ACT OUT: Six Stories Tall at Adventure Stage #giveaway

We're so excited to offer one of our lucky readers 4 free tickets to the opening performance of Six Stories Tall at 4pm on Saturday, November 10th.   Enter right here for your chance to win! 

*Wait for Rafflecopter to load up right here (if you've gone through RSS feed or are scrolling down the blog and don't see it, click on the actual page title and it should pop right up).   Enter like we vote in Chi, IL...early and often.   Entries accepted through midnight on 11/2/12.   Winner will be announced on Saturday 11/3.   

Thanks to Adventure Stage for once again providing us with rockin' awesome tickets for our give aways.


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Check out ChiIL Mama/ ChiIL Live Shows Past Interview With Director Tom Arvetis right here.


We have an exclusive interview with Tom Arvetis, Adventure Stage's Producing Artistic Director, and his infant daughter, Vivian, which we first ran in December of 2011.   Check out our video below for insights into balancing creative work and parenting, life after birth with 3 girls under 6, their past productions Walk Two Moon, and The Giver.   Walk Two Moons was adapted by Tom, who also expounds on "adapting" to fatherhood & life in theatre.   We continue our series on "How Creatives Parents and How Parents Create".





Click here for our full past feature on Tom Arvetis and Walk Two Moons at Adventure Stage

Adventure Stage Chicago presents the Midwest Premiere of

Marco Ramirez’s Six Stories Tall: a play about mermaids, monsters and spray paint! directed by ASC Producing Artistic Director Tom Arvetis

Nov. 10 – Dec. 13 at Vittum Theater, 1012 N. Noble St., Chicago.

Tickets $15-25. Call 773.342.4141 or visit www.adventurestage.org.

Adventure Stage Chicago (ASC) at Northwestern University Settlement House is thrilled to present the Midwest Premiere of Six Stories Tall: a play about mermaids, monsters and spray paint!, written by Marco Ramirez and directed by ASC Producing Artistic Director Tom Arvetis.

Pictured top to bottom: Lance Newton, Alyssa Vera Ramos, Alexandar Knapp, Mark Anthony Gonzalez, Sarah Rose Graber, Kevin Brown and Danielle Davis.    Production Photos by Johnny Knight.

ABOUT THE PLAY

What Does It Mean To Be A Hero?

Inspired by Hispanic folklore, Six Stories Tall is a storytelling spectacle unlike anything ever seen on our stage. Featuring a live DJ and incorporating a unique mix of narrative influences including comic books, video games, hip-hop music and mythology, the six fantastical tales that comprise this remarkable play create a thrilling, heartfelt journey that families will not soon forget. *Recommended for ages 8 and older (grades 3 and above).

Six Stories Tall is a play of six stories commissioned by Washington D.C.’s The Kennedy Center, where it made its premiere in October 2008 under the title Mermaids, Monsters and the World Painted Purple and was nominated for a Helen Hayes Award for Best New Play. One of the stories in the play, “I Am Not Batman,” was part of the 2007 Humana Festival and won the Heideman Award for Best 10-Minute Play before being incorporated into the complete script of Mermaids, Monsters and the World Painted Purple. This Adventure Stage Chicago production marks only the second time the complete play has been staged, and the first time under its new title Six Stories Tall: a play about mermaids, monsters and spray paint!

Tom Arvetis (Director/ASC Producing Artistic Director) says of the play: “The gift that Marco Ramirez has given us with Six Stories Tall is the joy derived from the power of youthful imagination and the conceit that young people can be superheroes, guardians and saviors. Through six uniquely wrought adventures we see a boy save a mermaid, a girl defeat the devil at the crossroads, another boy become Batman, another girl defeat a legendary monster relying on video game skills, a boy and a girl invent a musical language together, and a boy express his love for his grandfather by literally changing the world.“

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

Previews: 10:30am
Thu, Nov. 8 | Fri, Nov. 9

Weekday Education Matinees: 10:30am (also open to general public)
Tue, Nov. 13 | Thu, Nov. 15 | Tue, Nov. 20 | Tue, Nov. 27 | Thu, Nov. 29 | Tue, Dec. 4 | Thu, Dec. 6 | Tue, Dec. 11 | Wed, Dec. 12 | Thu, Dec. 13

Weekend Evenings: 7:30pmFri, Nov. 16 | Fri, Nov. 23 | Sat, Nov. 24 | Fri, Nov 30 | Sat, Dec. 1 | Fri, Dec. 7 | Sat, Dec. 8

Weekend Matinees: 4:00pm
Sat, Nov. 10 | Sat, Nov. 17 | Sat, Nov. 24 | Sat, Dec. 1 | Sat, Dec. 8

TICKETS

Adult: $25.00

Child: $15.00 (14 and under) 
Educator/Industry: $10.00
Neighborhood Discount (zip codes 60642 and 60622): $10

Previews: $10

Groups: $13.00 (10 or more)

School Groups: $8 per student, with one complimentary chaperone ticket for every 10 students.

For tickets, call 773-342-4141 or visit www.adventurestage.org.

**FREE SPECIAL EVENTS

SNEAK PEEK
Sunday, Oct. 7, 4:00-5:00pm

Please join us for a FREE open rehearsal of Six Stories Tall and gain a glimpse into the journey that awaits you as we pull back the curtain for a sneak peek into what you can expect on show day. Refreshments provided. Limited seating - register at 773.342.4141 or www.adventurestage.org.

OPENING DAY CUPCAKE SOCIAL
Saturday, Nov. 10, 4:00-8:00pm
Celebrate opening day with us and mingle with the cast after the show while enjoying yummy cupcakes from Kyle’s Cupcakery. 

*ChiIL Mama's four pack ticket winner can have a show and cupcakes too!! 

SETTLEMENT SATURDAY
Saturday, Nov. 17, 4:00-8:00pm
Settlement Saturday is a day to celebrate our parent organization, the Northwestern University Settlement House, as well as the Settlement's neighbors. This performance includes Spanish supertitles, and the pre- and post-show discussion are conducted in both Spanish and English. The show is followed by a food and game reception in Vittum Theater's Burnside Hall for all audience members to enjoy.

CAST AND CREWCast:
Kevin Brown (Drummer/Chorus)

Danielle Davis (Rebecca/Marta Elena/Yennifer/Chorus)

Mikhail Fiksel (DJ/Chorus)

Mark Anthony Gonzalez (Tomas/Stranger/Abuelo/Chorus)

Sarah Rose Graber* (Sirena/Abuela/Lawn Guy/Chorus)

Alexander Knapp (Alfredo/Carbon/Warrior 2/Store Clerk/Chorus)

Lance Newton (Boy/Warrior 1/Chester/Chorus)

Alyssa Vera Ramos (Emilia/Lupe/Chorus)

Sara Sawicki (Understudy)
Tony Garcia (Understudy)

Crew:

Director: Tom Arvetis*
Asst. Director: Emilio Robles
Stage Manager: Phil Claudnic
Asst. Stage Manager: Morgan Gire
Dramaturg: Brian Bell*
Music Direction/Composition/Sound Design: Mikhail Fiksel
Movement Director: Stephanie Paul
Scenic Design: Brandon Wardell*
Lighting Design: Heather Gilbert
Costume Design: Jessica Kuehnau Wardell*
Props Design: Catherine Campbell
Technical Director: Jarrod Bainter

*denotes ASC company or ensemble member

BIOS

Marco Ramirez (Playwright) is a two-time Latino Playwriting Award winner at the Kennedy Center's American College Theater Festival and has had plays produced at The Juilliard School, The Arsht Center, and Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival of New American Plays (where he's twice received the Heideman Award). TV writing credits include FX's "Sons of Anarchy." He trained at both NYU and The Juilliard School.

Tom Arvetis (Director) founded Adventure Stage Chicago in 2004 and is responsible for the creative vision of the company, the implementation of all programming, and the supervision of the theater staff. Tom's directing credits for Adventure Stage Chicago include And A Child Shall Lead by Michael Slade, Katrina: The Girl Who Wanted Her Name Back by Jason Tremblay (world premiere), The Blue House by José Cruz González (world premiere), and A Woman Called Truth by Sandra Fenichel Asher. Tom also directed a reading of Katrina: The Girl Who Wanted Her Name Back as part of the 2008 New Visions/New Voices Festival at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. Other directing credits include Dragon/Sky by Elizabeth Wong (workshop reading for Silk Road Theatre Project), The Search for Odysseus by Charles Way (The Simple Theatre) andThe City Wears a Slouch Hat by Kenneth Patchen  (Wanderlust Productions). Playwriting credits for Adventure Stage include Walk Two Moons (honorable mention in Chicago Theatre Beat's Best Shows of 2011) and I Dream in Blues (dubbed "the sleeper hit of the season" by the Chicago Tribune). Tom was an Ann Shaw Fellow with TYA/USA in 2009 and a finalist for a 2010 Chicago Community Trust Fellowship. He is a board member with the American Alliance for Theatre and Education.

ABOUT ADVENTURE STAGE

Adventure Stage Chicago creates dynamic and transformative theatre for young audiences that activates the imagination, inspires dialogue and strengthens community among families, educators and artists. We strive to become Chicago's premier destination for theatrical productions and programming designed for young people and the adults in their lives; we aim to be leaders in theatre education through professional development workshops, residencies and resources that offer innovative ways to infuse theatre into the classroom; and we seek to cultivate and create challenging new work as well as produce celebrated stories. This is Adventure Stage's ninth season.

Adventure Stage has received numerous honors since its inception in 2004, including:

• Recipient of a prestigious Continuing Innovation Stage II grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
• Selected participant in EmcArts' Innovation Lab for the Performing Arts, a program generously funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
• Zeta Phi Eta Winifred Ward Award for Outstanding New Children's Theatre Company from the American Alliance for Theatre and Education
• Two-time Finalist for the Broadway In Chicago Emerging Theater Award
• Participant in the New Visions/New Voices Festival at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, Washington D.C.
• Four-time Recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Access to Artistic Excellence Grant

Adventure Stage Chicago is a program of Northwestern University Settlement House, the oldest continually operating settlement house in Chicago. Throughout its 121-year history, the Settlement has remained committed to providing resources that empower neighbors to overcome the obstacles of poverty. Adventure Stage extends this mission by presenting Chicago's young audiences, educators and families with an affordable artistic experience rooted in performance. Last season, Adventure Stage served over 7,000 students from 85 schools throughout the Chicagoland area and over 2,600 audience members for our weekend performances. 

Each Adventure Stage Chicago production presents weekday matinees primarily for school groups, as well as weekend performances for the general public. Every performance includes a post-show audience talkback with the cast. Out of respect for our actors and audience members, children under age 5 are not permitted in the theatre during a performance.

All shows are performed at Vittum Theater, 1012 N. Noble St., in the heart of Chicago’s West Town neighborhood. Street parking is available, and the theater is close to the Noble St. stop on the #56 Milwaukee bus line and the Division stop on the CTA Blue Line. The theater is wheelchair accessible.

Win 2 Free Pairs of Tickets to The Shams Band This Monday and Next at Schubas #giveaway

Thanks to Schubas for kicking us 2 pairs of tickets to give away.   Enter right here for your chance to win! 

*Wait for Rafflecopter to load up (if you've gone through RSS feed or are scrolling down the blog and don't see it, click on the actual page title and it should pop right up).  Entries accepted nationwide.   Enter like we vote in Chi, IL...early and often.   Winning rocks!  

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Open to anyone 21+.   First 2 winners will be announced 7/22 at noon.   

*Check out our photo filled recap of last Monday.

Click here to purchase current Schubas Shams Band tickets.   

• Practice Space presents:
• The Shams Band
• Daniel Ellsworth & The Great Lakes
• Young Jesus
• DJ Sets By: Mr. Gac

• MONDAY 07/23/2012 8:00 PM | 21+ | $6.00 ($15.00 - FOUR SHOW RESIDENCY TICKET PACKAGE)

Click Here To Reserve Your Copy of Cold City And A Ticket To The Show.

Click Here For A Four Show Residency Ticket Package

The Shams Band will be celebrating their second full length record, Cold City by hosting their own July residency at Schubas Tavern.

Music is supposed to be fun, exciting, thought provoking and daring. On every live performance, The Shams Band makes sure that their audience leaves each concert with a personal feeling of satisfaction. Drawing heavily from their Kinks, Rolling Stones, and Wilco influences, singer/songwriters Biggins/Gulyas create distinct, personal songs. Once completed with unique four-part harmonies, the songs come to life, tell stories, and send audiences singing all the way home.

The Shams Band features music trapezing the line between blues, country, and pop music. They have opened for national acts Drive-By Truckers, Dawes, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes and Grace Potter & The Nocturnals.

The Shams Band is the epitome of a "do-it-yourself" group. They get every audience excited and dancing from their catchy hooks and rock 'n roll atmosphere. It's whiskey-driven. It's a party. It's rock 'n roll with a banjo.

The Shams Band features music trapezing the line between blues, country, and pop music. They have opened for national acts Drive-By Truckers, Dawes, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes and Grace Potter &
The Nocturnals.

The Shams Band is the epitome of a "do-it-yourself" group. They get every audience excited and dancing from their catchy hooks and rock 'n roll atmosphere. It's whiskey-driven. It's a party. It's rock 'n roll with a banjo.

5 Free Pairs of Tixs to See Kevin Smith on 6/14 #Giveaway

My husband, Dug, & *Joey Lauren Adams--Insomniac With Dave Attell Shoot (boom mic just out of frame)

My husband sticks his hands down celebs shirts for a living.  I shoot rock stars and am in and out of tour buses and back stage green rooms all the time.   Luckily neither of us is the jealous type, and sometimes "it's not what it looks like" really does apply.   It's a cool job sometimes....but it's a job nonetheless.   Sometimes there is a mic or power pack on the end of those hands in the waistband or bra, and the blonde getting off the tour bus really is conducting interviews.   

All the musicians I've met have been completely professional and the line between groupie and working press has never come into question.  It's the guy fans who smirk knowingly at me and quip "What do you have to do to get a photo pass, eh?!"   Hmmmm.   Maybe you have to be a working member of the press or a solid photographer/videographer/writer.   Didn't hear them ask any of the male shooters in the pit next to me....

Dug says the same thing about putting mics on TV and film celebs.  They're the pros....they're used to it and they "get it".  It's the regular people who freak a little at the invasion of privacy.  Fortunately I'm not weirded out that my husband's had his hands on everyone from Julia Roberts to Giuliana Rancic.

Amazingly enough, in 3 days, Dug and I will have been married for 12 years, and we've been monogamously together since 1997.  With the vast majority of our friends divorced, that's an accomplishment.  This August 18th, my parents are celebrating their 50th Anniversary together!

So, in honor of love--long lasting, newly dating, BFF, and whatever configuration works for you....we've got FIVE pairs of tickets for a date night out to see film icon, Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Mallrats).  He will treat fans to a special evening and Q&A, a week from today, Thursday, June 14, at 8pm at The Chicago Theatre, 175 N. State Street.   His appearance is part of the

TBS Just For Laughs Chicago festival


We adore Kevin Smith's prolific and quirky style, and we aren't afraid to admit to having adult friends who collect Jay and Silent Bob dolls and other memorabilia.   We dig his films and his genre crossing creativity.   This is sure to be an amusing night to remember and we're stoked to be able to give away 10 tickets to you...our readers.


Here's his official bio from the TBS Just for Laughs Site:


There's "prolific," and then there's Kevin Smith, who in addition to a
storied film career and being a NY Times Best Selling Author and reality
TV star, hosts the weekly, wildly popular podcast SModcast alongside buddy Scott Mosier. He has spent nearly 20 years as a writer/director making Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay & Silent Bob Strike Back, Zack and Miri Make a Porno, Cop Out, Red State,
and a producing several other films, all receiving acclaim and praise.
Plus, he's released three DVDs of Q&A sessions, and several cable
specials, including the EPIX original Kevin Smith: Too Fat For 40. He's published two books full of essays and blog postings (Silent Bob Speaks and the best-selling My Boring-Ass Life), as well as Shooting the Shit with Kevin Smith - a collection of the best material from SModcast.
One of the first filmmakers to venture into cyberspace, Smith has
legions of fans who follow his podcasting and comic book-writing; and
hey, maybe they even visit his comic book store Jay and Silent Bob's
Secret Stash in Red Bank, New Jersey.  

*Wikipedia excerpt Joey Lauren Adams:

...Adams appeared in Mallrats, written and directed by Kevin Smith.
The two started dating during the film's post-production, and their
relationship provided the inspiration for Smith's next movie.

Meanwhile, in 1996, while Smith was finalizing the script for Chasing Amy, she was cast for a role in the slapstick comedy Bio-Dome, which was directed by Jason Bloom. Adams played the role of Monique, girlfriend to Bud Macintosh (Pauly Shore).

In 1997's Chasing Amy, Smith cast Adams in the lead role of Alyssa Jones, a lesbian who falls in love with a man, played by Ben Affleck. Later, Smith would describe Chasing Amy as a "sort of penance/valentine" and a "thank-you homage" to Adams.^[3] In addition to her acting work on the film, Adams wrote and performed the song "Alive" for the movie's soundtrack.

Adams' performance in Chasing Amy earned her both the 1997 Chicago Film Critics Award and Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Most Promising Actress, and a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress-Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. From there, Adams was originally slated to play the female lead in Smith's next film, 1999's Dogma, but Linda Fiorentino ultimately got the part.^[4] However, she would later make brief appearances in two other Smith projects: the 2001 film Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, and the 2004 animated short Clerks: The Lost Scene, featured on the Clerks X DVD. In both of these appearances, Adams reprised the role of Alyssa Jones.

**My husband and the Insomniac crew ran into Joey in her home town of little rock, while shooting with Dave Attell.   Dug can also be seen on screen in that Insomniac episode, sticking a mic down the shirt of Connie Hamzy  AKA:   Sweet Connie of Little Rock (who BTW didn't just interview & shoot bands, but was in fact a groupie who claimed to have sex with numerous bands' members).    Attell burst in on my husband and Connie in the back room. while Dug was placing the mic and teasingly did an improv bit about...."What are you doing?    You're just the sound guy.   You know the order.   She does me, then the cameraman, then you."    When it aired later, he promised me it was only a gag.......  

Hamzy is mentioned in Grand Funk Railroad's song "We're an American Band" ("Sweet, sweet Connie, doin' her act/ She had the whole show and that's a natural fact.")Wikipedia

Click here to purchase tickets to see Kevin Smith at Chicago Theatre 6/14 and for further show information.   

Enter below for your chance to win!

*Wait for Rafflecopter to load up right here (if you've gone
through RSS feed or are scrolling down the blog and don't see it,
click on the actual page title and it should pop right up).    

Please enter with the full legal name you want to appear on the tickets at the box office if you win.  Enter through midnight 6/12 and we'll announce our 5 winners on 6/13.  We'll contact winners by e-mail, but check here as well (sucks to win and find out after the fact--thank you spam filter).  Your tickets will be held at the Chicago Theatre box office.

Enter like we vote in Chi, IL...early and often.   Winning rocks!  

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Beauty and The Beast at Chicago Shakespeare #Giveaway

music by Alan Menken | lyrics by Howard Ashman and Tim Rice book by Linda Woolverton | directed by Rachel Rockwell in Chicago Shakespeare's Courtyard Theater June 28–August 26, 2012 Bring your whole family to Navy Pier for this 75-minute heartwarming musical adventure based on the Academy Award-winning Disney film. It recounts the "tale as old as time" of a clever beauty and her ferocious captor—a young prince trapped under an enchantress's spell, who must learn to love and be loved in order to break the curse. Dazzling production numbers, including the beloved title song and "Be Our Guest," will fill CST's Courtyard Theater. Audience members are invited to meet the cast in the lobby following each performance. Approximate Running Time: 75 minutes A CST Family production best enjoyed by ages 5 and up ChiIL Mama/ ChiIL Live Shows will be there for the opening performance on July 7th and we'll have a photo filled review for you then.  We're also excited to offer one of our lucky readers 4 free tickets to your choice of dates between June 28th & July 13th.   Enter right here for your chance to win! *Wait for Rafflecopter to load up right here (if you've gone through RSS feed or are scrolling down the blog and don't see it, click on the actual page title and it should pop right up).  Entries accepted nationwide.   Enter like we vote in Chi, IL...early and often.   Winning rocks!

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Play Locally-April Highlights: Theatre Openings, Music and #Giveaways

It's an eventful, event filled April in Chi-Town. 

Scroll All The Way Down For A Month Full of Adult & Family Friendly Highlights Below Including 21+ punk & metal shows, Ticket Give Aways, original video interviews, live kids' show footage, Beat Kitchen Concerts for Kids, Bloodiest vinyl release, C2E2, CIMMfest 2012, Human Nature The Motown Show, 20 FREE copies of Just Kids book by Patti Smith, Prong, recommended bands at Cobra
Lounge & Empty Bottle, Reggies, Schubas, & Sub-T, Theatre openings, CD releases, and more:

FAMILY FUN: 





Sunday 4/15   Beat Kitchen's Concerts for Kids features The Boogers (Ramones style punk for the punk kin) at noon.   ChiIL Mama's stoked to sponsor the series aimed at birth through 10 year olds with parents.   Infants are free.   Everyone else is just $6!   Win 4 free tickets right here, to see The Boogers.   We pick new winners weekly and have 4 free tickets to all kids' shows at Beat Kitchen and many other venues throughout Chicago.   Then check out ChiIL Mama's YouTube Channel for loads of live Boogers show footage and our exclusive video interview with the band.

*Wait
for Rafflecopter to load up right here (if you've gone through
RSS feed or are scrolling down the blog and don't see it, click on
the actual page title and it should pop right up).   Entries are easy.   Winning rocks!