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Showing posts with label HOLIDAY. Show all posts
Showing posts with label HOLIDAY. Show all posts

Monday, November 13, 2017

OPENING: Annual Holiday Favorite Hell in a Handbag's RUDOLPH THE RED-HOSED REINDEER 2017 Returns To Mary's Attic

Chi IL Live Shows On Our Radar:

Back by Popular Demand!
Hell in a Handbag Productions Presents the Holiday Hit
RUDOLPH THE RED-HOSED REINDEER 2017
By David Cerda


Co-Directed by Becca Holloway & AJ Wright
November 25 – December 30, 2017 at Mary’s Attic

Hell in a Handbag Productions is pleased to conclude its 15th Anniversary Season with its most popular show ever: the holiday hit RUDOLPH THE RED-HOSED REINDEER 2017 by David Cerda*, co-directed by Becca Holloway and AJ Wright*. Handbag’s irreverent parody of the 1967 Rankin Bass children’s television special will play November 25 – December 30, 2017 at Mary’s Attic, 5400 N. Clark St. in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood. Tickets are on currently available at www.handbagproductions.org (through Brown Paper Tickets) or by calling (800) 838-3006.

RUDOLPH THE RED-HOSED REINDEER will feature Graham Thomas Heacock as Rudolph, Kristopher Bottrall* as Herbie, Allison Petrillo as Jane Donner, Chase Wheaton-Werle as Tom Donner, Michael Hampton as Santa, Tommy Bullington as Mrs. Claus, Sydney Genco* as Elfina, Colin Funk as Spike, Michael Rawls as Score, Josh Kemper as Coach Comet, Lori Lee* as Yukon Cornelia, Terry McCarthy* as Connie Blitzen, David Cerda* as Gladys Dasher, Christea Parent* as Clarice and Matthew Sergot as Sam the Snowman.

Chicago’s favorite cross-dressing reindeer is back and he’s 20 years old! RUDOLPH THE RED-HOSED REINDEER had its first reading in 1996 and has evolved into one of Chicago’s most popular anti-holiday, holiday shows. Join Rudolph and all of his misfit friends as they struggle with fitting in and being ‘normal’ in an increasingly abnormal world. Playwright David Cerda* always adjusts the show to fit the current social climate. 

The production team for RUDOLPH THE RED-HOSED REINDEER includes: Roger Wykes (set design), Kate Setzer Kamphausen (costume design), Cat Wilson* (lighting design), Ralph Loza (sound design), Adrian Hadlock* (props design), Lauren Griffith (choreography), Keith Ryan* (wig design), Sydney Genco* (make-up design) JD Caudill* (music director) and Drew Donnelly (stage manager).

*Denotes Hell in a Handbag Ensemble Members

Cast (in alphabetical order): Kristopher Bottrall* (Herbie), Tommy Bullington (Mrs. Claus), David Cerda* (Gladys Dasher), Colin Funk (Spike), Sydney Genco* (Elfina), Michael Hampton (Santa), Graham Thomas Heacock (Rudolph), Josh Kemper (Coach Comet), Lori Lee* (Yukon Cornelia), Terry McCarthy* (Connie Blitzen), Christea Parent* (Clarice) Allison Petrillo (Jane Donner), Michael Rawls (Score), Matthew Sergot as (Sam the Snowman) and Chase Wheaton-Werle (Tom Donner).

Location: Mary’s Attic, 5400 N. Clark St., Chicago
Dates: Previews: Saturday, November 25 at 7:30 pm, Sunday, November 26 at 7:30 pm and Thursday, November 30 at 7:30 pm
Regular run: Thursday, December 7 – Saturday, December 30, 2017

Curtain Times: Thursday, Fridays and Saturday at 7:30 pm; Sundays at 6 pm. Please note: there will not be performances on Saturday, December 2, Sunday, December 3 or Sunday, December 24 (Christmas Eve); there will be an added performance on Wednesday, December 20 at 7:30 pm.

Tickets: Previews $13. Regular run $25 in advance, $30 at the door. VIP tickets with cocktail $40 and up. Group rates $20 for 10 or more. Tickets are currently on sale at www.handbagproductions.org (through Brown Paper Tickets) or by calling (800) 838-3006.

About the Creative Team

David Cerda (Playwright) is the Jeff Award winning co-founder and Artistic Director of Hell in a Handbag Productions. He has written and appeared in POSEIDON! An Upside Down Musical (Jeff Recommended), The Birds, Rudolph the Red-Hosed Reindeer, SCARRIE The Musical, Caged Dames (Jeff Recommended), Lady X, How Whatever Happened to Baby Jane Happened, TROGG! A Rock and Roll Musical, Christmas Dearest (Jeff Recommended), Scream, Queen! SCREAM!, The Rip Nelson Halloween Spooktacular, Sexy Baby (Jeff Award Nomination – Best New Work), Lady X: The Musical (Jeff Recommended) and his new hit, The Golden Girls: The Lost Episodes. His plays have been produced around the country. He has also worked as a songwriter/lyricist with Amazon Films on an animated project and as an actor with various theater companies throughout the city of Chicago. Cerda was recently inducted into the Chicago Gay and Lesbian Hall of Fame for his contributions to Chicago theatre.

Becca Holloway (Co-Director) is thrilled to be working with Hell in a Handbag again after assistant directing Bewildered this past fall. Directing credits include: 44 Plays for 44 Presidents (Oil Lamp Theatre) and Buried in the Bahamas (Artistic Home). Becca has also had opportunities to work around Chicago and surrounding areas with: The Comrades, Refuge Theatre Project and Big Noise Theater. Stay tuned for her choreography in Brown Paper Box Co.'s Speech and Debate this February.

AJ Wright (Co-Director) is a proud ensemble member with Hell in a Handbag Productions. Directing credits with Handbag include: Caged Dames (Jeff Recommended), Christmas Dearest (Jeff Recommended), and Rudolph the Red-Hosed Reindeer (2011 & 2012). Around Chicago, AJ has also had the pleasure of directing/assistant directing with Kokandy Productions, Pride Films and Plays and Waltzing Mechanics.  You may also recognize AJ from his work as an actor in Handbag’s Bewildered (Darrin G), The Golden Girls: The Lost Episodes (Blanche), Rip Nelson’s Holiday Spectacular (Peggy Lennon), Sexy Baby (Kyle Kennedy) and SCARRIE (Tommy Ross).  AJ holds a degree in theatre from Ball State University.

About Hell in a Handbag Productions
Hell in a Handbag is dedicated to the preservation, exploration, and celebration of works ingrained in the realm of popular culture via theatrical productions through parody, music and homage. Handbag is a 501(c)(3) Not for Profit.

For additional information, visit www.handbagproductions.org.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

ACT OUT HOLIDAY: A Q BROTHERS’ CHRISTMAS CAROL NOVEMBER 30–DECEMBER 22, 2013 (ages 12+)

CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER INVITES AUDIENCES 

TO A SNEAK PREVIEW OF A NEW WORK-IN-PROGRESS


A Q BROTHERS’ CHRISTMAS CAROL
NOVEMBER 30–DECEMBER 22, 2013
Othello: The Remix Featured at Sydney Festival January 2014

ChiIL out with Jeff Award winning Chi-town favorites, The Q Brothers!  They've infused Shakespeare and other classics with fresh new breath and engaged a younger audience with edgier productions, hip-hop and comedic genius.   We can't wait to see their take on A Christmas Carol!



Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) and hip-hop sensations the Q Brothers are back at it again turning up the volume with a fresh take on a beloved classic. The Q Brothers and CST Creative Producer Rick Boynton have come together to develop A Q Brothers’ Christmas Carol—a hip-hop reinterpretation of the perennial holiday favorite by Charles Dickens. Now, alongside Chicago theaters’ familiar renditions of this heartwarming tale, audiences will participate in the creation of an energized, reinvented tradition. Work-in-progress performances of A Q Brothers’ Christmas Carol will run in the theater Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare, November 30–December 22, 2013.

A Q Brothers’ Christmas Carol is being created between stops of the Q Brothers’ international whirlwind tour of the award-winning Othello: The Remix, which will travel to Australia in January to be featured in the line-up of the highly regarded Sydney Festival 2014. Premiering at Shakespeare’s Globe for the London 2012 Cultural Olympiad’s ‘Globe to Globe’ festival, Othello: The Remix has toured to festival venues around the world, playing to sold-out houses of multi-generational and culturally diverse audiences in Edinburgh, Germany, South Korea and London. Its extended five-month Chicago engagement broke records for Chicago Shakespeare’s longstanding CST for $20 program for patrons under 35 years of age. 

Written and performed by GQ, JQ, Jackson Doran and Postell Pringle, A Q Brothers’ Christmas Carol takes on the cherished holiday tale and wrestles it from its sacred roots with irreverence, an array of music styles, and a lot of heart. Just as hip-hop borrows from many genres, the story will be underscored with beats spun live by DJ Super Nova at the turntables, mashing up everything from reggae and dancehall music, to futuristic dubstep and epic rock ballads. Audiences will recognize familiar characters like Ebenezer Scrooge with his erotic passion for money, a Jamaican Jacob Marley, and the most pitiful Cratchit, Lil’ Tim. The time-traveling Ghosts take Scrooge on a voyage through the hip-hop ages–decade by decade from past to present to future–documenting the still-evolving musical art form. This new holiday treat will prove to be as cheeky, intelligent and street smart as audiences have come to expect from the Q Brothers.

A Q Brothers’ Christmas Carol design team includes Scenic and Costume Designer Scott Davis, Lighting Designer Jesse Klug and Wig and Make-up Designer Melissa Veal. Properties Master Amy Peter and Choreographer Anacron complete the creative team. Written by GQ, JQ, Jackson Doran and Postell Pringle and developed with Rick Boynton, A Q Brothers’ Christmas Carol is presented in association with Richard Jordan Productions Ltd.

WORK-IN-PROGRESS PRESENTATIONS

November 30–December 22, 2013

Tuesdays–Fridays @ 7:30 p.m.

Saturdays @ 6:00 p.m. & 8:30 p.m.

   (on 11/30, 8:30 p.m. only)

Sundays @ 3:00 p.m.

Ticket Prices

Tickets on sale now for $20-$35

CST for $20 tickets for patrons under 35 years old.

All patrons receive a 40% discount on guaranteed parking in Navy Pier garages.
Recommended for audiences age 12 & up.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater

Box Office: 312.595.5600

www.chicagoshakes.com



Programming in the Carl and Marilynn Thoma Theater Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare

is made possible through generous support from Hyatt Hotels Corporation

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