Season to kick off in November with THE SUFFRAGE PLAYS by Shaw and Evelyn Glover and conclude in June 2020 with World Premiere of Lauren Ferebee’s EVERY WAITING HEART.
Lauren Ferebee, winner of Artemisia Fall Festival 2018. Her play EVERY WAITING HEART will be developed at Artemisia to be presented as a world premiere in June 2020.
In a departure from the company’s previous production model, but not from its mission of fostering the development of new feminist plays, Artemisia Theatre will mount two fully staged productions in 2019-20 and forego its Fall Festival of New Play Readings. Artemisia’s previous seasons consisted of the Fall Festival and a single fully-staged production.
Artemisia Founding Artistic Director Julie Proudfoot says, “While we will continue to actively solicit and develop new scripts, we’re excited about the opportunity to champion new work by reaching the larger audiences that will be attracted to fully staged productions. Additionally, we will revisit landmark feminist dramas in full productions to celebrate and learn from these classic pieces.” In that spirit, the company’s 2019-20 season will include both an evening of one act plays from the canon of British Suffrage Drama of the early 20thCentury, and the World Premiere of the winner of Artemisia’s 2018 Fall Festival – the drama EVERY WAITING HEART, by Lauren Ferebee. Playwright Lauren Ferebee and Artistic Director Julie Proudfoot are thrilled about their artistic collaboration and partnership. Lauren Ferebee: “It means so much to me to be working with a theatre that privileges the complex and intricate narratives of women's lives. It is especially meaningful for this play, which looks at different generations of women and what strength has meant to them. I am proud to be working with a theatre whose namesake was one of the greatest women artists of all time, a theatre whose work carries her legacy into our shared future.” Julie Proudfoot: "EVERY WAITING HEART is extremely special and sublime in its fierce feminist examination of the characters’ shared crisis of faith. Playwright Lauren Ferebee has given us something previously unseen and incredibly unique and inspiring."
FALL 2019 – THE SUFFRAGE PLAYS
Artemisia’s season opener will be THE SUFFRAGE PLAYS, running November 1-24 at The Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. The program will be three one-act comedies focused on the importance of voting rights for women and will celebrate the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in America. One of the most influential writers of suffrage plays was Evelyn Glover, who dramatized the arguments of working-class women in particular, because of the criticism that was leveled at the Suffrage Movement - that only middle-class women would benefit from sexual equality and the vote. Artemisia’s THE SUFFRAGE PLAYS will include two of her most popular plays. A CHAT WITH MRS. CHICKY, which depicts a conversation between a suffragette charwoman and an upper-class matron; and MRS. APPLEYARD’S AWAKENING. The latter play is a comedy in which an anti-suffrage activist comes to realize the fallacies and illogic of her views. THE SUFFRAGE PLAYS will also include George Bernard Shaw’s one-act comedy PRESS CUTTINGS, a farce satirizing British politicians and attitudes against suffrage. The comedy imagines a time when suffrage activism led to an imposition of martial law and a chaotic society.
SPRING 2020 – The World Premiere of EVERY WAITING HEART
Artemisia’s Spring 2020 production will be the World Premiere of EVERY WAITING HEART, by Lauren Ferebee. The drama will be performed at The Den in June 2020 and directed by Artemisia Founding Artistic Director Julie Proudfoot. This winner of Artemisia’s 2018 Fall Festival, EVERY WAITING HEART centers on the relationship between an overworked single mother and her rebellious teenaged daughter. Sherri and Annette have been an unbreakable mother-daughter duo since childhood, but Annette's sudden rebellion terrifies her mother. Desperate for help, Sherri goes to a speed-dating event at a Pentecostal church that unexpectedly changes the course of both of their lives and fractures the bond that has held them together for so long. A deep and intimate dive into what it means to be a strong woman, EVERY WAITING HEART is an unflinching examination of faith and the many variations of love. ARTEMISIA’S COMMITMENT TO NEW PLAY DEVELOPMENT
Artemisia will continue its annual search for all-new feminist plays that empower women. Chicago playwrights as well as playwrights with whom Artemisia has a working relationship will be invited to submit each year for consideration. Artemisia’s Artistic Director Julie Proudfoot will curate the submissions and select one play to be fully developed into a world or regional premiere production in Chicago. Ten plays and playwrights are finalists under consideration for Artemisia’s 2020-2021 Theatre Season.
GET TICKETS In proud partnership with media sponsor Windy City Times, Artemisia Theatre presents SWEET TEXAS RECKONING during National Pride Month, June 7th-30th.
The voice of Chicago's Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Trans, and Queer community since 1985. BE SURE TO CATCH THEM #DownAtTheDen
Artemisia's Midwest Premiere of SWEET TEXAS RECKONING, by Traci Godfrey, is funded in part by a grant from the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation. Artemisia is supported by the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation. The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation's Gen Ops Plus strategy in the Chicago region provides general operations grants and an array of other kinds of support to help grantees sustain their artistry and strengthen their operations. Artemisia's 2018-19 Theatre Season is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency. Artemisia Fall Festival 2018 was made possible in part by a grant from the Illinois Humanities, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Illinois General Assembly.
PHOTO CREDIT: The cast of Griffin Theatre’s production of FOR SERVICES RENDERED includes (top, l to r) Israel Antonio, Eddie Dzialo, Matt Fletcher, Jennifer Huddleston, Cindy Marker and Marika Mashburn (bottom, l to r) Tim Newell, Krystal Ortiz, Ella Pennington, Robert Quintanilla, Matt Rockwood and Lynda Shadrake.
The Griffin Theatre Company is a Blue Star Theater and is proud to support our military enlisted and veterans.
Griffin Theatre Company is pleased to continue its 31th anniversary season with W. Somerset Maugham’s classic war drama FOR SERVICES RENDERED, directed by ensemble member Robin Witt*, playing May 19 – July 6, 2019 at The Den Theatre (Upstairs Main Stage), 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. Tickets go on sale Wednesday, May 1 at www.griffintheatre.com or by calling (773) 697-3830. The press opening is Sunday, May 26 at 7 pm.
FOR SERVICES RENDERED will feature Israel Antonio, Eddie Dzialo, Matt Fletcher, Jennifer Huddleston, Cindy Marker, Marika Mashburn, Tim Newell, Krystal Ortiz, Ella Pennington, Robert Quintanilla, Matt Rockwood and Lynda Shadrake*.
Years ahead of its time, W. Somerset Maugham’s 1933 landmark play shows the impact of war on civilian life and suggests that the ideals of honor, patriotism and glory mean nothing if we show no care for the victims of conflict. A blistering portrait of the devastating aftermath of war and its effect on its survivors, FOR SERVICES RENDERED continues the Griffin’s exploration and mission to unearth rarely produced classic plays from the past (Men Should Weep, London Wall and Time and the Conways) with relevance to today and introduce them to Chicago audiences for the first time.
The production team for FOR SERVICES RENDERED includes Sotirios Livaditis (scenic design), Aly Renee Amidei (costume design), Brandon Wardell** (lighting design), Thomas Dixon (sound design), Rachel Watson (props design), Adam Goldstein (dialect coach), Lucy Carapetyan (casting director), Spencer Ryan Diedrick (assistant director), Emily Kefferstan (production manager), Derik Marcussen (technical director), Hannah Beehler (stage manager) and Rachelle ‘Rocky’ Kolecke (assistant stage manager).
*Denotes Griffin Theatre ensemble members **Denote Griffin Theatre artistic associates
PRODUCTION DETAILS:
Title: FOR SERVICES RENDERED
Playwright: W. Somerset Maugham
Director: ensemble member Robin Witt*
Cast (in alphabetical order): Israel Antonio (Sydney Ardsley), Eddie Dzialo (Leonard Ardsley), Matt Fletcher (Howard Bartlett), Jennifer Huddleston (Gertrude), Cindy Marker (Gwen Cedar), Marika Mashburn (Eva Ardsley), Tim Newell (Dr. Prentice), Krystal Ortiz (Lois Ardsley), Ella Pennington (Ethel Bartlett), Robert Quintanilla (Collie Stratton), Matt Rockwood (Wilfred Cedar) and Lynda Shadrake* (Charlotte Ardsley).
Understudies: Aida Delaz, Harrison Hapin, Darren Hill, Jennifer Huddleston and Tom Jansson
Location: The Den Theatre (Upstairs Main Stage), 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago
Dates: Previews: Sunday, May 19 at 3 pm, Tuesday, May 21 at 7:30 pm, Thursday, May 23 at 7:30 pm, Friday, May 24 at 7:30 pm and Saturday, May 25 at 7:30 pm
Press performance: Sunday, May 26 at 7 pm
Regular run: Thursday, July 30 – Saturday, July 6, 2019
Curtain Times: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm; Sundays at 3 pm. Please note: there will not be a performance on Thursday, July 4.
Tickets: Previews $28. Regular run $37. Students, seniors & veterans $32 ($23 previews). Group discount are available for groups of ten or more. Tickets go on sale Wednesday, May 1 at www.griffintheatre.com or by calling (773) 697-3830.
About the Artists
W. Somerset Maugham (Playwright) was a English novelist, playwright, and short-story writer whose work is characterized by a clear unadorned style, cosmopolitan settings, and a shrewd understanding of human nature. Maugham was orphaned at the age of 10; he was brought up by an uncle and educated at King’s School, Canterbury. After a year at Heidelberg, he entered St. Thomas’ medical school, London, and qualified as a doctor in 1897. He drew upon his experiences as an obstetrician in his first novel, Liza of Lambeth (1897), and its success, though small, encouraged him to abandon medicine. In 1908 he achieved a theatrical triumph – four plays running in London at once – that brought him financial security. His reputation as a novelist rests primarily on four books: Of Human Bondage (1915), a semi-autobiographical account of a young medical student’s painful progress toward maturity; The Moon and Sixpence (1919), an account of an unconventional artist, suggested by the life of Paul Gauguin; Cakes and Ale (1930), the story of a famous novelist, which is thought to contain caricatures of Thomas Hardy and Hugh Walpole; and The Razor’s Edge (1944), the story of a young American war veteran’s quest for a satisfying way of life. Maugham’s skill in handling plot, in the manner of Guy de Maupassant, is distinguished by economy and suspense. In The Summing Up (1938) and A Writer’s Notebook (1949) Maugham explains his philosophy of life as a resigned atheism and a certain skepticism about the extent of man’s innate goodness and intelligence; it is this that gives his work its astringent cynicism.
Robin Witt (Director) For Services Rendered is the fifth play Robin has directed for Griffin where she is an ensemble member. Other Griffin productions: London Wall, Men Should Weep, Flare Path, and Stage Door. She is also an ensemble member at Steep Theatre where her productions include Linda by Penelope Skinner, Lela & Co. by Cordelia Lynn, and Wastwater by Simon Stephens. Robin recently directed A Doll’s House Part 2 for Steppenwolf and A Number at Writers Theatre. She is an Associate Professor at UNC Charlotte and she holds a BFA from NYU and a MFA from Northwestern. Next up: Alistair McDowall’s Pomona at Steep Theatre (July/Aug. 2019).
About Griffin Theatre Company Established in 1988. the mission of the Griffin Theatre Company is to create extraordinary and meaningful theatrical experiences for both children and adults by building bridges of understanding between generations that instill in its audience an appreciation of the performing arts. Through artistic collaboration the Griffin Theatre Company produces literary adaptations, original work and classic plays that challenge and inspire, with wit, style and compassion for the audience.
The Griffin Theatre Company is the recipient of 115 Joseph Jefferson Award nominations for theater excellence in Chicago. The Griffin was honored with four 2018 Jeff awards for Ragtime including Best Ensemble, Best Musical, Best Director-Musical and Best Performer in a Supporting Role-Musical. Additionally, the company was the repeat winner of the 2016 Jeff Award for Best Production of a Play for London Wall having won the same award in 2015 for its production of Men Should Weep.
The Griffin Theatre Company is partially supported by the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. For additional information, visit www.griffintheatre.com.
April 20 – May 18, 2019 at The Den Theatre (left to right) Amanda Caryl Fink and Tim Kidwell. All Production Photos by WHO IS SHE.
Review by bonnie kenaz-mara This fast paced one act puts the nuclear in family, exploring fallout and contamination that lasts generations. Families are complicated, especially when the principal players are driven narcissists with ongoing patterns of abuse.First Floor Theater's latest, a father/daughter drama in this vein, packs a punch. I'm sure it helps that director, Cole von Glahn, has degrees in both Drama and Sociology, because this play is nothing if not dysfunctional relationship based. Sadly, these familial patterns do get passed down through generations, and even when growth and change occurs, there is lasting damage and often role reversals from victims to abusers. Amanda Caryl Fink as Ella and Tim Kidwell as her father David, expertly embody the narcissistic, competitive, destructive dynamic that ricochets from desperate declarations of love and need for approval to loathing and estrangement.
I’M GONNA PRAY FOR YOU SO HARD is an intense exploration of the family dynamic of an award winning playwright and his adoring adult daughter and verbal punching bag. It's not always easy to watch the mind games, withholding, addiction, and verbal abuse, or the soul crushing sparring. Yet I'm intrigued by this man's petty cruelty, bullying, and back peddling on what I imagine are actual truths of his youth. This production is an interesting foray into regret, mining family traumas for fodder for creative works, struggle as a necessary precursor for artistic success, and the emotional toll of an industry where success depends on the approval of others and rave reviews. I'm also fascinated to see another on stage connection made between substance abuse and religion, with a character sliding between two seemingly opposite poles, that attract the same demographic time and again. I’M GONNA PRAY FOR YOU SO HARD features David's lifelong habit of prayer that evolves from sarcasm and retribution to sincerity and contrition. Meanwhile, Ella devolves from a doormat to a dominant, derisive version of her father, while David trades drug addiction and alcoholism for religious addiction and AA. At least the latter is less likely to kill you. There is little action and simplistic set design, and ultimately the outcome is not unexpected, but this production is well played and worth a look. Recommended.
Bonnie Kenaz-Mara is a Chicago based writer-theater critic-photographer-videographer-actress-artist-general creatrix and Mama to two terrific teens. She owns two websites where she has published frequently since 2008: ChiILLiveShows.com (adult) & ChiILMama.com (family friendly).
First Floor Theater is pleased to conclude its seventh season with the Chicago premiere of Halley Feiffer’s blisteringly funny play I’M GONNA PRAY FOR YOU SO HARD, directed by Cole von Glahn, playing April 20 – May 18, 2019 at FFT’s resident home, The Den Theatre (2B), 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago. Tickets are currently available at firstfloortheater.com.
I’M GONNA PRAY FOR YOU SO HARD features Amanda Caryl Fink and Tim Kidwell.
Ella is a precocious and fiercely competitive actress with a desperate need to make her father David, a famous playwright, proud. Over the course of a boozy, drug-fueled evening, Ella and David pass the time digging into family history, artistic passion and unspoken fears as they wait for the reviews, but what is unearthed can't simply be reburied. This daring play pulls the audience into the middle of a deeply complicated relationship, exploring how we build and break idealized versions of our loved ones.
The production team for I’M GONNA PRAY FOR YOU SO HARD includes: Joy Ahn (scenic design), Alexis Chaney (costume design), Becca Jeffords (lighting design), Sarah Espinoza (sound design), Claire Stone (properties design), Carrie Hardin (dialect coach), Anastar Alvarez (stage manager) and Caitlin McCarthy (production manager).
Location: The Den Theatre (2B), 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago Regular Run: Friday, April 26 – Saturday, May 18, 2019 Curtain Times: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm; Sundays at 3 pm. Industry Nights: Monday, April 29 at 7:30 pm and Monday, May 13 at 7:30 pm. Tickets: Previews: $8. Regular Run: $25. Students $20. Tickets are currently available at firstfloortheater.com.
About the Artists Halley Feiffer (Playwright) Halley Feiffer is a New York-based writer and actress. Her plays have been produced, commissioned and developed by Manhattan Theatre Club, Second Stage, New York Theatre Workshop, LAByrinth Theater Company, The O’Neill, The Orchard Project, Berkshire Theatre Group, Naked Angels, Cape Cod Theatre Project, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Keen Company, Partial Comfort Productions and the Amoralists. She is currently working on a stage adaption of THE BOY KINGS, Kate Losse's memoir about working at Facebook during its rising year. Halley is an alumna of terraNOVA’s Groundbreakers Playwrights’ Group, a former resident writer for Blue Man Group, former Playwright in Residence at Stella Adler Studio and a winner of the Young Playwrights Competition and the Lotos Foundation Prize. She is currently under commission by Manhattan Theatre Club/The Sloan Foundation, Jen Hoguet Productions and Playwrights Horizons. Her work is published by Dramatists Play Service, Overlook Press, Vintage Books, Applause Books, and Smith & Kraus. Halley co-wrote and starred in the 2013 film HE'S WAY MORE FAMOUS THAN YOU, and co-created and stars in the web series WHAT'S YOUR EMERGENCY for Stage17.tv (both directed by Michael Urie). She holds a BA from Wesleyan University.
Cole von Glahn (Director) Cole von Glahn is a Chicago-based director and production manager. He has been working with First Floor since moving to Chicago in 2015 before becoming the Director of Production in 2016. In that time, he has produced over a dozen company shows and events. Additionally, Cole serves as the Production Manager at Raven Theatre. In the past, he has administered and managed with Cherry Lane, Neverbird Project, Cleveland Play House, Northlight Theatre, and Marin Theatre Company. Outside of theatre, Cole is a board game designer and collaborative storyteller. He holds degrees in Drama and Sociology from Tufts University.
About First Floor Theater Founded in 2012, First Floor Theater stages stories of individuals facing moments of radical change. Through a process of collaborative dramaturgy, FFT expands these stories to ask urgent social questions. For more information on First Floor Theater, visit firstfloortheater.com.
Review by bonnie kenaz-mara I spent last night in a cinder block institution, where disorientation, deprivation, intimidation, bullying, embarrassment and lactose intolerance were used as weapons against suspected terrorist sympathizers. Under the guise of national security, a host of normally benign objects took on sinister overtones, as sanctioned US translators turned torturers, unpacked everything from baseball bats, pliers and tubing, to clown noses, honey, and deprivation suits.
(left to right) Bradford Stevens and Salar Ardebili
When loyalties are questioned, lines blur between the detainers and detainees, and thing get even more interesting. Language Rooms is fanciful and frightening; a delightfully dark comedy, as disturbing as it is absurd. It's easy to believe the world of this dystopian detention center could truly exist in our present political climate. It's hapless inhabitants are suspect for a lack of love of sports, a shyness for group showers, and guilt by association.
(left to right) Bilal Dardai and Salar Ardebili
Throw in a dose of immigrant struggles, parental sacrifice and screw ups, hidden infidelity, and infidel associates, and you have one masterful mashup. In this catacomb of coerced confessions, an Egyptian translator works who barely knows his native language or culture, a black boss suspects everyone, coverups and leaks abound, and big brother is always watching. Meanwhile, higher powers are gunning for dissolving the entire division. So the pressure's on for the facility to justify their own existence and success rates, to stay in the interrogation business. The entire cast is compelling with Salar Ardebili (Ahmed) and Bilal Dardai (Samir) as particular standouts,
Yussef El Guindi’s thought provoking piece is recommended. Best of all, tickets for all performances are Pay-What-You-Can! Book now for best availability. Tickets are currently available at www.brokennosetheatre.com.
Bonnie Kenaz-Mara is a Chicago based writer-theater critic-photographer-videographer-actress-artist-general creatrix and Mama to two terrific teens. She owns two websites where she has published frequently since 2008: ChiILLiveShows.com (adult) & ChiILMama.com (family friendly).
(left to right) Bradford Stevens, Bilal Dardai and Salar Ardebili
Broken Nose Theatre is pleased to continue its seventh season with the Midwest premiere of Yussef El Guindi’s dark comedy LANGUAGE ROOMS, directed by Kaiser Zaki Ahmed, playing April 19 – May 18, 2019 at BNT’s resident home, The Den Theatre (2A), 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. Tickets are currently available at www.brokennosetheatre.com. Tickets for all Broken Nose Theatre productions are available on a “pay-what-you-can” basis, allowing patrons to set their own price and ensuring theatre remains economically accessible for all audiences. The press opening is Monday, April 22 at 7:30 pm.
(left to right) Salar Ardebili and Bassam Abdelfattah
LANGUAGE ROOMS features Bassam Abdelfattah, Salar Ardebili, Bilal Dardai and Bradford Stevens.
Ahmed loves America, and he’s proud to prove his patriotism whenever possible. He pays his taxes, he dresses for success at the office, and he’s made a point to be the best interrogator at this particular government detainment facility. So when a rumor swirls around the water cooler calling his loyalty into question, he works to do whatever’s necessary to maintain his reputation as one of “the good ones.” But when you’re an immigrant, can you ever truly be at home in a country always ready to view you as an enemy? Part The Office, part 1984, LANGUAGE ROOMS examines the paranoia polluting our political climate.
Comments Artistic Director Elise Marie Davis, “We at Broken Nose are consistently looking for plays that center around characters, or are set in worlds, that rarely have the opportunity to make it onstage, and Yussef's play is no different. Language Rooms is a dark comedy about state-sanctioned torture, a hilarious and horrifying balancing act in which the belly laughs are immediately followed by gut punches. After admiring the work he's done at his home company of Jackalope Theatre for years, we're thrilled to be working with director Kaiser Zaki Ahmed for the first time. We cannot wait for Chicago audiences to see what this cast and production team have in store.” * Denotes BNT company member ^ Denotes BNT artistic associate
Location: The Den Theatre (2A), 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago Dates: Previews: Friday, April 19 at 7:30 pm and Saturday, April 20 at 7:30 pm Opening: Sunday, April 21 at 3 pm Press performance: Monday, April 22 at 7:30 pm Regular run: Thursday, April 25 – Saturday, May 18, 2019 Curtain Times: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm; Sundays at 3 pm Industry night: Monday, May 6 at 7:30 pm Understudy night: Wednesday, May 15 at 7:30 pm Tickets: Pay-what-you-can. Tickets are currently available at www.brokennosetheatre.com.
(left to right) Bilal Dardai and Salar Ardebili
(left to right) Bradford Stevens and Salar Ardebili
About the Artists Yussef El Guindi’s (Playwright) productions include The Talented Ones at Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland; Our Enemies: Lively Scenes of Love and Combat at Golden Thread Productions; An Evening with Activists at Cutting Ball Theater; Collaborator at Macha Monkey Productions; Threesome at Portland Center Stage, ACT and at 59E59 (winner of a Portland Drammy for Best Original Script); Pilgrims Musa and Sheri in the New World (winner of the Steinberg/ American Theater Critics Association’s New Play Award in 2012; and the 2011 Gregory Award) also at ACT and at Center Repertory Company (Walnut Creek, CA) 2013; and Language Rooms (Edgerton Foundation New American Play Award), co-produced by Golden Thread Productions and the Asian American Theater Company in San Francisco; at the Wilma Theater in Philadelphia (premiere), and at the Los Angeles Theater Center. Our Enemies: Lively Scenes of Love and Combat was also produced by Silk Road Theater Project and won the M. Elizabeth Osborn award. His plays Back of the Throat, Pilgrims Musa and Sheri in the New World, Jihad Jones and the Kalashnikov Babes, Such a Beautiful Voice is Sayeda’s and Karima’s City have been published by Dramatists Play Service. His play Ten Acrobats in an Amazing Leap of Faith is included in Salaam/Peace: An Anthology of Middle Eastern-American Playwrights, published by TCG, 2009. Our Enemies: Lively Scenes of Love and Combat is included in the anthology Four Arab American Plays published by McFarland Books. And Threesome is published by Broadway Play Publishing Inc. Yussef is the recipient of the 2010 Middle East America Distinguished Playwright Award, and Seattle’s 2015 Stranger’s Genius Award.
(pictured) Bilal Dardai
Kaiser Zaki Ahmed (Director) is a Chicago-based theatre director, actor and teacher. An alum of Columbia College Chicago’s Theatre Directing program, Kaiser specializes in actor-driven new American plays. Most recently, he assistant directed Guards at the Taj (Steppenwolf) and Hand to God (Victory Gardens). Kaiser was the Founding Artistic Director of Jackalope, from its inception in May of 2008 through the end of 2011, and continues to serve as the Associate Artistic Director. At Jackalope, Kaiser has directed the Jeff-Nominated 1980 (or Why I'm Voting for John Anderson), The Raid, The Killing of Michael X, Long Way Go Down, Slaughter City, The Last Exodus of American Men, and countless readings and short plays. Kaiser is also an Artistic Associate at The Artistic Home Theatre Company. A member there since 2005, he directed the Jeff-Nominated Midwest Premiere of The Late Henry Moss, House of Yes and assistant directed several others. Kaiser also directed Vanya (or That’s Life!) and Washer/Dryer at Rasaka Theatre. Kaiser is a 2015-16 Eugene O’Neill National Directors Fellowship Finalist, a 2016-17 Victory Gardens Directors Inclusion Initiative recipient and an Associate Member of SDC. Favorite acting work includes Ideation and Lunacy! (Jackalope Theatre), A Nice Indian Boy (Rasaka Theatre) and The Seagull (Artistic Home Theatre), The Awake (First Floor Theatre) and several film and commercial spots. He is represented by Gray Talent. (left to right) Bassam Abdelfattah, Bradford Stevens and Salar Ardebili in Broken Nose Theatre’s Midwest premiere of LANGUAGE ROOMS. Photo by Austin D. Oie.
About Broken Nose Theatre: Broken Nose Theatre is a Pay-What-You-Can theatre company. Founded in 2012, BNT was this year's recipient of the Emerging Theater Award, presented by the League of Chicago Theatres and Broadway in Chicago. The company has produced and developed 15 full-length plays (including 8 Chicago or World Premieres) and over 40 new womencentric short plays through their annual Bechdel Fest. We strive to spark conversation, cultivate empathy, and amplify underrepresented voices, and are committed to making new, exciting and relevant theatre that is economically accessible to all audiences. For more information, please visit www.brokennosetheatre.com.
ChiIL Live Shows on our radar Four Performances Only!
The Den Theatre Presents Comedian
JOEL KIM BOOSTER
May 10 – 11, 2019 in The Janet Bookspan Theatre
Joel Kim Booster. Photo courtesy WME
Comedian Joel Kim Booster brings his stand-up tour to The Den Theatre for four performances only May 10 – 11, 2019 in The Janet Bookspan Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago. Tickets ($25 general admission) are currently available at www.thedentheatre.com, in person at the The Den box office or by calling (773) 697-3830. Ages 18+.
Joel Kim Booster is a Chicago-bred, Los Angeles-based comedian and writer. As a comedian he has appeared on Conan, The Late Late Show with James Corden, Netflix’s The Fix, Comedy Central’s The Meltdown with Jonah and Kumail, This Is Not Happening and @midnight, Logo’s Comedy Cabaret and truTV’s Comedy Knockout. In 2017, Joel recorded a stand-up special for Comedy Central’s The Half-Hour, a full-length stand-up album called Model Minority and was listed as one of Esquire’s “10 Comedians to Watch.” Joel recently had the honor of making the Wall Street Journal’s “Young Hollywood Portfolio” highlighting rising stars in Hollywood, Forbes’ 2018 “30 Under 30” list in their Hollywood and Entertainment category spotlighting the next generation of talent, Variety’s 2018 “10 Comics to Watch,” Vulture’s “20 Comedians You Should and Will Know,” and Time Out’s “L.A. Comedians to Watch in 2018.” TV and film credits include Shrill (Hulu), Search Party (TBS), The Week Of (Netflix) and Viper Club (You Tube Premium). His writing credits include Billy on the Street (truTV), Big Mouth (Netflix), The Other Two (Comedy Central) and the pilot for Comedy Central’s Problematic with Moshe Kasher. Follow Joel on Twitter @ihatejoelkim.
Performance Schedule
Friday, May 10 at 7 pm & 9 pm Saturday, May 11 at 7 pm & 9 pm
About The Den Theatre Artistic Director Ryan Martin opened The Den in 2010 with a single theatre space. Seven years later, The Den boasts five intimate and unique theaters on two floors ranging from 50 – 200 seats, as well as two additional spaces primarily used for classes and rehearsals. The Den is also equipped with two bars enveloped by a never-ending field of lounge space for audiences and like-minded culture hounds to drink, talk, read, watch, think, listen and live. The Den is home to seven resident theatre companies including First Floor Theater, Haven Theatre Company, Griffin Theatre, The New Colony, Broken Nose Theatre, WildClaw Theatre and Firebrand Theatre. Hundreds of other companies from Chicago and beyond have also called The Den home, utilizing its theaters, studio space and easily convertible cabaret space to accommodate a stream of programming, including plays, musicals, film screenings, classical and jazz performances, dance, improv and stand-up, seminars and speaking engagements. For additional information, visit www.thedentheatre.com.
Comedian Vicki Barbolak, a fan favorite and Top 10 finalist on 2018’s America's Got Talent, brings her Trailer Nasty Tour to The Den Theatre for one night only, hosted by Mike Vinn and featuring Jesse Egan. Barbolak takes the stage Sunday, April 7, 2019 at 7 pm on The Heath Main Stage, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. Tickets ($25 general admission) are currently available at www.thedentheatre.com, in person at the The Den box office or by calling (773) 697-3830. Ages 18+.
Vicki Barbolak was a fan favorite and Top 10 finalist on Season 13 of America's Got Talent on NBC. Howie Mandel told Vicki and America, “I think you just came up with your own sitcom, you’re wonderful I love you.” And Simon said, “I think you’re the best comedian we’ve had on this show.” Since being on AGT, Vicki has embarked on an international tour and launched her own podcast called “Trailer Nasty with Vicki Barbolak.”
When Vicki was 38 years young, she saw an ad for a stand-up comedy class. That class changed her life. Vicki quickly realized that making people laugh gave her more happiness than she ever dreamed possible. After a few years of open mic nights, Vicki was taken under the wing of Mitzi Shore, owner of The Comedy Store where Vicki developed as a Comedian.
In the 20 years since, Vicki 's been named a member of Jay Leno's NBC Laugh Squad, Won Funniest Mom In America on Nick @ Nite, and has been featured by E! Television as the Next Breakout Star to come from The Comedy Store. Vicki's comedy reflects life as Mom, her many marriages, and her love of the Southern California Trailer Park Lifestyle. www.vickibarbolakcomedy.com
About The Den Theatre
Artistic Director Ryan Martin opened The Den in 2010 with a single theatre space. Seven years later, The Den boasts five intimate and unique theaters on two floors ranging from 50 – 200 seats, as well as two additional spaces primarily used for classes and rehearsals. The Den is also equipped with two bars enveloped by a never-ending field of lounge space for audiences and like-minded culture hounds to drink, talk, read, watch, think, listen and live. The Den is home to seven resident theatre companies including First Floor Theater, Haven Theatre Company, Griffin Theatre, The New Colony, Broken Nose Theatre, WildClaw Theatre and Firebrand Theatre. Hundreds of other companies from Chicago and beyond have also called The Den home, utilizing its theaters, studio space and easily convertible cabaret space to accommodate a stream of programming, including plays, musicals, film screenings, classical and jazz performances, dance, improv and stand-up, seminars and speaking engagements. For additional information, visit www.thedentheatre.com.
**CANCELLED!** The Den Theatre Cancels Comedian CHISTOPHER TITUS’ Engagement Scheduled for April 11 – 13, 2019
The Den Theatre today announced the cancellation of comedian Christopher Titus’ Chicago engagement scheduled for April 11 – 13, 2019. For tickets refunds, patrons should contact The Den Theatre box office at (773) 697-3830 or visit the box office in person at 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood.
ChiIL Live Shows on our radar
Five Performances Only!
The Den Theatre Presents Comedian
CHRISTOPHER TITUS
With Rachel Bradley
April 11 – 13, 2019 on The Heath Mainstage
PHOTO CREDIT: Christopher Titus by Kimo Easterwood.
Comedian Christopher Titus brings his newest show, AMERIGEDDON, to The Den Theatre for five performances only, April 11 – 13, 2019 on The Heath Main Stage, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago. Rachel Bradley opens. Tickets ($30 general admission, $45 VIP table seating) are currently available at www.thedentheatre.com, in person at the The Den box office or by calling (773) 697-3830. Ages 21+.
Employing what he's labeled “hard funny,” Christopher Titus has released seven, 90-minute albums in as many years. He has six one-hour comedy specials currently running on Comedy Central, and his seventh special, BORN WITH A DEFECT, premiered in 2017. Known for leaving no stone unturned, especially within his own life and family, Titus takes his audience on a 90-minute ride that will leave them exhausted from laughter. To see one of Christopher Titus' shows is to love him. Titus is currently performing his newest show in sold out theaters across the country. He also formed Combustion Films, a production company which produced his last three specials and most recently a full-length film called SPECIAL UNIT, released in 2017.
Performance Schedule
Thursday, April 11 at 8 pm Friday, April 12 at 7 pm and 9 pm Saturday, April 13 at 7 pm and 9 pm
About The Den Theatre
Artistic Director Ryan Martin opened The Den in 2010 with a single theatre space. Seven years later, The Den boasts five intimate and unique theaters on two floors ranging from 50 – 200 seats, as well as two additional spaces primarily used for classes and rehearsals. The Den is also equipped with two bars enveloped by a never-ending field of lounge space for audiences and like-minded culture hounds to drink, talk, read, watch, think, listen and live. The Den is home to seven resident theatre companies including First Floor Theater, Haven Theatre Company, Griffin Theatre, The New Colony, Broken Nose Theatre, WildClaw Theatre and Firebrand Theatre. Hundreds of other companies from Chicago and beyond have also called The Den home, utilizing its theaters, studio space and easily convertible cabaret space to accommodate a stream of programming, including plays, musicals, film screenings, classical and jazz performances, dance, improv and stand-up, seminars and speaking engagements. For additional information, visit www.thedentheatre.com.
SANDRA DELGADO’S LIVE THEATER+MUSIC SENSATION ABOUT AN ACTUAL 1960s CHICAGO NIGHTCLUB AND LATINO MELTING POT,
MAY 11-JUNE 22 AT THE DEN
New Teatro Vista/Collaboraction co-production pairs
much of the original cast with rising new Latinx talent,
in an even more immersive nightclub setting
La Havana Madrid stars (top, from left) playwright Sandra Delgado as La Havana Madrid, Marvin Quijada as Carpacho, Tommy Rivera-Vega as Henry, Ayssette Muñoz as Maria, (bottom) Mike Oquendo as Tony, Ilse Zacharias as Myrna, Alix Rhode as Maruja and
Victor Musoni as Carlos.
I caught the initial opening of La Havana Madrid, and was completely enchanted by Sandra Delgado's delightful, music filled immigrant story. It's a heartfelt ode to a beloved Chicago gathering space, where the displaced found community, support, love, and a melding of song and dance from numerous cultures. I'll be out again for the press opening of La Havana Madrid's enhanced remount May 17th. Check back soon after for my full review.
Anticipation is building for the spring return of
La Havana Madrid,
Chicago Latinx playwright and actor Sandra Delgado’s
smash hit, all-immersive theatrical event
inspired by true stories of a 1960’s Chicago nightclub
and immigrant melting pot, La Havana Madrid.
La Havana Madrid, returning as an an enhanced co-production between Teatro Vista and Collaboraction, will be remounted May 11-June 22 in the Heath Mainstage at the Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave., in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. Tickets, $30-$60, are on sale now. Visit thedentheatre.com or call the Den Theatre Box office, (773) 697-3830, for tickets and information. Back by popular demand, La Havana Madrid transports audiences back to a popular 1960s Chicago nightclub of the same name, where Latin0 immigrants new to Chicago found refuge to gather, meet, sing, dance, dine, find love and discover their destinies. Inspired by real stories of Cuban, Puerto Rican and Colombian immigrants, La Havana Madrid recreates a special time and place in Chicago history by immersing audiences in the lively music of that decade. Throughout, La Havana Madrid reveals how and why Latinos originally migrated to the shores of Lake Michigan, only to be pushed further west – away from the lake – by the forces of gentrification and racism. Today, Collaboraction and Teatro Vista announced the cast and design team for the return of La Havana Madrid. Sandra Delgado, both a Teatro Vista ensemble member and a founding company member of Collaboraction, will reprise her role as La Havana Madrid, the evening’s lead singer and mystical mistress of ceremonies who channels audiences through a series of true stories of Latino immigrants in Chicago, how and why they arrived here, the barriers they overcame, and their lasting impact from generation to generation still today. Teatro Vista ensemble members Tommy Rivera-Vega and Marvin Quijada will return as young immigrants new to Chicago who each met, danced, loved and lost at La Havana Madrid. Chicago actor and comedian Mike Oquendo also returns as Tony Quintana, the once owner of La Havana Madrid and host of the 1960s Chicago radio show “Tony’s Latin A-Go-Go.” Also back is legendary Colombian-American musician Roberto "Carpacho" Marin and his band of 30 years, Carpacho y Su Super Combo. Together with Delgado and the cast, Carpacho y Su Super Combo chronicles the history of Caribbean Latino music, live, from mambo, to cumbia, to the birth of salsa. And yes, by the end of the show, audience members need little encouragement to get on their feet and dance right along. New to the cast are Teatro Vista ensemble members Ayssette Muñoz as Maria, one of 14,000 unaccompanied minors who made a mass exodus to the U.S. in the early 1960s as part of Operation Peter Pan, and Ilse Zacharias as Myrna, a force-of-nature Puerto Rican beauty queen with big plans to break through the glass ceiling of Chicago’s Latino community. Victor Musoni is cast as Carlos, a streetwise Puerto Rican teen from Lincoln Park who has a political awakening through his photography. Alix Rhode will play Maruja, Henry’s long-distance Colombian bride who he saves and sends for to join him in Chicago. Teatro Vista ensemble member Cheryl Lynn Bruce, who directed the 2017 world premiere, returns to re-stage Delgado’s theatrical, cinematic and musical history of Latino Caribbeans in Chicago. Planned updates to the physical production include a reimagined, more immersive set and video design that will evoke an actual night out at a real Chicago 1960s Latino nightclub, complete with cabaret seating, a dance floor and a small stage for the live band. Original designers returning to help Bruce, the cast and the band re-realize this enhanced immersive environment are Collaboraction company members Elsa Hiltner (costumes) and Liviu Pasare (projections), along with Heather Skye Sparling (lights) and Teatro Vista ensemble member Jennifer Aparicio (production manager). New to the La Havana Madrid production team are Jose Manuel Diaz (set), Robert Hornbostel (sound) and Collaboraction company member Caitlin Body (stage manager).
Original Production Photos: credit Joel Maisonet
Teatro Vista’s 2017 world premiere of La Havana Madrid resonated deeply with Chicagoans from all different backgrounds and ages. It played to capacity crowds at Steppenwolf’s 1700 Theatre and The Miracle Center in Hermosa and then transferred for an extended summer run in the Goodman’s Owen Theatre that drew record attendance.
Chicago’s leading Latinx newspaper Hoy wrote “La obra tiene la magia de conectar a la comunidad, de revivir recuerdos” (“the work has the magic of connecting to the community, of reliving memories.”) New City and Time Out Chicago hailed La Havana Madrid one of the “Best of 2017.” Time Out’s readers named it “Best New Work.” The Chicago Tribune hailed La Havana Madrid “heartfelt and fascinating…bursting with music and warmth." “I am thrilled that my two artistic homes are coming together to bring La Havana Madrid back to life. Both companies have a long history of collaborating and La Havana Madrid fits perfectly into their complementary missions, that of telling Latinx stories and uniting Chicagoans,” said Delgado.
“I am especially excited to be in the Heath Mainstage at the Den Theatre for the evolution of the La Havana Madrid experience. This malleable space is exactly what I have always envisioned for La Havana Madrid. With the combined strength of two companies, we will be able to fully realize the vision I have always had in mind, complete with immersive staging and evocative projections, that will transport audiences back to 1960's Chicago.” PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE AND TICKET INFORMATION Previews of La Havana Madrid are Saturday, May 11 at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, May 12 at 3 p.m., and Wednesday and Thursday, May 15 and 16 at 7:30 p.m. Press opening is Friday, May 17 at 7:30 p.m. Performances run though June 22: Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sundays at 3 p.m. Tickets are $30 general admission, $50 table seat and $60 front row table seat. Tickets are on sale now at thedentheatre.comor call the Den at (773) 697-3830. Group discounts available. The Den Theatre is located at 1331 N. Milwaukee Avenue in the heart of Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. Metered street parking is available on Milwaukee and surrounding side streets. Street parking can be difficult to find, so arrive early to secure a spot and then come by The Den for a pre-show drink at the bar. The Den is close to the CTA Blue Line Division Street stop, and the 9 Ashland, 70 Division and 56 Milwaukee CTA bus lines. For more information, visit thedentheatre.com. Sandra Delgado | La Havana Madrid "This is ultimately a Chicago story. This is our story, our story as a city." - Sandra Delgado Flash back to Goodman Theatre's video trailer for La Havana Madrid, circa summer 2017:
ABOUT TEATRO VISTA Teatro Vista shares and celebrates the riches of Latinx culture with Chicago audiences. The company provides work and professional advancement opportunities for Latinx theatre artists, with special emphasis on the company’s ensemble members, and seeks to enhance the curricular goals of Chicago students through theater. Teatro Vista was founded in 1990 by Edward Torres and Henry Godinez with a primary focus to produce new works by Latinx theatre artists and classic plays featuring artists of color. The company’s current leadership team is Ricardo Gutiérrez, Executive Artistic Director, and Sylvia Hevia, Managing and Development Director. Teatro Vista is supported by 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, Art Works, Illinois Arts Council, Lester and Hope Abelson, The Shubert Foundation, The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelly Foundation, the Bayless Family Foundation and Vidal & Associates. Purple Group is Teatro Vista’s Headline Season Sponsor.
For more, visit teatrovista.org, or follow the company on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.
ABOUT COLLABORACTION Collaboraction, Chicago’s social contemporary theater, collaborates with a diverse community of Chicagoans, artists and community activists to create original theatrical experiences that push artistic boundaries and explore critical social issues. Since the company’s founding in 1996, Collaboraction has worked with more than 3,000 artists to bring more than 60 productions and events to more than 150,000 audience members. For the past five years, Collaboraction has partnered with the Chicago Park District through their Night Out in the Parks program, returning each year to cultivate relationships and theater in Englewood, Austin and Hermosa through the Crime Scene, PEACEBOOK and Encounter tours. Production highlights also include its series of Crime Scene productions responding to Chicago’s crime epidemic; 15 years of the SKETCHBOOK Festival; and the YO SOLO Festival of Latino Solo Shows, co-produced with Teatro Vista in 2012. Collaboraction is led by Artistic Director Anthony Moseley, Managing Director Dr. Marcus Robinson, a company of 20 talented Chicago theater artists, and a dedicated staff and board of directors. The company’s vision is to utilize theater to cultivate dialogue and action around our most critical social issues throughout Chicago. Collaboraction is supported by The Chicago Community Trust, The Joyce Foundation, The Field Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, DCASE and the Wicker Park & Bucktown SSA #33 Chamber of Commerce. This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency. For more, visit collaboraction.org, follow the company on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube or Instagram, or call the Collaboraction box office, (312) 226-9633.
Sandra Delgado by Joe Mazza/brave lux. Photo
Sandra Delgado is a Colombian-American actor, writer, and producer born and raised in Chicago. She wrote and starred in La Havana Madrid, a Teatro Vista production at both the Steppenwolf Theatre and The Goodman Theatre. La Havana Madrid, Teatro Vista’s best-selling show in its 25-year history, played to sold out houses, and deeply resonated with Chicagoans from all different backgrounds. La Havana Madrid received recognition as one of the best plays of 2017 by Time Out Chicago (including the audience award for Best New Work) and New City Chicago. It was nominated by the Alliance of Latinx Theatre Artists (ALTA) for the Maria Irene Fornes New Play Award and received an ALTA Award for Best Production. In addition to her writing, Delgado is also a respected veteran of the stage, with a career spanning almost two decades. She most recently starred in La Ruta at Steppenwolf Theatre. Acting highlights include Jocasta in Oedipus El Rey at The Public Theater, the titular character in La Havana Madrid, the epic five-hour 2666 at The Goodman Theatre, her star turn as Veronica opposite Jimmy Smits in Motherf**ker with the Hat at Steppenwolf Theatre, and Mojada at Victory Gardens Theater, where her portrayal of Medea earned distinction as one of the Top Ten performances of 2013 by the Chicago Tribune. Delgado is also deeply committed to mentoring, advocating, and creating opportunities for her fellow Latinx theatre artists as a producer. Her groundbreaking YO SOLO Festival of Latino Solo Shows, co-produced by Collaboraction and Teatro Vista in 2012, was the first of its kind in the country. She co-curated Steppenwolf’s LookOut series during the run of her show La Havana Madrid, bringing dozens of Latinx artists to perform at Steppenwolf for the first time, and in the process creating community and a cultural hub for Latinx Chicagoans. Saints and Sinners, her new storytelling and music series, is also an extension of her drive to create more opportunities for writers and performers of color and provide a space to cultivate connection and understanding. Her advocacy work also includes serving on the Actors’ Equity Association EEO Committee since 2005 and co-chairing their annual Spirit, A Celebration of Diversity for the last three years as well as serving on the Latinx Theatre Commons advisory committee, a national advocacy organization for Latinx Theatre artists, since 2014. In addition to being an ensemble member of Teatro Vista (Associate Artistic Director from 2006-2008), Delgado is a founding ensemble member of Collaboraction (est. 1997), and is devoted to their mission of creating new works around Chicago’s most critical social issues. She is the recipient of a 2018 3Arts Award, the Joyce Award, The Theater Communications Group (TCG) Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowship in the Extraordinary Potential Category, a two-time Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events grantee, a 3Arts 3AP Project Grantee, and received the 2017 Latina Professional of the Year Award from the Chicago Latino Network. Delgado is a resident playwright at Chicago Dramatists, a member of ALTA's Semillero Playwright's Circle, and a 2015/2016 member of the Goodman Theatre’s Playwright’s Unit. She is one of the 20 women of Chicago arts and culture honored in Kerry James Marshall's mural RUSH MORE on the facade of the Chicago Cultural Center. Her new play, Felons and Familias, the inaugural "In the Works" commission for Theatre on the Lake, received a workshop production as part of TOTL's 2018 season and was featured in The Goodman Theatre’s New Stages Festival this past fall under the new title, Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars. sandradelgado.net
Cheryl Lynn Bruce (director) is a Teatro Vista ensemble member, and like Delgado, she is one of the 20 women of Chicago arts and culture honored in Kerry James Marshall's mural RUSH MORE on the facade of the Chicago Cultural Center. She directed the world premiere of La Havana Madrid, and served as assistant director of Teatro Vista’s productions of Tamer of Horses and A View From the Bridge. She recently won the African American Arts Alliance Black Excellence Award and a 2018 Jeff nomination for directing Congo Square’s Jitney. She has performed on stages across the country and internationally, including recently at Steppenwolf Theatre in Familiar. Bruce created the role of Elizabeth Sandry for Steppenwolf’s Tony Award-winning production of The Grapes of Wrath, adapted and directed by Frank Galati for Broadway’s Cort Theatre, Britain’s National Theatre and La Jolla Playhouse. She also workshopped and premiered in RACE, Lookingglass Theatre’s inaugural production directed by David Schwimmer and Joy Gregory.
Bruce received a 3Arts Award (2010), a 3Arts fellowship to support a five-week Rauschenberg residency (2015), a Jane Addams Hull House Association’s Woman of Valor Award (2010) and a Yale Research Residency (2011). She was awarded the 2002 African American Arts Alliance Black Excellence Award and Black Theatre Alliance Award for Outstanding Direction of Endesha Ida Mae Holland’s From The Mississippi Delta at Congo Square Theater. Other directing credits include Resurrection by Daniel Beaty and Drip by Gloria Bond Clunie at eta Creative Arts Foundation, Milkweed: A Solo Play by Misty De Berry for Columbia College at Links Hall and Northwestern University, Spunk by Zora Neale Hurston at University of Illinois at Chicago and Congo Square Theater, Cage Rhythm by Kia Korthron for University of Illinois at Chicago and Theatre School at DePaul University, and Permanent Collection by Thomas Gibbons for Indiana University Northwest. In 2006 she was an Inaugural Fellow of the Institute for the Study of Women and Gender in the Arts and Media at Columbia College. In 2007 Bruce traveled to Japan to study Bunraku puppetry for her staging of Rythm Mastr, Kerry James Marshall’s urban comic which premiered at the Wexner Center for the Arts.
Marvin Quijada (Carpacho) is a Chicago based electronic music producer/composer, iOS musician, DJ, theatrical actor, and a clown/mime. He's excited to return to the world of La Havana Madrid. His theatrical credits in Chicago include: Pericles, Short Shakespeare! The Comedy of Errors, Romeo and Juliet, and Othello (Chicago Shakespeare) Season on the Line (The House Theatre), The Dueling Gentlemen (Silent Theatre Company) which he wrote and directed, among others. His New York credits include: Lulu: A Black and White Silent Play (Silent Theatre) which won best play at the NY Fringe Festival in 2005. TV credits include Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D. He is an ensemble member with Teatro Vista and Silent Theater. Follow him on soundcloud and instagram at SILENT MARVIN.
Tommy Rivera-Vega, Teatro Vista ensemble member, recently played Ezekiel in Goodman Theatre’s Lottery Day. Chicago credits include La Havana Madrid, Parachute Men, Between You Me and the Lampshade, A View From the Bridge and Momma’s Boyz (Teatro Vista); Support Group for Men, Mother Road (Goodman Theatre); Frederick (Chicago Children's Theatre); West Side Story (Drury Lane); In the Heights (Skylight Music Theatre); In the Heights and My Fair Lady (Paramount Theatre); Three Sisters (Steppenwolf); Kiss of the Spiderwoman (BoHo Theatre); Augusta & Noble (Adventure Stage); Pippin (Music Theatre Company) and CATS (Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre). Puerto Rico credits include Spring Awakening and Footloose (Black Box Theatre).
Ayssette Muñoz moved to Chicago in 2013 from a small Texas border town in the Rio Grande Valley. She was featured in the Chicago Tribune's “Top 10 Hot New Faces of Chicago Theatre” in 2015, due to her appearance as Catherine in A View From the Bridge with Teatro Vista. She quickly became an Artistic Associate with the company in 2014, and is now a proud ensemble member. Since then, she originated the role of Miranda in Ike Holter’s Wolf at The End of the Block, Amparo in Raul Castillo’s Between You, Me, and the Lampshade, and Maria Teresa in Caridad Svich's In the Time of the Butterflies. Other Chicago credits include Muriel McComber in Ah Wilderness (Goodman Theatre) and Mary Whitney in Alias Grace (Rivendell Theatre Ensemble). She understudied and performed in Steppenwolf’s critically acclaimed production The Doppelganger, alongside Rainn Wilson and fellow Teatro Vista ensemble member Sandra Marquez. Other understudy credits include Lookingglass Theatre's Plantation!, and Chicago Shakespeare Theatre’s Romeo and Juliet. TV/film credits include Chicago P.D. and the award-winning feature En Algun Lugar (Iconoclast Films).
Mike Oquendo is a Chicago born comedy show host and theater producer who stages over 80 shows a year in Chicago and across the country. His shows have been featured on The View, Telemundo, Univision, People en Español, Broadway World and the Chicago Tribune. He is one a handful of Latinos to have trained in New York’s Commercial Theater Institute. His recent production of the off-Broadway hit Made in Puerto Rico with Comedian Eli Castro sold out seven weeks in New York City. He continues to host his Mikey O Comedy Shows in Chicago.
Ilse Zacharias (Myrna) is thrilled to be returning to Teatro Vista. Chicago credits include The Abuelas, The Madres and Wolf at the End of the Block u/s (Teatro Vista), Anna Karenina (Lifeline Theatre), Crime and Punishment (Shattered Globe); Into the Beautiful North (16th Street Theater); and Shrewish u/s (Artemisia Theatre). She has also worked with Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Court Theater, American Blues Theater, Water People, The Bridge Theater and Something Marvelous. TV credits include The Exorcist. Zacharias received her BFA in Acting from Roosevelt University. She can currently be heard as the title role in BRAVA, a podcast produced by the co-author of Hamilton, Jeremy McCarter and the Make-Believe Association.
Alix Rhode, a Chicago native, is making her professional debut in La Havana Madrid. She is currently a junior at the Chicago College of Performing Arts pursuing her BFA in Musical Theatre.
Victor Musoni is a freshman at UIC studying to receive his BFA in theater. He is an ensemble member of The Yard Theatre Company. He was last seen in The Q Brothers Rome Sweet Rome (UIC main stage). He has recently appeared in Back The Night (UIC Studio Theatre), Fun Harmless War Machine (The New Colony), NO CHILD (Definition Theatre Company), Blood at the Root (Jackalope Theatre), Columbinus (Steppenwolf/The Yard),The Toilet (Haven Theatre), Race to the Finish (Kuumba Lynx), Snack Break 1&2 (The Yard), staged reading of Cardboard Piano (Timeline Theatre), How We Got On (Haven Theatre), staged reading of The Stories of us (Visión Latino Theatre Company). Film credits include Run Boy Run Girl, Brujos Web Series and 6x9 (Cinema Libertad). Music videos include Young Lost Love by Appleby and Sinner by Ric Wilson.
