ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar:
LADY IN DENMARK,
DAEL ORLANDERSMITH’S PASSIONATE REFLECTION ON LIFE AND LOVE, APPEARS
OCTOBER 19 – NOVEMBER 18
AT GOODMAN THEATRE
***DIRECTED BY OBIE AWARD-WINNER CHAY YEW, THE WORLD PREMIERE PRODUCTION STARS STAGE AND SCREEN ACTRESS LINDA GEHRINGER***
I'm elated to be catching the press opening and reviewing for ChiILLiveShows.com. Dael Orlandersmith and Chay Yew are favorites of mine and I'm eager to see their collaboration on Goodman's latest, Lady in Denmark. I'll be out on opening night, October 29th, so check back soon for my full review.
Pulitzer Prize Finalist Dael Orlandersmith highlights the universal languages of love and music in Lady in Denmark, kicks off the 2018/2019 season in the 350-seat flexible Owen Theatre. Chay Yew, who also helmed the play’s 2016 New Stages Festival staged reading, directs Linda Gehringer as Helene—a Danish American woman coping with the death of her husband who finds solace in the hauntingly beautiful music of their favorite singer, Billie Holiday. Orlandersmith’s newest play is Helene’s journey through the couple’s time together—from the smoky jazz clubs of post-war Copenhagen to the home they shared in present-day Andersonville, Chicago. The creative team includes Andrew Boyce (set), Christine Pascual (costumes), Lee Fiskness (lighting) and Mikhail Fiksel (original music and sound). Donald E. Claxon is the production stage manager. Lady in Denmark appears October 19 – November 18, 2018 (opening night is October 29 at 7pm) in the Goodman’s Owen Theatre (170 N. Dearborn); tickets ($15-45; subject to change), by telephone 312.443.3800 or online GoodmanTheatre.org/LadyInDenmark.
“Lady in Denmark is a celebration of life and our need to embrace the beauty in aging and death. It explores the universalism of art using the greatness of Billie Holiday, as her work continues to speak to everyone, everywhere,” said playwright Dael Orlandersmith. “It has been a wonder to reunite with Chay Yew—my bright, funny and sharp longtime friend and colleague. I’m grateful to have embarked on this journey with him and the talented Linda Gehringer.”
The world premiere production marks Orlandersmith’s fourth collaboration with the Goodman. Her most recent work, Until the Flood, appeared at the Goodman during the 2017/2018 Season; and previous works include Black n Blue Boys/Broken Men (2012/2013 Season) and Stoop Stories (2009/2010 Season). She joined the Goodman’s Artistic Collective in 2016 as an Artistic Associate and Alice Center Resident Artist. Orlandersmith was named a Pulitzer Prize finalist and Drama Desk nominee Outstanding Play and Outstanding Actress in a Play for her 2002 production, Yellowman, premiered at the Manhattan Theatre Club.
“This play is a valentine to Chicago, a story that celebrates our local Danish community—a community we don't often experience in the theater. With incredible deftness, poetry and compassion, Dael explores the history, legacy and heritage of our often forgotten Chicago elderly,” said director Chay Yew, whose previous Goodman credits includes the 2012 Chicago premiere of Orlandersmith’s Black n Blue Boys/Broken Men. “Dael has masterfully woven the last seven decades of American and global history, and addressed pressing issues of race, gender and politics, into this beautiful work about love, loss and marriage.”
American Airlines is the Contributing Sponsor for Lady in Denmark. The Goodman is grateful for the generosity of its New Work sponsors, including: the Time Warner Foundation, Lead Support of New Play Development; the Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation, Major Support of New Play Development; the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, Major Support of New Work Development; and The Glasser and Rosenthal Family, Support of New Work Development.
TICKETS, DISCOUNTS AND SPECIAL EVENTS
Tickets ($15-$45) – GoodmanTheatre.org/LadyInDenmark; 312.443.3800; Fax: 312.443.3825; TTY/TDD: 312.443.3829
Box Office Hours –12noon - 5pm; on performance days, the box office remains open until 30 minutes past curtain
MezzTix – Half-price day-of-performance mezzanine tickets available at 10am online (promo code MEZZTIX)
$10Tix – Student $10 advance performance tickets; limit four, with valid student ID (promo code 10TIX)
Teen Arts Pass (TAP) – $5 day-of-performance tickets for teens ages 13-19; subject to availability; limit two, with valid TAP identification. Sign up at TeenArtsPass.org (promo code TAP)
CityKey – CityKey Cardholders access half-price mezzanine tickets; limit four, with valid CityKey ID. Sign up at ChiCityClerk.com/ChicagoCityKey (promo code CITYKEY)
Group Sales are available for parties 10+; 312.443.3820
Gift Certificates – Available in any amount; GoodmanTheatre.org/GiftCertificates
POST-SHOW DISCUSSION – October 24, November 1 and 4 | immediately following the performance FREE. Audiences are encouraged to stay after select performances for a conversation led by members of the Artistic Team, often including artists from the show, over a complimentary glass of wine. GoodmanTheatre.org/DrinksDiscussion
SCHOOL MATINEE SERIES – November 7 and 8 | Chicago high schools that are partnered with the Goodman experience a matinee performance and participate in a post-show discussion with Goodman artists. GoodmanTheatre.org/SMS
Audiences can save more with Goodman Theatre’s MEMBERSHIP packages—including Classic, 8-play, 5-play or 3-play packages; Choice, a personalized package that can include both Owen and Albert productions; and Whenever—the ultimate flexible package, to be used at any time during the season. All Goodman members receive unlimited ticket exchanges, discounted parking, 15% savings at the Goodman bar and gift shop, restaurant discounts and more. To purchase a Membership visit GoodmanTheatre.org/Memberships or call the Box Office at 312.443.3800.
ACCESSIBILITY AT THE GOODMAN
Touch Tour, November 11 at 12:30pm – A presentation detailing the set, costume and character elements
Audio Described Performance, November 11 at 2pm – The action/text is audibly enhanced for patrons via headset
ASL Interpreted Performance, November 17 at 2pm
Professional ASL interpreter signs the action/text as played
Open Captioned Performance, November 18 at 2pm – An LED sign presents dialogue in sync with the performance
Visit Goodman Theatre.org/Access for more information about Goodman Theatre’s accessibility efforts.
ABOUT GOODMAN THEATRE
AMERICA’S “BEST REGIONAL THEATRE” (Time magazine), Goodman Theatre is a premier not-for-profit organization distinguished by the excellence and scope of its artistic programming and civic engagement. Led by Artistic Director Robert Falls and Executive Director Roche Schulfer, the theater’s artistic priorities include new play development (more than 150 world or American premieres), large scale musical theater works and reimagined classics (celebrated revivals include Falls’ productions of Death of a Salesman and The Iceman Cometh). Goodman Theatre artists and productions have earned two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards, over 160 Jeff Awards and many more accolades. In addition, the Goodman is the first theater in the world to produce all 10 plays in August Wilson’s “American Century Cycle;” and its annual holiday tradition A Christmas Carol, which celebrates its 41st anniversary this season, has created a new generation of theatergoers. The Goodman also frequently serves as a production partner with local off-Loop theaters and national and international companies by providing financial support or physical space for a variety of artistic endeavors.
Committed to three core values of Quality, Diversity and Community, the Goodman proactively makes inclusion the fabric of the institution and develops education and community engagement programs that support arts as education. This practice uses the process of artistic creation to inspire and empower youth, lifelong learners and audiences to find and/or enhance their voices, stories and abilities. The Goodman’s Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement is the home of such programming, most offered free of charge, and has vastly expanded the theater’s ability to touch the lives of Chicagoland citizens (with 85% of youth participants coming from underserved communities) since its 2016 opening.
Goodman Theatre was founded by William O. Goodman and his family in honor of their son Kenneth, an important figure in Chicago’s cultural renaissance in the early 1900s. The Goodman family’s legacy lives on through the continued work and dedication of Kenneth’s family, including Albert Ivar Goodman, who with his late mother, Edith-Marie Appleton, contributed the necessary funds for the creation of the new Goodman center in 2000.
Today, Goodman Theatre leadership also includes the distinguished members of the Artistic Collective: Brian Dennehy, Rebecca Gilman, Henry Godinez, Dael Orlandersmith, Steve Scott, Chuck Smith, Regina Taylor, Henry Wishcamper and Mary Zimmerman. David W. Fox, Jr. is Chair of Goodman Theatre’s Board of Trustees, Denise Stefan Ginascol is Women’s Board President and Megan McCarthy Hayes is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals.
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