Matthew McMunn as the Moderator

Matt regularly emcees forEntertainment Cruises at Navy Pier. This is his second year moderating the town hall with Mr and Mrs Claus. Matthew is a modern dancer and has danced with a number of companies and choreographers including Peter Carpenter, Winifred Haun, Lucky Plush Productions, Synapse Arts Collective, and Kate Corby and Dancers. He has performed in The A.W.A.R.D. Show!, The Other Dance Festival, Dance/USA Conference, Fred Astaire Awards, Spring to Dance (St. Louis), and in the feature film Were the World Mine. Last June Matthew danced on stilts in Kristina Isabelle's Levels and Lines at Loyola University and at the Devanter Stilt Festival in Holland. In 2014 Matthew also danced for Philip Elson in Terms and Conditions and with The Humans in my my grey sky. This year Matthew created Up Makes Down with Isabelle Collazo and presented the piece at three local venues. Matthew also presented choreography this year in Fused Muse Ensemble's “Breaking Ice” and in Lizzie Leopold's “Archipelago.” Matthew studied acting and dance at Columbia College Chicago. He graduated with a B.A. in Cultural Studies in 2010. Matthew also trained at the Alvin Ailey School of Dance and at Joel Hall. Matthew performs and teaches through Michael Lee and Opus Mime Theatre Company. He has coached olympic athletes and high school marching band students in dramatic movement.

 

Jeanne T. Arrigo as Mrs. Claus

Jeanne has been a performer as long as she can remember – first concentrating on singing and acting, then adding songwriting and multiple instruments (guitar and fiddle, among others) to the mix. Her self-produced debut CD in 2005 contains 15 lyrical little stories ranging from quietly acoustic to full-band. Her second CD (2009) is a collection of hymns recorded live in concert, with 20 hymns set in acoustic-folk and bluegrass arrangements. Theatrically, Jeanne just completed, “Iphigenia in Aulis” at Court Theatre. She has also recently worked with Brown Paper Box Productions, The Music Theatre Company, with Lookingglass Theatre Co on their new folk-musical, “Eastland,” and understudied at Chicago Shakespeare. In the film world, Jeanne recently worked on the indie feature, “Oranges” in Madison, WI. Jeanne is represented by Gray Talent Group in Chicago. Visit www.jeannetarrigo.com for more info and links to her reel.

 

Larry Carpenter as Santa Claus (Also creator and director)

A professional award winning actor for over 40 years, with threatre and commercial work to his credit, Larry took on the role of Santa in 2008 for the first time. Since then, he has performed as Santa in plays and musicals, as well as serving as a Santa at Navy Pier, Photo People and Old Orchard Mall. For the past three years he has been the full-time Santa at Northbrook Court. This year he is at Harlem Irving Plaza. After years as Santa at malls and special events, Larry Carpenter, a.k.a. "Santa," created, directed and stars in The Santa and Mrs. Claus Show which premiered in 2013 to rave reviews and enthusiastic audiences. He created the show because he realized that children had wonderful questions that the limited time he had with each child at the malls didn't allow him to answer.  Larry is a very energetic and interactive Santa. His youthful spirit brings out the best in old and young alike. Whether one on one with a child or entertaining a large group of children or adults, Larry is comfortable in any situation. Bottom line, Larry loves being Santa, and it shows in his dedication to being "the bestest Santa ever." He is available to individuals or groups in the greater Chicago area, as well as Northwest Indiana. Beside his Santa duties, Larry is also a playwright. He wrote the book and lyrics for several musicals including Song-Poems Wanted!, Marcie the Marvelous Tree and Dorothy Rides the Rainbow.

 

Other Credits:

Producer, Joyous & HiLarryous Productions: Joy Kitamori

Special Assistant to Santa: James Fleming

Gift Wrap Specialist: Arielle Corbett

Technical Assistance: Bread and Roses, Michael Stults

Lighting: Joshua Paul Weckesser