Each summer the Tribune heralds the city’s emerging theater talent — we try and find the young stars of the future whom you can see now, live, on Chicago’s stages.
We’ve been at this annual task for more than a decade now: illustrious alums of this feature include Kiki Layne (from Hot New Faces 2016), Yando Lopez (from 2014), Christopher Logan (2012) and Alex Weisman (from 2009, and now appearing on Broadway in “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child”). Where will this year’s group of impressive performers land?
We hope at least of few of them stick around to move, provoke and entertain Chicago.
Meet our class of 2019.
CHER ÁLVAREZ
The hugely talented 24-year-old actress Cher Álvarez has made an enormous impact since moving to Chicago after graduating from Webster University in St. Louis and spending two summers at the classically centered American Players Theatre in Spring Green, Wisc. Not only has Álvarez quickly grabbed major roles at the city’s leading institutions — Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Goodman Theatre, Writers Theatre — she has demonstrated an extraordinary range in her acting, proving herself capable of intense dramatic work and off-beat comedy. She says she was raised in both California and Colorado, but has quickly found a creative home in Chicago’s famous theater scene. Her big test is to come this fall when she plays Nora, no less, in a taut new adaptation of the Henrik Ibsen classic at Writers Theatre in Glencoe, all about a woman who slammed the door on a marriage to find herself.
Up next: Currently in “And Then There Were None” through Sept. 1 at Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace. Then playing Nora in “A Doll’s House” at Writers Theatre in Glencoe.
DEBO BALOGUN
Debo Balogun is a native of Rogers Park on Chicago’s North Side, a community to which this 24-year-old talent now has returned after studying theater and psychology at Augustana College. “I just think the theater community in Chicago is so powerful and permanent,” he says, saying he decided to come home and be an actor after being “forced to reckon with what I was going to do with my life.” It seems like he made a fine choice: Balogun has been working constantly since he came home in 2017, appearing in productions at the Oak Park Festival Theatre and the Definition Theatre. His work also has been a hit at Steep Theatre, a company known for the quality of its acting. Balogun, who also wants to write and direct in the future, impressed with his intensity and on-stage smarts in Steep’s “Zurich” and, especially, in Ike Holter’s searing “Red Rex.”
Up next: Appearing with the Lookingglass Theatre production of “Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein” at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, N.J.
ALEX BENOIT
Very few Chicago actors can claim a past in world skating competitions. But Alex Benoit — who you might have seen over the the past year in “Mamma Mia!” or “Matilda” at the Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace — recently retired from a career as an ice dancer on Team USA. Retired might seem like a weird word for a 23-year-old but Benoit, who attended Oakland University in Michigan, says he now considers himself a Chicago actor with a helpful past: “Skating allowed me to see the world which really helps open your eyes in a way that is useful for an actor,” he says. “And you learn all about the work-ethic: getting up at 4:30 a.m. every morning and then heading to the rink.” Benoit was raised in Naperville and currently lives again in that western suburb. With his kind of life, he says, “you have to love everything that you do.” Luckily for us, Benoit loves being on stage.
Up next: Currently in “Into the Woods” through Sept. 22 at Writers Theatre in Glencoe.
AURORA REAL DE ASUA
Intense drama has the specialty of Aurora Real de Asua, one of the key figures in the dynamic Court Theatre ensemble of “The Adventures of Augie March.” But she also impressed this year in “Pipeline” at Victory Gardens Theater, revealing that teenagers depicted on stage do not have to be played with one dimension. A 2016 graduate of Northwestern University, de Asua, 25, was born in Berkeley, Calif, to parents who hail from Spain’s Basque country. “I see my career as having three prongs,” she says, “acting, writing and directing.” That might mean leaving Chicago eventually–she sees herself as very much rooted in her European identity–but she recognizes that Chicago is a “great place to learn the tricks and crafts of the trade.” We’re glad to hear that.
Up next: Appearing in “The Wickhams” at Northlight Theatre.
DARYN WHITNEY HARRELL
Daryn Whitney Harrell’s career started like a rocket ship: Even before graduating from North Central College in Naperville, she’d been snapped up by the Royal Caribbean cruise line. “I loved being on the water,” she says. And then she immediately found herself on the road, touring with “The Book of Mormon.” But in 2018, this 29-year-old native of Peoria decided to move into Chicago and try her luck with the city’s theater and movie opportunities. “I feel like there’s work out there for me,” she says. Last fall, that work included the Porchlight Music Theater production of “Gypsy,” featuring Harrell as Louise: her performance, bathed in the pain of a young woman forced into a role she did not want to play, was remarkable. Harrell herself has no such reluctance. Where does she most hope to work? “Chicago Shakes,” she says. “It’s such a gorgeous theater.”
Up next: Auditioning.
BRE JACOBS
“There was no theater in my school,” says Bre Jacobs, a 21-year-old senior at Columbia College who scored a lot of attention last year for her dynamic and heartfelt work in the Firebrand Theatre production of the musical “Caroline, or Change,” as penned by Tony Kushner and Jeanine Tesori. Jacobs, who grew up in Kansas City, Mo., plans to address that deficit: “My goal,” she says, “is to bring the arts into neighborhoods that don’t have them.” Jacobs says that she always wanted to move to Chicago, due to its high level of opportunity just a few hours’ drive away from her home. And despite still being a year away from graduation, Jacobs already has three professional shows under her belt, including “Beehive” and “Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story” at the Metropolis Performing Arts Center in Arlington Heights. Studying and rehearsal at once? “It’s hard,” Jacobs says, “but I love it that much.” We can see that.
Up next: Auditioning, and graduating.
JAKE MORRISSY
Last winter, the 27-year-old Jake Morrissy got a dream role at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora: Leo Bloom in “The Producers.” He was spectacular, singing and dancing with such hilarious panache as to eclipse pretty much every other Leo in the crazy Mel Brooks universe. “I just love doing musical comedy,” Morrissy says, “helping people spend two and a half hours away from all the woes and troubles of the world.” Born in suburban Oak Forest and raised on the musicals at theaters like the Drury Lane in Oakbrook Terrace, Morrissy is a graduate of the “small but mighty” theater program at Millikin University in Decatur. He has become a familiar face on Chicago’s storefront scene and is known as an actor who cherishes every moment. “I always try to remember that any show might be someone’s first show and someone else’s last show,” he says. “That means you have to give the audience the respect every one of them deserves.”
Up next: Playing Elder McKinley in “The Book of Mormon” on Broadway, then “The Secret of My Success” at the Paramount Theatre in Aurora in Feb. 2020.
KRYSTAL ORTIZ
Krystal Ortiz, 24, graduated from the same Miami high school, the New World School of the Arts, as the Steppenwolf Theatre ensemble members Alana Arenas and Tarell Alvin McCraney. That led to recruitment by DePaul University’s Theatre School and a career in the Chicago theater. Ortiz has been seen in all kinds of work, including “Lettie” at the Victory Gardens Theater and, memorably, “For Services Rendered” at the Griffin Theatre. “That was the first time I got to play an adult, someone older than myself,” Ortiz says of her fine work in director Robin Witt’s production. Her docket this year also included playing Ophelia in a bizarre mock “Hamlet” trial at the Museum of Contemporary Art, involving Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxx. “That was strange but right up my alley,” she says. “I love dramatic improv. And I want to push myself to play different kinds of roles.” Ortiz is also a playwright with a new work in development: “Los Frikis,” a piece about a group of Cubans who injected themselves with the HIV virus in order to protest the policies of the Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. Aside from building her acting career, Ortiz says her “big goal” is to get that work produced.
Up next: Appearing in “X” at Sideshow Theatre Company from Sept. 22 to Oct. 27.
AALON SMITH
There’s an oft-overlooked moment in the musical “Gypsy” when Baby June realizes that in order to survive she will have to tell her pushy Mama Rose goodbye. But the 22-year-old Aalon Smith, whose work in that role last fall was simply phenomenal, actually gained another mother by playing that very part at the Porchlight Music Theatre. “I got to work with E. Faye Butler,” Smith says. “And that means I got advice from another woman of color with a lot more experience in the business than me.” Smith left her native Denver to attend Columbia College in Chicago. And even though she just graduated last spring, she’s already made her mark on Chicago’s musical scene, especially at Porchlight, where she’s already appeared in three shows. The offers are coming fast from elsewhere, too. “E. Faye has gotten me so many opportunities,” Smith says. “She’s like my other mom.”
Up next: “The Pajama Game” Sept. 12 to Oct. 13 at Theatre at the Center in Munster, Ind.
NETTA WALKER
“Acting is all I care about,” says the 23-year-old Netta Walker, whose work of late has shown extraordinary range. Walker not only appeared as Ophelia in Monty Cole’s idea-filled “Hamlet” at Gift Theatre, but also has appeared in productions from Remy Bumppo Theatre Company and Sideshow Theatre Company. And her performance in “Yen” at Raven Theatre this year was a stunner. Raised in Jacksonville, Fla., Walker came to Chicago to attend Roosevelt University but decided to turn her attentions to the professional scene, where she has been working constantly. Her professional goal? Thriving and prospering as a busy Chicago stage performer. So far, so very good.
Up next: “The Wickhams: Christmas at Pemberley” Nov. 7 to Dec. 15 at Northlight Theatre in Skokie.
Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.
HOT NEW FACES THROUGH THE YEARS
Look back at our series, the actors and the Tribune photography, in past summers: 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008.
