CURRENT RESIDENCE: Chicago, Illinois
YEAR JOINED ENSEMBLE: 2011
POSITION: Actor
AMERICAN BLUES THEATER CREDITS
Misery
Rainmaker – Jeff Award nomination for Production-midsize
American Myth
Illegal Use of Hands
American Blues – One Acts
Orpheus Descending
Ripped Festival
Blue Ink Festival
ABOUT STEVE
Steve is a South Side Chicagoan who grew up in South Shore and attend Chicago Public Schools; he graduated Columbia College and worked 12 years as a graphic designer. As an actor, he’s worked with Chicago theaters such as: A Red Orchid, About Face, Famous Door, Goodman, Lookingglass, Next, Northlight, Remy Bumppo, Shattered Globe, Steppenwolf, and Victory Gardens. International theater: The Town Hall (Galway, Ireland). Regional theaters: The Tectonic Theatre Project & The Geva Theatre. Off Broadway: The Public & Barrow Street Theatres. Broadway: Studio 57 & The Roundabout Theatre.
Steve has received 6 Jeff Awards and 4 nominations for Principal and supporting actor and ensemble (equity and non-equity).
Film credits include – 1,000 Acres, Blackmail, Public Enemies, At Any Price, Salvaging, Hayseed and Three Days. TV credits include – The Good Fight, Chicago Fire, Chicago Code, Boss, Evil, Law & Order – SVU, Family Practice, FBI: Most Wanted, South Side, Elementary and Mob Doctor.
Steve performed in Shattered Globe’s formative Talk Radio, which had a 6 month sold out run. Steve received the first of several awards he received with Shattered Globe (A non-equity Jeff for actor in a supporting role). The following decade provided Steve with wonderful challenges of wearing various artistic and administrative hats at SGT, including Co-Artistic Director (1999 – 2001), Artistic Advisory Panel member (1992 – 1999), designer, director of marketing and PR, and as an actor. He worked on every show during that time in one capacity or another until he moved to New York in 2001, with Goodman Theatre’s transfer of Bob Falls premiere production of Rebecca Gillman’s Blue Surge to the Public Theatre.
After Blue Surge closed in New York, Steve primarily worked in TV but popped back to Chicago in 2003 for The Goodman Theatre’s Zoo Story and again in 2004 to perform in Moises Kaufman’s One Arm at Steppenwolf. All the while continuing to support Shattered Globe’s evolution as an actor and in non-leadership roles.
Steve moved his base back to Chicago in 2005 to perform in American Blues Theater’s Orpheus Descending. He fell in love with the ensemble company and continued to work with American Blues as an actor and a designer while supporting their administrative growth and in 2011 he was invited to become an Ensemble member.
In 2009/10 Steve performed as Little Charles Aiken in the original Broadway tour of Tracey Lett’s Tony Award winning, Pulitzer Prize winning August: Osage County (including extended stints at the Ahmanson Theatre in LA and the Kennedy Center in DC).
In 2016 Steve was asked by David Cromer to return to NY to perform in the American premiere of Lucy Prebbles The Effect at Barrow Street Theater, which ran for 7 months. He then covered the role of Stan in the Broadway production of Sweat by Lynn Nottage.
Since then, he has hopped back and forth between New York and Chicago working on various TV shows and theatre productions including Steppenwolf’s 2020 production of Tracy Lett’s BUG – which will be opening on Broadway in New Year at the Roundabout Theatre in Jan of 2025
IMDB.com as Steve Key
Theatrical and Commercial agents: Grossman Jack Talent – (312) 587-1155
FUN FACT
In addition to acting, he’s worked as a set designer, graphic designer, and prosthetics / makeup designer for many Chicago theaters.