Lynn Nottage’s BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK Via The Artistic Home at The Den Theatre from October 12 through November 17, 2024

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 The Artistic Home to present Lynn Nottage’s sly satire 

BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK 

October 12 – November 17 at The Den Theatre

Chicago actress Risha Tenae to direct – full casting announced

The Artistic Home announced today that it will present BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK, by the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage, at The Den Theatre from October 12 through November 17.  A juxtaposition of screwball comedy and satire, it concerns a woman who while serving as maid to an aging Hollywood starlet in the 1930’s breaks into the movie business as an actress. Like other African American actors of the period, however, she is relegated to playing roles as domestics and is forced to compromise her values in order to maintain a successful career. BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK has been called “a smart satire that takes a piercing look at the damage done by early Hollywood representations of people of color, and the legacy that echoes forth today.” I'll be out for the press opening October 17th, so check back shortly after for my full review.

BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK will be directed by Risha Tenae, a Chicago-based Theatre, Television and Film Actor whose Chicago stage credits include roles at Lifeline, Black Ensemble Theatre, Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre, and First Floor Theatre. The title role will be taken by Ashayla Calvin, while Gloria Mitchell, the aging starlet once known as “America’s Little Sweetie-Pie,” will be played by Caitlin Jemison. The other five members of the cast are Bryant Hindsman (Leroy Barksdale/ Herb Forrester), Justice Ford (Lottie McBride/Carmen Levy-Green), MarieAnge Louis-Jean (Anna Mae Simpkins /Afua Asssata Ejobo), Martin Holt (Fredrick Slasvick/Brad Donavan), and Dan Evashevski (Maxmillian Von Oster /Peter Rhys-Davies). Understudies are Jordan Taylor (u/s Vera Stark), Charlie Irving (u/s Gloria Mitchell), Nathaniel Vangine ( u/s Leroy Barksdale/ Herb Forrester), Jada Rice (u/s Lottie/Carmen), and Peter Ash (u/s Maxmillian Von Oster /Peter Rhys-Davies).

Top row L-R: Ashayla Calvin, Dan Evashevski, Justice Ford, Bryant Hindsman.

Middle Row L-R: Martin Holt, Caitlin Jemison, MarieAnge Louis-Jean, Peter Ash.

Lower row L-R: Charlie Irving, Jada Rice, Jordan Taylor, Nathaniel Vangine.

The production team includes Savaun Stokes (Assistant Director), Andrew Snyder (Stage Manager), Kevin Hagan (Scenic Design/Production Manager/Graphic Design), Rachel Lambert (Costume Design), Marquecia Jordan (Wig/Make-up Design), Petter Wahlbäck (Sound Design), Ellie Fey (Lighting Design), Mark Bracken Jr (Projection Design), David Blixt (Intimacy Direction), Randy Rozler (Properties Design), Justice Ford (Dramaturgy), Tom McNelis (Technical Director), Kathy Scambiatterra (Producing Artistic Director), and Kristin Collins (Casting Director).

Director Risha Tenae says, “I am Vera Stark. In many ways. Every play I work on is significant for me. However, this show is the most important show of my career. I spent thirteen years in Hollywood. The first three years were dedicated to Drama school and intensive actor training (this is where Vera and I differ). The 10 years after were solely dedicated to pursuing a career as an actor--and finding ways to survive in the meantime. I understand Vera and the world she lives in so well that it hurts. So much so that I have never really spoken about my time or experiences in Hollywood, until now. Vera has helped me find my voice. I think that is why her story is so important to me. And, why I feel so compelled to share her story with the world.”

The Artistic Home performs at The Den Theatre, and also maintains an acting studio and rehearsal space at 3054 N. Milwaukee Avenue in the Avondale/Logan neighborhood. Tickets are regular performances: $35 general, $20 students/seniors, $20 previews all seats at www.theartistichome.org.

 Production Details:

October 12 – November 17, 2024

Previews Saturday, October 12 at 8:00 pm, Sunday, October 13 at 3:00 pm and Wednesday, October 16 at 8:00 pm

Press Opening Thursday, October 17 at 8:00 pm

Regular run performance times Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8:00 pm and Sunday at 3:00 pm.

The Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago

Ticket prices: Regular performances:  $35 general, $20 students/seniors; $20 previews all seats. 

Tickets available at www.theartistichome.org, or by phone at 773-697-3830

It’s The Golden Age of Hollywood, and the streets of Los Angeles teem with aspiring starlets. When Vera Stark—maid to “America’s Little Sweetie Pie” Gloria Mitchell—lands a groundbreaking role in an antebellum epic, she turns Hollywood on its head and paves the way for future generations of Black actresses. Seventy years later, film buffs still wrestle with the life and legacy of this controversial star, for whom fame and fortune could only be achieved by joining the apparatus of a deeply racist industry. Hilarious and incisive, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Lynn Nottage’s juxtaposition of screwball comedy and sly satire is both satisfying and timely.

BIOS

Lynn Nottage (playwright) Lynn Nottage is a playwright. a screenwriter and installation artist. She is the first, and remains the only, woman to have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice. Her plays have been produced widely in the United States and throughout the world. Most recently, Nottage premiered MJ THE MUSICAL, directed by Christopher Wheeldon and featuring the music of Michael Jackson, at the Neil Simon Theater on Broadway, CLYDE'S directed by Kate Whoriskey at Second Stage Theater on Broadway and an opera adaptation of her play INTIMATE APPAREL composed by Ricky Ian Gordon and directed by Bart Sher, commissioned by The Met/Lincoln Center Theater and co-curated with Director Miranda Haymon the Performance Installation THE WATERING HOLE at the Signature Theater.   

Her other work includes, FLOYD'S (retitled- CLYDE'S - Guthrie Theater), the musical adaptation of Sue Monk Kidd's novel THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES, with music by Duncan Sheik and lyrics by Susan Birkenhead (The Almeida Theatre/The Atlantic Theater), MLIMA’S TALE (Public Theater/ Kiln), BY THE WAY, MEET VERA STARK (Lilly Award, Drama Desk Nomination, Second Stage/Signature Theater), RUINED (Pulitzer Prize, OBIE, Lucille Lortel, New York Drama Critics’ Circle, Audelco, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Award - MTC/Goodman Theater); INTIMATE APPAREL (American Theatre Critics and New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards for Best Play Center Stage/SCR/ Roundabout Theater); FABULATION, OR THE RE-EDUCATION OF UNDINE (OBIE Award - Playwrights Horizons/Signature Theater); CRUMBS FROM THE TABLE OF JOY; LAS MENINAS; MUD, RIVER, STONE; POR’KNOCKERS; and POOF!

Risha Tenae (director) is a Theatre, Television and Film Actor that has been involved with Theater and Theater education since high school. She graduated from the Alabama School of Fine Arts, attended Miami University B.A. theater program, and graduated from The California Institute of the Arts M.F.A. Theater program where she focused on performance. Theatre and TV credits include: BLUES FOR AN ALABAMA SKY (Angel), KING LEAR (Cornwall), 24 HOURS THE MUSICAL (Shawnna), IN THE BLOOD (Welfare/Bully), THREE SISTERS (Irena), THE MUSIC MAN (Alma), KING HENRY V (Kate), THE COLORED MUSEUM (Woman #3). DON'T MAKE ME OVER (Cissy Houston), SINGLE BLACK FEMALE (SBF 2), JULIUS CAESAR (Portia), THE SEAGULL (Masha), FRANKENSTEIN (Caroline), URBAN LOVE STORY (Ms. Marion), THE COLOR PURPLE; directed by Gary Griffin (PA), THE PROJECTS (Doreen), WHEN WE HEAL and THE CHI. 

In addition to acting, Risha finds joy in being a Teaching Artist. She taught Theatre for grades K-12 in multiple schools around Los Angeles County during her time there and is currently on the faculty of Acting Studio Chicago and teaching Theatre at other schools around Chicago.

ABOUT THE ARTISTIC HOME

The Artistic Home is noted for their innovative and intimate presentations of rarely produced classics as well for developing new works. The company has been frequently honored in the Jeff Awards. For 2023, they received nine nominations, including a nomination for Production of a Play (DYING FOR IT) and win for Kevin Hagan’s scenic design of DYING FOR IT. In 2022, they received nine nominations and two wins – one for New Work (MALAPERT LOVE, written by artistic associate Siah Berlatsky) and one for Supporting Actor in a play (Todd Wojcik – in THE PAVILION). The company’s 2022 nominations also included two for Best Play production (MALAPERT LOVE and THE PAVILION). The Artistic Home was one of the big winners in the 2019 Jeff Awards, with four awards including Production of a Play, Director of a Play, Principal Performer in a Play, and Sound Design, all for REQUIEM FOR A HEAVYWEIGHT. Brookelyn Hebert won a Jeff as Principal Performer in a Play for the company’s 2020 production of ADA AND THE ENGINE. The company was nominated for Jeff Awards in 2019 for ROCK ‘N’ ROLL, and in 2018 for HOW I LEARNED TO DRIVE.

Other memorable productions of recent years include 2017’s WEDDING BAND, BY THE BOG OF CATS and THE SCHOOL FOR LIES; their Jeff-nominated productions of THE SEAGULL, WATCH ON THE RHINE, MACBETH and THE LATE HENRY MOSS; and their 2013 Jeff Award-winner THE GODDESS. Other Artistic Home productions include the Jeff-Award-winning production of JUNO AND THE PAYCOCK, which also received three After Dark Awards, the Jeff-Nominated SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH, THE TALLEST MAN, LANDSCAPE OF THE BODY, NATURAL AFFECTION, FIVE WOMEN WEARING THE SAME DRESS, AFTER THE FALL and PEER GYNT (which also received an After Dark award for Direction).

For more than 26 years, The Artistic Home has consistently produced compelling theatre in Chicago. First formed in 1998 with the belief that the actor is at the heart of great theater, the company strives to give birth to unforgettable moments; to touch audiences who are increasingly distanced from human contact; to readdress the classics and explore new works with passion.

REVIEW: Pulitzer Winning Playwright Lynn Nottage's Clyde's at Goodman Theatre Through October 9, 2022

In food and in life, we truly are all stronger together 

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TWO-TIME PULITZER PRIZE WINNER LYNN NOTTAGE RETURNS TO GOODMAN THEATRE THIS FALL WITH 

CLYDE’S 

STARRING DE’ADRE AZIZA, KEVIN KENERLY, REZA SALAZAR, NEDRA SNIPES AND GARRETT YOUNG

***KATE WHORISKEY DIRECTS THE CHICAGO PREMIERE OF THE BROADWAY TRIUMPH, SEPTEMBER 10 – OCTOBER 9***

Photo Credit for all: Liz Lauren

REVIEW:

By Bonnie Kenaz-Mara

A battered, old-school diner sign hangs by a small window. As the lights dim, the window expands into a stage-wide trapezoid, rimmed in a pop of color, reminiscent of neon. The audience is treated to a fly on the wall view of a kitchen crew, made up of the formerly incarcerated. It's intriguing peering through the window into their fast paced workspace, as they reassemble their post prison lives, while assembling sandwiches at a truck stop dive. The boss woman, Clyde, is fierce and borderline abusive, with her own past history and sketchy overlords she's beholden to. She reigns over her queendom of the desperate with an iron fist, yet gives her workers a fair chance at a living wage and a second chance. Despite the odds stacked against these sandwich stackers, their tale is told with empathy, humor, and a full plate of the universal struggles of being human.

Much like this intrepid band of former inmates, two potted herbs flourish and grow in a beam of sun, despite the dismal surroundings. As the coworkers' hostility and defenses are broken down, friendships and even romance blooms. Preconceptions are blown apart as the kitchen staff slowly grows to trust one another and share glimpses into their current life situations, struggles, and backstories. It's heartbreaking to hear that prison came as a result of an innocent brother's altruistic gesture, the desperation of an uninsured mother with a sick child, and an all too human backlash at scabs taking away factory jobs during a strike. First impressions of racist tattoos and other surface looks are dispelled, as this motley band of humans bond and learn to trust again. 

I particularly loved the mouthwatering games of dream sandwich invention, showing creativity, intelligence, collective input, and a longing to improve on the present. In life lessons through lunch, the kitchen crew moves through trying too hard, taking risks, speaking up, trusting themselves, and finally collaboration. Ultimately, though each creates decent solo efforts, it's one final, collective sandwich that makes the magic happen. In food and in life, we truly are all stronger together. 

Shout out to Takeshi Kata for the playful set design with an oasis of a walk-in fridge that looks like a vacation destination, dynamic and appealing. I also love the brilliant pops of fire bookending the production's beginning and end. 

It's rare to see an understudy on opening night, but boss bitch, Danielle Davis nailed it as Clyde. De'Adre Aziza is currently out with a non-Covid-related illness. Davis has been standing in as Ms. Aziza’s understudy for the last five performances, and will continue playing Clyde until the principal fully recovers. Director Kate Whoriskey states “While we were met with the challenge of having to make the show without our principal actor, we want to celebrate the work of our understudy.”

Playwright and screenwriter, Lynn Nottage has long been one of our favorites. She is the first woman in history to win two well deserved Pulitzer Prizes for Drama. Her way with words and gritty, unwavering look at the working class wronged is always a treat to see on stage! Kudos to Goodman Theatre for holding space for these life experiences, and bringing together that unique amalgamation of talent and tech to make this storytelling shine! Highly recommended. Four out of four stars. ★★★★

Bonnie is a Chicago based writer, theatre critic, photographer, videographer, actress, artist, and Mama. She owns two websites where she publishes frequently: ChiILLiveShows.com (adult) & ChiILMama.com (family friendly). 

About Clyde’s 

A “flavor-bomb of a new comedy about survival, second chances and digesting whatever life serves up” (Variety), Clyde’s earned five Tony Award nominations in its Broadway run, directed by Ms. Nottage’s longtime creative collaborator, Kate Whoriskey. Creating the perfect sandwich is the shared quest of the formerly incarcerated kitchen staff of Clyde’s, a truck stop cafe. Even as the shop’s mischievous owner tries to keep them under her thumb, the staffers are given purpose and permission to dream—finding that “sometimes a hero is more than a sandwich” (New York Times). This stirring, masterful play kicks off Goodman Theatre’s new 2022/2023 Season.

Celebrated creative collaborators over two decades, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Lynn Nottage and director Kate Whoriskey return to Goodman Theatre with their latest Broadway production, Clyde’s, launching the Goodman’s 2022/2023 Season. The cast of the Chicago premiere features Tony Award-nominated actress De’Adre Aziza as the hot-tempered Clyde, whose eponymous truck stop café’s kitchen staff of formerly incarcerated people—Kevin Kenerly (Montrellous), Reza Salazar (Rafael), Nedra Snipes (Letitia) and Garrett Young (Jason)—dreams of creating the perfect sandwich. Clyde’s appears September 10 – October 9 in the 856-seat Albert Theatre.

Tickets ($25 –$80, subject to change) are now available at GoodmanTheatre.org/Clydes or by phone at 312-443-3800. 

The Goodman is grateful for the support of JP Morgan Chase & Co. (Lead Corporate Sponsor) and Winston & Strawn LLP (Corporate Sponsor Partner). Clyde’s is a co-production with Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles, where it will appear November 15 – December 18, 2022.

“I am beyond thrilled to be returning to the Goodman Theatre, which has been so instrumental in nurturing me a theater artist,” said playwright Lynn Nottage, whose works at the Goodman include Sweat (2019), By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (2013), Ruined (her Pulitzer Prize-winning world-premiere Goodman commission and co-production with Manhattan Theatre Club, 2008) and Crumbs from the Table of Joy (2006). “I can’t wait to share Clyde’s with the Chicago community, and with audiences in Los Angeles at Center Theatre Group later this fall.”

Director Kate Whoriskey, whose world-premiere collaborations with Ms. Nottage include Sweat (2015), Ruined (at the Goodman, 2008), Fabulation or The Re-Education of Undine (2004) and Intimate Apparel (2003) said, “I’m thrilled to work with Tony Award nominee De’Adre Aziza, Nedra Snipes and Garrett Young—as well as to continue developing this play with our original collaborators Reza Salazar and Kevin Kenerly.”

Chicago audiences are first to experience Clyde’s following its Broadway run, where it earned five Tony Award nominations and was critically hailed as a “delightful new play” (New York Times) with “feisty comedy on the menu” (Washington Post), a “winning recipe” (Deadline) with “brilliant writing” (Daily Beast), and a “flavor-bomb of a new comedy about survival, second chances and digesting whatever life serves up” (Variety).

“It’s enormously exciting to welcome audiences to our new season with a sensational new work from one of the Goodman’s most-produced playwrights,” said Robert Falls. “We’re also thrilled to welcome back Lynn’s longtime artistic partner, director Kate Whoriskey, and to collaborate with our friends at Los Angeles’ Center Theatre Group to extend the life of this wonderful production.”

Added Center Theatre Group Managing Director / CEO Meghan Pressman, “Clyde’s was a highlight of last year's Broadway season, and our partnership with Goodman Theatre allows us to bring this outstanding production to Los Angeles. Clyde's will be the second time we have produced Lynn's work in Los Angeles, and we are thrilled to bring this bold, engaging, and entertaining play to our audiences for its West Coast premiere.”

Understudies for this production include Danielle Davis (Clyde), Lewon Johns (Montrellous), Maya Vinice Prentiss (Letitia), Arik Vega (Rafael) and Gage Wallace (Jason). The creative team includes Takeshi Kata (Set Design); Jennifer Moeller (Costume Design); Christopher Akerlind (Lighting Design); Justin Ellington (Sound Design); and Justin Hicks (Composition). Casting is by Lauren Port, CSA and Rachael Jimenez, CSA, and Nikki Blue is the Production Stage Manager.

A playwright and a screenwriter, Lynn Nottage is the first woman in history to win two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama. Her plays have been produced widely in the United States and throughout the world. Chicago credits include Ruined (Goodman Theatre); Sweat (Goodman Theatre); By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (Goodman Theatre); Crumbs from the Table of Joy (Goodman Theatre; Steppenwolf) and Intimate Apparel (Steppenwolf). Broadway credits include her plays Clyde’s (2ST) and Sweat, and the libretto for the musical MJ. Other work includes the libretto for the opera Intimate Apparel (Lincoln Center Theater); co-curating the performance installation The Watering Hole (Signature Theater); the libretto for the musical adaptation of The Secret Life of Bees; as well as her plays Mlima's Tale; Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine; Crumbs from the Table of Joy; Las Meninas; Mud, River, Stone; Por’knockers and POOF!. She has also developed This is Reading, a performance installation in Reading, Pennsylvania. Ms. Nottage is the recipient of a MacArthur "Genius Grant" Fellowship, among other awards, is an associate professor at Columbia University School of the Arts and is a member of the Dramatists Guild.

Kate Whoriskey is a New York-based theater and opera director. On Broadway, she has directed Clyde’s, Sweat and The Miracle Worker. Off-Broadway credits include All the Natalie Portmans at MCC; Sweat, Manhatta and Ping Pong at The Public; Aubergine, Inked Baby and Fabulation at Playwrights Horizons; Her Requiem at Lincoln Center; How I Learned to Drive and Cardinal at Second Stage; Oroonoko at Theatre for a New Audience; and Ruined and Tales from Red Vienna at Manhattan Theatre Club. Regionally, she has worked at the Goodman, A.R.T, the Guthrie, the Huntington, the Geffen, South Coast Rep, Sundance Theatre Lab, New York Stage and Film among others. Internationally, her work has been seen at the Chatelet in Paris and Theatro Municipal Opera in Rio de Janeiro and Carriage Works in Sydney. She also directed Turn of the Screw at Mannis. Teaching experience includes Princeton, NYU and UC Davis. She was recently awarded Best Director from the Drama League for her production of Clyde’s.

THE COMPANY OF CLYDE’S

Clyde………...............De’Adre Aziza 

Montrellous…………Kevin Kenerly 

Rafael…………………Reza Salazar

Letitia……………….. Nedra Snipes

Jason………………..Garrett Young

Understudies for this production include Danielle Davis (Clyde), Lewon Johns (Montrellous), Maya Vinice Prentiss (Letitia), Arik Vega (Rafael) and Gage Wallace (Jason).

Set Design by Takeshi Kata

Costume Design by Jennifer Moeller

Lighting Design by Christopher Akerlind

Sound Design by Justin Ellington

Composition by Justin Hicks

Casting is by Lauren Port, CSA and Rachael Jimenez, CSA. Nikki Blue is the Production Stage Manager.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2022

6PM | RECEPTION IN CLUB MEZZ (THE 2ND FLOOR THEATRE LOBBY) - FOOD INCLUDED!

7:30PM | PERFORMANCE IN THE ALBERT THEATRE

Join your fellow theater-loving college students for pizza and a play! A $10 ticket for Clyde’s college night includes a pre-show reception with all-you-can-eat pizza, soda, and a discussion with a featured cast member.

Use code COLLEGE to unlock $10 tickets for this event.* 

ENHANCED AND ACCESSIBLE PERFORMANCES

Visit Goodman theatre.org/Access for more information about Goodman Theatre’s accessibility efforts.

Touch Tour and Audio-Described Performance: Saturday, October 8, 12:30pm Touch Tour; 2pm performance – The action/text is audibly enhanced for patrons via headset. NOTE: Touch Tours for the 2022/2023 Season will not have access to the stage due to current health and safety protocols, but will feature alternate pre-show sensory introductions.

ASL-Interpreted: Friday, October 7 at 8pm – An American Sign Language interpreter signs the action/text as played.

Spanish Subtitles: Saturday October 8 at 8pm.

Open-Captioned: Sunday, October 9 at 2pm – An LED sign presents dialogue in sync with the performance.

Please note: Our current Health and Safety Protocols require masks while in the theater. These protocols are subject to change and patrons will be notified in advance of their performance of any shift in our policies. Review our current policy at GoodmanTheatre.org/Protocols.

ABOUT THE CO-PRODUCING THEATERS

Center Theatre Group, one of the nation’s preeminent arts and cultural organizations, is Los Angeles’ leading nonprofit theatre company, which, under the leadership of Managing Director / CEO Meghan Pressman and Producing Director Douglas C. Baker, and in collaboration with the five Associate Artistic Directors, Luis Alfaro, Lindsay Allbaugh, Tyrone Davis, Neel Keller, Kelley Kirkpatrick, programs seasons at the 736-seat Mark Taper Forum and 1,600 to 2,100-seat Ahmanson Theatre at The Music Center in Downtown Los Angeles, and the 317-seat Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. In addition to presenting and producing the broadest range of theatrical entertainment in the country, Center Theatre Group is one of the nation’s leading producers of ambitious new works through commissions and world premiere productions and a leader in interactive community engagement and education programs that reach across generations, demographics, and circumstance to serve Los Angeles. centertheatregroup.org

Chicago’s theater since 1925, Goodman Theatre is a not-for-profit arts and community organization in the heart of the Loop, distinguished by the excellence and scope of its artistic programming and community engagement. The theater’s artistic priorities include new play development (more than 150 world or American premieres), large scale musical theater works and reimagined classics. Artists and productions have earner two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards and more than 160 Jeff Awards, among other accolades. The Goodman is the first theater in the world to produce all 10 plays in August Wilson’s “American Century Cycle.” Its longtime annual holiday tradition A Christmas Carol, now in its fifth decade, has created a new generation of theatergoers in Chicago. The Goodman also frequently serves as a production and program partner with national and international companies and Chicago’s Off-Loop theaters.

Using the tools of the theatrical profession, the Goodman’s Education and Engagement programs aim to develop generations of citizens who understand the cultures and stories of diverse voices. The Goodman’s Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement is the home of these programs, which are offered free of charge for Chicago youth—85% of whom come from underserved communities—schools and life-long learners.

As a cultural and community organization invested in quality, diversity and community, Goodman Theatre is committed to using the art of theater for a better Chicago. Goodman Theatre’s Action Plan for Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, Anti-Racism and Access (IDEAA) was born out of the belief that progress means action, which includes building on the decades-long commitment to using art, assets and resources to contribute to a more just, equitable and anti-racist society.

Goodman Theatre was founded by William O. Goodman and his family in honor of their son Kenneth, an important figure in Chicago’s cultural renaissance in the early 1900s. The Goodman family’s legacy lives on through the continued work and dedication of Kenneth’s family, including Albert Ivar Goodman, who with his late mother, Edith-Marie Appleton, contributed the necessary funds for the creation on the new Goodman center in 2000.

Today, Goodman Theatre is led by Artistic Director Robert Falls (Susan Booth will assume that role this fall) and Executive Director Roche Schulfer. Theater leadership also includes the distinguished members of the Artistic Collective: Rebecca Gilman, Dael Orlandersmith, Henry Godinez, Steve Scott, Kimberly Senior, Chuck Smith, Regina Taylor and Mary Zimmerman. Jeff Hesse is Chairman of Goodman Theatre’s Board of Trustees, Fran Del Boca is Women’s Board President and Craig McCaw is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals.

REVIEW: Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer-prize Winning Drama SWEAT On Stage at Paramount's Copley Theatre Through April 24, 2022

 ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar 

PARAMOUNT THEATRE LAUNCHES NEW BOLD SERIES WITH 

SWEAT

INAUGURATING THE NEWLY RENOVATED COPLEY THEATRE IN DOWNTOWN AURORA, MARCH 9-APRIL 24, 2022

REVIEW:

By Bonnie Kenaz-Mara

Imagine yourself in a dive bar in Philly, in a working class hood, at the end of the Clinton era. Generations of hard working Americans have made a decent living here, with seniority workers making up to $40 an hour. Yet that's all about to come crashing town, as factory after factory packs up and moves to Mexico and cheaper digs overseas, putting profits over people. Sweat spans the Bush era and the utter decimation of this factory town, and the poverty, desperation, violence, and addiction that follow in the wake of plant closings. 

It's a brilliant and crucial set up for understanding the Trump years and the ongoing rage of the working class who punch down and blame immigrants and other working poor instead of management, and wealthy factory owners. Sweat is a scathing look at racism, scapegoats, injuries, alcoholism driven by poverty and pain, and the difficulty of employment after incarceration. It's not all doom and gloom, though. Sweat also depicts lifelong friendships, bonding, birthdays, and the strength in a sense of community.

Photo credit for all production shots unless noted otherwise: Amy Nelson

If you're expecting Paramount's usual fare of crowd pleasing musicals with big song and dance numbers, this is not that production. Head across the street. If you're ready for an epic fight scene, an unflinching look at human nature under pressure, and complicated family dynamics, don't miss this! We love Lynn Nottage’s phenomenal writing, and her all too timely treatise on the dissolving of living wage, blue collar jobs, and the havoc it wreaks on individuals, families, and communities. Paramount's take on this vital, contemporary drama is outstanding.

Here at ChiIL Live Shows, we're so excited for Paramount's new space and bold choices. The Copley Theatre renovation is a gorgeous mix of retro and modern with a nod toward a 1960's esthetic with a 2022 flair. 

Paramount's award winning main-stage shows have sparked an artistic renaissance in Aurora and now they're expanding to include a new space with an edgier lineup seldom seen in suburban theatre settings. What a wonderful resource for the region! We adored Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer-prize winning drama, Sweat, when we caught it in 2019 at Chicago's Goodman Theatre, and we're thrilled that Paramount's bringing it back with a phenomenal cast, in their intimate, new space. 

We truly felt like patrons in the on-stage bar, with the action taking place feet away. The set design is top shelf and the entire cast pours their hearts and souls into this production, expertly immersing the audience in their world. This production gave me chills and elicited a rousing, unanimous standing ovation from the opening night crowd. There were audible gasps in the audience during the vicious fight scene and more than a few patrons were moved to tears. This is the kind of theatre that leaves a mark, and sparks not only empathy, but vital post show discussions. Highly recommended. 

Bonnie is a Chicago based writer, theater critic, photographer, videographer, actress, artist and Mama. She owns two websites where she publishes frequently: ChiILLiveShows.com (adult) & ChiILMama.com (family friendly). 

Sweat, Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer-prize winning drama, is the first of four Bold productions in 2022 in the newly modernized Copley Theatre, right across the street from Paramount Theatre

After two years of waiting, Paramount Theatre will launch its new Bold Series next month, bringing a new, four-show subscription series and a new type of live theater – fearless, unexpected and thought provoking – to the heart of Aurora’s downtown entertainment district.

The inaugural production is Sweat, Lynn Nottage’s acclaimed modern-day drama about life in an American Rust Belt town being battered by the constant threat of company shutdowns. Sweat, running March 9-April 24, 2022, opening to the press Wednesday, March 16 at 7 p.m., is the winner of the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play and a landmark achievement of American theater.

Just as exciting, Paramount will lift the curtain on its new home for its Bold Series, the newly remodeled Copley Theatre, right across the street from Paramount at 8 E. Galena Blvd., in the North Island Center.

Photo Credit: Bonnie Kenaz-Mara

Following a two-year, $2 million, top-to-bottom renovation, the Copley is no longer an unknown, underutilized space, but an intimate, state-of-the-art theater with 165 comfortable new seats and a modern new lobby bar, ready to attract more audiences to downtown Aurora.

Behind-the-scenes of Paramount’s inaugural Bold production, Sweat

Sweat is set in a bar in an impoverished American town, where factory workers gather to laugh, talk, and drink their cares away, despite the constant threat of company shutdowns. When promotions and layoffs are rumored, tensions and jealousy begin to rip apart their community. Can friendships and family endure when all hopes of economic stability and mobility disappear? An intense examination of race, class and the human costs of capitalism, Sweat captures the ever-present battle between human needs and business in America’s Rust Belt.

Veteran Chicago director Andrea J Dymond is director. The cast features Jordan Anthony Arredondo (Oscar), Tiffany Bedwell (Jessie), Emmanuel K. Jackson (Chris), Linda Gillum (Tracey), Joshua L. Green (Brucie), Bryant Hayes (Evan), Shariba Rivers (Cynthia), Randy Steinmeyer (Stan) and Gage Wallace (Jason).

The production team includes Jeffrey D. Kmiec, scenic designer; Yvonne L. Miranda, costume designer; Jessica Neill, lighting designer; Jeffrey Levin, sound designer; Jesse Gaffney, properties designer; David Woolley, fight choreographer; Khalid Long, dramaturg; Jinni Pike, stage manager; and Lanita VanderSchaaf, assistant stage manager. 

The cast for Paramount’s Bold Series production of Sweat features Jordan Anthony Arredondo (Oscar), Tiffany Bedwell (Jessie), Linda Gillum (Tracey), Joshua L. Green (Brucie), Bryant Hayes (Evan),

 Emmanuel K. Jackson (Chris), Shariba Rivers (Cynthia), Randy Steinmeyer (Stan) and Gage Wallace (Jason).

Sweat performance schedule and ticket information

Previews start Wednesday, March 9, 2022. Press opening is Wednesday, March 16 at 7 p.m. Sweat runs through April 24. Show times are Wednesdays at 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Thursdays at 7 p.m.; Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at

2 p.m. and 8 p.m.; Sundays at 1 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Tickets are $67 to $74.

The Copley Theatre is located at 8 E. Galena Blvd., in the North Island Center, directly across the street from Paramount Theatre in downtown Aurora. For tickets and information, visit paramountaurora.com, call (630) 896-6666, or stop by the Paramount box office, 23 E. Galena Blvd., Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Access Services

If you require wheelchair or special seating or other assistance, please contact the box office at (630) 896-6666 or boxoffice@paramountarts.com in advance.

Paramount offers assistive listening devices free of charge at all performances. Check in at the coat room before the show to borrow a listening device.

Paramount Theatre’s Covid-19 commitment to and safety and protocol

Paramount Theatre is committed to the health and safety of all patrons, theater employees, production staff and artists, and adheres to federal, state and municipal COVID-19 protocols.

What’s next in Paramount’s new Bold Series

Following Sweat, Paramount’s new Bold Series continues with Hand to God by Robin Askins, a darkly humorous shocker told Sesame Street meets Exorcist style, puppets included, May 25-July 10. Next is the Tony Award-winning musical Fun Home, book by Lisa Kron, music by Jeanine Tesori, based on the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel, playing the Copley August 3-September 18. The 2022 Bold series culminates with BULL: a love story, Nancy García Loza’s world premiere drama about a Mexican-American man who returns to Chicago to find a family who has moved on and a neighborhood he no longer recognizes, October 5-November 20.

Summing up the series, Paramount Artistic Director Jim Corti said, "Up close and personal, the Bold Series calls audiences together urgently and right on time. By turns comic and cautionary, rendered by prize-winning, contemporary playwrights, passionate voices will soon be let loose in the dynamically renewed space of Paramount's Copley Theatre. Come discover what we've found for you in these four inaugural season productions. 

“After nearly two years since we were originally supposed to launch our Bold Series, the time has finally come to lift the curtain on an exhilarating and new storytelling experience,” added Tim Rater, President and CEO, Paramount Theatre. “Housed in the beautifully renovated Copley Theatre, audiences will discover stories that challenge, enlighten, engage and entertain. I could not be more excited to share these stories with our patrons and hope that when the lights come up, the conversations will last long after the ride home.”

Four-show Bold Series subscriptions are on sale now, ranging from just $134-$148. That’s a “buy two shows, get two shows free” offer. Single tickets to individual performances are $67-$74. To purchase subscriptions, single tickets or for more information, visit ParamountAurora.com, call (630) 896-6666, or stop by the Paramount box office, 23 E. Galena Blvd., Aurora, Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

All four Bold Series performances will be staged in Copley Theatre, located in the North Island Center, 8 E. Galena Blvd., in downtown Aurora. 

About Paramount Theatre

Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd., is the center for performing arts and education in Aurora, the second largest city in Illinois. The beautiful, 1,843-seat theater, graced with a strong 1930s Art Deco influence and original Venetian décor, nationally known for its high-quality productions, superb acoustics and historic grandeur, has been downtown Aurora’s anchor attraction since 1931.

After launching its own Broadway Series in 2011, Paramount Theatre grew to be the second largest subscription house in the U.S. Before Covid, more than 41,000 subscribers from all over Chicagoland and the Midwest were enjoying Paramount’s critically acclaimed, 2019-20 Broadway-caliber productions. In addition, Paramount also presents an array of internationally known comedians, musicians, dance troupes and family shows annually.

Paramount Theatre is one of four live performance venues programmed and managed by the Aurora Civic Center Authority. ACCA also manages downtown Aurora’s newly renovated 165-seat Copley Theatre, Paramount’s smaller, more intimate, 165-seat “sister” stage, right across the street at 8 E. Galena Blvd. ACCA also oversees the Paramount School of the Arts, RiverEdge Park, the city’s 6,000-seat outdoor summer concert venue, and Stolp Island Theatre, an immersive space opening in summer 2023.

Paramount Theatre continues to expand its artistic and institutional boundaries under the guidance of Tim Rater, President and CEO, Aurora Civic Center Authority; Jim Corti, Artistic Director, Paramount Theatre; a dedicated Board of Trustees and a devoted staff of live theater and music professionals.

For the latest updates, visit ParamountAurora.com or follow @ParamountAurora on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

Playwright and director biographies

Lynn Nottage (playwright) is the first, and remains the only, woman to have won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice. Her plays have been produced widely in the United States and throughout the world. Her play Sweat (Pulitzer Prize, Evening Standard Award, Obie Award, Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, Tony Nomination, Drama Desk Nomination) premiered and was commissioned by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival American Revolutions History Cycle/Arena Stage. It moved to Broadway after a sold-out run at The Public Theater. Goodman Theatre presented the Chicago premiere of Sweat in 2019. Most recently, Nottage premiered MJ the Musical at the Neil Simon Theater on Broadway, and Clyde's at Second Stage Theater on Broadway. Other plays include Floyd's (Guthrie Theater) Mlima’s Tale (Public Theater), By The Way, Meet Vera Stark (Lilly Award, Drama Desk Nomination), Ruined (Pulitzer Prize, OBIE, Lucille Lortel, New York Drama Critics’ Circle, Audelco, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Award); Intimate Apparel (American Theatre Critics and New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards for Best Play); Fabulation, or The Re-Education of Undine (OBIE Award); Crumbs from the Table of Joy; Las Meninas; Mud, River, Stone; Por’knockers; Stone and POOF! Nottage also wrote the book for the world premiere musical adaptation of Sue Monk Kidd's novel The Secret Life of Bees, with music by Duncan Sheik and lyrics by Susan Birkenhead. She is the recipient of a MacArthur "Genius Grant" Fellowship, Steinberg "Mimi" Distinguished Playwright Award, PEN/Laura Pels Master Playwright Award, TIME 100 (2019), Merit and Literature Award from The Academy of Arts and Letters, Columbia University Provost Grant, Doris Duke Artist Award, The Joyce Foundation Commission Project & Grant, Madge Evans-Sidney Kingsley Award, Nelson A. Rockefeller Award for Creativity, The Dramatists Guild Hull-Warriner Award, the inaugural Horton Foote Prize, Helen Hayes Award, the Lee Reynolds Award, and the Jewish World Watch iWitness Award. Her other honors include the National Black Theatre Fest's August Wilson Playwriting Award, a Guggenheim Grant, Lucille Lortel Fellowship and Visiting Research Fellowship at Princeton University. She is a graduate of Brown University and the Yale School of Drama. She is also a screenwriter and an Associate Professor in the Theatre Department at Columbia School of the Arts. For more, visit lynnnottage.com.

Andrea J Dymond (director) is a Chicago-based freelance director, specializing in developing and directing new work. Recent directing credits include Thirst at Strawdog Theatre, the world premieres of The Greatest Theatrical Event…EVER! at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Shepsu Aahku’s Black and Blue for MPAACT. Dymond was formerly Resident Director at Victory Gardens Theater, where she directed 11 productions, including seven world premieres, and helped to develop and launch the The Ignition Festival of New Plays. In addition to directing around Chicago and the U.S., her experience includes literary management, research and production dramaturgy, directing at new works festivals; serving as thesis play advisor for MFA playwrights at Carnegie Mellon University and directing at NNPN’s MFA Playwrights Workshops at the Kennedy Center. A teacher at Columbia College Chicago, Dymond's courses have included Directing, Collaboration, African American Scene Study, Text Analysis, Dramaturgy, Acting and New Play Development. She was also the facilitator of the Theodore Ward Award for African American Playwriting.

Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer Prize-winning RUINED Via Invictus Theatre Company February 17 - March 20, 2022

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar 

RUINED

by Lynn Nottage

Directed by Ebby Offord

February 17 – March 20, 2022

Invictus Theatre Company's production of Lynn Nottage’s Pulitzer Prize-winning RUINED, directed by Ebby Offord, will be performed in their new home venue – the Reginald Vaughn Theatre at 1106 W. Thorndale Avenue in Edgewater (the space formerly known as The Frontier) - from February 17 - March 20, 2022. Offord is a 2019 graduate of Washington University in St. Louis who has studied at Shakespeare’s Globe in London and appeared as Ophelia in Invictus’s fall 2021 production of HAMLET. I'll be out for the press opening February 21st, so check back soon for my full review.

RUINED, a drama originally commissioned by the Goodman Theatre, where it premiered in 2008, is a story of women caught in a civil war in the Democratic Republic of Congo. They find a refuge of sorts with Mama Nadi, a brothel owner who takes victims of sexual violence into her establishment. There, she profits from them but also protects them from the brutality of the world outside her doors.

Leading Offord’s cast as Mama Nadi will be Tekeisha Yelton Hunter. Hunter earned raves for her performance of the title character in Invictus’s 2020 live stream of “NIGHT MOTHER, as did Courtney Gardner, who played the daughter in that two-character play. Gardner will appear in RUINED as Salima, who along with Sophie (Jenise Sheppard) and Josephine (Jemima Charles), are three of the girls taken in by Mama Nadi. The cast will also include Javier Carmona (Mr. Harari), Tamarus Harvell (Fortune), Barry Irving (Simon), Stanley King (Christian), Edward Neequaye (Osembenga), Brandon Boler (Kisembe), Kejuan Darby (Ensemble, U/S Osembenga and Kisembe), Todd Douglas (Ensemble, U/S Simon and Fortune). Additional understudies are Jasmine Robertson (Salima, Sophie), Simmery Branch (Josephine), Barry Irving (Christian), and Jorge Salas (Mr. Harari).

Top row left - right: Takeisha Yelton Hunter, Jemima Charles, Courtney Gardner, Jenise Sheppard.

Second row left - right: Brandon Boler, Javier Carmona, Kejuan Darby, Tamarus Harvell.

Third row left - right: Barry Irving, Stanley King, Edward Neequaye, Simmery Branch.

Bottom row left - right: Todd Douglas, Jasmine Robertson, Jorge Salas.

The production team for RUINED includes Rueben Echoles (Costume Designer), Kevin Rolfs (Set Designer), Levi Wilkins (Lighting Designer), Warren Levon (Sound Designer), Lana Whittington (Fight/Intimacy Designer), Ian R. Q. Slater (Dialect Coach), Jessica Minogue (Stage Manager), Todd Faulstich (Production Manager), Marquecia Jordan (Assistant Costume Designer and Wardrobe Supervisor), and Arlicia McClain (Assistant Director). Charles Askenaizer is Invictus’ Artistic Director.

Offord says RUINED is “a reminder that the decades of violent turmoil in the Congo and other regions of Sub-Saharan Africa have anything but subsided. War is still being waged on women's bodies. Black women especially. Therefore, their stories must continue to be told.”

VARIETY said RUINED “takes us inside an unthinkable reality and into the heads of victims and perpetrators to create a full-immersion drama of shocking complexity and moral ambiguity.” The CHICAGO TRIBUNE praised it as “Sincere, passionate, courageous and acutely argued… a remarkable theatrical accomplishment…In the hands of this talented playwright, what might have been a predictable political polemic instead emerges as a richly stirring and complex drama that even includes generous doses of humor.”

Invictus Theatre Company has, over its five-year history, built a reputation for intimate and honest interpretations of classics with fidelity to the original texts and close attention to character development. The CHICAGO READER’s Albert Williams said the company’s HAMLET was “stellar…storefront Shakespeare at its best.” The READER’s Kerry Reid praised the “fearless and layered performances” of the company’s live stream production of “NIGHT, MOTHER in 2020. Of their 2019 A RAISIN IN THE SUN, Reid said “(director Aaron) Boseman’s production goes for broke with heartfelt zest, spilling over the edge of Kevin Rolfs’s appropriately tiny dingy set.” Nancy Bishop of the THIRD COAST REVIEW said of Invictus’s 2018 MERCHANT OF VENICE that “Charles Askenaizer’s direction results in a smoothly performed production of what is considered one of Shakespeare’s problem plays—and it may make you squirm in your seat as you’re sitting very close to the action.”

Tickets for RUINED are available now at www.invictustheatreco.com/tickets. RUINED will also participate and offer tickets as part of Chicago Theatre Week, a celebration of Chicago’s world-class theatre scene now in its 10th year that will run from February 17-27, 2022.

COVID-19 PRECAUTIONS AND POLICIES

All actors have been vaccinated. All audience members are required to show proof of vaccination at the door and to wear masks throughout the performance.

Previews February 17 – 20, 2022.

Mondays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays 7:00 pm, Sundays 3 pm

1106 W. Thorndale, Chicago

Ticket prices: Previews $25.00 Regular run $30. $25 for students (with valid student ID) and seniors. $1 handling fee for online or credit card purchases. www.invictustheatreco.com/tickets

This winner of the 2009 Pulitzer Prize is set in a small mining town in the Democratic Republic of Congo., RUINED follows Mama Nadi, a shrewd businesswoman in a land torn apart by civil war. But is she protecting or profiting by the women she shelters? How far will she go to survive? Can a price be placed on a human life?

BIO

Ebby Offord (Director) is a Chicago-based actor, director, and teaching artist. She graduated from Washington University in St. Louis with a degree in Drama in 2019 (Favorite credits include AUNT DAN AND LEMON, PASSING STRANGE, and AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY.) After graduating, Ebby returned to Chicago to teach with the Institute of Reading Development. She now dedicates her time to pursuing art full-time and working as a caretaker for her father. Ebby appeared in Invictus’s HAMLET as Ophelia last fall, and she’s excited to make her professional directing debut with Invictus on RUINED. 

ABOUT INVICTUS THEATRE COMPANY

At Invictus Theatre Company our mission is to create theatre that promotes a better understanding of language: its poetry, its rhythm, its resonance; through diverse works by diverse artists. We respect the power of heightened language: spoken, written, sung; to express the breadth of the human condition. We work to harness the power of language: to promote diversity, to engender respect, to foster collaboration; and to empower our communities to share their voices.

Invictus Theatre Company incorporated in January 2017 and received its 501 (c)(3) nonprofit status in February 2017. A diverse group of Chicago actors and directors founded Invictus with the vision to empower their communities through theatrical productions of heightened language. We are committed to the idea that our productions should reflect the communities we represent, and, to that end, we are committed to non-discriminatory hiring practices. In working with local artists, designers, and production teams, Invictus Theatre Company does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, ability, nationality, citizenship, religion, or any other protected status by law.

Invictus Theatre Company is supported by the MacArthur Funds for Arts and Culture at the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, and the Illinois Arts Council Agency.

CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR GOODMAN PRODUCTIONS OPENING IN MARCH: PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING SWEAT AND THE WORLD PREMIERE OF LOTTERY DAY BY IKE HOLTER

ChiIL Live Shows on our radar

CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR TWO UPCOMING GOODMAN PRODUCTIONS: LYNN NOTTAGE’S 

PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING 

SWEAT, 

DIRECTED BY RON OJ PARSON (MARCH 9 – APRIL 14) AND THE WORLD PREMIERE OF 

LOTTERY DAY BY IKE HOLTER, 

DIRECTED BY LILI-ANNE BROWN 

(MARCH 29 – APRIL 28)

Goodman Theatre proudly announces the casts for its Chicago premiere of the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Sweat by Lynn Nottage, directed by Ron OJ Parson, as well as its world premiere of Lottery Day—Ike Holter’s final work in his seven-play “The Rightlynd Saga,” directed by Lili-Anne Brown. Tickets are now available for both productions at GoodmanTheatre.org, by telephone 312.443.3800 or at the box office (170 N. Dearborn). The Goodman is grateful for the support of its sponsors: for Sweat, American Airlines and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are Major Corporate Sponsors; ComEd is the Official Lighting Sponsor; Conagra Brands Foundation is the Production Sponsor; and ITW is the Corporate Sponsor Partner. For Lottery Day, Laurents/Hatcher Foundation is the Institutional Partner.

Sweat
By Lynn Nottage
Directed by Ron OJ Parson

Cynthia……...Tyla Abercrumbie
Oscar………..Steve Casillas
Jason………..Mike Cherry
Evan…………Ronald Conner
Jessie………..Chaon Cross
Tracey……….Kirsten Fitzgerald
Stan………….Keith Kupferer
Chris…………Edgar Sanchez
Brucie………..André Teamer

Sweat marks the fourth Nottage play to be produced at the Goodman, following Crumbs from the Table of Joy (2006), Ruined (a 2008 world-premiere Goodman commission that earned the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama) and By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (2013). A group of friends in a Rust Belt town has spent their lives sharing secrets and laughs on the factory floor. But when layoffs begin to chip away at their trust, they’re pitted against each other in a heart-wrenching fight in this collision of race, class and friendship at a pivotal moment in America. The creative team includes Kevin Depinet (Set Design), Mara Blumenfeld (Costume Design), Keith Parham (Lighting Design) and Richard Woodbury (Sound Design). Alden Vasquez is the Production Stage Manager.

Lottery Day
By Ike Holter
Directed by Lili-Anne Brown

Tori……………...Aurora Adachi-Winter
Mallory………....J. Nicole Brooks
Zora…………….Sydney Charles
Cassandra….....McKenzie Chinn
Robinson……....Robert Cornelius
Avery…………...James Vincent Meredith
Ezekiel………....Tommy Rivera-Vega
Nunley………....Tony Santiago
Vivien…………..Michele Vazquez
Ricky…………...Pat Whalen

“Thrilling Chicago writer” (Chicago Tribune) Holter concludes his acclaimed seven-play cycle, "The Rightlynd Saga,” by assembling his vibrant characters for a raucous theatrical bash. Long the matriarch of a quickly gentrifying neighborhood, Mallory invites the lonely residents, hardcore activists and starving artists of her block to what she hopes will go down as a legendary barbeque—thanks to a special surprise. But her mysterious plan to revitalize her community may be the very thing that tears it apart. Centering on a fictitious Chicago ward, Holter’s seven-play cycle also includes plays Red Rex (on stage through March 16 at Steep Theatre), Rightlynd, Exit Strategy, Sender, Prowess and The Wolf at the End of the Block. The creative team includes Arnel Sancianco (Set Design), Samantha C. Jones (Costume Design), Jason Lynch (Lighting Design) and Andre Pluess (Sound Design). Nikki Blue is the Production Stage Manager.

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHTS AND DIRECTORS

Lynn Nottage (Playwright, Sweat) is the first woman in history to win two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama. Her plays have been produced widely in the United States and throughout the world. Sweat (Pulitzer Prize, Obie Award, Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, Tony Award nomination, Drama Desk Award nomination) moved to Broadway after a sold-out run at The Public Theater. It premiered and was commissioned by Oregon Shakespeare Festival American Revolutions History Cycle/Arena Stage. Her other plays include By The Way, Meet Vera Stark (Lilly Award, Drama Desk Nomination), Ruined (Pulitzer Prize, OBIE, Lucille Lortel, New York Drama Critics’ Circle, Audelco, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards), Intimate Apparel (American Theatre Critics and New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards for Best Play), Fabulation, or The Re-Education of Undine (OBIE Award), Crumbs from the Table of Joy, Las Meninas, Mud, River, Ston, Por’knockers and POOF! In addition, she is working with composer Ricky Ian Gordon on adapting her play Intimate Apparel into an opera (commissioned by The Metropolitan Opera/Lincoln Center Theater). She is also developing This is Reading, a performance installation based on two years of interviews, which opened at the Franklin Street, Reading Railroad Station in Reading, PA in July 2017. She is the co-founder of the production company Market Road Films, whose most recent projects include The Notorious Mr. Bout directed by Tony Gerber and Maxim Pozdorovkin (premiere at Sundance Film Festival 2014), First to Fall directed by Rachel Beth Anderson (premiere at International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, 2013) and Remote Control (premiere at Busan International Film Festival 2013, New Currents Award). She has also developed original projects for HBO, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, Showtime, This is That and Harpo. She is writer/producer on the Netflix series She's Gotta Have It directed by Spike Lee. Nottage is the recipient of a MacArthur "Genius Grant" Fellowship, Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award, PEN/Laura Pels Master Playwright Award, Arts and Letters Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Columbia University Provost Grant, Doris Duke Artist Award, The Joyce Foundation Commission Project & Grant, Madge Evans and Sidney Kingsley Award, Nelson A. Rockefeller Award for Creativity, The Dramatists Guild Hull-Warriner Award, the inaugural Horton Foote Prize, Helen Hayes Award, the Lee Reynolds Award and the Jewish World Watch iWitness Award. She is a graduate of Brown University and the Yale School of Drama.

Ron OJ Parson (Director, Sweat) returns to Goodman Theatre, where he previously directed Let Me Live. As an actor, he last appeared at the Goodman in Romance. He is a resident artist at Court Theatre, and former co-founder and artistic director of The Onyx Theatre Ensemble. Recent directing credits include Skeleton Crew and Detroit 67 at Northlight Theatre; Fences at Kansas City Repertory Theatre; Five Guys Named Moe, Gem of the Ocean, Seven Guitars, The Mountaintop and Waiting For Godot at Court Theatre; East Texas Hot Links at Writers Theatre (where he is an associate artist); Paradise Blue, A Raisin in the Sun and Sunset Baby at TimeLine Theatre Company (where he is an associate artist), Apt. 3 A at Windy City Playhouse and The Who & The What at Victory Gardens Theater. Additional Chicago credits include Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Black Ensemble Theater, ETA Creative Arts, Congo Square Theatre Company, Teatro Vista (where he is an associate artist), Chicago Dramatists, UrbanTheater Company, Chicago Theatre Company, American Blues Theater and City Lit Theater. Regional and New York credits include Virginia Stage Company, Paul Robeson Theatre, Portland Stage, Studio Theatre, Studio Arena Theatre, Roundabout Theatre Company, Morris A. Mechanic Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, The St. Louis Black Repertory, Pittsburgh Public Theater, Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company, Geva Theatre Center, Signature Theatre (New York), Alliance Theatre, South Coast Repertory and Pasadena Playhouse. In Canada, he directed the world premiere of Palmer Park at the Stratford Festival. Parson is a member of AEA, SAG-AFTRA and SDC. Parson hails from Buffalo, New York and is a graduate of the University of Michigan’s professional theater program. RonojParson.com

Ike Holter (Playwright, Lottery Day) is a 2017 winner of the Windham-Campbell Prize, one of the highest awards for playwriting in the world. Holter is a resident playwright at Victory Gardens Theater, and has been commissioned by The Kennedy Center, The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, South Coast Repertory and The Playwrights’ Center. His work has been produced at the Steppenwolf Garage, The Philadelphia Theater Company, off-Broadway at Barrow Street Theatre and Cherry Lane Theatre, The Lily Tomlin Center in Los Angeles, True Colors in Atlanta, Forward Theater in Wisconsin, Water Tower Theater in Dallas, 3oaks in Michigan and Jackalope Theatre Company, Teatro Vista, A Red Orchid and The Inconvenience in Chicago. He is the artistic director of The Roustabouts and is a regular performer at Salonathon in Chicago.

Lili-Anne Brown (Director, Lottery Day) is a native Chicagoan who works as a director, actor and educator, both locally and regionally. She is the former artistic director of Bailiwick Chicago, where she directed Dessa Rose (Jeff Award), Passing Strange (BTA Award and Jeff nomination for Best Director of a Musical), See What I Wanna See (Steppenwolf Theatre Garage Rep) and the world premiere of Princess Mary Demands Your Attention by Aaron Holland. Other directing credits include The Wolf at the End of the Block (16th Street Theatre), Marie Christine (Boho Theatre), Peter and the Starcatcher (Metropolis Performing Arts), The Wiz (Kokandy Productions),  Xanadu (American Theatre Company), Jabari Dreams of Freedom by Nambi E. Kelley (Chicago Children’s Theatre), American Idiot (Northwestern University); the national tour of Jesus Snatched My Edges; and Little Shop of Horrors, Hairspray, Unnecessary Farce, Cabaret, Sweet Charity, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story at Timber Lake Playhouse. She is a member of SDC, SAG-AFTRA and a graduate of Northwestern University.

ABOUT GOODMAN THEATRE

AMERICA’S “BEST REGIONAL THEATRE” (Time magazine), Goodman Theatre is a premier not-for-profit organization distinguished by the excellence and scope of its artistic programming and civic engagement. Led by Artistic Director Robert Falls and Executive Director Roche Schulfer, the theater’s artistic priorities include new play development (more than 150 world or American premieres), large scale musical theater works and reimagined classics (celebrated revivals include Falls’ productions of Death of a Salesman and The Iceman Cometh). Goodman Theatre artists and productions have earned two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards, over 160 Jeff Awards and many more accolades. In addition, the Goodman is the first theater in the world to produce all 10 plays in August Wilson’s “American Century Cycle;” and its annual holiday tradition A Christmas Carol, which marks its 41st production this season, has created a new generation of theatergoers. The Goodman also frequently serves as a production partner with local off-Loop theaters and national and international companies by providing financial support or physical space for a variety of artistic endeavors.

Committed to three core values of Quality, Diversity and Community, the Goodman proactively makes inclusion the fabric of the institution and develops education and community engagement programs that support arts as education. This practice uses the process of artistic creation to inspire and empower youth, lifelong learners and audiences to find and/or enhance their voices, stories and abilities. The Goodman’s Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement is the home of such programming, most offered free of charge, and has vastly expanded the theater’s ability to touch the lives of Chicagoland citizens (with 85% of youth participants coming from underserved communities) since its 2016 opening.

Goodman Theatre was founded by William O. Goodman and his family in honor of their son Kenneth, an important figure in Chicago’s cultural renaissance in the early 1900s. The Goodman family’s legacy lives on through the continued work and dedication of Kenneth’s family, including Albert Ivar Goodman, who with his late mother, Edith-Marie Appleton, contributed the necessary funds for the creation of the new Goodman center in 2000.

Goodman Theatre leadership also includes the distinguished members of the Artistic Collective: Brian Dennehy, Rebecca Gilman, Henry Godinez, Dael Orlandersmith, Steve Scott, Chuck Smith, Regina Taylor, Henry Wishcamper and Mary Zimmerman. David W. Fox, Jr. is Chair of Goodman Theatre’s Board of Trustees, Denise Stefan Ginascol is Women’s Board President and Megan McCarthy Hayes is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals.