Meet the Staff

  • Founder and Artistic Director | Jane Beachy

    JANE BEACHY is the founder and Artistic Director of Salonathon (est. July 2011), as well as the Program Manager for Art at Illinois Humanities, where she founded the Elective Studies series for artists.  She has produced events, performances, residencies and retreats at and/or with the University of Chicago (Chicago Performance Lab), Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago’s Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (OnEdge, SummerDance), Steppenwolf Garage, Metro Chicago, The Empty Bottle, Thalia Hall, The Promontory, Land and Sea Dept., The Inconvenience, The Neo-Futurists, Columbia College, MAKE Magazine, Printer’s Ball, Bottom Lounge, Berlin Nightclub, Chicago Reader, Slideluck and more.  She also runs Camp Salondawega, an artistic retreat at the acclaimed Camp Wandawega in Wisconsin, and teaches in the Theater and Performance Studies Department at the University of Chicago.  She has served on grant-making panels at DCASE, Illinois Humanities, and the Charlotte Street Foundation in Kansas City, and recently spoke on a panel about place-making at the Art Institute of Chicago.  Prior to founding Salonathon, Jane served as the Marketing Director at About Face Theatre, Account Executive at TheaterMania in New York City, Program Manager of the Community School of the Arts at Kansas City Young Audiences, and as a Teaching Artist and Drama School staff member at Seattle Children’s Theatre.  She graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the University of Iowa.

  • Host and Curator | Will Von Vogt

    WILL VON VOGT is an actor, producer, casting director and co-curator of Salonathon. In addition to curating Salonathon on Monday nights, Will has also produced Salonathon Sets Sail! aboard the Tall Ship Wendy and Camp Salondawega, an artistic retreat at the famed Camp Wandawega in Elkhorn, Wisconsin.
    Earning his BFA from The Theatre School at DePaul, he has lived and worked as an actor and talent agent in Minneapolis and New York City.  After relocating back to Chicago in 2012, Will now works as an actor and is a company member and Casting Director for Cor Theatre (www.cortheatre.org), which was recently named “Most Promising Debut” by Kris Vire of TimeOut Magazine. He is currently the Media Coordinator for the University of Chicago’s Logan Center for the Arts and was the Associate Producer of the 2015 Great Chicago Fire Festival.

  • Host and Curator | Joe Varisco

    JOSEPH R. VARISCO is the Founder and Creative Director of JRV MAJESTY Productions, Director of Development at The Inconvenience, co-curator at Salonathon, and Resident Curator for Poonie’s Cabaret at Links Hall. He is currently working on the development of a mentorship program for LGBTQIA & Gender Non-Conforming emerging artists in Chicago via High Concept Laboratories Institutional Incubation Residency.

    Performing independent development, producer, and curator Varisco has spent the last five years in Chicago working with over 1500 LGBTQIA & GNC artists and organizations to produce client-based original works in various mediums such as annual performance series, (QUEER, ILL, & OKAY), literary collections, gallery exhibits, live performance events, and educational workshops. Additionally, Varisco’s work has been recognized in the national exhibit Strange Bedfellows (2013-2014), as a featured artist for the Center on Halsted’s World AIDS Day Conference and the Chicago History Museum’s Out in Chicago exhibit. Varisco’s larger work is based on collaborative creative initiatives focused on underrepresented HIV+ and queer populations. 

    Varisco is based out of Chicago’s Logan Square.

  • Host and Curator | Bindu Poroori

    BINDU POROORI is a storyteller, musician, and co-curator of Salonathon. Bindu creates work that engages with the melancholy of her immigrant experience, which is a pretty way of saying that she makes a lot of art about her mom. She is a recent graduate of the University of Chicago, and can also be found working at the Milk Room in the Chicago Athletic Association, and doing event logistics for Land and Sea Dept..

  • Operations Manager | Corrie Besse

    CORRIE BESSE originates from Nebraska and received her Bachelor’s Degree in Theater Arts and Communication Studies from Central College, Pella, IA. She has been working in the Production and Arts Administration fields in Chicago for the last twelve years. Currently she is the Managing Director for the Theater & Performance Studies Undergraduate program at the University of Chicago and previously the Finance Director and Production Manager at Redmoon Theater. She has been fortunate to work with Albany Park Theater Project, Teatro Vista, Roosevelt University, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cerqua Rivera Dance Theater, Hypocrites, Shattered Globe, Seananchai, Chicago Dance Crash, Mary –Arrchie, Famous Door, Chicago Humanities Festival, Barrel of Monkeys, PineBox, and the Gate Theatre, London.

  • Resident DJ | Caryn Robinson, aka All The Way Kay

    Caryn Robinson, aka All The Way Kay – more about DJ All The Way Kay coming soon!  Visit www.djallthewaykay.com in the meantime.

  • Resident DJ | Danny LeRoy

    DANNY LEROY, besides being one of Salonathon’s resident DJs, spins records and tracks all over Chicago, and is a Beauty Bar staff member when he’s not in the DJ booth.