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Showing posts with label Jeremy Wechsler. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jeremy Wechsler. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 25, 2025

Prayer for the French Republic to open at Northlight in a co-production with Theater Wit April 10 – May 11, 2025

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar

Northlight Theatre continues 2024-2025 season with

Prayer for the French Republic

By Joshua Harmon

Directed by Jeremy Wechsler

In a co-production with Theater Wit

April 10 – May 11, 2025

Northlight Theatre, under the direction of Artistic Director BJ Jones and Executive Director Timothy J. Evans, continues its 2024–2025 season with Joshua Harmon’s celebrated play Prayer for the French Republic, directed by Jeremy Wechsler in a co-production with Theater Wit. Prayer for the French Republic runs April 10 – May 11, 2025, at Northlight Theatre, 9501 Skokie Blvd in Skokie. 

In 1944, a Jewish couple in Paris desperately awaits news of their missing family. More than 70 years later, the couple's great-grandchildren find themselves facing the same question as their ancestors: "Are we safe?" Following five generations of a French-Jewish family, Prayer for the French Republic is a sweeping look at history, home, and the effects of an ancient hatred. Winner of the 2022 Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best New Off-Broadway Play, this celebrated work is from the author of Bad Jews and Significant Other.

• Prayer for the French Republic is a co-production with Theater Wit.

“Two years ago David Cromer, a Northlight alumnus who directed the original production of Prayer for the French Republic, texted me to say I should see his production at Manhattan Theatre Club and then produce it at Northlight,” says Artistic Director BJ Jones. “I jumped on a plane and caught a full house matinee. Taking place in 2016-2017, I found it provocative, moving, thoughtful, and timely. The audience was in tears at the end, and I knew we needed to bring it to our stage. Fortunately, Jeremy Wechsler of Theatre Wit felt the same way, and his relationship with the playwright Josh Harmon gave us both the opportunity to present this important work.”


Jones continues, “What makes it special is the examination of anti-Semitism over decades and its impact on one family. The haunting question posed in the play by Pierre, the grandfather, that rings out over the years is, ‘Why do they hate us?’ And the elusive answers are a hundredfold. After the Charlie Hebdo Incident in 2015, the Prime Minister of France said, ‘If 100,000 Frenchmen of Spanish origin were to leave, I would never say that France is no longer France. But if 100,000 Jews leave, France will no longer be France. The French Republic will be judged a failure.’”

• The Off-Broadway production of Prayer for the French Republic won the 2022 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play, with the Broadway production earing three Tony Award nominations including Best Play.

Jeremy Wechsler adds, "Joshua Harmon has an uncanny ability to write to the future. I’ve been working on this show since 2018 and, as a Jew in America, I am asking questions today I have never asked myself. The play's central question is simple: Am I safe here? For those of us in cultural minorities, that question is never far away. Watching Charlottesville in 2017 was a jolt—those Nazis felt closer, bolder, and more numerous than I’d ever imagined. I wondered: If I lived there, how safe would I feel? How secure is the promise of assimilation? Prayer is set in France, but its tensions hit close to the bone here in America. My anxiety hasn’t eased. Rhetoric from the current administration is chillingly reminiscent of 1940s Vichy France, with an upswing in the same racist tropes that fueled 20th-century fascism. In the U.S., far-right movements flourish—I can’t forget hearing about ‘good people on both sides’ in 2017. And I believe you only have to look at a movement’s fellow travelers to understand its core."

This production is supported in part by the Crain-Maling Foundation, Paul & Janet Gans Epner, Al Zunaman, and Tiffany and Tobi Laczkowski.

The cast includes Janet Ulrich Brooks (Marcelle Salomon), Rom Barkhordar (Charles Benhamou), Rae Gray (Elodie Benhamou), Max Stewart (Daniel Benhamou), Lawrence Grimm (Patrick Salomon), Maya Lou Hlava (Molly), Henson Keys (Pierre Salomon), Kathy Scambiatterra (Irma Salomon), Torrey Hanson (Adolphe Salomon), Alex Weisman (Lucien Salomon), and Nathan Becker (Young Pierre Salomon).

The creative team is Jeremy Wechsler (director), Joe Schermoly (set designer), Mara Blumenfeld (costume designer), JR Lederle (lighting designer), Joseph Cerqua (sound designer), Nicolas Bartleson (prop designer), Katie Klemme (stage manager), and Jyreika Guest (resident violence and intimacy coordinator).

Tickets for the remainder of the 2024-2025 season, including Prayer for the French Republic and Twisted Melodies, are now on sale through the box office, 9501 Skokie Blvd, Skokie; 847.673.6300; northlight.org.

About the Artists

Joshua Harmon (Playwright) is a Tony-nominated playwright and the winner of two Drama Desk Awards and two Outer Critics Circle Awards. He graduated from the School of Drama’s Dramatic Writing program in 2010. His plays include Bad Jews, Significant Other, Admissions, and Prayer for the French Republic. He and Sarah Silverman co-wrote the libretto for The Bedwetter based on her memoir. His plays have been produced on Broadway and the West End; Off-Broadway at Roundabout Theatre Company, Lincoln Center Theater, Manhattan Theater Club and Atlantic Theater Company; across the country at Geffen Playhouse, Speakeasy, Studio Theatre, Theater Wit, About Face, Actor’s Express, and The Magic, among others; and internationally in a dozen countries. He is a two-time MacDowell fellow, a 2024 Guggenheim fellow, and an Associate Artist at Roundabout.

Jeremy Wechsler (director) is the Artistic Director of Theater Wit where he has directed the Chicago premieres of Inanimate, The Whistleblower, Hurricane Diane, The Realistic Joneses, Admissions, 10 Out of 12, Naperville, The Antelope Party, The New Sincerity, The (Curious Case of the ) Watson Intelligence (Best of 2015 – Chicago Sun Times), Bad Jews (Best of 2015 – New City), Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play (Time Out Peoples’ Choice Award for Direction, Best of 2015), Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England (Sun Times Best of the Year 2014), Completeness, Tigers Be Still, This, The Four of Us, Feydeau-Si-Deau, Men of Steel, Thom Pain (Based on Nothing) (Jeff Award – Best Solo Performance), Two for the Show and annual favorite The Santaland Diaries. Under Jeremy’s leadership, Theater Wit has emerged as the go-to destination for cutting edge contemporary work, gaining national recognition for excellence. He has directed over fifty shows at various Chicago theaters, including Tragedy A Tragedy, The Flu Season, A Taste of Honey (“US Best of 2008” in The Wall Street Journal), Now Then Again (Jeff Award - Best New Work), The Play About the Squirrel, The White Devil, This is Not a Play About Cancer, Peer Gynt, The Real Thing, Szinhaz, The Duchess of Malfi, Tragedy a Tragedy, Titus Andronicus, The Roaring Girl, Flight, The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, This is the Rill Speaking, Hay Fever, A Month in the Country, Europe, Henry VI: Blood of a Nation, The Promise, Spin, Un Robot, Horror Academy, Kind Lady, Playing By the Rules, The Marriage of Bette and Boo, Solitaire, The Coarse Acting Show, Life is a Dream, The Prisoner’s Dilemma, Cabaret and The Three Penny Opera. His productions have been nominated for and won multiple awards for design, performance, adaptation and best new work. He has been featured multiple times in the New York Times and American Theatre Magazine.

Janet Ulrich Brooks (Marcelle Salomon) was last seen at Northlight Theatre in 2017’s By The Water. Select credits include: The Audience, Fiddler On The Roof, Murder On The Orient Express, Steel Magnolias (Drury Lane Theatre); Beautiful, The Music Man (Marriott Lincolnshire Theatre); The Cherry Orchard, 2666, Vanya Sonya Masha & Spike, Seagull (Goodman Theatre); The Children (Steppenwolf); Plantation (Lookingglass). She has appeared in 16 productions with TimeLine Theatre Company (Company Member) including Bakersfield Mist with the late Mike Nussbaum, and Master Class (Jeff Award Principal Actor). Tiny Beautiful Things, Pipeline, Native Gardens (Victory Gardens). Women Laughing Alone With Salad (Helen Hayes Nomination - Woolly Mammoth DC) and work with Milwaukee Rep, Theatre Squared in AR., and Peninsula Players in Door County, WI. Film credits include: Divergent, Conviction, One Small Hitch, M.O.M.. T.V. credits include: Work In Progress, Fargo, Sense8, Proven Innocent, Boss, Chicago Med, Fire & Justice.

Rom Barkhordar (Charles Benhamou) is making his Northlight/Theater Wit debut with Prayer for the French Republic. Previous Chicago area credits: A Lie of the Mind (Raven Theatre), White Christmas (Marriott Theatre), The Band’s Visit, A Distinct Society, Wife of a Salesman (Writers Theatre), Mosque4Mosque (About Face Theatre), Acts of God, Around the World in 80 Days (Lookingglass Theatre), Yasmina’s Necklace, Ruined (u/s) (Goodman Theatre), The Elephant Man, Homebody/Kabul (u/s) (Steppenwolf Theatre Company), The Who and the What (Victory Gardens Theatre), Mosque Alert, Night over Erzinga (Silk Road Rising), Pravda, Halcyon Days, Not About Nightingales (Timeline Theatre). Regional credits: The Band’s Visit (TheatreSquared), The Art of Burning (Huntington Theatre, Hartford Stage), Proof (Kitchen Theatre); Disgraced (Virginia Stage Co.); The Who and the What (HuntingtonTheatre) Around the World in 80 Days (Kansas City Rep.)

Rae Gray (Elodie Benhamou) has appeared on Broadway in The Real Thing (Roundabout), in the National Tour of To Kill a Mockingbird, and internationally in The Beacon (Druid/Gate Theatre, Ireland). Chicago credits include: Graveyard Shift, The Little Foxes, A Christmas Carol (Goodman); Domesticated, Slowgirl, The Book Thief, Wedding Band (Steppenwolf); King Charles III (Chicago Shakespeare); The North China Lover (Lookingglass); The Real Thing (Writers); Inherit the Wind (Northlight); Spay, Crooked (Rivendell), The Whistleblower, Completeness (Theater Wit) and, most recently, Uncle Vanya (The New Theatre Project). Regional credits: Queens (La Jolla Playhouse); Slowgirl (Geffen Playhouse). TV credits include: A League of Their Own, Power Book IV: Force, Justified: City Primeval, American Rust, Fear the Walking Dead, Grace and Frankie, For the People, Sea Oak, Boardwalk Empire, Shameless, The Resident, Bull, Adventure Time, Chicago Fire, PD and Med, and Bossy Bear. Film credits include: Slice, I Do...Until I Don’t, Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon, The Robbery (Sundance Selection), Dismissed, and Invitation to a Murder. Rae is a Rivendell Theatre Ensemble member and a graduate of the University of Chicago. 

Max Stewart (Daniel Benhamou) has appeared in Noises Off (Steppenwolf and Geffen Playhouse); Fairview (Definition Theatre); Southern Gothic, Sons of Hollywood (Windy City Playhouse); Walk on the Wild Side (Pale Horse Playhouse); Romeo and Juliet (Kane Repertory Theatre); Letters Home (Griffin Theatre). Television credits include: Chicago Fire (NBC), Soundtrack (Netflix). Awards include: NFAA YoungArts. He studied at The Theatre School at DePaul University (B.F.A. Acting), British American Dramatic Academy, and with The Groundlings.

Lawrence Grimm (Patrick Salomon) has been an actor and teacher for over 30 years. A founding ensemble member of A Red Orchid Theatre, Lawrence is a Jeff Award-winning actor who has worked extensively at Chicago’s most prominent theaters, including Goodman, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Steppenwolf, Lookingglass, Victory Gardens, Raven, Next, Timeline, Shattered Globe, Court, Collaboraction, and Piven Theater Workshop. With a Masters in Education from DePaul University, Lawrence was a high school English and Drama teacher at Stevenson High School and Chicago’s public high school for the arts, Chi-Arts. Film credits include Eric Larue, Captive State, Welcome to Me, Night’s End, Murphy’s Law, Cicero in Winter, and A Perfect Manhattan. TV credits include: Somebody, Somewhere, Chicago PD/Med/ Fire, The Red Line, Unsolved Mysteries, and Late Night with Conan O’Brien.

Maya Lou Hlava (Molly) is thrilled to be making her debut at Northlight Theatre. Additional Chicago credits include, The Little Mermaid, Christmas Carol, Shrek, White Christmas and Bye Bye Birdie (Drury Lane Theatre); The Penelopiad (Goodman Theatre); Happy Days Are Here (Again) and Zurich (Steep Theatre); The Best Damn Thing (The Understudy Cafe); Dory Fantasmagory and Last Stop On Marketplace (YPPT/Greenhouse Theater); Spring Awakening (Porchlight Theater); Act 5, The Killing Game and The Nether (A Red Orchid Theatre); Oklahoma (Marriott Theatre); Violet (Griffin Theater); Trevor (Writers Theatre); The Secret Garden (Court Theatre); Jane Eyre (Lifeline Theatre); and The Wheel (Steppenwolf Theatre). Film and Television Credits include Will Trent, The Perpetrator, Chicago Med, The Chi, and The Big Leap.

Henson Keys (Pierre Salomon) is credited with some 125 roles in NYC, Chicago, and such regional theatres as Yale Rep, McCarter, Asolo, and MeadowBrook, including 45 roles in Shakespeare. For 27 years he led Acting Programs at Ohio University, Alabama Shakespeare, and finally 16 years at the U. of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana. In Chicago, he’s worked with Chicago Shakes and Steppenwolf.

Kathy Scambiatterra (Irma Salomon) is making her Northlight Theatre debut. As artistic director and co-founder of The Artistic Home, she has helmed 25 seasons, is director of the AH Acting Studio and was most recently seen there in Dying for It for which she received a Jeff nomination. In Chicago, she has worked at Steppenwolf, Drury Lane Oakbrook, Chicago Shakespeare, Goodman Theatre, Rivendell, Raven among many others and was a longtime ensemble member at Center Theater. In LA, she was an ensemble member at Pacific Resident Theatre. TV/Film credits include: recurring role on Chicago PD (NBC Dick Wolf Productions), Mr. Throwback (Peacock), Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams (Amazon), Good Guy with a Gun (One Shot Productions), Monuments (Zaxiefilms), and Into the Wake (Diesel Brothers), among others. 

Torrey Hanson (Adolphe Salomon) has performed in over 160 theater productions, regionally at Milwaukee Rep (seventeen seasons), Oregon Shakespeare Festival (five seasons), Alley Theater, Seattle Rep, Cleveland Play House, Indiana Rep, Intiman Theatre, A Contemporary Theatre, Empty Space Theatre, and Utah Shakespeare Festival; in Chicago at Steppenwolf, Goodman, Chicago Shakespeare, Writers, Drury Lane, Profiles, Silk Road, The House, and Provision. He’s had guest, recurring and co-star roles in Emperor Of Ocean Park, Somebody Somewhere, Fargo, The Exorcist, Shining Girls, Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, Chicago PD, South Side, Empire, Crisis, Cheers and Wings. He played Jack Hyde in Jordan Peele’s remake of Candyman. Upcoming: Monsters: The Ed Gein Story on Netflix.

Alex Weisman (Lucien Salomon) makes his Northlight debut and returns to Theater Wit where he starred in the sold-out Chicago premiere of Josh Harmon’s Significant Other. Broadway credits include: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (OBC). In Chicago he appeared at the Goodman, Lookingglass, Chicago Shakespeare, Court Theater, Victory Gardens, Paramount, About Face, TimeLine among many others. He is a two-time Joseph Jefferson Award winner for The History Boys and Hand to God. Regional credits include: Milwaukee Rep, Chautauqua, and Zoetic. TV credits include: “Frank” on Sesame Street (GLAAD New Media Award), five years as “Chout” on NBC’s Chicago Fire/Med/P.D., New Amsterdam, Empire, Living With Yourself, Inventing Anna, Everything’s Trash, White House Plumber, and American Crime Story. Film credits include: A Complete Unknown, An Acceptable Loss, Black Box, Your Monster, and Another Happy Day. He is a founding stakeholder with BackRoom Shakespeare and proud NU grad!

Nathan Becker (Young Pierre Salomon) is making his Northlight and Theatre Wit debut. He has performed at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Provision Theatre, Porchlight Music Theatre, and Theatre at the Center among others. A native Chicagoan, Nate spent the last four years living in NYC attending NYU Tisch School of the Arts.


Dates: Previews begin April 10, 2025

Press Opening: Thursday, April 17, 2025 at 7:30pm

Regular run: April 18 – May 11, 2025


Schedule:   

Tuesdays: 7:30pm (April 15 only) 

Wednesdays: 1:00pm and 7:30pm

Thursdays: 7:30pm 

Fridays: 7:30pm

Saturdays: 2:30pm (except April 12) and 7:30pm

Sundays: 2:30pm and 7:30pm (April 13 only)

• Theater Wit, in collaboration with the Crown Family Center for Jewish Studies at Northwestern and Northlight Theatre, hosts CityTalk: A Series of Conversations on Assimilation, Antisemitism and Culture. This free, unprecedented series of curated talks and convenings with distinguished experts in Jewish history will be presented throughout the Chicago area, March 23 – May 9, 2025. The events are free, and advance registration is required. For more information and registration, visit https://citytalkchicago.org/.

Backstage with BJ – Northlight’s popular discussion series with Artistic Director BJ Jones – will be held April 4 at 12pm.

An Open Captioned performance will be held on Friday, May 2 at 7:30pm. An Open Captioned and Audio Described/Touch Tour performance will be held on Saturday, May 3 at 2:30pm.

Location: Northlight Theatre is located at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd, Skokie

• Theater Wit has produced all of Joshua Harmon’s Chicago premieres with this co-production of Prayer for the French Republic being the largest. Bad Jews explored young Jews grappling with religion amid American secularism; Admissions dove into the explosive mix of college anxiety and white fragility. 


Tickets:

Previews: $35-$74

Regular run: $49-$91

Student tickets are $15, any performance (subject to availability)

Box Office: The Box Office is located at 9501 Skokie Blvd, Skokie. 847.673.6300; northlight.org

• The first production of Prayer for the French Republic was directed by Chicagoan David Cromer and premiered at the Manhattan Theatre Club in New York City in January 2022. The Broadway production began previews in December 2023 and officially opened in January 2024. It starred much of the off-Broadway cast alongside Anthony Edwards as Patrick, with Cromer returning as director.


About Theater Wit

Founded in 2004, Theater Wit is a cultural hub of the Chicago theater landscape, specializing in contemporary works of comedy, intellect and heart. Under a unique, playwright-centric second production process, Theater Wit has become a nationally recognized producer of new work by writers like Anne Washburn, Will Eno, Itamar Moses, Joshua Harmon and Madeleine George.

Under founding Artistic Director Jeremy Wechsler’s leadership, Theater Wit has grown from a small $40K annual budget to a leader in the Chicago landscape with an annual budget of $750K. In 2007, he supervised and designed a new home for Theater Wit, a three-theater facility that hosts Wit’s own award-winning work and gives a home to a number of Chicago's best neighborhood theaters with over 500 performances per year from 20+ companies in a typical season.


About Northlight Theatre

Northlight Theatre aspires to promote change of perspective and encourage compassion by exploring the depth of our humanity across a bold spectrum of theatrical experiences, reflecting our community to the world and the world to our community.

Founded in 1974, the organization has mounted over 240 productions, including more than 45 world premieres. Northlight has earned 230 Joseph Jefferson Award nominations and 36 Awards, as well as 11 Edgerton Foundation for New Play Awards. As one of the area’s premier theatre companies, Northlight is a regional magnet for critical and professional acclaim, as well as talent of the highest quality.

Northlight is supported in part by generous contributions BMO Harris Bank; Bulley & Andrews; Byline Bank; ComEd, An Exelon Company; Dr. Scholl Foundation; Eckenhoff Saunders Architects, Inc.; The Field Foundation of Illinois; Full Circle Foundation; Grumman Butkus Associates; Hagerty Consulting; Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; John R Halligan Charitable Fund; LionBird; Lloyd A. Fry Foundation; Mabadi Realty; Mammel Family Foundation; Modestus Bauer Foundation; Northwestern University; Paul M. Angell Family Foundation; Pritzker Foundation; The Schubert Foundation, Inc.; The Sullivan Family Foundation; The Weatherlow Foundation; Tom Stringer Design Partners.


Saturday, August 20, 2016

Theater Wit's Complete 2016-17 Season Announced

Chi, IL Live Shows On Our Radar

THE TRUMP CARD, THIS WAY OUTTA SANTALAND 
AND ANNE WASHBURN'S 
10 OUT of 12  
JOIN MAT SMART'S NAPERVILLE 
FOR THEATER WIT'S 2016-17 SEASON





Theater Wit Artistic Director Jeremy Wechsler, currently in rehearsals for Wit's 2016-17 season opener, Mat Smart's new dramatic comedy Naperville, announced the balance of the company's 2016-17 "smart art" line-up:




Jeremy Wechsler






New Additions To The Lineup:

First is an election-season production of Mike Daisey's The Trump Card. Already a sensation at New York's Public Theatre and now on tour, Daisey has "open sourced" the rights to his 70-minute take-down of the current Republican presidential nominee. 



Wit can't wait to "take on the reigning world heavyweight of self-mythologizing, the short-fingered vulgarian who captured a nation's heart through bullying, charm, one-syllable explosions, and occasionally telling the brutal truth: Donald J. Trump." The Trump Card opens October 5 and closes on election night, November 8.  Wechsler will direct. Casting, performance times and ticket prices are TBA.





Here at ChiIL Mama & ChiIL Live Shows we were bummed to hear the rights to The Santaland Diaries had been pulled nationally for this holiday season. Mitchell Fain's hilarious portrayal of Crumpet the elf has become a tradition for us and a much needed antidote to all the saccharin sweet songs and annoying commercialism that consumes our public spaces from November to January. We're beyond excited that Mitchell Fain and Theater Wit have found a way to do an end run around this obstacle and present the world premiere of a brand new holiday tradition, This Way Outta Santaland, Mitchell Fain's all-new autobiographical holiday show. Don't miss this stunningly funny tell-all about his eight years starring as Crumpet the elf in Wit's long-running hit The Santaland Diaries



Audiences will adore Fain's fresh revelations about how family, drunks, 250 performances and the holiday spirits collide. Boozy Christmas carols, celebrity holiday gossip and the private lives of elves are all up for grabs in this warm-hearted take on a holiday show about a holiday show. Performances are November 23-December 23, 2016.


The Midwest debut of 10 Out of 12 by Anne Washburn, author of Wit's 2014 smash hit Mr. Burns, a post-electric play, is Wit's spring finale. 


Here at ChiIL Mama & ChiIL Live Shows, we adored Mr. Burns, a post-electric play (pictured above & below)! We can't wait to see what Anne Washburn has in store for us this season.



Washburn's newest, most adventurous work, 10 Out of 12 is a near-perfect recreation of a technical rehearsal, celebrating the hopes and visions that emerge from the most mundane of processes. 

Anne Washburn, Playwright

In Wit's production, audiences will don their own headsets to hear the backstage chatter and experience the challenges of bringing a new play to life. What's more, Washburn will join director Jeremy Wechsler to create a 10 Out of 12 fully customized for Chicago's theater scene. Chicago theater lovers won't want to miss Wit's who's-who Chicago version of what the New York Times declared a  "wholly original love song to the maddening art of the theater." Performances are March 3-April 23, 2017.        

                                                                  


Already announced is Theater Wit's 2016-17 season opener, the Midwest premiere of Mat Smart's Naperville. This extraordinary dramatic comedy is set in a Caribou Coffee in - you guessed it - Naperville.  Smart, a native of Naperville, now a New York writer, returns to Chicago riding a wave of local acclaim after his play The Royal Society of Antarctica at Gift Theatre won the 2015 Equity Jeff Award for Best New Work. New York Theatre Review hailed the 2014 off-off-Broadway premiere of Naperville "a heartfelt and beautiful meditation on the comedy and tragedy of quiet places we are too quick to forget" and a "valentine to the heart and soul of the American suburbs." Previews start August 26. Press opening is Tuesday, 
September 6 at 7:30 p.m. Performances run through October 16. 



"I'm very excited to announce one of Chicago's most exciting seasons of work from the country's finest playwrights and artists, " said Theater Wit Artistic Director Jeremy Wechsler. " These surprising plays are a clarion call for how compassion, humor and understanding can ignite unexpected community in a divided society. Ranging from the broadest political stage to the smallest coffee house, these plays scale from the smallest nuclear family to the larger collectives that create meaning and connection from nothing but plywood and determination. I've strived to find those particular works that can thrive in our unique home and artistic processes. It's going to be a memorable year."

The best way to secure seats is to sign up for a Theater Wit Membership. Wit's Netflix-like "all the theater you can eat" deal lets members see as many plays at they want at any of Theater Wit's three spaces for one low monthly fee of $36/$22 for students, along with many exclusive member perks. 

To purchase a Membership, inquire about Flex Pass options or to buy single tickets, visit TheaterWit.org or call the Theater Wit box office, 773.975.8150.

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

About Theater Wit
Theater Wit - "a thrilling addition to Chicago's roster of theaters" (Chicago Tribune) and "a terrific place to see a show" (New City) - will open its sixth season this fall in its home at 1229 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago. 

Founded in 2004, Theater Wit's mission is to explore contemporary issues with wit and wisdom through new works and Chicago premieres. As a production company, Theater Wit is Chicago's premiere smart art theater, producing humorous, challenging and intelligent plays that speak with a vibrant and contemporary theatrical voice. 

Recent critical and box office hits include The New Sincerity by Alena Smith, Bad Jews by Joshua Harmon, Mr. Burns, a post-electric play by Anne Washburn, The (curious case of the) Watson Intelligence and Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England by Madeleine George, Completeness and The Four of Us by Itamar Moses. 

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.

As an institution, Theater Wit seeks to be the 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. 

Theater Wit brings together Chicago's best storefront companies, including 2016-17 resident companies About Face and Shattered Globe. 

For more information, visit TheaterWit.org or all the Theater Wit box office, 773.975.8150.

Saturday, April 18, 2015

OPENING: CHICAGO DEBUT OF JOSHUA HARMON'S BAD JEWS, APRIL 24 - JUNE 7, 2015 AT THEATER WIT

THEATER WIT ANNOUNCES 
CAST AND CREW FOR CHICAGO DEBUT OF JOSHUA HARMON'S  
BAD JEWS, 
APRIL 24 - JUNE 7, 2015

Here at ChiIL Live Shows, we're looking forward to Theater Wit's Chicago premiere of Joshua Harmon's Bad Jews, a smart, savage comedy about the holy and holier-than-thou, which closes Wit's 2014-15 season April 24-June 7, 2015. 


Hailed by Charles Isherwood of The New York Times in 2013 as "the best comedy of the season," Harmon's critically acclaimed play asks questions about what you choose to believe, when you're chosen.

Bad Jews tells the story of Daphna Feygenbaum, a "Real Jew" with an Israeli boyfriend. When Daphna's cousin Liam brings home his shiksa girlfriend Melody and declares ownership of their grandfather's Chai necklace, a vicious and hilarious brawl over family, faith and legacy ensues. Stir in the identity curation of the Facebook generation and Theater Wit's Chicago premiere of Bad Jews, directed by artistic director Jeremy Wechsler, promises to be one of the funniest, wisest, most excruciating comedies on a Chicago stage this year.

Wechsler's cast for Bad Jews features Erica Bittner as Melody (credits include The Madness of Edgar Allen Poe for First Folio, Peer Gynt at DCA Storefront Theatre, and seven productions for Redmoon), Ian Paul Custer as Liam (national tour of Peter Pan; Annie Bosch is Missing at Steppenwolf; High Holidays at the Goodman; To Master the Art and 33 Variations for TimeLine; Fiddler on the Roof at Paramount), Cory Kahane as Josh (The Romans: Episode Quartus for Lincoln Square Theatre; A Midsummer Night's Dream at The James Dowling Theatre) and Laura Lapidus as Daphna (Women Beware Women for Two Pence Theatre at The Den Theatre; Griffin Theatre's Golden Boy and Balm in Gilead; Pavement Group's breaks & bikes; Pains of Youth for Odradeck Theater w/Oracle Theatre).

The Bad Jews design team includes Adam Veness (set), Kristof Janezic (lights), Janice Pytel (costumes), Cassy Schillo (props) and Michael Stanfill (lighting). Sarah Luse is stage manager.

Bad Jews:  Dates, Times and Ticket Prices
Tickets to Bad Jews are on sale now. Previews are April 24-May 3: Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m. Previews are $12-$18. Press opening is Monday, May 4 at 7 p.m. Regular performances run through June 7: Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m. No shows Thursday, May 7 or 14. Regular run tickets are $20-$36. 

Theater Wit is located at 1229 W. Belmont Ave., in the heart of the new Belmont Theatre District. For tickets and information, visit TheaterWit.org or call 773.975.8150.
                                                                                                                   
Bad Jews:  Behind the scenes
Joshua Harmon's play Bad Jews received its world premiere at Roundabout Underground and was the first production there to transfer to the Roundabout's Laura Pels Theatre (Outer Critics Circle and Lucille Lortel Award nominations, Best Play). Bad Jews opened in London at the St. James Theatre in January 2015 following an acclaimed run at Theatre Royal Bath. Harmon wrote the book for Radio City Music Hall's upcoming original show, the "New York Spring Spectacular." His work has been produced and developed by Manhattan Theatre Club, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Hangar Theatre, Ars Nova, and Actor's Express, where he was the 2010-2011 National New Play Network Playwright-in-Residence. He has received fellowships from MacDowell, Atlantic Center for the Arts, SPACE at Ryder Farm, and the Eudora Welty Foundation.  Harmon is currently in the Playwrights Program at Juilliard and is under commission from Roundabout Theatre Company and Lincoln Center Theater.

Jeremy Wechsler, artistic director of Theater Wit, most recently staged Theater Wit's current smash hit, Mr. Burns, a post-electric play by Anne Washburn, the hit Midwest premiere of Madeline George's Seven Homeless Mammoths Wander New England, and that show's subsequent summer remount at Art Square Theatre in Las Vegas. Wechsler also staged Wit's acclaimed productions of 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. Wechsler's productions have been nominated for and won multiple awards for design, performance, adaptation and best new work. He has taught at several universities, is an artistic associate at Collaboraction and currently serves on the board of the League of Chicago Theatres.

About Theater Wit
"A thrilling addition to Chicago's roster of theaters" (Chicago Tribune) and "a terrific place to see a show" (New City), Theater Wit is in its fourth season in its home at 1229 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago.




Gone But Not Forgotten:


Here at ChiIL Mama & ChiIL Live Shows, we adored Theater Wit's smash hit, Chicago debut of Mr. Burns, a post-electric play. We're already chomping at the bit for a remount! It was one of our favorites of the season for sure! The Simpsons is already such a fabulous amalgam of pop culture references, psychology, and the best and worst of humanity, encased in the hilarious that we can't think of a better mythology for a post plague and nuclear meltdown society to follow. Mr. Burnsa post-electric play is wickedly witty and scary insightful. And Theater Wit's casting was stellar! 

Anne Washburn's meta-apocalyptic comedy/drama/musical about America rebuilding itself from the ashes of an apocalypse, and the enduring power of Bart Simpson, was rewarded a 3.5 star review from the Chicago Tribune, which called it "an intellectual rush" and "very funny." Time Out Chicago agreed Mr. Burns is "wonderfully weird... brilliant...trippy...4 out of 5 stars." 

Founded in 2004, Theater Wit's mission is to explore contemporary issues with wit and wisdom through new works and Chicago premieres. As a production company, Theater Wit is Chicago's premier smart art theater, producing humorous, challenging and intelligent plays that speak with a vibrant and contemporary theatrical voice.  As an institution, Wit seeks to be the hub of the Chicago neighborhood theater scene. 

In its three spaces, Theater Wit brings together Chicago's best storefront companies. Here audiences find a smorgasbord of excellent productions, see a parade of talented artists and mingle with audiences from all over Chicago. 

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.

Theater Wit also offers a Flex Pass: 10 admissions for $215 to literally anything presented in the building, a savings of up to 40%. 

To purchase tickets to Bad Jews, Mr. Burns, any resident production, a Membership Program, Flex Pass, single tickets or for information about any production at Theater Wit, call 773.975.8150 or visit  TheaterWit.org.


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