Instructors

Tracy Whiteside
 Education Manager
Noble Fool Theatricals
Tracy has been in the entertainment industry and fashion business for over 20 years. Tracy opened Glow Talent, a Modeling and Acting School and Agency in New Jersey. During this time, Tracy was a licensed talent agent and taught workshops for ages 4 to 64 in modeling, acting, singing, make-up, fashion, image and self-improvement. Her actors and singers have been on Broadway, in films, on TV and in commercials. Her students have appeared on MTV, Nickelodeon, Sesame Street and The O.C., among others. The countless TV commercial credits include Tide, Coke and Chucky Cheese. Her students have been seen in the films "The Stepford Wives", "The Interpreter", "Loverboy," and "Hitch." In addition to actors, Tracy has trained Elite, Wilhelmina and Ford models. Print model students have been seen in Fitness, Teen Vogue, People, TV Guide and Cosmopolitan. Her models have walked on the runways in New York, Paris, and Milan.

 

    
Ken Jones
 Musical Director, Accompanist, Vocal Coach, Director
has been working within theater, music and education for the last nine years.  After graduating from the University of Illinois he traveled as a musical director for professional regional theaters in the Midwest and East Coast.  Ken's present and past vocal and piano students can be seen performing in productions throughout this great country as well as Europe, Australia and Asia.  He was last seen on stage with NFT during I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change as the Music Director and Accompanist.  Ken is the Music Director for NFT's Youth Ensemble and has directed NFTYE's Footloose and Once Upon A Mattress, in addition to musically directing High School Musical, Annie, School House Rock!, Footloose, Oliver, and Once Upon A Mattress.

 

    

Helen Buck
 Choreographer, Dance
Helen received her degree in Theatre Performance with a minor in vocal performance from North Central College and has studied with Lou Conte's, Joel Hall, Trinity Irish Dance, and Dance West Ballet.  Helen was a member of the Trinity Irish Dance Varsity tour and was ranked 56th in the world for her solo dancing.  She is a proud instructor for DancEncounter, Apple Tree, and LA Fitness.  Helen's choreographic credits include Christmas Carol (Metropolis Performing Arts), Honk! and Christmas Schooner (Steel Beam), All Shook Up (Apple Tree Theatre EBPAW), Jungle Book (Entertainment Project), and Grease and Once Upon a Mattress (Geneva High School).  Her performance credits include Sr. Leo (Nunsense), Vanessa (Follies), Joan Woods (Fairways! World Premiere), Lita Encore (Ruthless!), and Madam Armfeldt (A Little Night Music).

 		    
Tom Clear
Music Director, Pianist
Hailed as a "goofball scamp" by the Daily Herald, was the Pianist and Narrator for Noble Fool's Musical of Musical, the Musical, last season. He is Music Director for Comedysportz Chicago, and a graduate of the Music
Director's Program at Second City. He has performed with the St. Louis Symphony Chorus and the Oregon Symphony (Guys 'n Dolls). Tom has been teaching for nine years including four universities, three private schools and at ComedySportz.

 

    
John Tovar
Fight Choreographer,
Vice President and Certified Teacher of the Society of American Fight Directors
John has taught stage combat at DePaul University, Illinois State University, Ball State University, The Actor’s Gymnasium in Evanston, and was a Guest Artist at Roosevelt University. Currently, John is on faculty at Elgin Community College and College of DuPage. He has also taught numerous stage combat workshops across the country including The Winter Wonderland Workshop in Elgin (where he is the coordinator) and The National Stage Combat Workshop-East in North Carolina. Area productions that John has choreographed include Accomplice, The Musical of Musicals: The Musical, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, and Ruthless: The Musical (Noble Fool Theatricals), Temporary Help, Noises Off!, and Communicating Doors (Buffalo Theatre Ensemble), Robin Hood and The Glory of Living (College of DuPage), I Hate Hamlet (Wheaton Drama), Corpse! (Steel Beam Theatre), and Cyrano de Bergerac (Independent Players).

 

    

Kimberly G. Morris      
Costume, Wigs, Makeup, Props, Puppets and Special Effects Designer
Kimberly has designed for numerous venues around the country such as the Noble Fool Theatricals, Shedd Aquarium, Stage Left Theatre, The Gift, Adler Planetarium, Lifeline Theatre, The Griffin Theater, Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, American Shakespeare Center (VA), Heritage Repertory Theatre (VA), Theatre West Virginia (WV), Denison University (OH), Virginia Commonwealth University (VA), and Tecumseh! (OH). Prior teaching includes costume and makeup classes at the University of Virginia, Ball State University, and several high schools in Chicagoland and Charlottesville, VA.  She also runs the prop and costumes shop for Niles West High School theatre department, where she teaches students the basics of costume and prop design, manufacture and management.

 

    
ClaireYearman
Actor, Teacher, Director, SAFD Actor Combatant and Fight Choreographer

Claire holds an MFA in Acting from Western Illinois University. Her training is rooted in the Stanislavsky method. She has a strong background in musical theatre, Shakespeare, and various acting styles. While at Western Illinois University, Claire taught Introduction to Theatre and assisted in Musical Theatre Performance. Since graduating she has taught musical theatre performance and Shakespeare for kids at Metropolis Performing Arts, and Scene Study at Elgin Community College where she is an Adjunct Professor. Also at Elgin Community College, Claire assisted with stage combat classes and directed Noel Coward’s "Private Lives." Additionally, she is the Assistant Coordinator for the Winter Wonderland Workshop in Elgin. As an actor, Claire has performed at Metropolis Performing Arts, Janus Theatre, and Steelbeam Theatre.

   

 
Jock L. Schloss
Improvisation and Comedy Instructor 
Jock has been Performing at Chicagoland improvisational & legit theatre venues for over 25 yrs.  During that time he has taught improvisation to people of all ages, as well as coached several improv groups. He is also a known regular at many of Chicago’s “Open Mikes,” both improvisational and stand-up.  He has trained under such improv teaching greats as Del Close, Charna Halprin, Mick Napier, & Norm Holly, and has performed on teams at the Improv Olympic, ComedySportz, & Ricky Hendon’s Chicago Comedy Company. Besides Improv, Jock also has been seen in many scripted shows, most recently performing the Lead of Giovani, in Dario Fo’s “We Won’t Pay, We Won’t Pay.” You may also recognize him as the obnoxious reporter from the “Americash Loans” commercial, or as the head detective in a recent episode of “Animal Witness” on Animal-Planet. He is also the creator of the improvisational long-form format, “The Quantum,” in which an improvised play is rewound to see what would have happened had a different path been followed.

 

    
Tali Allen
Musical Director, Accompanist, Vocal Coach

Tali has been working in musical theater and education for the past 8 years in Nashville, TN, and recently relocated to Chicago to be the Music School Manager at Metropolis Performing Arts Centre. She has taught music and drama (grades K-12), and was a Teaching Artist with the Tennessee Performing Arts Center in Nashville. Some of her favorite music directing/accompanist credits include: Godspell, 42nd Street, Crazy for You, Fiddler on the Roof, Snoopy, Annie, Grease, Cinderella, Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, and Hello Dolly. Tali’s production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast received an honorable mention in USA Today’s High School Musical competition and was voted Best High School Musical in the state of Tennessee.

    
 

Amber Mitchell
Children's Theatre Instructor, Vocal Coach
Amber has been teaching children for over 28 years.  She is certified in elementary education, music education (K-12 vocal) and has completed her class work in theater education for an additional teaching endorsement.  She has worked in children's theater with grades Pre-K - post college and has directed a minimum of two productions per school year in her various job positions for the last 25 years, sometimes working with entire school casts of over 300 children.  She has stage management experience, playing in orchestra pits for productions, and has recently designed lights for productions of Fiddler on the Roof, Brigadoon, Oliver and My Favorite Year.  She has portrayed Mrs. Paroo in the Music Man, Sister Margaretta in The Sound of Music, and Golde in Fiddler on the Roof .  Several of her students have continued on to major in theater for their college choices and have made a name for themselves in the professional world. She is currently teaching voice, piano and guitar (acoustic) in her home while continuing her work in the theater.