Jeff Linamen been working in performing arts related fields for nearly 30 years. He most recently spent 14 years as the Auditorium Manager for a public high school in Illinois where he also handle all the design work for the school’s productions. Linamen also serves as the Artistic Director and Producer for Introspect Theatre, a small non-profit theatre company.

Linamen received his Bachelor’s degree in Theatre from Anderson University in 1989 and in September 2011 graduated valedictorian with his Master’s degree in Entertainment Business through Full Sail University.

Over the years, Linamen has held nearly every position in the world of live theatre. He has worked in amateur/community, educational and professional theatre in Florida, Indiana and Illinois (including Chicago). His passion is for directing and producing but he also designs sets, lights and  costumes; has worked all in aspects of theatre and theater management (the ‘art’ and the space); and yes, he has acted, sung and danced in many productions in the past.

An accomplished playwright, Linamen has had a number of shows produced over the years. In 1991, his  one act play, Scatters In the Wind was given its first run as part of the Bailiwick Director’s Festival in Chicago. That same year it received a staged reading, along with his play, 20 Minutes In Heaven as part of a new works festival in Hollywood, CA. Soon after, Linamen received a grant (with the Unity Arts Centre) from the Elgin Cultural Arts Commission to write and produce a play that followed the lives of Miep Gies and Anne Frank entitled, SHOAH: Anne Frank and the Holocaust. He completed a piece surrounding the events of 9/11 and the World Trade Center attacks that stunned America entitled, September’s Heroes. The world premiere was produced by Bartlett High School in October of 2011.

In 2009,  Linamen was the first in the nation granted the rights to produce and direct amateur productions of the Pulitzer and Tony-winning musical, RENT by Jonathan Larson;  and the short-lived Broadway musical, The Story of My Life by Brian Hill and Neil Bartram. Both productions were produced by Introspect Theatre.

Linamen plans to one day open a performing arts center with a professional theatre company and full educational program to teach all disciplines in the arts. He wants his legacy to involve “igniting the love and passion for the arts in young people as it was passed on to me”.