April 15

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Betsey Milord is thrilled to be returning permanently to Chicagoland after living two years on the East Coast.  While she enjoyed splitting her time between the bustling cities of New York and Chicago, she learned that there is no place like home.   She loves playing the piano, acting and directing, and she believes in the power of stories. Betsey just returned from London, where she celebrated the publishing of her short story, Backgammon for Blood. Betsey has told stories with numerous Chicago and East Coast storytelling groups.

Nick Narcisi was an actor before the pandemic. Now he works at a cancer research laboratory (he is as surprised with that career pivot as you are). He worked in theaters throughout the country like: The Milwaukee Rep, Montana Shakespeare in the Parks, Arkansas Shakespeare Theater, and the Tennessee Williams Festival of St. Louis. Nick was really good at telling other people’s stories, but only recently started telling his own. He has performed his solo show, Girlfriend Guy, in both Chicago at the Filet of Solo festival and as a curated selection for the Indianapolis Fringe Festival. Nick has also performed in multiple storytelling shows throughout the Chicagoland area. Nick is also a two-time Moth StorySlam winner.  For more information check out nicknarcisi.com or follow him on Instagram @nicknarcisi. 

Tara O'Hea is an 8th grade special education English Language Arts teacher who loves helping her students discover their voices as readers and writers. She holds a Master's degree in Special Education from Northern Illinois University and a Bachelor's degree in English from St. Norbert College.

Teaching has given her the chance to combine her love of literature with her passion for supporting students in finding

confidence, creativity, and connection through words. Outside of the classroom. Tara is a married mom of three who eniovs traveling, baking gluten-free desserts, going to concerts, and getting lost in a good book. A strong cup of coffee is her daily ritual, and yoga helps her find balance and calm. At home. her two cats, Wednesday and Norbert, make sure there's never a dull moment. Whether she's quiding students, spending time with her family, or sharing stories on stage, Tara believes in the power of words to open hearts.

Chris Trani is a fantastic up-and-coming stand-up comedian from Chicago, IL who strives to integrate all forms of comedy into his act: stand-up, storytelling, crowd work; and if need be, he can do it all in Spanish (kinda)! Winner of National Public Radio's The MOTH and the SNUBFEST Comedy Festival for Storytelling in 2015, Chris has shared the stage with TJ Miller, Roy Wood Jr. of The Daily Show, and Dov Davidoff of HBO’s CRASHING. Chris is the house emcee at The House of Blues Chicago and can be seen performing at clubs all throughout the region, including The Comedy Bar, Zanies, Laugh Factory, and Crackers Comedy Club Indianapolis, and his hometown venue, Helium Comedy in St. Louis, MO.   

Coming to us from her home in Shorewood, and formerly from Lockport, Katie Ward is retired from any number of things like teaching deaf and hard of hearing students, and from children's choreography for the Joliet Ballet Society as well as  local stage productions. She seems also to have retired from cooking even though she has a large family that includes four children and thirteen grands. About six years ago she began transforming her skills from nonverbal communication to storytelling, andconsiders herself very much a work in progress along those lines.