Django Baker:
CLASS OF 1985
Sullivan High SchoolClass of 1985
Chicago, IL
Walt Disney Magnet Elementary SchoolClass of 1981
Chicago, IL
Django's Story
Life
I am an actor, casting-artistic director & executive producer of theatre & films in & around Chicago. I have recently signed on as President of Theatre O Th Absurd Company, a nonprofit theatre Corporation here in Chicago, with my affiliates & artistic associate directors-in-arms, Pepper Giese (sec. treasurer), & J.M. Demetrius (V.P.). In 2006 I have 4-6 solid projects lined up. One is a film entitled 'Balloons'. I will be performing in at least 3-5 plays. I am planning on returning to the Abbey Hoffman Died For Our Sins Theatre Fest at Mary-Arrchie Theatre Company in Chicago on Sheridan Road, with Fred Husar (Dreadful Engines Theatre), to remaster our short scene from Hunter S. Thompson's "Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas". This time I promise To MEMORIZE IT!! (ha ha)! Later this year we will present an American Premiere of the only play ever written by Pablo Picasso, "Desire Caught By The Tail", the show will be directed by Fred Husar, it includes performers from the Theatre O Th Absurd Company as a cooperative effort with Dreadful Engines Theatre. This winter has been a big vacation from performing for me, I have been hibernating since going strong with productions for the last several years. Watch this page for a link toMyspace.com & look for the intro to the documentary to be featured on Myspace.com: "THE MAKING OF THE THEATRE O TH ABSURD", produced by Studio 207, on Bloomingdale in Chicago. It seemes like I see more of the tech director Mark than my own family lately as we tidy up the final drafts!! Seriously, a little more editing before presenting this hip, behind the scenes look at what it is like to struggle as a smaller theatre outfit at the storefront performance level in this great city of ours, Chicago! We are nearly there on the rough cut. I will try & get some eye candy up here in the interum.
School
Ardeth Gardiner, the first time I saw her I saw fireworks (but I pretty much fouled it up in the end). Learned the hard way!! Veronica Tennerelli was pretty hot, but freshman year I figured her to be way over my league.
Ms Alice Price was a huge inspiration for me & of coure Ms. Glaser, also Ms. Rosagita Podrovsky, all 3 great educators. If I could do it all again, I would have not partied so much and focused mor...Expand for more
e on homework.
I will never forget running classroom to classroom with Alex Garcia passing out flyers to all the students for the Drama club, I had the lead in "Devil & Daniel Webster".
My happiest moment was recieving the suits at Gingess Formal wear on Devon for the 85 prom fashion show, we had a great time in the auditorium styling those. Of course we had to race there from Downtown, since we were doing the mock trials with crazy man Edwin Trinidad & the rest of the class forom our special law 10th period course (CCLRA) [Chicago Correlation For Law Related Activities].
Nothing beats the Hamlet monologue I did for extra credit, Dr. Brazil signed a note to the lunchroom staff to let me use a knife after I convinced him it was needed for the compexity of the scene, along with a authorized late to class note. I will never forget the shock on the faces of everyone in that classroom when I burst in and started spewing out "To Be Or Not To Be", and so on, with my clothes torn up for dramatic effect!! Junior year first period in the College writing class. (I was the only Junior in that all senior class, so it is hard to remember all the students). Fellow students Mike & Carol Brown, Sherri Chazdon, Rich Johnson & too many more to remember have to remember that daring class, (Hiroshima & The Physicists were books/plays we studied under Ms. Glaser's fiery tongue & iron fist).
The big topper was going on the radio for WZRD to do the open forum for our school for the Constitutional Rights Foundation, with our friend & alumnist Debbie Tobin. Not to mention the Shakespearean Sonnet-Read-A-Thon, where Sullivan participated at Loyola University and I jumped in and read 6 sonnets off the cuff I never saw before flawlessly since students from Senn & elsewhere who were earmarked to partipate did not show up.
Big thanks to John Quinlan & Dave Leyva & all the others I am to old to remember, for watching the sunrise with the rest of us after we trashed the Chase Motel after prom night.
I feel like an idiot for not really pursuing much college, but have aspirations to do it later in life.
Can you believe I am now actually the president of a nonprofiut arts orginiztion!! I was shocked Too!!
Thanks
-Django Reinhardt Baker
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