Red Tape Valentine: Carrie Drapac and Kira Elliott

Carrie has been an ensemble member since 2010. She appeared in The Love of the Nightingale, and can be seen on stage now in Church/Pullman, WA. Her Valentine is her amazing business partner and co-owner of Comfy Fitness. Not only is Kira particularly understanding when Carrie is rehearsing and in a show, but she’s also been known to make an appearance at a cast party herself.

“Not only is Kira a huge theatre fan, but she helps build our business in a way that gives me time to be an active Red Tape ensemble member. Without her I don't know how I'd manage both owning a small business and pursuing a fulfilling life as an actor. Happy Valentine's Day to the best business partner a girl could ask for!” –Carrie

Ensemble Member Carrie Drapac and business partner Kira Elliot, partners in fitness for 3 ½ years

Hang out with Red Tape on Industry Night
Monday, February 14 at 8:00
After party at Wilde
Tickets: http://www.redtapetheatre.org/ , code: mermaid

Red Tapes Welcomes Four New Ensemble Members!

We're thrilled to announce Red Tape's newest ensemble members!

Carrie Drapac joined Red Tape Theatre after her involvement in their 2010 production of The Love of the Nightingale. She holds a B.F.A in Theatre from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, having focused on musical theatre in the CAP21 program and film acting at Stonestreet Studios. She has had the pleasure of working on a wide variety of projects ranging from devised theatre to feature length horror films. Carrie's favorite projects include a musical adaptation of the novel Hotel Sarajevo, silent short films about the Iraq War (Red, White and Blue) and metamorphosis (Tropism), and 1940's musical fluff Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Carrie is a personal trainer and co-founder/owner of Comfy Fitness. Currently, Carrie and her business partner are producing a kids' fitness television pilot.

Amanda Reader's first production with Red Tape Theatre was The Love of the Nightingale, in the spring of 2010, after which, she joined the ensemble. In Chicago, she was seen onstage in The Blessed Child, as part of Halcyon Theatre's Alcyone Festival and Sex Marks the Spot at the Theatre Building. She also performed in North Carolina Shakespeare Festival's productions of King Lear and Much Ado About Nothing (Ursula), and will be in Michigan Shakespeare Festival's Comedy of Errors (Luciana) and Romeo & Juliet (Juliet) during the summer of 2010. She has studied with Profiles Theatre, and also stage managed their production of The Mercy Seat. Amanda holds a BFA in Acting Performance from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Meghan Reardon is a performer from Topeka, KS and is extremely proud to call herself a Red Tape Company member. She graduated in 2008 with a BA in Theatre and Dance from Knox College, where she received the Colton Prize for Performance and The Karger Award in Theatre Arts. In Chicago, she has performed in The Love of the Nightingale with Red Tape, Dumbspeak in the (a)Symmetry Cycle, SubUrbia with the Nine Chicago, Spectacle Lunatique with Redmoon (where she also served as a performance intern), The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie with Signal Ensemble, The Conduct of Life with Tooth and Nail Ensemble, A Hampstead Hooligan in King Arthur's Court with Chicago Dell'arte, Dracula and as part of the Objects in Motion festival at The Building Stage, and Frugal Love with The Moving Dock. She has studied at the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin, Ireland and has studied with the SITI Company and The Actor's Gymnasium. She holds a particular place in her heart for movement and ensemble-based performance. Meghan was the recipient of a 2009 CAAP Individual Artist Grant.

Kathleen Romond performed in Red Tape's 2010 production of The Love of The Nightingale. Other Chicago credits include; Blind Date and Talking Pictures as a part of The Horton Foote Festival at The Goodman Theatre. Regional Credits include; The Cherry Orchard and The Government Inspector at Milwaukee Repertory Theater. Kathleen was born and raised in Kentucky. She graduated from Interlochen Arts Academy High School in Michigan before hopping across the pond to Glasgow, Scotland where she received her BFA in Acting from The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. This winter Kathleen will be understudying Honey in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at Steppenwolf Theatre.

The Story of Itys: Meet Carrie Drapac

Where are you from?

I hail from just outside of Gary, Indiana but made my way to Chicago via New York. So, I often feel like a New Yorker with Midwestern sensibilities.

What do you do when you're not performing?

When not performing, my days (and nights) are mostly consumed by building, running, and working for my small in-home personal training business, Comfy Fitness.

What is your favorite moment in The Love of the Nightingale?

Oh geeze...one moment, really?! Actually, I think what captivates me more so than any moment in Nightingale is the text. I'm am completely astounded each time I hear different speeches and realize that by the end of the show, single words have now taken on layers of meaning.

Any standout rehearsal moments?

I LOVED seeing the choreography for the first time last night in rehearsal. It offers the audience yet another way into the world of the play.

What's a fun fact about your character?

Hmmm, what don't we know about Itys? Well, he feeds a stray kitten that he has named Aepytus after his favorite Greek figure...but that all happens off-stage.

The Love of the Nightingale runs May 3-29.

Get your tickets through our website.