Hot People Island
5:30 PM
5:30 PM
5:30 PM
5:30 PM
SAT
2/7 - 2/28
Musical
5:30 PM
Mainstage
Back by popular demand, this original comedy by Deana Velandra is for reality television lovers and haters alike. In this play, a popular television network will take eight lucky certified Hot People, put them on an island, and make them do stuff. Through a series of unexpected twists, the Hot People are left to figure out the difference between truth and reality. Based on reality television staples like Love Island, Survivor, and Traitors, this absurd Hot comedy is sure to keep Hot audiences guessing til the very end.
Show Program - Cast & Creative Team
Aneesah Jemei
Aneesah is a delighted graduate of Illinois State University with a B.S. in Musical Theatre and Vocal Performance. She is excited for her Annoyance Theatre debut with the wonderful cast of Hot People Island! Recently, Aneesah has been seen in Oil Lamp Theatre's The Marvelous Wonderettes as Suzy Simpson and Edge of the Wood’s Bernhardt/Hamlet as Ensemble/Lysette U/S. At ISU, Aneesah was also cast as Natalie in Next To Normal and River in In Pieces: a New Musical. Aneesah is based in Chicago/Chicagoland and, as always, send her love to family and friends for their never-ending support.@aneesah.jemei on all socials!
Anna Rose Steinmeyer
Anna Rose Steinmeyer is very excited to be making her debut with Corn Productions and Annoyance Theater. She is a recent graduate from American University with a B.A. in Theater Performance. Her most recent theater credits include
The Real Housewives of The North Pole (Clarice) at Hell in A Handbag, Heathers (Heather Chandler) at The Home Creative Co. and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Vibrata) at Skokie Theatre. She would love to thank her mom, dad, sister, friends, and her boyfriend, Josh, for all their continued support! Stay hot y’all! ;)
Instagram @annarosesteinmeyer
Anthony Sanberg
Anthony is very excited to be in Hot People Island at The Annoyance! He is a passionate comedic artist who primarily acts in and directs sketch comedy! He would like to thank his friends and partner for their continued support and for always laughing at his jokes.
Carly Nadeau
Carly is excited to be joining the cast of Hot People Island for their remount this February! Recent credits include: Twihard (Apollo Theatre), To Save a Lake (Corn Productions), and Twelfth Night (Goodly Creatures Theatre). When she's not acting, you can find her baking and gaming on Twitch (@waitingfornadeau). Training: BFA in Musical Theatre, Boston Conservatory. Thanks to her chosen family for all the support!
Deana Velandra
Playwright (she/her). Deana is so excited to be making her Annoyance debut with the remount of her original play, Hot People Island. After a nearly sold-out run of its world premiere run at Cornservatory this past fall, Deana can't wait to share the laughs with audiences here at The Annoyance. She has been a company member and contributing writer at Cornservatory since 2019. Previous original full length productions at Cornservatory include We Should Kill Him (2024) and To Save a Lake (TYA, 2025). You may have also seen her on the Corn Stage in sketch shows like Death Toll, Happy Holly-daze, and Off the Paddy Wagon. Deana has also produced/developed original works with Stage Left Theatre Company, Avalanche Theatre Company, Jackalope Theatre Company, and The Tecumseh Players. You can find more of her writing by looking her up on New Play Exchange, and following her on Instagram @deanavelandra . When Deana's not in the theatre, she's at the beach. She would like to thank her parents, Mike and Brenda, for being her biggest fans.
Gabriella Smurawa
Gabriella is a Chicago actor with a BFA in Musical Theatre Performance from Western Michigan University. Previous Chicagoland credits include NEXT TO NORMAL and THE FANTASTICS (Beverly Arts Center), MAMMA MIA (Brightside Theatre), THE ARNOLD PALMER SHOW (Three Brothers Theatre), CATCH ME IF YOU CAN (Surging Films and Theatrics), JUMPSCARES VOL. I (Bump in the Night Theatre), THE INVADERS OF MATHMATICA (Ghostlight Ensemble), and WEDDING ITALIANO (Rivers Casino.) Catch her next in MARBLED (A Joe and Melanie Thing.) As always, Gabriella would like to thank her incredible friends and family for their support. She could not do this without them!
Jake Gartung
Jake is stoked to be returning to the island for this season of Hot People Island! Recent credits include Elton (The Beautiful City Project), Sheldon J. Plankton, Charles Condomine, Kevin u/s Barry Glickman (DUPAC), Chad (Schaumburg Summer Theater). You can catch Jake this April as Harry in Stephen Sondheim's Company with DUPAC. Jake would like to thank the village of people around him who make his dreams come true, and a huge thank you to all the Hot People who choose to spend their evening with us. This performance, as always, is dedicated to the memory of Tim Filliman. Enjoy the show!
Jake Rhodes
Jake Rhodes (Jackson): Jake is thrilled to be reprising his role as Jackson in Hot People Island. This is Jake's second time on the Annoyance main stage, having been in Asshole's Advocate in the 2025 main run and encore run. He is an actor, improvisor, and recent graduate of the Second City Conservatory. Jake is a member of the Oatmilk Heads sketch comedy team, that recent had a run at Second City. He can be found everywhere @regrettablyjake!
Jonathan Castillo
Jonathan (any pronouns) is thrilled to be back in Hot People Island! Since moving to Chicago, Jonathan has been in Drink at the Arcade and Best of Sketch 2025 at the Cornservatory, directed for Corn's most recent 24 Hour Sketch Show, and is now an official member of the Cornservatory! Previously while in Austin, Jonathan acted in shows such as Romeo and Juliet, Water by the Spoonful, and Cyrano. Jonathan also was the Tech Director for Much Ado About Nothing, writer and director for In The Space of:_____. They also were the Sound Designer for Spear at Corrib theater. Jonathan is thrilled to be collaborating with so many talented artists, and is so excited for everyone to join us on Hot People Island!
Maddi LeBlanc
Maddi LeBlanc (Director) is excited to bring this hot show back to Chicago’s hottest audiences. Maddi is an alum of Boston Conservatory where she got her BFA in Musical Theater with a directing emphasis. Most recently she directed the first run of HPI, some additional directing credits include To Save a Lake (Corn Productions), The Humans (St. Charles Theater) and Hookman (Boston Conservatory). Outside of directing you may have caught her as a swing in Twihard! at the Apollo, or answering questions about being a matchmaker. (no, really… that’s her 9-5). Hope to see you hotties on the island soon! @maddileblanc_
Maddi LeBlanc
Maddi LeBlanc (Director) is excited to bring this hot show back to Chicago’s hottest audiences. Maddi is an alum of Boston Conservatory where she got her BFA in Musical Theater with a directing emphasis. Most recently she directed the first run of HPI, some additional directing credits include To Save a Lake (Corn Productions), The Humans (St. Charles Theater) and Hookman (Boston Conservatory). Outside of directing you may have caught her as a swing in Twihard! at the Apollo, or answering questions about being a matchmaker. (no, really… that’s her 9-5). Hope to see you hotties on the island soon! @maddileblanc_
Maximillian Valdez
Maximillian Valdez is an actor from southwest desert dancing to make his way. He performs/hosts Freeform improv every Saturday night at the Comedy Club House with house team BRANDONS STAND-INS. He is also apart of of a film sketch group on YouTube called High tv, through FunkyGreen Productions. “Act well your part, for there all the honor lies.” Milly would like to thank his Family and friends for all their support and love.
Tom Cannan
Tom Cannan (he/him) is freakin' stoked to be back for another season of Hot People Island and to be making his debut at the Annoyance! Tom appeared in the original run of Hot People Island at Corn Productions in 2025, and is thrilled to return as himself in addition to understudying the role of Jackson. Tom has been a company member at Corn Productions since 2022, where he recently completed a successful run of The Cozy Cabin Tales, a new play for young audiences that he wrote, directed, and produced with the help of his incredible assistant director and Hot People Island co-star, Jamie Link. Tom is so grateful to playwright Deana Velandra and director Maddi LeBlanc for bringing him along on this very hot journey. Follow Tom on IG @t0mcan to see what he's up to next.
Trey Sorensen
Trey Sorensen swears he’s not just here for the zip line! His previous Chicago credits include 5 Women Wearing the Same Dress (Tripp Davenport) and The Man Who Came to Dinner (Richard Stanley), both with the Saint Sebastian Players, as well as a staged reading of Annie Hogan’s original short play LOL (Aiden) during the Ghostlight Ensemble’s Happy Hour event. He would like to thank director Maddi and writer Deana for including him in the fun for this remount.
Triniti Cruz
Triniti Cruz is thrilled to be back for the remount of HPI! She holds a BA in Acting from Illinois State University, where she also made her professional debut as a Sutter Scholar and summer intern with Illinois Shakespeare Festival. She was recently part of Shattered Globe Theatre’s 2025 Protégé Program and spent this past summer understudying Rosaline/Jaquenetta in Midsommer Flight’s production of Love's Labour’s Lost! Some of her favorite stage credits include Elizabeth Lavenza in Frankenstein, Countess Andrenyi in Murder on the Orient Express, and Lover in the world premiere of Arbor Falls. Outside of acting, Triniti is a social media manager and photographer and is passionate about fashion, mental health, good music, and unironically, has watched almost every season of Love Island! @triniti.isaida
Trisha 'T' Stigge
Trisha Stigge (they/them) is a choreographer, dancer, actor and writer based out of Chicago. Originally from Nebraska, Stigge studied Theatre Performance/Directing and Dance at the University of Nebraska Kearney. Recent performance credits include Corn Production's "Drink: Arcade" and "Hot People Island", Nonsense Theatre Company’s “As You Like it”, Concrete Palm Trees’ “Much Ado About Nothing”, Dominican University’s ”Midsummer Night Cirque." Stigge’s current independent project “Searching for Sera Until 9:00”, explores themes of anachronism of the self and its societal recourse through absurdist language and movement. Trisha is a teaching artist with Yvonne's Dance Academy, St Benedict Preparatory School, Paramount School of the Arts, Children’s Theatre of Elgin, Fox Valley Theatre Company, and Niles Park District as well as a member of Corn Productions and Nonsense Theatre Company. Trisha believes that the arts are for everyone, be that as a participant, creator or consumer; a sentiment they strive to bring to every class, camp, rehearsal and performance. Learn more about Trisha at www.trishastigge.com
Tyler Harrell
Tyler is very excited to remount Hot People Island at The Annoyance! He is a new actor to the city whose recent credits include 420 Shakespeares’ Baked Hamlet. He would like to thank his cast and his partner, Ella, for their support.
Vanessa Dalpiaz
Vanessa Dalpiaz (she/her) is a Bay Area native and recent Chicago transplant. She has been watching reality competition shows since far too young an age, made most of her Chicago friends by watching The Bachelor in bars, and is thrilled to put her hours of TV consumption into action. Previous roles include: Stepsister in Cinderella, Carla in In the Heights, Celia in As You Like It, Amy in Little Women, and Morticia in The Addams Family.