THE 2024 MERRITT AWARD  FOR EXCELLENCE IN DESIGN AND COLLABORATION

Mikhail Fiksel 

Mikhail Fiksel is an award-winning designer, composer, dj and audio producer working in theater, film, dance, and audio-forward media. Originally hailing from the frozen steppes of Siberia, he is currently based in Chicago and NYC.  Recent and upcoming collaborations include Uncle Vanya (Lincoln Center Theatre), Cambodian Rock Band (Regional Tour), I Love You So Much I Could Die and How to Defend Yourself (New York Theater Workshop), Mexodus (Baltimore Center Stage, Mosaic Theater, Berkeley Rep); Little Bear Ridge, Sanctuary City, No Man’s Land, 1919 (Steppenwolf), Mr K. and the Flowers, Good Enemy, The Podcaster and Massive (Audible Originals), as well as  various projects with Albany Park Theater Projects (where he is a Resident Artist) and Make Believe Association (where he is Head of Audio Production). Recent awards include the 2023 Signal Award for Original Music, the 2022 Tony Award for Sound Design, and multiple Lucille Lortel Awards and Jeff Awards. He is a partner at TIGHTROPE, a local recording studio and collaboration space and Practioner-In-Residence at Columbia College Chicago, and a proud member of USA and TSDCA.                                www.mikhailfiksel.com 

THE 2024 ROBERT CHRISTEN AWARD  FOR EXCELLENCE IN TECHNICAL COLLABORATION

Maggie Fullilove-Nugent  

Maggie (Director of Production, TimeLine Theatre, she/her) has been working as a production manager, designer, and technician in Chicago for two decades. Her home theatres include TimeLine Theatre, The Ruffians, The Neo-Futurists, Playmakers Laboratory Theatre, The Hypocrites, Theo Ubique, Akvavit Theatre, and North Park University Theatre. Maggie’s true passion is inspiring students and young professionals in the theatre industry. She has been teaching since this start of her career at dozens of schools including North Park University, The Theatre School at DePaul, and Columbia College. In 2017, Maggie became a leader of the Chicago Green Theatre Alliance, a group of artists that encourages, educates, and motivates the performing arts community to adopt more environmentally friendly practices throughout the industry. Her current goal is to help guide the Chicago Theatre Community to safer, more sustainable, and equitable practices for all practitioners. She believes that sharing resources and transparency are the keys to our success as an industry. When not working with the theatre community she enjoys sipping wine on her porch, hosting parties and cuddling with her cat, Makita. 

THE 2024 MICHAEL MAGGIO EMERGING DESIGNER AWARD 

Lauren Nichols 

Lauren is a freelance designer, CAD drafter, and scale model builder native to Chicago. Design credits include Flood (Shattered Globe); A Home What Howls (Steppenwolf YA); Blues for Alabama Sky and Anna in the Tropics (Jeff Nominated – Remy Bumppo ); Mothers (Gift); Motherhouse (Rivendell);Tiger Style (Writers);and Cinderella (Village Theatre- Seattle). She has also designed for UIC, Lifeline, DePaul Opera, North Central College, Jackalope, First Floor, Harper College, Glass Apple, Young People’s Theatre, Renaissance Theatreworks, Teatro Vista, Firebrand, Hell in a Handbag, and BoHo. As an assistant Lauren has worked with Julliard, NY Theatre Workshop, Court, Drury Lane, St. Louis Opera, Curtis Institute of Music, Goodman, Milwaukee Rep, The Alliance, and Oregon Shakes among many others. She currently teaches drafting and digital design as an adjunct professor at The Theatre School-DePaul University. Upcoming shows include Hot Wing King with Writers and projects with Raven, Marriott and Paramount. MFA Northwestern 

THE 2024 EMERGING TECHNICAL COLLABORATOR AWARD

Emmanuel Jimenez 

Emmanuel is a freelance Scenic Supervisor for Chicago Theatres, originally from Sacramento, California. His love of theatre began on account of an interdisciplinary program in college.  It was through this cross-departmental experience that he learned that taping a ground plan was a special skill. After college, Emmanuel did a nine-month intensive Stage Management Internship at Sacramento’s B St. Theatre in 2017. The internship required ten-to-twelve-hour workdays, six days a week, including stage management of Equity contract rehearsals. After his internship, and with some metal shop experience from high school, he started as a scenic carpenter for B St. Theatre.  

In 2020, Emmanuel moved to Chicago where his first job in the city was as a swing technician for Columbia College Dance Center. He worked as an over hire electrician and carpenter for Porchlight Music Theatre, Windy City Playhouse, Teatro Vista, and Northlight Theatre Company among others. In the spring of 2022, He became the Scenic Supervisor for Timeline Theatre Company. After a successful season as Supervisor, in spring of 2023 Emmanuel took on the Scenic Supervisor role at Mercury Theatre.  Thanks to the support of the Chicago theatre community! 

2024 ACADEMIC PRIZES

Elly Burke 

Elly Burke (she/her/hers,) a costume and scenic designer from Indianapolis, IN is currently finishing her degree in Theatre Design and Technology at Columbia College Chicago.  Costume credits include Hamlet directed by Jeremy Cohn, Dance Nation directed by Alison Dornheggan, The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek directed by Gab Rooney, and Blood at the Root directed by Ashley Keys. Scenic credits include Tango Palace directed by Delani Hamilton, Revolt. She Said. Revolt Again. and Madam and Steve, both directed by Cleo Flores. Elly interned with Lyric Opera of Chicago’s technical department during the 2022-2023 season. Her post-graduation plans include writing a book, learning to knit, and dismantling the patriarchy. 

Andres Fiz 

Andres Fiz is a Chicago based projection designer and video artist. Their projection design credits include Wipeout (Rivendell Theatre Ensemble), The Mole Hill Stories, and Las Wavys (DePaul University). Associate projection design credits include How I Learned What I Learned (Congo Square Theatre Company), Notes from the Field (Time Line Theatre), The Life And Deaths Of Alan Turing (Chicago Opera Theater), Cinderella (Drury Lane Theatre), King Charles III (Colorado Shakespeare Festival), and The Wizard of Oz (Music Theatre Wichita, content animator). Andres is a recent graduate of The Theatre School at DePaul University, where they earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Projection Design.  

Anna Marek 

Anna Marek is a Sound Designer/Audio Engineer who has just recently graduated from the  University of Illinois at Chicago with a BA in Design, Production, and Technology. Their  passion for music and live audio engineering brought them to UIC to pursue the sound design  program, however they do not limit themselves to sound design.  A deep excitement for all  things audio led Anna to join UIC Radio and DJ-ing on the side. Torres at the University of Illinois at Chicago. The sound design for this production used music as a way to bring the audience back in time and really submerge themselves into the 1930’s. 

Lia Wallfish 

Lia Wallfish (She/Her/Hers) is a costume designer and visual artist based in Chicago. She was born in Israel and moved to the United States in 2015 to pursue a Bachelor of Arts in Theater at the University of California, Los Angeles. Lia has worked professionally in costume design and costume departments in various fields, including theater, opera, dance, television, and film. Some notable productions she has worked on include The Metropolitan Opera, American Horror Story, and The Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Currently, Lia is completing her Master of Fine Arts in Stage Design at Northwestern University. She hopes to use her art to challenge the conventions she experienced growing up in Israel and is dedicated to telling stories that inspire inclusion and healing. Her credits at Northwestern include Dracula: A Feminist Revenge Fantasy, Working: The Musical – Localized, Indecent, The Revolutionists, and Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile. Outside of Northwestern, she has worked on productions such as Julius Caesar (The Independent Shakespeare Company, Los Angeles), Twelfth Night (The Independent Shakespeare Company, Los Angeles), and American Portrait (Evanston Dance Ensemble)