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Showing posts with label Sean Graney. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sean Graney. Show all posts

Friday, November 10, 2017

OPENING: The Belle of Amherst at Court Theatre Through December 3, 2017

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

Court Theatre continues its 63rd Season with
The Belle of Amherst
By William Luce
Directed by Sean Graney
Featuring Kate Fry as Emily Dickinson 


November 2 – December 3, 2017

This Saturday, ChiIL Live Shows will be ChiILin' at a Court Theatre, a long time pillar of Chicago's theatre scene that's been around for an impressive 63 seasons! We looking forward to catching Court Theatre's next production, The Belle of Amherst, directed by one of our long time favorites, Sean Graney. Check back soon for our full review.

Under the continuing leadership of Charles Newell, Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director, and Stephen J. Albert, Executive Director, presents The Belle of Amherst by William Luce, directed by Sean Graney and featuring Kate Fry as Emily Dickinson. The Belle of Amherst runs November 2 - December 3, 2017 at Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave. 

Emily Dickinson's own original poems, diary entries, and letters welcome us into her Massachusetts home, where she shares snippets of joy and creation amongst the heartache of an isolated and misunderstood life. 

This 1976 play by William Luce offers a glance into the complex life of one of the most prolific poets of our time. Playwright and director Sean Graney returns to Court for the fourth time to direct The Belle of Amherst, with Kate Fry (Electra; Caroline, or Change) starring as Emily Dickinson.

"Sean Graney and I have been working on finding the perfect project to bring one of Chicago's most creative directors back to Court," notes Charles Newell, Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director. "The Belle of Amherst was a perfect combination of Sean's passion and our theatre's strengths, and we can't wait to see how the talented Kate Fry brings Emily Dickinson to life for our audiences this fall."

The creative team includes Arnel Sancianco (scenic design), Samantha C. Jones (costume design), Mike Durst (lighting design), and Christopher M. LaPorte and Andre Pluess (sound design). The production stage manager is Amanda Weener-Frederick. 



About the Aritsts
WILLIAM LUCE (Playwright) wrote his Broadway and London success The Belle of Amherst for Julie Harris, who won her fifth Tony Award for Best Actress for her portrayal of Emily Dickinson. For American soprano Renée Fleming, Luce wrote My Business Is To Love, which Fleming premiered in Lincoln Center and London’s Barbican Centre, with Harris and Bloom co-starring. Luce’s Broadway hit Barrymore starred Christopher Plummer as legendary John Barrymore. Plummer won a Tony Award for Best Actor. Barrymore’s UK production, titled One Helluva Life, starred Tony Award winner Tom Conti. For her portrayal of Isak Dinesen in Luce’s play Lucifer’s Child, Julie Harris received a Tony nomination. Harris also starred in Luce’s play Brontë, written for WGBH and Irish Television. The WGBH production won the Peabody Award and Columbia University’s Armstrong Award. Lillian, Luce’s Broadway play on Lillian Hellman, starred Tony Award actress Zoe Caldwell, with productions again in London and the Sydney Opera House. Luce’s play Bravo, Caruso! celebrated The Cleveland Play House’s 75th anniversary. Luce’s play Zelda starred Olga Bellin off-Broadway; later as The Last Flapper, the play starred Piper Laurie. Luce’s two plays, Chanel and Nijinsky, premiered at Parco Theatre in Tokyo. Luce’s Sound Portrait of William Shakespeare for NPR starred David Warner, David Dukes, Peter Donat, Arthur Hill, Julie Harris, Joan Hackett and Marian Mercer. Baptiste, Luce’s comedy about Moliére, premiered at Hartford Stage. Luce is twice a Writers’ Guild Award nominee for his CBS movies The Last Days of Patton and The Woman He Loved. To composer Henry Mollicone’s music, Luce wrote the libretti for two works: their new opera Gabriel’s Daughter, which premiered in Colorado; and A Rat’s Tale for orchestra, chorus and narrator, with its premiere in California. Their latest work for orchestra, chorus and soloists is Beatitude Mass.

SEAN GRANEY (Director) is the Artistic Director of The Hypocrites, a company he started in 1997. New York: Sophocles: Seven Sicknesses (The Flea; adapted and directed). Court Theatre: The Mystery of Irma Vep, The Comedy of Errors, and What the Butler Saw.  Chicago: The Pirates of Penzance, The Mikado, H.M.S. Pinafore with The Hypocrites; American Repertory Theater, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Goodman Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Steppenwolf for Young Audiences, Chicago Children’s Theatre. Regional:  Utah Shakespeare Festival, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Shakespeare Festival St. Louis, and Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis. Awards: A year-long fellowship at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, where he completed All Our Tragic, his 12-hour adaptation combining all 32 surviving Greek tragedies; participated in the NEA/TCG Career Development Program for Directors, won four Joseph Jefferson Awards.

KATE FRY (Emily Dickinson) has performed in over a dozen productions at Court, most recently Electra and The Hard Problem. Other Chicago credits: Goodman Theatre, Writers Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Victory Gardens, Theatre at the Center, Marriott Theatre, Apple Tree Theatre, and Candlelight Playhouse. Regional credits: McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, NJ, Center Theatre Group in LA, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, and Lincoln Center. TV credits: Boss (Starz), Empire (Fox), and Chicago PD (NBC).  She received three Joseph Jefferson Awards, an After Dark Award, Chicago Magazine’s Actress of the Year, and the Sarah Siddons Award for Chicago’s Leading Lady. Fry is married to actor/teacher Timothy Edward Kane. They have two sons.


Regular Run: November 12 – December 3, 2017



Schedule: Wed & Thurs: 7:30 p.m.

Fridays: 8:00 p.m.
Saturdays: 3:00 p.m. & 8:00 p.m.
Sundays: 2:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.
Location: Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave.

Tickets:
Regular Run: $50-$68
*Student, military, and senior discounts available.

Box Office: Located at 5535 S. Ellis Avenue, Chicago; (773) 753-4472 or www.CourtTheatre.org.

Subscription Information
Five, four, and three play subscriptions to Court’s 2017/18 season range from $96 to $300 and are on sale now. To purchase a subscription or to receive more information, call the Court Theatre Box Office at (773) 753-4472, or visit Court’s website at www.CourtTheatre.org. Individual tickets for all shows will be available on August 1st. 



Court Theatre is guided by its mission to discover the power of classic theatre. Court endeavors to make a lasting contribution to American theatre by expanding the canon of translations, adaptations, and classic texts. Court revives lost masterpieces, illuminates familiar texts, and distinguishes fresh, modern classics. Court engages and inspires its audience by providing artistically distinguished productions, audience enrichment activities, and student educational experiences.


Thursday, September 28, 2017

OPENING: The Hypocrites' Dracula at Mercury Theater Chicago 10/7-11/5/17

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

Mercury Theater Chicago Presents
THE HYPOCRITES’ DRACULA
A world-premiere play adapted and directed by Sean Graney.
October 7 – November 5, 2017



Here at ChiIL Live Shows, we love it when our friends play well together. We're excited to see The Hypocrites emerge from The Den, their usual haunt, and present their world premiere take on Dracula at one of our favorite venues, Mercury Theatre. We'll be out for the press opening on Friday the 13th, so check back soon for our full review. We can't wait!

I would love to be a fly on the wall of the home of adapter/directors Sean Graney (Dracula) and Vanessa Stalling (United Flight 232), who are both currently working on intense Chicago productions. I sat in front of them for the United Flight 232 press opening, and can't rave enough about this award winning must see. Stalling's heartfelt and harrowing United Flight 232 is currently on stage as a critically acclaimed remount at The House Theatre. 

Award-winning director, Sean Graney's current project is directing The Hypocrites' Dracula, a script he adapted from an original script by Timothy F. Griffin for this world-premiere production. 

Mercury Theater Chicago, 3745 N. Southport Avenue – is thrilled to present The Hypocrites’ production of DRACULA, from October 7th through November 5th, 2017. Led by Jeff Award Winner Breon Arzell as Dracula, a multi-talented cast of accomplished Hypocrites company members will take audiences on a thrilling adventure of passion, yearning, cruelty and sacrifice.

The performance schedule for DRACULA is Wednesdays at 8pm, Thursdays at 8pm, Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 3pm and 8pm and Sundays at 3pm.

Individual tickets range from $30-$55, and are available online at www.MercuryTheaterChicago.com, over the phone at 773.325.1700, or in person at 3745 N. Southport Avenue, Chicago.

Director Sean Graney promises “exciting horror, at least a gallon of stage blood every night, moments of humor and a depth of character not often explored in this fantastical story.” Dracula just might stake its claim as this Halloween's most thrilling adventure.

“The characters in Dracula occupy a world on a threshold between repression and liberty,” commented director Sean Graney. “Women are beginning to live autonomous lives separate from the typical yolks of oppressive tradition. The men, though they will never admit it, fear the women and want them to return to their domestic posts. Dracula, to me, asks the question, ‘How do you deal with a society that claims to promote equality, yet everyday actions and attitudes prove that the gatekeepers are afraid of losing their advantage?’ To me, that is the world we occupy now.”



DRACULA features a strong ensemble of Hypocrites company members. 



Jeff Award Winning actor/director/choreographer Breon Arzell (The Wiz, Harry Ape) will be featured in this bloody mystery as Dracula. 



Janelle Villas (Chimerica, The King and I) will portray Lucy Seward, under the care of Rob McLean (Pirates of Penzance, Love’s Labor Lost, The Shakespeare Project of Chicago) as Dr. Van Helsing. 

Insane asylum administrator Jack Seward will be played by John Taflan (All Our Tragic, Adding Machine). Aurora Real de Asusa (You on the Moors Now) will be in the role of coveted young school mistress Mina. Erin Barlow (All Our Tragic, Men on Boats) will portray insane asylum inmate Renfield. Maurice Demus (You on the Moors Now, Sucker Punch) will be Jonathan. The scenic design is by John Musial with costume design by Samantha Jones, lighting design by Mike Durst, sound design by Joe Griffin with Jon Beal as the violence and gore designer. The production stage manager is Richard Lundy.



Sean Graney is a Chicago-based theater artist who has concentrated on adapting and directing stories to create relevant theatrical pieces for our contemporary society for the last 20 years. He currently serves as the Artistic Director of The Hypocrites, a company he founded in 1997.  In 2013, he was a Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University where he completed writing All Our Tragic, a twelve-hour adaptation combining all thirty-two surviving Greek Tragedies. It garnered six Joseph Jefferson Awards, including Best Director and Best Adaptation. As a director, Sean has helmed over 75 productions. He was a participant in the NEA/TCG Career Development Program for Directors in 2004. He has received four other Joseph Jefferson Awards for directing and adaptation. He is also the director and co-adaptor three Gilbert & Sullivan operettas, which have been playing at many great theaters across the country.

The Hypocrites is one of Chicago's premier off-Loop theater companies specializing in mounting bold productions that challenge preconceptions and redefining the role of the audience. Under the direction of Sean Graney, the company has a reputation in Chicago for creating exciting, surprising and deeply engaging theater as it reinterprets classics and tackles ambitious new works.

The beautifully renovated Mercury Theater Chicago is an intimate jewel box of a theater in the heart of the Southport Corridor, a sophisticated neighborhood of restaurants and boutiques just steps from Wrigley Field. A delightful theater destination, Mercury Theater Chicago takes care of its guests from the moment they arrive with valet service and dining at its adjoining restaurant, Grassroots.

Wednesday, May 18, 2016

OPENING: The Hypocrites World Premiere of Sean Graney & Emily Casey's Johanna Faustus

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

Johanna Faustus
From Christopher Marlowe's The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus

Co-adapted by Emily Casey and Sean Graney

Directed by Sean Graney



Don't miss this limited run! Here at ChiIL Mama and ChiIL Live Shows, we've been fans of Sean Graney's adaptations and unique vision for years. He has a depth and insight embedded with a rare, playful streak, that makes his productions utterly unique and entirely compelling. The Hypocrites are one of our favorites on the Chicago theatre scene and we highly recommend checking them out.


What would you trade for happiness?


In the spirit of Sean Graney’s previous hits including 12 Nights and Romeo Juliet, six actors tell a modern Faust story. The performers are also the design team, with purposeful limited resources they will enact the tale using the barest elements. In this new adaptation, Faust is a woman questioning her choices that brought her to success but also isolation. 


Limited Engagement May 20 - May 29, 2016


Fri 5/20/2016
at 8:00 PM


Sat 5/21/2016
at 3:00 PM



Sat 5/21/2016
at 8:00 PM



Sun 5/22/2016
at 3:00 PM



Fri 5/27/2016
at 8:00 PM


Sat 5/28/2016
at 3:00 PM


Sat 5/28/2016
at 8:00 PM



Sun 5/29/2016
at 3:00 PM


Price: $36
The Den Theatre's Heath Main Stage
1329 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago IL 60622
Box Office: 773-398-7028

Johanna Faustus is an hour-long modern Faust story told by six actors who also serve as the design team in the spirit of Graney’s previous hits 12 Nights and Romeo Juliet. The tale is enacted using the barest elements with purposeful limited resources. In this new adaptation, Faust is a woman questioning whether success can really bring power. What would you trade for satisfaction?

Starring and Designed by Breon Arzell, Kate Carson-Groner, Whitney Dottery, Dana Omar, Sasha Smith, and Lauren Vogel.
Johanna Faustus will conclude The Hypocrites’ 2015-16 season with a limited engagement May 20 – 29, 2015 at The Den Theatre’s Heath Main Stage, 1329 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood.



Emily Casey and Sean Graney

CREATIVE BIOGRAPHIES
Emily Casey’s (Co-Adapter) past credits include All Our Tragic (The Hypocrites, Getty Villa)Sailress Billi/Captain Cat Coran in HMS Pinafore (The Hypocrites and Actor’s Theatre of Louisville), Yum-Yum/The Mikado in The Mikado (The Hypocrites, Steppenwolf Garage, American Repertory Theatre), Pirates of Penzance (The Hypocrites, Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, American Repertory Theatre), Frederick (Chicago Children’s Theatre), The Casuals (Jackalope Theatre), Woody Sez (Northlight Theatre), Scapin (Hope Summer Repertory Theatre).  She holds a BA in Theatre from Hope College.  www.emily-casey.com

Sean Graney (Co-Adapter/Director) has directed over 30 productions for The Hypocrites since 1997, including the critically acclaimed All Our Tragic. He recently returned from a Fellowship at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. In 2004, Graney was a participant in the NEA/TCG Career Development Program for Directors. He has won four Joseph Jefferson Citation awards for the Direction and Adaptation for Sophocles: Seven Sicknesses, and Directing of Equus and Machinal. He has directed Edward II (Chicago Shakespeare Theater), The Hairy Ape (Eugene O’Neill Festival at Goodman Theatre), The Comedy of ErrorsThe Mystery of Irma Vep and What the Butler Saw (Court Theatre), Yankee Tavern (Milwaukee Rep) and The Elephant Man (Steppenwolf for Young Audiences). Graney currently serves as the Hypocrites’ Artistic Director.

About The Hypocrites
Artistic Director Sean Graney created The Hypocrites in 1997. The Hypocrites, one of Chicago’s premier off-Loop theater companies, specializes in startling and thoroughly entertaining adaptations of classic plays and stories, mounting bold productions that challenge preconceptions and redefining the role of the audience through unusual staging (such as promenade and in-the-round) and direct engagement. The mission is to explore recognizable stories—mixing the familiar and the strange—to make theater that thrills and provokes, defying expectations with humor, staging, and surprise. The company has a reputation in Chicago for creating exciting, surprising, and deeply engaging theater as it re-interprets well-known works for contemporary audiences, reveling in the absurd while revealing the core of what makes classics classic. 

The company has grown significantly in the past few years, receiving acclaim for productions at the Steppenwolf Garage, Goodman Theatre, Museum of Contemporary Art, DCASE Storefront and Chopin Theater. The company’s smash-hit production of Our Town, directed by David Cromer, transferred in 2009 to Off-Broadway, Los Angeles and Boston. The Pirates of Penzance has appeared at Actors Theater of Louisville and American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.). A.R.T. has also brought Romeo Juliet, 12 Nights and The Mikado (forthcoming). The American Theatre Wing, best known as the creator of the Tony Awards, presented The Hypocrites with one of the 2013 National Theatre Company awards. The critically acclaimed fall 2013 production of All Our Tragic was brought back by popular demand in June 2015. Graney’s critically acclaimed ALL OUR TRAGIC, an epic 12-hour adaptation of all 32 surviving Greek tragedies, was honored with six 2015 Equity Joseph Jefferson Awards, including Best Play (midsized), Best New Adaptation and Direction for Graney and the prestigious Ensemble Award. 

The Hypocrites on the Road 
The Hypocrites continue to make a national imprint, with remounts of Graney’s wildly popular musical adaptations from the Gilbert & Sullivan canon set for engagements across the U.S. THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE and THE MIKADO will play the The Olney Theatre Center near Washington, D.C. (July 14 – August 21, 2016). 


Sunday, October 25, 2015

Rockin' Farewell to Hypocrite's Idiot and Mark Your Calendars For The Rest of Their Season

It's your last chance to catch The Hypocrites' acclaimed production of American Idiot. If you haven't seen it, what are you waiting for?! If you have seen it, go again. They've managed to create something incredible here. They've made a more legitimately punk performance than Green Day ever was. 





This scrappy store front troupe gives a stripped down, gritty realism to the musical that works far better for the story line than the big budget Broadway versions. The set is a graffiti strewn hole in the wall where the pre show is a band. During the show, characters grab and chug beers from the audience and toss dime bags (of Smarties) to the lucky. 


In this "Hair" for the new millennium, the teens experience love, loss, addiction, military deployment, and teen pregnancy. Although the kids begin the show desperate for freedom and jonesing to leave town for adventures, ultimately they all discover there's no place like home.  The vocals are powerful stuff, and the cast connects with each other and the audience in a compelling way. We loved it and highly recommend it.




Now Playing:
The smash musical by Grammy Award-winning punk rock band Green Day
"A visceral and impassioned theatrical experience"
Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune

"Succeeding where Broadway failed"
Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times

"An impressive, immersive underground-style gig"
Kris Vire, Time Out Chicago

Book by Billie Joe Armstrong and Michael Mayer
Music by Green Day, Lyrics by Billie Joe Armstrong
Directed by Steven Wilson
Musical Direction by Andra Velis Simon
Choreography by Katie Spelman
Running August 28 – October 25, 2015

August 28 – October 25, 2015
Directed by Steven Wilson, Musical Direction by Andra Velis Simon
3pm 

The critics agree, "American Idiot feels precisely as raw, real, reckless and angry as it should." - Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times; "A visceral and impassioned theatrical experience... Director, Steven Wilson, integrates the amazing flexibility of his hugely talented young cast with the material in a strikingly rich fashion." - Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune; "A rousing reinvention." - Time Out Chicago; "Utterly entertaining." - Chicago Readers; "Go see it before it's over." - Gapers Block; "This particular version ofAmerican Idiot is a work of endurance, timing, commitment, passion and insuppressible talent... The Hypocrites continue to rise not just to the rank of one of our city’s best storefronts but one of Chicago’s best theaters period." - Newcity Stage


American Idiot at The Den Theatre's Heath Main Stage, 1329 N Milwaukee Ave. Purchase American Idiot Tickets Today






It's your final chance to catch season opener, American Idiot (and pick up a Hypocrites tee & American Idiot drink ware!), but mark your calendars for 


They are some of our favorite locals with talent to spare and one of our consistent top picks here at ChiIL Live Shows. They have the dramatic chops to take on everything from French absurdist classics and ancient myths, to modern musicals, and everything in between! 



Congrats to Sean Graney and the cast of All Our Tragic for winning Best New Work and Best Ensemble respectively.

Up Next:






Sean Graney's The 4th Graders Present an Unnamed Love-SuicideOct 30 - Nov 8. Co-directed by Joel Ewing and Mechelle Moe. Featuring Brian Baren, Justin Burns, Hunter Dunn, Heather Lauritzen, Jauhara Saunders, Cleo Shine and Olivia Shine. Presented in a special artistic collaboration with Senn Arts Magnet High School's The Yard.

More info, cast bios and tickets at 
www.the-yard.org.

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and our Read & Watch Blog.

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Hypocrites Tixs:


October 30 – November 8, 2015
By Sean Graney, Co-Directed by Joel Ewing and Mechelle Moe

November 17 – December 13, 2015
Co-adapted by Sean Graney, Andra Velis Simon, and Matt Kahler; Directed by Sean Graney

November 19, 2015 – January 10, 2016
By Jay Torrence, Directed by Halena Kays

January 22 – March 6, 2016
By Tennessee Williams, Re-imagined and Directed by Hans Fleischmann

March 8 – 20, 2016
Adapted and Directed by Sean Graney

March 18 – May 15, 2016
Directed by Geoff Button

May 20 – 29, 2016
Co-Adapted by Emily Casey and Sean Graney; Directed by Sean Graney

July 14 – August 21, 2016
Adapted and Directed by Sean Graney; Pirates co-adapted by Kevin O'Donnell




Heads Up San Fran:






ChiIL Live Shows adored The Hypocrites' Pirates of Penzance and highly recommend it. Now Chi, IL theatre is taking California by storm, bringing The Hypocrites' delightfully immersive, lovingly loopy, and fantastically eccentric 80-minute take on Gilbert and Sullivan’s preposterous, topsy-turvy world to Berkeley Repertory Theatre.



If you are in the Bay Area, come join the party!



October 16 – December 20, 2015
Co-adapted by Sean Graney and Kevin O'Donnell, Directed by Sean Graney




Thursday, October 11, 2012

ACT OUT: 2012-13 Season Begins TODAY In New Digs for Chicago Children's Theatre





ITINERANT NO MORE, CHICAGO CHILDREN’S THEATRE’S 2012-13 SEASON TO BE STAGED IN ONE CONVENIENT LOCATION: THE RUTH PAGE CENTER FOR THE ARTS


THREE
FAMILY-FRIENDLY SHOWS ON TAP FOR 2012-13:
HAROLD AND THE
PURPLE CRAYON
, BUD, NOT BUDDY AND THE
PREMIERE OF
THE ELEPHANT & THE WHALE WITH
REDMOON


Woo hoo!   Harold and the Purple Crayon opens today!!  Check it out.   This book was one of my kids' childhood favs and I remember it from my early days, too.   We can't wait to see what magic Chicago Children's Theatre and director, Sean Graney, have planned for the musical adaptation.   Get your tickets today for this Chicago premier!   Ages 3 and up...and up....and up.

ChiIL Mama was thrilled to meet with Jacqueline Russell, Frank Maugeri and other key production staff for the upcoming season at Chicago Children's Theatre.   We're beyond stoked to see our favs play so well with others.   The collaboration between Redmoon's Frank Maugeri and Chicago Children's Theatre on The Elephant & The Whale is bound to be epic!

We hope to have more original video interviews here at ChiIL Mama/ChiIL Live Shows and we'll have loads of updates as each show opens.   Right now we're so excited to see Harold and the Purple Crayon opening this weekend.   Our readers will get a sneak peek at the early production sketches for this season's sets, costumes and so much more.


Chicago Children’s Theatre (CCT) and Artistic Director Jacqueline Russell are delighted to announce the company has a new home and will be an Artist
In-Residence at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn St., Chicago for the entire 2012-2013 season.



In addition to welcoming its audience to one convenient destination all
season, Chicago’s #1 presenter of top-quality professional
children’s theater is thrilled to confirm three wildly imaginative productions for 2012-2013 – the Chicago premiere of a new musical version of
Harold and the Purple Crayon, directed by Sean Graney
(Oct. 11-Nov. 4, 2012),


an adaptation of the Newberry Medal winning novel
Bud, Not Buddy,
directed by
Derrick Sanders (Jan.12-Feb. 24, 2013),

and the world premiere of The Elephant & The Whale, created by Frank Maugeri, co-directed by Maugeri and Leslie Buxbaum Danzig, with a script by Seth Bockley and music by Kevin O’Donnell, produced in association with Redmoon (Apr. 10-May 26, 2013).
After seven years of being itinerant, we are so looking forward to our new
residency at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts because it gives Chicagoland families one consistent location to experience a full season of exceptional theatrical programming,” said Chicago Children’s Theatre Artistic Director and Co-Founder Jacqueline Russell. “Ruth Page was home for our 2010 smash hit Jackie and Me so we can’t wait to bring our audience back for three consecutive productions sure to delight children of all ages.”

Also new for 2012-2013: The performance schedules for all three
productions include family-friendly 6:30 pm Thursday shows, proceeded
by pizza parties in the Ruth Page Center’s multi-purpose room
starting at 5:30 pm. On Friday evenings, families are encouraged to
kick off their weekend by wearing their PJs to the 6:30 pm show, and
stay after for a fun post-show PJ Party with members of the cast.

In addition to its three-play season at the Ruth Page Center, Chicago
Children’s Theatre will take its season-opener Harold and the Purple Crayon on a regional tour after its downtown run, with performances November 7-11 at the Beverly Arts Center, 2401 W. 111th
St. in Chicago’s Beverly neighborhood, and November 14-18 at the
North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 N. Skokie Blvd. in
Skokie.



2012-2013
Family Membership Passes on sale now


For complete season information, visit chicagochildrenstheatre.org
or call (773) 227-0180 x 11.
For group inquiries, contact GroupTix at (773)
327-3778
or visit GroupTix.net.



More about Chicago Children’s Theatre’s 2012-2013 season:



Harold and the Purple Crayon
A Chicago Children’s Theatre Chicago premiere

Based on the books
by
Crockett
Johnson



Text by Don Darryl Rivera, Lyrics by Robert Burgess, 
Music by Auston James
Directed by Sean Graney

October 11-November 4, 2012 
Recommended for ages 3 and up

Also touring to The Beverly Arts Center, 2401
W. 111
th St., Chicago, November 7-11
And the North Shore Centre for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd.,
Skokie, November 14-18


Harold and the Purple Crayon teaches young audiences that anything is possible with a crayon and a bigimagination. Meet Harold, a curious four year old boy who, armed with his trusty purple crayon, has the power to create a world of his own simply by drawing it. This imaginative musical uses breathtaking animation, inventive puppetry, and original music to bring Harold’s
purple-hued world to life; it is perfect for introducing young children to theatre while simultaneously captivating their older companions.



Harold and the Purple Crayon will be helmed by CCT Artistic Associate Sean Graney, who directed the company’s productions of The Hundred DressesHonus and Me,and Hana’s Suitcase.

**Graney, Founding Artistic Director of The Hypocrites, is the
recipient of a Career Development for Directors Program award from
the National Endowment for the Arts and Theatre Communications Group, the winner of two non-Equity Joseph Jefferson Awards, and was named Chicago’s Best Avant-Garde Director by Chicago
Magazine 
and 2004’s Chicagoan of the Year: Theater by the Chicago
Tribune.



Bud, Not Buddy
Based on the Newberry winning novel by Christopher Paul Curtis
Adapted by Reginald Andre Jackson
Directed by Derrick Sanders


January 12-February 24, 2013
Recommended
for ages 8 and up


Bud, Not Buddy
follows the journey of a young African-American orphan as he searches for his
father. Clues kept in a suitcase lead him to adventures in
Depression-era Michigan, where he finds community among a group of
jazz musicians and, ultimately, an unexpected sense of home.




Popular reading in the classroom, author Christopher Paul Curtis’ Bud, Not Buddy was the winner of the 2000 Newberry Medal and the Coretta Scott King
Award. In 2010, Jackson's stage adaptation won the Distinguished Play Award from The American Alliance for Theater and Education.


Award-winning director Derrick Sanders – Founding Artistic Director of Congo Square Theatre Company, a Chicago Tribune Chicagoan of the Year in 2005, winner of multiple Joseph Jefferson Awards and Black Theater Alliance Awards, and director of CCT’s 2010 world premiere Jackie
and Me
– has a national reputation, having directed at countless Chicago, regional and New York theaters. He is known for his many collaborations with the legendary August Wilson, including in Chicago his award-winning
productions of Joe Turner’s Come and Gone and Seven
Guitars
for Congo Square.  His Off-Broadway directorial debut, Wilson’s King
Hedley II
for Signature Theatre, received two Lucille Lortel and Audelco nominations. He was also a part of August Wilson’s World premiere productions of Radio Golf and Gem of the Ocean on Broadway and at the Huntington Theatre, Mark Taper Forum and the Goodman.


The Elephant & The Whale
A Chicago Children’s Theatre world premiere, presented in association
with Redmoon 
Created by Frank Maugeri


Co-directed by Frank Maugeri and Leslie Buxbaum Danzig
Script by Seth Bockley

Music by Kevin O’Donnell

April 10 –May 26, 2013 
Recommended for all ages

CCT’s seventh season will conclude with a world premiere collaboration with
Redmoon’s Frank Maugeri to create The Elephant & The Whale,
an all new family fable featuring sea shanties, wild mechanical
objects, theatrical clowning, hand painted imagery, exquisite shadow
puppets and an innovative sound design. This new work is conceived by
Maugeri with an original story and songs by
Seth Bockley
with composer
Kevin O’Donnell.


Co-directed by Leslie Buxbaum Danzig (of 500 Clown),
this epic tale invites audiences of all ages to discover the majesty
of the largest animals on our planet, and a story of friendship
conquering the sea itself. 

The year is 1901. On the largest steamship in the world, a captive
African Gray Elephant is bound for America. Mid-Atlantic, the boat
encounters a massive blue whale. What happens next is a love story
spanning species, time zones and many nautical miles. The performance will feature a live band and three performers who crank contraptions, pedal panoramic painting apparatuses, operate wild puppets and manipulate shadow sequences all while they sing shanty-like songs to weave this original and epic tale.  


Redmoon Co-Artistic Director Frank Maugeri
during his 15 year tenure with the company has created countless spectacle
productions and events seen around Chicago. Highlights include serving
as director, co-creator, and designer of the recent Astronaut’s Birthday,
a large-scale animated, graphic novel projected on the Museum of
Contemporary Art’s 80-foot façade; co-creation and design of the
critically acclaimed The Feast: an intimate Tempest
at Chicago Shakespeare Theater; seven of the famed All Hallow’s Eve
ritual celebrations in Logan Square; over a dozen annual family-friendly Winter
Pageant 
performances; Once Upon a Time
(Jeff Award, After Dark Award) with its subsequent tour to France;
Laika's Coffin and Cape and Squiggle for the Chicago Humanities Festival at MCA; Boneyard Prayer; and Redmoon’s longest running production The Cabinetits remount and tour of Brazil.


Seth Bockley
the critically-acclaimed writer and adapter, is a playwright in
residence at the Goodman Theater and book writer for the new musical
February House.  He is also an artist in residence at the University of Chicago, and was a recipient of Theater Communications Group's New Generations
Grant for which he spent two years with Redmoon as Directing
Apprentice.


Leslie Buxbaum Danzig (co-director)
co-created Lucky Plush Productions’ The Better Half,
which premiered at MCA Chicago and tours in 2012-2013 throughout the
US.  She was resident 
director with 500 Clown for 10 years, directed Redmoon’s Hunchback at New Victory Theater (NYC), and is Program Curator for the Gray Center for Arts and Inquiry at University of Chicago. 

Kevin O’Donnell (composer) is a Chicago-based musician; he has worked in Chicago theater for the last 10 years, during which time he has been
nominated for 19 Jeff Awards (receiving 8), and 2 consecutive After
Dark Awards (Outstanding Season).  He has worked around the
country, both in theatre and as a musician, having recorded and
toured with Andrew Bird, Kelly Hogan, Nickel Creek, and many others. 


About The Ruth Page Center for the Arts, Chicago Children’s Theatre’s
home for 2012-2013

The Ruth Page Center for Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn St., is located just
steps from Michigan Avenue’s Magnificent Mile. The historic 1927
building in which The Center resides sits on a lovely tree-lined
street in the heart of Chicago’s Gold Coast neighborhood, near the
CTA Red Line and the Clark, Broadway and Division bus lines. Under
the aegis of The Ruth Page Foundation, the Ruth Page Center for the
Arts has for over 40 years committed its resources to supporting
dance and theater in Chicago through its initiatives and programs.
Among these is its Artist In-Residence program where emerging and
established artists and organizations can have a home, office space,
rehearsal space, collaborative programming, and performance
opportunities. Lookingglass Theater and Chicago Shakespeare Theater
have both called the Ruth Page Center home before moving on to
establish their own venues. In addition to Chicago Children’s
Theatre, the 2012-2013 Ruth Page Artist-In Residence program includes
ShawChicago Theatre Company, River North Dance Chicago, CDI/Concert
Dance Inc, DanceWorks Chicago and the Ruth Page Civic Ballet.
Chicago’s top dance companies also perform at the Ruth Page Center
as part of its Subsidized Theater Rental Program. For more
information, visit
ruthpage.org.


About
Chicago Children’s Theatre


Chicago Children’s Theatre focuses on the production of first-rate
children’s theatre in Chicago, with top writing, performing and
directorial talent and high-quality design and production expertise.
Chicago Children’s Theatre aspires to enrich our community through
diverse and significant theatrical and educational programming that
engages and inspires the child in all of us.



Launched in 2005, Chicago Children’s Theatre strives to provide affordable
and accessible theatre for families and area school children. To
enhance the impact of any given production’s themes, Chicago
Children’s Theatre offers educational materials and programs for
families and educators.

This summer, Chicago Children’s Theatre is expanding
its operations with the launch of the company’s first-ever Summer
Theater Camp, July 16-27, 2012 at
Franklin Fine Arts Center in Chicago’s Old Town neighborhood.
Guided by artists and arts educators with extensive experience in the
Chicago theater industry, CCT summer campers will learn to create
their own stories and work as a team to turn those stories into one
big theatrical adventure. For more information and to register visit
chicagochildrenstheatre.org/summercamp
or call 773.227.0180.

In addition to its mainstage programming for families, schools and
groups, Chicago Children’s Theatre will also continue
its Red Kite Project in 2012-2013, creating multi-sensory, interactive theater programming tailored specifically to the needs and interests of children on the
autism spectrum. CCT’s Red Kite Project
also includes Camp Red Kite, an annual summer arts camp tailored specifically to the unique interests and needs of children on the autism spectrum. For
the most up-to-date information on every
Red
Kite 
development, including the upcoming summer session of Camp
Red Kite
, June 25-July 13 at Chicago’s Cleveland Elementary School, call
773.227.0180 x15 or visit www.theredkiteproject.org.
Led by Artistic Director Jacqueline Russell,
and Board Chair Todd Leland, the company is supported by a committed Artistic Council of
Chicago-based actors, directors, musicians and designers, and a
dynamic Board of Directors comprised of dedicated individuals from
the fields of entertainment, philanthropy and business. Officers
include David Saltiel, President; J. Scot Pepper
and Jacqueline Tilton,Vice Chairs; Lynn Lockwood Murphy, Vice Chair and Secretary; and David Chung,Treasurer.


Chicago Children’s Theatre’s 2012-2013 season is made possible in part by
the generosity of its sponsors:  ComEd
is the Official Lighting Sponsor. Goldman
Sachs Gives is the Official Season Sponsor.
JPMorgan Chase is the Official Education Sponsor. Target
is the Official School Field Trip Sponsor. United
is the Chicago Premiere Sponsor as well as the Official and Exclusive
Airline Sponsor. 

For more information about Chicago Children’s Theatre visit
chicagochildrenstheatre.org
or call 773.227.0180.

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