Officers

Brad Bartels (President) joined the Board of Directors in 2011. He is what every non-profit board needs, a “numbers” and “marketing” guy. Brad graduated from The University of Iowa in 1985 with an Economics degree and joined the Proctor & Gamble Company in sales and eventually moved in to sales management. In 1989 he joined the Coca-Cola Company in national and regional food service account management. He later worked in bottler relationship management and eventually become the Special Assistant to the Senior Vice President for Global Diversity & Culture. After 13 years he left Coca-Cola to relocate back the Oak Park and moved in to real estate development and sales. In 2007, Brad shifted more in to finance and became a financial consultant. He is currently with North Community Investments based in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood. In Oak Park, Brad has been involved with a variety of organizations and served as a Commissioner on the Village’s Community Relations Commission.

Kevin O’Brien (Vice-President)

Robert W. Behr (Treasurer)  A proud Actors’ Equity member since 1980, he has performed and stage managed for many of the Chicago area theatres as well as in Toledo, Ohio; Muskegon and Saugatuck, Michigan; and with the opera company of the Eastman School of Music. He was last seen on stage in OPFT’s Robyn Hood. He’s also a free-lance director.

Email him at StageManager@oakparkfestival.com

Molly Surowitz (Secretary) is a board member of Festival Theatre, and also appeared in Picnic. She holds a degree in Drama from the University of Michigan, Residential College. She toured Europe playing Lenny in Crimes of the Heart, and worked extensively with the Brecht Company in Ann Arbor, performing such roles as Anna Balicke in Drums in the Night and Lucy Brown in The Three Penny Opera. In Chicago she has written, performed and directed her own shows.