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Showing posts with label InFusion Theatre. Show all posts
Showing posts with label InFusion Theatre. Show all posts

Thursday, April 30, 2015

OPENING: InFUSION THEATRE'S ANOTHER KIND OF LOVE – A PUNK ROCK PLAY MAY 10 – JUNE 14, AT THE CHOPIN THEATRE

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar

InFUSION THEATRE CO. PRESENTS CRYSTAL SKILLMAN’S 
ANOTHER KIND OF LOVE – 
A PUNK ROCK PLAY
MAY 10 – JUNE 14, AT THE CHOPIN THEATRE
This Dark Comedy About Family, Fame and Rock-n-Roll is Directed by Mitch Golob with Music Direction by Mucca Pazza’s Jefferey Thomas 
and Original Music by Tony-Nominated and Obie-Winner Heidi Rodewald



InFusion Theatre Company is proud to announce Crystal Skillman’s Another Kind of Love, directed by InFusion Artistic Director Mitch Golob with music direction by Jefferey Thomas and original music by Tony-nominated and Obie-winner Heidi Rodewald, lyrics by Caroline Dorsen and Crystal Skillman, May 10 – June 14, at The Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division Ave. 

Preview performances are Sunday, May 10, Monday, May 11 and Thursday, May 14 at 7:30 p.m. with the opening/press night Friday, May 15 or Saturday, May 16 at 7:30 p.m. Performances are Thursdays - Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. Preview tickets are $14. Tickets are $28 for general admission, $20 for seniors and $15 for students and industry professionals (Thursdays and Sundays only). Tickets are on sale now at InFusionTheatre.com

After being apart for 15 years, sisters (and band mates) reunite for a one-night concert commemorating the anniversary of their rock legend mother’s suicide. Featuring live performances of an original score by Rodewald, past regrets, present emotions and future doubts converge with punk and family in Skillman’s new play developed around the country this year at IAMA Theatre Company in Los Angeles, LiveWire in Chicago, Live Girls! in Seattle, Women’s Project Theater in New York City and, most recently, at New York Stage and Film as part of the Lark Play Development Center’s retreat this summer.

Another Kind of Love cast includes Alison Hixson, “Max/guitar;” Brady Johnson, “Roger/guitar;” Courtney Jones, “Tanya/bass;” Amber Kelly, “Collin/drums;” Annie Prichard, “Kit/guitar” and Tyler Young, “Nate."

The production staff includes Sarah Watkins, scenic designer; Charles Cooper, lighting designer; Claire Chrzan, co-lighting designer; Rachel Sypniewski, costume designer; Eric Backus, sound designer; Angela Campos, props designer and Rose Sengenberger, dramaturg.

ABOUT CRYSTAL SKILLMAN, playwright and co-lyricist
Crystal Skillman is an award winning Brooklyn based playwright. Her three recent plays, King Kirby, co-written with Fred Van Lente, Geek! and Cut, have all earned Critics Picks from The New York Times. Wild earned three 2014 New York Innovation Theater Award nominations for its sold out production at IRT Theater this spring, (following a critically successful run in Chicago with Kid Brooklyn Productions and Off Broadway in MCC Theater’s Playlabs at the Lucille Lortel.) Skillman’s other plays include: The Vigil or The Guided Cradle, winner of the 2010 New York Innovative Theatre Award for Outstanding Full-Length Script and Drunk Art Love, now a web series directed by Sanjit De Silva. She is currently at work on a new play, Rain and Zoe Save the World, about two teenage activists on a cross-country mission. She is writing the books for two musicals with award-winning composer Bobby Cronin: The Concrete Jungle and the musical theater adaption of the film Mary and Max, to be directed by Outer Critics Circle Award-winning Stafford Arima with mask work by Joseph Osheroff. In Chicago her work has also been seen with The New Colony, Collaboraction, DePaul University and LiveWire Chicago Theatre. 

ABOUT MITCH GOLOB, director
Mitch Golob has directed many InFusion productions: the world premieres of The Improv PlayPluto is Listening, Ghostbox and Créole (nominated for five Black Theatre Alliance Awards), the United States premiere of The Last Supper and the Midwest premieres of Intrigue With FayeRhymes With Evil, Soul Samurai, and Fight Girl Battle World and Ithaka. Other directing projects include 8 By Tenn at Hartford Stage Company, working with Tony Award Winners Elizabeth Ashley and Amanda Plummer, the U.S. premiere of Jump to Cow Heaven at Profiles Theatre, And Then They Came For Me at Apple Tree Theatre, and was associate director of the award winning world premiere of Hannah & Martin at TimeLine Theatre.  Golob was also a member of Naked Eye Theatre Company, where he assistant directed the Jeff Award winning production of Waving Goodbye, in a co-production with Steppenwolf.  He has also directed at Pegasus Players, Stage Left Theatre and Chicago Dramatists.  Mitch holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre & Drama from the University of Wisconsin. 

ABOUT JEFFEREY THOMAS, music director
Jefferey Allen Thomas is a composer and guitarist.  He is a founding member of Mucca Pazza, and has worked with Greek composer Michael Karras, Punk legend Excene Cervenka, Cynthia Plaster Caster and Bobby Conn. He has written incidental music for Redmoon Theater, Chicago Shakespeare Theater and the Neo-Futurists, as well as dozens of independent films.  His current project is a group of symphonies called “The Work of Jack Daedalus Edwards”.  The first of these symphonies, “Rumour, “premiered at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago in February 2014. 

ABOUT HEIDI RODEWALD, composer
Heidi Rodewald is the Tony Award nominated, Obie Award winning co- composer of the musical Passing Strange, which transferred from The Public Theater to Broadway in 2008. She is a Sundance Institute Alum and the co-writer with Stew of the screenplay "We Can See Today". Rodewald composed music for Karen Kandel's Portraits: Night and Day (2004); Brides of the Moon by The Five Lesbian Brothers (2010) and co-composed music with Stew for Shakespeare’s Othello, Much Ado About Nothing and Romeo and Juliet (2010-12). Rodewald joined the band The Negro Problem in 1997 and has collaborated with Stew in a range of capacities: as a co-composer, producer/arranger and performer. She is the co-composer with Stew of the new musical Family Album, which premiered at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival last summer. She is also the co-composer of their new musical, The Total Bent, which will open in 2015 at the Public Theater. She has two new projects which have been in development at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center and the Center for the Art of Performance at UCLA: The Good Swimmer, a pop-opera, co-written with librettist, Donna DiNovelli and The Stacks, a two-person musical co-written by singer- songwriter Mary McBride. She just finished scoring her first film "I Dream Too Much", written and directed by Katie Cokinos. 

ABOUT CAROLINE DORSEN, co-lyricist
Caroline Dorsen is an award winning writer, poet and educator who lives in Brooklyn, NY. A ghost writer for numerous late 1980s/early 1990s bands in the Bay Area, Another Kind of Love marks the first time Dorsen has allowed her name to be linked to her lyrics. She brings to the project an extensive knowledge of the psychology of trauma, loss and addiction. Her experience working in this area is reflected in the authenticity and emotional resonance of her lyrics.


ABOUT INFUSION THEATRE COMPANY
InFusion Theatre Company seeks out new plays and “infuses” them with other elements of entertainment such as music, dance and film. “We strive to create dynamic performances by combining different forms of entertainment that will result
InFusion Theatre Company’s Crystal Skillman’s Another Kind of Love, May 10 – June 14, at The Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division Ave. Preview performances are Sunday, May 10, Monday, May 11 and Thursday, May 14 at 7:30 p.m. with the opening/press night Friday, May 15 or Saturday, May 16 at 7:30 p.m. Performances are Thursdays - Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. Preview tickets are $14. Tickets are $28 for general admission, $20 for seniors and $15 for students and industry professionals (Thursdays and Sundays only). Tickets are on sale now at InFusionTheatre.com.



Sunday, May 19, 2013

ACT OUT OPENING: InFusion Theatre Co. Presents Fight Girl Battle World at Theater Wit #review



ChiIL Mama and Sagezilla (10) had a chance to check out opening night and Fight Girl Battle World rocks.   This show is the good kind of cheese--a campy, kooky space romp with a kickin' grrrrrl power protagonist, effective use of multimedia screens, scale model space toys, and puppetry with creepy manipulators in head to toe black spandex.    Highly recommended!



Sheila O'Connor as E-V kicks some serious alien butt as the last human girl in the known universe

Visiting Company InFusion Theatre Co.
Fight Girl Battle World
by Qui Nguyen
directed by Mitch Golob

Now playing through June 16, 2013






The costumes and alien characters were particularly fun, although Sagezilla really dug this one and felt sorry for his defeat.

We'd rate this one PG13, for stage violence, minor language and some "sex talk", but it's basically appropriate for tweens & teens and up.  There's nothing too violent or over the top and we both thoroughly enjoyed the two level stage combat, the creative costumes, grrrrrl power, and clever script.   Though the stage combat, choreography and "martial arts" are relatively simplistic, there's enough campy humor and colorful characters to carry the show.


Sarcastic playwright robots and vengeful pink haired generals round out the colorful, hilarious cast.

 

Theater Wit
1229 W. Belmont Avenue
Chicago, IL 60657

Tickets are $25; $15 for students & seniors, $12.50 industry tickets on Thursdays & Sundays

Regular Run (through June 16):
  • Thursday, Friday & Saturday at 8:00 pm, and Sunday at 3:00 pm


Here's what InFusion has to say:

From the team that brought you our hit production of Soul Samurai, comes an action-packed sci-fi saga that blends punch-ups and parody into one delicious mix. Set in a futuristic universe where humanity is nearly non-existent, Fight Girl revolves around E-V, a hardnosed prizefighter and the last known female human in the galaxy. We infuse video projection, puppetry, stage combat, and much more in this raucous Midwest premiere.
Running Time: 1 hour 50 minutes with intermission

InFUSION THEATRE CO. PRESENTS THE MIDWEST PREMIERE OF QUI NGUYEN’S FIGHT GIRL BATTLE WORLD,
MAY 14 – JUNE 16

InFusion Theatre's Artistic Director Mitch Golob Blends Stage Combat, Multi-Media, and Puppetry In An Action-Packed Sci-Fi Comedy At Theater Wit

InFusion Theatre Company is proud to announce its second collaboration with award-winning playwright Qui Nguyen with the Midwest premiere of Fight Girl Battle World, directed by InFusion Artistic Director Mitch Golob, May 14 – June 16, at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave. Performances are Thursdays - Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 3:00 p.m. Preview tickets are $10. Tickets are $25 for general admission, $15 for students and seniors, and $12.50 for industry professionals Thursdays and Sundays only. Tickets are on sale now at infusiontheatre.com or by calling 773-975-8150. 

From the team that brought you Soul Samurai, comes a new chapter of interspace anarchy from Qui Nguyen, Fight Girl Battle World. Set in a futuristic universe where humanity is nearly non-existent, Fight Girl revolves around E-V (Sheila O’Connor), a hardnosed prizefighter and the last known female human in the galaxy. The New York Innovative Theatre Awards nominated Fight Girl for Best Production of a Play, Best Original Full Length Script, Best Direction, Best Featured Actor and Best Sound Design during its world premiere. 

Additional Fight Girl Battle World cast includes Brian Barber, Rob Grabowski, Kimberly Logan, Steve Thomas, Michael Harris, Zach Livingston, Meredith Rae Lyons, Elise Mayfield, Kai Young and understudies Maureen Yasko and Kevin Anderson.

The production staff includes David Blixt, fight choreographer; Rasean Davonte Johnson, co-video designer; Anna Henson, co-video designer; Kimberly Morris, puppetry designer, Dave Ferguson, set designer; Charles Cooper, lighting designer, Stephen Ptacek, sound designer; Rachel Sypniewski, costume designer; Cassy Schillo, props designer; Majel Cuza, production manager; Jason Crutchfield*, stage manager and Claire Tuft, casting director.
*Connotes InFusion Company Member


Boyish women (or are they curvy males?!) and regenerating megalomaniacs add to the drama.  All Production Photos by Johnny Knight

ABOUT QUI NGUYEN
Qui Nguyen is a playwright and co-founder/co-artistic director of the OBIE Award-winning Vampire Cowboys Theatre Company of New York City.  His plays include She Kills Monsters (currently running in Steppenwolf’s Garage Rep and premiering in Boston; originally produced by The Flea in NYC); Krunk Fu Battle Battle (East West Players); Trial By Water (Ma-Yi Theater); Bike Wreck (Ensemble Studio Theatre); Soul SamuraiThe Inexplicable Redemption of Agent G (Ma-Yi Theater & Vampire Cowboys); Alice in SlasherlandMen of Steel; and Living Dead in Denmark (Vampire Cowboys). Qui is a proud resident artist of New Dramatists, a core member of The Playwrights Center, an alumnus of Youngblood and a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre and The Ma-Yi Writers Lab.  Currently, he’s the playwright-in-residence at Mixed Blood Theatre in Minneapolis.

ABOUT MITCH GOLOB
Mitch Golob has directed InFusion’s first eight productions:  the world premieres of The Improv PlayPluto is Listening, Ghostbox and Créole (nominated for five Black Theatre Alliance Awards), the United States premiere of The Last Supper, and the Midwest premieres of Intrigue With FayeRhymes With Evil, and Soul Samurai.  Some of his other directing projects include 8 By Tenn at Hartford Stage Company, where he worked with Tony Award winners Elizabeth Ashley and Amanda Plummer.  He directed the U.S. premiere of Jump to Cow Heaven at Profiles Theatre, And Then They Came For Me at Apple Tree Theatre, and was associate director of the award winning world premiere of Hannah & Martin at TimeLine Theatre. 

ABOUT INFUSION THEATRE COMPANY
InFusion Theatre Company seeks out new plays and “infuses” them with other elements of entertainment such as music, dance, and film. “We strive to create dynamic performances by combining different forms of entertainment that will result in both exciting and thought-provoking work and we focus on giving voice to new works, as well as looking at older works in a new way,” says Artistic Director Mitch Golob.

Qui Nguyen’s Fight Girl Battle World, directed by InFusion Artistic Director Mitch Golob runs May 14 – June 16 at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont Ave.   Performances are Thursdays - Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. and Sundays at 3:00 p.m.   Tickets are $25 for general admission, $15 for students and seniors and $12.50 for industry professionals Thursdays and Sundays only. Tickets are on sale now at infusiontheatre.com or by calling 773-975-8150.




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