award

Laura T. Fisher (she/her)

Laura is a Chicago-based actor, member of AEA, SAG-AFTRA, Co-Founder of NOT IN OUR HOUSE and Coordinator of The Chicago Theatre Standards. Laura has performed in most of Chicago’s Equity theatres, many regional theatres and toured internationally. She is the recipient of Chicago’s Joseph Jefferson Award and three additional nominations for her performances. In 2015, Laura joined Lori Myers to respond to decades of abuse, unsafe and unethical practice in our industry in what became NOT IN OUR HOUSE. Together, Fisher and Myers presided over a paradigm shift in our industry; away from turning a blind eye to harassment and abuse and towards an ethical path to prevention and response. NIOH has been the recipient of the Lily Award (NY), the Hallie Flanagan Humanitarian Award, Rivendell’s Wren Award, and the Illinois Association Professional Theatre Award.

Dr. Lori Myers (she/her)

Dr. Myers is the co-founder of Not In Our House and co-author of Chicago Theatre Standards. NIOH has been the recipient of the Lily Award (NY), the Hallie Flanagan Humanitarian Award, Rivendell’s Wren Award, and the Illinois Association Professional Theatre Award. She has acted in every Chicago storefront theatre that you can ever imagine (seriously) and has been a professional actor for a thousand years. She received a Jeff Award for Maggie in Griffin Theatre’s Men Should Weep directed by Robin Witt. Favorite roles include Julia Gibbs in David Cromer’s Our Town in Chicago, NY & LA, Mother Courage in Vitalist’s Mother Courage and Her Children, and Paula in Mrs. Klein in London’s Wood Theatre. When she isn’t avoiding auditioning, Lori is a
professional occupational therapist specializing in geriatrics.

The Michael Maggio Professional Designer Award

Jared Gooding

Jared is a Chicago-based lighting designer, graduate of DePaul’s Theater School. His design credits include designs for Syracuse Stage, Fulton Stage, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Florentine Opera Company, Indiana Repertory Theater, Writer’s Theater Court Theater, First Stage Theater, Depaul University, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Victory Gardens Theater, Timeline Theater, Bristol Riverside Theater, Madison Children’s Theater, University of Illinois Chicago Theatre, Remy Bumpo Theater, Strawdog Theater, The Hypocrites, Definition Theater, The Denver Center, Windy City Playhouse, Sideshow Theatre, Jackalope Theatre, First Floor Theater, About Face Theatre, MPAACT, Pegasus Theatre, and serving as the Lighting Assistant for The Wiz Live! on NBC as well as Associate Design for The OFFICE’s tour of Yamandja at the Zellerbach Playhouse in Berkeley CA and The Kennedy Center in DC. He is an ensemble member of American Blues Theater and MPAACT and has won lighting awards from the African American Arts Alliance of Chicago and Black Theater Alliance Awards as well as a nomination for a Jeff Award. He spends weekends as a professional DJ and his design work is work is featured at goodingdesigns.com.

The Early Career Technical Collaborator Award

Megan E. Pirtle

Megan E. Pirtle is a Chicago based theatre artist specialized in wig and costume design. She is passionate about using her art to tell stories, especially those that will engage diverse audiences and challenge society. As a designer and artisan dedicated to the collaborative art of theatre, Megan has studied many facets of theatrical production including wig and facial hair construction, costume technology, costume crafts, makeup, and prosthetics. Megan’s work has contributed to the production of plays, musicals, and operas at a variety of theatres including TimeLine Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre, Marriott Theatre, Court Theatre, Raven Theatre, Haymarket Opera, Lyric Opera, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, and more. She prides herself on being a member of the incredibly talented and creative Chicago theatre community and is continuously inspired by her collaborators. Megan is a licensed cosmetologist in Illinois and a graduate of The Theatre School at DePaul University where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in both Costume Design & Costume Technology. She aims to share what she has learned with other emerging artists and theatre companies to equalize opportunity and foster equitable work environments. Her work can be viewed at meganpirtledesign.com.

2023 ACADEMIC PRIZES

Parker Molacek

Parker Molacek is a projection designer, content creator, and programmer. Projection design credits include Il Ritorno D’ulisse In Patria (DePaul Opera Theater), The Locusts and At the Vanishing Point (The Gift Theatre), and Carnival of the Animals (A&A Ballet). Previous assistant and associate credits include TIDY (Renaissance Theaterworks), Boulevard Of Bold Dreams (TimeLine Theatre), and Bald Sisters (Steppenwolf Theatre). Previous programming credits include The Garbologists (Northlight Theatre), It Came From Outer Space (Chicago Shakespeare Theater and Theatre Squared), and The Wizard of Oz (Music Theatre Wichita). He will graduate from DePaul University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Projection Design.

Ava Niemi

Ava Niemi is a recent graduate of Loyola University Chicago with a BA in theatre and political science. During her studies, Ava found passion in stage and production management as well as lighting design. The theatre program in Loyola’s Department of Fine & Performing Arts promoted fluidity and collaboration which allowed her to pursue many different production opportunities over the past four years. Ava is so grateful for her faculty’s mentorship and guidance and would like to thank her family for always supporting her.

Maximo Grano De Oro (He/Him/His)

Maximo is a Lighting Designer for theater, opera, and dance originally from New Jersey. is currently an MFA candidate at Northwestern University studying Lighting Design, expected in May 2023. Recent design credits include Sweat, As You Like It, Bengal Tiger At The Baghdad Zoo, In His Hands, Resiliencia (Northwestern Wirtz Center), The Magic Flute, The Medium (Northwestern Opera), Much Ado About Nothing, The Tempest (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company).

Tully Dobrowolski (They/Them)

Tully is a scenic fabricator from Rockford, Illinois, currently working in Chicago. They are a graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago, (UIC) with a Bachelors of Arts in Design Production and Technology and the honors of Cum Laude. Having participated in productions as a stage manager, scenic carpenter, and props manager, Tully enjoys being a part of the creation process and plans to continue this love as a graduate working in the city. Outside of theater and caring for a 12-year old rescue cat, Tully enjoys learning new skills like cooking, geology, welding, and hiking.

Ab Rieve

Ab is a theatrical designer and illustrator originally from the Western Shore of Maryland and currently based in Chicago. Starting as an actor, they got into theatre technology and design in high school as part of a very small theatre troupe. In college they continued to explore different aspects of theatre and currently focus on costume design, illustration, and construction; scenic construction and painting; and props. They also have worked on film in the art department as a costumer and production designer. In addition to theatre, Ab also majored in illustration with a focus on nature and community-based illustration work. They bring a love of wilderness and people to their theatre practice and especially enjoy work portraying the mystical as grounded in a humorous way.