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Showing posts with label Michael Patrick Thornton. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Michael Patrick Thornton. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 11, 2025

Acclaimed Obliteration Returns to Chicago at The Revival Theater April 10-May 4, 2025

 ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar

The critically acclaimed hit production of

Obliteration

returns for a strictly limited run at The Revival Theater

April 10-May 4, 2025

Written by Andrew Hinderaker

Directed by Jonathan Berry

Performed by Michael Patrick Thornton and Cyd Blakewell 

Obliteration, LLC & The Revival Theater announce a limited engagement of Obliteration, written by Andrew Hinderaker, directed by Jonathan Berry, featuring Michael Patrick Thornton and Cyd Blakewell. Obliteration runs April 10-May 4, 2025, at The Revival Theater, 906 S Wabash Ave in Chicago.

Obliteration is a fusion of stand-up comedy and theater that tells the story of two comedians, Neal (Thornton) and Lee (Blakewell), trying to make sense of a world that's falling apart, even as their own lives are hanging on by a thread.

Obliteration played last summer to sold out audiences and rave reviews as part of Steppenwolf’s LookOut Festival and produced by The Gift Theatre in a production directed by Andrew Hinderaker. 

“I’ve loved stand-up comedy my whole life. But I’d never attempted to write it—I’m a playwright, not a comedian. Then a few years ago, I stumbled upon this quote from the brilliant Phoebe Waller-Bridge: ‘You get a lot for free from an audience if you can make them laugh.’ Immediately an idea for a play unspooled in my mind: a fusion of stand-up and theater that would tell the story of two comedians, whose lives were hanging on by a thread,” comments Andrew Hinderaker. 

Hinderaker continues, “I wrote the piece for two of my fellow ensemble members of Chicago’s Gift Theatre: Michael Patrick Thornton, with whom I’ve collaborated for over a decade; and Cyd Blakewell, with whom I’ve been desperate to work for years. Our process was simple: I’d write some pages, hoping they would make Cyd and Mike laugh and/or cry. Then they’d read the pages and make me laugh and cry. Over a year, we built the ‘play’ like this, gradually folding an audience into our process. And once we got people in the room, that’s when we realized, holy shit, there’s something here.”

“I’ve known all three of these artists for over 20 years and what I can say with certainty is that they are uncompromising in their pursuit of excellence in the art. It’s a privilege to return to this production as director and, because we’re in a very different moment, I’m sure the play and these actors will be in response to that. What hasn’t changed, is our need for laughter, our need for connection, and I am thrilled to create the opportunity for a new audience to experience that,” comments Jonathan Berry. 

The Revival Theatre’s John Stoops comments, “The Revival is thrilled to host the incomparable Michael Patrick Thornton and Cyd Blakewell in Obliteration. We can’t imagine a better way to celebrate our 10th year than to present this groundbreaking production that celebrates comedy and drama in equal measure.”

Location: The Revival Theater, 906 S Wabash Ave in Chicago

Dates: April 10-May 4, 2025

Previews: April 10, 11, 13, and 16, 2025

Opening: April 17, 2025 


Performance schedule: Thursdays-Sundays at 8pm

by: Jonathan Berry

Cast: Cyd Blakewell and Michael Patrick Thornton 

Production team: Matthew Chapman (sound designer), Sheryl Williams (intimacy director), Jenn Thompson (production coordinator), Sarah Luse, (stage manager)

No performances April 12 or 19, 2025


Tickets: https://www.the-revival.com

Previews: $25, $20 students

Regular run: $35, $25 students


About the Artists

Andrew Hinderaker (Playwright) most recently served as an Executive Producer and Showrunner of Black Rabbit, an upcoming Netflix series starring Jason Bateman and Jude Law. He previously created and showran the Showtime series, Let the Right One In, starring Oscar Nominee Demián Bichir, as well as the Netflix series, Away, starring Oscar Winner Hilary Swank. Additional TV writing credits include Penny Dreadful and The Path, but Hinderaker’s heart and soul belong to the theater, where he specializes in writing plays that are (nearly) impossible to produce. Recent projects include The Magic Play (Goodman Theatre; Actors’ Theatre of Louisville; Portland Center Stage) a five-year collaboration with a sleight-of-hand card artist; and Colossal, an epic theatrical event featuring full-contact football hits, a modern dance company, and a drum line. Colossal received a National New Play Network (NNPN) Rolling World Premiere from 2014- 2016, with its inaugural production at the Olney Theatre Center (DC) receiving numerous Helen Hayes Awards, including Best New Play. Hinderaker’s additional plays include Suicide, Incorporated; Dirty; Kingsville; and I Am Going to Change the World, all of which premiered in his hometown of Chicago before enjoying productions in NY and throughout the world. Hinderaker holds an MFA in Playwriting from the University of Texas at Austin, and is a proud ensemble member of the Gift Theatre Company in Chicago. Obliteration marks his seventh collaboration with Michael Patrick Thornton, and his first with Cyd Blakewell. They are two of his favorite artists in the world.

Jonathan Berry (Director), a Chicago director, producer and teacher, is the Artistic Director of Penobscot Theatre in Bangor, Maine. He spent five years as an Artistic Producer at Steppenwolf Theatre Company and he remains a proud ensemble member of both Steep Theatre and Griffin Theatre. Steppenwolf directing credits include: Lindiwe (Co-directed with Eric Simonson and featuring Ladysmith Black Mambazo), The Children, You Got Older, Constellations, and the SYA productions of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, The Crucible, and A Separate Peace. Steep Theatre productions include: Paris, Red Rex, Earthquakes in London, Posh, The Life and Sort of Death of Eric Argyle, If There Is I Haven’t Found it Yet, The Knowledge, Festen, Moment, The Hollow Lands and The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui. At Griffin, productions include: The North American premiers of Simon Stephens Punk Rock (Jeff Award Director, Lead Actor, and Ensemble) Port, and On the Shore of the Wide World, as well as The Harvest, Winterset, Pocatello, Balm in Gilead, Golden Boy, The Burnt Part Boys, Spring Awakening Company, Picnic, Time and the Conways, Dead End, The Hostage and Journey’s End. He directed the NY premiere of Andrew Hinderaker’s Suicide, Incorporated for The Roundabout. His work has been honored with numerous Joseph Jefferson Award nominations, as well as frequent representation on the end of year Top Ten lists of the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun Times and TimeOut Chicago. He won the Joseph Jefferson Award for directing for his work on Simon Stephen’s Punk Rock.  

Berry served as Assistant Director for Anna D Shapiro’s Broadway productions of Of Mice and Men and This is Our Youth. At the Gift Theatre, he directed the world premieres of Andrew Hinderaker’s Dirty and Suicide, Incorporated. At the Goodman Theatre, he directed the New Stages productions of Martin Zimmerman’s The Solid Sand Below and Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig’s The World of Extreme Happiness. Other work includes: American Theatre Company: Kill Floor, American Blues: Little Shop of Horrors and Sideman; Redtwist: Look Back in Anger and Reverb, Chicago Dramatists: I am Going to Change the World, Jackalope Theatre: The Casuals, Strawdog: Conversations on a Homecoming, Remy Bumppo: The Marriage of Figaro, Theatre Mir: The Sea and Caucasian Chalk Circle, Lifeline Theater: The Piano Tuner (Afterdark Award – Best Production) He pursued his MFA in directing from Northwestern University under the tutelage of Anna D. Shapiro. He has taught acting, directing, and viewpoints at University of Michigan, Northwestern University, University of Chicago, University of Illinois – Chicago, Vagabond School, Act One Studios, and Columbia College Chicago. For 17 years he played an integral role in the esteemed ensemble training program The School at Steppenwolf, serving as director of the program from 2015-2019. 

Michael Patrick Thornton (Neal) has appeared on stages throughout the world, most recently on Broadway with Jessica Chastain in the acclaimed and Tony-nominated production of A Doll’s House, directed by Jamie Lloyd and adapted by Amy Herzog, for which Michael’s performance as “Dr. Rank” won the 2023 Actors’ Equity Foundation Joe A. Callaway Award for the best performance by an actor in a classical play in the New York metropolitan area. 

Thornton made his Broadway debut in Sam Gold’s production of Macbeth with Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga. Other highlights: The Gift Theatre’s Doubt at Steppenwolf’s 1700, Will Eno’s Title and Deed (Lookingglass—Time Out Magazine Best Actor Award) as well as Eno’s Middletown (Steppenwolf) the premiere of Andrew Hinderaker’s Colossal (Olney Theatre, Kennedy Center) Othello (The Gift, “Iago”) Our Town (Actors Theatre of Louisville) and the world premieres of Hinderaker’s Dirty and Suicide, Incorporated (The Git) for which Thornton was nominated for a Joseph Jefferson Award. During his 2016 performance in the title role of Richard III (The Gift, at Steppenwolf) Thornton became the first actor to ever act onstage while wearing a robotic exoskeleton, pairing not only an actor with a disability with a character with a disability, but furthermore using cutting-edge technology to theatrically complicate the character of Richard and its discussion around disability, ableism, and representation. This production continues to be the subject of podcasts, published essays, anthologies, and academic papers.

Michael won the 2006 Jeff Award for Solo Performance for The Good Thief (The Gift).

On camera, Thornton has acted opposite Oscar Winners Jessica Chastain, J.K. Simmons, Hilary Swank, Alicia Vikander as well as Oscar nominees Jude Law and Demián Bichir. For two seasons, he played the love interest of six-time Tony Award winning legend Audra McDonald on Private Practice. 

In addition, Thornton’s acclaimed improv show—You & Me—premiered at Steppenwolf and has since played for over a decade throughout Chicago, the country, as well as Dublin, Ireland. You & Me most recently had the honor of making its New York debut at Lincoln Center with Michael’s comedy partner for life Susan Messing. The Chicago Reader has called the show and Thornton’s improvisation “masterful.”

Select Film/TV: Ponderosa, The Last Day, The Savant, Black Rabbit, NCIS, The Good Doctor, Let The Right One In, Chicago Party Aunt, 61st Street, A Million Little Things, Away, All Rise, Madam Secretary, The Red Line, Counterpart, Elementary, and The View From Tall. 

Select Awards: Actors’ Equity Foundation Joe A. Callaway Award; Irish Books and Music Festival (iBAM!) Award Recipient; Best Actor: 2017 Midwest International Film Festival (The View From Tall); Tree of Life Award: Shirley Ryan Ability Lab; 3Arts Artist Award; Northlight Theatre’s Jack Springer Award for Outstanding Performance; The Tim Meier and Helen Coburn Meier Foundation Achievement Award; The Second City Foundation’s Jim Zulevic Chicago Arts Award; The Joseph Jefferson Award for Solo Performance, and induction into The University of Iowa and St. Patrick High School Halls of Fame.

Cyd Blakewell (Lee) is living her best life working on this incredible project with this fantastically dreamy team. She is a proud ensemble member of The Gift Theatre, where she is also the Casting Director. Gift Shows: The Locusts, The Pillowman, Doubt, A Life Extra Ordinary, Good For Otto, Body + Blood, Broadsword, Mine and multiple episodes of TEN. Chicago theatre credits: The Brightest Thing in the World (About Face); Birthday Candles (Northlight); The Snare (Jackalope); Balm In Gilead and Port (Griffin); Buddy Cop 2, breaks & bikes and MilkMilkLemonade (Pavement Group); Sweet Confinement and Ivanov (SiNNERMAN Ensemble); Orange Flower Water (Interrobang); Lies & Liars and Mimesophobia (Theatre Seven)d; Rewind (The Side Project). She recently wrapped a short film called Fairground and can also be seen in Jeri’s Grille. Cyd got her BFA from Southwestern University in Georgetown, TX, is a graduate from the School at Steppenwolf and is represented by Promote Talent Agency. She is married to Keith Neagle and mother to Wesley, who give her an endless amount of love and support.

Monday, October 1, 2018

OPENING: The Midwest Premiere of COSMOLOGIES Via The Gift Theatre Through December 9, 2018

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar:
The Gift Theatre Presents the Midwest Premiere of 
COSMOLOGIES
By Ensemble Member David Rabe
Directed by Artistic Director Michael Patrick Thornton
October 19 – December 9, 2018




(front, l to r) Ensemble members Martel Manning, Gregory Fenner, Kenny Mihlfried and Hannah Toriumi with (back, l to r) Darci Nalepa, John Kelly Connolly and James D. Farruggio in a publicity image for The Gift Theatre’s Midwest premiere of David Rabe’s COSMOLOGIES. Photo by Claire Demos.


                                   
The Gift Theatre is pleased to conclude its 17th season with the Midwest premiere of Tony Award-winning playwright and ensemble member David Rabe’s* COSMOLOGIES, directed by Artistic Director Michael Patrick Thornton*, playing October 19 – December 9, 2018 at 4802 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago’s Jefferson Park neighborhood. Tickets are currently available by calling the Gift’s box office at (773) 283-7071 or visiting thegifttheatre.org

COSMOLOGIES will eature an all-ensemble cast including John Kelly Connolly*, James D. Farruggio*, Gregory Fenner*, Martel Manning*, Kenny Mihlfried*, Darci Nalepa* and Hannah Toriumi*.

Put the whimsical humor of the Keystone Cops and Bugs Bunny into a particle collider with the philosophy of Soren Kierkegaard and George Berkeley and you’re getting close to the style of this existential absurdist comedy from David Rabe. When a young man’s negotiation for a date goes very wrong, we are transported through kaleidoscopic worlds of possibilities, identities and loves. 

Comments playwright and Gift ensemble member David Rabe, “Here's the thing: working on Good for Otto with The Gift was among the very best experiences I've ever had in the theater. Cosmologies and I are eager to get there and go at it again with Mike Thornton, some of the same actors, along with new ones drawn from the Gift ensemble.”

The production team for COSMOLOGIES includes Angela McIlvain and Courtney O'Neill (scenic design), Izumi Inaba (costume design), Charlie Cooper (lighting design), Christopher Kriz (sound design), Grace Bolander (assistant director) and Sarah Luse (stage manager).


Location: The Gift Theatre, 4802 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago
Dates: Previews: Friday, October 19 at 7:30 pm, Saturday, October 20 at 7:30 pm, Sunday, October 21 at 2:30 pm, Wednesday, October 24 at 7:30 pm, Thursday, October 25 at 7:30 pm, Friday, October 26 at 7:30 pm and Saturday, October 27 at 7:30 pm

Regular run: Thursday, November 1 – Sunday, December 9, 2018
Curtain Times: Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 pm; Saturdays at 3 pm & 7:30 pm; Sundays at 2:30 pm. Please note: there will not be a 3 pm performance on Saturday, October 20.

Tickets: Previews $25. Regular run $35 – $50. Tickets are currently available by calling the Gift’s box office at (773) 283-7071 or visiting thegifttheatre.org

*Denotes Gift Theatre ensemble member

About the Artists

David Rabe (Playwright) was born in Dubuque, Iowa, where he lived though his college years, studying creative writing under Reverend Ray Roseliep, a renowned poet. After the army and a gloriously productive period at Villanova University where a number of his early plays were written and performed, his first professional productions were in New York, a Vietnam Quartet starting in 1971: The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel, Sticks and Bones, The Orphan and Streamers. All were produced by Joseph Papp to whom he owes a complex and absolute debt. In the Boom Boom Room followed, as did Goose and Tom Tom, Hurlyburly, Those the River Keeps, A Question of Mercy, The Dog Problem, The Black Monk adapted from Chekov, An Early History of Fire and Good For Otto, which in 2015 gave him his first experience of Chicago theater with The Gift, followed by Visiting Edna at Steppenwolf. Four of his plays have received Tony nominations, and Sticks and Bones, for which the actors requested combat pay, won in 1972. He has received the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award, and an Obie award; the Drama Desk, John Gassner Outer Critics, the New York Drama Critics Circle awards, and three times won the Elizabeth Hull-Kate Warriner Drama Guild Award. Screenplays are I’m Dancing as Fast as I Can, Casualties of War and Hurlyburly. His fiction includes the book of stories A Primitive Heart, and the novels Recital of the Dog, Dinosaurs on the Roof and Girl by the Road at Night.  He has three children, Jason, Lily and Michael.

Michael Patrick Thornton (Director) is Co-Founder and Artistic Director of The Gift, where previous directing credits include: world premiere of Gift ensemble member David Rabe’s Good For Otto; world premiere of Claire Kiechel’s Pilgrims (co-directed with Jessica Thebus), War of the Worlds (75th Anniversary Production), the Chicago Premiere of ensemble member Will Eno’s Oh, The Humanity (and other exclamations), Prairie View, Night & Her Stars, Stop/Kiss, Santa’s Great American Depression Holiday Show! America, White People, Three Sisters, Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Hurlyburly (Joseph Jefferson Award: Actor In Leading Role), A Young Man In Pieces, Language Of Angels, County Fair and Orestes 2.0. Elsewhere: Of Mice and Men (Steppenwolf), the world premieres of Sean Graney’s IS N UR B1UDS7REEM… and Mark Harvey Levine’s LA 8AM (Collaboraction) and Picasso At The Lapin Agile (Noble Fool). Michael was a very grateful assistant director on Steppenwolf’s Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning August: Osage County. 

A Joseph Jefferson Award-winning actor for Solo Performance in Conor McPherson’s The Good Thief (The Gift) Michael was nominated for a Best Actor Jeff Award (Suicide, Incorporated) and Best Director Jeff Award (Good For Otto). 

About The Gift Theatre

The Gift’s 17th season: Stacy Osei-Kuffour’s world premiere of Hang Man, directed by Jess McLeod (March 2 – April 29, 2018); Shakespeare’s Hamlet, directed by Monty Cole (June 1 – July 29, 2018); and the Midwest premiere of Tony Award-winning playwright and ensemble member David Rabe’s Cosmologies, directed by Artistic Director Michael Patrick Thornton (October 12 –December 9, 2018). The Gift subscribers ("Gifters") receive admission to three shows, free parking at Gale Street Inn, free admission to all Wednesday night “Natural Gas” improv shows and invitations to special subscriber-only special events. Subscribe at thegifttheatre.org or by calling (773) 283-7071. 

Wednesday, July 19, 2017

SAVE THE DATES: THE GIFT THEATRE ANNOUNCES 2018 SEASON

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

THE GIFT THEATRE ANNOUNCES 
HAMLET, 
PREMIERES BY STACY AMMA OSEI-KUFFOUR
AND TONY AWARD-WINNING PLAYWRIGHT DAVID RABE FOR 2018 SEASON


PLUS ADDITION OF FIVE NEW ENSEMBLE MEMBERS

Artistic director and co-founder Michael Patrick Thornton proudly announces The Gift Theatre's 2018 season will include: Stacy Amma Osei-Kuffour’s world premiere of Hang Man, directed by ensemble member Erica Weiss (February 9–April 8); Shakespeare’s Hamlet, directed by Monty Cole (June 1–July 29); and the Midwest premiere of Tony Award-winning playwright and ensemble member David Rabe’s Cosmologies, directed by Thornton (October 12–December 9).

The Gift Theatre also announces the addition of five artists to their ensemble: Evan Michael Lee, Chika Ike, Martel Manning, Gregory Fenner, and Hannah Toriumi. The ensemble is composed of actors, directors, writers and improvisers. For 16 years, The Gift Theatre has earned and deepened its reputation as an ensemble dedicated to acting of the highest caliber and a welcome home for new plays.

“Who are we? From the individual level to the national, we are in the midst of a vital articulation of Identity,” Thornton said. “We believe theatre can help orient and navigate people through a life which often contains multitudes of pain and struggle. And yet, the resolve to continue to struggle can define us; giving us, even, perhaps, in the act, a kind of grace. The 2018 Season lives under the aesthetical canopy of Absurdism, wherein characters who struggle to find meaning in life nevertheless continue to pursue meaning. Today, we are also deeply honored and excited to announce an enrichment of our ensemble. Evan, Chika, Martel, Gregory, and Hannah are artists of virtuosic talents with whom we have collaborated over the years in joy and awe. In short, we love them. They have each played a defining role in The Gift’s history and now, as ensemble members, our future.”

The now 37-member ensemble also includes: Danny Ahlfeld, Maggie Andersen, Cyd Blakewell, Brittany Burch, Hillary Clemens Harbor, John Kelly Connolly, Paul D’Addario, Jenny Connell Davis, Brendan Donaldson, Will Eno, James D. Farruggio, Ed Flynn, Gabriel Franken, John Gawlik, Andrew Hinderaker, Marti Lyons, Alexandra Main, Laura Marks, Kenny Mihlfried, Benjamin Montague, Darci Nalepa, Keith Neagle, William Nedved, Lynda Newton, Sheldon Patinkin (in loving memory), Maureen Payne-Hahner, David Rabe, Mary Ann Thebus, Michael Patrick Thornton, Erica Weiss, Jay Worthington and Kyle Zornes.

As usual, The Gift's year begins in January with TEN (January 5-14), the theater's annual celebration of world premiere ten-minute pieces by The Gift and guests, sponsored by Revolution Brewing.

THE GIFT THEATRE’S 2018 SEASON:

February 9–April 8, 2018
HANG MAN (world premiere)
by Stacy Amma Osei-Kuffour, directed by ensemble member Erica Weiss
The community of a backwoods Southern town grapples with the murder of a Black man who is found hanging in a tree. As events unfold, the hanging mystifies the people of the community, forcing them to confront their complicity in this man’s horrific demise. Osei-Kuffour’s darkly comical, heartbreaking play, which recently made the prestigious 2017 Kilroy’s List, uses absurdity to explore racism, sexuality, and the parts of American history we would all like to forget.

June 1–July 29, 2018
HAMLET, by William Shakespeare, directed by Monty Cole
After the death of his dad, a young black man named Hamlet returns home to grieve and seek revenge. Fighting against the injustice of his father's murder and the powers that want him out of the picture, Hamlet quickly loses power and sanity. Directed by guest artist Monty Cole, The Gift's retelling of Shakespeare's great tragedy will crack open the mind of one of western drama's most fascinating and entertaining characters.

October 12–December 9, 2018
COSMOLOGIES (Midwest premiere)
by ensemble member David Rabe, directed by artistic director Michael Patrick Thornton
Put the whimsical humor of the Keystone Cops and Bugs Bunny into a particle collider with the philosophy of Soren Kierkegaard  and George Berkeley and you’re getting close to the style of this existential absurdist comedy from David Rabe. When a young man’s negotiation for a date goes very wrong, we are transported through kaleidoscopic worlds of possibilities, identities, and loves. 

The Gift Theatre’s Annual Gala will take place on December 1, 2017 at The Copernicus Center; 4802, the new play development engine of The Gift, will present works in progress August 24, 25, and 26 of 2018.  

About The Gift Theatre
The Gift’s 16th season consists of three world premieres and kicked off in February with Mona Mansour’s war-torn drama Unseen, directed by ensemble member Maureen Payne-Hahner, followed by Claire Kiechel’s Pilgrims, co-directed by ensemble member Michael Patrick Thornton and guest artist Jessica Thebus (June 2-July 30). The season closes with Janine Nabers’ time-hopping love story A Swell in the Ground, directed by guest artist Chika Ike (October 13-December 10). 

Season subscriptions are available for as little as $75. The Gift subscribers ("Gifters") receive admission to three shows, free parking at Gale Street Inn, free admission to all Wednesday night “Natural Gas” improv shows and invitations to special subscriber-only special events. Subscribe at http://thegifttheatre.org/ or call 773-283-7071.

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