BIOGRAPHY

   I’m Jenni M. Hadley, a Texas-raised, New York-trained, and now Chicago-based actress and performer!

   It all started with a production of Stone Soup at Hillside Academy for Excellence, in the first grade. As the tallest six-year-old in the choir room, I was cast as the grandmother. I was not amused. I had a repetitive solo in a song where I repeatedly feigned deafness. The townspeople joyously screamed, “We’re going to have stone soup!” And I would respond, “What kind of SOUP?” Hilarious.

   But, I wanted more…

   “More” would eventually mean attending NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. Earning my BFA in Drama included perfecting Lee Strasberg’s sense-memory acting method, fulfilling a dream of playing Ronette in Little Shop of Horrors, and during my stint at The Experimental Theatre Wing, writing, directing, and starring in an original musical cabaret about love, blossoming into a woman, and drag queens.

   Soon after graduation however, the Windy City was calling my name. The historic comedy- and ensemble-based theaters spoke to what I consider to be fundamentals to the kind of artist I am. This was going to be my new home, and since arriving, I’ve made myself quite comfortable. Busy... but comfortable.

   I’ve had the pleasure of working with incredible companies (The House Theatre, Jackalope Theatre, The Hypocrites, Navy Pier Entertainment, First Floor Theater ), the privilege of collaborating with inspirational artists (Nathan Allen, Chay Yew, Sean Graney, Matt Hawkins, Dorothy Milne, Hutch Pimental), and performing on stages across the City and Country (The Chopin, The Den, Stage 773, Red Tape Theatre, Greenhouse Theater Center, Victory Gardens, Chicago Dramatists, Berkeley Repertory Theatre in Berkeley, CA., The Adrianne Arsht Center in Miami, Fl.).

   Currently, I’m working on expanding my craft to include: voice-overs, commercials, and television/film work. With a city that offers so much, my career is flourishing and proving, every day, that Chicago is truly ‘my kind of town.’