Daniel Scurek (1963-2023)
Daniel Andrew Scurek of Aurora, IL passed away on January 5th, 2023, less than a month before his 60th birthday. Daniel’s real passion was theater, and he was an accomplished actor, director and playwright. Acting credits include, "The Glass Menagerie", "Prelude to a Kiss", "Art", "Casablanca", "Our Town" and "A Christmas Story”, and he has worked with many professional theater companies across Chicagoland, including: Noble Fool Theatricals, Steel Beam Theatre, Metropolis Performing Arts Center and Theatre-Hikes as well as acting, directing and writing at numerous children’s theaters.
Directing credits include the critically-acclaimed "Robin Hood" for Theatre-Hikes (which garnered that company their first Reader recommendation). Other directing credits include "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and "As You Like It" (in which his actress wife played Rosalind). Dan was also a produced playwright in Chicago and New York, including "The Gift of the Magi" at Bowen Park Theatre (1996), and at EverGreen Theatre Ensemble (2009), "A Man of Taste" (2007) and "The Resignation" (2006) at N.U.F.A.N. Ensemble, "Alcohol May Intensify this Effect", a one-act which had two staged readings at Chicago Dramatists (1994), "After All These Years", which was a finalist in the Love Creek One-Act Play Festival in New York (1994) and "At the Moment Bob Decides to Go to His Reunion", performed at the ATHE Festival in Chicago (1994). In addition, Dan was a published poet in the US and UK, as well as a professional freelance writer in the Chicago area for over 20 years, which included theatre reviews, features and interviews with stage director Gary Griffin, Tony Award winning actress Joan Allen, actor Mike Nussbaum and playwright David Ives. He also worked as editor and publisher of the literary magazine, "Damaged Wine". Some of the very interesting freelance writing projects Daniel did included writing introductory comments for Chicago Bulls basketball player, Luol Dang, for a fundraising event raising awareness for the genocide in Darfur (2006) and writing emcee copy for Illinois Senator Patrick O'Malley for a Palos Park fundraiser (1997). Daniel received his Associate of Arts from Moraine Valley Community College and his Bachelor of Arts from North Central College; he graduated cum laude from both institutions and was President of the theater fraternity Alpha Psi Omega at both as well. He went to Amos Alonzo Stagg High School. Daniel was married to Jeanne Katharine Scurek for over 25 years until cancer and carelessly over-prescribed opioids, coupled with a surgical error, resulting in fistulas, tragically took him from her far too soon. They loved nature, hiking and doing just about everything together. They were best friends, partners and loved to work together on many theatrical and some film projects including Titania and Oberon in Citadel Theatre’s "A Midsummer Night's Dream”, Myra and Sidney Bruel in "Deathtrap" at Steel Beam Theatre, and Lois and Bill Wilson in "Bill W. & Dr. Bob" for EverGreen Theatre Ensemble. One summer, they spent teaching/working together at Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp in Michigan, where he most enjoyed "teaching acting to students and staging them in a one-act play I wrote especially for them." Daniel is survived by his loving partner and wife Jeanne, sister Robyn Renee Scurek, brother Michael Albert Scurek as well as nieces and nephews. A life long Beatles fan, Dan believed in the credo that, "all you need is love". |