SHOW INFO
In the Name of Love: stories of love in all its forms
Tuesday, Feb. 18 / 7:30-9:30 (doors open at 6:30)
Hey Nonny / Arlington Heights
It’s a brand new year - so let’s kick it off with LOVE: Stories about the kindness of strangers, the gift of community, the heartbreak of betrayal, the joy of falling, the power of compassion…and a love affair with Stephen Sondheim (wait, what?)
This show is appropriate for ages 18+ unless accompanied by an adult. All sales are final - no refunds or exhanges.

Producer & host, First Person Live

Healthcare researcher

High tech marketer

Director of Business Development

Storyteller, coach & producer

Teacher, facilitator, podcaster

Assistant director, financial aide

Education coach, dancer & poet
Diane Kastiel is the producer and host of First Person Live. A writer and storyteller from Chicago, she’s a three-time winner of the National Public Radio’s Moth StorySLAM; her work has been featured on the Moth Radio Hour, its podcast, and at special events for WBEZ, NPR’s Chicago affiliate. Diane has told stories on stage at The Second City, Steppenwolf, the Park West, Victory Gardens and other theaters as well as comedy clubs, art galleries, the basement of a tattoo parlor - she even did a show in the middle of the woods! Diane works with libraries, schools, community centers and homeless shelters to bring storytelling to a wider audience, and leads storytelling workshops at Northwestern University. Diane is an alumna of The Second City Conservatory and the University of Chicago’s Great Books program. She also has an MBA from Northwestern University…just in case.
Claudia Maru spent most of her career working in healthcare research, discovering live storytelling in 2023. When not telling stories about family dysfunction or oddball encounters with strangers, Claudia enjoys daydreaming about being a castaway on a desert island with Tatum Channing, and petting any dog she may come across in public for way longer than the owner is comfortable with. She is also co-host of Do Not Submit, a storytelling open mic in Libertyville on the third Wednesday of every month.
Kim Buck loves participating in any aspect of Chicagoland’s performing arts scene whenever she can spare a few minutes between happy wife-and-motherhood and a career in high tech marketing. She’s a graduate of the Second City Conservatory, has reviewed theatre for the Chicago Reader, performed in local theatre productions, and sings her guts out in the First United Methodist Church of Arlington Heights choir. Kim is so grateful to First Person Live for creating a storytelling community by bringing this inclusive, fascinating art form to the northwest suburbs.
David Edler enjoyed a 40-year career in vision care, finishing as the National Director of Business Development with a franchise of independent optometrists. Starting in the mail room, he rose through more than 20 roles of increasing responsibility across three different companies. Now retired, David's is returning to the stage, where he began at age 11 with stand-up comedy in a junior high talent show. This led to an MFA in acting, and performances in Milwaukee, upstate New York, Ohio, and Chicago, where he also directed a few shows. David cherishes his roles as a husband, father, youth sports coach, cyclist, runner, and musician who played briefly in a neighborhood garage band. David has been sharing his life experiences through storytelling since 2014, and is a recent Moth StorySLAM winner.
Lily Be is an award-winning storyteller and first Latina Moth GrandSLAM champion, lives to support the arts and communities through storytelling. She’s the creator and producer of “The Stoop,” a storytelling show featuring stories by people from marginalized communities. Lily also sits on the board of directors of The Hairpin Arts Center and The Prop Theater.
Anne McNamee-Keels is a Moth GrandSLAM winner and, perhaps more importantly, the former reigning Wrightwood Irish Princess of Chicago’s South Side Irish Parade (5- to 7-year-old division). She’s also the host of Lapsed, a podcast about growing up Catholic. Anne is a board member and facilitator at Race Conscious Dialogues and teaches theatre classes at The Actors Garden in Oak Park, where she lives with her husband, two children, and two very furry dogs.
Erin McEvoy Mason is a mother, storyteller, improvisor and Assistant Director of Financial Aid (sometimes all at the same time!). She has performed with groups such as The Second City, improvOlympics, and The Women of Sirens. Erin began storytelling 10 years ago at Louder than a Mom where she is now a producer. She lives in Chicago with her husband Tim, four kids, two dogs, two geckos and one gerbil (used to be two but that's a story for another night).
Jitesh Jaggi is a dancer and poet from India. He ended his career in finance one day when he lost all the data on an Excel spreadsheet and realized that he just didn't care. That tipping point led him to pursue his creative interest, including storytelling. These days he works as an education coach for teachers and continues to develop his storytelling. Jitesh is a five-time Moth StorySLAM winner, and has lead storytelling workshops for the World Health Organization and the University of Chicago, among others. His stories were recently featured on NPR’s Moth Radio Hour, where they butchered his name but he swears it was him. His one-man show, “Suitcase Stories,” played to a soldout audience at the Steppenwolf Theatre in 2023 and at The Second City in 2024.