Steppenwolf 2016/17 Season Begins With Visiting Edna In Previews Starting September 15th and Opening the 27th

What's On Tap For Steppenwolf

As previously announced, the complete 2016/17 Subscription Season includes the world premiere of Visiting Edna by David Rabe, directed by Artistic Director Anna D. Shapiro (September 15 – November 6, 2016); the world premiere of The Fundamentals by Erika Sheffer, directed by ensemble member Yasen Peyankov (November 10 – December 23, 2016); the Chicago premiere of The Christians by Lucas Hnath, directed by ensemble member K. Todd Freeman (December 1, 2016 – January 29, 2017); the Chicago premiere of Straight White Men, written and directed by Young Jean Lee (February 2 – March 19, 2017); the world premiere of Linda Vista by ensemble member Tracy Letts, directed by Dexter Bullard (March 30 – May 21, 2017); and the Chicago premiere of Hir by Taylor Mac, directed by Hallie Gordon (June 29 – August 20, 2017). 

Dexter Bullard will direct the world premiere production of ensemble member Tracy Letts’s Linda Vista and Hallie Gordon will direct the Chicago premiere of Taylor Mac’s Hir. 

Dexter Bullard last directed Steppenwolf’s critically acclaimed production of Annie Baker’s The Flick this season. Hallie Gordon, who serves as  Steppenwolf Artistic Producer and Artistic Director of Steppenwolf for Young Adults (SYA), has directed several SYA productions including George Orwell’s 1984 last season. Gordon will also direct next season’s SYA adaptation of Walter Dean Myers’s Monster.

An additional seventh play, the world premiere of Pass Over by Antoinette Nwandu, will be produced in May 2017 in the Upstairs Theatre. Winner of the Lorraine Hansberry Playwriting Award, Antoinette Nwandu is an exciting new voice in the American theater. Pass Over will run in the non-subscription summer slot; however, subscribers will have access to pre-sale tickets. The director is TBA.

With the larger and more diverse selection of programming next season, Steppenwolf is increasing the ways in which audiences can experience the offerings with the new Steppenwolf Black Card, a membership program offering extreme flexibility. The Steppenwolf Black Card provides six ticket credits that can be used at any time for any production at Steppenwolf. The credits are valid for one year, and there is the option to add on additional credits as needed. Additional perks include easy and free exchanges, access to seats before the general public, savings on single ticket prices and bar and restaurant discounts for pre- and post-show socializing. 

The Steppenwolf Black Card is available through Audience Services (1650 N. Halsted) at 312.335.1650 and steppenwolf.org 

Season Subscription Packages are still available and are currently on sale. Packages start at $100. Student, educator and access discount subscriptions also offered. To purchase a 2016/17 subscription, visit Audience Services at 1650 N Halsted St, call 312-335-1650 or visit steppenwolf.org.

Director Bios

Dexter Bullard has strong ties with Steppenwolf, having most recently directed Annie Baker’s The Flick and having directed ensemble member Tracy Letts’s Bug at the Barrow Street Theater, for which he received the 2004 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Direction Off-Broadway. He has directed for Steppenwolf’s First Look Repertory of New Work in 2006 and 2013. Recent directing credits include the critically acclaimed production of Sucker Punch at Victory Gardens Theater, Big Meal at American Theatre Company and Craig Wright’s Grace at Northlight Theatre. He is the head of Graduate Acting and Showcase Artistic Director with The Theatre School at DePaul University.  

Hallie Gordon serves as Artistic Director of Steppenwolf for Young Adults and an Artistic Producer at Steppenwolf. Along with selecting the young adult productions each season, she has created the Young Adult Council, a group of high school students who collectively help to create innovative programming for their peers. Previously as SYA’s Education Director, Gordon worked closely with the Chicago Public Schools to create an environment in which all students and teachers have access to the theater. For Steppenwolf, Hallie has directed George Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm, as well as Leveling Up, The Book Thief, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, To Kill a Mockingbird, the world premiere of a new adaptation by Tanya Saracho of The House on Mango Street and Harriet Jacobs, adapted for the stage by Lydia R. Diamond. A world premiere of Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, also adapted by Lydia R. Diamond, won a Black Excellence Award from the African American Arts Alliance of Chicago and also transferred Off-Broadway to The New Victory Theatre. She is the recipient of The Helen Coburn Meier & Time Meier Achievement Award. Gordon most recently directed Dry Land at Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, playing now through May 28, 2016. For SYA’s 2016/17 season Gordon will direct an adaptation of Walter Dean Myers’s Monster.

About the Steppenwolf Black Card

Steppenwolf is excited to offer a larger and more diverse selection of programming next season, and to that end has increased the ways in which audiences can experience the offerings. Launching next season is the new Steppenwolf Black Card, a membership program offering extreme flexibility. The Steppenwolf Black Card provides six ticket credits that can be used at any time for any production at Steppenwolf. The credits are valid for one year, and there is the option to add on additional credits as needed. Additional perks include easy and free exchanges, access to seats before the general public, savings on single ticket prices and bar and restaurant discounts for pre- and post-show socializing. 

“We have heard from our audiences that they crave both choice and flexibility. The Steppenwolf Black Card will provide insider access to everything we have to offer, making it easier than ever to be a part of Steppenwolf,” shares Managing Director David Schmitz.  

Audiences will be able to choose from three Steppenwolf Black Card options: Anytime ($70 a credit to use any way, any day of the week); Weeknight ($50 a credit to use Sunday evening –Thursday evening) and Preview ($30 a credit to use towards early performances in the run). Steppenwolf Black Cards will go on sale July 15, 2016 through Audience Services at 312-335-1650 or steppenwolf.org.

The Steppenwolf Black Card is modeled after the popular Steppenwolf Red Card, which offers audiences under the age of 30 the option to purchase six ticket credits at a discounted price to use towards any play, anytime.

Still available will be Steppenwolf’s Season Subscriptions including the Preview Series, Regular Series and Dinner Theatre Series, in addition to discounted Student/Educator Series, Accessible Series and Saver Series. With the new season format, subscribers will see five plays; four in the Downstairs Theatre with the option to choose between two shows in the Upstairs Theatre. Packages start at $100 and are currently available for purchase through Audience Services at 1650 N Halsted St, call 312-335-1650 or visit steppenwolf.org. 

Steppenwolf Theatre Company is America’s longest standing, most distinguished ensemble theater, producing nearly 700 performances and events annually in its three Chicago theater spaces—the 515-seat Downstairs Theatre, the 299-seat Upstairs Theatre and the 80-seat 1700 Theatre. Formed in 1976 by a collective of actors, Steppenwolf has grown into an ensemble of 46 actors, writers and directors. Beginning in 2016/17, Steppenwolf expands artistic programming to include a seven-play Season; a two-play Steppenwolf for Young Adults season; Visiting Company engagements; and LookOut, a new multidisciplinary performance series. While firmly grounded in the Chicago community, nearly 40 original Steppenwolf productions have enjoyed success both nationally and internationally, including Broadway, Off-Broadway, London, Sydney, Galway and Dublin. Steppenwolf has the distinction of being the only theater to receive the National Medal of Arts, in addition to numerous other prestigious honors including an Illinois Arts Legend Award and 12 Tony Awards. Anna D. Shapiro is the Artistic Director and David Schmitz is the Managing Director. Nora Daley is Chair of Steppenwolf’s Board of Trustees. 

For additional information, visit www.steppenwolf.org, facebook.com/steppenwolftheatre and twitter.com/steppenwolfthtr.

RESTRUCTURED 2016-17 SEASON ANNOUNCED AT ATC

AMERICAN THEATER COMPANY ANNOUNCES

RESTRUCTURED 2016-17 SEASON

THREE-SHOW LINEUP INCLUDES:

Regional premiere of acclaimed Men On Boats by Jaclyn Backhaus

Reimagined classic Picnic by William Inge

World premiere of T. by Dan Aibel

Plus new Open Residency Program this fall for Chicago artists

American Theater Company (ATC) has restructured its 2016-17 Season and will present three of four previously announced plays, with an updated production schedule. Additionally, ATC will launch a new Open Residency Program for Chicago performance artists this fall. Led by newly appointed Artistic Director Will Davis, Season 32 includes: the regional premiere of Jaclyn Backhaus’ Men On Boats under Davis’ direction, Jan. 6-Feb. 12, 2017, immediately following its current Off Broadway run at Playwrights Horizons; a reimagined classic, Pulitzer Prize winner Picnic by William Inge, directed by Davis, March 17-April 23, 2017; and the world premiere of Dan Aibel’s T., an exploration of the competitive ice skating saga between Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding, directed by Margot Bordelon, May 19-June 25, 2017. The world premiere of Basil Kreimendahl’s We’re Gonna Be Okay will be presented as part of ATC's 2017-18 Season.

“ATC remains fully committed to the projects and artists we've invited to work with us, and we will produce all four of those works on a restructured timeline between this season and next,” says Artistic Director Will Davis. “As the incoming artistic director, it is my job and privilege to shepherd ATC into its next chapter, which must be defined not just by virtuosic artistry but also by fiscal responsibility. It is imperative that I consider this moment of transition carefully to ensure that the work being made in our small but mighty warehouse continues to grow over my tenure, and this season that means we will reimagine our producing footprint. I intend for ATC to be a thriving non-profit and a home base for powerful new works for the American Theater.”

This fall, ATC will host a new residency program for the Chicago performance community, the Open Residency Program. The Residency is interdisciplinary and open to project proposals in all stages of development. Accepted artists will be awarded rehearsal hours and a presentation slot at ATC at the end of their residency. More details and a call for proposals for ATC’s Open Residency Program will be released next month.

“I see my role as Artistic Director to act as the host to as many artists as possible and to share our space with the community,” Davis continues. “I took this job because I am interested throwing open the doors at ATC and inviting theater makers into an artistic dialogue about how we are making new work for the American theater.”

Season subscriptions are on sale now and range from $40-$112.50, with special pricing available for members under the age of 35 and advance purchases before August 31, 2016. To purchase a subscription or for more information, visit www.atcweb.org or call the ATC Box Office at 773-409-4125. Current subscribers will be contacted directly by ATC with ticket exchange options, and will receive complimentary priority seating to an Open Residency performance.

ATC remains committed to its season-long partnership with Chicago Inclusion Project, whose work creates inclusive theater experiences that bring together Chicago artists and audiences normally separated by physical ability, gender identity and/or ethnic background. The two companies will partner on casting, giving diverse theater artists access to roles they might traditionally have been excluded from. Together with the Chicago Inclusion Project, ATC will continue its commitment to presenting works that boldly reflect the diversity of stories and experiences in America today.

Past world premiere productions at ATC include Stephen Karam’s Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-nominated The Humans and Ayad Akhtar's Pulitzer Prize-winning Disgraced, both of which enjoyed acclaimed Broadway runs. Last spring ATC presented the world premiere of The Project(s), a documentary play about Chicago’s public housing residents written by late Artistic Director PJ Paparelli and Joshua Jaeger. In the 2015-16 Season, ATC produced the co-world premiere of Thomas Bradshaw’s Fulfillment with The Flea Theater in New York and the world premiere of Bruise Easy by Dan LeFranc, playwright of ATC’s blockbuster world premiere The Big Meal, which went on to an acclaimed Off Broadway run at Playwrights Horizons.

AMERICAN THEATER COMPANY’S SEASON 32:

Regional Premiere

Men On Boats

Written by Jaclyn Backhaus

Directed by Will Davis

January 6–February 12, 2017

Ten explorers set out on four boats to map the raging rapids of the Green and Colorado Rivers on the government’s first sanctioned expedition in the American West. Playwright Jaclyn Backhaus and director Will Davis team up again on this play, originally produced by Clubbed Thumb and returning to Playwrights Horizons in New York this summer, in Davis’ first production as ATC’s artistic director. Performed by a genderfluid cast of women and folks otherwise defined, Men On Boats takes back 1869.

Picnic

Written by William Inge

Directed by Will Davis

March 17–April 23, 2017

Closeted and dogged by an acute sense of failure for most of his life until he ended it, William Inge wrote some of the great lyrical plays of the American mid-century, and Picnic was his masterpiece, his playground and, quite possibly, his fantasy. In this loving reimagining, ATC Artistic Director Will Davis puts Inge at the center of his Pulitzer Prize-winning play and animates what is both sacred and profane about small town life against the backdrop of dust bowl hymns and love songs. Part séance, part love letter to a ghost, this Picnic explores a life lived at the periphery of one’s own desire.

World Premiere

T.

Written by Dan Aibel

Directed by Margot Bordelon

May 19–June 25, 2017

“Ice Follies” read the cover of Time Magazine on January 24, 1994, after ice skating medalist favorite Nancy Kerrigan was struck in the leg with a police baton by Shane Stant. In his darkly funny and unrelenting play, Dan Aibel explores the lengths one will go to for fame. Margot Bordelon returns to Chicago to direct this world premiere play named for Tonya Harding, the first woman ever to complete a triple axel jump in competition. Nancy Kerrigan never saw her coming.

SEASON 32 SUBSCRIPTION AND TICKET INFORMATION:         

The American Membership                                     $112.50 (available until Jan. 31, 2017)

Includes reserved seating for each production

Early Bird 3-Ticket Membership                             $90 (before August 31, 2016)

3-Ticket Membership                                                 $105 (Sept. 1, 2016-Jan. 31, 2017)

Under-35 3-Ticket Membership                               $60 (available until Jan. 31, 2017)

Early Bird 2-Ticket Membership                             $60 (before August 31, 2016)

2-Ticket Membership                                                 $70 (Sept. 1, 2016-Jan. 31, 2017)

Under-35 2-Ticket Membership                               $40 (available until Jan. 31, 2017)

ATC is offering the new American Membership in Season 32 for $112.50, which offers the member a reserved seat at each production in the season. ATC is transitioning to general admission seating in Season 32. Under-35 Memberships range in price from $40-60. Early Bird 2- and 3-ticket memberships range in price from $60-$90 and are available until August 31, 2016. Regular memberships range in price from $70-$105 and are available beginning September 1. All Memberships allow you to choose your performance dates upon purchase. To purchase a subscription or for more information, please contact the ATC Box Office at 773-409-4125 or visit www.atcweb.org.

ARTIST BIOS:

Dan Aibel's plays have been developed and/or produced by the Detroit Rep, the Sundance Institute, Syracuse Stage, the Blank Theater (Los Angeles), Flashpoint Theatre Co. (Philadelphia), the Source Theatre (Washington, D.C.) and Outsider's Inn Collective (Seattle). In New York he has worked with Page 73, Rattlestick and The New Group. His play The Meaning of Lunch was seen in Chicago at Stage Left as part of Leapfest 7. A 2014 Sundance Theatre Lab fellow, Dan's plays have been published by Smith & Kraus and Playscripts. He lives in New York.

Jaclyn Backhaus is an Indian-American playwright and co-founder of Fresh Ground Pepper. Recent New York productions include Men On Boats (NYT Critics’ Pick, Clubbed Thumb’s Summerworks, The Kilroys' 2015 List), People Doing Math Live! (Under The Radar Festival's INCOMING! Series at The Public Theater), The Incredible Fox Sisters (Live Source, The New Ohio), and You On the Moors Now (Theater Reconstruction Ensemble, upcoming with The Hypocrites in Fall 2016). She has received commissions from Playwrights Horizons and Ars Nova and is the 2016 Tow Foundation Playwright-in-Residence at Clubbed Thumb. Her work has been developed and showcased with the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, Playwrights Horizons, The Public and Joe’s Pub, The Ice Factory Festival, (not just) 3 New Plays, The Civilians R&D Group, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Ars Nova’s ANTFest, and The Falcons. She hails from Phoenix, Arizona.

Margot Bordelon is a freelance director who specializes in new work. Recent projects include Jiehae Park's peerless at Yale Repertory Theater, Anna Ziegler's A Delicate Ship for Playwrights Realm (NYT's Critics' Pick), and Joshua Conkel's Okay, Bye at Steppenwolf Theater. In New York, she's directed for Atlantic Theater, NYTW, Clubbed Thumb, Ars Nova, Dodo Theater Collective, Target Margin, The Lark, Juilliard, The Bushwick Starr, Theater Masters, and Stella Adler Institute, among others. Margot moved to the East Coast after spending six years in Chicago working as a director, writer, and performer. She is a founding member of Theatre Seven of Chicago, where she conceived and directed We Live Here; Lies & Liars; and Yes, This Really Happened to Me (all with Cassy Sanders). Margot spent four seasons working at Lookingglass Theatre, where she served as Literary Manager and Company Dramaturg. In Chicago she also worked for Collaboraction, Timeline, Pavement Group, Live Bait, Around the Coyote, Bailiwick, Hell in a Handbag, and Steppenwolf Theatre. She spent three years as a storyteller for 2nd Story, and her autobiographical work has been seen numerous times on the Victory Gardens stage. Theater BFA, Cornish College of the Arts. Directing MFA, Yale School of Drama.

Will Davis is a director and choreographer focused on physically adventurous new work, and the newly appointed artistic director of American Theater Company. Recent projects include: an upcoming production of Evita for the Olney Theatre Center remade and reconsidered; Men on Boats by Jaclyn Backhaus for Clubbed Thumb's Summerworks, receiving a remount at Playwrights Horizons in August; Orange Julius by Basil Kreimendahl; Mike Iveson’s Sorry Robot for PS122’s COIL Festival; and two productions of Colossal by Andrew Hinderaker for Mixed Blood Theater and the Olney Theatre Center, for which he won a Helen Hayes award for outstanding direction. Davis has developed, directed and performed his work with New York Theatre Workshop, Clubbed Thumb, the New Museum, the Olney Theatre Center, the Alliance Theatre, the Playwright's Realm, the Fusebox Festival, New Harmony Project, the Orchard Project, the Ground Floor Residency at Berkeley Rep, Performance Studies International at Stanford University, and the Kennedy Center. He is an alum of the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab, the NYTW 2050 Directing Fellowship and the BAX (Brooklyn Art Exchange) artist in residence program. He holds a BFA in Theatre Studies from DePaul University and an MFA in Directing from UT Austin.

William Inge (1913-1973), a playwright, teacher, and novelist born in Independence, Kansas, wrote a string of successful plays throughout the 40s and 50s. His play Come Back, Little Sheba earned him the title of most promising playwright of the 1950 Broadway season. This success was followed in 1953 by Picnic (winner of the 1953 Pulitzer Prize) and again in 1955 by the highly revered Bus Stop. Inge’s fame continued to grow as The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, a reworking of his first play Farther Off from Heaven opened on Broadway in 1957. The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, considered to be Inge’s finest play, is one in which he draws most directly from his own past. He spent the final years of his life writing two novels: Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff in 1970 and My Son Is a Splendid Driver in 1971. Inge committed suicide on June 10, 1973 at the age of 60.

About American Theater Company

American Theater Company (ATC) challenges and inspires its community by exploring stories that ask the question, "What does it mean to be an American?" ATC’s Ensemble includes Patrick Andrews, Kareem Bandealy, Jaime Castañeda, Kelly O’Sullivan, Tyler Ravelson, and Sadieh Rifai.

American Theater Company is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, and CityArts grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, Polk Bros. Foundation, the MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at Prince, and the Shubert Foundation.

TEATRO VISTA'S 2016-17 SEASON ANNOUNCED

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

NEW PLAYS BY MANDO ALVARADO,IKE HOLTER 

AND SANDRA DELGADO ON TAP FOR

TEATRO VISTA'S 2016-17 SEASON

CHICAGO'S #1 LATINO THEATER TO DEBUT PREMIERES OF 

MANDO ALVARADO'S PARACHUTE MEN, 

IKE HOLTER'S THE WOLF AT THE END OF THE BLOCK

AND SANDRA DELGADO'S LA HAVANA MADRID

Chicago can't get enough of Ike Holter, and we agree. He's the author of 3 recent hits, critically acclaimed Hit the Wall, Exit Strategy and Sender. Here at ChiIL Live Shows we can't wait to check out The Wolf at The End of The Block, commissioned by Teatro Vista!

We're not as familiar with the work of South Texas playwright Mando Alvarado, but we're bemused by the concept of Parachute Men. We're also willing to bet his dramatic comedy about three brothers who suck at being brothers, suck at love and suck at being men will absolutely not suck as a production.

Playwright Sandra Delgado and Teatro Vista were granted the prestigious Joyce Award to support the development of La Havana Madrid. We're quite excited to see this immersive documentary theatre experience which will feature a live band, and provide a theatrical, cinematic and musical history of Latino Caribbeans from mambo to salsa.

Teatro Vista 2016-17 playwrights 

Ike Holter, Mando Alvarado, and Sandra Delgado

Teatro Vista Executive Artistic Director Ricardo Gutiérrez and Managing Director  José Antonio Cruz announced three ambitious, exciting world premieres for Chicago's #1 Latino theater company's upcoming 2016-17 season.

Parachute Men by South Texas playwright Mando Alvarado lands first at the Richard Christiansen Theater at The Biograph at Victory Gardens Theater, where Teatro Vista is in residence. Ensemble member Tommy Rivera-Vega leads the cast in Alvarado's dramatic comedy about three brothers who suck at being brothers, suck at love and suck at being men. Gutiérrez directs. Previews start September 10. Press opening is Friday, September 16 at 7:30 p.m. Performances run through October 16.

The Wolf at The End of The Block by Chicago playwright Ike Holter, commissioned by Teatro Vista, is the company's winter premiere. Ensemble members Sandra Márquez and Gabriel Ruíz lead the cast in Holter's highly-charged exploration of racial profiling, media manipulation and family relationships in Chicago. Holter is the red-hot author of the recent hits Hit the Wall, Exit Strategy and Sender. Previews start January 28. Press opening is Friday, February 3 at 7:30 p.m. Performances run through March 5.

Teatro Vista's season finale is the world premiere of La Havana Madrid, a theatrical, cinematic and musical history of Latino Caribbeans in Chicago by ensemble member Sandra Delgado. Fellow ensemble member Cheryl Lynn Bruce directs Delgado's immersive documentary theater experience, complete with live music, based on the true story of the 1960's Chicago nightclub, La Habana Madrid. Previews begin April 14. Press opening is Friday, April 21 at 7:30 p.m. Performances run through May 21.

Single tickets to Teatro Vista's season go on sale August 1 via the Victory Gardens box office, (773) 871-3000 and online at teatrovista.org. Single tickets are $20-$35, with discounts for early bird purchasers, students, seniors and groups of 10 or more.

The Richard Christiansen Theater at the Biograph Theater at Victory Gardens Theater is located in the heart of Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood at 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue. Metered, street, nearby garage and valet parking is available.

The theater is also easily accessed on the CTA Red, Purple and Brown lines via the Fullerton stop. Likewise, the #8 Halsted and #74 Fullerton CTA buses stop at the corner of Fullerton and Halsted, just 1/2 block south of the theater. 

More about Teatro Vista's 2016-17 season

Parachute Men

A world premiere by Mando Alvarado

Directed by Teatro Vista Executive Artistic Director Ricardo Gutiérrez

Featuring ensemble member Tommy Rivera-Vega

September 10 - October 16, 2016

Previews: Saturday, September 10 at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, September 11 at  3 p.m.; Wednesday, September 14 at 7:30 p.m.; Thursday, September 15 at 7:30 p.m.

Opening/Press Night: Friday, September 16 at 7:30 p.m.

Performances through October 16: Thursday-Saturday at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday at 3 p.m.

It's Christmas Eve. Three brothers - who suck at being brothers, suck at love and suck at being men - are reunited when the oldest, Eric, returns on the anniversary of their mother's death. After a few hours, it's clear that the pecking order has changed and the battle begins to see who can take that baby step into manhood first. 

Mando Alvarado (playwright) is an award-winning playwright/screenwriter from South Texas. His play Basilica premiered Off-Broadway at the famous Cherry Lane Theater in NYC. His play Post No Bills received its Off-Broadway premiere at Rattlestick Playwright's Theater. His new play, Diablo Love, had its world premiere at Central Park's Summer Stages, which also produced Alvarado's A King of Infinite Space, a Hamlet/Pearl Jam mash-up and Sangre, an adaptation of Blood Wedding. He also co-wrote the book for the bilingual musical A Yellow Brick Road, an adaptation of Wizard of Oz for Theatreworks USA which received its critically acclaimed Off-Broadway premiere at The Lortel. His short play, Up the 405, premiered as a part of LA Views for Company of Angels in Los Angeles. He is a contributing writer for Theater 167's You Are Now the Owner of This Suitcase. He also participated in the Freight Project where he developed his play (O)n THE 5:31 which was commissioned for Rising  Phoenix Rep's Cino Nights at the Seventh Street Small Stage. His first feature film, Cruzando, which he co-wrote and co-directed with Michael Ray Escamilla is available on DVD and was distributed by Vanguard Cinema. He is a member of Rising Phoenix Rep, alum of INTAR's Hispanic-Playwright-in-Residence Laboratory 2006-08, and a graduate of The University of North Carolina School of the Arts. He worked on Tyrant for FX and is currently working on Greenleaf  for the OWN Network.

Ricardo Gutiérrez (director) is the Executive Artistic Director of Teatro Vista where he recently directed In The Time of the Butterflies. Other Teatro Vista directing credits include Between You, Me and The Lampshade, A View From The Bridge, Momma's Boyz, i put the fear of mexico in'em, and La Mágica posada. Gutiérrez served as the artistic director of Nosotros in Los Angeles and The Canterbury Theatre in Indiana. He is the co-founder of the Alliance of Latino Theatre Artists Chicago (ALTAchicago) a service organization dedicated to promoting and fostering Latino/a theatre artists in Chicago. As an actor, Gutiérrez most recently appeared in In The Heights at The Paramount and in the world premieres of Song For The Disappeared and Fish Menat The Goodman. Later this year he will be appearing in Destiny of Desire at South Coast Repertory and at the Goodman Theatre. Gutiérrez has appeared on stage at the Actors Theatre in Louisville, The Denver Center Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, Victory Gardens and Lookingglass Theatre. Recent television credits include Chicago PD, Sirens and Boss.

The Wolf at The End of The Block

A world premiere by Ike Holter

Commissioned by Teatro Vista

Featuring ensemble members Sandra Márquez and Gabriel Ruíz

January 28 - March 5

Previews: Saturday, January 28 at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday,

January 29 at 3 p.m. Wednesday, February 1 at 7:30 p.m.; Thursday, February 2 at 7:30 p.m.

Opening/Press Night: Friday, February 3 at 7:30 p.m.

Performances through March 5: Thursday-Saturday at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday at 3 p.m.

Chicago. Fall. One night, a boarded up bar on the dark side of the block becomes a terrifying crime scene. In the following 48 hours, the neighborhood digs deep into escalating mystery, working against time to separate fact from fiction. But as the clock ticks down, the clues spiral into a razor sharp jigsaw, and what began as a simple mystery quickly twists into a personal, pointed and political thriller.  

The Wolf at The End of The Block is a full-length play with five characters, three of which are Latino. The play is set in Chicago and explores the issues of racial profiling, media manipulation and family relationships. Highly charged, Holter's story is brutally raw, funny and deftly pierces universal truths.

Playwright Ike Holter's work has been produced at Steppenwolf Garage, A Red Orchid, The New Colony and The Inconvenience, where he is a founding member and resident writer. He's received fellowships and commissions from the Goodman Theater, the Kennedy Center and The Playwrights Center. His show Hit the Wall played at Steppenwolf Garage, Off-Broadway at The Barrow Street Theater in New York, and recently enjoyed and extended run at the Lily Tomlin Center in L.A.  Jackalope Theatre premiered his new play Exit Strategy which played to sold-out houses and transferred to Michigan's 3 Oaks Theater Festival. It is being produced at Philadelphia Stages and transferred Off Broadway to Primary Stages last spring. His most recent play Sender was a smash hit for A Red Orchid earlier this season. Holter was named the "Chicagoan of the Year" in Theater 2014" by the Chicago Tribune, and his  monologues have been published in The New Yorker  and several editions of Applause Books. He was recently named one of Victory Gardens' newest ensemble playwrights.

La Havana Madrid by ensemble member Sandra Delgado

Directed by ensemble member Cheryl Lynn Bruce

April 14 - May 21

Presented at a location TBA

Previews: Friday, April 14 at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, April 15 at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, April 16, at 3 p.m.; Wednesday, April 19 at 7:30 p.m.; Thursday, April 20 at 7:30 p.m.

Opening/Press Night: Friday, April 21 at 7:30 p.m.

Performances through May 21: Thursday-Saturday at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday at 3 p.m.

La Havana Madrid is an immersive documentary theatre experience inspired by the Latino Caribbean nightclub that once existed on the corner of Belmont and Sheffield. Audiences will be transported back to 1960s Chicago and experience the stories of the club's patrons and musicians complete with a live band chronicling the history of Caribbean Latino music through the decade from mambo to the birth of salsa.

Playwright Sandra Delgado and Teatro Vista were granted the prestigious Joyce Award to support the development of La Havana Madrid. Delgado is a Colombian-American actor, writer, and producer. Chicago acting credits include 2666, The Upstairs Concierge, Pedro Paramo (co-production with Cuba's Teatro Buendía), Chicago Boys, Mariela in the Desert, Electricidad, Zoot Suit, A Christmas Carol, El Nogalar and Massacre (Sing to Your Children) at The Goodman Theatre; The Motherf**ker with the Hat, The House on Mango Street, Sonia Flew, Words on Fire and Whispering City at Steppenwolf Theatre Company; Mojada and Anna in the Tropics at Victory Gardens Theater; Dreamlandia, Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner and Two Sisters and a Piano (co-production with Apple Tree Theatre) with Teatro Vista; Guinea Pig Solo, Refuge and Casanova with Collaboraction;  Summertime at Lookingglass Theatre Company; Undone at About Face Theatre and  Esperanza Rising and If All the World Were Paper with Chicago Children's Theatre. Off-Broadway credits include points of departure at INTAR Theatre. Regionally, she has appeared in Ground and Wit at Actors Theatre of Louisville and The Winter's Tale at Missouri Repertory Theatre. TV credits include Empire, Chicago Fire, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Betrayal, Mind Games and the TV movie POWERS. Delgado is an ensemble member of Collaboraction and Teatro Vista and serves on the National Steering Committee for the Latina/o Theatre Commons, an advocacy group for Latino theater artists. She is a TCG Young Leader of Color Alum, a Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events grantee and a 3Arts 3AP Project Grantee. She was the TCG Fox Actor Fellow in residence at the Goodman Theatre (2011-12) and was a member of their Playwright's Unit for the 2015-2016 season. sandradelgado.net

Cheryl Lynn Bruce

Cheryl Lynn Bruce (director) is a Teatro Vista ensemble member. She served as Assistant Director of the company's productions of Tamer of Horses and A View From the Bridge. She has performed on stages across the country as well as in Europe and Mexico, and created the role of Elizabeth Sandry for Steppenwolf's Tony Award-winning production of The Grapes of Wrath, adapted and directed by Frank Galati for Broadway's Cort Theatre, Britain's National Theatre and La Jolla Playhouse. Bruce also workshopped and premiered in RACE, Lookingglass Theatre's inaugural production directed by David Schwimmer and Joy Gregory. Bruce received a 3Arts Award (2010), a 3Arts fellowship to support a five-weeklong Rauschenberg residency (2015), a Jane Addams Hull House Association's Woman of Valor Award (2010) and a Yale Research Residency (2011). She was awarded the 2002 African American Arts Alliance Black Excellence Award and Black Theatre Alliance Award for Outstanding Direction of Endesha Ida Mae Holland's From The Mississippi Delta at Congo Square Theater. Other directing credits include Resurrection by Daniel Beaty and Drip by Gloria Bond Clunie at eta Creative Arts Foundation, Milkweed: A Solo Play by Misty De Berry for Columbia College at Links Hall and Northwestern University, Spunk by Zora Neale Hurston at University of Illinois at Chicago and Congo Square Theater, Cage Rhythm by Kia Korthron for University of Illinois at Chicago and Theatre School at DePaul University, and Permanent Collection by Thomas Gibbons for Indiana University Northwest. In 2006 she was an Inaugural Fellow of the Institute for the Study of Women and Gender in the Arts and Media at Columbia College. In 2007 Bruce traveled to Japan to study Bunraku puppetry for her staging of Rythm Mastr, Kerry James Marshall's urban comic which premiered at the Wexner Center for the Arts.

About Teatro Vista

Teatro Vista, Theatre with a View, is firmly committed to sharing and celebrating the riches of Latino culture with Chicago theater audiences and beyond. This commitment stems from the belief that there are as many similarities between people as there are differences, and perhaps the answer to breaking down the walls of prejudice and stereotypes lies in understanding these similarities and differences. Ultimately, it is through this "view" that Teatro Vista intends to bridge the gap between Latino and non-Latino cultures in Chicago.

Teatro Vista, founded in 1990 by Eddie Torres and Henry Godinez, is the vanguard of Latino theatre in the United States, a place where Latino and non-Latino artists can expressively flourish and excel to the highest level of theatrical professionalism. The company believes in the transformative power of theater, inclusiveness through the idea that everyone is intricately connected to each other and that sharing stories through performance is an exceptionally potent way to bring people together. It is dedicated to sharing new work by new playwrights in cutting-edge productions and presenting classic plays featuring artists of color.

José Antonio Cruz joined Teatro Vista as Managing Director in June, 2015. Cruz has a Master's Degree in Arts Administration from New York University. Before joining Teatro Vista, he worked for twelve years as Associate Producer for New York's renowned Repertorio Español. During his time at Repertorio Español, Cruz championed the

company's mission of presenting the best of Latin American, Spanish and Hispanic-American culture through the production of numerous plays and musicals. In this role, Cruz devised strategies that resulted in dramatic increases in earned and contributed revenues. Cruz has served on peer review panels for the National Endowment for the Arts, the Department of Cultural Affairs of the City of New York, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and Theater Communications Group. In 2010, he traveled to Bogotá, Colombia as part of the U.S. delegation to the Iberoamerican Theatre Festival.

In addition Executive Artistic Director Ricardo Gutiérrez,Teatro Vista ensemble members include Charín Álvarez, Max Arciniega, Desmín Borges, Cheryl Lynn Bruce, Ramón Camín, Ivonne Coll, Laura Dahl, Sandra Delgado, Liza Fernández, Khanisha Foster, Erik Juárez, Jon Lyon, Sandra Márquez, Joe Minoso, Marcela Muñóz, Christina Nieves, Marvin Quijada, Tommy Rivera-Vega, Gabriel Ruíz, Cecilia Suarez and co-founder Edward Torres.

Teatro Vista's Board of Directors includes Ezequiel "Zeek" Agosto, President; Rodrigo Garcia and Rosanna Marquez, Vice Presidents; Joan Pantsios, Secretary; Tom Vega-Byrnes, Treasurer; and Bhuvana Badrinathan, José Antonio Cruz, Edgar Delgado, Ricardo Gutiérrez and Yvonne Hardy.

Teatro Vista is supported by The Joyce Foundation, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, The MacArthur Fund for Arts & Culture at the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, The Shubert Foundation and The  Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelly

Foundation.

Purple Group is Teatro Vista's Headline Season Sponsor.

Teatro Vista is a Victory Gardens Resident Theater.

For more information, visit teatrovista.org.

SAVE THE DATES: American Theater Company (ATC) Announces Season 32 Led By New Artistic Director Will Davis

AMERICAN THEATER COMPANY ANNOUNCES 

2016-17 SEASON

LED BY NEWLY APPOINTED ARTISTIC DIRECTOR WILL DAVIS

World premiere of T. by Dan Aibel

World premiere of We’re Gonna Be Okay by Basil Kreimendahl

Regional premiere of acclaimed Men On Boats by Jaclyn Backhaus

Reimagined classic Picnic by William Inge

Plus a new season-long partnership with the Chicago Inclusion Project

SEASON SUBSCRIPTIONS ON SALE NOW

American Theater Company (ATC) proudly announces Season 32, led by its newly appointed Artistic Director Will Davis and continuing the theater’s dedication to developing new works. The 2016-17 season kicks off this September with the world premiere of Dan Aibel’s T., an exploration of the competitive ice skating saga between Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding, directed by Margot Bordelon, Sept. 23-Oct. 30, 2016. In the New Year, ATC presents Jaclyn Backhaus’ Men On Boats, making its regional premiere at ATC Jan. 6-Feb. 12, 2017, under Will Davis’ direction after he remounts his acclaimed New York production Off Broadway at Playwrights Horizons this summer. Next spring brings another world premiere at ATC, Basil Kreimendahl’s We’re Gonna Be Okay, March 17-April 23, 2017. The production is directed by Bonnie Metzgar and was originally developed at ATC in collaboration with The Araca Group during AracaWorks: Chicago 2015. The final production of ATC’s 2016-17 Season is a reimagined classic, Pulitzer Prize winner Picnic by William Inge, under Davis’ direction May 19-June 25, 2017. Season subscriptions are on sale now and range from $60-$150, with special pricing available for advance purchases before July 31, 2016. To purchase a subscription or for more information, visit www.atcweb.org or call the ATC Box Office at 773-409-4125.

“With Season 32, ATC is opening up a dialogue with theatricality and style. I want ATC to become a home for wild new plays and old plays done in new ways that experiment with form. We're deepening our commitment to the mission question ‘What does it mean to be an American?’ by using it as a spring board to ask identity questions not just about the plays we curate and produce, but also how those works get made and who brings them to life,” says Artistic Director Will Davis. “As one of the first trans identified artists to run a professional theater, I feel both responsible and honored to make ATC an organization dedicated to access and inclusion, and to move our company towards a place of openness and curiosity about how we champion and celebrate truly new work for the American theater.”

ATC also announces a new season-long partnership with Chicago Inclusion Project, whose work creates inclusive theater experiences that bring together Chicago artists and audiences normally separated by physical ability, gender identity and/or ethnic background. The two companies will partner around casting for ATC's Season 32, giving diverse theater artists access to roles they might traditionally have been excluded from. Together with the Chicago Inclusion Project, ATC will continue its commitment to presenting works that boldly reflect the diversity of stories and experiences in America today.

2016-17 SEASON SUBSCRIPTION AND TICKET INFORMATION:            

The American Membership                                     $150 (available until Oct. 31)

Includes reserved seating

Early Bird 4-Ticket Membership                             $120 (before July 31)

4-Ticket Membership                                                 $135 (Aug. 1-Oct. 31)

Early Bird 3-Ticket Membership                             $90 (before July 31)

3-Ticket Membership                                                 $105 (Aug. 1-Oct. 31)

Under-35 Membership

4-Ticket Membership                                                  $80 (available until Oct. 31)

3-Ticket Membership                                                  $60 (available until Oct. 31)

ATC is offering the new American Membership in Season 32 for $150, which offers the member a reserved seat at each production in the season. ATC is transitioning to general admission seating in Season 32. Under 35 Memberships range in price from $60-80. Early Bird 3- and 4-ticket subscriptions range in price from $90-$120 and are available until July 31, 2016. Regular subscriptions range in price from $105-$135 and are available Aug. 1-Oct. 31, 2016. All Memberships allow you to choose your performance dates upon purchase. To purchase a subscription or for more information, please contact the ATC Box Office at 773-409-4125 or visit www.atcweb.org.

Past world premiere productions at ATC include Stephen Karam’s Pulitzer Prize- and Tony Award-nominated The Humans and Ayad Akhtar's Pulitzer Prize-winning Disgraced, both of which enjoyed acclaimed Broadway runs. Last spring ATC presented the world premiere of The Project(s), a documentary play about Chicago’s public housing residents written by late Artistic Director PJ Paparelli and Joshua Jaeger. In the 2015-16 Season, ATC produced the co-world premiere of Thomas Bradshaw’s Fulfillment with The Flea Theater in New York and the world premiere of Bruise Easy by Dan LeFranc, playwright of ATC’s blockbuster world premiere The Big Meal, which went on to an acclaimed Off Broadway run at Playwrights Horizons.

AMERICAN THEATER COMPANY’S 2016-2017 SEASON:

World Premiere

T.

Written by Dan Aibel

Directed by Margot Bordelon

September 23–October 30, 2016

“Ice Follies” read the cover of Time Magazine on January 24, 1994, after ice skating medalist favorite Nancy Kerrigan was struck in the leg with a police baton by Shane Stant. In his darkly funny and unrelenting play, Dan Aibel explores the lengths one will go to for fame. Margot Bordelon returns to Chicago to direct this world premiere play named for Tonya Harding, the first woman ever to complete a triple axel jump in competition. Nancy Kerrigan never saw her coming.

Regional Premiere

Men On Boats

Written by Jaclyn Backhaus

Directed by Will Davis

January 6–February 12, 2017

Ten explorers set out on four boats to map the raging rapids of the Green and Colorado Rivers on the government’s first sanctioned expedition in the American West. Playwright Jaclyn Backhaus and director Will Davis team up again on this play, originally produced by Clubbed Thumb and returning to Playwrights Horizons in New York this summer, in Davis’ first production as ATC’s artistic director. Performed by a genderfluid cast of women and folks otherwise defined, Men On Boats takes back 1869.

World Premiere

We’re Gonna Be Okay

Written by Basil Kreimendahl

Directed by Bonnie Metzgar

March 17–April 23, 2017

Mag has a horse inside her, the spirit of a horse anyway. It’s the Cuban Missile Crisis, and President Kennedy said that “…the greatest danger of all would be to do nothing” so Efran and Leena and Mag and Sul are thinking about doing something big. Two families wrestle with macrame, female empowerment and a shared property line in Basil Kreimendahl’s We’re Gonna Be Okay.  Bonnie Metzgar directs this world premiere play first workshopped through ATC’s partnership with The Araca Group (Disgraced).

Picnic

Written by William Inge

Directed by Will Davis

May 19–June 25, 2017

Closeted and dogged by an acute sense of failure for most of his life until he ended it, William Inge wrote some of the great lyrical plays of the American mid-century, and Picnic was his masterpiece, his playground and, quite possibly, his fantasy. In this loving reimagining, ATC Artistic Director Will Davis puts Inge at the center of his Pulitzer Prize-winning play and animates what is both sacred and profane about small town life against the backdrop of dust bowl hymns and love songs. Part séance, part love letter to a ghost, this Picnic explores a life lived at the periphery of one’s own desire.

  

ARTIST BIOS:

Dan Aibel's plays have been developed and/or produced by the Detroit Rep, the Sundance Institute, Syracuse Stage, the Blank Theater (Los Angeles), Flashpoint Theatre Co. (Philadelphia), the Source Theatre (Washington, D.C.) and Outsider's Inn Collective (Seattle). In New York he has worked with Page 73, Rattlestick and The New Group. His play The Meaning of Lunch was seen in Chicago at Stage Left as part of Leapfest 7. A 2014 Sundance Theatre Lab fellow, Dan's plays have been published by Smith & Kraus and Playscripts. He lives in New York.

Jaclyn Backhaus is an Indian-American playwright and co-founder of Fresh Ground Pepper. Recent New York productions include Men On Boats (NYT Critics’ Pick, Clubbed Thumb’s Summerworks, The Kilroys' 2015 List), People Doing Math Live! (Under The Radar Festival's INCOMING! Series at The Public Theater), The Incredible Fox Sisters (Live Source, The New Ohio), and You On the Moors Now (Theater Reconstruction Ensemble, upcoming with The Hypocrites in Fall 2016). She has received commissions from Playwrights Horizons and Ars Nova and is the 2016 Tow Foundation Playwright-in-Residence at Clubbed Thumb. Her work has been developed and showcased with the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, Playwrights Horizons, The Public and Joe’s Pub, The Ice Factory Festival, (not just) 3 New Plays, The Civilians R&D Group, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Ars Nova’s ANTFest, and The Falcons. She hails from Phoenix, Arizona.

Margot Bordelon is a freelance director who specializes in new work. Recent projects include Jiehae Park's peerless at Yale Repertory Theater, Anna Ziegler's A Delicate Ship for Playwrights Realm (NYT's Critics' Pick), and Joshua Conkel's Okay, Bye at Steppenwolf Theater. In New York, she's directed for Atlantic Theater, NYTW, Clubbed Thumb, Ars Nova, Dodo Theater Collective, Target Margin, The Lark, Juilliard, The Bushwick Starr, Theater Masters, and Stella Adler Institute, among others. Margot moved to the East Coast after spending six years in Chicago working as a director, writer, and performer. She is a founding member of Theatre Seven of Chicago, where she conceived and directed We Live Here; Lies & Liars; and Yes, This Really Happened to Me (all with Cassy Sanders). Margot spent four seasons working at Lookingglass Theatre, where she served as Literary Manager and Company Dramaturg. In Chicago she also worked for Collaboraction, Timeline, Pavement Group, Live Bait, Around the Coyote, Bailiwick, Hell in a Handbag, and Steppenwolf Theatre. She spent three years as a storyteller for 2nd Story, and her autobiographical work has been seen numerous times on the Victory Gardens stage. Theater BFA, Cornish College of the Arts. Directing MFA, Yale School of Drama.

Will Davis is a director and choreographer focused on physically adventurous new work, and the newly appointed artistic director of American Theater Company. Recent projects include: an upcoming production of Evita for the Olney Theatre Center remade and reconsidered; Men on Boats by Jaclyn Backhaus for Clubbed Thumb's Summerworks, receiving a remount at Playwrights Horizons in August; Orange Julius by Basil Kreimendahl; Mike Iveson’s Sorry Robot for PS122’s COIL Festival; and two productions of Colossal by Andrew Hinderaker for Mixed Blood Theater and the Olney Theatre Center, for which he won a Helen Hayes award for outstanding direction. Davis has developed, directed and performed his work with New York Theatre Workshop, Clubbed Thumb, the New Museum, the Olney Theatre Center, the Alliance Theatre, the Playwright's Realm, the Fusebox Festival, New Harmony Project, the Orchard Project, the Ground Floor Residency at Berkeley Rep, Performance Studies International at Stanford University, and the Kennedy Center. He is an alum of the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab, the NYTW 2050 Directing Fellowship and the BAX (Brooklyn Art Exchange) artist in residence program. He holds a BFA in Theatre Studies from DePaul University and an MFA in Directing from UT Austin.

William Inge (1913-1973), a playwright, teacher, and novelist born in Independence, Kansas, wrote a string of successful plays throughout the 40s and 50s. His play Come Back, Little Sheba earned him the title of most promising playwright of the 1950 Broadway season. This success was followed in 1953 by Picnic (winner of the 1953 Pulitzer Prize) and again in 1955 by the highly revered Bus Stop. Inge’s fame continued to grow as The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, a reworking of his first play Farther Off from Heaven opened on Broadway in 1957. The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, considered to be Inge’s finest play, is one in which he draws most directly from his own past. He spent the final years of his life writing two novels: Good Luck, Miss Wyckoff in 1970 and My Son Is a Splendid Driver in 1971. Inge committed suicide on June 10, 1973 at the age of 60.

Basil Kreimendahl is a resident playwright at New Dramatists. Basil’s plays have won the Rella Lossy Playwright’s Award and a National Science Award at The Kennedy Center. Basil has had a Jerome Fellowship and a McKnight Fellowship from the Minneapolis Playwright’s Center, and an Arts Meets Activism grant from the Kentucky Foundation for Women for theatre work with the trans community. Orange Julius was developed at the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, included in La Jolla Playhouse’s DNA new work series and The Kilroy’s List. Basil was commissioned by Actors Theatre of Louisville for Remix 38 in the 2014 Humana Festival of New Plays. Basil's plays have also been developed or produced by New York Theatre Workshop, The LARK, ATC, The Playwright’s Center, Victory Gardens, About Face Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Inkwell, Rattlestick Theater, Labrynth Theater, and The Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Basil’s work has been published by Howlround, Dramatic Publishing, Playscripts, Inc., and included in Xlibria’s Becoming: Young Ideas on Gender and Identity. MFA University of Iowa, 2013.

Bonnie Metzgar is a Chicago-based playwright, director, dramaturg and producer. Recent directing credits include American Theater Company’s production of Let Me Down Easy by Anna Deavere Smith, The Secretaries by the Five Lesbian Brothers at About Face and Walk Across America for Mother Earth by Taylor Mac for Red Tape as part of the 2015 Garage Rep at Steppenwolf. She is currently writing a commission for Sideshow Theater’s Freshness Initiative and was a member of the Goodman's 2014-15 Playwrights Unit. From 2008-2013, Metzgar served as Artistic Director of About Face Theatre and was proud to work on behalf of LGBTQ artists at a theater dedicated to advancing the national dialogue on sexuality and gender. In 2013-2014, Metzgar was awarded the Carl Djerassi Fellowship in Playwriting at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Her plays have been finalists for the Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Festival, and selected for the Great Plains Theater Conference in Omaha.  Previously, Metzgar produced the 365 Festival with Suzan-Lori Parks and was Associate Producer at the Public Theater where she founded Joe’s Pub. Metzgar is on the National Advisory Committee for Howlround and has taught at a number of universities including Brown, University of Chicago and currently at Purdue and DePaul. She received her MFA in Playwriting from the University of Iowa and her BA from Brown.

About American Theater Company

American Theater Company (ATC) challenges and inspires its community by exploring stories that ask the question, "What does it mean to be an American?" ATC’s Ensemble includes Patrick Andrews, Kareem Bandealy, Jaime Castañeda, Kelly O’Sullivan, Tyler Ravelson, and Sadieh Rifai.

American Theater Company is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, and CityArts grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, Polk Bros. Foundation, the MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at Prince, and the Shubert Foundation.

About the Chicago Inclusion Project

The Chicago Inclusion Project is a collective of artists, committed to creating inclusive theater experiences by bringing together Chicago artists and audiences often separated by ethnic background, economic status, gender identity, physical ability and countless other barriers. By deliberately choosing the unexpected, both in play choices and non-traditional casting, cultivating a diverse audience by bringing new combinations of artists to as many communities in Chicago (and its surrounding suburbs) as possible, choosing facilities for the multiple projects that are handicap accessible and keeping price of tickets affordable, The Chicago Inclusion Project programming aims to unite diverse collections of Chicagoans. For more information, visit www.thechicagoinclusionproject.org.

ON SALE: 3/1/16 BROADWAY IN CHICAGO ANNOUNCES NEXT SEASON INCLUDING BROADWAY MUSICAL HAMILTON and DISNEY’S ALADDIN

BROADWAY IN CHICAGO ANNOUNCES 

NEXT SEASON TO FEATURE

THE BROADWAY MUSICAL HAMILTON

and

THE NORTH AMERICAN TOUR PREMIERE OF DISNEY’S ALADDIN

**On Sale to the Public March 1**

SEASON WILL ALSO INCLUDE

2014 TONY AWARD®-WINNING HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH,

2015 TONY AWARD®-WINNING THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME AND THE BODYGUARD

Here at ChiIL Mama and ChiIL Live Shows, we adore Broadway In Chicago's fabulous offerings and the newly announced 2016/17 season looks to be spectacular. We're particularly excited to see HAMILTON! Book your tickets as early as possible for the best selection. 

Broadway In Chicago is thrilled to announce its next season line-up: the Broadway musical HAMILTON, the North American tour premiere of Disney’s ALADDIN, 2014 Tony Award®-Winning Best Revival of a Musical HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH, the 2015 Tony Award®-Winning Best Play THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME and THE BODYGUARD.  

The upcoming Season will go on sale to the public March 1, 2016. To renew or purchase a new subscription, please visit BroadwayInChicago.com or call 312-977-1717. Subscriber benefits include savings of up to 50% off ticket prices, discounts on both parking and suite service, invitations to Broadway In Chicago exclusive events, free exchange privileges and more.  The Broadway In Chicago season line-up, including performance dates and venues, is as follows:

HAMILTON

Performances Begin September 27, 2016

The PrivateBank Theatre (18 W. Randolph)

With book, music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, direction by Thomas Kail, choreography by Andy Blankenbuehler and musical direction and orchestrations by Alex Lacamoire, HAMILTON is based on Ron Chernow’s biography of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton.  HAMILTON is the story of America's Founding Father Alexander Hamilton, an immigrant from the West Indies who became George Washington's right-hand man during the Revolutionary War and was the new nation’s first Treasury Secretary. Featuring a score that blends hip-hop, jazz, blues, rap, R&B, and Broadway, HAMILTON is the story of America then, as told by America now.

THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME

December 6 – 24, 2016

Oriental Theatre (24 W. Randolph)

Hailed as "One of the most fully immersive works ever to wallop Broadway" by The New York Times, this "dazzling" (Associated Press) adaptation is the Tony Award®-winning new play by Simon Stephens, adapted from Mark Haddon’s best-selling novel and directed by Tony winner Marianne Elliott. Fifteen-year old Christopher has an extraordinary brain; he is exceptionally intelligent but ill-equipped to interpret everyday life. When he falls under suspicion for killing his neighbor’s dog, he sets out to identify the true culprit, which leads to an earth-shattering discovery and a journey that will change his life forever. 

THE BODYGUARD

January 31 – February 12, 2017

Oriental Theatre (24 W. Randolph)

The award-winning musical based on the smash hit film, starring Grammy® Award-nominee and R&B superstar DEBORAH COX!  Former Secret Service agent turned bodyguard, Frank Farmer, is hired to protect superstar Rachel Marron from an unknown stalker.  Each expects to be in charge; what they don’t expect is to fall in love.  A breathtakingly romantic thriller, The Bodyguard features a host of irresistible classics including Queen of the Night, So Emotional, One Moment in Time, Saving All My Love, Run to You, I Have Nothing, I Wanna Dance with Somebody and one of the biggest selling songs of all time – I Will Always Love You.  Based on Lawrence Kasdan’s Oscar-nominated Warner Bros. film, which starred Whitney Houston and Kevin Costner, and adapted by Academy Award-winner (Birdman) Alexander Dinelaris, The Bodyguard had its world premiere in London’s West End where it was nominated for four Laurence Olivier Awards including Best New Musical and won Best New Musical at the Whatsonstage Awards.  

HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH

March 7 – 19, 2017

Oriental Theatre (24 W. Randolph)

Brilliantly innovative, heartbreaking, and wickedly funny, HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH is the landmark American musical by John Cameron Mitchell and Stephen Trask that is “groundbreaking and undoubtedly ahead of its time” (Entertainment Weekly).  This genre-bending, fourth-wall-smashing musical sensation, with a pulsing score and electrifying performances, tells the story of one of the most unique characters to ever hit the stage. Directed by Tony Award® winner Michael Mayer (Spring Awakening) and winner of four 2014 Tony Awards® including Best Musical Revival, HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH played to record-breaking sell-out crowds on Broadway and promises to take Chicago  by storm with what Time Magazine proclaims is “the most exciting rock score written for the theatre since, oh, ever!”

Disney’s ALADDIN

April 11 – July 2, 2017

Cadillac Palace Theatre (151 W. Randolph)

Discover a whole new world at ALADDIN, the hit Broadway musical.  From the producer of The Lion King comes the timeless story of Aladdin, a thrilling new production filled with unforgettable beauty, magic, comedy and breathtaking spectacle.  It’s an extraordinary theatrical event where one lamp and three wishes make the possibilities infinite.  Hailed by USA Today as “Pure Genie-Us,” ALADDIN on Broadway features all your favorite songs from the film as well as new music written by Tony® and Academy Award® winner Alan Menken (Newsies) with lyrics penned by the legendary Howard Ashman (Beauty and the Beast), Tony Award winner Tim Rice (The Lion King, Aida), and book writer Chad Beguelin (The Wedding Singer). Directed and choreographed by Tony Award winner Casey Nicholaw (The Book of Mormon, Something Rotten!), this “Fabulous” and “Extravagant” (The New York Times) new musical boasts an incomparable design team, with sets, costumes and lighting from Tony Award winners Bob Crowley (Mary Poppins), Gregg Barnes (Kinky Boots), and Natasha Katz (An American in Paris).  See why audiences and critics agree, ALADDIN is “Exactly What You Wished For!" (NBC-TV).

ABOUT BROADWAY IN CHICAGO

Broadway In Chicago was created in July 2000 and over the past 16 years has grown to be one of the largest commercial touring homes in the country.  A Nederlander Presentation, Broadway In Chicago lights up the Chicago Theater District entertaining well up to 1.7 million people annually in five theatres.  Broadway In Chicago presents a full range of entertainment, including musicals and plays, on the stages of five of the finest theatres in Chicago’s Loop including its newly named The PrivateBank Theatre, the Oriental Theatre, Cadillac Palace Theatre, the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University and just off the Magnificent Mile, the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place.