About Stephanie
Stephanie grew up in a musical household, where she started dancing and learning piano at the age of 4. She tinkered with violin and flute in elementary school, but when she successfully auditioned for the area Honors Choir in 5th grade, she was hooked...and the rest is history. With her sights set on the stage, she landed in Chicago where she spent over a decade performing, teaching, directing and producing. Favorite performing credits include the title role in the critically acclaimed world premiere of Madame X at the Chicago Center for the Performing Arts, Zuit Suit at Chicago's Goodman Theatre, Eva Peron in Evita with Music Theatre of Michigan (opposite John Herrera), Diana in Next to Normal at the CornStock Winter Playhouse, and most recently the title role in Mary Poppins and Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd at the Hoogland Center for the Arts.
Stephanie holds a B.A. from DePaul University, a Mus.M from Boston University, and is a Nationally Certified Teacher of Music (NCTM). Her passion for arts education led her to begin teaching in 1997, and her performing arts studio has rarely been without a waiting list. Her students have appeared on the professional stages of the Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre, American Girl Revue, Piven Theatre, and Candlelight Playhouse among others, as well as countless semi-professional, amateur, and educational stages around the country. Students have also continued on to study music and theatre at such schools as Northwestern, DePaul, Loyola, Roosevelt, Millikin, University of Northern Colorado, and Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. In addition to her private studio, Stephanie has taught voice and directed choirs at Northeastern Junior College, Illinois Central College, Lincoln College, Illinois College, and the University of Illinois, Springfield.
Stephanie lives and teaches in Springfield, IL with her husband Kenny (a brilliant singer and actor in his own right, and resident studio acting coach), two active kids, a dog, two birds, 3 guinea pigs, and a partridge in a pear tree. Her floors are rarely clean, but boy is life fun!