UT Committee is the governing body and public face of University Theater. As elected representatives, Committee is responsible for fostering, approving, scheduling and supporting student productions. They relate the needs and concerns of the UT community to TAPS Pro Staff and the Center for Leadership and Involvement, ensuring the stability and continuity of theater and performance on campus. Committee members write and propose new bylaws, striving to accurately reflect the current needs of the community as well as their vision for how UT might change and grow. Often, this work is done in subcommittees dedicated to specific initiatives. Reach out to Committee to learn more about subcommittees and join one if you have a strong interest in working with Committee on an initiative!

Committee is made up of ten elected members, as well as one representative from Off-Off Campus, Tech Staff, Student Staff, and the Dean’s Men. They meet every Monday in Logan 802 at 5pm! Each meeting begins with a Public Portion, where members of the community are encouraged to participate, say hi, and share their thoughts. Make sure to stop by!

Want to run for Committee? Elections are every year, 6th week of Winter Quarter!

How do you contact Committee? Reach all of us at ut-committee@uchicago.edu, or click on the names below to email members individually.

  • Emily Curran (Chair) is a third-year Public Policy major and TAPS minor. This is her second year on Committee after serving as Social Chair last year. Her UT and TAPS credits include: 13th Morning (Lighting Designer & Asst. Director); Much Ado About Nothing (Margaret); Arcadia (Asst Lighting Designer); Strings Attached (Lighting Designer); Falsettos (Charlotte); Twelfth Night (Lighting Designer); Be More Chill (Asst. Lighting Designer); Macbeth in Space (Lighting Designer); and Romeo & Juliet (Asst. Lighting Designer). She is also a Theater[24] Curator and is beyond pleased to be working with this fantastic group of people for another year!

  • Alasdair Dodd (Treasurer) is a third year East Asian Languages and Civilizations and Religious Studies double major. His UT credits include Falsettos (Lighting Designer), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Stage Manager), Royal Flush (Stage Manager), The Arsonists (Lighting Designer) and Troilus & Cressida (Production Manager). He is very excited to be on committee and make at least one spreadsheet!

  • August Petry (Secretary) is a first-year TAPS and Math major. Their UT credits include If/Then (Assistant Director) and Cactus Flower (Assistant Lighting Designer & Assistant Production Manager). They are so excited to work with Committee and be your secretary for this year!

  • Giancarlo Beritela (Social Chair) is a student in the College.

  • Joseph DePaula (Outreach Chair) Joseph DePaula (Outreach Chair) is a Medieval Studies/History major. Primarily an actor, his UT credits (former & upcoming) include Marian, or the True Tale of Robin Hood (Little John), Dead Fun Society (Mark Hellebrand), The Taming of the Shrew (Grumio), and Strings Attached (Walt), as well as assistant directing Much Ado About Nothing (Fall 2024) and directing Cactus Flower (Spring 2025)! This is his second year on UT Committee in the capacity of Outreach Chair, and he also serves on the boards of both Cup of Theater (Artistic Director) and of Attori Senza Paura/UChicago Commedia (Production Manager & coincidentally also Co-Outreach Coordinator)! He is incredibly excited to work with the new Committee!

  • Kelly Mao (Dean’s Men Representative) is a student in the College.

  • London Mahaley (Off-Off Representative) is a student in the College.

  • Ryan Cairns (Administrative Staff Liaison) is a fourth-year BA/MA in Political Science, Human Rights, and History, with a minor in Classical Studies. She has been a member of the UT Committee since Fall of 2021, through the Mouton, Ng, Yablonivsky, Liu and now Curran administrations. In these years, Ryan has participated in a variety of roles for various UT shows, including but not limited to acting as Jason in the Strings Attached Workshop (Fall 2023), stage managing Romeo and Juliet (Fall 2022), and directing Thirteenth Morning (Winter 2025). Outside of UT, Ryan is the Co-Chair of W+ (Women and Gender Minorities in Public Service), and organizes with the Chicago Abortion Fund. Following her graduation in June 2025, Ryan will be moving to Baltimore to pursue a post-baccalaureate pre-medical program.

  • Crystina Windham (Tech Staff Liaison) is a student in the College.

  • Will Rehmus is a second-year astrophysics major and TAPS minor. Their UT credits include: Muscle Memory (Asst. Lighting), Cassandra (Lighting and Sound), Falsettos (Asst. Stage Manager), Strings Attached: A Musical (Co-Sound), The Play That Goes Wrong (Asst. Lighting), Much Ado About Nothing (Scenic), Troilus and Cressida (Asst. Sound), 13th Morning (Committee Liaison), 35 mm (Asst. Sound), and Cactus Flower (Lighting). They also run this website! Please reach out if there are any issues, this codebase is a mess and they’re doing their best.

  • Clara Pressey is a first year TAPS and Classical Studies major! She is an avid Theater[24] enjoyer and a member of Off-Off Campus. This is her first year on UT Committee, and she is beyond excited to be involved!

  • Rachel Bolte is a third-year Sociology major. Her UT credits include Thirteenth Morning (Olivia), The Arsonists (PM), and The Play That Goes Wrong (APM). You can usually find her color-coding spreadsheets or reading books.

  • Nayu Shimo is a second-year studying some combination of Psychology, Religious Studies, and TAPS. Her past UT credits include: Welcome Back to my Channel (Asst. Director), The Arsonists (Asst. Stage Manager), If/Then (Asst. Production Manager), and Troilus and Cressida (Co-Stage Manager). She can usually be found crocheting little animals, lip syncing to Chappell Roan, or watching at funny cat videos.

  • Kaden Kaden is a second-year History and Linguistics major from San Francisco who has worked on a variety of UT shows in lighting, sound, costume, and scenic design. They’ve never been on committee before but are excited to give it the ol’ college try.

The committee members archive can be found here.