Evening opens with live music at 7:00 pm and stories begin at 7:30!

Enjoy an evening of live music and curated professional storytellers in our John & Nancy Hughes Theater. If you enjoy the art of storytelling, you’ll love our in-person show where curator and producer Scott Whitehair brings tellers from around the country to entertain and inspire you!

Scott Whitehair is a storyteller, producer, and teacher from Chicago, IL.  He is the host of This Much Is True, the city’s longest-running monthly storytelling series, creator of Story Lab Chicago, recently mentioned in Forbes and Newsweek, which has put 600+ new and first-time tellers on stage since 2011, and director of Do Not Submit, a citywide network of open mics with the goal of creating empathy among neighbors. He tells stories anywhere someone will listen, which has included Steppenwolf Theater, The National Storytelling Festival’s Exchange Place, and on NPR and The Risk Podcast. Scott teaches a perpetually sold-out monthly class, and trains corporations, non-profits, and individuals to find their voices. In 2014, he was the featured instructor at Hong Kong Story Worthy Week, headlined by David Sedaris.

Cash bar/concessions will be available for sale during the show.

As a pathologist, Elizabeth spent hundreds of hours hunched over either a microscope or a dead body.  She then worked as a consultant to the medical device industry writing technical reports, all dry as dust and utterly humorous.  Original thoughts were few, as all statements had to be referenced.   Spreading her wings to creative non-fiction has been a liberating joy.  Elizabeth has performed at storytelling events in Highwood, Arlington Heights, Evanston and Chicago, but is delighted to be performing for her hometown audience of Lake Forest.

MARGARET BURK

MARY LOU GILLIAM

Mary Lou Gilliam is retired from two careers: English teaching and educational publishing. She has been on the stage since she was 10 doing dramatic readings, singing, or some combination thereof. An English major with a theater minor, she found that teaching extended the performance world when she began writing first person narratives to model both writing and speaking for her students. Because she was born and raised in a small Swedish farm town in western Illinois, think Garrison Keillor for thematic content. About ten years ago, while considering retirement, she took her stories on the road, so to speak, by joining Short Story Theatre in the Northshore suburbs. Though Covid ended SST’s run, her stories live on. Having lived quite a few decades by now, her narratives include both the travails and thrills of a long (and possibly over-examined) life. She keeps busy with volunteer work, private tutoring, international travel, and as much time with her four grandchildren as she can.

JITESH JAGGI

Jitesh Jaggi is a recent immigrant from India, currently living in Chicago. He ended his career in Finance one day when he lost all his data that he forgot to save on an Excel sheet, and realized that he just didn’t care. That tipping point led to him becoming a writer and he is currently working on a book of essays. A two-time Moth StorySlam winner and producer for Story Collider, he also coaches individual and corporate clients in telling their professional stories. He loves writing bios because he can refer to himself in the third person. Jitesh can be easily bribed with chocolates and books.

DAVID QUACH

David was born and raised in Sydney, Australia and moved to Chicago in 2010. He has told his personal stories on stages across Chicago, including at the Moth, 80 Minutes Around The World, Story Club South Side, Back Room Stories, First Person Live, A Book That Changed Your Life, Soul Stories Live and Stand & Deliver, Story Sessions, Story Serenade, and This Much Is True. During the day, David is a number crunching data scientist. In his spare time he runs, plays in the Chicago netball league, reads nonfiction books and listens to podcasts. He is also a graduate of the improv programs at iO and The Second City. You can follow David on Instagram or Twitter: @QuachDavid.

And opening music performed by:

LILLY ARENAS

Singer/musician, Lilly Arenas, began singing and playing guitar in 2015 at Highwood’s School of Rock. She regularly performs with their House Band at venues including Durty Nelly’s, Highwood’s Pumpkin Fest and even Milwaukee’s Summer Fest 2022. She is also a member of the all-female rock band, Cherry Weapon, covering 90s and 2000s hits. Acoustically, Lilly sings a range of country and pop hits. And, she continues to develop her instrumental proficiency on keyboard and bass guitar. Lilly is currently a sophomore at Lake Forest High School.