Darryl Maximilian Robinson Gives The History Of The Multiracial Chamber Theatre The Excaliber Shakespeare Company Of Chicago

The Birth of The Idea of The Excaliber Shakespeare Company of Chicago

In the fall of 1984, while serving as a Guest Professional Director and Instructor for The University Players of The University of Missouri-St.Louis-UMSL, skilled AEA veteran actor and Theatre Project Company of St. Louis Member John Grassilli needed a strong dramatic actor that could handle the rich, lush language of Robert Bolt's greatest script and the leading role of Sir Thomas More for his revival staging of "A Man For All Seasons".

During his audition process, the actor who met the demands of the role, the actor who proved best suited for the part, was a then 23-year-old, African-American, classically-trained, professional stage performer named Darryl Maximilian Robinson ( a Chicago native who just appeared earlier in the year as a Guest Professional Actor playing the title role in Director Dr. James Barushok's revival staging of Shakespeare's "Othello" with The Stageplayers of Northeastern Illinois University of Chicago, who also had just completed a second full season of critically-praised professional summer stock performances at The Enchanted Hills Playhouse of Syracuse, Indiana, and who currently was touring under a theatre-for-young-audiences contract with The MUNY / Student Theatre Project Company based at The Theatre of The New City School in the Central West End of St. Louis ).

Call it grit, call it guts, call it nerve, CALL IT COURAGE, but Director Grassilli chose to put talent and skill above of the issue of race and he cast Robinson as the first documented African-American professional stage performer in the role of Sir Thomas More in Robert Bolt's "A Man For All Seasons".

The rest is UMSL Theatre History. Director John Grassilli staged a multiracial cast revival of " A Man For All Seasons" in 1984, which also featured talented African-American actors James West as The Duke of Norfolk and Keith Montgomery as Signor Chapuys.

He also highlighted scenes with Darryl Maximilian Robinson as Sir Thomas More opposite then young, skilled, college actor and future critically-praised and award-winning St. Louis stage performer Dave Wassilak as The Common Man.

Darryl Maximilian Robinson will always be grateful to Director John Grassilli and the entire cast and crew of "A Man For All Seasons" at UMSL for the great opportunity and the wonderful experience.

However, after many engagements with a variety of companies at multiple cities and regions of the Midwest and garnering critical praise for a variety of stage roles, by the late 1980s, Darryl Maximilian Robinson found he now simply was not being cast in the roles at theatres he had prepared for and dreamed of playing.

Having been taught and trained during his youth that regardless of race, color or religion, an actor or an actress is solely limited by the scope of their imagination and their talent, in 1987, Mr. Robinson decided to utilize his own funds to start a rather unique, multiracial, Chicago area classical and contemporary chamber theatre called Excaliber Productions, Ltd.

Desiring to truly hone his skills as a play director and producer, in 1990, he moved the company to St. Louis for a five-year residency.

The highly-talented Founding Members of The St. Louis Acting Company of Excaliber included Suzzette Sutton, Phillip H. Dennis, Christian Kohn and Walter Arlie Roberts ( better known in America and Japan as Walter Roberts, a fellow alumni and valued friend of Mr. Robinson while he was on the road with the 1982 National Shakespeare Company of New York Tour. )

In addition to being an excellent professional dramatic performer, Walter Roberts is a skilled cellist, a fine singer, dynamic classical stage actor and a future noted voice-over actor and play director in the U. S. and The Orient, who contributed mightily to the multiracial chamber theatre's 1990 critically-praised staging of "A Child's Christmas In Wales And More Tales" by Dylan Thomas ( which in a Nov. 27, 1990 St. Louis Post-Dispatch headline notice on Page 36 by the late and highly-respected, veteran theatre critic Joe Pollack was hailed as "An Evening Of Pure Poetry" ) and the group's well-received 1991 revival staging of "Don Juan In Hell" by George Bernard Shaw.

Other well-received productions directed and / or adapted to the stage by Mr. Robinson in The Gateway City included a 1992 staging of Samuel Beckett's "Waiting For Godot" at the historic Second Presbyterian Church in St. Louis' Central West End and a 1993 revival of Athol Fugard's "Master Harold And The Boys" ( his debut mounting ) with Mr. Robinson playing Sam Semela opposite talented St. Louis Excaliber Acting Company Members Philip Watt as Hally and future Hollywood animated film and television voice-over performer Carey S. Means as Willie Malopo.

Between 1990 and 1994 multiple stagings of Mr. Robinson's adaptation of "The Raven And Six Other Points of Interest" by Edgar Allan Poe ( including a well-received engagement ( thanks in part by a fine rendering of the "Tell-Tale Heart" by St. Louis Excaliber Founding Member and future Chicago and New York critically-acclaimed actor and noted theatre educator Christian Kohn ) at The Rudyard Kipling Pub of Louisville, Kentucky where Mr. Robinson's one-man show "A Bit of the Bard" played to delighted audiences ).

In 1992, Darryl Maximilian Robinson directed and choreographed a musical staging of the bard's "A Midsummer Night's Dream" ( featuring Mr. Robinson as King Oberon and the talented actors Cheryl Gunnell as Queen Titania and the dynamic Daron Jennings as Puck ) at The Midtown Arts Center of St. Louis.

And in 1993, Mr. Robinson staged his first mounting of Edward Albee's "The Zoo Story " with Mr. Robinson playing Peter opposite a very gifted young actor Danny Belrose ( a future Chicago, Portland, Oregon and LA stage and television pro ) as Jerry at Cummel's Cafe Studio Theatre in Downtown St. Louis.

Darryl Maximilian Robinson also made several onstage appearances in the early 1990s in one-act plays as The Great Detective, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes ( frequently opposite talented African-American actors Jeff Adam Nixon and Carlos Woodson as Dr. Watson ) in well-received stage adaptations of "The Final Problem!", "The Adventure of The Dying Detective" and "The Adventure of Black Peter", presented at The Midtown Arts Center of St. Louis, The Little Theatre of St. Louis University and The Miller's Daughter's Pub of St. Charles, Missouri, which for his performance and staging Darryl Maximilian Robinson received from The Greater St. Louis / St. Charles, Missouri Area Sherlock Holmes Society, The Harpooners Of The Sea Unicorn, A 1992 Certificate Of Honourary Membership Award.

And, most notably, Darryl Maximilian Robinson mounted the first-ever documented multiracial revival staging of James Goldman's "The Lion In Winter" with Mr. Robinson as King Henry II of England leading a talented young multicultural cast that featured Anna Altman and Deborah Phillips alternating in the role of Queen Eleanor of the Aquitaine, Albert Stephens and Carey S. Means alternating as Prince Richard the Lionheart, Patrick Hensler as Prince Geoffrey, Philip Watt as Prince John, Anjula Chan ( who also effectively designed the 12th-century costumes ) as Princess Alais and future East Coast actor, director and theatre educator Louis A. Wells as King Phillip of France.

Multitalented technician, designer and visual artist J. L. Watt served as the Production Stage Manager. The show, which scored a fine notice from theatre critic Mark Hamilton in the Jan. 1993 St. Louis Edition of Intermission Magazine, was presented in the intimate confines of The Wabash Triangle Cafe near University City, Mo. during the 1992-93 holiday / early winter season. It was during the group's last year in The Gateway City that the term "Excaliber Shakespeare Company" was first used on the occasion of Mr. Robinson's 1994 staged adaptation of "Sounds and Scenes by Shakespeare" ( featuring skilled actors Suzzette Sutton, Vincent West, Michael McCormick and the gifted Amy Mohme ) at Cummel's Cafe Studio Theatre in St. Louis.

By the time Mr, Robinson returned to mount multiracial productions of Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest" starring 1977 Chicago Joseph Jefferson Citation Award-winning Best Actress Doris Craig Norris ( winner for The Chicago Black Ensemble Theatre production of "Trouble In Mind" ) as Lady Bracknell and to direct and star as Prospero in the immortal bard's "The Tempest" at Hidden Stages Theatre in Chicago in 1995, The Excaliber Shakespeare Company of Chicago was born.

Excaliber In Its Prime Time: In addition to the skilled Doris Craig Norris as Lady Bracknell, Director Darryl Maximilian Robinson's 1995 ESC multiracial revival cast of Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest" featured talented actors Phillip Gibbs and Kevin Adair alternating as John P. Worthing, Daniel Grillo and Kelvin Blunt alternating as Algernon Moncrief, and the lovely and well-received Myra Oiga as Cecily Cardew.

One memorable aspect of the production occured when leading lady Norris had to miss a performance, and as opposed to cancelling it and disappointing actors and audience members, Mr. Robinson ( the only performer at the time who knew all the lines and blocking ) donned the appropriate costume, wig and make-up and played the role of Lady Bracknell in her place.

For the multicultural staging of Shakespeare's "The Tempest", Director Robinson ( who appeared as Prospero ) cast fine romantic leading men Kevin Adair and Daniel Grillo ( rotating ) as Prince Ferdinand, capable character actor Samuel Brooks as King Alonzo, adept villian player Michael Macauley as Lord Sebastian, versatile character actress Kathy Martin as Miranda, skilled actor and martial artist Aaron Watkins as Ariel and talented actor Torrence W. Murphy as Caliban.

Both productions were mounted in the intimate space at Hidden Stages ( which was owned and operated by Doris Craig Norris and Gregory Christopher Armstrong ) gave Windy City audiences an idea of the group's potential and were well-received.

It was when Director / Producer Robinson mounted a series of critically-praised, award-winning and nominated shows at local arts benefactor Michael James' Heartland Cafe Studio Theatre in the Rogers Park neighborhood of The Windy City ( ably assisted by ESC Associate Producer, Co-Designer, Dramaturg and noted Chicago playwright Jeff Helgeson ) that the ESC reached its true stride.

This started with Mr. Robinson's second revival of Athol Fugard's "Master Harold And The Boys" ( which captured for The Excaliber Shakespeare Company of Chicago a 1997 Chicago Joseph Jefferson Citation Award Nomination as Outstanding Production of the Year in addition to honors to Mr. Robinson as Best Actor from The Chicago Jeff Awards Committee and The Chicago Black Theatre Alliance Awards Organization for his performance as Sam Semela joined onstage by gifted actors Kevin Heckman as Hally and Gregory Christopher "Word Jazzman" Armstrong as Willie Malopo ).

This was followed by a 1997 staging of Samuel Beckett's "Waiting For Godot" ( featuring Mr. Robinson as Vladimir, talented actors Mark Poremba as Estragon, Kim Crawford ( later known as Kym Crawford ) as Pozzo and newcommer Shawn Lee Martin ( today known in the acting industry as Shawn Lee ) as Lucky and The Boy which garnered not only a 1998 WKKC Radio Chicago Critic's Corner Fine Arts Award to Mr. Robinson as Outstanding Director of a Play but a 1998 Critic's Corner Fine Arts Award to the highly talented young actor Shawn Lee for Outstanding Debut Performance By An Actor for his portrayals of Lucky and The Boy ).

Also that same period at The Heartland, was Darryl Maximilian Robinson's 1997 staging of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night ( with a very talented cast which included Danielle Gordon as Mary Tyrone, Mr. Robinson as James Tyrone, Sr., Steven Wilson as James Tyrone, Jr., Joslyn Housley as Cathleen and which was greatly highlighted by Ian Vogt's moving 1998 Chicago Joseph Jefferson Citation Award-winning performance as Outstanding Actor In A Supporting Role for his portrayal of Edmund Tyrone opposite Mr. Robinson as James Tyrone, Sr. ).

Of the Alums of the cast of the 1997 Excaliber Shakespeare Company of Chicago revival of Eugene O'Neill's "Long Day's Journey Into Night" actor Steven Wilson ( who gave a fine performance as James Tyrone, Jr. ) continued his work in the local professional Chicago Theatre Community for years and became notable not only as a gifted actor, but a skilled director as well.

During the off-nights of "Long Day's", Darryl Maximilian Robinson staged a second revival of Edward Albee's "The Zoo Story" starring highly-talented actors ( and future and critically-acclaimed Furious Theatre Co-Founders ) Shawn Lee Martin as Jerry and D'amaso Rodriguez as Peter.

Shawn Lee made an impressive Jerry who would also the following year win a 1998 WKKC Radio Chicago Critic's Corner Fine Arts Award for Outstanding Debut Performance By An Actor for his dynamic portrayal of Lucky and The Boy in ESC's "Waiting for Godot".

Another success arrived with Mr. Robinson's 1999 Jeff-Recommended revival staging of the great Athol Fugard's "The Blood Knot" ( featuring Mr. Robinson as South African black brother Zachariah and gifted young actors Jonathan Pereira and Douglas Pelletier alternating as the South African white brother Morris in a staging that would garner Darryl Maximilian Robinson a 1999 Chicago Black Theatre Alliance / Ira Aldridge Award Nomination for Best Direction Of An Ensemble ), staged at the wonderful, intimate, ( and, yes, magical ) Heartland Cafe Studio Theatre, the multiracial, non-Equity professional chamber theatre,The Excaliber Shakespeare Company of Chicago proved it was a theatre of quality that could move a diverse audience with its work. By the late 1990s, Mr. Robinson's theatre had reached its prime.

Making Stage Art However And Wherever One Can

Mr. Robinson had always treated his theatre,The ESC, as a great theatrical experiment.

He never sought to depend upon public or private grant money or a well-heeled, deep-pocketed group of donors or board of directors to keep it in operation.

Excaliber was a small and intimate multicultural professional theatre which embodied the idea that artists of all races, religions and economic backgrounds were welcome to come ( for very little financial compensation, but a tad of theatrical glory ) and live onstage in classics that most actors and actresses of color ( or of limited, formal acting training ) would seldom have the opportunity to appear in.

Both Excaliber Productions, Ltd. in St. Louis and The Excaliber Shakespeare Company of Chicago since their inception had three principal goals: To Entertain, To Enlighten and To Educate.

The small, yet special theatrical oasis that Mr. Robinson as a director and producer had created was a venture devoid of the ignorance, racism, religious bigotry and violence found in most of the outside world.

It was also an enterprise devoid of any serious political dependency or class snobbery.

Robinson utilized many of the funds he garnered from public and private engagements of his one-man show of Shakespeare "A Bit of the Bard" and his touring versions of "The Raven and Six Other Points of Interest" and "Sherlock Holmes: The Final Problem!" that were presented in middle schools, high schools, libraries, colleges, universities, arts centers and the occasional Renaissance Faire or festival to fund revivals of plays he felt multiracial casts should be seen in and deserved to be seen in.

Having had the experience of touring into many venues that were not "Traditional Theatres," as a director, he learned to master "The Art Of Conversion".

A storefront, a church, a comfortable basement space could easily be re-designed into a performance venue with a few well-placed pieces of furniture, drapes, props, lights and other accessories.

This knowledge would prove invaluable to him in the late 1990s and early 2000s as financial resources were limited after he stopped touring to focus on investing his full energies on more polished stagings of ESC productions.

Utilizing donated Field House spaces from The Windy City's Chicago Park District, Mr. Robinson directed and appeared as The Devil in a well-received, 1998 multiracial cast revival of George Bernard Shaw's "Don Juan In Hell" with a talented cast that featured Liz Robertson as Dona Ana, Jim Spencer as The Statue ( aka The Commander ) and the very gifted Latino actor Sam Ramirez as Don Juan onstage at The Holstein Park Studio Theatre that featured a finely-crafted, striking and massive scenic painting by long-time St. Louis Excaliber Productions, Ltd. Member J. L. Watt.

With the great assistance and technical expertise of ESC Associate Producer Darryl Manuel, Mr. Robinson directed and appeared as Big Daddy Pollitt opposite highly-talented Chicago Black Theatre Alliance Best Actress Award Nominee and future 2013 Non-Equity Joseph Jefferson Outstanding Supporting Actress Award Winner Felisha Mcneal as Big Mama Pollitt in a provocative 1999 multiracial cast revival of Tennessee Williams' "Cat On A Hot Tin Roof" that had a diverse and skilled young cast that included: Carrie Corrigan and Michelle Perry alternating as Maggie "the Cat" Pollitt, Ericka Ayche'Le and Kimberly Corney as Mae Pollitt, Khristian Leslie, and later, Brad Sandefur as Gooper Pollitt, L. C. Satterfield as Doctor Baugh and The Reverend Tooker, and gifted future Los Angeles-based stage and screen actor Drew Nye as Brick Pollitt onstage at The Pulaski Park Studio Theatre in The Windy City.

Mr. Robinson was proud to work with all of these theatre artists, and happy to share with them his knowledge of "The Art Of Conversion."

Twilight Of A Multiracial Chamber Theatre Company On Oak Park's Harrison Street / Dawn Of A Beginning Screenwriter

"Chicago theatregoers have long-admired the talents of Darryl Maximilian Robinson and his multiracial group of actors, the Excaliber Shakespeare Company, as he successfully transformed small spaces into grand theatre." -- Al Boswell, New Oak Park space enhances Excaliber's acting techniques, THE POST-TRIBUNE ( Northwest Indiana ), Sunday January 23, 2000.

By late 1999, Mr. Robinson, with the enthusiastic and strong support of true arts patrons and venue space donors Chris and Judy Kleronomos of Ecos Properties, had moved The Excaliber Shakespeare Company of Chicago lock, stock and barrel into a modest storefront in the emerging Arts District of Harrison Street in Oak Park, IL. ( a pleasant and prosperous suburban hamlet a mere few minutes drive from the hugely culturally-poor and economically-depressed West Side of Chicago where he grew up. )

Not having to pay rental costs presented Mr. Robinson and his company of players the opportunity to build a new audience in this historic Chicago area community ( where acclaimed American novelist Ernest Hemingway grew up and revered American architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed houses ) and to mount intimate productions of plays ( at 40 tickets sold, it was standing room only! ) that he always desired to do.

Mr. Robinson opened the multiracial chamber theatre on Harrison Street with his long-time staple "The Raven And Six Other Points of Interest" by Edgar Allan Poe ( with a talented supporting ensemble that included Ericka Ayche'Le, Jenn Williams and a gifted newcomer from the East Coast named Daniel Kuhlman ).

Press and word-of-mouth that a new, non-Equity professional, multicultural theatre had emerged in Oak Park on Harrison Street was positive, and "The Raven" did good business.

Greatly aided by a new ESC Assistant To The Director and talented ESC Resident Photographer Andy Carlson, Mr. Robinson began the year of 2000 with a well-received, multiracial cast, 40th Anniversary Revival Production of Edward Albee's "The Zoo Story" with strong, young actors Daniel Morgan Shelley and George Ketsios alternating as Jerry and Brad Sandefur and Kevin Peters alternating as Peter. "The Zoo Story " scored a fine notice by Jenn Goddu in The Chicago Sun-Times and box office was good enough to extend the show for several weeks ( during which time, and during a subsequent 2001 re-mounting, such talented actors as Eric Wetz, Daniel Kuhlman, Micheal S. Pogue and Micheal Cervanak all appeared in the role of Jerry, and L. C. Satterfield and Gregory Christopher Armstrong appeared in the role of Peter ).

Mr, Robinson and Mr. Carlson realized theatregoers in Oak Park were enthusiastic about the ESC being there and conducted auditions to expand the company of performers. During his time in Oak Park Darryl Maximilian Robinson also trained young and experienced professional actors privately who were seeking work regionally in New York and Los Angeles. One such performer was Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based actor and rapper Lonell Smith ( aka "Razae" Smith ). Mr. Robinson was happy to assist him with preparation and training for his audition videos.

During public auditions Mr. Robinson and Mr. Carlson found, cast and promoted several talented local performers.

These new performers onstage in Oak Park would include talented Chicago stage and film actor Harold Dennis who would star as leading man Ernest under Mr. Robinson's direction in Tad Mosel's "Impromptu" which was on a bill of one-act works entitled "Mixed Nuts".

Mr. Robinson also directed a very well received 2000 multiracial cast revival of J. B. Priestley's "An Inspector Calls" with a very gifted cast that included Tim Minger as Inspector Goole, Anthony Daniels as Mr. Birling, Frances Wilkerson as Mrs. Birling, Juliet Rivera as Sheila Birling, Eric Neil Gutierrez ( a future West Coast screen actor and successful hip-hop comedian aka Mav Gutierrez ) as Gerald Croft, and multi-talented dramatic actor and skilled young musical theatre veteran Ryan R. Russ as Eric Birling.

"Inspector" scored fine notices from both Doug Deuchler of The Wednesday Journal of Oak Park and Michael Bonesteel of The Pioneer Press Oak Leaves. Business was good.

The one show Mr. Robinson presented on Harrison Street that brought him the greatest personal satisfaction, however, occurred when he directed and starred as Andrew Wyke opposite the gifted and talented young actor Sean Nix as Milo Tindle in the ESC's 2000 30th Anniversary all-African-American cast revival of the wonderful British playwright Anthony Shaffer's Tony Award-winning Best Play "Sleuth".

For Mr. Robinson, nothing else as an actor he did on Harrison Street would match or top that.

Though he tried ( and came close ) in the spring of the following year when he mounted a "Farewell Engagement" as His Most Revered Lordship, Sir Richard Drury Kemp-Kean in his noted one-man show of Shakespeare amended and slightly re-titled "A Bit of the Bard: 2001".

Business was good for "Bard", but after that extended run ( March through May of 2001 ), he never booked another full performance of one of his favorite signature performance pieces again. After 15 years of the work, it was time to try different things and new things.

And different and new is what Oak Park theatregoers received when he directed a 2001 revival of the late and controversial African-American playwright LeRoi Jones' ( Immamu Amiri Baraka's ) 1964 racially-charged, psychological drama "The Dutchman" with an extremely effective alternating cast that featured Daniel Morgan Shelley and Derrick Anthony as Clay and Marisa Sanders and Beth Hilton as Lula with talented stage manager / actor Mark Macoun appearing as The Conductor.

Both Myrna Petlicki of The Pioneer Press Oak Leaves and Doug Deuchler of The Wednesday Journal of Oak Park granted the production fine notices and audience members took time after each performance to chat with the cast and crew about the social, cultural and racial implications found in Jones' / Baraka's work.

And because ( like ESC's "The Zoo Story" ) the cast was alternating, some audience members would return to the theatre for a second performance to see how a different cast would interpret the work. For his staging of The Dutchman, Darryl Maximilian Robinson earned a 2001 Chicago Black Theatre Alliance / Ira Aldridge Award Nomination for Best Direction Of A Theatrical Production ( his first and only award honor for his work on Harrison Street and his last award honor working in The Greater Chicago Professional Theatre Community ).

But in the weeks leading up to the 2001 BTAA / Ira Aldridge Awards Ceremony in September at The Harold Washington Theatre Wing in The DuSable Museum of African-American History something enormously terrible and horrific occurred that would ultimately effect people and events around the world: The Terrorist Attack Known As 9 / 11!

The tragedy of the high-jacked planes being used as weapons of mass murder, gripped the nation and the entire world in such a state of loss, fear and rage, that business-as-usual of any kind could not be conducted.

People in the Village of Oak Park were no less effected by this event.

They did not want to go out. They did not want to celebrate or discuss The Arts. They retreated to the safety and security of their homes. And though large and major theatres and performing arts venues continued ( sometimes at a financial loss ) to operate, numerous small theatres ( including The ESC ) in the Greater Chicago area shriveled up and died.

Without an audience to pay for tickets, support and see the work, there was no reason for The Excaliber Shakespeare Company of Chicago to continue to exist. Business was no longer good. However, prior to closing its doors, Mr. Robinson directed and appeared as Vladimir in a late fall 2001 ESC revival of Samuel Beckett's Waiting For Godot on Harrison Street with a talented cast that included Tom Carlson as Estragon, John Martin Keenan as Pozzo and Bruno Bafia as Lucky and The Boy.

The themes of confusion, loss and despair that run through Beckett's existential comic-dramatic masterpiece seemed fitting as a final work on Harrison Street and critics were kind to the production.

Houses were modest but continuous to the end of the run which occurred on December 30, 2001. By the end of January of 2002, the multiracial, non-Equity professional chamber theatre, The Excaliber Shakespeare Company of Chicago had closed its doors on Harrison Street in Oak Park and most of its lights, sets and property pieces were placed in storage never to be utilized again. However, during the shuttering of the theatre, one of Mr. Robinson's younger actors ( a very naive, un-jaded and innocent performer ) came to Mr. Robinson with an idea. With all his experience, with all his knowledge of The Arts and Movies and Theatre, why couldn't he just write a movie script and move to Hollywood?

And, in a Don Quixotesque moment of insanity, Mr. Robinson sat down at his typewriter during The Final Twilight of his beloved multiracial chamber theatre company...and began to write.

Chicago-born and stage-trained actor Darryl Maximilian Robinson ( a 2022 Making The World Happening Award Winner for his numerous online theatre-related offerings at Allevents.in ) was last seen by Windy City theatregoers in his critically-praised dual roles of The Chairman Mr. William Cartwright and The Mayor Thomas Sapsea in the 2018 Saint Sebastian Players Chicago revival of Rupert Holmes'The Mystery of Edwin Drood'at the more than a century old St. Bonaventure Church for which he received a 2019 BroadwayWorld Chicago Award nomination for Best Performer In A Musical or Revue ( Resident Non-Equity ).