Renee received her PhD in Performance Studies at Northwestern University, won the Golden Apple Award for teaching, and is a producer, writer, and editor. She taught English at NU, UIC, and Columbia College, and was the Placement Director for Student Teachers. As an active champion of dramatic arts in city schools, Renee connected Steppenwolf, Stories on Stage, Court Theatre, CAN-TV, and NPR to her students and their personal narratives at Arts of Living, a Chicago School for pregnant teens. She primarily works backstage but occasionally can be spotted as the shadow Extra on TV shows filmed in Chicago. Besides Chicago Theatre, Renee is a life-long regular at the opera, especially the Lyric and MET, as well as European houses, and at the Stratford Festival in Ontario and the American Players Theatre in Wisconsin.