Mr JWags Wants To Teach You Stuff.

Hello Future Students!

I am a actor/writer/musician with more than 20 years of professional experience; from Broadway, to National Touring, to Chicago improv, as well as training in corporate offices, I’ve been an acting instructor, music director, vocal coach, youth counselor, voice-over artist, speech coach, and performer; I’ve worked with all ages, populations, and experience levels; I’ve experienced the full spectrum of the performing arts and love every part of it.

Originally from California, I graduated from Northwestern University (Evanston, IL. Go ‘Cats!) with a B.S. in Speech with Certificates in Music Theatre Performance and Creative Writing for the Media. After graduation, I spent 15 years in Chicago theater and comedy scene working at such theaters as the Goodman, Steppenwolf, Chicago Shakespeare, Theatre at the Center (and five summers at the Wagon Wheel Theater in Warsaw IN)

My primary artistic home for my time in Chicago was the famed improv comedy theater, The Second City. I worked/toured there as music director, sound designer and composer.

I worked at The Second City Training Center for 15+ years teaching improv, voice and songwriting, as well as composing and sound designing over 100 original comedy revues. Former improv and writing students include: Chris Redd, Alan Linic, (Emmy winners-SNL), Ashley Nicole Black (Emmy winner-Full Frontal), Ariel Dumas (Head Writer-The Late Show with Stephen Colbert), Shantira Jackson (Busy Tonight, BET’s 50 Central), and Asher Perlman (The Opposition).

In 2015, I landed a dream job: covering Tony nominee - Alex Brightman as “Dewey” in the original Broadway cast of School of Rock: The Musical, where I performed Dewey over 140 times before closing the show in 2019. I have been living and working in NYC ever since!

Beyond improv, I come with professional and academic experiences across multiple theatrical and technical disciplines including speech therapy and dialect coaching, Meisner technique, First Folio method (Shakespeare), screenwriting, theatrical composition and sound design, podcast production and voiceover. In addition, I teach basic piano and guitar as well. As a writer, I have written/co-written five musicals and two full-length screenplays.

Let me know if you have any questions. (I’m a teacher who likes questions...)

-Jonathan Wagner

I can't imagine my life without art. More importantly, I can't imagine YOUR life without art.

I have spent my life learning a lot of really cool stuff.

If you want to do some cool stuff too, I'd love to teach you.