![]() ![]() This track record would come as no surprise to anyone acquainted with the full slate of collegiate-level courses Ortmann developed over the last 29 years. Among countless performers, designers, and technicians, they include actors Jonathan Kite ( 2 Broke Girls) and Clara Wong ( Billions) comedian Esther Povitsky ( Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) producers Stephen Feder ( T-Street) and Tyrone Phillips ( Definition Theatre Company) and artist-professors Mason Rosenthal ( Virginia Tech) and Kristy Leigh Hall ( University of South Carolina). The department and Ortmann have received many honors, and program alumni have gone on to very successful careers in every corner of the entertainment business. In Skokie, and to some extent across Illinois, Niles North Theatre has become synonymous with the kind of theatrical excellence you have to see to believe. Many would credit Ortmann with the creation of one of the most ambitious high school theatre departments in America it’s certainly the only one that has hosted Kabuki master Shozo Sato, not once but three times as a guest artist and director. The magic comes courtesy of a spectacular theatre program led by Timothy Ortmann, who will retire this year from his longtime post as the high school’s theatre director and the fine arts director for the district. While this vibrant community has always placed a strong emphasis on arts education, the past 29 years of artistry at Niles North have been nothing short of a miracle. More than 40 first languages are spoken in students’ homes, and only 38 percent of students identify as white. One half of Niles Township High School District 219, a traditionally middle-class community, the high school serves approximately 2,200 students from a wide variety of ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. This is Niles North High School in Skokie, Ill. From the outside, it doesn’t appear strikingly different from any of the other suburban high schools littered around the Chicagoland area: just a collection of beige, square buildings abutting one another, with decent athletic facilities, all set against the backdrop of the large Westfield shopping mall. Driving north from Chicago on I-94, you’ll pass Touhy Avenue, Dempster Avenue, and then just off the freeway on your right will appear a high school campus. ![]()
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