CITY LIT STAFF
Brian Pastor, Executive Artistic Director
Brian Pastor (they/them) is a trans/non-binary producer, director, actor, and playwright in Chicago and the incoming Executive Artistic Director of City Lit Theater. Brian previously spent ten and a half years on staff at City Lit, including nine as Managing Director. From 2019 to 2024, Brian served as City Lit’s Resident Director, where they directed THE NIGHT OF THE HUNTER, THE PLAYBOY OF THE WESTERN WORLD, George Bernard Shaw’s ARMS AND THE MAN, Archibald MacLeish’s J.B., and their own acclaimed adaptation of Robert Kennedy’s THIRTEEN DAYS. Brian is a founder and Emeritus Artistic Director of Chicago’s Promethean Theatre Ensemble, where they directed THE LION IN WINTER, THE WINTER’S TALE, and GROSS INDECENCY: THE THREE TRIALS OF OSCAR WILDE (all Broadway World Award Nominated- Best Director), as well as HENRY V and THE DARK SIDE OF THE BARD. Brian also directed the world premiere of THE BLACK KNIGHT by Angeli Primlani, the inaugural show for Lifeboat Productions. As an actor, Brian has worked with Strawdog, Raven, WildClaw, Promethean, Accomplice, and City Lit, among others. Brian is the former Executive Director of Sideshow Theatre and the former Executive Director of Raven Theatre. They also served as a board and company member of The Mime Company and as a founding company member of Chicago dell’Arte. A Pittsburgh native, Brian has called Chicago home since their graduation from Northwestern University in 2003.
Terry McCabe, Emeritus Artistic Director
Terry McCabe was City Lit's artistic director February 2005 through June 2024. He has directed plays professionally in Chicago since 1981. He was artistic director of Stormfield theatre for four years, resident director at Wisdom Bridge Theatre for five years, and worked at Body Politic Theatre three different times in three different capacities over a span of 14 years. His City Lit adaptations of Holmes and Watson, Gidget (co-adapted with Marissa McKown), The Hound of the Baskervilles, Scoundrel Time, and Opus 1861 (co-adapted with Elizabeth Margolius) were Jeff-nominated. He won two Jeff Citations for directing at Stormfield and has been thrice nominated for the Jeff Award for Best Director, for shows at Court Theatre, Wisdom Bridge and Victory Gardens. He has directed at many Chicago theatres either long-gone or still with us, as well as off-Broadway at the Cherry Lane Theatre and at Vienna's English Theatre. His book Mis-Directing the Play has been denoucned at length in American Theatre magazine and from the podium at the national convention of The Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas, but is used in directing courses on three continents and is now available in paperback. He is a member of the theatre faculty at Columbia College.
Katy Nielsen, Education Director
A graduate of Columbia College's BFA program and the Second City Conservatory, Katy Nielsen started at City Lit in 2006 as Assistant to the Artistic Director. After witnessing her exceptional administrative and production skills first hand the staff decided to hire Katy to produce several special projects, including the organizational overhaul of the theater's dressing room and City Lit's 30th anniversary party. Today, Katy is in charge of the annual Banned Books Week program (a collaboration with the American Library Association), production of the annual Art of Adaptation Festival, and Real Live Literature, our educational program that is dedicated to bringing City Lit's mission to children of all ages. You may also have spotted her on City Lit's main stage in Puddin'Head Wilson and We Have Always Lived in the Castle. Katy is also a freelance production manager, actor, and performance artist, and the Artistic Director of Outlaw Production Collective.
Lisa Maraldi, Graphic Designer
Lisa Maraldi brings twenty years of branding and design experience to City Lit. Her design expertise includes annual reports, ads, brochures, corporate identity, direct mail, newsletters, signage and web design. She has won industry awards in advertising and corporate identity. Lisa is the principal director of Maraldi Design where she focuses on assisting small businesses and not-for-profit organizations build their brands. Lisa holds a BA in Graphic Design from the University of Illinois at Chicago.
CITY LIT BOARD
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Varris Holmes
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Corinne Lyon
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Joan Mazzonelli, Treasurer
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Brian Pastor
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Daniel Robinson, President
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James Smith
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James Sparling
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Sheila Willis, Secretary