Biography

Alison C. Vesely is the Artistic Director and Co-Founder (with her husband David Rice) of First Folio Theatre in Oak Brook, Illinois where she is currently directing Dr. Seward's Dracula by Joseph Zettlemaier and will direct the world premiere of Captain Blood by David Rice and the Chicago area premiere of Silent Sky by Lauren Gunderson. Last season, she directed Jeeves at Sea, and a re-mount of the ever-popular production of The Madness of Edgar Allan Poe: A Love Story to critical and popular acclaim, along with a Jeff Recommendations for both. In the summer of 2015, she co-directed The Winter's Tale with her daughter, Hayley Rice, which also received glowing reviews and a Jeff Award Recommendation. Previously, she directed Laughter on the 23rd Floor by Neil Simon to (Jeff Recommendation), along with the area premieres of The Gravedigger (Jeff Nomination, Sets) and Salvage by Joseph Zettelmaier, which were both Joseph Jefferson Recommended productions. She has also directed Rough Crossing (1 Jeff Nomination) and The Rainmaker (Jeff Recommended), Underneath the Lintel (Jeff Nomination for Kristine Thatcher, Solo Performance), Jeeves Takes a Bow (Chicago area premiere), The Merchant of Venice, Shylock and His Daughter, The Turn of the Screw (2 Jeff Awards for Lighting and Sound), Unnecessary Farce, Tea at Five, The Woman in Black and Blithe Spirit. Other First Folio credits include the world premieres of The Madness of Edgar Allan Poe: A Love Story, Will Rogers: An American Original and The Castle of Otranto, as well as the Chicago premieres of Jeeves in Bloom, Jeeves Intervenes, and The Passion of Dracula.

In 2009, she was nominated for a Jeff Award for her direction of A Moon for the Misbegotten, which was also nominated for Best Production and won a Jeff Award for Best Actor (Larry Neumann, Jr.). Other First Folio directing credits on the indoor stage include Design for Living, Driving Miss Daisy, Angel Street, Private Lives, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, and The Importance of Being Earnest. On the outdoor summer stage Alison has directed Richard III, The Tempest (1997 & 2006), The Taming of the Shrew (1999 & 2005), Hamlet, The Comedy of Errors, Twelfth Night, Antigone, As You Like It, Macbeth (2001), Much Ado About Nothing (2000), Romeo and Juliet (2000), and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1998).

Before founding First Folio, Alison was the Classics Project Director for Footsteps Theatre, a women’s theater company specializing in all-female productions of Shakespeare’s plays. Alison worked as the Folio Director and Dramaturge on many productions at Footsteps, including Romeo and Juliet, A Midsommer Night’s Dreame, and Macbeth. She also performed in these productions, earning an After Dark Award for the title role in their production of Macbeth.

Other directing credits include Twelfth Night (Wayne State Univ.), Richard III (Hilberry Theatre, Detroit), Twelfth Night (Dominican University, River Forest, IL) Richard III (Footsteps and Shakespeare’s Herd at the Chicago Cultural Center), Real Human Dialogue, Riders to the Sea, Kiss Me Kate, and Scrooge. Alison has been an adjudicator for the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival and the Irene Ryan Awards as well as serving a three-year term on the Theater Program Grants Panel for the Illinois Arts Council. She is a founding member of the Joseph Jefferson Awards Committee Arts and Technical Team, and has participated in several panels. She most recently was honored to serve on the SDC Foundation Denham Fellowship Selection Committee. She is a proud graduate of Illinois Wesleyan University and a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, a national professional union.

She is a long-time resident of Clarendon Hills, Illinois, where she lives with her husband David Rice and their terrier, Trixie. They have one daughter, Hayley L. Rice (First Folio Artistic Associate) who lives in Chicago with her husband, Scott Leaton and their dog, Cooper.