Hi, I’m Chris.
With a combined 4 years of teaching in school and private coaching settings, I’ve established myself as an up-and-coming voice, acting, and performance coach on the North Shore. After founding the Chris Sciortino Actors Studio in 2020, I’ve worked with 30+ students ages six to sixty on everything from their first musicals to college auditions.
Since graduating from Indiana University in 2022 with a degree in theatre and public relations, I’ve also worked professionally throughout Chicagoland as a publicity associate and currently as an executive assistant at Glencoe’s Writers Theatre.
To me, learning is never over. That’s why I’m currently studying with the Institute for Vocal Advancement to hone my skills as a teacher and artist.
I’m a teacher, performer, and theatre professional based in Chicago.
Professional
I’m currently working at the wonderful Writers Theatre in Glencoe as their executive assistant, working directly with the Executive Director Kate Lipuma and Artistic Director Braden Abraham. I have a long history with Writers, having worked with their marketing team in my last position and having served on their Youth Council in high school.
Writers Theatre is one of Chicago’s premier regional theatres, and is currently in its 31st season. Information on our current season is available here.
After graduating from Indiana University, I made the move back to Chicago to start work with Cathy Taylor Public Relations. I spent my first few months getting to know the company’s clientele and by the end of the year joined their team as an associate and social media manager. Select clients included: Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Drury Lane Theatre, Court Theatre, A Red Orchid Theatre, Black Ensemble Theater, Mercury Theater, Northlight Theatre, The Second City, and of course Writers Theatre.
Performance
Professionally, I’ve had the pleasure of singing in cabarets across the country. When I was a senior in high school, I sang in the debut Tuesdays at 54: With Robbie Rozelle! at New York City’s famed 54 Below. The following year, I was invited to perform with Broadway star Jessica Vosk during her Wild and Free tour at The Cabaret in Indianapolis just 5 days before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since COVID, I’ve written, produced, directed, and performed in my own cabaret With a Bang, which served as my senior recital in Bloomington and made it back to the New York stage for a one-night-only performance at Don’t Tell Mama.
Academic
I graduated from IU at 20 after studying Acting, Directing, and Public Relations. I changed my major a total of three times (brutal), so my educational experience contains coursework in theatre, journalism, communications, political science, and teaching.
Most of my time in Bloomington was spent working on mainstage theatre productions, singing with the Grammy winning Singing Hoosiers, and growing my Actors Studio.
I wrote for the award winning Indiana Daily Student from 2020-2022 sharing a weekly opinion column titled “Clear Cut.” The column explored lifestyle concerns of college students, artistic commentary, and political opinions.
In my last year of college, I originated the role of Media Relations Director at the Kelley School of Business’s Journal of Business Venturing. I developed comprehensive media outreach plans to pitch our journal articles to local and national outlets across the country.
Way back when
When I was 5, I begged my parents to let me take piano lessons. I had found my dad’s small keyboard in our basement and I was tired of trying to guess what notes would come out of which key. So, reluctantly, they signed me up for lessons.
Knowing I had fully immersed myself in the music world, my parents started taking me to musicals. The first that really piqued my interest was Wicked when I was 7 years old. As anyone in my life would be able to tell you, that show has stuck in my head for a while.
I studied all the theatre and music I could while I was in school. In high school, I performed in 6 shows, directed our student sketch comedy show Lagniappe-Potpourri, and was awarded the Chris Tkalcevic Memorial Scholarship for Excellence in Musical Theatre by my classmates in my senior year.
If you told little Chris that he would still be performing, teaching, and working at a theatre, I think he’d be absolutely thrilled.