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Marilyn Halperin
Marilyn Halperin
01:01

Marilyn Halperin

Chicago Shakespeare Theatre

Chicago, IL USA

"I think that a human being has so many possibilities."

Career Roadmap

Marilyn's work combines: Acting & Theatre, Education, and Being Creative

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Day In The Life

Director of Education and Communication

I help students and teachers learn through experiencing Shakespeare in our youth-engagement programs.

Skills & Education

Here's the path I took:

  • High School

  • Bachelor's Degree

  • Graduate Degree

    Clinical/Medical Social Work

    Smith College

Life & Career Milestones

My path in life has been direct

  • 1.

    Calls her path "entirely circumlocutious"; years ago, would've never imagined she'd be running a theater.

  • 2.

    After school, she did a year of soul-searching; reached the point of studying the Dictionary of Occupational Titles, searching for jobs she liked.

  • 3.

    The first thing that caught her eye was volunteer administration-she directed a volunteer program at the Morton Arbortoreum for 11 years.

  • 4.

    Started volunteering at a small theater called the Shakespeare Repertory on the side.

  • 5.

    Gradually experienced a shift in priorities; realized she was more excited for the volunteer work at the theater than she was for her actual day job.

  • 6.

    Made it her goal to turn the Repertory-now the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre-into a permanent institution in Chicago.

  • 7.

    Says there were highs and lows along the way, but all of the emotion made her feel more certain that she'd found her passion.

  • 8.

    Under her guidance, the Theatre developed a Shakespeare-centric classroom curriculum, now one of the country's most respected arts-in-education programs.