Jessica Sheridan, Instructor

Jessica is a graduate of St. Ambrose University Theatre Department, where she earned a B.A. in Theatre. During her time at St. Ambrose, Jessica was fortunate enough to work with acclaimed Broadway director, Phil Wm. McKinley (Spiderman: Turn Off the Dark, The Boy From Oz) in the world premiere of William Luce's Creme De Coco. For her work in Coco, Jessica was nominated for the Irene Ryan Acting Scholarship. The following year, Jessica was a semi-finalist acting partner for the same acting competition.

After graduating, she headed out west to the tiny town of Blue Lake, CA where she studied with the world-renowned Dell'Arte Company of California. During her time there she studied a new form of physical theatre developed by Richard Schechner and taught by Paula Murray Cole. The style, known as RASAboxes, consists of Antonin Artaud's theory that an actor can become an "athlete of the emotions", and the Eastern Indian aesthetic study of emotions known as Rasa, or flavor.

Jessica considers herself an actor first and foremost. However, she has much experience in all aspects of the theatre including design, direction, stage management and production. Some previous roles include Susie in Wit (directed by Mr. McKinley), Sgt. Dryvinski in MEGAFAULT (Sy-Fy channel original), and, most recently, Amy in the world premiere of A Green River by Aaron Randolph III.

Jessica is also the owner and photographer of Jessica Sheridan Photography. She specializes in wedding and family lifestyle portraiture for people who want something a little more outside the box. Since founding the business in 2012, Jessica has since worked with hundreds of families, couples and kiddos as well as various organizations including John Deere, the Child Abuse Council of the Quad Cities, Unity Point Health, Genesis, the Epilepsy Foundation of the QC, the United Way and QC Theatre Workshop. For her work at Davenport Junior Theatre as an instructor, director, designer and with Jessica Sheridan Photography, Jessica was awarded the 2015 Emerging Artist of the Year award by Quad City Arts.

Jessica has been active with Junior Theatre since 2008, acting as a camp counselor, class instructor, workshop leader and director. Some favorite memories at JT include directing Daniel DP Sheridan's adaptations of Scrooge and Pinocchio, and most recently directed The Wizard of Oz!