Gigi Hudson - Owner and Creative Director
Gigi is a veteran of more than 30 years in children's theatre and education, 25 of those years in the Oak Park area. Combining her love of theater and her passion for teaching children, she has brought the joy of the performing arts to thousands of children in the area. Her belief is that theater and fun go hand in hand. Her greatest hope is that her students gain an appreciation of the performing arts and gain self-confidence in the process. She realizes that we can't all be Broadway actors (though several of her students have gone on to stage and film careers, including Broadway), but she also knows that the skills and creativity they learn at the Actors Garden will serve them well in many aspects of their future lives.
Alexandria (Alex) Frisch - Assistant Director
Alex Frisch is a graduate of Northwestern University with degrees in History and Theatre. She has been teaching with The Actors Garden for 9 years and working as an extracurricular Theatre Educator for the last 3 in both studio programming and in D97. She also taught as a Speech Team Coach at OPRFHS. In the last year she has worked as a facilitator at the Museum of Science and Industry, leading educational programming for visitors and student groups through concepts ranging from weather to genetics. She is so excited to build a learning community at The Actors Garden Greenhouse!
Dave Hudson - Resident Writer and Technical Expert
A nationally recognized playwright specializing in musicals, Dave has written over ten full-length musicals (and counting) specifically for the Actors Garden. His primary works for us are our summer musicals which run the gamut from children's literature like Pots and Pan inspired by J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan to musicals inspired by the mythology of India and Greece (The Flowering Tree and Off to Olympus). His other artistic home is at Northern Sky Theater in Door County, Wisconsin. A two-time winner of the national Richard Rodgers award and several other notable recognitions, the Actors Garden is thrilled to have such an accomplished playwright serve as our scribe in residence.
Dave also has an extensive background in IT and serves as the in-house expert on all things computer related for the company.
Dave also has an extensive background in IT and serves as the in-house expert on all things computer related for the company.