Chicago Premiere of ANTONIO’S SONG/I WAS DREAMING OF A SON at Goodman's Owen Stage April 28 – May 28, 2023

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar 

ANTONIO EDWARDS SUAREZ STARS IN 

ANTONIO’S SONG/

I WAS DREAMING OF A SON

HIS TOUR-DE-FORCE SOLO WORK, CO-WRITTEN WITH PULTIZER PRIZE FINALIST DAEL ORLANDERSMITH

***MARK CLEMENTS DIRECTS THE CHICAGO PREMIERE OF THIS “DEEP AND PERSONAL DIVE INTO THE FORMATION OF A MAN” (MILKWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL) IN THE OWEN THEATRE, APRIL 28 – MAY 28***

Poetry, music and movement unite on the Owen Stage to bring an “honest and empathetic look at fatherhood” amidst the implications of identity, art and culture in Dael Orlandersmith and Antonio Edwards Suarez’s Antonio’s Song/I Was Dreaming of a Son, directed by Mark Clements. Following an accomplished run at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, the acclaimed solo piece makes its Chicago debut and features Antonio Edwards Suarez as he considers—using his own lived experiences—the immense weight of raising a son in a world rife with ethnic and gender stereotypes. Antonio’s Song/I Was Dreaming of a Son appears April 28 – May 28, 2023 in the 350-seat flexible Owen Theatre.

I'll be out for opening night, Monday, May 8th, so check back shortly after for my full review. Tickets ($15 –$50, subject to change) are available at GoodmanTheatre.org/Antonio or by phone at 312-443-3800. The Goodman is grateful for the support of The Elizabeth Morse Charitable Trust (Lead Funder of IDEAA Programming).

“Having my son, I thought to myself, 'this is going to be tough, raising a boy in today’s world'," said Antonio Edwards Suarez.  “So much of what is shown on television and the news are boys and men struggling and acting out many of those struggles in destructive ways. My son’s birth also made me start to reflect and examine how I was raised, my mother and father’s hopes and dreams, how were they raised, the boys, girls, men and women who influenced me and the generations of neighborhoods we all grew up in. Am I going to pass some of the destructive behaviors I experienced on to my son? Will he, my son, go through what I went through?”

Dael Orlandersmith, Goodman Artistic Associate and Alice Center Resident Artist who co-wrote the piece with Suarez, said, “We rarely see men portrayed vulnerably. We rarely see men question themselves and grapple with parenting the way this character does—recognizing how he must break the chains of the past.”

From Brooklyn to Massachusetts to Russia, Antonio struggles to reconcile multiple ethnic identities. He wrestles with the legacy of stereotypes of masculinity while discovering there is beauty in manhood and becoming a father. Powerful poetry intermixed with original movement, music and projected imagery creates an evocative, wholly unique performance. The creative team includes Luciana Stecconi (Set Design); Peggy McKowen (Costume Design); John Ambrosone (Lighting Design); Andre Pluess (Sound Design); Jared Mazzocchi (Projection Design); Alexandra Beller (Movement Direction). Malkia Stampley is the Line Producer and Patrick Fries is the Production Stage Manager.

Dael Orlandersmith’s plays include Stoop Stories, Black n’ Blue Boys/Broken Men, Horsedreams, Bones, The Blue Album, Yellowman, The Gimmick, Monster and Forever. Orlandersmith was a Pulitzer Prize finalist and Drama Desk Award nominee for Yellowman and the winner of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for The Gimmick. Dael is the recipient of a New York Foundation for the Arts grant, The Helen Merrill Award for Emerging Playwrights, a Guggenheim, along with several other awards and honors. Her play, FOREVER, was commissioned and performed at the Mark Taper Forum/Kirk Douglas Theatre in Fall 2014, followed by performances at the Long Wharf Theatre in Winter 2014/15, New York Theatre Workshop in Spring 2015 and at Portland Center Stage in Winter 2016. Her play Until the Flood appeared at St Louis Repertory in Fall 2016, Rattlestick Theatre in 2018, Milwaukee Rep in 2019, Portland Center Stage, ACT Seattle, the Arcola Theatre in London, the Galway Arts Festival at the Druid Theatre and the Traverse at Edinburgh Festival. The play was performed in Berlin at the Schaubuhne Theatre in April 2022 and at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC in June 2022. Ms. Orlandersmith is working on a commission for Rattlestick Theatre called Watching the Watcher and had two plays opening at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre in 2022: New Age directed by Jade King Carroll and Antonio’s Song/I Was Dreaming of a Son, directed by Mark Clements. Orlandersmith‘s new play Spiritus/Virgin’s Dance, commissioned by Merrimack Theater in Massachusetts will be appear at CATF Theatre in West Virginia in Summer 2023 and Rattlestick and Merrimack Theaters in 2024. Orlandersmith is currently working with writer/performer David Cale and director Robert Falls on a play called You Don’t Know the Lonely One. Ms. Orlandersmith received a Doris Duke Award in 2020. She is currently working on two commissions for Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland and Milwaukee Repertory Theatre.

Antonio Edwards Suarez’ Broadway credits include American Buffalo, directed by Robert Falls. New York credits include Chaucer in Rome (Lincoln Center Theater), directed by Nicholas Martin; Entertaining Mr. Sloane; The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui; Dogg’s Hamlet, Cahoot’s Macbeth; The Trial (Phoenix Theatre Ensemble); This One Girl’s Story (New York Musical Theatre Festival, Award for Best Ensemble); Points of Departure (INTAR) and Richard III (National Black Theatre). Other credits include Food Acts (Lions Theatre); The Hamlet Project (Mac Wellman Theater); Trespass (Producers Club II); Fuente (Cherry Lane Alternative); Waiting for Godot (Chashama) and Mother (La MaMa E.T.C.). International and regional credits include Antonio’s Song/I Was Dreaming of a Son (Milwaukee Repertory Theater and Contemporary American Theater Festival); Leandro in the international tour of The King Stag (directed by Andrei Serban, choreographed by Julie Taymor); The Night is a Child (Milwaukee Rep); A Midsummer Night’s Dream; The Taming of the Shrew; The Tempest; Julius Caesar (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company); Havana is Waiting (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park); Spinning into Butter (Repertory Theatre of St. Louis) and Idiots Karamazov (American Repertory Theater). Film and television credits include The EndGame; The Tested; Elementary; several episodes of Law & Order; The Good Wife; Rookie Blue; Person of Interest; One Life to Live; As the World Turns; Flight of the Conchords (HBO); Curb Your Enthusiasm and Stan the Orderly (recurring) on Royal Pains (USA Network).

Mark Clements is a multi-award-winning international theater director whose work has appeared in over 100 major theaters throughout Europe and the United States. He began his tenure as artistic director of Milwaukee Rep, with the 2010/11 season, by bringing musicals to the mainstage and introducing the John Jack D. Lewis New Play Development Program, a vibrant and eclectic new works initiative that seeks to produce one new work in each of the Rep’s three performance spaces per season. This includes Antonio’s Song, which he developed in collaboration with Contemporary American Theatre Festival. Milwaukee Rep directing credits include the world premieres of One House Over; his own adaptation of the current A Christmas Carol in the Pabst Theatre; Five Presidents and American Song; Things I Know To Be True; Junk; The Glass Menagerie; Of Mice and Men; Othello; Death of a Salesman; The History of Invulnerability; End of the Rainbow; Clybourne Park and Bombshells. Select New York and international work includes Speaking in Tongues for Roundabout Theatre Company and Hampstead Theatre in London; The Milliner; Blunt Speaking; Obie Award winning musical The Thing About Men, in addition to creating and directing the West End and UK National Tours of Soul Train. Prior to joining Milwaukee Rep, Mark served as an associate artistic director for several UK theater companies, but most notably, as artistic director for the award-winning Derby Playhouse in the UK from 1992-2002, where he directed over 40 productions. He has been nominated for an Olivier Award and several UK Theater Awards, and has won three Barrymore Awards from his time at Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia. Mark is currently working with Ayad Akhtar on adapting his critically acclaimed novel American Dervish for the stage to make its world premiere at Milwaukee Rep in an upcoming season, along with Run Bambi Run, an original new rock musical penned by Eric Simonson and Gordon Gano from the Violent Femmes.

THE COMPANY OF Antonio’s Song/I Was Dreaming of a Son 

Antonio ……Antonio Edwards Suarez

Set Design by Luciana Stecconi

Costume Design by Peggy McKowen

Lighting Design by John Ambrosone

Sound Design by Andre Pluess

Projection Design by Jared Mazzocchi

Movement Direction by Alexandra Beller

Line Production by Malkia Stampley

Patrick Fries is the Production Stage Manager.

ENHANCED AND ACCESSIBLE PERFORMANCES

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

Touch Tour and Audio-Described Performance: Sunday, May 21, 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: Saturday, May 27 at 2pm – An American Sign Language interpreter signs the action/text as played.

Spanish Subtitles: Saturday May 27 at 8pm.

Open-Captioned: Sunday, May 28 at 2pm – An LED sign presents dialogue in sync with the performance.

ABOUT GOODMAN THEATRE

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.

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 Susan V. Booth and Executive Director/CEO 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 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.

OPENING: FATHER COMES HOME FROM THE WARS (PARTS 1, 2 & 3) at Goodman's Owen Theatre Through JUNE 24

CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM SET FOR 

FATHER COMES HOME FROM THE WARS (PARTS 1, 2 & 3), 

SUZAN-LORI PARKS’ “BLAZINGLY ORIGINAL” (WASHINGTON POST) CIVIL WAR EPIC, AT GOODMAN THEATRE 

MAY 25 – JUNE 24, 2018

***DIRECTED BY NIEGEL SMITH, THE CAST FEATURES CHICAGO FAVORITES KAMAL ANGELO BOLDEN, WILLIAM DICK,

ERNEST PERRY JR., JACQUELINE WILLIAMS—PLUS BLUES MUSICIAN MELODY ANGEL, WHO APPEARS ON STAGE NIGHTLY***

Goodman Theatre announces the cast and creative team for the Chicago premiere of Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3) by Pulitzer Prize winner Suzan-Lori Parks, directed by Niegel Smith. Parks, in her “finest work yet” (New York Times), serves up “an American story as much about our present as it is about our past” (Los Angeles Times). Filled with wit, poetry and original music composed by Grammy Award winner Justin Ellington and performed on stage nightly by Chicago native blues musician Melody Angel, the production follows Hero (Kamal Angelo Bolden), a Texas slave, who faces a simple yet monumental choice: join his master in the Confederate army to win his freedom—or remain enslaved at the plantation. 

Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3) appears May 25 – June 24, 2018 (opening night is June 4 at 7pm) in Goodman Theatre’s 350-seat flexible Owen Theatre. The estimated run time is 2 hours and 30 minutes. Tickets ($10 - $40; subject to change) are available at GoodmanTheatre.org/Father, by phone at 312.443.3800 or at the box office (170 N. Dearborn). The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation is the Major Production Sponsor and American Airlines is the Contributing Sponsor.

“The Goodman has brought together a stellar cast to interpret Suzan-Lori Parks’ masterwork,” said Director Niegel Smith, Artistic Director of New York’s The Flea Theater and a former fellow at The Public Theater during the play’s development and 2014 world premiere production. “I’m excited to create, with these actors, a panoply of enslaved folks—joyful, fearful, nurturing, overwhelmed and yet resilient. This is a necessary work, one of black love, black joy and black pain. We need plays like this that look deeply at our history, and how we continue to perpetuate it. I am thrilled by artists like Suzan-Lori who make it part of their work to give us these stories in which we investigate truthfully.”
Smith’s cast also features William Dick as Colonel; Aimé Donna Kelly as Penny, Hero’s devoted love; Jaime Lincoln Smith as Homer, whose rivalry with Hero is defined by a betrayal. Rounding out the cast are Sydney Charles (Second), Ronald L. Conner (Third), Bernard Gilbert (Runaway), Nicole Michelle Haskins (Runaway), Ernest Perry Jr. (The Oldest Old Man), Tyrone Phillips (Runaway), Michael Aaron Pogue (Fourth), BrittneyLove Smith (Odyssey Dog), Demetrios Troy (Smith) and Jacqueline Williams (Leader). The creative team also includes Courtney O’Neill (set), Linda Cho (costumes) and Keith Parham (lighting). 

In addition, Chicago-based blues musician Angel makes her Goodman Theatre debut as a contemporary narrator who comments on the circumstances and setting to direct the audience’s focus.

“I consider Suzan-Lori Parks a super hero, and to have my theatrical debut in one of her plays at one the best theaters in the world is an honor,” said Angel, who kicks off the Chicago Blues Festival performing the national anthem on Friday, June 8. “Father Comes Home From the Wars is a story about choices and how one decision can either lead you or change you completely. In my own music, I live by a quote from Nina Simone, ‘it's an artist's duty to reflect the times in which we live.’ This is what this role has given me through the music Suzan-Lori created—an opportunity to reflect the times.”

ABOUT THE ARTISTS 

Suzan-Lori Parks (Playwright) was named one of Time magazine’s “100 Innovators for the Next New Wave” in 2002, Parks was the first African American woman to receive the Pulitzer Prize in Drama for her Broadway hit Topdog/Underdog. A MacArthur “Genius” Award and Gish Prize recipient, she has also been awarded grants by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York Foundation for the Arts. Her play Father Comes Home From the Wars (Parts 1, 2, & 3) made its world premiere at The Public Theater in New York, followed by a run at American Repertory Theatre in Cambridge, MA, and Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles. The play was named a finalist for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and was awarded the 2015 Edward M. Kennedy Prize for Drama Inspired by American History, as well as the 2014 Horton Foote Prize. Parks’ work on The Gershwin's Porgy and Bess was honored with the 2012 Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical. Her numerous plays include The Book of Grace, In the Blood (2000 Pulitzer Prize finalist), Venus (1996 Obie Award), 365 Days/365 Plays and The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World, among others. Parks’ novel Getting Mother's Body was published by Random House. Her first feature-length screenplay was Girl 6, written for Spike Lee. She’s also written screenplays for Brad Pitt, Denzel Washington and Jodie Foster, as well as adapting Zora Neale Hurston’s classic novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, which premiered on ABC’s Oprah Winfrey Presents. Parks is currently writing an adaptation of the film The Harder They Come for a live stage musical. She is the master writer chair at The Public Theater, A Residency One playwright at Signature Theatre and serves as a professor in dramatic writing at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.

Niegel Smith (Director) is a Bessie Award winning theater director and performance artist. He is the artistic director of New York’s Obie-Award winning The Flea Theater, board member of A.R.T./New York and ringleader of Willing Participant (WillingParticipant.org), an artistic activist organization. His theater work has been produced by The Alley Theater, Classical Theatre of Harlem, The Flea Theater, HERE Arts Center, Hip Hop Theatre Festival, The Invisible Dog, Luna Stage, Magic Theatre, Mixed Blood, New York Fringe Festival, New York Live Arts, Phoenix Theatre Ensemble, Playwrights Horizons, Pomegranate Arts, The Public Theater, St. Ann’s Warehouse, Summer Play Festival, Todd Theatre and Under the Radar, and his participatory walks and performances have been produced by Abrons Arts Center, American Realness, Dartmouth College, Elastic City, The Invisible Dog, Jack, The New Museum, Prelude Festival, PS 122, the Van Alen Institute and Visual AIDS. He often collaborates with playwright/performer Taylor Mac and with artist Todd Shalom. Smith is co-director of the critically acclaimed A 24-Decade History of Popular Music, winner of the Kennedy Prize for Drama, Bessie Award, the Edwin Booth Award and a Pulitzer Prize finalist. He was also the associate director of the Tony Award-winning musical FELA! – restaging that production in London, Lagos and its world tour. He assistant directed the off-Broadway production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and both the Broadway and off-Broadway productions of Tony Kushner’s Caroline, or Change. He has worked on the artistic staffs of The Public Theater, Trinity Repertory Company and Providence Black Repertory Company. A graduate of Dartmouth College, Smith has received residencies, grants and/or fellowships from Brooklyn Arts Council, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the MAP Fund, New York Stage and Film, Sundance Theatre Lab, Theater Communications Group, Tucker Foundation, Van Lier Fund and VoxFest. NiegelSmith.com

TICKETS, DISCOUNTS AND SPECIAL EVENTS

Tickets ($10-$40) – GoodmanTheatre.org/Father; 312.443.3800; Fax: 312.443.3825; TTY/TDD: 312.443.3829
Box Office Hours – 12noon - 5pm; on performance days, the box office remains open until 30 minutes past curtain
MezzTix – Half-price day-of-performance mezzanine tickets available at 10am online (promo code MEZZTIX) 
$10Tix – Student $10 advance tickets; limit four, with valid student ID (promo code 10TIX)
Teen Arts Pass (TAP) – $5 day-of-performance tickets for teens ages 13-19; subject to availability; limit two, with valid TAP identification. Sign up at TeenArtsPass.org (promo code TAP) 
CityKey – CityKey Cardholders access half-price mezzanine tickets; limit four, with valid CityKey ID. Sign up at ChiCityClerk.com/ChicagoCityKey (promo code CITYKEY)
Group Sales are available for parties 10+; 312.443.3820
Gift Certificates – Available in any amount; GoodmanTheatre.org/GiftCertificates

ACCESSIBILITY AT THE GOODMAN

Touch Tour, June 17 at 12:30pm – A presentation detailing the set, costume and character elements
Audio Described Performance, June 17 at 2pm – The action/text is audibly enhanced for patrons via headset
ASL Interpreted Performance, June 23 at 2pm – Professional ASL interpreter signs the action/text as played 
Open Captioned Performance, June 24 at 2pm – An LED sign presents dialogue in sync with the performance
Visit Goodman Theatre.org/Access for more information about Goodman Theatre’s accessibility efforts.

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 celebrated its 40th anniversary 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.

Today, 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, Cynthia K. Scholl is Women’s Board President and Justin A. Kulovsek is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals.

YASMINA’S NECKLACE at The Goodman Theatre Through November 19th

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

 LOVE BLOSSOMS AND CULTURES COLLIDE IN 

YASMINA’S NECKLACE, 

ROHINA MALIK’S MODERN AMERICAN LOVE STORY, 

DIRECTED BY ANN FILMER, 

OCTOBER 20 – NOVEMBER 19

***IRAQI ART BY AHMAD ABDULRAZZAQ FEATURED ON THE SET—AND DISPLAYED IN THE LOBBY AVAILABLE FOR SALE, IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE PRODUCTION***

It was my great pleasure to catch Rohina’s one-woman show, Unveiled, years ago. She's a articulate story teller who opens eyes and changes opinions with her wise words and personal experiences. She has the intelligence, insight and bravery to fill a void of Muslim female voices we don't hear enough from. I'm quite moved by her works and words and can't wait to see Yasmina's Necklace. We'll be out to review the 2nd week of November. 

Chicago-based playwright Rohina Malik and director Ann Filmer reunite for the “downtown debut” of Yasmina’s Necklace at Goodman Theatre, beginning October 20 in the Owen Theatre. Malik’s “unique American love story, hilarious yet deeply moving, profound and beautiful” (OakPark.com) explores two disparate Muslim families coming together as their children embark on a romantic relationship. The play, which premiered under Filmer’s direction at 16th Street Theater last year, has been further developed for the Goodman production—and the production’s set features six paintings by Ahmad Abdulrazzaq, an Iraqi refugee living in Chicago, who received his diploma at the Institute of Fine Arts of Baghdad. Additional works by Abdulrazzaq will be displayed in the lobby and available for purchase (while pieces last)—along with selections from Oregon-based photographer Jim Lommasson’s exhibit, "What We Carried: Fragments from the Cradle of Civilization" about Iraqi and Syrian refugees who have fled to the U.S. 

Yasmina’s Necklace appears October 20 – November 19 in the Goodman’s 350-seat flexible Owen Theatre. Tickets ($10-$40, subject to change) are available by phone at 312.443.4800, online at GoodmanTheatre.org/Necklace or at the box office (170 N. Dearborn). 

“I first encountered Rohina’s work with her one-woman show, Unveiled, in which she portrayed five Muslim women discussing their choice to cover their heads—and the resulting discrimination they encountered, especially after 9/11. The play demonstrated Rohina’s remarkable ability to challenge stereotypes surrounding the Muslim community with grace and humor,” said Artistic Director Robert Falls. “Likewise, Yasmina’s Necklace shows us individuals wrestling with their life circumstances—as we all do, regardless of our cultural backgrounds—while providing a glimpse into a cultural milieu that may be unfamiliar to many. I am delighted to welcome back Rohina and director Ann Filmer—two artists we are proud to have previously worked with as a Playwrights Unit member and Michael Maggio Directing Fellow, respectively—to share their wonderful production with Goodman audiences.”

As previously announced, Susaan Jamshidi leads the nine-member cast as Yasmina—a young Iraqi artist who has hardened herself against the possibility of finding happiness after fleeing to Chicago from her war-torn homeland. But when she meets Sam (Michael Perez ), a man with his own emotional setbacks, what had seemed unthinkable becomes tantalizingly real. Joining Jamshidi and Perez are Salar Ardebili (Man), Rom Barkhordar (Musa), Laura Crotte (Sara), Allen Gilmore (Imam Kareem), Martin Hanna (Amir), Amro Salama (Ali) and Frank Sawa (Officer)—Ardebili, Crotte, Jamshidi, Perez and Salama return to the production from the world premiere at 16th Street Theater. The creative team includes Joe Schermoly (Set) Rachel M. Sypniewski (Costumes), Cat Wilson (Lights) and Barry Bennett (Sound). Winston & Strawn is the Contributing Sponsor for Yasmina’s Necklace.

“I’m concerned about the portrayal of Muslims in the media. Often with television shows and films, roles that are written about Muslims are often written by people who are not Muslim, and they fall into problematic stereotypes. Rarely do we see Muslims as ‘normal’ human beings, and that’s so dangerous,” said Playwright Rohina Malik, whose production, The Mecca Tales, will make its New York debut later this month at the Sheen Center. “I wrote Yasmina's Necklace to not only challenge negative stereotypes, but to be the hammer to smash them. I'm thrilled to return to the Goodman and reunite with my longtime collaborator and friend, Ann, to share this timely play.”

TICKETS, DISCOUNTS AND SPECIAL EVENTS

Tickets ($10-$40) – GoodmanTheatre.org/Necklace; 312.443.3800; Fax: 312.443.3825; TTY/TDD: 312.443.3829
Box Office Hours –12noon - 5pm; on performance days, the box office remains open until 30 minutes past curtain
MezzTix – Half-price day-of-performance mezzanine tickets available at 10am online (promo code MEZZTIX) 
$10Tix – Student $10 advance tickets; limit four, with valid student ID (promo code 10TIX)
Group Sales are available for parties 10+; 312.443.3820
Gift Certificates – Available in any amount; GoodmanTheatre.org/GiftCertificates

This season, the Goodman introduces a new way to experience Chicago’s world-class theater: MEMBERSHIP. Audiences choose from three levels to suit their preferences, including Classic 7-play, 5-play or 3-play packages; Choice, a personalized package that can include both Owen and Albert productions; and Whenever—the ultimate flexible package, to be used at any time during the season (not valid for A Christmas Carol). All Goodman members receive unlimited ticket exchanges, discounted parking, 15% savings at the Goodman bar and gift shop, restaurant discounts and more. To purchase a Membership visit GoodmanTheatre.org/Memberships or call the Box Office at 312.443.3800. 

COLLEGE NIGHT – October 26 | 6pm meet-the-artists pizza party, 7:30pm performance
Tickets are $10 using code COLLEGE; includes dinner and performance. Students enjoy a pre-show reception with fellow theater-lovers and cast members, followed by a performance. GoodmanTheatre.org/CollegeNight

ARTIST ENCOUNTER – October 29 at 5pm | Goodman Theatre
Tickets are $10 for general public; free for Goodman Members, Donors and students. Join the playwright and director for an in-depth conversation about the play, moderated by Chicago Sun-Times Urban Affairs Reporter and Assistant City Editor Maudlyne Ihejirika.

ACCESSIBILITY AT THE GOODMAN

Touch Tour, November 12 at 12:30pm – A presentation detailing the set, costume and character elements
Audio Described Performance, November 12 at 2pm – The action/text is audibly enhanced for patrons via headset
ASL Interpreted Performance, November 18 at 2pm– Professional ASL interpreter signs the action/text as played
Open Captioned Performance, November 19 at 2pm – An LED sign presents dialogue in sync with the performance
Visit Goodman Theatre.org/Access for more information about Goodman Theatre’s accessibility efforts.

About Goodman Theatre

America’s “Best Regional Theatre” (Time magazine) and “Chicago’s flagship resident stage” ( Chicago Tribune), Goodman Theatre is a not-for-profit organization distinguished by the quality and scope of its artistic programming and civic engagement. Founded in 1925, the Goodman is led by Robert Falls—“Chicago’s most essential director” (Chicago Tribune), who marks 30 years as Artistic Director this season—and Executive Director Roche Schulfer, who is celebrated for his vision and leadership over nearly four decades. Dedicated to new plays, reimagined classics and large-scale musical theater works, Goodman Theatre artists and productions have earned hundreds of awards for artistic excellence, including: two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards, nearly 160 Jeff Awards and more. Over the past three decades, audiences have experienced more than 150 world or American premieres, 30 major musical productions, as well as nationally and internationally celebrated productions of classic works (including Falls’ productions of Death of a Salesman, Long Day’s Journey into Night, King Lear and The Iceman Cometh, many in collaboration with actor Brian Dennehy). In addition, the Goodman is the first theater in the world to produce all 10 plays in August Wilson’s “American Century Cycle.” For nearly four decades, the annual holiday tradition of A Christmas Carol has created a new generation of theatergoers.

The 2016 opening of the Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement (“the Alice”) launched the next phase in the Goodman’s decades-long commitment as an arts and community organization dedicated to educating Chicago youth and promoting lifelong learning. Programs are offered year-round and free of charge. Eighty-five percent of the Goodman’s youth program participants come from underserved communities.

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./Users/zbluesun/Library/Mobile Documents/com~apple~TextEdit/Documents/Edits.txt

Today, Goodman Theatre leadership 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. Joan E. Clifford is Chair of Goodman Theatre’s Board of Trustees, Cynthia K. Scholl is Women’s Board President and Justin A. Kulovsek is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals.

Visit the Goodman virtually at GoodmanTheatre.org—including OnStage+ for insider information—and on Twitter (@GoodmanTheatre), Facebook and Instagram.

REVIEW: Teatro Vista's La Havana Madrid To Play Goodman's Owen Theatre 7/21-8/20!

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

Get tickets now for Teatro Vista's La Havana Madrid—starts July 21!

***TEATRO VISTA ENSEMBLE MEMBER PLAYWRIGHT SANDRA DELGADO STARS IN THE TITLE ROLE FOR A CELEBRATION OF CHICAGO’S VIBRANT LATINX COMMUNITY***

TICKETS START AT JUST $30

  

Here at ChiIL Live Shows, we had the great pleasure of catching opening night at Steppenwolf and highly recommend La Havana Madrid! This is not only a compelling collection of immigrant stories, but a stellar slice of Chicago history and a moving commentary on community. It's easy to forget how difficult it is for displaced people to find a home in a foreign land, learn a strange language and culture, and make new friends after loss and separation, and this production is a poignant and powerful reminder. 

We were enthralled with Sandra Delgado's writing and her soaring vocals as this multifaceted performer takes center stage and bring her own script to life. Through talented musicians, song, dance and spoken word, La Havana Madrid brings back a bygone era and a message that is all too timely today. This is an absolute must see.

Hot off the heels of a sold out run at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, La Havana Madrid comes to the Goodman's Owen Theatre 

July 21 - August 20.

Chicago’s legendary 1960s nightclub comes bursting back to life in a "heartfelt and fascinating" (Chicago Tribune ) musical celebration of the city’s Latino community. Step back in time and into La Havana Madrid, the long-gone Caribbean night club that drew throngs of newly-arrived Latinos to the city’s north side. Inspired by real stories, this intimate recreation of the vibrant music venue immerses audiences in the pulsing sounds of live mambo and salsa. Don’t miss it!

GOODMAN THEATRE PRESENTS TEATRO VISTA’S WORLD PREMIERE LA HAVANA MADRID, THE SOLD-OUT SMASH HIT “BURSTING WITH MUSIC AND WARMTH” (CHICAGO TRIBUNE), IN THE OWEN THEATRE, JULY 21 - AUGUST 20

On the heels of critically-acclaimed sold-out runs at Steppenwolf Theatre Company and The Miracle Center in Logan Square, Teatro Vista’s La Havana Madrid by Sandra Delgado extends its run at Goodman Theatre this summer, July 21 – August 20. Chicago’s fabled 1960s nightclub, La Havana Madrid, comes bursting back to life in “an immersive, wholly enjoyable experience” (Chicago Reader) complete with live music and “enough dancing and bonhomie to tempt you away from your little table down front” (Chicago Tribune). Directed by Teatro Vista ensemble member Cheryl Lynn Bruce, the production was inspired by true stories of Cuban, Puerto Rican and Colombian immigrants who found refuge in the nightclub. Delgado leads the eight-member cast (a full list appears below) as a mystical woman who conjures stories and vibrant songs performed live onstage each night by Colombian-American musician Roberto "Carpacho" Marin and his band of 30 years, Carpacho y Su Super Combo. 

La Havana Madrid appears July 21 - August 20 in the Owen Theatre (Opening Night is Wednesday, July 26 at 7:30pm). Tickets ($30-$50; subject to change) go on sale Wednesday, June 28; visit GoodmanTheatre.org/LaHavanaMadrid or call the box office at (312) 443-3800. La Havana Madrid is recommended for ages 12 and up.

“My journey with La Havana Madrid is a dream come true. It has been an absolute joy and honor to share this story with my fellow Chicagoans and I am incredibly grateful that we get to keep the love alive this summer,” said playwright and co-star Sandra Delgado. “It is especially sweet to come home to Goodman Theatre, where I wrote La Havana Madrid as part of the Playwright's Unit in the 2015/2016 Season. I cannot wait to invite audiences into the Owen Theatre, which will be transformed into the La Havana Madrid nightclub, night after night.”

In addition to Delgado, the eight-member cast also includes Teatro Vista ensemble members Tommy Rivera-Vega and Marvin Quijada; and newcomers Mike Oquendo, Donovan Diaz and Krystal Ortiz, who round out the cast as Cuban, Colombian and Puerto Rican patrons, staff and musicians who all met, danced, loved and lost at La Havana Madrid. Original cast members Cruz Gonzalez-Cadel and Phoebe González are unable to continue with the production and their roles are being recast for the Goodman remount. The design team includes Ashley Woods (set), Elsa Hiltner (costumes), Heather Sparling (lights), Mikhail Fiksel (sound), Liviu Pasare (projections and video design) and William Carlos Angulo (choreography).



A Brief History about La Havana Madrid Nightclub (Originally Located on Belmont and Sheffield)

In the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s, Latinos from Caribbean countries such as Puerto Rico and Cuba settled all along Chicago's lakefront, from North Avenue to Devon. Although from different countries, music brought them together. Their shared rhythms—African rhythms—became the guaguanco, the mambo and the merengue. Now in the United States, these rhythms merged with traditional big band sounds and eventually became salsa. On the North side of Chicago, a handful of Latino music clubs opened up: Coco Loco on Lincoln Avenue, The Mirror Lounge on North Avenue and La Havana Madrid on Belmont and Sheffield. Luis “Witto” Aloma, a Cuban-born player for the Chicago White Sox, opened the club in the early 1960s to create a place for his Cuban friends to drink coffee and play cards and dominoes. Along the way, La Havana Madrid grew into a more lavish supper club with live Cuban musical acts, before it changed hands and Puerto Rican TV and radio host took over the club. La Havana Madrid closed in the late 1960s and later became the popular folk club The Quiet Knight. Today, the same second floor space is occupied by Milio’s Hair Studio.

About Teatro Vista

Teatro Vista’s 2017/2018 season opens with The Goodman Theatre remount of La Havana Madrid.

Teatro Vista produces, develops and commissions plays that explore the wealth and variety of the human experience from a Latinx perspective. The company provides work and professional advancement opportunities for Latinx theater artists, with special emphasis on the company’s ensemble members, and seeks to enhance the curricular goals of Chicago students through theatre. Teatro Vista was recently celebrated as one of “Chicago’s Cultural Leaders” by the Arts & Business Council of Chicago and received the League of Chicago Theatre’s Artistic Leadership Award.

For the development of La Havana Madrid, Teatro Vista and Delgado received from The Chicago Community Trust, and the 2015 Joyce Award. Delgado also received a 3Arts 3AP Project Grant and developed the script as a member of the 2015/2016 Playwright’s Unit at Goodman Theatre.

Teatro Vista is supported by The Joyce Foundation, the Chicago Community Trust, Alphawood Foundation, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, The MacArthur Fund for Arts & Culture at the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events of the City of Chicago, The Shubert Foundation, The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelly Foundation, the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance, Purple Group, Cumberland Irving and Vidal & Associates, Inc. and The Saints.

For more information, visit TeatroVista.org, on Twitter (@TeatroVista), Facebook and Instagram.



About Goodman Theatre

America’s “Best Regional Theatre” (Time magazine) and “Chicago’s flagship resident stage” (Chicago Tribune), Goodman Theatre is a not-for-profit organization distinguished by the quality and scope of its artistic programming and civic engagement. Founded in 1925, the Goodman is led by Robert Falls—“Chicago’s most essential director” (Chicago Tribune), who marks 30 years as Artistic Director this season—and Executive Director Roche Schulfer, who is celebrated for his vision and leadership over nearly four decades. Dedicated to new plays, reimagined classics and large-scale musical theater works, Goodman Theatre artists and productions have earned hundreds of awards for artistic excellence, including: two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards, nearly 160 Jeff Awards and more. Over the past three decades, audiences have experienced more than 150 world or American premieres, 30 major musical productions, as well as nationally and internationally celebrated productions of classic works (including Falls’ productions of Death of a Salesman, Long Day’s Journey into Night, King Lear and The Iceman Cometh, many in collaboration with actor Brian Dennehy). In addition, the Goodman is the first theater in the world to produce all 10 plays in August Wilson’s “American Century Cycle.” For nearly four decades, the annual holiday tradition of A Christmas Carol has created a new generation of theatergoers. 

The 2016 opening of the Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement (“the Alice”) launched the next phase in the Goodman’s decades-long commitment as an arts and community organization dedicated to educating Chicago youth and promoting lifelong learning. Programs are offered year-round and free of charge. Eighty-five percent of the Goodman’s youth program participants come from underserved communities. 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.

Today, Goodman Theatre leadership 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. Joan E. Clifford is Chair of Goodman Theatre’s Board of Trustees, Cynthia K. Scholl is Women’s Board President and Justin A. Kulovsek is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals. 

Visit the Goodman virtually at GoodmanTheatre.org—including OnStage+ for insider information—and on Twitter (@GoodmanTheatre), Facebook and Instagram.

OPENING: World Premiere of King of the Yees at Goodman Theatre Through April 30th

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

KING OF THE YEES, LAUREN YEE’S MADCAP CELEBRATION OF FAMILY AND CULTURAL IDENTITY, MAKES ITS WORLD PREMIERE AT GOODMAN THEATRE, MARCH 31 – APRIL 30, DIRECTED BY JOSHUA KAHAN BRODY ***FRANCIS JUE AND STEPHENIE SOOHYUN PARK STAR AS FATHER AND DAUGHTER—“LARRY YEE” AND “LAUREN YEE”—WITH DANIEL SMITH, ANGELA LIN AND RAMMEL CHAN*** Tonight, ChiIL Mama will be ChiILin' at The Goodman Theatre, one of our favorite venues, for the press opening of King of the Yees. Check back soon for our full review. We're looking forward to the world premiere of this Goodman Theatre-commissioned work! **Tonight Only: Retired ABC-7 anchor and Chicago’s first Asian American broadcast journalist, Linda Yu, moderates an “Artist Encounter” discussion with Yee and Brody on Sunday, April 9 at 5pm; tickets are $10 for the public and $5 for Donors, Subscribers and students.**    Explore the vivid history of America’s largest Chinatown through the eyes of a new generation in Lauren Yee’s King of the Yees, developed in the 2015 New Stages Festival. Yee’s longtime collaborator Joshua Kahan Brody directs her offbeat and electric joy ride about living in the contemporary world while honoring one’s rich ancestral heritage—and the conflict that ensues. The production will debut at A Contemporary Theatre and Canada's National Arts Centre later this year.  “We are thrilled to welcome one of our country’s most gifted young writers Lauren Yee to the Goodman with her truly original take on the age-old tale of a daughter’s quest for acceptance—at once ambitious, charming and imaginatively idiosyncratic,” said Artistic Director Robert Falls. “One of the most arresting new works I’ve experienced, King of the Yees is a meta-theatrical and infectiously rambunctious odyssey, sprinkled with wit, irreverence and surprising wisdom.” The affable Larry Yee (Francis Jue) remains a driving force in the San Francisco Chinese American community as the head of the Yee Fung Toy family association—a seemingly obsolescent men's club dedicated to the preservation of the Yee line. His daughter Lauren (Stephenie Soohyun Park), however, is dismissive of its patriarchal culture, despite her father’s dedication. When Larry suddenly goes missing, Lauren’s desperate search drops her into a foreign but familiar world where she will have to embrace the past in order to get her father back. Actors Daniel Smith, Angela Lin and Rammel Chan round out the cast, appearing in a variety of roles throughout the two-act play. The design team includes William Boles (set), Izumi Inaba (costumes), Heather Gilbert (lighting), Mikhail Fiksel (sound) and Mike Tutaj (projections). Tanya Palmer is the dramaturg and Donald E. Claxon is the production stage manager. Visit GoodmanTheatre.org/Yees for artist bios. “King of the Yees is only kind of true—just like the stories your father once told you as a child,” said playwright Lauren Yee of the play in which she and her father, Larry, are central characters. “Growing up, I never understood what the Yee Fung Toy—a club of Yees—was, or why people were a part of it. With this play, I’ve been able to explore not only my own self-consciousness within my community, but it’s also shed light on how that is a universal experience. With every generation, there is a feeling of being unworthy and being unprepared to take up the cultural mantle. In a way, this play is a hero’s quest that celebrates those feelings of inadequacy.” Yee’s other plays include Cambodian Rock Band (upcoming at South Coast Repertory’s Pacific Playwrights Festival), Ching Chong China Man (Pan Asian Repertory Theatre and Mu Performing Arts), The Great Leap (Denver Center for the Performing Art's New Play Summit), The Hatmaker’s Wife (Playwrights Realm and Moxie), Hookman (Encore Theatre, Company One and an upcoming production at Steep Theatre), In a Word (San Francisco Playhouse, Cleveland Public Theatre, Strawdog Theatre Company and an upcoming production at Lesser America), Samsara (Victory Gardens Theater, Single Carrot Theatre and the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center’s National Playwright Conference) and The Tiger Among Us (MAP Fund and Mu Performing Arts). Yee is a member of the Ma-Yi Writers Lab and has received commissions from the Denver Center of the Performing Arts, Lincoln Center Theater/LCT3, Mixed Blood Theatre, Portland Center Stage, South Coast Repertory and Trinity Repertory Company. She received her BA from Yale University and MFA from University of California, San Diego. She was born and raised in San Francisco and currently lives in New York. “I’m so grateful to Lauren for bringing me on this incredible journey that is King of the Yees, which we’ve worked to fine-tune over the past three years,” said Director Joshua Kahan Brody, a longtime collaborator and friend of Yee, whom he met 14 years ago as Yale University undergrads (they later attended graduate school together at UC-San Diego). “It’s an extraordinary gift to return to the Goodman after developing this play in the 2015 New Stages festival; the support, the enthusiasm and joy of premiering it here in Chicago is a dream come true.”  Brody’s directing credits include The Last Tiger in Haiti at La Jolla Playhouse and Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Fourteen Flights at the New York International Fringe Festival (Award for Excellence in Directing). He has developed work all over the country including at Atlantic Theater Company, New York Theater Workshop, Ojai Playwrights Conference, Playwrights Horizons and South Coast Repertory. He is a Princess Grace Award winner and received his MFA from University of California, San Diego and his BA from Yale University.  The Goodman is grateful for the generosity of its sponsors: ITW is the Corporate Sponsor Partner and Winston & Strawn LLP is the Contributing Sponsor. TICKETS, DISCOUNTS AND SPECIAL EVENTS Tickets ($10-$40) – GoodmanTheatre.org/Yees; 312.443.3800; Fax: 312.443.3825; TTY/TDD: 312.443.3829 Box Office Hours – 12noon - 5pm; on performance days, the box office remains open until 30 minutes past curtain MezzTix – Half-price day-of-performance mezzanine tickets available at 10am online (promo code MEZZTIX)  $10Tix – Student $10 advance tickets; limit four, with valid student ID (promo code 10TIX) Group Sales are available for parties 10+; 312.443.3820 (restrictions apply) Gift Certificates – Available in any amount; GoodmanTheatre.org/GiftCertificates ARTIST ENCOUNTER – April 9 at 5pm| The Alice Center for Engagement and Education at Goodman Theatre Tickets are $10 for public; $5 for Donors, Subscribers and students. Join Yee and Brody for an in-depth conversation about the play with ABC-7’s Linda Yu. GoodmanTheatre.org/ArtistEncounter ACCESSIBILITY AT GOODMAN THEATRE Touch-Tour,  April 23 at 12:30pm – A presentation detailing the set, costume and character elements Audio-Described Performance, April 23 at 2pm – The action/text is audibly enhanced for patrons via headset ASL-Interpreted Performance, April 29 at 2pm – Professional ASL interpreter signs the action/text as played  Open-Captioned Performance, April 30 at 2pm – An LED sign presents dialogue in sync with the performance Visit Goodman Theatre.org/Access for more information about Goodman Theatre’s accessibility efforts. About Goodman Theatre America’s “Best Regional Theatre” (Time magazine) and “Chicago’s flagship resident stage” (Chicago Tribune), Goodman Theatre is a not-for-profit organization distinguished by the quality and scope of its artistic programming and civic engagement. Founded in 1925, the Goodman is led by Robert Falls—“Chicago’s most essential director” (Chicago Tribune), who marks 30 years as Artistic Director this season—and Executive Director Roche Schulfer, who is celebrated for his vision and leadership over nearly four decades.  Dedicated to new plays, reimagined classics and large-scale musical theater works, Goodman Theatre artists and productions have earned hundreds of awards for artistic excellence, including: two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards, nearly 160 Jeff Awards and more. Over the past three decades, audiences have experienced more than 150 world or American premieres, 30 major musical productions, as well as nationally and internationally celebrated productions of classic works (including Falls’ productions of Death of a Salesman, Long Day’s Journey into Night, King Lear and The Iceman Cometh, many in collaboration with actor Brian Dennehy). In addition, the Goodman is the first theater in the world to produce all 10 plays in August Wilson’s “American Century Cycle.” For nearly four decades, the annual holiday tradition of A Christmas Carol has created a new generation of theatergoers.  The 2016 opening of the Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement (“the Alice”) launched the next phase in the Goodman’s decades-long commitment as an arts and community organization dedicated to educating Chicago youth and promoting lifelong learning. Programs are offered year-round and free of charge. Eighty-five percent of the Goodman’s youth program participants come from underserved communities. 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. Today, Goodman Theatre leadership 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. Joan E. Clifford is Chair of Goodman Theatre’s Board of Trustees, Cynthia K. Scholl is Women’s Board President and Justin A. Kulovsek is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals.  Visit the Goodman virtually at GoodmanTheatre.org—including OnStage+ for insider information—and on Twitter (@GoodmanTheatre), Facebook and Instagram.

OPENING: World Premiere Ask Aunt Susan at The Goodman

DON'T MISS THE WORLD PREMIERE PRODUCTION OF ASK AUNT SUSAN BY SETH BOCKLEY, NOW THROUGH JUNE 22 AT GOODMAN THEATRE 

***MEET THE CREATORS AND DISCUSS THEMES OF THE PLAY AT THE JUNE 1 “ARTIST ENCOUNTER” AND MEET REAL LIFE “AUNT SUSANS” AT A JUNE 16 CONVERSATION ABOUT ONLINE IDENTITY ***

Seth Bockley’s 21st century satire of the internet era, Ask Aunt Susan, directed by Henry Wishcamper is now in previews and opening on June 2 in the Owen Theatre.  Ask Aunt Susan tells the story of “Aunt Susan”, a 20-something man moonlighting as an internet advice columnist, dispensing advice for women’s everyday woes.

DISCUSS ASK AUNT SUSAN

ARTIST ENCOUNTER

A discussion with playwright Seth Bockley and director Henry Wishcamper about the themes of Ask Aunt Susan, moderated by Director of New Play Development, Tanya Palmer
Sunday, June 1 at 5pm | FREE for Subscribers, Donors and students with ID; $5 for general public |Reservations are required. Reserve by calling the Box Office at 312.443.3800 or online at GoodmanTheatre.org/AuntSusan.

CONTEXT Discussion: Authentic Artifice and Crafting Identity Online

Join social media leaders Dan Fietsam (@fietstweets; former creative director of BBDO and a current University of Chicago instructor in Creativity Branding and Technology), Shannon Downey (@shannondowney; owner of Pivotal Chicago) and Alex Mohr (@alexophile; formerly of Ketchum Inc.) to learn how people tasked with creating and maintaining false personas hold the line between their creation’s identity and their own identity. These “real life Aunt Susans”—leading professionals in search engine optimization, social media and digital marketing—discuss the creation of content versus identity and the space that lies between them.
Monday, June 16 at 6:30pm │ FREE, online reservations required at GoodmanTheatre.org

About Ask Aunt Susan 

Inspired by Nathanael West’s 1933 novella Miss Lonelyhearts—a Great Depression-era commentary of urban alienation through the eyes of an eponymous male newspaper advice columnist—Ask Aunt Susan begins with a young man working on the fringes of the burgeoning internet industry as a writer and coder. When an ill-conceived scheme to swindle Yelp.com lands him in hot water, Steve, his brash, entrepreneurial boss, decides to create AskAuntSusan.com and advises the young man to moonlight as the online advice guru, “Aunt Susan.” The scheme begins as a joke, allowing Steve to make a quick buck and Aunt Susan to keep up with his student loans—but Aunt Susan’s followers become incredibly loyal and the constant, desperate requests from readers spark a “need to be needed” in Aunt Susan. As his internet reputation mushrooms, so does Aunt Susan’s web of deceit—and soon the phenomenon is much larger than anyone could have imagined. 

As previously announced, the ensemble cast includes Alex Stage as Aunt Susan; Marc Grapey as Steve; Meghan Reardon as Betty; Jennie Moreau as Lydia; and Robyn Scott as Jill. Ask Aunt Susan runs now through June 22 in the Owen Theatre (opening night is Monday, June 2). Tickets ($10 - $40; subject to change) are on sale now and can be purchased at GoodmanTheatre.org/AuntSusan, by phone at 312.443.3800 or at the box office (170 North Dearborn). Bank of America is the Owen Season Sponsor. Edelman Worldwide is the Corporate Sponsor Partner. Baxter, Blue Cross Blue Shield and Studley, Inc. are Contributing Sponsors.