ABOUT

Shelley Strasser

For Shelley, the life in the theatre began in high school while helping build sets and hang lights. Ms. Strasser continued along that path at Eureka College by earning a B.S. in Mathematics and Theatre. After graduating and spending a year working at the Blue Moon Dinner Theatre, Shelley moved to Chicago to attend graduate school at Northwestern University. She earned her M.F.A. in Theatre Design – Lighting from NU and began working as a Lighting Designer in the Windy City. Shelley has designed lights for many Chicago area theatres including Shattered Globe Theatre, Theatre WIT, American Blues Theatre, Steppenwolf, Chicago Children's Theatre, Center Light Theatre, Redmoon Theatre, Light Opera Works, Mercury Theatre, Victory Gardens, Drury Lane Water Tower, Theatre at the Center and First Folio Theatre.

Shelley is the resident lighting designer and an ensemble member of the Shattered Globe Theatre where she has designed many shows since 1992. Some favorite SGT shows include Be Here Now, For Peter Pan on her 70th Birthday, Crime and Punishment, The Whaleship Essex, All My Sons, The Manchurian Candidate, Talk Radio, The Glass Menagerie and Judgment at Nuremburg. In addition to her role as LD for Shattered Globe, Shelley also has also been a grant writer for the Ensemble, on the season selection committee, and has Co-Chaired of the annual SGT fundraising benefit for many years.

Shelley designs many shows at The Theater at the Center in Munster, IN. She served as their Resident Lighting Designer 2013-15. Shelley's tenure at The Center began in 1999 and is thrilled to be a part of their theatre family. Favorite TatC shows include Christmas Story, Tin Woman, Christmas Memory, Oklahoma, Wonderful Life, Petrified Forest, Godspell and A Christmas Carol.

Shelley is an Artistic Associate with the First Folio Theatre in Oak Brook, IL where she has designed productions including The Woman in Black, Tea at Five, Under the Lintel and Unnecessary Farce.

In addition to her career as a lighting designer, Ms. Strasser has also followed her passion of teaching. Shelley has held the position of Visiting Lecturer and Assistant Professor in the Fine and Performing Arts Department at Indiana University Northwest from 1995-1998 and more recently as an Adjunct Professor 2011-13. At IUN, Shelley has designed both the lighting and scenery and taught Lighting Design, Scene Design, Stagecraft and Introduction to Theater.

Shelley now teaches and designs for the Department Theatre and Performing Arts at Governors State University. Ms. Strasser enjoys assisting in an active and exciting theatre education in the Chicago Southland. You will find Shelley designing scenery and lighting TAPS productions and teaching the design and technical courses for the university.

Part of the journey back to education included Shelley stepping into the role of Theatre Lighting Consultant at Homewood Flossmoor High School from 2009 - 2016. Designing the lighting for 2-4 shows a year at the premiere High School afforded her the opportunity to educate and inspire a talented group of theatre students. Ms. Strasser led the students from plot, to installation, to production and has seen recent graduates attend colleges pursuing Theatre Lighting Design as their major.

Shelley has two active 2 girls (Mary and Kathryn) that keep her grounded and busy. In her spare time, Shelley is a fitness instructor and Sales and Marketing Supervisor at the H-F Racquet & Fitness Club in Homewood, likes to work in the garden and to crochet as much as possible, and takes great pleasure in working on her family's vintage 1904 home.