SAVE THE DATES: Black Button Eyes Productions 2019-20 Season

ChiIL Live Shows on our radar

Chicago Premiere!

GHOST QUARTET

Book, Music & Lyrics by Dave Malloy

Directed by Ed Rutherford

Music Direction by Nick Sula

Choreography by Derek Van Barham

Chicago Premiere!

WHISPER HOUSE

Music & Lyrics by Duncan Sheik

Book & Additional Lyrics by Kyle Jarrow

Directed by Artistic Director Ed Rutherford

Here at ChiIL Live Shows, we love the macabre stylings of Black Button Eyes Productions. Even my zombie-phobic son adored their last production, the smash hit Chicago Storefront Premiere of Evil Dead the Musical. It was an epic bloodbath and too much fun. We've got their upcoming season on the calendar and can't wait to see them make more magic invade reality! 

Black Button Eyes Productions is pleased to announce its 2019-20 Season, featuring two Chicago premiere musicals! The season kicks off this summer with GHOST QUARTET by Broadway composer Dave Malloy (Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812). This intriguing and entertaining song cycle is directed by Artistic Director Ed Rutherford, with music direction by Nick Sula and choreography by Derek Van Barham.

  (left to right) Kevin Webb and Matt McNabb in Black Button Eyes Productions’ 2018 Chicago premiere musical NEVERMORE – The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe. Photo by Cole Simon.

Next winter, Black Button Eyes concludes its season of “Ghost Stories” with WHISPER HOUSE featuring music and lyrics by Duncan Sheik (Spring Awakening) and book and additional lyrics by Kyle Jarrow, also directed by Rutherford.

GHOST QUARTET will be presented at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago. Tickets ($30) go on sale Friday, March 1, 2019 at www.stage773.com, in person at the Stage 773 box office or by calling (773) 327-5252. WHISPER HOUSE will be staged at The Athenaeum Theatre (Studio Two), 2936 N. Southport Ave. in Chicago. Tickets ($30) will go on sale at a later date.

 Nightmares&Nightcaps-3 (pictured) Kevin Webb in Black Button Eyes Productions’ 2018 world premiere of NIGHTMARES AND NIGHTCAPS: The Stories of John Collier. Photo by Cole Simon.

Black Button Eyes Productions’ 2019-20 Season:

July 12 – August 17, 2019

GHOST QUARTET – Chicago Premiere!

Book, Music and Lyrics by Dave Malloy

Directed by Ed Rutherford

Music Direction by Nick Sula

Choreography by Derek Van Barham

at Stage 773 (The Box), 1225 W. Belmont Ave. Chicago

Press opening: Friday, July 19, 2019 at 7:30 pm

From the mind of Broadway composer Dave Malloy (Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812) comes a musical ghost story of four friends who love each other, kill each other, and drink whiskey across centuries and lifetimes. GHOST QUARTET delightfully mashes up Grimms’ fairy tales, Edgar Allan Poe, Arabian Nights, Sondheim, Thelonious Monk and more.

January 10 – February 15, 2020

WHISPER HOUSE

Music and Lyrics by Duncan Sheik

Book and Additional Lyrics by Kyle Jarrow

Directed by Artistic Director Ed Rutherford

at The Athenaeum Theatre (Studio Two), 2639 N. Southport Ave.

Press opening: Friday, January 17, 2020 at 7:30 pm

When Christopher's father is shot down in the Pacific during World War 2, the young boy is sent to live with his foreboding aunt in her very remote - and very haunted – lighthouse. Despite any lurking spirits, the most fearsome demons Christopher will need to confront lie within.

ShockheadedPeter-1 (left to right) Anthony Whitaker, Kat Evans, Gwen Tulin and Pavi Proczko in Black Button Eyes Productions’ 2017 Chicago storefront premiere of SHOCKHEADED PETER. Photo by Cole Simon.

About the Artists:

Ed Rutherford (Director, Ghost Quartet & Whisper House) Directing credits for Black Button Eyes include Evil Dead the Musical, Nightmares & Nightcaps: The Stories of John Collier, Nevermore, Shockheaded Peter, Amour, Goblin Market, and Coraline. He is an artistic associate with Promethean Theatre Ensemble, where he directed The Liar, his own adaptation of Peter S. Beagle's The Last Unicorn, Brecht’s The Caucasian Chalk Circle and the company's inaugural production, Christopher Durang’s Beyond Therapy. Directing with Brown Paper Box Co: The Baltimore Waltz. As an actor, he's performed with Drury Lane Oakbrook, Porchlight, Theater Wit and many others. A graduate of Northwestern's theater program, he recently completed his MBA at Kellogg.

Nick Sula (Music Director, Ghost Quartet) Nick is a pianist, arranger and award-winning music director for theater and cabaret. He is proud to return to Black Button Eyes Productions, where he was music director for Coraline, Amour and Nevermore. Other music direction credits include productions with Porchlight Music Theatre, Bohemian Theatre Ensemble, Pride Films and Plays, Chicago Theatre Workshop, Chicago Musical Theatre Festival. Nick performs with vocalists at theaters and cabaret venues such as Davenport’s, Petterino’s, Drew’s on Halsted, Stage 773, Victory Gardens, and the Park West. He is an instructor, music director and vocal coach at the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University.

Derek Van Barham (Choreographer, Ghost Quartet) is the Producing Artistic Director of Kokandy Productions, and a member of the Red Tape Theatre ensemble. He previously served as Associate Artistic Director of Pride Films & Plays. For PFP, he directed Perfect Arrangement, Angry Fags (Steppenwolf Garage), Songs from an Unmade Bed (Jeff nomination), and (co-directed) PRISCILLA, Queen of the Desert. Choreography credits include The CiviliTy of Albert Cashier and BITE (PFP), all Black Button Eyes productions, and Salonathon. Other directing credits include The View Upstairs (Circle Theatre), Three Days of Rain (Boho), and Miracle! by Dan Savage (Hell in a Handbag). He was named one of Windy City Times 30 Under 30, recognizing Chicago's LGBTQ+ community.   

About Black Button Eyes Productions

The 2019-20 season continues Black Button Eyes Productions' mission to bring to Chicago premieres and seldom-seen works containing elements of fantasy, in which the magical and surreal invade reality. The company was founded in 2014 with the acclaimed Midwest premiere of the musical Coraline, followed by Goblin Market, Amour, Shockheaded Peter, Nevermore-The Imaginary Life and Mysterious Death of Edgar Allan Poe, and the world premiere Nightmares and Nightcaps: The Stories of John Collier. Most recently the company presented the smash hit Chicago Storefront Premiere of Evil Dead the Musical.

SAVE THE DATES: TIMELINE THEATRE COMPANY'S 23RD SEASON 2019-20

ChiIL Live Shows on Our Radar

TimeLine Theatre Company, acclaimed for presenting plays that explore today’s social and political issues through the lens of the past, is thrilled to announce its 23rd season

The company’s 2019-20 subscription season will feature the previously announced Chicago premiere of J.T. Rogers’ Tony Award-winning OSLO presented at Broadway In Chicago’s Broadway Playhouse. TimeLine’s 2019-20 season continues with an acclaimed but rarely performed 100-year-old play named one of the best of the 20th Century that has never been seen in Chicago, the Chicago premiere of a powerful and provocative play described by the playwright as “an expressionistic buzz saw through the contemporary myth that ‘all lives matter,’” and the world premiere of a new play developed through TimeLine’s Playwrights Collective. 

TimeLine Theatre’s upcoming 2019-20 subscription season includes: The Chicago premiere of the 2017 Tony Award winner for Best Play, OSLO by J.T. Rogers, directed by TimeLine Associate Artistic Director Nick Bowling, a political thriller about the behind-the-scenes negotiations that brought about the 1993 peace agreement between Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization, presented at the Broadway Playhouse.

The Chicago premiere of RUTHERFORD AND SON by Githa Sowerby, directed by TimeLine Company Member Mechelle Moe, a rarely produced family drama written in 1912 that brings an ahead-of-its-time depiction of class, gender, and generational warfare.

The Chicago premiere of KILL MOVE PARADISE by James Ijames, directed by TimeLine Company Member Wardell Julius Clark, a contemporary portrait of those lost, inspired by the ever-growing list of slain unarmed black men and women.

And the world premiere of RELENTLESS by TimeLine Company Member Tyla Abercrumbie, directed by TimeLine Company Member Ron OJ Parson, a new play developed through TimeLine’s Playwrights Collective that presents a complicated tale of family, legacy, and progress.

Further casting will be announced at a later date.
Save on tickets to TimeLine’s 2019-20 Season with a FlexPass Subscription. Four different tiers, priced from $97 to $235, are now on sale. For more information and to purchase, call (773) 281-8463 x6 or visit timelinetheatre.com.

“On behalf of all of TimeLine’s Company Members I am excited to announce our next season, featuring a thrilling collection of four plays that are all new to Chicago,” said TimeLine Artistic Director PJ Powers. “As TimeLine furthers its mission of exploring today’s social and political issues through the lens of the past, we will take audiences on a journey through different centuries and continents while exploring topics that dominate contemporary headlines and conversations. The season includes acclaimed plays such as Oslo and Kill Move Paradise that have recently been heralded in New York and beyond, alongside the world premiere of Tyla Abercrumbie’s astonishing family drama Relentless, and the resurrection of a groundbreaking feminist play from the early 20th century, Rutherford and Son, marking the long-overdue Chicago premiere of this classic.”

THE 2019-20 TIMELINE THEATRE SEASON IS:
Chicago Premiere
OSLO
by J.T. Rogers
directed by Nick Bowling
September 18 – October 20, 2019 (previews 9/10 – 9/17)
presented at Broadway In Chicago’s Broadway Playhouse, 175 E. Chestnut St.

TimeLine presents the Chicago premiere of the 2017 Tony Award winner for Best Play—a remarkable story about the unlikely friendships, quiet heroics, and sheer determination that pushed two foes to reach something neither thought truly possible—peace. 

When the Israeli prime minister and the chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization shook hands on the White House lawn in 1993, the world had no idea what it took to orchestrate that momentous occasion. Behind the scenes, a Norwegian diplomat and her social scientist husband hatched an intricate, top secret, and sometimes comical scheme to gather an unexpected assortment of players at an idyllic estate just outside Oslo. Far from any international glare, mortal enemies were able to face each other not as adversaries, but as fellow human beings. 

J.T. Rogers’ OSLO is a humorous, surprising, and inspiring true story about the people inside politics, and the incredible progress that is possible when we focus on what makes us human—together.

OSLO received the 2017 Tony Award for Best Play, as well as New York Critics, Outer Critics, Drama Desk, Drama League, Lucille Lortel, and Obie awards—a sweep of the 2016-17 New York awards season—and was nominated for the Olivier and Evening Standard awards.

This “riveting political thriller” (Associated Press) is “fast-paced and quick-witted” (The Independent) and “a disarmingly funny masterpiece” (Huffington Post). The Washington Post raved that “its account of intractable foes finding common ground is irresistible and, ultimately, deeply moving,” and the New York Daily News wrote that OSLO is “smart, touching and spiked with spy-novel tension and wry humor.” Variety called it “gripping, compelling, and compulsively watchable,” and The New York Times declared that it is “the stuff of crackling theater.”

Chicago Premiere
RUTHERFORD AND SON
by Githa Sowerby
directed by Mechelle Moe
November 14, 2019 – January 12, 2020 (previews 11/6 – 11/13)
presented at TimeLine Theatre, 615 W. Wellington Ave.

Named one of the “100 plays of the century” by the Royal National Theatre, Githa Sowerby’s rarely produced family drama is a smart and absorbing twist on a woman’s “place” in a male dominated society.

In the industrial north of England in 1912, the patriarch of the Rutherford family has spent decades building a respected glass works company to pass on to his children, without any say from them. Caught between passion, purpose, and expectation, John, Richard, and Janet struggle to break free from an oppressive and narrow-minded father dead set on writing their stories himself. Less entangled by these family expectations and with ambitions to give her son the life he deserves, John’s young wife Mary is determined to upend the cycle, whatever it takes.  

Playing on the conventions of the period with wit and creative edge, RUTHERFORD AND SON is a play ahead of its time, asking us to question if our “place” in life should be anything but what we ourselves determine it to be.
Originally produced under the pen name K.G. Sowerby, RUTHERFORD AND SON premiered in 1912 at London’s Court Theatre with four performances. It soon re-opened at London's Little Theatre, where it became a massive, critical success. Literary critic Barrett Harper Clark, writing in 1915, declared it "among the most powerful works of the younger generation” and Sowerby’s writing was compared to that of Henrik Ibsen. It was also produced in New York, Canada and Australia, and translated into numerous other languages, including German, French, Italian, Russian, and Bohemian. 

It was only later revealed that the author of the hit play was a woman, which may have been a factor in its fall into obscurity until the 1980s. It has since had successful productions including at the National Theatre in 1994 and New York’s Mint Theatre in 2001, among others, and will be revived at the National Theatre again in May 2019. TimeLine’s production will be the play’s Chicago premiere and among only a handful of productions ever presented in the United States. 
The Globe and Mail has called RUTHERFORD AND SON “engaging and splendid … works magic ... as a family drama.” And the Ottawa Citizen wrote that “the reason it continues to intrigue us is that it is first and foremost a study in character, an examination of how patriarchal despotism and the prevailing culture of the day can ensnare human beings.”

Chicago Premiere
KILL MOVE PARADISE
by James Ijames
directed by Wardell Julius Clark 
February 20 – April 5, 2020 (previews 2/12 – 2/19)
presented at TimeLine Theatre, 615 W. Wellington Ave.

James Ijames' New York Times Critic Pick play is a powerful and provocative reflection on recent events, illustrating the possibilities of collective transformation and radical acts of joy.

Torn from the world they know without warning, Isa, Daz, Grif, and Tiny discover themselves stuck in a nebulous waiting room in the afterlife. While balancing the reality of their past and the uncertainty of their future, their souls try to find peace from senseless action and hope in the life they left behind. 
Inspired by the ever-growing list of slain unarmed black men and women, KILL MOVE PARADISE is a portrait of those lost—not as statistics, but as heroes who deserve to be seen for the splendid beings they are.   
         
Playwright James Ijames has described his play as “an expressionistic buzz saw through the contemporary myth that ‘all lives matter.’” KILL MOVE PARADISE has been seen at National Black Theatre in Harlem, The Wilma Theatre in Philadelphia, and Know Theatre of Cincinnati, among others. The New York Times wrote that the work “radiates an urgent and hypnotic theatrical energy.” Philadelphia Magazine called it “a deeply touching evening of theater” and wrote that “Ijames’ writing is vividly, singularly his own [and] has something profound and important to tell us. You shall be moved.” And the Cincinnati Inquirer advised audiences to “lean back and allow the impact of it all to wash over you.” 

World Premiere
RELENTLESS
by Tyla Abercrumbie
directed by Ron OJ Parson
May 14 – June 27, 2020 (previews 5/6 – 5/13)
presented at TimeLine Theatre, 615 W. Wellington Ave.
Developed through TimeLine’s Playwrights Collective, this world premiere is a startling and vibrant look at the secrets we keep to protect the ones we love most.

After the death of their mother, two sisters return home to Philadelphia in 1918 to settle her estate. Annelle is a happy socialite desperate to return to the safe illusion of a perfect life with her husband in Boston. Janet is a single, professional nurse, determined to change history and propel black women to a place of prominence and respect. Upon discovering a series of diaries left by their late mother, they find themselves confronted with a woman they never really knew, exposing buried truths from the pasts that are chillingly, explosively Relentless.

Playwright and TimeLine Company Member Tyla Abercrumbie weaves a mother’s past with her daughters’ present in a complicated tale of family, legacy, and progress.      

This world premiere play was developed through TimeLine’s Playwrights Collective, launched in 2013 to support Chicago-based playwrights in residence and create new work centered on TimeLine’s mission of presenting plays inspired by history that connect to today’s social and political issues. RELENTLESS is the second play developed through the Collective to receive a full production, following Brett Neveu’s To Catch a Fish, which was presented at TimeLine in 2018. RELENTLESS received its first public reading as part of TimeLine’s inaugural First Draft Playwrights Collective Festival in December 2018.

BIOGRAPHIES (in alphabetical order)
Tyla Abercrumbie (Playwright, RELENTLESS) is a TimeLine Company Member and 2016-2018 Playwrights Collective member who has appeared as an actor in PARADISE BLUE and IN DARFUR, served as assistant director of A RAISIN IN THE SUN, and directed the TimePieces reading of REPAIRING A NATION. Her plays include WHO’S AFRAID OF DEEPAK CHOPRA, ASYLUM (AKA LIFE), PSYCHOLOGICAL TERRORISM, NAKED AND RAW, THE STRAW, AFFAIR OF AMBIGUITY, and NORMALITY. Abercrumbie’s work has been produced by Pittsburgh Playwright’s Theatre, MPAACT Theatre and Chicago Cultural Center, and THE STRAW received a professional Staged Reading with Chicago Dramatists. As an actor in the Chicago area, she recently starred in productions of SWEAT (Goodman) and PIPELINE (Victory Gardens), and has also worked at Chicago Shakespeare, Court, Next, and Northlight, among others. She has also worked at Florida’s Asolo Repertory Theatre, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, Milwaukee Rep and Actors Theatre of Louisville. Television credits include THE CHI (recurring role), PROVEN INNOCENT, CHICAGO PD, CHICAGO MED, SHRINK, EMPIRE, EASY, CRISIS, MOB DOCTOR, DETROIT 187, CHICAGO CODE, SHAMELESS, and PRIVATE PRACTICE. You may also have seen her at comedy clubs around town testing jokes for her stand-up show, NAKED & RAW 3 (The Takers and the Tooken). Her book RED WINE AND THE BLES’SED MONKEY, a collection of prose and poetry, established her as a respected poet invited to showcase her work around the country, and as an opener for keynote speakers like the Reverend Jesse Jackson. She has a BA degree with a focus in Theatre and Creative Writing from Columbia College Chicago, and is a member of AEA and SAG-AFTRA.

Nick Bowling (Director, OSLO) was the founding Artistic Director and is now Associate Artistic Director and a Company Member of TimeLine Theatre, where he has directed 30 productions. He is the recipient of eight Jeff Awards for Outstanding Direction (THE HISTORY BOYS, THE NORMAL HEART, FIORELLO!, THIS HAPPY BREED, and THE CRUCIBLE at TimeLine, RAGTIME at Marriott Theatre, SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM at Porchlight Music Theatre, and ANOTHER PART OF THE FOREST at Eclipse Theatre) and also received Jeff Award nominations for BLOOD AND GIFTS, THE FARNSWORTH INVENTION, HAUPTMANN, and THE LION IN WINTER at TimeLine; CLOSER THAN EVER at Porchlight Music Theatre; and CITY OF ANGELS, THE KING AND I, and Man OF LA MANCHA at Marriott Theatre. Other recent credits at TimeLine include MASTER CLASS, THE AUDIENCE, A DISAPPEARING NUMBER, THE LAST WIFE, DANNY CASOLARO DIED FOR YOU, JUNO, and BLOOD AND GIFTS. Other Chicago credits include Marriott’s THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY, Paramount's A CHRISTMAS STORY, Northwestern University’s GUYS AND DOLLS and CABARET, Porchlight’s A CATERED AFFAIR, Writers Theatre's BACH AT LEIPZIG, and Shattered Globe Theatre's TIME OF THE CUCKOO and FROZEN ASSETS. His upcoming projects include OLIVER! (Marriott).
Wardell Julius Clark (Director, KILL MOVE PARADISE) is a TimeLine Company Member who will make his TimeLine mainstage directing debut with KILL MOVE PARADISE. He first appeared on stage at TimeLine in A RAISIN IN THE SUN, works as a Teaching Artist with TimeLine’s Living History Program in Chicago Public Schools, and directed the TimePieces play reading of NAT TURNER IN JERUSALEM and the First Draft Festival reading of KENT STATE JACKSON STATE. An actor, director, teaching artist, and social justice activist, Clark’s recent directing credits in Chicago include THE WATSONS GO TO BIRMINGHAM–1963 (Chicago Children’s Theatre), DUTCH MASTERS (Jackalope), THE SHIPMENT (Red Tape), SURELY GOODNESS AND MERCY (Redtwist), and INSURRECTION: HOLDING HISTORY (Stage Left). He was also Associate Director for GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER and Assistant Director for GEM OF THE OCEAN and SATCHMO AT THE WALDORF (Court). His Chicago acting credits include FLYIN’ WEST (American Blues); SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER (Raven); APARTMENT 3A (Windy City Playhouse); SILENT SKY (First Folio); INVISIBLE MAN (Court); THE WHIPPING MAN (Northlight); WE ARE PROUD TO PRESENT… and THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JAMES (Victory Gardens); THE BEATS (16th Street); GHOSTS OF ATWOOD (MPAACT), for which he received the Black Theater Alliance Denzel Washington Award for Most Promising Actor; and TOPDOG/UNDERDOG (American Theater Company/Congo Square). Regional credits include OTHELLO, MACBETH, and THE LEARNED LADIES (Theater at Monmouth); THE WHIPPING MAN (Cardinal Stage); CYMBELINE (Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival); and FENCES (Carver Theatre). His television and film credits include SHAMELESS and CHICAGO FIRE. Originally from Fairfield, Alabama, Clark earned his BFA degree in Acting from The Theatre School at DePaul University. He is represented by Gray Talent Group.
James Ijames (Playwright, KILL MOVE PARADISE) is a Philadelphia-based performer and playwright. He has appeared regionally in productions at The Arden Theatre Company, The Philadelphia Theatre Company, InterAct Theatre Company, The Wilma Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage, Mauckingbird Theatre Company, and People’s Light and Theatre. Ijames’ plays have been produced by Flashpoint Theater Company, Orbiter 3, Theatre Horizon (Philadelphia, PA), The National Black Theatre (NYC), Ally Theatre (Washington, D.C.) and have received development with PlayPenn New Play Conference, The Lark, Playwright's Horizon, Clubbed Thumb, Villanova Theater, The Gulfshore Playhouse, Wilma Theater, Azuka Theatre, and Victory Gardens Theater. He is the 2011 F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Artist recipient, and he also won two Barrymore Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Play for SUPERIOR DONUTS and ANGELS IN AMERICA, and one Barrymore for Outstanding Direction of a Play for THE BROTHERS SIZE with Simpatico Theatre Company. Ijames is a 2011 Independence Foundation Fellow, a 2015 Pew Fellow for Playwriting, the 2015 winner of the Terrance McNally New Play Award for WHITE, the 2015 Kesselring Honorable Mention Prize winner for THE MOST SPECTACULARLY LAMENTABLE TRIAL OF MIZ MARTHA WASHINGTON and a 2017 recipient of the Whiting Award. He is a founding member of Orbiter 3, Philadelphia’s first playwright producing collective and a mentor for The Foundry. He received a BA degree in Drama from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, and an MFA degree in Acting from Temple University in Philadelphia, Penn. Ijames is Assistant Professor of Theatre at Villanova University and resides in South Philadelphia.

Mechelle Moe (Director, RUTHERFORD AND SON) is a Company Member at TimeLine, where her credits include directing CARDBOARD PIANO and IN THE NEXT ROOM OR THE VIBRATOR PLAY. She has appeared on stage in many TimeLine productions, including BOY, THE APPLE FAMILY PLAYS, MY KIND OF TOWN, THE FRONT PAGE, THE CHILDREN’S HOUR, NOT ENOUGH AIR, and PARADISE LOST. She is co-artistic director of The Yard, a youth-based theater company that produces theater relevant to young people, performed by young people, with whom she directed last year's critically acclaimed production of COLUMBINUS as part of Steppenwolf's LookOut series. Other directing credits with The Yard include MILK LIKE SUGAR, THE 4TH GRADERS PRESENT AN UNNAMED LOVE SUICIDE, and SNACK BREAK (an annual short plays festival). She also recently co-wrote/co-directed a new TYA production of THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF AESOP IN THE LAND OF FABLES for Raven Theatre. Moe is a Jeff Award recipient for Actress in Principal Role for her performance in Machinal (The Hypocrites) and received a Jeff Award nomination for Actress in Principal Role for Stage Door (Griffin). She is an artistic associate of Griffin Theater and a founding member of The Hypocrites. Moe graduated with honors from the University of Illinois Chicago with both a bachelor’s degree in Theater as well as Anthropology.

Ron OJ Parson (Director, RELENTLESS) became a TimeLine Company Member in 2016. His TimeLine credits include Jiréh Breon HOLDER’S TOO HEAVY FOR YOUR POCKET, Brett Neveu’s TO CATCH A FISH, Dominique Morisseau’s PARADISE BLUE and SUNSET BABY, and Lorraine Hansberry’s A RAISIN IN THE SUN. He is a native of Buffalo, New York, and a graduate of the University of Michigan’s professional theater program. He is the co-founder and former Artistic Director of Onyx Theatre Ensemble of Chicago and a co-founder and co-director of Ripe ManGo Productions. Parson is a Resident Artist at Court Theatre and an Associate Artist with Teatro Vista, and an Associate Artist at Writers Theatre. Since moving to Chicago from New York in 1994, he has worked as both an actor and director. His Chicago credits include work with The Chicago Theatre Company, Victory Gardens, Goodman, Steppenwolf, Chicago Dramatists, Northlight, Court, Black Ensemble Theatre, Congo Square, Northlight Theatre, Urban Theatre Company, City Lit Theater, ETA Creative Arts, and Writers. Regionally, Parson has directed shows at Studio Arena Theatre, Alliance Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Milwaukee Repertory, South Coast Repertory, Pasadena Playhouse, Geva Theatre, Virginia Stage, Roundabout Theatre, Wilshire Theatre, The Mechanic Theatre, CenterStage, St. Louis Black Repertory, Pittsburgh Public Theater, Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre, Signature Theatre (New York), Kansas City Rep, and Portland Stage, among others. In Canada, he directed the world premiere of Palmer Park by Joanna McClelland Glass at the Stratford Festival. He is a member of AEA, SAG-AFTRA, and SDC. For further information, visit ronojparson.com.

J.T. Rogers (Playwright, OSLO) plays include OSLO (Lincoln Center Theater, then Broadway; National Theatre, London, then West End); BLOOD AND GIFTS (Lincoln Center Theater; National Theatre; Chicago premiere at TimeLine Theatre in 2013); THE OVERWHELMING (National Theatre, then UK tour with Out of Joint; Roundabout Theatre); WHITE PEOPLE (Off Broadway with Starry Night Productions); and MADAGASCAR (Theatre 503, London; Melbourne Theatre Company). For OSLO he won the Tony, New York Critics, Outer Critics, Drama Desk, Drama League, Lortel, and Obie awards, and was nominated for the Olivier and Evening Standard Awards. As one of the playwrights for the Tricycle Theatre of London’s THE GREAT GAME: Afghanistan he was also nominated for an Olivier Award. His works have been staged throughout the United States and in Germany, Canada, Australia, South Korea, and Israel. Rogers’s essays have been published in The New York Times, The Guardian, and the New Statesman.  He is a Guggenheim fellow and has received three NYFA fellowships in playwriting. Rogers is a member of the Dramatists Guild, where he is a founding board member of the Dramatists Legal Defense Fund. He is an alum of New Dramatists and holds an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, the University of North Carolina School of the Arts. 

Githa Sowerby (Playwright, RUTHERFORD AND SON, 1876-1970), also known under her pen name K.G. Sowerby, was an English playwright, children's writer, and member of the Fabian Society. A feminist, she was well-known during the early 20th century for her play RUTHERFORD AND SON, which was received as a work of major importance and became a hit in England, New York, and elsewhere, but lapsed into obscurity in later decades. She spent her childhood in Tyne and Wear in northeast England, where her family was involved in the glass-making business. She moved to London in her early twenties, where it is believed that she wrote RUTHERFORD AND SON, which premiered in 1912. Her plays have been described as exploiting realist techniques to address social and economic problems, often from a feminist perspective. Her other plays include BEFORE BREAKFAST (1912), A MAN AND SOME WOMEN (1914), SHEILA (1917), THE STEPMOTHER (1924), and THE POLICEMAN’S WHISTLE (1934). She also wrote numerous books for children with her elder sister, Millicent, as well as some plays for young audiences.



ABOUT TIMELINE THEATRE COMPANY
TimeLine Theatre Company, recipient of the prestigious 2016 MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions, was founded in April 1997 with a mission to present stories inspired by history that connect with today's social and political issues. Now in its 22nd season, TimeLine has presented 78 productions, including 10 world premieres and 34 Chicago premieres, and launched the Living History Education Program, now in its 12th year of bringing the company's mission to life for students in Chicago Public Schools. Recipient of the Alford-Axelson Award for Nonprofit Managerial Excellence and the Richard Goodman Strategic Planning Award from the Association for Strategic Planning, TimeLine has received 54 Jeff Awards, including an award for Outstanding Production 11 times.

TimeLine is led by Artistic Director PJ Powers, Managing Director Elizabeth K. Auman and Board President Eileen LaCario. Company members are Tyla Abercrumbie, Will Allan, Nick Bowling, Janet Ulrich Brooks, Wardell Julius Clark, Behzad Dabu, Charles Andrew Gardner, Lara Goetsch, Juliet Hart, Anish Jethmalani, Mildred Marie Langford, Mechelle Moe, David Parkes, Ron OJ Parson, PJ Powers, Maren Robinson and Benjamin Thiem.

Major corporate, government and foundation supporters of TimeLine Theatre include Alphawood Foundation, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, Bayless Family Foundation, The Crown Family, Forum Fund, Joseph and Bessie Feinberg Foundation, Illinois Arts Council Agency, Laughing Acres Family Foundation, A.L. and Jennie L. Luria Foundation, MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at Prince, the National Endowment for the Arts, The Pauls Foundation, Polk Bros. Foundation, and The Shubert Foundation.

New Uptown Home In The Works:



Now Playing:



For more information, visit timelinetheatre.com or Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram (@TimeLineTheatre).

SAVE THE DATES: Citadel Theatre 2019-2020 Season to Explore the Meaning of Family

ChiIL Live Shows on our radar

Four-show subscription season will include two beloved musicals and two comedies about families lost, found and strengthened.

Citadel Theatre Company, an Equity-affiliated professional company performing in Lake Forest, IL, has announced its 17th season. The four-show subscription season will open in September with the Tony Award-winning adventure-comedy PETER AND THE STARCATCHER a “pre-quel” to the story of Peter Pan – the boy who, separated from his parents, refuses to grow up and forms a family among a group of lost boys. It will be followed for the holidays by the ever-popular family favorite ANNIE – the story of Little Orphan Annie and her new home with the uber-rich Daddy Warbucks. The season will continue in the new year with THE FANTASTICKS. The world’s longest running musical, THE FANTASTICKS tells the story of Matt and Luisa, young next-door neighbors who fall in love precisely because their scheming fathers, knowing the kids will do exactly what they’re told NOT to do, have been keeping them apart. The season will conclude with Neil Simon’s heartfelt BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS, a semi-autobiographical comedy inspired by Simon’s life at age 14 and his loving, but quirky family.

PETER AND THE STARCATCHER, opening on September 27 and running through October 27 is a pre-quel to PETER PAN, written by Rick Elice (author of the Broadway musicals JERSEY BOYS, THE ADDAMS FAMILY and THE CHER SHOW), based on the novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. On Broadway, It was nominated for nine Tony Awards, winning five. PETER AND THE STARCATCHER is an action-packed and humorous take on the Peter Pan characters in which 13 actors will play more than 100 roles.

PETER AND THE STARCATCHER will be directed by Jeremy Aluma, who recently directed THE ELABORATE ENTRANCE OF CHAD DEITY for Red Theater. The production was remounted at Theater on the Lake, named a Top 10 Show of 2017 by the CHICAGO TRIBUNE, and won a Jeff Award for Best Fight Choreography. Aluma is also the founder of the internationally touring clown troupe, Four Clowns.

ANNIE, which the CHICAGO TRIBUNE once called “one of the best family musicals ever penned,” will be Citadel’s holiday show. This musical comedy based on the long-running comic strip LITTLE ORPHAN ANNIE ran for nearly six years in its initial Broadway production and has twice been revived on Broadway. It was also adapted as a popular feature film and network television special.

Frequent Citadel director Robert D. Estrin, who helmed last year’s JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT and the Jeff Award-winning THE EXPLORERS CLUB, will direct a cast of professional musical theater performers alongside an ensemble of local children as the orphans. ANNIE will open on November 15 and run through December 22, 2019.



THE FANTASTICKS originally opened off -Broadway in New York City’s Greenwich Village in 1960 where it played until 2002. In 2006 it was remounted in a new theater in Times Square where it ran another 11 years, easily making its combined 53-year run the longest of any musical. It includes the song “Try to Remember,” which entreats audiences to remember a sweeter, gentler time.

Writers Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt adapted their story from a play by Edmund Rostand (CYRANO DE BERGERAC) in which two neighbors plot to make their children fall in love and marry each other by forbidding them to ever see each other, knowing that children will most want to do what they are told not to do. The boy and girl find a way to meet despite the fence that separates them, but they learn some hard lessons about romance and adventure vs. real life before the musical ends. Longtime Citadel collaborator Pat Murphy, who most recently directed LIGHT UP THE SKY for Citadel, will direct the production, opening on January 31 and running through March 1, 2020.



The season closer will be BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS, one of Neil Simon’s best-loved plays among his many hits. The first of an autobiographical trilogy that includes BILOXI BLUES and BROADWAY BOUND, BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS is a portrait of the writer as a young teen in 1937 living with his family in a crowded, lower middle-class Brooklyn walk-up.

Eugene Jerome, standing in for the author, is the narrator and central character. Dreaming of baseball and girls, Eugene must cope with the mundane existence of his family life in Brooklyn: his formidable mother, overworked father, and worldly older brother Stanley; as well as extended family members that include his widowed Aunt Blanche and her two young (but rapidly aging) daughters. The warm and funny BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS will open on Friday, April 24 and run through Sunday, May 24, 2020.  Citadel Founding Artistic Director Scott Phelps will direct.
Season subscriptions are available for the full four-show season at $120.00 or as flex passes that can be used for the patron’s choice of three shows for $100.00 or two shows for $70.00. Subscriptions and single tickets are now on sale at www.citadeltheatre.org.

Friday, September 20 – Sunday, October 20, 2019
(Previews September 18-19 @ 7:30 pm)
Thursdays at 7:30 pm, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm, Sundays at 3 pm.
Preview ticket prices - $20.00. Regular run prices Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays $40.00; Saturdays and Sundays $45.00. Discounts available for groups, seniors and student.

Citadel Theatre, 300 S. Waukegan Road, Lake Forest, IL
Tickets available online at www.citadeltheatre.org or by phone at 847-735-8554, ext. 1

The Tony Award-winning PETER AND THE STARCATCHER upends the century-old story of how a miserable orphan comes to be The Boy Who Would Not Grow Up (a.k.a. Peter Pan). A young orphan and his mates are shipped off from Victorian England to a distant island ruled by the evil King Zarboff. They know nothing of the mysterious trunk in the captain’s cabin, which contains a precious, otherworldly cargo. At sea, the boys are discovered by a precocious young girl named Molly, a Starcatcher-in-training who realizes that the trunk’s precious cargo is starstuff, a celestial substance so powerful that it must never fall into the wrong hands. When the ship is taken over by pirates – led by the fearsome Black Stache, a villain determined to claim the trunk and its treasure for his own – the journey quickly becomes a thrilling adventure.

ANNIE
Music by Charles Strouse, Book by Thomas Meehan, Lyrics by Martin Charnin
Directed by Robert D. Estrin
Friday, November 22 – Sunday, December 22, 2019
(Previews November 20-21 @7:30 pm)
Thursdays at 7:30 pm, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm, Sundays at 3 pm.
Preview ticket prices - $20.00. Regular run prices Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays $40.00; Saturdays and Sundays $45.00. Discounts available for groups, seniors and student.
Citadel Theatre, 300 S. Waukegan Road, Lake Forest, IL
Tickets available online at www.citadeltheatre.org or by phone at 847-735-8554, ext. 1

With equal measures of pluck and positivity, little orphan Annie charms everyone's hearts despite a next-to-nothing start in 1930s New York City. She is determined to find the parents who abandoned her years ago on the doorstep of a New York City Orphanage that is run by the cruel, embittered Miss Hannigan. With the help of the other girls in the Orphanage, Annie escapes to the wondrous world of NYC. In adventure after fun-filled adventure, Annie foils Miss Hannigan's evil machinations... and even befriends President Franklin Delano Roosevelt! She finds a new home and family in billionaire, Oliver Warbucks, his personal secretary, Grace Farrell, and a lovable mutt named Sandy.

THE FANTASTICKS 
Music by Harvey Schmidt, Book and Lyrics by Tom Jones
Directed by Pat Murphy
Friday, February 7, 2020 - Sunday, Mar 8, 2020
(Previews February 5 and 6 @ 7:30 pm)
Thursdays at 7:30 pm, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm, Sundays at 3 pm.
Preview ticket prices - $20.00. Regular run prices Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays $40.00; Saturdays and Sundays $45.00. Discounts available for groups, seniors and student.
Citadel Theatre, 300 S. Waukegan Road, Lake Forest, IL
Tickets available online at www.citadeltheatre.org or by phone at 847-735-8554, ext. 1

THE FANTASTICKS is a funny and romantic musical about a boy, a girl, and their two fathers who try to keep them apart. The narrator, El Gallo, asks the audience to use their imagination and follow him into a world of moonlight and magic. The boy and the girl fall in love, grow apart and finally find their way back to each other after realizing the truth in El Gallo's words that, "without a hurt, the heart is hollow."

BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS
By Neil Simon
Directed by Scott Phelps
Friday April 24, 2020 - Sunday May 24, 2020
(Previews April 22-23 @ 7:30 pm)
Thursdays at 7:30 pm, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm, Sundays at 3 pm.
Preview ticket prices - $20.00. Regular run prices Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays $40.00; Saturdays and Sundays $45.00. Discounts available for groups, seniors and student.
Citadel Theatre, 300 S. Waukegan Road, Lake Forest, IL
Tickets available online at www.citadeltheatre.org or by phone at 847-735-8554, ext. 1

Part one of Neil Simon’s autobiographical trilogy: a portrait of the writer as a young teen in 1937 living with his family in a crowded, lower middle-class Brooklyn walk-up. Eugene Jerome must cope with the mundane existence of his family life in Brooklyn: formidable mother, overworked father, and his worldly older brother Stanley. Throw into the mix his widowed Aunt Blanche, her two young (but rapidly aging) daughters and you have a recipe for hilarity, served up Simon-style. This bittersweet memoir evocatively captures the life of a struggling Jewish household where, as his father states "if you didn't have a problem, you wouldn't be living here."

BIOS

Jeremy Aluma (Director, PETER AND THE STARCATCHER) is an award-winning, Jewish-American theatre director of Iraqi descent. He founded the internationally touring clown troupe Four Clowns and served as Artistic Director during their first seven years. Directing credits include: ABRAHAM & ISAAC (MuBe Cultural Theatre, São Paulo, Brazil); PINOCCHIO and ROBIN HOOD (South Coast Repertory, CA); SUBLIMITY (Theatre Row, NYC); THE ELABORATE ENTRANCE OF CHAD DEITY (Theater on the Lake, Chicago) AN OAK TREE (Red Theater, Chicago); CRUMBLE, LAY ME DOWN JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE (Sacred Fools, LA); THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT (Urban Theatre Movement, LA); HENRY’S POTATO (REDCAT, LA); IN ARABIA WE’D ALL BE KINGS (Alive Theatre, Long Beach); JONAH (Annenberg, Santa Monica) and HAMLET (American Coast Theater, CA). His original show, FOUR CLOWNS toured nationally to La MaMa (NYC); Chopin Theatre (Chicago); Gremlin Theatre (St. Paul, MN); Exit Theatre (San Francisco); Space 55 (Phoenix, AZ); and Insurgo Theater Movement (Las Vegas). Aluma is a company member at Red Theater, a Board Member for the Alliance for Jewish Theatre, and a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Union (SDC). He continues to teach and take classes at The Clown School and will graduate in June 2019 with an MFA in Directing from The Theatre School at DePaul University. jeremyaluma.com

Robert D. Estrin (Director, ANNIE) Robert’s directing credits include JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT, THE EXPLORERS CLUB, A CHRISTMAS STORY: THE MUSICAL, A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM, DON’T DRESS FOR DINNER, CABARET, OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY, LEND ME A TENOR (Citadel); THE SUM OF US (1027 Productions). Director/Designer: SUCH A PRETTY FACE (Off Broadway Equity Showcase production, New York City). Designer: A CHRISTMAS CAROL, LITTLE WOMEN, THE PRISONER OF SECOND AVENUE, THE BOARDING HOUSE, SOMETHING’S AFOOT (Citadel); CORPUS DELICTI, MR. SHAW GOES TO HOLLYWOOD, SIDE EFFECTS MAY INCLUDE (MadKap Productions). Retired in 2005 from New Trier High School after thirty-four years of teaching theatre. Visit Bob on his Facebook page. Education: Northern Illinois University (B.A.); University of Illinois (M.A.).

Pat Murphy (Director, THE FANTASTICKS) returns to Citadel Theatre as director for the winter production of THE FANTASTICKS. Last year he directed LIGHT UP THE SKY. Previous shows he directed at Citadel are, OLIVER!, A CHRISTMAS CAROL several years ago and DEATHTRAP. He has also acted in LEND ME A TENOR and OTHER PEOPLE’S MONEY. Murphy was Director of Theatre for 35 years at Glenbrook North High School. Murphy directed over one hundred productions at Glenbrook North before retiring a number of years ago. He now directs, acts and coaches theatre students and actors.

Scott Phelps (Director, BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS) is in his 16th year as the Artistic Director at Citadel. He’s acted in and directed dozens of Citadel productions over the last decade and a half since founding this North Shore theatre in 2002 with his friend and lifelong companion, Ellen. He has acted/directed in NYC, and in his home state of California, trained as an actor at the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts in Santa Maria, CA, received his BFA from the University of Utah, and did an apprenticeship at the Actors Theatre of Louisville in KY. For 18 years Scott worked for a promotional company and raised his three daughters and his son in Lake Forest. Recently he has been taking on the next chapter of his life — the role of “Grandpa”. Although he is unsure if he is old enough to play that part, he’s been enjoying the challenge.

Citadel Theatre is one of Chicagoland’s premier live theatres, producing hundreds of performances annually and inspiring audiences for over 16 years. Founded by Scott and Ellen Phelps in 2002, Citadel Theatre is comprised of its Main Stage performances, its On Tour programs, and its theatre acting classes for children. A proud member of the League of Chicago Theatres and the Lake Forest/Lake Bluff ArtsLink, Citadel Theatre offers a unique intimate theatre experience that transports you to another setting and leaves you feeling exhilarated and wanting more. A recognized 501(c)3 non-profit organization, Citadel can accept tax-deductible donations. For more information, ticketing, and to donate, please visit Citadel online at www.CitadelTheatre.org or call 847.735.8554.

SAVE THE DATES: Victory Gardens Theater announces its 45th Anniversary Season

ChiIL Live Shows on our radar

Lineup for Victory Gardens Theater

2019-2020 Season 

under the leadership of Artistic Director Chay Yew and Executive Director Erica Daniels

Including the Chicago premiere of Tiny Beautiful Things by Nia Vardalos; the world premiere of The First Deep Breath by Lee Edward Colston II; the co-world premiere of How to Defend Yourself by Lily Padilla; the world premiere of Dhaba on Devon Avenue by Madhuri Shekar and the Chicago premiere of Right to Be Forgotten by Sharyn Rothstein

Victory Gardens’ 45th Season will include the Chicago premiere of Tiny Beautiful Things by Nia Vardalos; the world premiere of The First Deep Breath by Lee Edward Colston II; the co-world premiere of How to Defend Yourself by Lily Padilla; and the world premiere of Dhaba on Devon Avenue by Madhuri Shekar; and the Chicago premiere of Right to Be Forgotten by Sharyn Rothstein.

“I’m thrilled to announce our 45th season of incredible American plays that speak to our current times,” said Artistic Director Chay Yew. “From an African American family grappling with a daughter’s death, to a South Asian immigrant battling his children over the fate of their family restaurant in Chicago, we are also giving a home to powerful plays that courageously address the issues of our country’s rape culture, and the right to privacy on social media. These relevant works speak truth to power and celebrate the best in our diverse nation, and inspire us to be better citizens.”

Victory Gardens Theater’s 45th Anniversary Season up close:



Chicago Premiere
Tiny Beautiful Things
Based on the book by Cheryl Strayed
Adapted for the Stage by Nia Vardalos
Co-Conceived by Marshall Heyman, Thomas Kail, and Nia Vardalos
Directed by Vanessa Stalling
September 6-October 13, 2019
Press Opening: September 13, 2019

Based on the best-selling book by Cheryl Strayed and adapted for the stage by Nia Vardalos, Tiny Beautiful Things personifies the questions and answers that “Sugar” was publishing online from 2010-2012. When the struggling writer was asked to take over the unpaid, anonymous position of advice columnist, Strayed used empathy and her personal experiences to help those seeking guidance for obstacles both large and small. Directed by Vanessa Stalling (Photograph 51 Court Theatre, A Shayna Maidel TimeLine Theatre, The Wolves Goodman) Tiny Beautiful Things is a story about reaching when you’re stuck, healing when you’re broken, and finding the courage to take on the questions which have no answers.



World Premiere
The First Deep Breath
By Lee Edward Colston II
Directed by Malika Oyetimein
November 15-December 22, 2019
Press Opening: November 22, 2019

Originally developed as part of Victory Gardens 2018 Ignition Festival of New Plays, The First Deep Breath tells the story of Pastor Albert Jones who is planning a special church service to honor his late daughter Diane on the sixth anniversary of her death. But when his eldest son, Abdul-Malik, returns home from prison, the First family of Mother Bethel Baptist Church is forced to confront a hornet’s nest of long-buried secrets. Written with a ferocious passion by Lee Edward Colston II and directed by Malika Oyetimein, The First Deep Breath finds each member of the Jones clan desperately fighting to stay afloat and disregarding the caution that sometimes a family that stays together drowns together.



Co-World Premiere with Actors Theatre of Louisville
How to Defend Yourself
By Lily Padilla
Directed by Marti Lyons
January 24-February 23, 2020
Press Opening: January 31, 2020

How to Defend Yourself circles around seven college students who gather for a DIY self-defense workshop after a sorority sister is raped. They learn how to “not be a victim", how to use their bodies as weapons, how to fend off attackers. The form of self-defense becomes a channel for their rage, trauma, confusion, anxiety, and desire--lots of desire. Challenged to determine what they want and how to ask for it, the students must ultimately face the insidious ways rape culture steals one's body and sense of belonging. Developed as part of Victory Gardens 2018 Ignition Festival of New Plays and the winner of the 2019 Yale Drama Series Prize, How to Defend Yourself is funny, raw and brutally honest - a triumph from playwright Lily Padilla. The production will be directed by Marti Lyons (Cambodian Rock Band, Native Gardens Victory Gardens, Witch Writers Theatre).



World Premiere
Dhaba on Devon Avenue
By Madhuri Shekar
Directed by Victory Gardens Artistic Director Chay Yew
March 27-April 26, 2020
Press Opening: April 3, 2020

Dhaba Canteen has been a Devon Avenue institution since the 60s, with their delicious Sindhi food transporting you back to the halcyon days of undivided India. Now it's on the verge of bankruptcy. And the family that has run it for generations is ready to go to war over its fate. Written by Madhuri Shekar, (Queen) and directed by Victory Gardens Artistic Director Chay Yew, it’s King Lear meets The Cherry Orchard in this Chicago story of fathers and daughters, of legacy, and of survival at all costs.  



Chicago Premiere
Right to Be Forgotten
By Sharyn Rothstein
Directed by Gary Griffin
May 29-June 28, 2020
Press Opening: June 5, 2020

The internet never forgets and a young man’s mistake at 17 haunts him online a decade later. Desperate for a normal life, he goes to extraordinary lengths to erase his indiscretion. But freedom of information is big business, and the tech companies aren’t going down without a fight. Secrets, lies and political backstabbing abound in this riveting new drama about one man’s fierce battle to reclaim his right to privacy. Playwright Sharyn Rothstein (By the Water, USA Network’s “Suits”), winner of the prestigious 2015 Primus Prize and whose work has been called “touching & affecting” (New York Times), has written a striking allegory about privacy, social media and human forgiveness in the age of the internet.

Subscriptions
Subscriptions start at just $99 and will soon be on sale at www.victorygardens.org and by phone at the Victory Gardens Box Office at 2433 N. Lincoln. Please call 773.871.3000 with any questions.

Victory Gardens Theater is located at 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue, in the heart of Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood.



About Victory Gardens Theater
Under the leadership of Artistic Director Chay Yew and Executive Director Erica Daniels, Victory Gardens is dedicated to artistic excellence while creating a vital, contemporary American Theater that is accessible and relevant to all people through productions of challenging new plays and musicals.  Victory Gardens Theater is committed to the development, production and support of new plays that has been the mission of the theater since its founding, set forth by Dennis Začek, Marcelle McVay, and the original founders of Victory Gardens Theater.

Victory Gardens Theater is a leader in developing and producing new theater work and cultivating an inclusive Chicago theater community. Victory Gardens’ core strengths are nurturing and producing dynamic and inspiring new plays, reflecting the diversity of our city’s and nation’s culture through engaging diverse communities, and in partnership with Chicago Public Schools, bringing art and culture to our city’s active student population.  

Since its founding in 1974, the company has produced more world premieres than any other Chicago theater, a commitment recognized nationally when Victory Gardens received the 2001 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. Located in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, Victory Gardens Biograph Theater includes the Začek-McVay Theater, a state-of-the-art 259-seat mainstage and the 109-seat studio theater on the second floor, named the Richard Christiansen Theater.

Victory Gardens Ensemble Playwrights include Luis Alfaro, Philip Dawkins, Marcus Gardley, Ike Holter, Samuel D. Hunter, Naomi Iizuka, Tanya Saracho and Laura Schellhardt. Each playwright has a seven-year residency at Victory Gardens Theater.

Victory Gardens Theater is proud to be part of the 2019 Year of Chicago Theatre, presented by the City of Chicago and the League of Chicago Theatres. To truly fall in love with Chicago, you must go to our theatres. This is where the city bares its fearless soul. Home to a community of creators, risk-takers and big hearts, Chicago theatre is a hotbed for exciting new work and hundreds of world premieres every year. From Broadway musicals to storefront plays and improv, there’s always a seat waiting for you at one of our 200+ theatres. Book your next show today at ChicagoPlays.com.

For more information about Victory Gardens, visit www.victorygardens.org.  Follow us on Facebook at Facebook.com/victorygardens, Twitter @VictoryGardens and Instagram @victorygardenstheater.

Victory Gardens Theater receives major funding from Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Joyce Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The REAM Foundation, Shubert Foundation, Venturous Theater Fund of the Tides Foundation, Wallace Foundation. Additional major funding comes from Crown Family Philanthropies, Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, the Illinois Arts Council Agency, Polk Bros. Foundation.

Major funders also include: Allstate, Alphawood Foundation, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, Edgerton Foundation, Exelon, Field Foundation of Illinois, The Harvey L. Miller Supporting Foundation, David Rockefeller Fund, The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, Time Warner Foundation, Inc.

Additional funding provided by Robert and Isabelle Bass Foundation Inc., Charles H. and Bertha L. Boothroyd Foundation, Capital Group Private Client Services, Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, ComEd, Nathan Cummings Foundation, Golden Country Oriental Foods, Goldman Sachs, John R. Halligan Foundation, Illinois Humanities Council (with support from the MacArthur Foundation’s Safety + Justice Challenge), ITW, Mayer Brown LLP, The McVay Foundation, Metropolitan Capital Bank and Trust, National Endowment for the Arts, Negaunee Foundation, Roberta Olshansky Charitable Fund, Origin Ventures, Pauls Foundation, PNC Financial Services Group, Prince Charitable Trusts, Charles and M.R. Shapiro Foundation, Wrightwood Neighbors Foundation.

In-kind support is provided by: Italian Village Restaurants, Southwest Airlines, Roy’s Furniture, Suite Home Chicago, and Whole Foods Market.

Capital improvement support from the Performing Arts Venue Fund at the League of Chicago Theaters, with funding from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; and Capacity Building support by Compass-Chicago.

SAVE THE DATES: Writers Theatre Announces 2019/20 Season

ChiIL Live Shows on our radar

Season includes Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s 

INTO THE WOODS

directed by Gary Griffin;

THE NICETIES, 

written by Eleanor Burgess and directed by Marti Lyons;

Lydia R. Diamond’s 

STICK FLY 

directed by Ron OJ Parson; and 

MEMENTOS MORI 

created by Manual Cinema

to play in the Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols Theatre

Henrik Ibsen’s 

A DOLL’S HOUSE, 

adapted by Sandra Delgado

and Michael Halberstam and directed by Lavina Jadhwani;

and Anna Ziegler’s 

THE LAST MATCH, 

directed by Keira Fromm

to play in the Gillian Theatre

Here at ChiIL Live Shows, we're beyond excited for Writers Theatre's upcoming season. They've got a stellar lineup and some of our favorites slated to direct! Save the dates and order early for the best seat selection, or consider a season package.

Writers Theatre Artistic Director Michael Halberstam and Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma announce the company’s 2019/20 six play season, opening with Into the Woods, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by James Lapine, and directed by Gary Griffin in the Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols Theatre. The season will continue with The Niceties, written by Eleanor Burgess and directed by Marti Lyons; Lydia R. Diamond’s Stick Fly, directed by Ron OJ Parson; and Mementos Mori, created by Manual Cinema. A new adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, adapted by Sandra Delgado and Michael Halberstam and directed by Lavina Jadhwani, will open the season in the Gillian Theatre, followed by Anna Ziegler’s The Last Match, directed by Keira Fromm.

The 2019/20 Season marks the fourth full season in the company’s award-winning new home at 325 Tudor Court in Glencoe, designed by Studio Gang Architects. Productions will be presented in two spaces in the theater complex including the 255-seat Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols Theatre as well as the Gillian Theatre, a 50 to 99-seat flexible theatre space.

From its very first year, Writers Theatre has brought quality and excellence to the stage while maintaining the company’s hallmark intimacy. The last 27 years have seen unprecedented growth in both the artistic and business arenas as the company has garnered national acclaim and recognition, marked by the celebrated opening of the Theatre’s new facility in February of 2016. With a longstanding reputation for consistent artistic excellence and with strong ties to the community, the Theatre has built an award-winning repertoire and serves as a vital and highly regarded company in the Chicagoland theatre community.

Artistic Director Michael Halberstam comments, “We are delighted to present to you the 2019/20 lineup for Writers Theatre. With a refreshing mix of revitalized classics and exciting new voices, we have compiled a season that captures the essential conversations we are having as a nation right now. Art has the primary function of holding the mirror up to nature but, in doing so, it must also entertain and engage. The messages we share with you this coming season are essential and necessary. But they will arrive skillfully and delightfully crafted to draw you into worlds of theatrical magic that encourage you to think about the world with nuance, empathy and, perhaps most importantly, imagination. In other words, we have compiled six “must-see” productions and have invited the Chicago area’s most exciting storytellers to bring them to thrilling and sophisticated life!"

Season Packages are available at the Box Office, 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe, 847-242-6000 and www.writerstheatre.org.

Writers Theatre is pleased to welcome back BMO Harris Bank as the distinguished 2019/20 Season Sponsor, marking the Bank’s ninth consecutive year as season sponsor.

The Writers Theatre 2019/20 Season includes:


INTO THE WOODS
Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim
Book by James Lapine
Music Direction and Re-Orchestrations by Matt Deitchman
Directed by Gary Griffin
August 14 – September 22, 2019
Opening August 21, 2019
Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols Theatre | 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe

See the classic fairy tale characters you think you know come to magical life in this smart and subversive musical theatre masterpiece by American icons Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine!

When a childless baker and his wife set out to lift their family curse by journeying into the woods, they encounter Jack (with his beanstalk), Cinderella (and her prince) and Little Red Riding Hood (and her wolf)! These familiar characters find themselves in decidedly unfamiliar circumstances and must brave the darkness of the woods in an effort to break the curse, conquer their fears and find out if what they’ve always wished for is what they truly want.

This epic fairy tale adventure will be reimagined in a newly-configured Nichols Theatre to be staged “in the round,” drawing audiences into a theatrical experience unlike anything you’ve seen at WT! With its celebrated score, stirring script and an extraordinary team of artists bringing it all to life, Into the Woods launches WT's 2019/20 Season as the musical theatre event of the summer. Chicago and Broadway Director Gary Griffin (Parade) returns to stage this Tony Award-winning musical about fairy tales, family and what happens after “happily ever after.”


A DOLL’S HOUSE
Written by Henrik Ibsen
Adapted by Sandra Delgado and Michael Halberstam
Directed by Lavina Jadhwani
September 25 – December 15, 2019
Opening October 2, 2019
The Gillian Theatre | 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe

This celebrated drama by the playwright of WT’s smash hit Hedda Gabler receives a sleek, streamlined interpretation that is unpredictable, fresh and captivating.

This focused one-act adaptation of the Henrik Ibsen classic reinvigorates the compelling story of the vibrant young Nora Helmer, deeply devoted to her husband Torvald. However, all is not as it appears: when Nora takes action to protect her husband, she unwittingly puts them both in jeopardy, testing the bonds of their marriage and forcing them to take stock of their relationship and ask themselves how well they truly know one another…

Directed by Lavina Jadhwani (Vietgone) and given an intensely intimate staging in the Gillian Theatre, A Doll’s House draws the audience into the middle of a combustible domestic moment as husband and wife must navigate truth and deceit, and determine whether their seemingly perfect life is truly the one they thought they always wanted.


THE NICETIES
Written by Eleanor Burgess
Directed by Marti Lyons
November 6 – December 15, 2019
Opening November 13, 2019
Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols Theatre | 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe

What happens when theoretical arguments suddenly turn personal in the ivory tower of an elite East Coast university? Don’t miss the thrilling, provocative new play that The Washington Post calls “one of the best plays about who gets to tell the story of America, and how.”

In The Niceties by Eleanor Burgess, an accomplished Ivy League professor holds routine office hours with an ambitious young student to discuss her thesis: if history is written by the victors, who tells the story of the oppressed? Before long, quibbles over vocabulary and Wikipedia citations turn into a dangerous debate as both women passionately defend their perspective and their personal worldview—until one of them puts everything on the line to make her case.

This taut, intelligent new play will make you question your own assumptions and reevaluate whether generation gaps can be bridged while gaps in knowledge—and in experience—remain. Director Marti Lyons (Witch) returns to WT to stage this intellectual thriller of a play that examines equality, revolution and what happens when people set aside the niceties and reveal what’s really on their minds.



STICK FLY
Written by Lydia R. Diamond
Directed by Ron OJ Parson
February 5 – March 16, 2020
Opening February 12, 2020
Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols Theatre | 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe

Sibling rivalries and parental expectations come to a head as family secrets emerge during a weekend away that becomes more “interrogation” than “relaxation” in this witty and moving rollercoaster of a family comedy-drama.

What begins as a relaxing summer weekend on Martha’s Vineyard escalates when the LeVay brothers bring their new girlfriends home to meet their affluent and imposing parents. But even as the newcomers find themselves under familial scrutiny, long-hidden family tensions bubble to the surface and by the end of the weekend, almost everyone at the Vineyard finds themselves under a microscope as they grapple with arguments about class, race and cultural expectations.

Lydia R. Diamond (Smart People) brings her gift for sharp dialogue, complex characters and relevant themes back to WT with this timely look at African-American elite aristocracy, social assumptions and family dynamics. Directed by WT Resident Director Ron OJ Parson (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, East Texas Hot Links), this bitingly funny comedy is sure to keep you talking long after the lights have come up.


THE LAST MATCH
Written by Anna Ziegler
Directed by Keira Fromm
March 18 – June 7, 2020
Opening March 25, 2020
The Gillian Theatre | 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe

With all the passion and tension of a U.S. Open tennis final, The Last Match serves up a thrillingly theatrical look at what motivates our greatest ambitions and fuels our strongest desires.

When a young Russian tennis phenom and an American superstar in his prime meet at center court, it’s a tough call whether the greatest drama is playing out off the court or on! As the swift action volleys between primetime tennis matches and the most pivotal moments in the personal lives of the competitors and their equally driven romantic partners, sharp and insightful playwright Anna Ziegler (Photograph 51) draws you inside the minds of all four as they face challenges in sport, life and love. What results is a fast-paced and moving montage exploring family, the sacrifices we make for success and the legacy we leave behind.

Rising Chicago director Keira Fromm brings her finely-tuned vision to this gripping drama, staged in the intimate Gillian Theatre. You won’t want to miss this engrossing, rapid-fire take on what it means to finally achieve greatness, only to be left wanting more. In The Last Match, there is much more than just a championship on the line!


Writers Theatre presents
MEMENTOS MORI
Created by Manual Cinema
May 6 – June 14, 2020
Opening May 13, 2020
Alexandra C. and John D. Nichols Theatre | 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe

This whimsical performance piece allows the audience to experience a motion picture created right before their eyes, using creative shadow-puppetry, innovative projections and a live musical score to tell its transformative and charming story about life, death and what comes in between.

When the persona of “Death” unexpectedly finds herself in California, she trades her scythe for an iPhone and wanders Hollywood, “swiping right” on loss and introducing unexpected connections into the otherwise disparate lives of a ghost, a young girl, and an elderly projectionist. This ambitious show uses multiple puppets, seven overhead projectors, two cameras and three screens to create a live “movie” for the audience. Accompanied by four musicians playing an original score, along with live foley sound effects, the result is a rich mosaic of cinematic storytelling!

Recently named the Chicago Tribune’s “Company of the Year” Manual Cinema uses disarmingly simple tools to tell transformative stories. Now they bring their new, feature-length performance to the Nichols stage, giving WT audiences the opportunity to experience this fresh and unique style of intimate storytelling.


SEASON PACKAGES
Writers Theatre season ticket packages provide a convenient theatergoing experience and guarantee access to all of WT’s highly anticipated productions throughout the season. Six-play subscription packages are available, ranging in price from $249 to $389.

Three and four-play “Choose Your Own” Flex packages start at $199.

Season package subscribers receive exclusive benefits including complimentary ticket exchanges by phone and mail (upgrade fees may apply), access to special play readings and lectures, special “subscriber-rate” prices on additional tickets, a one-year subscription to The Brief Chronicle newsmagazine and more. For a complete list of benefits visit writerstheatre.org.

Season Packages are available at the Box Office, 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe, 847-242-6000 and writerstheatre.org.

AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES:
For additional information about the WT Audience Enrichment programs listed below, visit writerstheatre.org/events.

Pre-Show Conversation: Up Close
Join us at 6:45pm before every Thursday evening performance (excluding previews and extension dates) of all productions in the Nichols Theatre for a 15-minute primer on the context and content of the play facilitated by a member of the WT Artistic Team.

Post-Show Conversation: The Word
Join us after every Tuesday evening performance (excluding previews and extension dates) for a 15-minute discussion of the play, facilitated by a member of the WT Artistic Team.

Post-Show Conversation: The Artist
Join us after every Wednesday evening performance (excluding previews and extension dates) for a 15-minute talk-back featuring actors from the production, facilitated by a member of the WT Artistic Team.

From Page to Stage Series
WT and select North Shore libraries and community partners present the 15th annual From Page to Stage Series. This comprehensive series of special events, lectures, readings and film viewings are designed to enhance and enrich the audience experience of WT productions each season.  All events are FREE of charge and open to the public unless otherwise noted. For more information about the From Page to Stage Series, visit writerstheatre.org/from-page-to-stage-series.

WT also offers Access Performances, including ASL-interpretation and Open Captioning on select dates for each production.  Please visit writerstheatre.org/ accessibility for more information.



ABOUT WRITERS THEATRE
For more than 25 years, Writers Theatre has captivated Chicagoland audiences with inventive interpretations of classic work, a bold approach to contemporary theatre and a dedication to creating the most intimate theatrical experience possible.

Under the artistic leadership of Michael Halberstam and the executive leadership of Kathryn M. Lipuma, WT has grown to become a major Chicagoland cultural destination with a national reputation for excellence, being called the top regional theatre in the nation by The Wall Street Journal. The company, which plays to a sold-out and discerning audience of more than 60,000 patrons each season, has garnered critical praise for the consistent high quality and intimacy of its artistry—providing the finest interpretations of both classic and contemporary theatre in its two intensely intimate venues. 

In February 2016, Writers Theatre opened a new, state-of-the-art facility. This established the company's first permanent home—a new theatre center in downtown Glencoe, designed by the award-winning, internationally renowned Studio Gang Architects, led by Founder and Design Principal Jeanne Gang, FAIA, in collaboration with Theatre Consultant Auerbach Pollock Friedlander. The new facility has allowed the Theatre to continue to grow to accommodate its audience, while maintaining its trademark intimacy. The new facility resonates with and complements the Theatre’s neighboring Glencoe community, adding tremendous value to Chicagoland and helping to establish the North Shore as a premier cultural destination.

Find Writers Theatre on Facebook at Facebook.com/WritersTheatre, follow @WritersTheatre on Twitter or @Writers_Theatre on Instagram. For more information, visit www.writerstheatre.org.