ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar
Andy Warhol's Tomato
Directed by Steve Scott
It is 1946 in Pittsburgh. An 18-year-old Andy Warhol finds himself in the basement of the working-class bar. Over a summer, Andy gives and gets inspiration, guidance, and friendship from a surprising source. Splash Magazines calls “Andy Warhol’s Tomato,” “a not-to-be-missed study of what goes into achieving the goals of self-understanding and acceptance…an entertaining and often humorous evening out.” The Santa Monica Press says, “If you didn’t know this was fiction, you’d think you were watching Andy’s origin story. A Delicious Tomato.”
“With the highly anticipated ‘Warhol’ exhibition coming the CCMA and MAC later this year, this is the perfect time for BTE to produce this play,” says BTE Managing Artistic Director Connie Canaday Howard. “And in the hands of guest director and long-time BTE friend Steve Scott, the play’s timely message of understanding and tolerance will transform into something audiences will find highly entertaining.”
Melocchi’s first draft of “Andy Warhol’s Tomato” featured a cast of seven. Based on workshop audience feedback, subsequent drafts reduced that to five, then four and ultimately two. This version received its world premiere as part of the Road Theatre Company’s 1981 Summer Playwrights Festival, ushering in the Pacific Resident Theatre’s 1999-2000 season. Said Melocchi in an Aug. 19, 2019 interview in Stage and Screen, “I do hope people walk away from ‘Andy Warhol’s Tomato’ looking at not only Andy in a different light, but also all artists from all walks of life.”
BTE’s production of “Andy Warhol’s Tomato” features BTE Ensemble member and Glen Ellyn’s Bryan Burke +* as Mario "Bones" Bonino, and Wheaton’s Alexander Wisnieski as Andy.
The design team hails from Chicago and Naperville, Ill. and Stoughton, Wisc. and includes Steve Scott (Direction), Jack Magaw (Scenic Design), Rachel Lambert (Properties Design), Aly Renee Amidei+^ (Costume Design), Garrett Bell (Lighting Design) and Christopher Kriz+^ (Sound Design). Stage Manager is Jennifer J. Thusing*. Assistant Stage Manager is Christopher Lindquist. Student Assistant Stage Manager is Carolyn Goldsmith.
Tickets
Buffalo Theatre Ensemble presents Vince Melocchi’s “Andy Warhol’s Tomato” in the Playhouse Theatre of the McAninch Arts Center located at 425 Fawell Blvd. on the campus of College of DuPage Feb. 2 – March 5. There will be a preview performance 8 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 2. Press opening is 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 3. Performances are 8 p.m. Thursday – Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday.
Tickets are $42. Discounts are available for groups of 10 or more. For group sales information email sarther@cod.edu or call 630.942.4525. For more information about BTE’s season, visit AtTheMAC.org or call the Box Office 630.942.4000. The Box Office is open Tuesday-Saturday noon-6 p.m. and three hours prior to performance.
Related Special Events:
• Pre-show discussion with director and designers: 6:30 – 7:15 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 2
• Post-show discussion with director, actors and crew: Friday, Feb. 10.
ASL (American Sign Language) Performance: Thursday, Feb. 23, 8 p.m.
ASL interpreters will be located near the stage for patrons who are deaf or hard of hearing, seated in an area of the theater that gives the best sight lines to follow the interpretation and the action on stage. To access reserved seating in view of the interpreters for a signed performance, call the Box Office at 630.942.4000 or 630.858.9692 (TDD), or visit AtTheMAC.org for additional information.
About Buffalo Theatre Ensemble
The mission of Buffalo Theatre Ensemble is to provide a forum in which artists, scholars, writers, students and community members explore new ideas and provocative issues through the production of quality theater for the enjoyment of its audiences. Since 1986 BTE has staged more than 120 productions.
The Ensemble members are Aly Renee Amidei, Robert Jordan Bailey*, Amelia Barrett* (Associate Artistic Director), Bryan Burke* (Business Manager), Robyn Coffin, Rebecca Cox, Lisa Dawn, Nick DuFloth, Jon Gantt, Loretta Hauser, Connie Canaday Howard* (Managing Artistic Director), Christopher Kriz^, Kimberly Morris, Michael W. Moon, Kurt Naebig*, Laura Leonardo Ownby, Galen G. Ramsey*, William “Sandy” Smillie, Kelli Walker and Norm Woodel. For more information about BTE, visit btechicago.com.
*Denotes member of Actors’ Equity; +Denotes member of Buffalo Theatre Ensemble; ^Denotes member of United Scenic Artists
Buffalo Theatre Ensemble is partially supported and funded by generous grants from The DuPage Foundation, Benevity, Choose DuPage, the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant Program, The Norm Woodel Inspiration Fund, The Illinois Arts Council, and a gift from Dr. Thomas R. Scott and the late Shirley Klein Scott of Glen Ellyn through the College of DuPage Foundation and the generous support of the College of DuPage Trustees and the McAninch Arts Center Staff.
About “Warhol" Featuring Andy Warhol Portfolios: A Life in Pop / Works from the Bank of America Collection (June 3 – Sept. 10, 2023)
The Warhol exhibition will feature 94 works from “Andy Warhol Portfolios: A Life in Pop / Works from the Bank of America Collection” on loan through Bank of America’s Art in our Communities® program. In addition to the Bank of America collection, which will be on display in a dedicated space in the exhibition, there will also be over 100 works from the College of DuPage Permanent Art Collection.
The exhibition will encompass both the CCMA and the MAC, unfolding across roughly 11,000 square-feet of exhibition space. Educational and interactive elements will include a biographical exhibition highlighting key points in Warhol’s life and career, video installation, interactive mural, children’s print factory area, Studio 54 and Silver Cloud Room experiences and Central Park-inspired outdoor café, creating an immersive, multifaceted exhibition focused on the life and work of one of the most influential artists of the past century. For more information visit Warhol2023.org.
About The MAC
McAninch Arts Center at College of DuPage is located 25 miles west of Chicago near I-88 and I-355. It houses three indoor performance spaces (the 780-seat proscenium Belushi Performance Hall; the 186-seat soft-thrust Playhouse Theatre; and the versatile black box Studio Theatre), the outdoor Lakeside Pavilion, plus the Cleve Carney Museum of Art and classrooms for the college’s academic programming. The MAC has presented theater, music, dance and visual art to more than 1.5 million people since its opening in 1986 and typically welcomes more than 100,000 patrons from the greater Chicago area to more than 230 performances each season. For more information visit AtTheMAC.org.
Biographies
Vince Melocchi (Playwright) is originally from Western Pennsylvania. While attending Penn State University, and short on credits, he took the only class still open, "Principles of Playwriting." Having never written a play before, he called his late father Ronald who advised him, "Write what you know, son." That night Melocchi began work on his one-act play "Making Moves", about a group of janitors in a Western Pennsylvania hospital. "Making Moves" was produced at Penn State the next year. He went on to attend the Professional Training Program for actors at the American Conservatory Theatre (ACT) in San Francisco. While at ACT, he worked in the "Plays in Progress" unit, focusing on the reading and development of new plays. Eventually, he moved to Southern California to act professionally in film, television and stage. Soon, Melocchi become a member of the award-winning Pacific Resident Theatre Ensemble (PRT), where he was given a chance to hone his skills as both actor and writer. As a member of PRT, Vince co-created "The Writers Group at PRT" with fellow actor/writer Valerie Dillman. It was in that writer’s workshop that his critically acclaimed, Ovation award-nominated full play "Lions" was born. After various workshop stagings and readings, “Lions” was produced as part of PRT's 2008 season. After its sold out run at PRT, "Lions" was published by Samuel French. Along with his full-length plays, “Julia,” “Lions,” “Figures,” “The Pact,” “Andy Warhol’s Tomato” and “Saints,” Melocchi’s writing includes a number of one act plays, including: “Bully,” “The Last Linen Day” and “Making Moves.” Melocchi is a member of the Dramatists Guild.
Steve Scott (Director) returns for his ninth production at BTE, where he most recently directed “The Cake” in 2019. For over 30 years he served as Producer at the Goodman Theatre, and is currently an artistic associate and board member at the Goodman. His directing credits there include “The Santaland Diaries,” “Ah, Wilderness,” “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,” Horton Foote’s “Blind Date,” the world premiere of Tom Mula’s “Jacob Marley’s Christmas Carol” and six editions of “A Christmas Carol.” Scott has directed at a wide variety of professional companies in Chicago. Recent productions include “Mothers and Sons” at Northlight, “Richard III at Promethean,” “King Lear” and “The Humans” at Redtwist (where he is a company member), “Why Torture is Wrong…and the People Who Love Them” at Eclipse Theatre, “Next to Normal” at the Dunes Summer Theatre (where he is artistic director),” Cat on a Hot Tin Roof” at the Skokie Theatre, and “Summer and Smoke” and “Stage Door” at the Theatre Conservatory of the College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University, where he has been on the faculty for over two decades. He has also taught at Columbia College Chicago, Loyola University of Chicago, Northwestern University, Northern Illinois University, and the Latin School of Chicago; and serves on the board of Season of Concern. For his work as a director, Steve has received six Jeff nominations, an After Dark Award, and numerous Broadway World nominations. He received the 2017 Special Jeff Award for his contributions to the Chicago theater community and the 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award from the League of Chicago Theatres.
