J.R. Willard-Rose
Board Member
J.R. has served as an educator and theatre director at Homewood-Flossmoor High School for the past 24 years. He has directed more than 80 plays and musicals across educational, community, and professional stages throughout the Chicagoland area. His work has earned recognition at both state and national levels. Several of his students have been nominated for Best Actor or Actress at the Illinois High School Musical Theatre Awards (IHSMTA), including Jazmin Rhodes, who won in 2024 and went on to compete at the Jimmy Awards in New York. In 2025, his production of Between the Lines was nominated for Best Production in the state.
In 2024, J.R. received the Award of Excellence in Secondary School Theatre from the Illinois Theatre Association. Earlier in his career, he was named The 2006 Outstanding Early Career Educator by the Illinois State Board of Education’s Those Who Excel Awards.
From 2009 to 2017, he served as artistic director of the Southland Area Theatre Ensemble at Governors State University. In 2015, he directed the professional Equity Midwest premiere of First Date at Chicago’s Royal George Theatre, which enjoyed a successful three-month run. His work has also reached international audiences: his production of Once on This Island was invited to perform at the prestigious Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland, and his production of Proof transferred for a run at the Stables Theatre in Hastings, England.
J.R. has had multiple productions place at the IHSA State Competition and has brought five shows to the Illinois High School Theatre Festival. After years of service on various festival committees, he was named Executive Director of the Illinois High School Theatre Festival in 2008—becoming the youngest person to hold the top position in the festival’s 50-year history. In 2013, he directed the All-State production of Memphis, marking the first staging of the Broadway hit outside of New York. For the 2025 festival, he co-produced the All-State production of The Prom.
He takes great pride in the many former students who have gone on to build successful careers on Broadway, national tours, regional theatre, film, television, and in technical, design, and management arenas. These include Tony nominee Joy Woods, Emmy nominee Stacy Osei-Kuffour, and Oscar nominee Sophia Allison.
J.R. holds a BS in Theatre Education from Illinois State University, an MA in School Leadership from Olivet Nazarene, and an MA in Educational Technology from Concordia University. He lives in Flossmoor with his husband, Brandon, their 8-year-old son, Rowan, and rescued fur babies Ginny and Jude.