OPENING: Court Theatre continues 64th Season with For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf March 14 – April 14, 2019

ChiIL Live Shows on our radar

Court Theatre continues 64th Season with

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf 

By Ntozake Shange

Directed by Seret Scott

March 14 – April 14, 2019

I'll be ChiILin' with Chi, IL's Court Theatre for the press opening Saturday, March 23rd, so check back soon for my full review.

Court Theatre, under the leadership of Charles Newell, Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director, and Executive Director Angel Ysaguirre, continues its 2018/19 season with For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf by Ntozake Shange and directed by Seret Scott. For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf runs March 14 – April 14, 2019 at Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave.

A sisterhood of eight women tell their stories through dramatic prose poetry, music, and movement. Told in vivid language, their experiences resound with fearless beauty and unity, despite exposing the unending challenges and oppressions that women of color face every day.

Director Seret Scott (Native Son) returns to playwright Ntozake Shange’s cherished work after performing as a member of the original Broadway cast from 1976-1978. She will inspire new audiences with this series of stories that still resonate profoundly forty years later.

"When we selected Ntozake Shange's For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf for our season, we knew it was cherished. We’ve come to understand this depth of feeling even more clearly as we’ve heard from our patrons over the past months. With this production, it seems we’re offering something that actually belongs to our community. We are so thrilled to be sharing Shange's powerful words in a city and at a moment when its messages of hope, resilience, and empowerment are needed more than ever,” notes Charles Newell, Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director.

The cast of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf includes Melody Angel, Melanie Brezill, Leah Casey, Melissa DuPrey, Angelica Katie, Patrese D. McClain, Alexis J. Roston, and AnJi White.

The creative team of For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf includes Samantha C. Jones (costume design), Paul Toben (lighting design), Andre Pluess (sound design), Melody Angel (additional music), Leah Casey (choreography), and Gabrielle Randle (production dramaturg).

About the Artists
SERET SCOTT (Director) directed Spunk, Native Son and Electra at Court Theatre. Directing credits: Old Globe Theatre (San Diego–Associate Artist), Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Denver Center Theatre Company, New Victory Theatre, and Second Stage Theatre (Off-Broadway), Philadelphia Theatre Company, Arena Stage, Ford’s Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company and Studio Theatre (DC), American Conservatory Theatre (San Francisco), South Coast Repertory and L.A. Theatreworks (CA), Long Wharf Theatre and Yale Repertory Theatre (New Haven), Two River Theatre Company (NJ), Hartford Stage (CT), Indiana Repertory Theatre, Pan Asian Repertory Theatre and National Black Theatre (NYC), Alliance Theatre (Atlanta), Alley Theatre (Houston), Actors Theatre of Louisville, Virginia Stage Company, New Mexico Repertory, and Playmakers Repertory Company (NC). She is a member of the executive board of the Stage Directors and Choreographer’s Society and a recipient of a TCG/PEW Residency Grant (Long Wharf Theatre) and Drama Desk Award in acting (My Sister, My Sister). Ms. Scott’s play Second Line was produced by Passage Theatre (NJ) and Tribute Productions (DC).

MELODY ANGEL (Lyric/Additional Music) was recently named one of 2018’s HOT New Faces of Chicago Theatre by Chris Jones at the Chicago Tribune. She made her theatre debut at Goodman Theatre in the highly rated production of Father Comes Home From the Wars by Pulitzer Prize-winner Suzan-Lori Parks. Melody’s performance led her to star in the short film Knockout by Alley Cake Films, for the 48 Hour Film Project (Chicago). This short film went on to win best film, and will now be a part of the International Film Festival Filmapalooza 2019. Melody Angel is also a singer/songwriter/guitarist, who has performed all over the world with her “Blues-Rock-Soul.”

MELANIE BREZILL (Lady in Yellow) returns to Court Theatre. Previous Court Theatre credits include Man in the Ring and Caroline, or Change, for which she received a Jeff Nomination. Broadway and National Tour Credits: The Book of Mormon and Mamma Mia! Regional Credits: Nina Simone: Four Women (Northlight Theatre); Little Shop of Horrors, Aida (Drury Lane Oakbrook Theatre); Crowns, A Christmas Carol (Goodman Theatre); Last Stop on Market Street, My Wonderful Birthday Suit, and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (Chicago Children’s Theatre); The MLK Project (Writers Theatre); Yeast Nation (American Theater Company); Living Green (Victory Gardens Theater); Once on this Island (Porchlight Music Theatre); and Seussical, Willy Wonka (Chicago Shakespeare Theater). TV Credits: Empire. Melanie is the creator and producer of The Grandmother Project, an original docu-series featured on YouTube and Vimeo.

LEAH CASEY (Lady in Purple/Choreographer) is a Chicago-based performer. She was most recently seen on Court Theatre’s stage in Manual Cinema’s Frankenstein as Mary Wollstonecraft, Percy Shelley, and Caroline Frankenstein. Some of her previous credits include Romeo and Juliet with Teatro Vista, and STORM with Walkabout/Moonfool. When not onstage, Leah can be found behind the mic narrating audiobooks, or working with the cast of Project STELLAR, a science fiction podcast.

MELISSA DUPREY (Lady in Blue) is an actor, stand-up comic, activist, playwright, and musician from Humboldt Park, Chicago. She has 3 critically acclaimed solo shows with two more in development. Her play Brujuja is an official selection of 16th Street’s 2019 Pop Up Reading Series. She was a new talent for the 2014 ABC Diversity Showcase in NYC. She is featured in the Emmy-nominated web series, “Brown Girls,” in development with HBO. She has multiple credits in TV and Film. She has been seen at The Goodman, Steppenwolf, Victory Gardens, Free Street Theater, and is honored to be making her Court Theatre debut. She is an Ensemble Member at Urban Theater Company, and the Director of Production and Community Relations at Free Street Theater.

ANGELICA KATIE (Lady in Green) After receiving her degree in Theatre Performance from Bradley University, Angelica has spent her acting career in LA, NYC, and at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Williamstown, MA. She was most recently seen off-Broadway in the premiere of The Parlour at The Rattlestick Theatre in NYC. Angelica is making her Chicago debut in the city where she was born and raised.

PATRESE D. MCCLAIN (Lady in Brown) returns to Court Theatre where she previously appeared in: Tartuffe, The Misanthrope, and Spunk. Additional theatre credits: The Mountaintop, Skeleton Crew (People’s Light and Theatre Co.), Skeleton Crew (Actors Theatre of Louisville); Hang (Remy Bumppo); Bright Half Life (About Face); SS! Romeo and Juliet(Chicago Shakespeare Theater); Cocked (Victory Gardens); Things You Shouldn’t Say Past Midnight (Windy City Playhouse); White Guy on the Bus (Northlight). Regional Theatre: Two Trains Running (GEVA Theatre Center); Crumbs From The Table Of Joy (Mustard Seed), Romeo and Juliet, Pericles, For Colored Girls, No Child… (Black Rep). Recent Film/Television: NBC Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, USA Sirens, ABC Detroit 1-8-7, WIDOWS (directed by Steve McQueen), and CAPTIVE STATE (Directed by Rupert Wyatt). Recognitions include: Barrymore Winner for Outstanding Leading Actress (Mountaintop), Barrymore Nomination for Outstanding Leading Actor (Skeleton Crew), Jeff Nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress (White Guy on the Bus and Spunk), and St. Louis Circle Theatre Award for Best Actress (No Child…). Training: MFA Pennsylvania State University, BFA Howard University.

ALEXIS J. ROSTON (Lady in Orange) has been deemed a seasoned triple threat. Her list of accomplishments in musical theatre aren’t simply on stage. She has directed as well as arranged vocals for several productions throughout the Chicagoland area. She most recently directed a well-received Aurin Squire piece, Defacing Michael Jackson (BTAA nomination for Best Direction of an Ensemble), for Flying Elephants Productions. Alexis is an award winner (Jeff Award, Black Excellence Award, Black Theatre Alliance Award) for her performance as Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill (Porchlight Music Theatre). Other Chicago credits include: Jesus Christ Superstar, Hair (Paramount Theatre); Ain’t Misbehavin’, Crowns (Goodman Theatre); Porgy and Bess, Spunk, The Piano Lesson (Court Theatre); Shrek (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre); What I Learned in Paris, Black Nativity, Seven Guitars (Congo Square Theatre Company); and Company, The Old Settler (Writers Theatre). Her TV credits include The Chi, Chicago PD, Chicago Code, and a national commercial for Land O’Frost lunch meat. Alexis is a proud ensemble member of Congo Square Theatre Company, as well as a member of Actor’s Equity and SAG-AFTRA. She is represented by Paonessa Talent Agency.

ANJI WHITE (Lady in Red) Theatre credits include: TimeLine Theatre’s The Last Wife (US Premiere), the critically acclaimed Chicago premiere; Sunset Baby (Equity Jeff nomination-Best Actress, Black Excellence Awards nomination, Black Theatre Alliance Award-Best Actress); and Pulse Theatre’s Fabulations, or the Re-education of Undine Barnes (Black Theatre Alliance nomination-Best Ensemble). She originated the role of Regina “G” Whitnall in TimeLine Theatre’s To Catch A Fish, and was in American Theatre Company’s docudrama of The Project(s) (Black Theatre Alliance Award-Best Ensemble), and more. TV/Film credits: The Chi (Showtime), Empire (FOX), Chicago PD (NBC), and Home for the Weekend pilot (Comedy Central).

beyond the rainbow: Court Community Conversations
In conjunction with the play, Court will be hosting a series of community-focused events to engage new audiences with this classic from the African American canon.

beyond the rainbow: Court Community Conversations features a number of exciting opportunities for audiences to engage further with the central themes of the play. Planned events include a reading of Boogie Woogie Landscapes, another work by seminal playwright Ntozake Shange, as part of Court’s Spotlight Reading Series, on March 8 at 6:30pm at Experimental Station in Woodlawn. beyond the rainbow will also feature a number of post-performance conversations, panel discussions, and a night of poetry and storytelling open to the community.

Tickets, priced $50-$74 ($38-$52 for previews), are available at the Court Theatre box office (5535 S. Ellis Avenue, Chicago), by calling (773) 753-4472, or online at www.CourtTheatre.org.


Dates:
Previews: March 14 – 22, 2019
Press Opening: Saturday, March 23, 2019 at 7:30pm
Regular Run: March 24 – April 14, 2019

Schedule:     
Wednesdays: 7:30 p.m.
Thursdays: 7:30 p.m.
Fridays: 7:30 p.m.                         
Saturdays: 2:00 p.m. (except March 23) and 7:30 p.m.
Sundays: 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Location: Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave.

Tickets:
$38-$52 previews
$50-$74 regular run

Box Office: Located at 5535 S. Ellis Avenue, Chicago; (773) 753-4472 or www.CourtTheatre.org.

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf’s lead sponsor is Poetry Foundation, with additional support from The Sidley Austin Foundation.



Court Theatre’s 2018/19 season is dedicated to Court’s late Executive Director, Stephen J. Albert.

Court Theatre is the professional theatre of the University of Chicago, dedicated to innovation, inquiry, intellectual engagement, and community service. Functioning as the University’s Center for Classic Theatre, Court and its artists mount theatrical productions and audience enrichment programs in collaboration with faculty. These collaborations enable a re-examination of classic texts that pose the enduring and provocative questions that define the human experience. Court endeavors to make a lasting contribution to classic American theatre by expanding the canon of translations, adaptations, and classic texts. The theatre revives lost masterpieces; illuminates familiar texts; explores the African American theatrical canon; and discovers fresh, modern classics. Court engages and inspires its audience by providing artistically distinguished productions, audience enrichment activities, and student educational experiences.

OPENING: Radio Golf at Court Theatre Through September 30, 2018

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar

Court Theatre opens 64th Season with

August Wilson’s

Radio Golf

Directed by Resident Artist Ron OJ Parson

Featuring James T. Alfred, Allen Gilmore, Ann Joseph,

James Vincent Meredith, and Alfred H. Wilson

August 30 – September 30, 2018

I'll be out for the press opening on September 8th, reviewing for ChiILLiveShows.com. Check back shortly after for my full review. Although August Wilson is not one of my favorites, as playwrights go, I do enjoy the directing prowess of Ron OJ Parson. I also appreciate that Radio Golf is the tenth and final play in August Wilson’s American Century Cycle, and director Ron OJ Parson’s seventh production in the cycle at Court Theatre. What a rare treat for Chicago theatre lovers to be able to see the cycle in its entirety. 

Court Theatre, under the continuing leadership of Charles Newell, Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director, and Executive Director Angel Ysaguirre, opens its 2018/19 season with August Wilson’s Radio Golf, directed by Resident Artist Ron OJ Parson. Radio Golf runs August 30 – September 30, 2018 at Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave. 

Real estate developer Harmond Wilks is determined to become the first black mayor of Pittsburgh, on a mission to revive his blighted childhood neighborhood. As Wilks confronts characters from the past, he is forced to question how pursuing change could put his neighborhood’s history at risk. 

The cast includes James T. Alfred (Sterling Johnson), Allen Gilmore (Harmond Wilks), Ann Joseph (Mame Wilks), James Vincent Meredith (Roosevelt Hicks) and Alfred H. Wilson (Elder Joseph Barlow).  

The creative team includes Jack Magaw (scenic design), Rachel Anne Healy (costume design), Claire Chrzan (lighting design) and Christopher M. LaPorte (sound design).

Tickets, priced $50-$74 ($38-$56 for previews) are available at the Court Theatre box office (5535 S. Ellis Avenue, Chicago), by calling (773) 753-4472, or online at www.CourtTheatre.org.  

Three, four, and five-play subscriptions to Court’s 2018/19 season range from $96 to $300 and are on sale now. To purchase a subscription or to receive more information, call the Court Theatre Box Office at (773) 753-4472, or visit Court’s website at www.CourtTheatre.org. 



About the Artists

AUGUST WILSON (Playwright,1945–2005) authored Radio Golf, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Piano Lesson, Seven Guitars, Fences, Two Trains Running, Jitney, King Hedley II, and Gem of the Ocean. These works explore the heritage and experience of African Americans, decade-by-decade, over the course of the twentieth century. His plays have been produced at regional theatres across the country and all over the world, as well as on Broadway. In 2003, Mr. Wilson made his professional stage debut in his one-man show, How I Learned What I Learned. Mr. Wilson’s works garnered many awards including Pulitzer Prizes for Fences (1987) and for The Piano Lesson (1990); a Tony Award for Fences; Great Britain’s Olivier Award for Jitney; as well as seven New York Drama Critics Circle Awards for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Fences, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, The Piano Lesson, Two Trains Running, Seven Guitars, Jitney, and Radio Golf. Additionally, the cast recording of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom received a 1985 Grammy Award, and Mr. Wilson received a 1995 Emmy Award nomination for his screenplay adaptation of The Piano Lesson. Mr. Wilson’s early works included the one-act plays The Janitor, Recycle, The Coldest Day of the Year, Malcolm X, The Homecoming, and the musical satire Black Bart and the Sacred Hills. Mr. Wilson received many fellowships and awards, including Rockefeller and Guggenheim Fellowships in Playwriting, the Whiting Writers Award, the 2003 Heinz Award, a 1999 National Humanities Medal, and numerous honorary degrees from colleges and universities, as well as the only high school diploma ever issued by the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh. He was an alumnus of New Dramatists, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a 1995 inductee into the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and on October 16, 2005, Broadway renamed the theatre located at 245 West 52nd Street—The August Wilson Theatre. Additionally, Mr. Wilson was posthumously inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame in 2007. Mr. Wilson was born and raised in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and lived in Seattle, Washington at the time of his death. He is immediately survived by his two daughters, Sakina Ansari and Azula Carmen Wilson, and his wife, costume designer Constanza Romero.

Ron oj Parson (Director) hails from Buffalo, New York and is a graduate of the University of Michigan’s Professional Theatre Program. Ron is a Resident Artist at Court Theatre, the co-founder and former Artistic Director of The Onyx Theatre Ensemble, a company member of TimeLine Theatre, and associate artist at Writers and Teatro Vista. In Chicagoland, Ron has also worked with Black Ensemble Theatre, eta Creative Arts Foundation, Chicago Dramatists, Congo Square, Oak Park Theatre Festival, Goodman, Victory Gardens, Northlight, Chicago Dramatists, Urban Theater Company, Steppenwolf, and City Lit Theatre. Regional theatres include American Players Theatre, Virginia Stage Company, Portland Stage (Maine), Studio Arena Theatre, Roundabout, Studio Theatre (DC), Baltimore Center Stage, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Wilshire Theater, Coronet Theatre, The Mechanic Theatre, Milwaukee Rep, St. Louis Black Rep, Pittsburgh Public Theater, Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre, Geva, Signature (New York), The Alliance Theatre, South Coast Rep, Kansas City Repertory, and Pasadena Playhouse. In Canada, Ron directed the world premiere of Palmer Park at the Stratford Festival. He is a member of SAG-AFTRA, SDC, and Actors Equity. Ron dedicates this production to the memory of Claude Purdy and Steve Albert. Visit www.ronojparson.com.


James t. alfred (Sterling Johnson) is a native of Chicago, from the nearby Woodlawn community. He was last seen at Court Theatre as Levee Green in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. Other Chicago Credits include Head of Passes (World Premiere), Hushabye (World Premiere) and The Glass Menagerie at Steppenwolf Theatre; Brothers of the Dust (world premier) at Congo Square Theatre; SOST at MPAACT; Sundown Names at Chicago Theatre Company; A Brown Tale at Beverly Arts Center; Conversations on a Dirt Road, and Killing Me Softly at ETA Theatre. Regional theatre credits include: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Mountain Top at Guthrie Theatre; Two Trains Running, Redshirts, Jitney, Detroit ‘67 and A Brown Tale (World Premier) at Penumbra Theatre; Clybourne Park at Milwaukee Rep; April 4, 1968 at Indiana Rep; Fences at Denver Center; New York Theatre credits: Blood at National Black Theatre of Harlem; All’s Well that Ends Well at New York Public Theatre and Pipeline at Lincoln Center. Television credits include: Fox’s Empire and Prison Break, NBC’s Chicago PD and The Blacklist, and Starz’s Boss. James is a proud company member of Penumbra Theatre Company. He is a graduate of the Institute for Advanced Theatre Training and holds an M.F.A in acting from the Moscow Art Theatre School.

allen gilmore (Harmond Wilks) has appeared at Court Theatre in Man in the Ring, Scapin, Cyrano, Endgame, Sizwe Banzi Is Dead, Jitney, The Misanthrope, Tartuffe, Seven Guitars, Waiting for Godot, The Good Book, and One Man, Two Guvnors. Other Chicago performances: Joe Turner’s Come and Gone and The African Company Presents Richard the Third (Congo Square); Argonautika and Arabian Nights (Lookingglass); Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead and Buried Child (Writers Theatre); Love’s Labor’s Lost (Chicago Shakespeare); The Matchmaker, Yasmina’s Necklace, An Enemy of the People, Objects in the Mirror, and three seasons as Scrooge (Alt.) in A Christmas Carol (Goodman). Originally from Houston, he is a U.S. Army Infantry veteran, a 2015 3Arts Award winner, a 2015 Lunt-Fontanne fellow, and a proud ensemble member of Congo Square. Allen dedicates his work in Radio Golf to his father, Gerald A. Gilmore Sr, and to the memory of his friend, Steve Albert.

ann joseph (Mame Wilks) is pleased to make her first appearance at the Court Theatre with Radio Golf. Ann is a founding ensemble member of Congo Square Theatre Company where she appeared in The Piano Lesson, Playboy of The West Indies, Stick Fly, From the Mississippi Delta, Seven Guitars (Jeff Award for Best Ensemble) and Elmina’s Kitchen. Other credits include: I Never Sang for My Father, Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Wedding Band, and Time of Your Life at Steppenwolf; Class Dismissed, Lost Boys of the Sudan, Wheatley, and Living Green at Victory Gardens Theatre; Doubt at Writers Theatre, and A Christmas Carol at Goodman Theatre. Regionally, Ann has worked at American Players Theatre, Milwaukee Rep, and Madison Repertory Theatre.  Film and television credits include Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, Early Edition, Hunter, and, more recently, the web series Becky’s World.

james vincent meredith (Roosevelt Hicks) made his Court Theatre debut in Blues for an Alabama Sky. Broadway: Superior Donuts. National Tour: three years as Mafala Hatimbi with Book of Mormon. Chicago credits: The Crucible, Carter’s Way, The Tempest, Clybourne Park, The Pain and The Itch, Superior Donuts, The Hot L Baltimore, The March, and Between Riverside and Crazy (Steppenwolf, ensemble member); Othello, Much Ado About Nothing, King John, Julius Caesar, The Merchant of Venice, and Measure for Measure (Chicago Shakespeare); Othello and The Duchess of Malfi (Writers); and Roz and Ray (Victory Gardens). TV credits: Prison Break, Chicago Code, Detroit 187, ER, BOSS, The Beast, Betrayal, Mob Doctor, Law and Order: SVU, The Exorcist, and Chicago Justice.

alfred h. wilson (Elder Joseph Barlow) has appeared at Court Theatre in Agamemnon, Gem of the Ocean, Waiting for Godot, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and The Piano Lesson. Other credits include Holloway in Two Trains Running (Goodman Theatre); Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (University of Wisconsin–Madison); The Exonerated (Next Act Theatre); Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Actor’s Theatre of Louisville and Milwaukee Rep); The Etiquette of Vigilance (Steppenwolf); Two Trains Running (Geva Theatre); “Master Harold”…and the Boys (TimeLine); Gem of the Ocean and Radio Golf (Ensemble Theatre of Cincinnati);  Radio Golf (Pittsburgh Public Theatre); Bourbon at the Border (Eclipse Theatre); Jitney and Two Trains Running (Jeff Citation–Best Actor, Pegasus Players); and Panther Burn (MPAACT. He was a co-founder of Onyx Theatre Ensemble.

Dates:
Previews: August 30 – September 7, 2018


Press Opening: Saturday, September 8, 2018 at 7:30pm
Regular Run:  September 9 – 30, 2018

Schedule:
Wed/Thurs/Fri:7:30 p.m.
Sat/Sun: 2:00 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.

Location: Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave.

Tickets: $38-$56 previews
$50-$74 regular run

Box Office: Located at 5535 S. Ellis Avenue, Chicago; (773) 753-4472 or www.CourtTheatre.org.

Parking: Free parking is available in the parking garage on the corner of 55th Street and Ellis Avenue. 

Radio Golf is sponsored by Allstate Insurance Company and The Joyce Foundation.



Court Theatre is guided by its mission to discover the power of classic theatre. Court endeavors to make a lasting contribution to American theatre by expanding the canon of translations, adaptations, and classic texts. Court revives lost masterpieces, illuminates familiar texts, and distinguishes fresh, modern classics. Court engages and inspires its audience by providing artistically distinguished productions, audience enrichment activities, and student educational experiences.

SAVE THE DATES: COURT THEATRE ANNOUNCES 64th SEASON

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

Season includes Radio Golf by August Wilson, directed by Resident Artist Ron OJ Parson; the World Premiere of Frankenstein by Manual Cinema, adapted from the novel by Mary Shelley; Photograph 51 by Anna Ziegler, directed by Vanessa Stalling; For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf by Ntozake Shange, directed by Seret Scott; and the World Premiere of The Adventures of Augie March, a play by David Auburn, based on the novel by Saul Bellow, directed by Charles Newell

Court Theatre is a long time favorite of ours here at ChiIL Mama & ChiIL Live Shows. They have some of the longest history and staying power in town, with an impressive 63 seasons under their belts. Court chooses a vast array of productions as well, in genres from classics to world premieres. This season looks to be no exception. One of our favorite directors, resident Artist Ron OJ Parson, will be back again, directing the season opener, the tenth play in August Wilson’s Pittsburgh Cycle, likened to the Detroit trilogy Parson just completed directing for Northlight and Timeline. We're also fond of internationally-renowned multimedia company, Manual Cinema's unique, storytelling style and we're eager to catch their world premiere take on Mary Shelley's classic, Frankenstein. Vanessa Stalling is another Chicago director we adore and we can't wait to see Photograph 51. The season finishes strong with female and minority voices in For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf, directed by original Broadway cast member Seret Scott, and a world premiere Saul Bellow novel adaptation directed by Charles Newell. Save the dates!

Court Theatre, under the continuing leadership of Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director Charles Newell, announces its 64th season. The company’s 2018/19 season will feature the tenth play in August Wilson’s Pittsburgh Cycle, Radio Golf, directed by Resident Artist Ron OJ Parson; the World Premiere of an immersive take on the thrilling gothic tale Frankenstein by Manual Cinema, adapted from the novel by Mary Shelley; the story of an often-overlooked scientific revolutionary in Photograph 51 by Anna Ziegler, directed by Vanessa Stalling; powerful stories from a sisterhood of women in For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf by Ntozake Shange, directed by original Broadway cast member Seret Scott; and the World Premiere of the epic coming-of-age story The Adventures of Augie March, adapted by David Auburn from the novel by Saul Bellow, directed by Charles Newell.


"Court Theatre is thrilled to announce a season of classics that builds upon our history of artistic innovation and collaboration," says Charles Newell, Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director. "This ambitious collection of new and beloved plays is steeped in a rich storytelling history: a world premiere adaptation of a quintessential American novel, a celebration of a brilliant yet often overlooked female scientist, and the tenth installment of August Wilson's seminal Pittsburgh Cycle are just some of the powerful stories that we’re excited to share with our audiences."

Court Theatre’s 2018/19 season is dedicated to Court’s late Executive Director, Stephen J. Albert.

The 2017/18 Court Theatre Season up close:



Radio Golf

August 30 – September 30, 2018
By August Wilson
Directed by Ron OJ Parson
Press Opening: September 8, 2018 at 7:30pm

Real estate developer Harmond Wilks is determined to become the first black mayor of Pittsburgh, on a mission to revive his blighted childhood neighborhood. As Wilks confronts characters from the past, he is forced to question how pursuing change could put his neighborhood’s history at risk.

Radio Golf is the tenth and final play in August Wilson’s Pittsburgh Cycle, and director Ron OJ Parson’s seventh production in the cycle at Court Theatre. Actors Tyla Abercrumbie (Mame), Allen Gilmore (Harmond), James Vincent Meredith (Roosevelt) and Alfred H. Wilson (Old Joe) return to the Court stage.




Court Theatre presents the World Premiere of Frankenstein

November 1 - December 2, 2018
By Manual Cinema
Adapted from the novel by Mary Shelley
Concept by Drew Dir
Devised by Drew Dir, Sarah Fornace, and Julia Miller
Original music by Kyle Vegter and Ben Kauffman
Press Opening: November 10, 2018 at 7:30pm

Love, loss, and creation merge in unexpected ways in this thrilling classic gothic tale conceived by Manual Cinema. Stories of Mary Shelley, Victor Frankenstein, and his Monster expose how the forces of family, community, and education shape personhood—or destroy it by their absence.

In a special world premiere presentation, internationally-renowned multimedia company Manual Cinema stitches together the classic story of Frankenstein with Mary Shelley’s own biography to create an unexpected story about the beauty and horror of creation. Manual Cinema combines handmade shadow puppetry, cinematic techniques, and innovative sound and music to create immersive visual stories for stage and screen. Manual Cinema is a performance collective and film production company, founded in part by former Court dramaturg Drew Dir.

 

Photograph 51

January 17 – February 17, 2019
By Anna Ziegler
Directed by Vanessa Stalling
Press Opening: January 26, 2019 at 7:30pm

History may well remember the work of Watson and Crick that shaped biology, but it was British chemist Rosalind Franklin who provided the key to the double helix DNA discovery. Photograph 51 shares the complex story of an ambitious female scientist in a world of men, her pursuit for the secret of life, and her forgotten accomplishments.

Photograph 51 features Chaon Cross as Rosalind Franklin.

As the Center for Classic Theatre, Court will invite collaborations with scientific experts at the University of Chicago as partners for Photograph 51, to utilize the intellectual resources unique to Court Theatre.

 

For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow is Enuf

March 14 – April 14, 2019
By Ntozake Shange
Directed by Seret Scott
Press Opening: March 23, 2019 at 7:30pm

A sisterhood of seven women tell their stories through dramatic prose poetry, music, and movement. Told in vivid language, their experiences resound with fearless beauty and unity, despite exposing the unending challenges and oppressions that women of color face every day.

 Director Seret Scott returns to this cherished work after performing as a member of the original Broadway cast from 1976-1978. She will inspire new audiences with this series of stories that still resonate profoundly forty years later.


 

The World Premiere of
The Adventures of Augie March

Mary 9 – June 9, 2019
A play by David Auburn, based on the novel by Saul Bellow
Directed by Charles Newell, Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director
Press Opening: May 18, 2019 at 7:30pm

Young Augie March is a product of the Great Depression: plucky, resourceful, searching for love, and striving to grow up and away from home. Through odd jobs and encounters with unique characters, Augie explores what it takes to succeed in the world as a true individual.

A novel originally written by a Nobel Prize-winner and adapted for the stage by a Pulitzer winner, The Adventures of Augie March is an epic coming-of-age story that bridges continents and stages of life, exuding the endearing confidence of a boy taking in a complex world.

Subscription Information
Three, four and five-play subscriptions to Court’s 2018/19 season range from $96 to $300 and are on sale now. To purchase a subscription or to receive more information, call the Court Theatre Box Office at (773) 753-4472, or visit Court’s website at www.CourtTheatre.org. Individual tickets for all shows will be available in Summer 2018.



Court Theatre is guided by its mission to discover the power of classic theatre. Court endeavors to make a lasting contribution to American theatre by expanding the canon of translations, adaptations, and classic texts. Court revives lost masterpieces, illuminates familiar texts, and distinguishes fresh, modern classics. Court engages and inspires its audience by providing artistically distinguished productions, audience enrichment activities, and student educational experiences.