Holiday Cabernet 2022
Performer Bios
bettie attitude
Bettie Attitude (Host) is a performer, dancer, storyteller, and creative. They are a born and raised Chicagoan and are prone to saying strange things like "frunchroom" (iykyk). They are currently the Ensemble Manager of The Screwbelles and are known for their love of Taco Bell and spaghetti.
Erin Renee Baumrucker
Erin Renee Baumrucker is delighted to be taking a part of Ghostlight Ensemble's Holiday Cabernet this season! Select credits include Ruthless (Steel Beam); Priscilla Queen of the Desert (Pride Films & Plays), Oliver (CItadel), Opus 1861 (CityLit), A Little Night Music; The Baker's Wife (Circle Theatre). Much love to her people! Learn more about Erin at www.erinreneebaumrucker.com
Comedy dance collective
Comedy Dance Chicago’s unique style of comedy is sure to make your face hurt…from laughing! Their combination of sketch, physical comedy and dance along with word play, music, and overall goofiness has entertained Chicagoland audiences for years. Throw in some audience participation and you get what The Chicago Reader describes as “one of the funniest, most enjoyable hours you’ll spend on a Friday night.” Company members bring a range of comedy and dance styles to the show and have trained with the Second City Training Center, iO Chicago, American Theatre Conservatory, Accademia dell'Arte, among others. Credit include: Queen City Comedy Experience (Blumenthal; Charlotte, North Carolina), Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival (Stage 773), iO Chicago, Dance Chicago (The Athenaeum Theatre), Woodstock Opera House, Association of Applied and Therapeutic Humor Conference, House of Blues (that one time), and various schools. Comedy Dance Chicago is thrilled to share laughs and spread the love of comedy dance with audiences anywhere. Learn more at www.comedydancechicago.com Follow them on Instagram @comedydancechicago
Casey Daniel
Casey Daniel is ready to bring you a bit of some true holiday "cheer" this season. She started in Chicago as a burlesque dancer, then moved on to her true love of singing and musicals. She has sung with the oldest LGBT choir in Chicago - Windy City Performing Arts - since 2015 and had the honor of performing with Hugh Jackman twice in his 2019 The Man, The Music, The Show tour. Other favorite credits include A Nude Hope (burlesque), The Rack of Khan (burlesque), Pirates of Penzance (The Savoyaires), Iron Irene (Chicago Music Theatre Festival), LezSing 2020 (Pride Films and Plays).
Julia deGruchy
Julia deGruchy is an actor, vocalist and circus artist inspired by the stories of our everyday lives and the relationships we have to those around us. She’s interested in exploring new ways to move, create and collaborate; always through a playful, child-like curiosity. She’s an early childhood music teacher for The Music Playhouse, a teaching Artist for CircEsteem, a plant mom, kombucha maker and in a serious relationship with cheese.
Improvised Jane Austen
Improvised Jane Austen: England born; Chicago bred. With independent heroines, misunderstood suitors, meddling mothers, and charming cads, Improvised Jane Austen is a Chicago-based comedy troupe that creates a Regency story on the spot – without a script! They will use an audience suggestion to build a story inspired by the beloved 19th century authoress and see it through to its very British conclusion. Visit www.improvisedjaneausten.com to read about individual cast bios, upcoming performances and tickets, merchandise, how to book them and more.
Khloe Janel
Khloe Janel is a queer non-binary artist from Little Rock, Arkansas. They create for self healing, liberation and preservation. They're a Vans open mic series winner and Public Narrative scholarship recipient. Their work has appeared in Lez Spread the Word magazine, Braided magazine and Fearless Femme 100. Having co-starred on TV shows such as Chicago Fire, Chicago P.D., Empire, The Chi and Easy, Khloe is a proud SAG-AFTRA member. They also starred in the movie I Used to Go Here, which is now streaming on HBO Max. Their debut poetry collection titled, don’t worry, we’re okay is available for purchase on Amazon or at Khloejanel.com. You can find them on interweb @Khloe_Janel.
Courtney marie
Courtney Marie is an artist, dreamer and sometimes paralegal from the greatest city on Earth — Chicago, Illinois. Courtney spends her days trying to find a way around working in corporate America and her evenings on or behind someone’s stage. Recent Chicago acting credits include Ghostlight's Make/Believe and Invictus Theatre's Ruined, ‘Night, Mother and Raisin in the Sun. In addition, Courtney is proud to have made her directorial debut earlier this year with Footholds Vol. 3, produced by Imposters Theatre Company. During the school year, Courtney volunteers as assistant coach of the University of Illinois at Chicago Mock Trial team and runs a full-service wedding and event coordination company, Wildest Dreams Events. Although she clearly never sleeps, she can only imagine a better life in her dreams, as the last few years have brought her some of the happiest moments ever. Courtney is ever grateful to be welcomed into the Ghostlight family as an ensemble member and hopes you leave in stitches of laughter. Love always to her unbelievable husband Jonas and their menagerie of animals.
J. Rohr
J. Rohr is a Chicagoland native with a taste for history and wandering the city at odd hours. Lists of his publications and music, from the band Beerfinger, can be found on the site Honesty is Not Contagious. Currently, he writes articles for 25YL Media about film and horror.
Nitty Gritty
This Single Orange Monster hails from a sexy boudoir under the bleachers at Wells Fargo rink, in sunny Pennsylvania. They enjoy running through the airport on major holidays to profess their love, stopping you while you wait tables to profess their love and professing their love via very creepy placards! To Gritty, you are perfect!
