BY TIM SHELLBERG
Times Correspondent | Monday, April 20, 2009 |

For Munster-reared actress Nicole Pellegrino, the journey she has taken in her chosen profession is as important as the roles she receives.

"If you're looking for the big role right now, you're going to miss a lot of the growing and the artistry along the way and a lot the things that make having a career in the arts worthwhile," she said.

Currently living on Chicago's North Side, Pellegrino's thespian roots began at Wilbur Wright Middle and Munster High schools. At the latter, she was taken under the wing of Munster Auditorium Director Larry Brechner and theater instructor Renee Kouris, who retired last year.

Along with starring in numerous plays and productions, Pellegrino was the first student at Munster to direct a full-length production.

"(Directing) was a really big step in figuring out as an artist (aspects such as) 'what do I find entertaining?' or 'what are these people doing (on stage) that I could never have come up with on my own?' " she said.

"Having the opportunity to read people and getting to do that early on was really important and really helpful."

Brechner's memories of his former student are fond.

"She's an extraordinarily wonderful person. She has a really great soul," Brechner said. "She was really talented back then. She could sing, she could act, she could dance, the big three. And she could also direct. She's one that we'll always remember and always be proud of."

After graduating from Munster High in 2001, Pellegrino received a bachelor's in theater from Northwestern University in 2005. She also trained at acclaimed Chicagoland institutions such as the Lookingglass Theatre Co., iO Improv and the Actors Gymnasium.

Pellegrino has landed roles in productions at Oak Brook's Drury Lane Theatre and Chicago's Victory Gardens Theater and The New Colony Theatre. She also was seen on the big screen with a role in the 2006 independent film, "Death of a President."

Pellegrino currently is gracing the stage in "A Domestic Disturbance at Little Fat Charlie's Seventh Birthday Party," a short skit that is part of the Chicago-based arts collective Collaboraction's annual Sketchbook Festival.

Sketchbook, which opened Thursday,�is a series of short plays and devised works running at Chicago's Building Stage through May 10.

In "Disturbance," Pellegrino said the actors coerce three audience members to perform a loosely scripted story during the skit's seven-minute run.

"Sketchbook is a really great chance to get to work on theater that sort of pushes the edge and works on the fringe," she said. "There's a really different energy about this collection of pieces. They're very exciting to work with."

Collaboraction's 9th Annual Sketchbook Festival runs through May 10.

WHAT: "A Domestic Disturbance at Little Fat Charlie's Seventh Birthday Party" from the Sketchbook Festival; sketch runs at 7 p.m. today, April 25 and May 3; 8 p.m. Thursday and May 1; 9 p.m. May 2 and 9; and 3 p.m. May 10.
WHERE: The Building Stage, 412 N. Carpenter St., Chicago
COST: $25 adults, $15 students, $40 festival pass
FYI: (312) 226-9633, collaboraction.org