Theater and Performance Studies BA Performances

From growing up a church kid to navigating the world of speech and debate, Erin Copeland has been on stages her whole life. She spent most of her childhood creating: filming wacky trailers on iMovie, spending hours in front of the piano, dancing any and everywhere. She has been dancing since she was 5 years old and hasn’t stopped moving since, most recently participating in the TAPS dance department’s Dance Pro-Show. Movement is a crucial part of her creative process. As an all-around artist, Erin’s work is deeply motivated by her desire to blur the lines between performer and audience. A Georgia native (near enough to Atlanta to claim it), her art is rooted in faith, the South, and everything Black. She is double-majoring in English and Theater and Performance Studies (TAPS). the Stage: a Performance in Draft is her first original, theatrical work. A special thank you to the professors and peers who make this university a bit more bearable. You are seen and appreciated.

Writer, improvisor, and comedian Summer Cramer is overjoyed to share her thesis project 'fresh, warm, good.' with anyone who has ever worked in customer service, grieved, or been a teenager. During her time at UChicago, she has poured about a billion hours into Off-Off campus and has performed in and written many sketch and improv comedy shows. Beyond 'fresh, warm, good.', she has invested most of her time into her soul musical (SLIMEGRIMECRIME) and memoir (irl). She would like to thank Leslie, Devon, Calamity, and all of the other TAPS staff who made this play possible; Off Off Campus for teaching her the language of comedy; Jocelyn Cramer for her endless and tireless support; and of course her former coworkers at Little Caesars for helping her discover the world through pizza.

Hi, I'm Belle Hart! I am a TAPS and Political Science major! I've done a lot of acting and singing, but have always been interested in writing. HOUSE DIVIDED is the first full play I have ever written! I really hope you enjoy!

Abby Kanes is a fourth year TAPS and Business Economics major. Throughout her time at UChicago she has been involved in two TAPS Pro-Shows, seven University Theater productions as a Director, Actor and Pit Musician, and served on UT committee. This musical was inspired by being told for the first time she could not do something, with no reason other than being a girl. Through this process she asked, “What if I had the drive, inspiration, and support to fight back? What could have changed? What could have improved?” The creation process for this musical has been ongoing since Winter 2024 and she is so excited to be presenting it as her Thesis Project. She wants to thank the performers in this reading, her New Musical Development course workshop, BA colloquium workshops, Devon de Mayo, Leslie Buxbaum, and especially Scott Elmegreen. 

Nathalie Lam is a Econ Major and TAPS minor, originally from Singapore. She had never done theater in any capacity until college, and is very happy to be here! In her free time, she enjoys going to the movies, biking around the city, and hanging out with the people she loves. She hopes to continue creating cool things with cool people in the future.

Eleni Lefakis Pantoja is a TAPS and RLLT major who has spent every free (and not free) moment of her time at college participating in extracurricular performing arts. She has racked up over 30 TAPS and UT show credits and spent 4 wonderful years latched onto everything University Theater, The Dean’s Men, Occam’s Razor, Attori Senza Paura, University Ballet, and the Vocal Studies Program have done (or as much of it as they’ve allowed). Outside of UChicago, Eleni has worked professionally and semi-professionally with Star Channel, Teatro del Presagio, Con la Verdad, Lykofos Productions, Berlin Opera Academy, and Reptilian Affiliates Theater Co. She is currently assistant directing Berlin at Court Theatre. After graduation, Eleni will be pursuing the arts somewhere in some way. She doesn’t know precisely what she’ll be doing yet, but she hopes it’ll require her to use at least two languages. This thesis is, first and foremost, Eleni’s love letter to intersectionality, overthinking, being young and queer, reflexive verbs, making art with friends, getting lost in translation, vulnerability, figuring shit out, the Spanish language, and la sucursal del cielo.

Zachary Leiter dislikes eating cooked spinach, reading sentences that lack parallel structure, and writing about himself.

The son of two preachers’ children, London is an actor, improvisor, singer, and writer from Portland, OR (the least religious major city in the US). After almost three years in process (some of that time spent in the scrapped ideas bin), he is so excited to be able to share his thesis, Fresco, with an audience of trusted friends and collaborators. Throughout his time in college, London is proud to have been a part of numerous theatrical projects, including Be More Chill (UT 2023), The Ballad of Oedipus (TAPS 2024), LAAF (Voices in Your Head 2024), and too many Off-Off shows to count. He’d like to thank Off-Off Campus for helping him always choose to love, Leslie and Devon for their invaluable mentorship, his family for encouraging his deep and various passions, and, as always, Dani and Blake for giving those passions a space to grow.

Born and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Sage is a fourth-year psychology major with a minor in theater and performance studies at the University of Chicago. Her dance journey began in childhood with training in ballet, contemporary, jazz, hip-hop, and Mexican folklórico. At UChicago, she is a member of several dance RSOs, including EX Crew, Maya, and UBallet. Sage’s creative work draws on her background in psychology, weaving personal experience, identity, and emotion into physical expression. Her choreography blends narrative and abstraction, using the body as a channel for discovery and storytelling. Rooted in collaboration and embodied inquiry, her work explores how movement can express the inner workings of the mind when words fall short.

Kelly Mao is a fourth-year Computer Science and Mathematics major with a minor in TAPS. She enjoys deep conversations and long walks on the beach at sunset. 

Daniel is a 4th year student majoring in Business Economics and minoring in TAPS. He is originally from North Carolina and transferred to UChicago in his 2nd year. He previously studied in the Acting Conservatory in The Theater School at DePaul University and studied Acting at UNCSA High School. 

Rory McGann is a Molecular Engineering major and Theater & Performance Studies minor who has always had a love for the stage. His theater credits at UChicago include Falsettos (Director), Arcadia (Bernard Nightingale), Romeo and Juliet (Juliet), Be More Chill (Rich Goranski), and 13th Morning (Assistant Production Manager). He came into UChicago as an actor, but has since tried his hand at direction and writing for musical theater, the latter of which has become his thesis project. While he does not plan to pursue a career in the performing arts, they are very important to him, and he could not be more excited to share his and his team’s work with an audience.

Belle Nahoom is focused primarily on costume design. She has worked as a costume designer on several pieces throughout the last four years at the college including most recently the TAPS Dance Pro-Show and University Theater's If/Then

Sophie Poff is a fourth-year TAPS major and Astronomy & Astrophysics minor. After graduation, I will being going Active Duty in the United States Air Force as a Public Affairs Officer. I've always had a love for music, which is why I've chosen for my BA Project to be in a musical format.

Jalen is a circus performer, dancer, and occasional actor. They are pursuing a double major in Theater and Performance Studies and Gender and Sexuality Studies as well as an M.A. in the Humanities. As a freshman at the University of Chicago, Jalen became heavily involved in the school’s circus arts organization, Le Vorris and Vox Circus. Jalen has served as the group’s Technical Director, Aerial Coordinator, and been a regular performer in their quarterly showcases. Jalen is also a part of the UChicago Dance Program performing in the Winter Dance Showcase, On the Back of Before, 35 Millimeter, and choreographing for If/Then. After graduation, they plan to continue their practice of dance and movement in the Chicago community and pursue a career in professional circus performance. 

Lauro Casino- Aerialist
Alana Nii- Manipulations
Pavlik Braverman- Manipulations
Kelly Mao- Manipulations
Will Epstein- Manipulations
Sherry Yu- Manipulations
Ravi Mangar- Manipualtions
Pascal- Manipulations
Belle- God

Ian is an artist who tries to live an interesting life. Instead of reading about it, go have a conversation with him. He's actually a really nice guy.

Helena Xu is a fourth-year Theater and Performance Studies student at the University of Chicago. Her academic interests have evolved during her undergraduate years to focus on intersections of critical theory, performance theory, and media studies. Her thesis, "Is the Present Perfect?: Transmediating Marginality in Present.Perfect.," examines how marginalized identities are performed and documented through Chinese live-streaming platforms, reflecting her scholarly engagement with questions of performance, archivization, and visibility. Beyond academics, Helena has gained practical experience in theatrical production as Assistant Stage Manager for "The Wolves," and through curatorial internships at Harmony Art Gallery in Shanghai and OōEli Art Park in Hangzhou. 

CREDITS
John Muse - Thesis Advisor: Professor