Denise was born and grew up in Chicago, the south side of Chicago to be exact. She went to Nansen Grade School and graduated from Fenger High School in 1970. Times back then were unsettling. Riots, assassinations, and civil unrest were at an all-time high around the country. Just walking to and from school was taking your life in your hands. She recalls being attacked after school one day by a gang of kids. She was hit in the head, knocked down, and suffered a concussion and slight brain bleed. Those early days were often filled with fear for her and her peers.

She escaped the chaos after graduating from high school by attending Western University, where she graduated with a degree in Special Education. Denise first began teaching in Sparland in the mornings and in Henry in the afternoons. It was during that time she met John Beattie at a disco in Peoria and began dating. At that time John was working for the railroad in Chillicothe. They married and had two children; Rebecca and Jonathan. Denise stayed home for a while when the kids were small, but decided to go back to work landing a special education job at Mossville Grade School. In total Denise taught Special Education for 30 years before retiring. Denise became widowed in 2011 with the passing of her husband John.

Denise says she has always been interested in theater and acting. As a child, she loved to sing and watch movies. Often she would write the movie stars letters and ask for their autographs.

When she heard about the Chillicothe Summer Theater, she inquired about auditioning and her love for plays began. She first auditioned and got a role in Fiddler on the Roof. She was disappointed that she was only in the chorus, but loved being on stage and hearing the applause of the audience. The next play she tried out for was South Pacific. She didn’t get the starring role, but she did get a wonderful part playing “Bloody Mary.”

Denise has also been an extra in a couple of movies. Seeing an ad that a production company was looking for a woman about her age to be in a movie to be shot around the Peoria area, she contacted them and was hired. She played the part of a grandmother in a scene filmed at a house in Metamora. The movie is called, A Poet in a Modern World. The movie as of yet is unfinished. She was also in a crowd scene in the upcoming movie, American Criminal that will be out in 2025. In May of 2024 she was invited to the big screening black tie event of the movie in Chicago. Denise said it was one of the highlights of her life.

Her first directing job was when the Chillicothe Summer Theater did, The Sound of Music. It was a huge hit and she found she loved directing. She says she trusts her adult actors to know their parts and act them out with only a little direction from her. Denise sits on the Chillicothe Players Board as its president and says she could not do it without the board members and all the volunteers she has helping behind the scenes! She has directed eight children’s plays and many adult plays. She also enjoys being in some of the productions.

The Chillicothe Players do one children’s play in the summer which Roseanne Urbanc directs with Denise’s assistance, and three adult plays each year that she directs with the help of co-director, Mary Ellen Milem. Adult plays coming up in 2025 are: Harvey in April, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest in August. In October they will be having their annual fundraiser event at Grecian Gardens, which is an audience-interactive murder mystery. In November, they will be doing Every Christmas Story Ever Told and Then Some.

Denise is also involved with; Die Laughing Entertainment, a traveling   murder mystery group that plays at many different venues, and recently she began participating in; We Play in Peoria, a troop that does old radio shows in person.  

The Players have always had difficulty finding places to audition, practice, and hold their plays. It is so costly to rent a building for all the times they need to hold auditions, practice, and have dress rehearsals. For their venues they have been using the IVC auditorium for the kid’s plays, and Shore Acres Clubhouse for the adult plays.

The Players are now looking to the future with hopes that the upcoming renovation of the Town Theatre to be a Performing Arts Theater will become their forever home in 2025, and they can utilize that building for all their needs. “It would be a dream come true,” says Denise.

Thank you Denise for all your hard work bringing entertainment to our community and for teaching our children about the arts by giving them pride and confidence in themselves by performing on stage. We are all looking forward to what your group will bring to our town in the future.

Anyone interested in getting involved with the Chillicothe Players can contact them on their Facebook page.