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Showing posts with label Holiday themed shows. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holiday themed shows. Show all posts

Monday, October 23, 2017

OPENING: Dark Holiday Cheer Returns With THIS WAY OUTTA SANTALAND at Theater Wit

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

MITCHELL FAIN’S HOLIDAY TELL-ALL 
THIS WAY OUTTA SANTALAND
IS BACK AT THEATER WIT WITH A FULL PRODUCTION,
NOVEMBER 24-DECEMBER 30


Here at ChiIL Live Shows, we've enjoyed Mitchell J. Fain's annual holiday snark in The Santaland Diaries for years. I worked two seasons as an actor in a "santaland" set up in Ohio, with a trail of full blown improv fairy tale scenes leading up to Santa. We lost one alcoholic Santa after payday when he was a no show. The next, much more animated elf, was fired after the director and I walked in on him in an elevator actually smoking a crack pipe! As much as I empathize, and as funny as the Sedaris classic is, we're truly looking forward to the next iteration, as Fain returns as creator and performer of his own Very Special Xmas Special(tm), playing his own funny self in Chicago’s frothiest holiday show.


After an amazing workshop last year, Chicago's favorite holiday performer, Mitchell J. Fain, returns to Theater Wit with a full-blown, mainstage production of his hilarious and touching tell-all, This Way Outta Santaland (and other Xmas miracles). Press opening is Friday, November 24 at 7:30 p.m. Performances run through December 30.

For eight seasons as the star of Theater Wit’s The Santaland Diaries, Fain was forced to restrain his most anarchic, improvisatory impulses while constrained in stripey tights and a silly elf costume.

A tour-de-force blend of storytelling, improvisation, cabaret and cocktails, This Way Outta Santaland is a sweet, sentimental evening of hard truths that change night to night. Fain squeezes holiday tales from his audience, then swirls them with his own personal war stories about family, drunks, jewelry, funerals, the holiday spirits and more than 250 performances as Crumpet the Elf.

Cameos by a rotisserie of Chicago cabaret powerhouses like Meghan Murphy, Vanessa Dunleavy and Amy Lewis Montgomery and madcap pianist Julie B. Nichols are also on tap.

Chicago Theater Review hailed last season’s workshop production "Highly recommended. A brand new, indispensable tradition, at once hilarious, tragic, moving and profane."

Don’t miss This Way Outta Santaland, conceived and performed by Fain, in this new, fully decked-out production directed by Jeremy Wechsler, and designed by Julie B. Nichols (music), Courtney O’Neill (set), Mike Durst (lights) and Jeffrey Levin (sound).


Performances are November 24-December 30: Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m., with two added holiday week performances, Wednesday, December 20 and 27, at 7:30 p.m.

Theater Wit is located at 1229 N. Belmont, in the heart of the new Belmont Theatre District in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood.

The best way to secure seats to This Way Outta Santaland is to sign up for a Theater Wit Membership. Wit’s “all the theater you can eat” deal comes with special perks and lets members see as many plays at they want in any of Wit’s three spaces for one low monthly fee of $29/$22 for students. This includes shows presented at Wit by 2017-18 resident companies About Face, Kokandy Productions and Shattered Globe, and other top storefront and visiting companies.

Single tickets to This Way Outta Santaland are $28-$40.

To purchase tickets, a Membership, or to inquire about Flex Pass options, visit TheaterWit.org or call the Theater Wit box office, (773) 975-8150.


Behind-the-scenes of This Way Outta Santaland


In addition to eight years in Theater Wit’s perennial holiday hit The Santaland Diaries, Mitchell J. Fain has also been seen in This at Theater Wit, Le Switch at About Face, at UP Comedy Club at The Second City as host of Best Musical, at La Jolla Playhouse with The Second City and at Actors Theatre of Louisville in Lookingglass Theatre’s Lookingglass Alice. Fain is an Artistic Associate of The Midnight Circus and About Face Theatre and former co-host of The Windy City Queercast. Other credits include Stilettos, Circus and Soul, Hamlet-The Musical, Henry VI, Hamlet, Comedy of Errors, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, As Bees in Honey Drown, Bitches, Hay Fever, The Mystery of Edwin Drood and The Lynching of Leo Frank. He also performed improv and sketch comedy on The Norwegian Star as a part of a Second City touring company.


Jeremy Wechsler (director) most recently staged Theater Wit’s Midwest premiere of Anne Washburn’s 10 Out of 12, last season’s holiday workshop of Mitchell Fain’s This Way Outta Santaland and the extended Midwest premiere of Mat Smart’s Naperville. Other directing credits at Wit include the company’s election night reading of The Trump Card by Mike Daisey, The New Sincerity by Alena Smith, The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence by Madeleine George, Bad Jews by Joshua Harmon, Mr. Burns, a post-electric play by Anne Washburn, Madeline George’s Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England, and that show’s summer remount at Art Square Theatre in Las Vegas. Wechsler also staged Wit’s acclaimed Completeness and The Four of Us (Itamar Moses), Tigers Be Still (Kim Rosenstock), This (Melissa James Gibson), Spin (Penny Penniston), Feydeau-Si-Deau (Georges Feydeau), Men of Steel (Qui Nguyen), Thom Pain (Based on Nothing) (Will Eno), Two for the Show (James Fitzpatrick and Will Clinger) and The Santaland Diaries. A veteran director in Chicago with over 50 productions, his work has been nominated for and won multiple awards for design, performance, adaptation and best new plays. 


About Theater Wit

Theater Wit, Chicago’s “smart art” theater, is a major hub of the Chicago neighborhood theater scene, where audiences enjoy a smorgasbord of excellent productions in three, 99-seat spaces, see a parade of talented artists and mingle with audiences from all over Chicago.

In addition to This Way Out of Santaland, Theater Wit’s 2017-18 season opens with Significant Other by Joshua Harmon, author of Wit’s 2015 smash hit Bad Jews, about a gay man in New York whose girlfriends are all getting married, co-produced with About Face Theatre (November 2–December 10, 2017). Wit also presents America’s premiere monologist, Mike Daisey, three nights only, in three different shows commenting on the current state of the U.S.A.: This is Not Normal, The End of Journalism and The White Man’s Burden, November 16, 17 and 18.

2018 opens with Wit’s world premiere of The Antelope Party, Eric John Meyer’s comedy about adult fans of My Little Pony (January 5-February 24, 2018). Spring sees the Chicago debut of Women Laughing Alone with Salad, Sheila Callaghan’s meta-feminist satirical comedy about friendship, salad, sex, bodies, yoga, salad, men, envy, diets, salad, uppers and salad (March 9-April 29, 2018).

“A thrilling addition to Chicago’s roster of theaters” (Chicago Tribune) and “a terrific place to see a show” (New City), Theater Wit is now in its seventh season at its home at 1229 N. Belmont, in the heart of the new Belmont Theatre District in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood. In 2014, Theater Wit was awarded the National Theatre Award by the American Theatre Wing for strengthening the quality, diversity and dynamism of American theater.

The company’s most recent hits include 10 Out of 12 and Mr. Burns, a post-electric play by Anne Washburn, Naperville by Mat Smart, The New Sincerity by Alena Smith, Bad Jews by Joshua Harmon, The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence and Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England by Madeleine George, and Completeness and The Four of Us by Itamar Moses.

To receive an “artisanal selection of consonants and vowels from Theater Wit,” sign up at TheaterWit.org/mailing for exclusive updates, flash deals and behind-the-scenes production scoop every few weeks.

Thursday, October 19, 2017

OPENING: TATC ANNOUNCES CAST FOR A WONDERFUL LIFE: THE MUSICAL


Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

Allison Sill (Mary), David Sajewich (George) and Liliana Rena (Zuzu) will  appear in It’s A Wonderful Life: The Musical at Theatre at the Center.   Previews begin November 15.   Photo by Michael Brosilow.

Performances are 2 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays; 7:30 p.m. Fridays; 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Saturdays; and 2:30 p.m. on Sundays, with select Tuesday afternoon and Thursday and Sunday evening performances. Individual ticket prices range from $40 - $44. To purchase individual tickets, call the Box Office at 219-836-3255 or Tickets.com at 800-511-1552. Group discounts are available for groups of 11 or more and gift certificates are also available.   

For more information on Theatre at the Center, visit www.TheatreATTheCenter.com.

Actors David Sajewich, in the role of George Bailey, and Allison Sill in the role of his wife Mary, lead the cast of Theatre at the Center’s  A Wonderful Life: The Musical  with James Harms as Mr. Potter, David Perkovich as Clarence, Jim Heatherly as Uncle Billy and Jason Richards as Mr. Martini. Previews begin November 16 with an Opening Night on November 19 and a run through December 23. A Wonderful Life: The Musical is made possible by the generous support of show sponsor American Community Bank.

“We are so excited to welcome the holiday season with A Wonderful Life,” said Artistic Director Linda Fortunato.  “All the charm, heart and humanity of the classic film are brought to the stage in this musical adaptation of the beloved life-affirming story. Perfect for a holiday celebration with the whole family”.

Based on the classic 1946 Frank Capra film starring James Stewart as George Bailey, A Wonderful Life: The Musical features book and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick and music by Joe Raposo. It’s the musical telling of how Clarence, George Bailey’s guardian angel, shows George how different the world, and everyone whose life he has touched, would be if he had never been born.   The beauty of the season, iconic Bedford Falls and yuletide spirit await audiences on the TATC stage for a musical that applauds the true meaning of Christmas.

David Sajewich was previously seen at TATC in All Shook Up and Beverly Hillbillies. Other credits include Les Miserables at Drury Lane Oakbrook, The Pajama Game and The Baker’s Wife at The Music Theatre Company and Fiddler on the Roof at Paramount Theatre. Allison Sill, who was also last seen at TATC in All Shook Up, has previous credits which include Honeymoon in Vegas, She Loves Me and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying at Marriott Theatre, Oklahoma at Paramount Theatre and The Producers at Mercury Theater Chicago.  

James Harms, who plays Mr. Potter, previously appeared at TATC in Beverly Hillbillies. James received Jeff Awards for his performances in The Fantasticks, Hello, Dolly, Me and My Girl, and La Cage aux Folles. Last year he made his debut at Carnegie Hall in concert with Chita Rivera. In the role of Clarence, David Perkovich, was last seen at TATC in Man of La Mancha and Phantom.   David has performed in more than 120 shows including the national tour of Evita and has directed more than 60 productions including TATC’s The 39 Steps, Spamalot, Beverly Hillbillies and Grease. Jim Heatherly is making his TATC debut as Uncle Billy. Jim’s recent work includes the world premiere of Dance For Beginners at Piven Theatre Workshop and Light Up the Sky at Citadel Theatre.  Jason Richards, playing multiple roles as Mr. Martini, Mr. Hepner and Mr. Campbell, was previously seen at TATC in Big River and Annie Warbucks.  Other credits include The Producers at Mercury Theater Chicago and Shrek at Chicago Shakespeare. Jason also received a Jeff Award for his performance as Nicky/Trekkie Monster in Avenue Q at Night Blue Theater.

The ensemble cast consists of Caron Buinis, Lexis Danca, Christopher Davis, Ann Delaney, Andres Enriquez, Neil Friedman, Daniel Hurst, Kayla Kennedy, Henry McGinniss, James Nedrud, Mary Nigohosian, Casiena Raether, Rick Rapp, and Denzel Tsopnang. Child performers include Lilliana Rene, Julian Solis and Kylie Sullivan.

William Pullinsi is director of A Wonderful Life: The Musical. Pullinsi served as TATC’s Artistic Director for 10 seasons prior to becoming Artistic Director Emeritus in 2015 when he was named “Chicagoan of the Year in Theatre” by the Chicago Tribune. In 2016, The League of Chicago Theatres also presented Pullinsi with their Lifetime Achievement Award for his outstanding contributions influencing and inspiring the Chicago theatre community. Pullinsi has won 19 Jeff Awards for Best Production and/or Best Direction and produced and directed more than 400 productions of Broadway plays and musicals.  

Bill Underwood serves as Music Director and Gordon Schmidt is choreographer.  Linda Fortunato is TATC’s Artistic Director; Richard Friedman is General Manager and Ann Davis is Head of Production. Scenic Designers for A Wonderful Life: The Musical are Richard and Jacqueline Penrod. Lighting Design is by Denise Karczewski with Costume Design by Brenda Winstead, Wig Design by Kevin Barthel, Prop Design by Brittney O’ Keefe and Sound Design by Barry Funderburg. Stage Manager is Angela Adams.

About TATC:
Founded in 1991, the 410-seat Theatre at the Center is a year round professional theater at its home: The Center for Visual and Performing Arts, 1040 Ridge Road, Munster, Indiana.Theatre at the Center is the only professional theater company in Northwest Indiana, offering downtown caliber performances in an accessible venue with plenty of free parking. Theater at the Center is located off I-80/94, just 35 minutes from downtown Chicago.


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