Meet Our Staff
COMPANY MEMBERS
Rachel Guth
Co-Founder, Managing Director
Rachel is an award winning actor who has worked at theaters throughout Chicagoland, including at Marriott Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Theo Ubique, Music Theatre Works, Chicago Musical Theatre Festival, American Music Theatre Project, and Blank Theatre. Some favorite roles include Samantha Brown in The Mad Ones, Clara in Passion (Jeff Nominee), Ilona in She Loves Me (Jeff Nominee), Rose in Ghost Quartet, Olive Ostrovsky in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, and Anne in A Little Night Music. Offstage, she has been featured both singing and speaking on popular podcasts, as well as in a national print campaign. Rachel is a Northwestern graduate. See more from her at rachelguth.com and @TheRachelGuth on Instagram.
Danny Kapinos
Co-Founder, Artistic Director
Danny is a Chicago-based director of plays and musicals. He was the co-Founding Artistic Director of Blank Theatre Company, where he directed Passion, A Bright Room Called Day, On the Twentieth Century, She Loves Me, and more. He has also directed at Theo Ubique, Metropolis, Gwydion, Dunes Summer Theatre, Skokie Theatre, St. Sebastian Players, Big Deal Productions, and Roosevelt University. He is a three-time Jeff Award nominee as Best Director. He also works as a music director and accompanist. Proud alumnus of Northwestern University.
Maisie Rose
Digital Manager
Maisie grew up in the Chicago suburbs and graduated from Northwestern University. A professional product designer by day, she lends her design skills for all of Counterpoint's digital needs. As an actor, she has previously worked at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Drury Lane Theatre, Skylight Music Theatre, Music Theater Works, Blank Theatre Company, and Kokandy Productions. Favorite past roles include Tracy Turnblad in Hairspray, Robin in Lysistrata Jones, and the title role in The Mystery of Edwin Drood. She is a former company member of Refuge Theatre Project.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Christopher Johnson
Board Chair
Christopher is a Chicago-based actor and attorney. Recent stage credits include Lonny Barnett in Rock of Ages and Mal Beineke in The Addams Family (Metropolis Performing Arts Centre); Bruce Granit in On the Twentieth Century and Franklin Shepard in Merrily We Roll Along (Blank Theatre Company); and Judge Turpin in Sweeney Todd (Kokandy Productions). Off stage, Christopher is Assistant General Counsel at Rotary International and previously directed the pro bono legal services program at Lawyers for the Creative Arts. He is a graduate of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the Chicago-Kent College of Law. christopherhjohnson.com
Lauryn Solana Schmelzer
Treasurer
Lauryn is a choreographer and attorney hailing from Skokie, IL. On an average day, you can find Lauryn assisting clients with a variety of complex employment litigation and counseling matters, then lacing up her LaDucas for an 8:00 pm Musical Theater Jazz dance class. Lauryn earned a BS in Dance and Political Science with a Musical Theater Choreography Certificate from Northwestern University. She trained at Gus Giordano Dance School, Visceral Dance Center, and Lou Conte Dance Studio. Lauryn won the 2023 Best Choreography Non-Equity Jeff Award for Blank Theater Company's The Wild Party. She was also Jeff-nominated in 2024 for her choreography in Promises, Promises and again in 2025 for Sweet Charity. Other choreography credits include Sister Act, The Prom, and Matilda (Niles North High School), Wigmore Follies Presents: A Listening Session (Northwestern Law), A Jazz Nutcracker (Northwestern New Movement Project), My Fair Lady (Wave Theater Company), Little Shop of Horrors (The 75th Annual Dolphin Show), and Women On The Verge Of a Nervous Breakdown (Arts Alliance). Former Artistic Director of Steam Heat Musical Theater Dance Company.
William Glick
Secretary
William is a Chicago-based playwright who was born and raised in Pompano Beach, Florida. His plays include The Last Time We Saw Them, Felt (Clubbed Thumb Emerging Writers Group), The Bigot (UT New Theatre), Kin Folk (World Premiere, The New Colony), the libretto for the children’s opera Cry Wolf (Crane Prize for Performing Arts), and The Winter Farm (House Theatre Performance Lab). His work has been a finalist for the Bay Area Playwrights Festival and the Heideman Award and shortlisted for the Relentless Award, the Ojai Playwriting Conference, and PlayPenn. He received his BA in Political Science from the University of Chicago and his MFA in Writing from the Michener Center at the University of Texas-Austin.
Caroline Spikner
Board Member
Caroline (LCSW) is a licensed clinical social worker, yoga instructor, and dancer with a passion for accessible arts and community services. Originally from Benton Harbor, Michigan, she began her dance training at Citadel Dance and Music Center and continued as a member of the Dance Conservatory at the Salt Lake School for the Performing Arts. She studied dance and film at Northwestern University and earned her Master’s in Social Work and Nonprofit Organizations from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. Her dance experience ranges from producing site-specific dance films and live productions for young audiences to teaching dance for all ages. Caroline brings professional experience across a range of nonprofit organizations, specializing in community healthcare, mental health services, arts education, social equity, and student services. Currently, she teaches dance and yoga classes at Free Mvmt Shop and works as an emergency department social worker at Northwestern Hospital.