Our Mission:

"The New Colony strives to contribute original material to the American artistic canon, and develop a new theater going audience. Through active collaboration with emerging artists of all disciplines, The New Colony continually develops fresh perspectives and aesthetics. With the goal of exploring enticing subject matter and the common language of emotional experience, The New Colony will help cultivate the next generation of arts supporters."

Our Directors

Andrew Hobgood, Artistic Director

Andrew Hobgood is a founder and Artistic Director of The New Colony. He co-created the 2006 FringeNYC Best Musical, 58!, and co-wrote and directed Love is Dead: A NecRomantic Musical Comedy which won the 2008 FringeNYC award for Outstanding Music and Lyrics and three After Dark awards. His recent directing projects are the three-time Jeff Nominated production of Torch Song Trilogy and The New Colony's productions of Amelia Earhart Jungle Princess and the critical and box office hit FRAT. He and The New Colony were featured at Collaboraction’s Sketchbook 9 with their play A Domestic Disturbance at Little Fat Charlie’s Seventh Birthday Party and collaborated with Victory Gardens Theater on their late night show Literally Sexy. He is currently working with his Love is Dead collaborators on Tupperware: An American Musical Fable which The New Colony will premiere this summer.

Gary Tiedemann, Executive Director

Gary Tiedemann, a graduate of Tulane University of Louisiana, is an ensemble member and Executive Director of The New Colony. He relocated to Chicago in 2004 from Southwest Florida, where he started, operated and sold his own landscaping company. Since moving to Chicago, Gary has trained in acting and improvisation at The Second City, iO Chicago (Improvolympic), The Annoyance, Act One, and Acting Studio Chicago. Gary appeared in The Annoyance's Splatter Theater, Stop That Show, and wrote, appeared in, and created sound design for KXVI: The Rock Revolution; hailed by Time Out Chicago as "conceptual brilliance." He has recently appeared in The New Colony's critically acclaimed production of FRAT, and The New Colony’s collaboration with Victory Garden's: Literally Sexy 2. A proud member of SAG and AFTRA, Gary has appeared in and voiced numerous television and radio commercials. Most recently, he has appeared in TV commercials for Budweiser and the Illinois Lottery and voiced spots for Sears/Craftsman, Molson Canadian, Harris Bank, and Kellogg's Pop Tarts.

Evan Linder, Associate Artistic Director

Evan Linder is an actor and writer living in Chicago. A proud graduate of the College of Charleston, Evan began his professional career as an Associate Company member at Playhouse on the Square in Memphis, TN. Upon moving to Chicago, Evan has worked with About Face Theater, the side project, Promethean Theater Ensemble, Bohemian Theater Ensemble and Hubris Productions. He is enormously proud to be a founding member of The New Colony where he serves as Producing Director. In March 2009, TNC premiered his play FRAT which earned critical raves, sold out crowds and an extended run at the Dank Haus in Lincoln Square. His next play 11:11, co-written with Tara Sissom, will premiere with TNC in the Spring of 2010. In his spare time, Evan enjoys sleeping.

Tara Sissom, Marketing and Art Director

Tara Sissom was recently made Art Director and a company member of The New Colony after making her Chicago debut in TNC's Frat. She studies writing and improv at iO and The Annoyance Theatre and graduated from Elon University with BFA in Music Theatre and Digital Art. Professional Theatre Credits: B Street Theatre: Jack Goes Boating, Make Someone Happy, Seven Ten Split, The Swan and Go, Dog. Go!; Flat Rock Playhouse: Beauty and the Beast, Children of Eden, The Man Who Came To Dinner. TV/Film Credits: The Magical World of Disney, ABC; You're On! Nickelodeon; Gi-Ho-Lo, The Legacy of Richard Long, USA Winner of the International 48 Hour Film Festival.

Whit Nelson, Web Director

Whit Nelson is an actor, comedian and programmer from Minneapolis, MN. He holds a degree in computer science from the University of Minnesota, and has helped to create award winning websites for clients of Chicago-based Mightybytes Inc., including the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs Theater website, and the Court Theater website. When not programming for the web, he is a writer and comic improviser, developing content for both the stage and the browser. As The New Colony's Web Director he is charged with developing the digital face of the company.

Henry Riggs Social Media Director

On behalf of the Social Media department Henry would like to welcome you to the internet. Henry moved to Chicago from Charleston, SC to pursue a career in starvation as an actor, musician, improviser, sketch comedian, and writer. A graduate of the College of Charleston in reasonable South Carolina, Henry has worked with several Charleston companies including Pure Theatre, Footlight Players, Dock Street Theatre, Villiage Playhouse, and Theatre 99. Theatre 99 was where Henry worked as an ensemble member for about 5 years writing, directing, and performing in such shows as HOBO the Musical, Maximum Brain Squad, Affirmative Action Jackson, The Measled Knights, Improv Riot, The Sofa Kings, Ebony and Ivory, Bear Trap, Ironclad, Wacky Town, and a few others. Henry moved to Chicago in Summer 2008 where he made a debut performance as a blood thirsty robot in R.U.R. with Strawdog Theatre. He also happened to stumble upon the one most crazy and aspirant theatre companies in town, The New Colony where he was seen in FRAT by Evan Linder. Chicago theatre scene: "Things are gonna get crazy weird!"

Mary Hollis Inboden, Director of Development

Mary Hollis Inboden hails from Memphis, TN where she got her start at Playhouse on the Square and The Circuit Playhouse, Inc. She moved to Chicago in 2006 after working around the south as an actor, singer, director, and writer. Mary Hollis’s one-act "Bleu II: baile de la calle," based on the painting by Joan Miro, was produced by the University of Memphis in 2005. She is the recipient of an Ostrander Award for Best Supporting Actress and an Irene Ryan Award Best Actress Nominee. She is happy to be joining The New Colony as the Director of Development, and can be seen at the end of the inaugural season in "Tupperware: an American Musical Fable."

James Asmus, Director of New Works

James Asmus has spent 15 years working in theater, film, and comedy. In recent years, he has performed in numerous shows at The Annoyance including Coed Prison Sluts, The Invention Show, and as host of the burlesque show Late Nite Tit Bits. As a comedian, he has improvised for several years at iO and The Annoyance, traveled the country with NYC & LA buddies as Darby Lane, and run through the comedy festival circut with sketch trio Hey You Millionaires. He is company member with The New Colony, and wrote its award-winning debut production, Amelia Earhart Jungle Princess. James also co-created and starred in Love Is Dead: A NecRomantic Musical Comedy with director Andrew Hobgood for The Annoyance. The show won "Outstanding Music & Lyrics" awards from both Chicago's After Dark Awards and the 2008 New York Fringe Festival. In recent months, James has been writing for Marvel Comics, and teaching writing programs for various theaters.

Will Cavedo, Literary Manager

Will Cavedo holds a BA in Theatre from the College of Charleston in Charleston, SC. In addition to many acting credits while in school, Will has performed at the Warehouse Theatre in Greenville, SC, the Shakespeare Project and the Piccolo Spoleto Theatre Festival in Charleston, and was recently seen in The New Colony's production of Evan Linder's FRAT in Chicago. Will is also an accomplished playwright whose work has been performed at the Piccolo Spoleto Festival and at the Southeast Regional Competition for the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival.

Julie B. Nichols, Music Director

Julie B. Nichols studied jazz improvisation and composition at the University of Iowa, Iowa City. Since then, she has toured all over the world, performing with such esteemed companies as the Second City National Touring Company as its music director. The job entailed live improvisation as well as composing music, much of which is still used on tour today. She has also performed at and composed for renowned Chicago theaters Improv Olympic, GayCo, the Apollo Theater, the Annoyance Theater and wrote the original score to "Torch Song Trilogy" for Hubris Productions. In addition, she regularly writes music for independent video projects, commercials and corporate videos. Julie composed the scores and served as musical director for two acclaimed original musicals that were produced by the Annoyance Theater: Stop That Show and Love is Dead: A Necromantic Musical Comedy. After breaking box office records at the Annoyance, Love is Dead went on to win several awards, including Best Music and Lyrics at the New York International Film Festival. It also won 3 After Dark awards for Best Pit Band, Best Comedic Performance and Julie is currently the associate music director for the sketch comedy and improvisation theater Boom Chicago in Amsterdam. In addition to performing five nights a week, she composes and produces much of the music for their shows and videos. She helped create Boom’s popular environmentally-themed show Last One to Leave The Planet, Turn Out the Lights and wrote all the music for their long-anticipated political send-up, Bye Bye Bush. She is currently working on Boom Chicago’s newest show, Yankee Come Back, opening in the spring of 2009. Julie’s pet project is the hit podcast "The Fraudkast" (www.fraudkast.org), for which she serves as producer, composer and editor. Julie has also begun composition and pre-production on the new Asmus/Hobgood/Nichols production Tupperware!, to be produced by Chicago’s most promising up-and-coming theater company, The New Colony.

Next Show:

Feb 8th - March. 13th

For general information:
info@thenewcolony.org

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