Staff

  • Samie Jo Johnson, Artistic Director
    Samie Jo Johnson (she/they) is a multidisciplinary theatre and teaching artist based in Chicago. She has trained internationally and domestically in various theatre making and teaching styles and has experience working with students of all age groups. In addition to her ongoing work with Imagination Theatre, Samie Jo serves as a dance and drama teacher year-round with the Stage School designing programs to teach students (ages 4 to 16) a full musical—sometimes in as little as the course of a week! They’ve built a custom “Global Theatre Workshop” for elementary school students, drawing from her various studies and cultural exchanges to fill a curriculum spot that covered both the Performing Arts and Global Perspectives requirements for a Summer Camp with The Y in Northern Colorado. She has also designed and taught Introduction to Shakespeare workshops for middle school students. In college, she was a teaching assistant for both Theatre History and Directing I courses. Samie Jo grew up in her mom’s dance studio and has consistently served as a teacher’s assistant, choreographer, and teacher since she was a teenager. 

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  • Cee Scallen, Coordinator of the Child Sexual Abuse Prevention Program
    Cee Scallen (they/them) is a theatre artist, arts educator, and dedicated cat parent. They have a decade of performance experience and theatrical training from the Guthrie Theater, Carleton College, the San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, the National Theatre Institute, and Moscow Art Theatre. They have performed with The Silent Theatre, Erasing the Distance Theatre, BYOT Productions, Big Noise Theatre, and Impostors Theater. As a passionate arts educator, Cee teaches with Imagination Theater, Buddha Belly Kids Yoga, and Stages Chicago. They also have a strong volunteer training and background in sexual assault and domestic violence/abuse survivor support with training and work with Alexandra House and Hope Center in Minnesota. They yearn to make inclusive, innovative, and intentional theatre that strives to make a social impact. | www.cscallen.com |

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