Today we’d like to introduce you to Chelsea Londos.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
The Chicago Red Line was originally founded in 2008. The original members went to the University of Illinois-Champaign together and performed in The Cutting Edge Showchoir. After everyone graduated, many moved to the city and decided to start an “adult showchoir” (I know what you’re thinking but everyone keeps their clothes on… for the most part). In January 2012, I had just graduated from Western Illinois University with a double major in Vocal Performance and Music Education. I decided to give the performing career a go and auditioned around Chicago for the entire year. The Chicago Red Line happened to be my first audition. While I was INCREDIBLY nervous about the audition (it was at a dance studio in Roger’s Park and I am not exactly a “trained” dancer) I quickly learned that the group was showchoir. I have performed in showchoir for almost my entire life, so it turned out to be right in my wheel-house. I received the call that night that I was offered a position in the group and I quickly accepted the offer!
We call our executive team The LOOP, which consists of Andrew Wallace (Music Director), Julie Hill (Artistic Director), Adam Gilbert (Business Manager) and myself (Choreographer). After a couple of years in the group, there was an opening for lead choreographer and I had no problem taking the position.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
In the world of singing and performing, it is almost never a smooth road! The year I spent auditioning around the city was hard. I was pretty much living out of my car and constantly worrying whether I would be in good health for the audition. I rarely heard back from the companies or shows I auditioned for. I had to grow a thick skin pretty quickly.
Moving into a leadership role in The Chicago Red Line has had it’s ups and downs, just as with any change in position. The LOOP spends many late nights planning shows (sometimes for 5-6 hours on end) and no matter how much we plan and think we have crossed every “T” and dotted every “I”, we always seem to miss something! We also seem to have a curse when it comes to recording our shows; something ALWAYS seems to go wrong. We either have the video recording but no sound or there are four cameras in our performance space but none of them work, or we simply “misplace” the ONLY DVD we have. Just when we think we have lifted the curse by having my husband record the shows on his iPad, someone stole his iPad, lol.
We are all extremely close and most have been friends for years. While we have our ups, downs and drama from time to time, there is no other group of people I would rather be on stage with. They are my family and I love them dearly!
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the The Chicago Red Line story. Tell us more about the business.
The Chicago Red Line is Chicago’s premiere contemporary cabaret ensemble. This group of professional singers, actors and dancers are dedicated to bringing a variety of musical genres to our diverse audiences. Our executive team, The LOOP, designs every show from the ground up. We have performed a variety of shows, everything from Grandma Got Run Over By The Redline to Peter Pan to Harry Potter. We perform spoofs of the original shows, so while we keep the general plot line of the show the same, we write our own comedic script. We perform songs from a variety of genres to make sure everyone in our audience has something to sing on the way home.
I am the lead choregrapher of the group. I not only choreograph most of the songs in the show, I also delegate choreography to one or two other performers. I also sing soprano 1 in the group. That note that you hear in a song that maybe breaks your glass or drives the dogs crazy, yeah, that’s me, haha. The higher the note, the better!
Our group is unique in the sense that while we are a version of a musical comedy, we do in fact write our own script 100%. That definitely sets us apart from other performing groups in the city. We are also unique in the sense that we are all friends and have been for a vast majority of our adult lives. What other job can you say that you get to see your best friends every single week and do what you are most passionate about?
I am most proud of the quality of shows we perform and how long the group has been together. While the original cast of performers only thought they would be performing a single show, turned into 10 years of shows. Every single year we improve and grow as a team and sell more and more tickets. That’s definitely something to be proud of.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
Whether you call it luck, being in the right place at the right time, or fate, it has played a role in my life. I performed mostly opera in college, so when I read the audition posting for The Chicago Red Line, I almost didn’t audition; contemporary cabaret was not really in my wheel-house. It was my very first audition and I have been in the group every since and I could not imagine doing anything else. Had I not auditioned or auditioned somewhere else, I would have been on a very different path in my life. No matter what we go through in our group, either personally or together, we are always there for each other and everything just seems to work out.
That being said, we definitely have some bad luck with recording our shows. I hope we can break that curse soon!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thechicagoredline.com
- Phone: 574.807.2487
- Email: chicagoredlinecabaret@gmail.com; a.michael.gilbert@gmail.com
- Instagram: chicagoredline
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thechicagoredline/@thechicagoredline
- Twitter: @Chicago_Redline
Image Credit:
Brian McConkey (Brian McConkey Photography), Daniel Tomei
Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
