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Showing posts with label AFT. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AFT. Show all posts

Tuesday, January 23, 2024

The Midwest Premiere of The Brightest Thing in the World Via About Face Theatre March 14-April 13, 2024

 ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar

About Face Theatre to produce

the Midwest premiere of 

The Brightest Thing in the World

directed by Keira Fromm

March 14-April 13, 2024 

About Face Theatre continues its 29th season with the Midwest premiere of The Brightest Thing in the World by Leah Nanako Winkler, directed by AFT Artistic Associate Keira Fromm. The show will run March 14 through April 13, 2024, at The Den Theatre. The Brightest Thing in the World starts as a bubbling romantic comedy between barista Lane and her regular Steph, charting their growing relationship as they encounter real-world challenges like teen pregnancy, parenting, and addiction. This play is a celebration of love, family, and the people in our lives who shine the brightest.


THE BRIGHTEST THING IN THE WORLD

Written by Leah Nanako Winkler

Directed by AFT Artistic Associate Keira Fromm


March 14 – April 13, 2024 | Press opening: Friday, March 22

All performances will take place at The Den Theatre, 1331 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago

Showtimes: Thurs and Fri at 8:00pm, Sat at 3:00pm and 8:00pm, Sun at 3:00pm

Please note: There is no matinee performance on Saturday, March 16

Open Captioning performances: Dates TBD.

Masks Required performances: Saturday matinees on March 30 and April 6 will require every attendee to wear a mask.

Pay-what-you-can tickets ($5 – $35) on sale now at The Den Theatre box office or About Face Theatre’s website.

 

TICKETS

Tickets are on sale now online at AboutFaceTheatre.com, by calling 773.697.3830, or in-person at The Den Theatre box office. Ticket prices range from $5 to $35. 

AFT offers a ticket pricing system that allows each patron to decide the price that they can comfortably afford to pay for a ticket. Ultimately, About Face wants everyone who wants to attend a show to be able to do so. Please note: there are limited quantities available at each pricing level.

THE PLAY

Charmingly free-spirited barista Lane is determined to win over her new regular, the reserved and intellectual Steph. Delightful romantic comedy ensues with poetry, homemade desserts, and sparks flying. But both women are carrying life-changing secrets involving addiction, past relationships, and family. What happens when the giddy romance wears off and Lane and Steph must do the work of building a lasting relationship out of honesty, compassion, and courage? The Brightest Thing in the World is a funny, heartfelt new play delving into the people we think we know and the people we know we love.

“I love Leah Nanako Winkler’s use of language and the smart, messy, recognizable women at the center of the story,” says director Keira Fromm. “She has created a play that manages to be both a funny queer rom-com and a devastating portrait of addiction and the ways we’re all constantly in a state of recovery.”

The Brightest Thing in the World was commissioned by Yale Repertory Theatre in 2019, where it received its world premiere in 2022.

 

CAST

Blakewell (Della)

Claire Kaplan (Lane)

Jojo Brown (Steph)

 

PRODUCTION TEAM

Dramaturg, Casting Director        Catherine Miller

Choreographer                              Jenn Freeman

Intimacy & Violence Designer     Sheryl Williams

Assistant Director                         Aimy Tien

Scenic Designer                           Sotirios Livaditis

Lighting Designer                         Conchita Avitia

Sound Designer                           Christopher Kriz

Costume Designer                       Gregory Graham

Properties Designer                     Amanda Herrmann

Technical Director                        Becca Venable

Stage Manager                            Jean Compton

Assistant Stage Manager            B Valek

Production Manager                    Audrey Kleine


Keira Fromm (she/her): director

Keira is a Chicago-based, Jeff-award nominated director. She is also an Artistic Associate with About Face Theatre where she directed Bull in a China Shop, Significant Other, Bright Half Life, and A Kid Like Jake. Other directing credits include: Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (Milwaukee Chamber Theatre), The Moors, A Phoenix Too Frequent, and A Doll’s House (American Players Theatre), The Last Match (Writers Theatre); At the Wedding and Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley (TheatreSquared); Top Girls and hang (Remy Bumppo); The Columnist (American Blues Theater); Charles Ives Take Me Home (Strawdog); The How and the Why (TimeLine Theatre); Broadsword (The Gift Theatre); and Fallow (Steep Theatre.) She received her MFA from DePaul University, her BFA from Boston University, is an alumna of Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, and a member of SDC, the professional directors union. Keira will be directing The Liar at American Players Theatre this upcoming summer. www.keirafromm.com

Cyd Blakewell (she/her): “Della”

Cyd was most recently seen in Northlight Theatre’s Birthday Candles. She is a proud ensemble member of The Gift Theatre. Gift Theatre credits: The Locusts, Pillowman, Doubt, A Life Extra Ordinary, Good For Otto, Body + Blood, Broadsword, Mine, and TEN. Other Chicago credits: The Snare (Jackalope); Balm In Gilead and Port (Griffin); Buddy Cop 2, breaks & bikes, and Milk Milk Lemonade (Pavement Group); Sweet Confinement and Ivanov (SiNNERMAN Ensemble); Orange Flower Water (Interrobang); Lies & Liars and Mimesophobia (Theatre Seven); Rewind (The Side Project). Last summer she wrapped on a short film called Fairground and can also be seen in Jeri’s Grille. Next, you can see her in the World Premier of Obliterated by Andrew Hinderaker, co-starring Michael Patrick Thornton. Cyd got her BFA from Southwestern University in Georgetown, TX and is a graduate of the School at Steppenwolf. She is represented by Promote Talent Agency.

Jojo Brown (she/her): “Steph”

Jojo Brown is a stage and screen actor who was born and raised in Chicago. Off-Broadway credits include CHARM and 7 Minutes. Television credits include her recurring role as Mindy on Freeform's “Single Drunk Female” and appearances on NBC, Showtime, Comedy Central, FX, and Paramount Plus. 

Claire Kaplan (she/her): “Lane”

Claire is a theater-maker, actor, and teacher from Long Beach, CA. Regional credits include South Coast Rep, La Jolla Playhouse, and East West Players. Claire is co-artistic director of The West, an experimental theatre company formerly based in LA, now creating work in Chicago and Berlin. She is directing Theatre Unspeakable's touring show introducing Shakespeare to kids and is teaching devised theater at UIC. She recently helped create the musical world for Backroom Shakes' The Winter's Tale.

Leah Nanako Winkler (she/her): playwright

Leah Nanako Winkler is an award-winning playwright and TV writer from Kamakura, Japan, and Lexington, Kentucky. Her plays include God Said This, Two Mile Hollow, Kentucky, Hot Asian Doctor Husband, and The Brightest Thing in the World, as well as many short plays all produced Off-Broadway and regionally. Accolades and fellowships: Yale Drama Series Prize, Mark O’Donnell Prize from The Actors Fund and Playwrights Horizons, Audible’s Emerging Playwrights Fund, Jerome New York Fellow at the Lark, Francesca Primus Prize, and a 2020 Steinberg Playwright Award. She is published by American Theater Magazine, Nanjing University’s Stage and Screen Reviews, Yale University Press, Backstage, Smith and Krauss, Samuel French, and Dramatists Play Service. TV credits include Michael Moore’s TV NATION, New Amsterdam, A24’s Ramy on Hulu (where she along with the other writers won a Peabody Award), Love Life on HBO MAX, and currently on projects at Apple, Warner and Amazon.

ABOUT FACE THEATRE advances LGBTQ+ equity through community building, education, and performance. AFT envisions an affirming and equitable world in which all LGBTQ+ individuals are thriving and free from prejudice and discrimination. About Face Theatre is also dedicated to being an intentionally and increasingly anti-racist organization. Due to the intersectionality of our identities, we understand our work to advance LGBTQ+ equity as directly connected to movements for racial justice.

 


Thursday, January 17, 2019

ChiIL Mama's ChiIL Picks List: Adult Night Out About Face Theatre Presents DADA WOOF PAPA HOT Through February 16, 2019 at Theater Wit

ChiIL Mama's ChiIL Picks List: Adult Night Out
Chicago Premiere!
About Face Theatre Presents
DADA WOOF PAPA HOT

By Peter Parnell
Directed by AFT Artistic Associate Keira Fromm

Through February 16, 2019 at Theater Wit

Here at ChiIL Mama we know loving families come in many different configurations. Here in Chicago I personally have many gay friends who are raising their own or adopted kids and I have more friends currently looking to adopt. I've even had gay male friends father children for lesbian couples I know. If anything, these families are stronger and more stable than most of the straight families I know because most had to go above and beyond to create their chance to parent. I'm booked solid for most of February, but I'm trying to get over to Theater Wit to check this one out. AFT is a favorite of ours and I'm excited they're bringing the Chicago premiere of DADA WOOF PAPA HOT to the stage.




(left to right) Shane Kenyon and Bruch Thomas Reed in About Face Theatre’s Chicago premiere of DADA WOOF PAPA HOT. All Photos by Michael Brosilow.

About Face Theatre is pleased to continue its 2018-19 season with DADA WOOF PAPA HOT, a sexy comedy about gay parenting and modern families from Peter Parnell (The Cider House Rules), directed by Jeff Award-nominated AFT Artistic Associate Keira Fromm*. DADA WOOF PAPA HOT will play January 10 – February 16, 2019 at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago. Tickets are currently available at aboutfacetheatre.com, by calling (773) 975-8150 or in person at the Theater Wit Box Office. 

DADA WOOF PAPA HOT features AFT Artistic Associate Benjamin Sprunger* with Jos N. Banks, Shane Kenyon, Keith Kupferer, Lily Mojekwu, Bruch Thomas Reed and Rachel Sullivan.


(left to right) Bruch Thomas Reed, Keith Kupferer, Lily Mojekwu and Benjamin Sprunger 


(front) Bruch Thomas Reed with (back, l to r) Shane Kenyon, Jos N. Banks and Benjamin Sprunger 


This tender, funny and very timely play introduces two gay couples and a circle of friends trying to find their way in the fast-paced high stakes world of modern parenting. As friendships deepen, vulnerabilities get exposed and the foundations of family and relationships – gay and straight – get shaken. Now that marriage equality is the law of the land, what happens next? And what gets left behind?


Comments Artistic Director Megan Carney, “Peter Parnell’s work has long captivated audiences in Chicago and around the country and this is a hilarious, forthright and deeply revealing play. The journey of Dada Woof Papa Hot connects people across many different experiences in the struggle to balance the delights of autonomy and independence with the comforts of coupledom and family. I love Keira Fromm’s vision for the production to illuminate how social pressures and personal longing impact couples.”


(left to right) Bruch Thomas Reed and Benjamin Sprunger 

Adds Director Keira Fromm, “Dada Woof Papa Hot is a funny and moving play about the challenges of modern-day marriage and parenting. It’s also a play about how becoming a parent impacts one’s sense of identity and individuality. I love how the play reaches into contemporary married life and examines its difficulties for straight and gay people alike. The play takes place today in our post-marriage-equality moment where gay relationships and parenting have been normalized in our culture. The way it explores the unique problems that Alan and Rob (the central couple in the play) encounter while raising their young daughter in the wake of marriage equality makes for incredibly potent and compelling theater.”


DadaWoof-8 (left to right) Benjamin Sprunger and Lily Mojekwu in About Face Theatre’s Chicago premiere of DADA WOOF PAPA HOT. Photo by Michael Brosilow.



The production team for DADA WOOF PAPA HOT includes William Boles* (scenic designer), Noël Huntzinger (costume design), Claire Chrzan (lighting design), Christopher Kriz (sound design, music composition), Jamie Karas (properties design) and Catherine Allen (production manager).

*Denotes AFT Artistic Associate

This production is sponsored in part by a generous donation from Dr. Charles Rhee.

Cast (in alphabetical order): Jos N. Banks (Scott), Shane Kenyon (Jason), Keith Kupferer (Michael), Lily Mojekwu (Serena), Bruch Thomas Reed (Alan), Benjamin Sprunger* (Rob) and Rachel Sullivan (Julia).


(left to right) Benjamin Sprunger and Bruch Thomas Reed 



(left to right) Bruch Thomas Reed and Rachel Sullivan 

Location: Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago

Dates: Previews: Thursday, January 10 at 7:30 pm, Friday, January 11 at 7:30 pm, Saturday, January 12 at 7:30 pm, Sunday, January 13 at 3 pm and Wednesday, January 16 at 7:30 pm

Regular run: Friday, January 18 – Saturday, February 16, 2019.

Curtain Times: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm; Sundays at 3 pm. Please note: there will be an added performance on Saturday February 16, 2019 at 3 pm.

Tickets: Previews: $15. Regular run: $20 – $38. Discounts available for groups of 10 or more. Tickets are currently available at aboutfacetheatre.com, by calling (773) 975-8150 or in person at Theater Wit Box Office.


(left to right) Keith Kupferer and Lily Mojekwu in About Face Theatre’s Chicago premiere of DADA WOOF PAPA HOT. Photo by Michael Brosilow.

Artist Biographies
Peter Parnell’s (Playwright, he/him/his) plays, including Sorrows of Stephen, The Rise and Rise of Daniel Rocket, Romance Language, Hyde in Hollywood, Flaubert’s Latest and An Imaginary Life, have been produced by the Public Theater, Playwrights Horizons, the Mark Taper Forum, the Seattle Rep Theatre, the Old Globe and Center Stage in Baltimore, among others. His two-part stage adaptation of John Irving's The Cider House Rules won the American Theatre Critics Association Award, Ovation Awards, Joseph Jefferson Awards and Drama League nominations, and was produced at the Seattle Rep, the Taper, Trinity Repertory and the Atlantic Theatre Company in New York. His play QED was produced at the Taper and then on Broadway at Lincoln Center's Vivian Beaumont Theatre. For television, he was a co-producer for The West Wing (NBC; two Emmy Award Citations, two Humanitas Awards), producer for The Guardian (CBS, GLAAD episode nomination), and Inconceivable (NBC). He has written television pilots for ABC and Fox. He has served on the Literary Award Committee in Playwriting for PEN, and been the recipient of Guggenheim, Ingram Merrill, NEA and Fund for New American Plays grants. He has taught playwriting at Dartmouth and at the New School, and television writing in the Columbia University Film Division. His children’s book, And Tango Makes Three, co-authored with Justin Richardson, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2005, and is an ALA Notable Book, a Henry Bergh Award winner and was nominated for a LAMBDA Literary Award as best children’s book of the year.

Keira Fromm (Director, she/her/hers) is a Jeff Award-nominated director, casting director and teacher based in Chicago. Some favorite recent directing credits include: Bull in a China Shop (About Face Theatre), hang (Remy Bumppo), Significant Other (About Face Theatre), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Gynecologic Oncology Unit at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center of New York City (Route 66 Theatre Company), Bright Half Life (About Face Theatre), The Columnist (American Blues Theater), How the World Began (Rivendell Theatre Ensemble), A Kid Like Jake (About Face), Luce (Next Theatre), Charles Ives Take Me Home (Strawdog), The How and the Why (TimeLine Theatre), Broadsword (Gift Theatre) and Fallow (Steep Theatre). Keira is a proud Artistic Associate with About Face Theatre. She received her MFA from DePaul University, her BFA from Boston University, is an alumna of the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, and is a member of SDC, the professional directors union. Keira is a frequent guest director at DePaul, as well as Roosevelt University. She will be directing Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley at TheatreSquared in Northwest Arkansas this fall. 


About Face Theatre creates exceptional, innovative, and adventurous theatre and educational programming that advances the national dialogue on sexual and gender identity, and challenges and entertains audiences in Chicago and beyond.


(front, l to r) Jos N. Banks and Shane Kenyon with (back, l to r) Benjamin Sprunger and Bruch Thomas Reed

Monday, April 23, 2018

OPENING: Midwest Premiere of BULL IN A CHINA SHOP Via About Face Theatre at Theater Wit May 24 - July 1, 2018


Chi IL Live Shows On Our Radar:

About Face Theatre 
Announces Casting for Midwest Premiere of
BULL IN A CHINA SHOP
By Bryna Turner
Directed by AFT Artistic Associate Keira Fromm

May 24 – July 1, 2018 at Theater Wit


I'll be ChiILin' with Chi, IL's About Face Theatre for the press opening on May 31st, so check back soon for my full review. I've enjoyed Keira Fromm's directing talent on many recent productions and I'm eager to see AFT's take on this true feminist love story.

About Face Theatre is pleased to announce casting for its Midwest premiere of Bryna Turner’s comedy BULL IN A CHINA SHOP, based on the true story of revolutionary academics and lovers Mary Woolley and Jeanette Marks. 

BULL IN A CHINA SHOP will feature AFT Artistic Associate Kelli Simpkins* with Aurora Adichi-Winter, Adithi Chandrashekar, Mary Beth Fisher and Emjoy Gavino.

Directed by AFT Artistic Associate Keira Fromm*, BULL IN A CHINA SHOP will play May 24 – June 30, 2018 at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago. Tickets now on sale at aboutfacetheatre.com by calling (773) 975-8150 or in person at the Theater Wit Box Office. 

BULL IN A CHINA SHOP explores the fascinating lives of Mary Woolley and her partner, Jeanette Marks, two brilliant women who reimagined and revolutionized women's education at the turn of the twentieth century. This fast-moving feminist comedy chronicles the growth of the women's suffrage movement, as well as Mary and Jeanette's romantic relationship. It examines the strength it takes to find your voice, be brave and find yourself less at odds with the world.

“As a queer female director, I'm always excited by plays with gay narratives,” comments director Keira Fromm. “Plays that deal specifically with gay female stories aren't terribly common, so when I came across Bryna Turner's radical play, I was immediately taken with it. Bryna is an incredibly smart and savvy playwright. She has a way of writing words and characters that live in both the past and the present simultaneously. The play honors the past and present so beautifully. Mary and Jeanette's struggle to reform women's education and advocate for the suffrage movement echoes the fights that women still wage today – whether that fight be for equal pay, fair representation or for the protection of women's health initiatives. Ultimately the play is a unique meditation on bravery.”


The cast of About Face Theatre’s Midwest premiere of BULL IN A CHINA SHOP includes (top, l to r) Kelli Simpkins, Aurora Adichi-Winter, Adithi Chandrashekar (bottom, l to r) Mary Beth Fisher and Emjoy Gavino.


The production team for BULL IN A CHINA SHOP includes William Boles (scenic design), Mieka Van Der Ploeg* (costume design), Claire Chrzan (lighting design), Eric Backus (sound design), Jamie Karas (properties design), Helen Lattyak (production stage manager), Andrea Enger (asst. stage manager) and Catherine Allen (production manager).

*Denotes AFT Artistic Associate

Location: Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave., Chicago
Dates: Previews: Thursday May 24 at 7:30 pm, Friday May 25 at 7:30 pm, Saturday May 26 at 7:30 pm, Sunday May 27 at 3 pm and Wednesday May 30 at 7:30 pm.

Regular run: Friday, June 1 – Saturday, June 30, 2018
Curtain Times: Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm; Sundays at 3 pm. 

Tickets: Previews: $15. Regular run: $20-$38. Discounts available for groups of 10 or more. Tickets now on sale at aboutfacetheatre.com, by calling (773) 975-8150 or in person at Theater Wit Box Office.

Artist Biographies
Bryna Turner (Playwright) is a Brooklyn-based playwright originally from Northern California. Her play Bull in a China Shop recently premiered at LCT3 (directed by Lee Sunday Evans). Her work has been developed with Abingdon Theatre Company, Clubbed Thumb, Colt Coeur, Ensemble Studio Theatre, LCT3, Mount Holyoke College, Rutgers University and Rainbow Theatre Project. Other plays include: Carlo at the Wedding, Lights Over Philo, The Stand-In and How to Separate Your Soul from Your Body (in ten easy steps!). She is an alum of Clubbed Thumb’s Early Career Writer’s Group and holds an MFA in Playwriting from Rutgers University. www.brynaturner.com

Keira Fromm (Director) is a Jeff Award-nominated director, a casting director and a teacher based out of Chicago. Favorite recent directing credits include: Significant Other, Bright Half Life and A Kid Like Jake (About Face Theatre), hang (Remy Bumppo), A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Gynecologic Oncology Unit at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Hospital of New York City (Route 66 Theatre), The Columnist (American Blues Theater), How the World Began (Rivendell Theatre Ensemble), Luce (Next Theatre), Charles Ives Take Me Home (Strawdog), The How and the Why (TimeLine Theatre), Broadsword (Gift Theatre) and Fallow (Steep Theatre). Keira is a proud Artistic Associate with About Face Theatre. She received her MFA from DePaul University and her BFA from Boston University. She is a member of SDC, as well as the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab. Keira is a frequent guest director at DePaul, as well as Roosevelt University.



About Face Theatre creates exceptional, innovative, and adventurous theatre and educational programming that advances the national dialogue on sexual and gender identity, and challenges and entertains audiences in Chicago and beyond.


Help Out: Wonka Ball Benefit for About Face Theatre happens Friday May 11th



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