Christopher Elst

Milwaukee-based Theatre and Technology Polymath chris@christopherelst.com

Experience

Selected roles listed; full résumé available on request, including fight and intimacy direction

Actor: Regional Theatre and Union Houses

Title
Role
Theatre
The Book of Will
John Heminges
Black Hills Playhouse
Legally Blonde
Elle's Dad / Dewey
Black Hills Playhouse
Waitress
Cal
Black Hills Playhouse
Misery
Buster
Milwaukee Chamber Theatre
Queen of Ithaca [reading]
Odysseus
Renaissance Theatre Works
Newsies
Roosevelt / Morris Delancey
Skylight Music Theatre
Annie
Ensemble / Warbucks u/s
Skylight Music Theatre
The Endurance of Light [reading]
Ernest Shackleton
Renaissance Theatre Works
The Pirates of Penzance
Ensemble
Skylight Music Theatre
The Wizard of Oz
Uncle Henry / Guard
Skylight Music Theatre
Les Misérables
Ensemble
Skylight Music Theatre
As You Like It
Charles / Hymen
Optimist Theatre

Actor: Professional, Non-Union

Title
Role
Theatre
Hamlet
Ghost King
Unrehearsed Shakespeare
As You Like It
Jaques
Unrehearsed Shakespeare
Hamlet
Claudius
Unrehearsed Shakespeare
City of Angels
Big Six / Luther / Mahoney
Windfall Theatre
The Petrified Forest
Boze Hertzlinger
Windfall Theatre
An Empty Plate at Le Café de Grand Boeuf
Gaston
Windfall Theatre
A Little Night Music
Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm
Windfall Theatre
A Time to Live
Richard
Windfall Theatre
November
Turkey Guy
Windfall Theatre
Juliet and Romeo
Romeo
Bad Example Productions - Alchemist Theatre
Assassins
John Wilkes Booth
Windfall Theatre
1984
Winston Smith
Bad Example Productions - Alchemist Theatre
Cannibal! the Musical
Israel Swan
Bad Example Productions - Alchemist Theatre
Mother Courage
Eilif
Off-the-Wall Theatre
Omnium Gatherum
Jeff
Windfall Theatre
Around the World in 80 Days
Train Conductors
Off-the-Wall Theatre
Merry Wives of Windsor
Master Ford
Bard in the Barn
Troilus and Cressida
Achilles
Bard in the Barn
The Tempest
Caliban
Unrehearsed Shakespeare
Much Ado About Nothing
Verges
Unrehearsed Shakespeare
Into the Woods
Baker
Off-the-Wall Theatre
Hamlin (World Premiere)
The Stranger
Off-the-Wall Theatre
Macbeth
Macduff
Off-the-Wall Theatre
La Cage aux Folles
Hanna from Hamburg
Off-the-Wall Theatre
The New Century
Shane
RSVP Theater
All's Well That Ends Well
Parolles
Bard in the Barn
Sweeney Todd
Ensemble
Off-the-Wall Theatre

Web Developer

GS Design

Front-end web development for national client list, such as Harley-Davidson, Mercury Engines, SRAM, et al

February 2007 - May 2010
Hanson Dodge Creative

Front-end web development for national client list, such as Volkswagen, Credit Suisse, Trek Bicycles, et al

May 2000 - February 2007

Education and Certifications

Western Illinois University

Master of Fine Arts
Theatre Arts, Acting
August 2023-May 2026

Intimacy Directors and Coordinators

Intimacy Director, Level 2+
October 2017

Society of American Fight Directors

Certified Teacher, Fight Director, Secretary (2016-2022)
July 2015

Dueling Arts International

Associate Instructor
June 2014

University of Wisconsin Milwaukee

Bachelor of Arts
Literature and Critical Studies

[summa cum laude]

August 2010 - May 2012

Tremper High School

with honors

August 1992 - May 1995

Skills

Theatre
  • EMC
  • Certified Teacher and Fight Director, Society of American Fight Directors
  • Intimacy Director Level 2+, Intimacy Directors International
  • Associate Instructor, Dueling Arts International
  • Former Secretary of the Governing Body, Society of American Fight Directors
Web Development

Awards and Press

  • "This attention to detail is also very much in evidence during the well-choreographed fight sequences that I could watch five times and still see something new. Under the direction of Christopher Elst ... each sword, chair and beer mug is a weapon of destruction that more than once garnered a gasp from the audience."
    -- Erica Bouska, Peninsula Pulse

  • "Christopher Elst, as the mysterious piper, is at once otherworldly and vaguely unnerving, the picture of both spiritual calm and hard-edged revenge."
    -- Ryan Findlay, Urban Milwaukee

  • "Christopher Elst treads a difficult path, playing Romeo with words originally written for Juliet. He plays a passive man in love who must be moved to action. Elst walks the razor's edge between script and gender stereotypes with deftness. The chemistry between Tyburski and Elst is strong enough to make one wish Shakespeare had written more scenes between them. They lend authentic gravity to their first meeting, and their balcony scene is charming."
    -- Russ Bickerstaff, Shepherd Express

  • "Elst builds on his character’s overhyped niceness, letting his tension bleed through little by little until he finally explodes."
    -- Matthew Reddin, Urban Milwaukee

  • "...but I should also point out an acrobatic fight scene choreographed by Christopher Elst in the first act between the wife in a nightgown and the would-be blackmailer-murderer."
    -- Dominique Paul Noth, Urban Milwaukee

  • "...local sheriff Buster, well played by Christopher Elst."
    -- Dominique Paul Noth, Urban Milwaukee

  • "The intimacy experts — consultant Tonia Sina and designer Christopher Elst — are certainly important to make the seductions both choreographed yet believable."
    -- Dominique Paul Noth, Urban Milwaukee

  • President's Award, SAFD - 2020 and 2021

  • "There is as much glee to be found in Christopher Elst’s larger-than-life portrayal of a Renaissance Fair-meets-WWE wrestling actor as in any other role on stage."
    -- Matthew Reddin, Urban Milwaukee

  • "There are also compelling swordfights by Christopher Elst particularly in a slow-motion ghost scene..."
    -- Dominique Paul Noth, Urban Milwaukee

  • Sunset Playhouse Volunteer Award - Favorite Actor 2010

  • "There's a lot of fighting in this intensely physical play, and it's consistently thrilling." -- Mike Fischer, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel