Who We Are

Melissa Carsten is Vice President Operations & Administration for PTG Consulting, a division of Preferred Travel Group. In her role, she is also Preferred’s Ambassador for the GIFTTS Program (Great Initiatives for Today’s (Tomorrow’s) Society), created to inspire members of the global hospitality industry to foster a commitment to philanthropy, community, sustainability and education. Season of Concern is the perfect marriage of Carsten’s love of theater and her desire to inspire and drive altruistic efforts within the local community.

David Fink started his career in manufacturing at Allied Metal Company in Chicago.  He worked in sales, as the company treasurer, and finally served as president. In 2003, along with a partner, David opened The Acorn Theater in Three Oaks, Michigan.  David booked the performance space for 12 years and finally sold it to a non-profit in 2022. David has served on the board of Harbor Arts (including serving as board president) for 24 years. He was also president of the board of The Poetry Center of Chicago and of Chicago Improv Productions (who produced the Chicago Improv Festival as well as other programs.) He has also served on the board of Big Questions (EMMY winning producer of documentaries.) and Friends of the Chicago River. David has served for many years as a community advisor to WNIT public television in South Bend. David also is co-founder, starting curator, and current Artistic Director of Outpsoken LGBTQ+ stories, which is being inducted into the Chicago LGBT Hall of Fame. David graduated from the University of Michigan with a liberal arts degree and holds a master’s degree in business from Northwestern. David is a lifelong lover of the arts.

Martin (Marty) Grochala is the Associate Director of Development/Senior Director of Major and Planned Gifts at Goodman Theatre, where he began his fundraising career in 1993. In 2004, Grochala joined Hubbard Street Dance Chicago as Director of Development. In 2010, he was recruited by The Chicago Academy for the Arts, an independent arts high school, as Director of Institutional Advancement. He has a B.A. in Theater/Dance from St. John’s University/College of St. Benedict (1983) and has completed the coursework for a Masters in Arts, Entertainment and Media Management from Columbia College Chicago. He has been a volunteer with the Arts and Business Council of Chicago, and has served on the boards of Dignity/Chicago and DignityUSA, the advocacy organization for LGBTQI Catholics. He sits on DignityUSA’s National Convention Committee and co-chaired the 2019 DUSA 50^th Anniversary Conference in Chicago.

Charls Sedgwick Hall (Actor, Movement and Shakespeare Text Instructor, Director) is based in Chicago. Acting credits include performances as Touchstone in As You Like It, Trinculo in The Tempest, Gremio in The Taming of the Shrew with Thin Air Shakespeare; Boyet in Love’s Labour’s Lost, Recruting Officer in Mother Courage and Her Children, Charlie in The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged, Revised), Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet, A Comedy of Errors, Philostrate in A Midsummer Night’s Dream with Shakespeare and Company; Preacher/Ol’ Mister, Ensemble in The Color Purple (The Musical) Los Angeles Ovations Award winning production, Mirror in The Next Fairytale, Father in The Escape Artist’s Children, and Pops in Follow with Celebration Theatre; Ghost. Player King & Queen and Grave Digger in Hamlet, Feste in Twelfth Night, Leonato in Much Ado About Nothing with Southern California Shakespeare Festival. Directing credits include Other World Lover and Afrocentricities with MPAACT, OUTStories and The Red Train Café with Celebration Theatre. During his many years of performing and studying with Shakespeare and Company, Charls toured with the School’s Program, trained as a Movement teacher in the discipline of Trish Arnold teaching as a Guest Professor in Movement at the National Institute of Performing Arts in Sydney, Australia and Guest Artist performing in Angels of Lemnos and Guest Professor in Movement at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia. Charls, a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association, SAG/AFTRA, holds an MFA from the NYU-School of the Performing Arts Graduate Acting Program, teaches and continues to study Black History, other Movement disciplines, as well as Shakespeare’s Text, Rhetoric and Sonnets.

Leavell Javon Johnson (Javon) is a versatile and dedicated professional with a strong foundation in education, theatre, and labor advocacy. Armed with a Master of Fine Arts from the University of Florida, Javon has honed his skills as an instructor, director, and union organizer, leaving a positive impact on each role.

After completing his graduate studies, Javon pursued his acting career on the East Coast, working at renowned theaters in Florida, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey. His engagement with the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey provided him with invaluable experience both on stage and as a teaching artist. Javon’s work in Shakespeare helped him to cultivate young students’ communication skills and empower them to speak their minds.

In 2019, Javon relocated to Chicago and quickly secured a position at the Actors’ Equity Association. During his tenure, he has contributed to various departments, including Auditions, Contracts, Communications, and Organizing. His involvement in the Organizing department has been instrumental in securing significant contract wins for numerous Chicago-area theaters, including the newly organized Drunk Shakespeare.

Currently serving as the Director of Education and Member Value, Javon is committed to empowering members in their communities by expanding their union benefits and educating them about the advantages of joining a labor union. With Seasons of Concern’s strong ties within the Chicago theater community, Javon aims to leverage his passion, momentum, and energy to advance the organization’s initiatives.

Mark David Kaplan is the recipient of three Joseph Jefferson Awards for his work in Les Misérables, Ragtime and Forbidden Broadway, the latter with which he has toured internationally and performed off-Broadway. Other credits include The Mystery of Love and Sex (Writers Theatre), Mary Zimmerman’s Wonderful Town (Goodman), Little Shop of Horrors (American Blues), Hairspray (Syracuse Stage), Amadeus (Indiana Rep), We Three Lizas (About Face Theatre), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (James Lapine, dir.), Man of La Mancha (Montana Shakespeare in the Parks), and countless premieres with Chicago Shakespeare, Marriott and Skylight Theatres. Mark spent 5+ years in the National Tour of The Lion King. As a proud member of Actors’ Equity since 1986, Mark has served as a National Councilor in the union, and presently sits on the Central Regional Board.

Bridget McDonough (Music Theater Works, General Manager, Retired) has been employed in arts management since graduating from Northwestern University in 1978. In 1980 she co-founded Music Theater Works with Philip Kraus and others. She holds membership in the Illinois Arts Alliance, is past president of the Rotary Club of Evanston, and served on the boards of the Evanston Convention and Visitors’ Bureau, Evanston Chamber of Commerce, the National Alliance for Musical Theatre, Around the Coyote, as well as the School of Communication Alumni Board at Northwestern University and the tourism committee of Chicago’s North Shore Convention and Visitors’ Bureau. She is currently on the board of the North Shore International Network, and is a member and former treasurer of the Musicians Club of Women. She served as an international judge at the Second Vladimir Kurochkin International Competition of Young Artists of Operetta and Musicals in Yekaterinburg, Russia, and VIBE (Vienna International Ballet Experience) in Missoula, Montana. She was honored by the Evanston Chamber of Commerce with their 2009 Public Service/Nonprofit Person of the Year Award. Bridget retired from Music Theater Works at the end of the 2019 season.

Doug MacKechnie, after earning a BS and MBA from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, spent more than 20 years in business analysis, software support, project management, and data analysis – all while appearing on Chicagoland stages and (a very few) national TV screens: he also received an MFA in 1995 from The Theatre School at DePaul University. He left IBM a few years ago (safety net provided by his amazing and amazingly supportive wife, Linda) to pursue acting full time and make more time for volunteer work. After serving 8 years on the Central Regional Board of Actors’ Equity Association, he was just elected to the National Council of Actors’ Equity, is proud to be a recent addition to the board of Season of Concern, and is grateful for the opportunity to give back and pay forward.

Joan Mazzonelli has produced, directed, and designed for the theater in Chicago, Los Angeles and New York City. She has written Border Crossing, a short play, with Marianne Kallen; the musicals Reasonable Terms with Marianne Kallen and Karena Mendoza; Bottom’s Dream with James L. Kurtz, an adaptation of All in the Laundry by Fred Rogers of Mr. Rogers Neighborhood; and the operas High Fidelity and The Proposal with Philip Seward. She has happily served in leadership roles with City Lit Theater, ShPIel Performing Identity, Griffin Theatre, Midwest New Musicals at Light Opera Works (now Music Theatre Works), Athenaeum Theatre, Theatre Building Chicago, New Tuners Theatre, Illinois Theatre Association, National Alliance for Musical Theatre, Chicago Dance and Music Alliance, Child’s Play Touring Theatre, League of Chicago Theatres, Season of Concern, On Stage Productions, Opera Shop at the Vineyard Theatre, and National Shakespeare Company. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild. She has taught as an adjunct instructor at Columbia College Chicago and lectured at DePaul University, Fordham University and Roosevelt University.

Marcelle McVay most recently was Head of the Theatre Management Program at The Theatre School of DePaul University. Prior to that, she worked with Victory Gardens Theater from its inception in 1974 as Business Manager, Development Director and Managing Director until her retirement in 2009. She grew the theater’s budget to the $3 million level and provided leadership during the $11.8 million capital campaign to purchase and renovate the Biograph Theater as the theater’s mainstage home. During her tenure and partnership with Artistic Director Dennis Zacek, Victory Gardens promoted diversity and inclusion among Chicago artists and audiences and produced over 150 world premieres. Awards include the Lifetime Achievement Award from The League of Chicago Theaters and, on behalf of Victory Gardens Theater, the 2001 Regional Theatre Tony Award which McVay, Zacek and Associate Artistic Director Sandy Shinner accepted, Actors’ Equity ‘s Rosetta Lenoire Award, the Columbia College Entrepreneurship Award and the Lawyers for the Creative Arts Distinguished Service to the Arts Award.

Jane Nicholl Sahlins was Born and educated in the UK, her early career was with Granada TV. After moving to New York in l964, she continued her work in TV with Granada TV, the BBC and CBS News where she worked on both documentaries and 60 MINUTES.

After moving to Chicago she continued to work with CBS News and studied photography at Columbia College. She became active in local theatre as a founding member of the Boards of Victory Gardens Theatre, Wisdom Bridge Theatre and the Academy Festival Theatre in Lake Forest. In l981 she produced and co-directed THE WOMEN at Columbia College and co-presented NICHOLAS NICKLEBY at the Blackstone Theatre.

In l984 she co-founded and was Executive Director of the International Theatre Festival of Chicago – an organization that produced five Festivals over a period of ten years and brought theatre companies from all over the world to Chicago.

She is the recipient of several awards including a special Joseph Jefferson Award, YMCA Outstanding Achievement Award, and in 2008 she was made a Living Landmark by Landmarks Illinois for her contribution to Chicago’s cultural life.

She has served as a panelist for the Illinois Arts Council, a site evaluator and panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, and a consultant to various small theatre companies. As a photographer she was part of a group photography show at the Bette Cerf Hill Gallery in the Spring of 2007 and at the Hyde Park Art Centre in December 2009.

Steve Scott was for 30 years Producer of Goodman Theatre, where he is currently an Artistic Associate. During his 45-year career as a director Scott has staged hundreds of productions for theaters in Chicago (for Goodman, Northlight, Porchlight, The Lyric Opera Center and many others), regionally, nationally and internationally. He is the Chair of the Artistic Committee at Eclipse Theatre (where he has been an ensemble member for more than 20 years) and a member of Redtwist Theatre Company. His productions have received six Jeff nominations and an After Dark Award. For his contributions to the Chicago theater community Scott has received a special Jeff Award and the League of Chicago Theatre’s Lifetime Achievement Award. He has been a Season of Concern executive committee member for more than 15 years.