Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:
Chicago Premiere!
Raven Theatre Presents
NICE GIRL
By Melissa Ross
Directed by Lauren Shouse
January 24 – March 11, 2018
Running time: 2 hours, including intermission
Raven Theatre is a Chicago storefront favorite of ours here at ChiIL Live Shows. I'll be ChiILin' with Chi, IL's Raven Theatre for the press opening of Nice Girl on January 30th, so check back soon for my full review.
Raven Theatre is pleased to continue its 35th anniversary season with the Chicago premiere of Melissa Ross’s humorous and heartfelt play NICE GIRL, directed by Lauren Shouse, playing January 24 – March 11, 2018 in Raven’s 105-seat East Stage, 6157 N. Clark St. (at Granville) in Chicago. Tickets are currently available at www.raventheatre.com or by calling (773) 338-2177.
NICE GIRL features Lynne Baker, Lucy Carapetyan, Stella Martin and Benjamin Sprunger.
It’s 1984 and Josephine Rosen finds herself stuck in her job, her spinsterhood and her mom’s house at age 37. But when a new friendship and a budding romance bring her the possibility of change, she takes tentative steps towards a new life with one powerful word: Yes. A play about the tragedy and joy of figuring out who you are, and letting go of who you were supposed to be.
The production team for NICE GIRL includes: Lauren Nigri (scenic design), Nöel Huntzinger (costume design), Rebecca Jeffords (lighting design), Sarah Putts (sound design), John Buranosky (properties design), Jason Martin (dialect specialist), Sydney Achler (scenic artist), Jordan Pokorney (assistant director) and Wilhelm Peters (stage manager).
Location: Raven Theatre East Stage, 6157 N. Clark St. (at Granville), Chicago
Dates: Previews: Wednesday, January 24 at 7:30 pm, Thursday, January 25 at 7:30 pm, Friday, January 26 at 7:30 pm, Saturday, January 27 at 7:30 pm, Sunday, January 28 at 3 pm and Monday, January 29 at 7:30 pm
Press performance: Tuesday, January 30, 2018 at 7:30 pm
Regular run: Friday, February 2 – Sunday, March 11, 2018
Curtain Times: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm; Sundays at 3 pm. Please note: there will not be a performance on Thursday, February 1.
Tickets: Previews $32 ($29 if purchased online). Regular run $46 ($43 if purchased online). Seniors/teachers $41 ($38 if purchased online). Students/active military and veterans $15. Every Thursday is “Under 30 Thursday,” when patrons under age 30 can purchase tickets for $15. Single tickets and season subscriptions for both the 2017-18 Season and 2018-19 Season are currently available at www.raventheatre.com or by calling (773) 338-2177.
Group tickets: Groups of 10 or more are $30 per person for Thursday and Friday performances and $35 per person for Saturday and Sunday performances. Student groups are $15 per person.
Plan Your Visit:
Free parking is provided in a lot adjacent to the theatre – additional street parking is available. Nearest El station: Granville Red Line, Buses: #22 (Clark), #36 (Broadway), #151 (Sheridan), #155 (Devon), #84 (Peterson).
About the Artists
Melissa Ross’s (Playwright) Plays include Thinner Than Water, A Life Extra Ordinary, Nice Girl, An Entomologist’s Love Story and Of Good Stock. Thinner Than Water and Nice Girl were both originally produced by LAByrinth Theater Company. Thinner Than Water is included in the anthology “New Playwrights: Best Plays of 2011” by Smith and Kraus. Nice Girl was a finalist for the Francesca Primus Prize and is in Applause’s “Best Plays of 2015.” Of Good Stock received its world premiere at South Coast Repertory as a part of the Pacific Playwrights Festival followed by a production at Manhattan Theater Club. A Life Extra Ordinary premiered with The Gift Theatre Fall of 2016. An Entomologist’s Love Story is an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Commission and an Edgerton New Play award recipient, and will premiere at The San Francisco Playhouse Spring of 2018. Her short play Jack was a part of Summer Shorts 2017 and will be published by Dramatists Play Service. Melissa’s plays have been developed with The Amoralists, The Cherry Lane Theater, Colt Coeur, Dorset Theater Festival, The Gift Theatre, Iama Theatre Company, The Juilliard School, Labyrinth Theater Company, LCT3, Manhattan Theater Club, Montana Rep, New York Stage and Film, The New Group, South Coast Repertory, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater and the TheatreWorks Palo Alto New Works Festival. She is twice commissioned by both South Coast Repertory and Manhattan Theater Club. Melissa is a graduate of Bennington College and the Lila Acheson Wallace Playwriting Program at The Juilliard School, a two-time winner of the Le Comte de Nouy Prize and a proud member of LAByrinth Theater Company.
Lauren Shouse (Director) is the Artistic Associate and Literary Manager at Northlight Theatre. Her recent directing credits include: The Legend of Georgia McBride at Northlight Theatre, Betrayal at Raven Theatre, Rapture, Blister, Burn, Superior Donuts and A Christmas Story at Nashville Repertory Theatre, the world premiere of Long Way Down with 3Ps productions (nominated for American Theatre Critics Association Steinberg New Play Award 2011); the world premiere of Religion and Rubber Ducks with Ovvio Arte; Parallel Lives, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Last Five Years and Chess in Concert with Street Theatre Company; the world premiere of Rear Widow at Chaffin's Barn Theatre and Sylvia Plath’s 3 Women. As Artistic Associate at Nashville Rep, Lauren directed the Ingram New Works Play Lab and Festival, which developed new works by John Patrick Shanley, David Auburn, Steven Dietz and Victoria Stewart. Lauren also co-founded Ten Minute Playhouse, a company that produced short plays by local playwrights. Before moving to Nashville, Lauren lived in London, UK and worked with Producer/Director Hugh Wooldridge. Her work abroad includes: Production Executive for The Night of 1000 Voices (celebrating John Kander and Fred Ebb and starring Joel Grey with Avenue Q) at The Royal Albert Hall; Production Executive of An Evening with Michael Parkinson at The Theatre Royal - Windsor, Children's Director/Assistant to the Director of A Gift of Music, and Assistant Director of The Night of 1000 Voices at The Odyssey Arena in Belfast, Ireland. Lauren holds an MA in Performance Studies from the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill where she adapted and directed The Time Traveler’s Wife. She received her MFA in theatre directing at Northwestern University where she directed Stop Kiss, Eurydice and In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play. In Chicago, Lauren has also worked with Steppenwolf Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre, Rivendell Theatre, Sideshow Theatre, Route 66, Chicago Dramatists, The Gift and Stage Left Theatre.www.laurenshousedirects.com
About Raven Theatre
Raven Theatre tells stories of today and the past that connect us to our cultural landscape. Through its plays as well as its educational programming, Raven is committed to serving our communities’ needs through the arts.
Raven Theatre Company is funded in part by the Alphawood Foundation, Dramatists Guild Fund, Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, The MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at Prince, Polk Bros. Foundation, The Arts Work Fund for Organizational Development, S&C Electric, The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the PAV Fund and the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.
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