SILVER POPLAR STUDIOS LLC
1519 E. Door Bluff Road
Ellison Bay, WI 54210
Phone: 920.854.2106
e-mail: look@silverpoplar.com
James E. Maronek Resumé
Education
The Art Institute of Chicago: BFA (with honors) 1953.
The Art Institute of Chicago: MFA 1958.
DRAMA DESIGN
Academy Playhouse; Alabama Shakespeare Festival; Apple Tree Theatre;
American Folklore Theatre; Blue Circle Theatre; Body Politic Theatre; Buffalo
Theatre; Columbia College; Dallas Theater Center; Door County Auditorium;
Drury Lane Theatre; DePaul University; Edgewater Beach Playhouse; First
Chicago Center; Forum Theatre; The Goodman Theatre; The Happening; Hull
House Theatre; Milwaukee Rep Stemke Theatre; Northlight Theatre; Organic Theatre; Paul Sills Story
Theatre; Peninsula Players; Ravinia Theatre Festival; The Second City;
University of Chicago; Wisdom Bridge Theatre
MUSICAL and DANCE DESIGN
Broadway musical (“Do Black Patent Leather Shoes Really Reflect Up?”) with
national tour; Chicago Lyric Opera School; Cincinnati Summer Opera; First
Chicago Center; Gus Giordano Jazz Dance Company; IBEW Chicago;
Lithuanian Opera; Peninsula Players; St. Luke’s Fashion Show; Tenthouse
Theatre; University of South Florida Opera.
THEATRE ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN
Design: American Folklore Theatre in Peninsula State Park; Northern Sky
Gould Theatre (consultant); Visual Concepts Room at The Goodman School
of Drama; The Peninsula Players Theatre (design chair); Chicago Historical
Society (exhibit room).
Renovations: The Goodman Studio Theatre; McCormick Chapel Building;
DePaul School of Music Building (classrooms and performance spaces);
DePaul Commons Theatre; The Happening (storefront);
Kungsholm Theatre (adaption from miniature opera stage).
TELEVISION DESIGN
Design: NBC and CBS: Nation’s first color TV broadcast; two network shows
and numerous local shows (Chicago affiliates). Scenic Artist: WGN, ABC.
INDUSTRIAL THEATRE DESIGN
Admiral; Allis-Chalmers; Anheuser-Busch; Armour; B. F. Goodrich; Buick;
Century 21; Crane; General Electric; IBM; Motorola; Philco-Ford; RCA;
Standard Oil; Sylvania; Zenith.
AWARDS AND EXHIBITIONS
- Joseph Jefferson Awards: Best Scene Design; Best Lighting Design;
five additional nominations. - Exhibited: “The Art of the Scene Designer” (one-man show); Artists
Guild of Chicago; The Chicago Public Library Cultural Center; Dirksen
Federal Building; Illinois Bell Gallery; Lincoln Center; McCormick Place;
Northern Illinois University; Prague Quadrennials; U.S. Institute of
Theatre Technology international tours.
APPOINTMENTS AND OFFICES
- Professor Emeritus, DePaul University (Chair of Design and Technology 1959-1987).
- President, United Scenic Artists, Midwest (1970-1988).
- Resident Designer Posts: The Edgewater Beach Playhouse (1958-1961); The First Chicago Center (1973-1974); The Goodman Theatre (1959-1972); The Organic Theatre (1975-1977); The Peninsula Players (1950-1953).
- Boards of Directors: United States Institute of Theatre Technology (retired); The Brecht Society of America (retired); The Peninsula Players (current).
- Editorships and Columnist: Chicago Guide Magazine (Editor-at-large, 1971-1976); The Door Peninsula Voice (“Horizon Line”).
- Delegate: USSR Cultural Workers’ Union meetings and tours of Ukrainian and Russian performing arts (1981).
- Sabbatical tour for seven months of performing arts, museums and cultural landmarks throughout Europe and the USSR, with letters of introduction (1971); independent cultural travel with concentrations in Asia, Greece, Russia, Ukraine and Costa Rica.
PUBLICATIONS AND CONSULTATIONS
Numerous articles, critiques, and essays on Theatre, Travel and the Arts. Contributions to Educational Theatre Journal; Gestus; Theatre Crafts; Theatre Design and Technology; World Book Encyclopedia. Sketches for Acting Is Believing by Charles McGaw (first edition). Consultations: Chicago Historical Society, Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art and others.
WORKSHOPS
Door County, Wisconsin: Director, Silver Poplar Studios LLC, a retreat for actors, artists, writers and musicians since 1988, with classes and presentations at The Clearing, The Peninsula Art School and the Door County Art League.
Zancudo, Costa Rica: Director, Playa Plata Estudios S.A., a seminar center for local residents and tourists (1991 – 2005), with art workshops and ecological excursions in the neo-tropical rainforest and Southern Pacific Ocean zone.
MILITARY SERVICE
- U.S. Army Medical Corp, 1953 to 1955
- Specialized Medical Field Service Training, Ft. Sam Houston, Texas
- Neuropsychiatric Technician, Madigan Army Hospital, Ft. Lewis, Washington
DESIGN SERVICES
Stage scenery, Theatres, Displays, Interiors, Architectural Design and Graphics.