Full Casting Announced for Steppenwolf Theatre's World Premiere of LEROY AND LUCY October 24 – December 15, 2024

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Full Casting Announced for

Steppenwolf Theatre's World Premiere of 

LEROY AND LUCY

By Ngozi Anyanwu

Directed by Awoye Timpo

Featuring ensemble member Jon Michael Hill with Brittany Bradford

October 24 – December 15, 2024

in Steppenwolf’s in-the-round Ensemble Theater 

The cast of Steppenwolf Theatre’s world premiere of "Leroy and Lucy" includes (l to r) ensemble member Jon Michael Hill with Brittany Bradford.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company, the nation’s premier ensemble theater company, is pleased to present the second production of its 49th season: Ngozi Anyanwu’s world premiere of Leroy and Lucy, a bluesy and seductive play with music, directed by Awoye Timpo, playing October 24 – December 15, 2024 in Steppenwolf’s in-the-round Ensemble Theater in Honor of Helen Zell, 1646 N. Halsted St. in Chicago. Classic Memberships are on sale for Steppenwolf’s 2024/25 season at steppenwolf.org/myseason through September 30, 2024. Single tickets for Leroy and Lucy starting at $20 are now on sale at steppenwolf.org or the Box Office at (312) 335-1650. 

Tony Award-nominated ensemble member Jon Michael Hill (Elementary, Pass Over) returns following his critically acclaimed performance in Steppenwolf’s world premiere of Purpose, joined by Obie Award-winning stage actor Brittany Bradford, also known for her TV roles in Julia, The Watcher and Dead Ringers.

Two lost souls meet at a crossroads, in the dead of night, deep in the Mississippi of it all. With a yearning guitar between them, they tell secrets and conjure a sound once forgotten – a tune pitched with Leroy’s longing and the sweet purr of Lucy’s desires. In this sultry world premiere, the Delta Blues fill the air, the future lies just down the road and we are everywhere and nowhere all at once. 

The creative team includes Andrew Boyce (Scenic Design), Yvonne Miranda (Costume Design), Heather Gilbert (Lighting Design), Connor Wang (Sound Design), Jeremy Jones (Music Director & Composer), Adesola Osakalumi (Choreographer & Cultural Consultant), Arminda Thomas (Dramaturg), Patrick Zakem (Creative Producer), Elise Hausken (Production Manager), JC Clementz, CSA (Casting), Michelle Medvin (Production Stage Manager) and Jaclynn Joslin (Assistant Stage Manager). For full cast and creative team bios, click here.

Production Details:

Location: Steppenwolf’s Ensemble Theater in Honor of Helen Zell, 1646 N. Halsted St., Chicago

Dates: Previews: Thursday, October 24 – Saturday, November 2, 2024

Regular run: Tuesday, November 5 – Sunday, December 15, 2024

Curtain Times: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 pm; Saturdays at 3 pm & 7:30 pm; and Sundays at 3 pm. Please note: there will not 7:30 pm performances on Tuesday, October 29, Wednesday, November 6, Tuesday, November 12, Wednesday, November 13, Thursday, November 14, Tuesday, November 19, Wednesday, November 20, Thursday, November 21, Thursday, November 28 and Tuesday, December 10; there will be an added 2 pm matinee on Wednesday, November 27.

Tickets: Classic Memberships are on sale for Steppenwolf’s 2024/25 season at steppenwolf.org/myseason through September 30, 2024. Single tickets for Leroy and Lucy ($20 - $92) are now on sale at steppenwolf.org and the Box Office at (312) 335-1650. Steppenwolf Flex Memberships are also currently on sale: Black Card Memberships with six tickets for use any time for any production and RED Card Memberships for theatergoers under 30.

Education and Engagement:

Throughout the 2024/25 season, Steppenwolf continues its commitment to the next generation of theatre learners, makers and appreciators with robust education and engagement programming. Programming includes dedicated student matinee performances during four of the five Membership Series productions including Noises Off, Leroy and Lucy, Fool for Love and The Book of Grace, in-school residencies in partnership with Chicago Public schools, workshops, panels and events specifically geared towards teens, as well as professional development trainings and resources for educators. Additionally, Steppenwolf is reimagining their community engagement and will pilot new public programming, continue accessibility programming and offer opportunities for deeper explorations for audiences throughout the season. For additional information about Steppenwolf’s Education and Engagement programming and to register your school for a field trip visit steppenwolf.org/education.

Accessible Performance Dates:

Audio-described and touch tour: Sunday, November 24 at 3 pm (1:30 pm Touch Tour)

Open-captioned: Saturday, November 23 at 3 pm & Thursday, December 5 at 7:30 pm

ASL-interpreted: public performance: Friday, December 6 at 7:30 pm

Artist Biographies:

Brittany Bradford (Lucy) Broadway: Bernhardt/Hamlet. Off-Broadway: The Comeuppance (Obie Award, Signature Theater), Wedding Band (Obie Award, TFANA), Fefu and Her Friends (TFANA), Mac Beth (Hunter Theatre Project), Merrily We Roll Along (Roundabout/Fiasco Theater), TV: Julia (HBO Max), The Watcher (Netflix), The Gilded Age (HBO Max), Dead Ringers (Amazon), Fire Country (CBS), Fear the Walking Dead (AMC), New Amsterdam (NBC). Film: The Same Storm (dir. Peter Hedges). Classix member and HomeBase Theater Collective co-founder. Training: Juilliard.

Jon Michael Hill (Leroy) joined the Steppenwolf Theatre Company ensemble in 2007. Steppenwolf Theatre Company: Purpose, True West, Pass Over, Constellations, Head of Passes, The Hot L Baltimore, The Tempest, Kafka on the Shore, The Unmentionables. Broadway: Superior Donuts, Pass Over. Off-Broadway: The Refuge Plays (New York Theatre Workshop) Pass Over (Lincoln Center). Film: Pass Over, Widows, In the Radiant City, No Pay, Nudity. Television: Upcoming: A Man in Full (Netflix), Elementary (CBS), Detroit 1-8-7 (ABC), Eastbound & Down (HBO), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC) and Person of Interest (CBS).

Ngozi Anyanwu (Playwright) is a playwright, storyteller, and most recently a 2020 Steinberg Playwright Award winner. Her newest play, Last of the Love Letters, premiered at the Atlantic theater fall 2021. Previous productions include Good Grief (Vineyard Theatre in NYC / Center Theatre Group in LA) and The Homecoming Queen (sold-out world premiere run at the Atlantic Theatre). Good Grief was on the Kilroys List 2016 and a semi finalist for the Princess Grace Award, and won the Humanitas Award. The Homecoming Queen was on the Kilroys List 2017 and was a Leah Ryan Finalist. Her play Nike… (Kilroys List 2017) was workshopped at The New Black Fest in conjunction with The Lark and The Strand Festival in conjunction with A.C.T and Space on Ryder Farm. Ngozi also has commissions with NYU, The Old Globe, Two Rivers Theatre, The Atlantic Theatre and Steppenwolf. Anyanwu has also received residencies from LCT3, Space on Ryder Farm, the Djerassi Resident Artists Program, The New Harmony Project, New York Stage and Film and Page 73. She attended Point Park University (BA) and received her MFA in Acting from University of California, San Diego.

Awoye Timpo (Director) is a Brooklyn-based director and producer. Her recent New York credits include Elyria by Deepa Purohit (Atlantic Theater), Wedding Band by Alice Childress (Theatre for a New Audience), In Old Age by Mfoniso Udofia (New York Theatre Workshop), The Loophole by Jay Adana and Zeniba Britt (Public Theater), Carnaval by Nikkole Salter (National Black Theatre), Good Grief by Ngozi Anyanwu (Vineyard Theatre and Audible) and The Homecoming Queen by Ngozi Anyanwu (Atlantic Theater Company). Regionally she has directed The Bluest Eye (Huntington), Pipeline (Studio Theatre), Paradise Blue (Long Wharf), Everybody Black (Actors Theatre of Louisville), School Girls (Berkeley Rep), Jazz (Marin Theatre Company). Other projects include concert performances for independent artists as well as for the NBA, Ndebele Funeral (59E59, Edinburgh, South African Tour), “Black Picture Show” (Artists Space/Metrograph) and Bluebird Memories (Audible). Awoye is a Creative Arts Consultant for the African American Policy Forum and the Founding Producer of CLASSIX, theclassix.org.

Accessibility

As a commitment to make the Steppenwolf experience accessible to everyone, performances featuring American Sign Language Interpretation, Open Captioning and Audio Description are offered during the run of each STC production (see dates above). Assistive listening devices and large-print programs are available for every performance and all our spaces are equipped with an induction hearing loop. Our building features wheelchair accessible seating and restrooms, push-button entrances, a courtesy wheelchair and all-gender restrooms, with accessible counter and table spaces at our bars. For additional information regarding accessibility, visit steppenwolf.org/access or e-mail access@steppenwolf.org.

Sponsor Information

Leroy and Lucy is supported in part by Conagra Brands Foundation. United Airlines is the Official and Exclusive Airline of Steppenwolf. Steppenwolf is also grateful for the significant season support from lead sponsors Allstate Insurance Company, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, Crown Family Philanthropies, Caroline and Keating Crown, Good Chaos, Joyce Foundation, Lefkofsky Family Foundation, Ron and Paula Mallicoat, Northern Trust, Anne and Don Phillips, John Hart and Carol Prins, Robert Rivkin and Cindy Moelis, Shubert Foundation, Inc, Walder Foundation, and Zell Family Foundation. Steppenwolf also acknowledges generous support from premier sponsors Anonymous, ArentFox Schiff, Andrew and Amy Bluhm, Michael and Cathy Brennan, Ann and Richard Carr, Chicago Community Trust, Conagra Brands Foundation, Steven and Nancy Crown, CRC Group, Rich and Margery Feitler, Julius Frankel Foundation, FROST CHICAGO, Goldman Sachs, Shmaila Tahir and Asheesh Goel, Bob and Amy Greenebaum, Kirkland & Ellis, Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, Christopher and Eileen Murphy, The Orlebeke Foundation, Polk Bros. Foundation, Bryan Traubert and Penny Pritzker, Sacks Family Foundation, Smart Family Foundation of Illinois, Gary Sinise Foundation, Elliot A. Stultz, and Vinci Restaurant. Steppenwolf also acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council Agency. This project is partially supported by a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events.  

Steppenwolf Theatre Company is the nation’s premiere Ensemble Theater with 49 members who are among the top actors, playwrights and directors in the field. Thrilling, powerful, groundbreaking productions — from Balm in Gilead and Grapes of Wrath to August: Osage County, Downstate and The Brother/Sister Plays — have made this theatre legendary. Founded in 1976, Steppenwolf started as a group of teens performing in the basement of a church. Today, the company's artistic force remains rooted in the original vision of its founders: an artist-driven theatre, whose vitality is defined by its appetite for bold and innovative work. Every aspect of Steppenwolf is rooted in its Ensemble ethos, from the intergenerational artistic programming to the multi-genre performance series LookOut, to the nationally recognized work of Steppenwolf Education and Engagement which serves nearly 15,000 teens annually. While grounded in the Chicago community, more than 40 original Steppenwolf productions have enjoyed success nationally and internationally, including Broadway, Off-Broadway, London, Sydney, Galway and Dublin. Steppenwolf also holds accolades that include the National Medal of Arts, 12 Tony Awards, and more. Led by Artistic Directors Glenn Davis and Audrey Francis, Executive Director Brooke Flanagan and Board of Trustees Chair, Keating Crown — Steppenwolf continually redefines the landscape of acting and performance.

Steppenwolf’s Mission: Steppenwolf strives to create thrilling, courageous and provocative art in a thoughtful and inclusive environment. We succeed when we disrupt your routine with experiences that spark curiosity, empathy and joy. We invite you to join our ensemble as we navigate, together, our complex world. steppenwolf.org, facebook.com/steppenwolftheatre, twitter.com/steppenwolfthtr and instagram.com/steppenwolfthtr.

World Premiere of Thriller Highway Patrol at Goodman Theatre January 20 – February 18, 2024

 DANA DELANY, DOT-MARIE JONES AND 

THOMAS MURPHY MOLONY CAST IN 

HIGHWAY PATROL 

A GROUND-BREAKING NEW THRILLER CREATED FROM HUNDREDS OF DELANY’S TWEETS AND DIRECT MESSAGES

**CO-CREATED WITH AWARD-WINNING ARTISTS JEN SILVERMAN, DANE LAFFREY AND DIRECTOR MIKE DONAHUE, THE WORLD-PREMIERE PRODUCTION APPEARS 

AT THE GOODMAN JANUARY 20 – FEBRUARY 18, 2024**

***TICKETS ON SALE TODAY!***

Part love story part ghost story—all true story. Emmy Award-winning actor Dana Delany (China Beach, Desperate Housewives) stars in her new thriller at Goodman Theatre this winter, appearing alongside three-time Emmy Award nominee Dot-Marie Jones (Glee’s Coach Beiste) and emerging Chicago actor Thomas Murphy Molony (A Christmas Story, The Musical at Marriott Theatre and Fun Home at Paramount) in the world-premiere production. Using Delany’s digital archives of hundreds of tweets and direct messages, co-creator Jen Silverman arranges and curates the text of the play from exchanges over Twitter—in collaboration with co-creators Dane Laffrey and Mike Donahue, who also directs. Casting is by Lauren Port, CSA. Highway Patrol appears in the 856-seat Albert Theatre January 20 – February 18, 2024. Tickets ($25 – 90; subject to change) are available at GoodmanTheatre.org/Highway or by phone at 312.443.3800.

“We live in an age where a whole lot of people have more meaningful relationships online than they do ‘IRL’. Dana’s brave, extraordinary new piece, which arrives 10 years after her remarkable lived experience, delves into the expansiveness of love, and the frailty that results in our dogged desire to hope for it,” said Goodman Artistic Director Susan V. Booth. “I’m thrilled to welcome her, along with Dot-Marie Jones and Thomas Murphy Molony, to the Goodman stage for this world-premiere production from a handful of deeply talented co-creators.”

Delany met artists Jen Silverman, Mike Donahue and Dane Laffrey while appearing in Silverman’s Collective Rage: A Play in Five Betties at MCC Theater. For the past four years, they have collectively created Highway Patrol.

“Highway Patrol is a true story about an incident in my life that happened while I was appearing in Body of Proof for ABC, who had asked me to go on Twitter to support the show. Though I initially had no interest in Twitter, it was a time when this platform was the new frontier—and I ended up loving it, meeting people I never met, forming my own little niche,” said Dana Delany. “In developing this story for the stage with Jen, Mike and Dane, I think a lot of people will relate to the play in this moment, when so many of us have online relationships and use social media every day. It’s a chance to look at them in a deeper, communal way.”

TIMESTAMP: October, 2012: “@DanaDelany, Are you married? If not, I’d marry you.” When Cam, a 13-year-old fan in a desperate medical situation captures actress Dana Delany’s attention on Twitter, she’s quickly swept into an intense, around-the-clock online friendship. But when Cam starts receiving messages from beyond, Dana is thrust into a world where unexpected revelations raise the question of how far we go to love and be loved.

ABOUT THE CAST AND CREATORS

Dana Delany (Dana) made her mark as Army nurse Colleen McMurphy on ABC-TV’s critically acclaimed series China Beach, for which she received two Emmy Awards and four nominations for Best Dramatic Actress. Over the course of her career, Delany has taken on a number of high-profile television roles, from playing a brilliant medical examiner in ABC’s Body of Proof to starring as Katherine Mayfair on ABC’s Desperate Housewives. She co-starred with Ron Perlman in the Amazon Studios drama Hand of God, played Edith Roosevelt to Aidan Quinn’s TR in The American Guest on HBO and is currently costarring with Sylvester Stallone in the new hit series, Tulsa King on Paramount +. She has also been the voice of Lois Lane on Superman:TAS, The Batman and Justice League. On film she was the voice of Andrea Beaumont in the cult favorite Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and appeared in several features including Light Sleeper, Housesitter, Tombstone and Fly Away Home to name a few. Following her graduation from Wesleyan University, Delany went to New York where she soon debuted on Broadway in Hugh Leonard’s A Life. Critical acclaim in a number of off-Broadway productions including Nicholas Kazan’s Blood Moon led to her arrival in Los Angeles for the west coast production of the controversial drama. Additional theater credits include Translations (Broadway), Much Ado About Nothing at the Old Globe Theatre and the Pulitzer prize-winning play Dinner With Friends, alternating roles in NY, LA and Boston. Delany also starred in the premiere of The Parisian Woman at South Coast Repertory, The Night of the Iguana at A.R.T. and most recently, the premiere of Good Night Nobody at the McCarter Theater.

Dot-Marie Jones (Andi) has received three consecutive Emmy Award nominations (2011, 2012, 2013) for her role as football coach ‘Shannon Beiste’ on FOX’s megahit television show Glee. In its third season, the show received a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series. With an expansive list of diverse film and television credits, Jones is known for her poignant roles including Universal's Bros and Peacock's Killing It.

Thomas Murphy Molony, he/him (Cam) is honored to make his Goodman Theatre debut. Chicago credits include A Christmas Story! (Marriott Theatre) and Fun Home (Paramount Theatre). Television credits include American Rust (Showtime).

Jen Silverman, they/them (Creator and Text Arrangement and Curation) is a playwright, novelist and screenwriter. Plays include Spain (Second Stage Theater); The Moors (Yale Rep, Playwrights Realm); Collective Rage: A Play in 5 Betties (Woolly Mammoth, MCC Theater, Southwark Playhouse London); The Roommate (Humana Festival, Williamstown, Steppenwolf, etc); Witch (Writer’s Theatre, Geffen, Huntington) and Highway Patrol (Goodman). Books include the debut novel We Play Ourselves (named one of the best books of the year by Buzzfeed; a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award), story collection The Island Dwellers (finalist for a PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize), and poetry chapbook Bath (selected by Traci Brimhall for Driftwood Press). Silverman is a three-time MacDowell Fellow, a member of New Dramatists and a Scholar of Note at the American Library in Paris. They wrote The Miranda Obsession as a narrative podcast for Audible, starring Rachel Brosnahan. They also write for television and film, including Tales of the City (Netflix) and Tokyo Vice (HBO/Max). Honors include fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim. Silverman's new novel There’s Going to be Trouble is upcoming from Random House in April 2024. 

Mike Donahue (Creator and Director)’s OSCAR® qualifying debut short film, Troy, premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival and has gone on to screen at another 70 festivals internationally, including the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. It has won numerous awards, including the Jury Award for Best Comedy at Aspen Shortfest 2023, the Audience Award for Best Narrative Short at Outfest 2022 and the Vimeo 'Unofficial Award' for Best US Narrative Short at Sundance. Troy is featured online in The New Yorker’s Screening Room. Donahue and writer Jen Silverman are currently working on their first feature, with Pacific Electric producing. For the past decade, Mike has worked as a theater director, primarily in New York and Los Angeles. Select credits include: the LA premiere of Matthew Lopez’s The Inheritance (Geffen Playhouse); Little Shop of Horrors with MJ Rodriguez, George Salazar and Amber Riley (Pasadena Playhouse); and the World Premieres of Matthew Lopez’s The Legend of Georgia McBride (MCC, The Geffen, Denver Center), Silverman’s Collective Rage (MCC, Woolly Mammoth), and Ana Nogueira’s Which Way To The Stage (MCC).

Dane Laffrey (Creator) is a designer and creative based in New York. On Broadway, his credits include last season’s Parade (2023 Tony for Best Revival of a Musical) and A Christmas Carol, which he co-conceived with Michael Arden as well as designing set and costumes. Other Broadway credits include the 2018 Tony-winning revival of Once on this Island, Deaf West’s Spring Awakening and Sam Shepard’s Fool For Love. Dane also designs the set for Disney’s Hercules (The Public, Paper Mill and upcoming in Hamburg). Laffrey’s work with Jen Silverman and Mike Donahue includes Collective Rage…, Wink, The Moors, The Roommate and Troy, which premiered at the 2022 Tribeca Film Festival and screened at Sundance 2023 as well as 70 other festivals. Laffrey won a 2017 Obie Award for Sustained Excellence in Set and Costume design and has been nominated for 2 Tony Awards, 2 Drama Desk Awards, 9 American Theatre Wing Henry Hewes Design Awards, 4 Ovation Awards (LA) and a Sydney Theatre Award (Australia), as well as numerous regional accolades. danelaffrey.com 

ABOUT GOODMAN THEATRE

Chicago’s theater since 1925, Goodman Theatre is a not-for-profit arts and community organization in the heart of the Loop, distinguished by the excellence and scope of its artistic programming and community engagement. Led by Artistic Director Susan V. Booth and Executive Director/CEO Roche Schulfer, the theater’s artistic priorities include new play development (more than 150 world or American premieres), large-scale musical theater works and reimagined classics. Artists and productions have earner two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards and nearly 200 Joseph Jefferson Awards, among other accolades. The Goodman is the first theater in the world to produce all 10 plays in August Wilson’s “American Century Cycle.” Its longtime annual holiday tradition A Christmas Carol, now in its fifth decade, has created a new generation of theatergoers in Chicago. The Goodman also frequently serves as a production and program partner with national and international companies and Chicago’s Off-Loop theaters.

Using the tools of theatrical practice, the Goodman’s Education and Engagement programs aim to develop generations of citizens who understand and empathize with cultures and stories of diverse voices. The Goodman’s Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement is the home of these programs, which are offered for Chicago youth—85% of whom come from underserved communities—schools and life-long learners.

Goodman Theatre was built on the traditional homelands of the Council of the Three Fires: the Ojibwe, Odawa and Potawatomi Nations. We recognize that many other Nations consider the area we now call Chicago as their traditional homeland—including the Myaamia, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Sac and Fox, Peoria, Kaskaskia, Wea, Kickapoo and Mascouten—and remains home to many Native peoples today. While we believe that our city’s vast diversity should be reflected on the stages of its largest theater, we acknowledge that our efforts have largely overlooked the voices of our Native peoples. This omission has added to the isolation, erasure and harm that Indigenous communities have faced for hundreds of years. We have begun a more deliberate journey towards celebrating Native American stories and welcoming Indigenous communities.

The Goodman was founded by William O. Goodman and his family in honor of their son Kenneth, an important figure in Chicago’s cultural renaissance in the early 1900s. The Goodman family’s legacy lives on through the continued work and dedication of Kenneth’s family, including Albert Ivar Goodman, who with his late mother, Edith-Marie Appleton, contributed the necessary funds for the creation of the new Goodman center in 2000.

Julie Danis is Chair of Goodman Theatre’s Board of Trustees, Lorrayne Weiss is Women’s Board President and Kelli Garcia is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals.

American Blues Theater announces casting for The World Premiere of Alma September 22 – October 22, 2022

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar 

September 22 – October 22, 2022  

By Benjamin Benne

Directed by Ana Velazquez

Featuring Jazmín Corona and Bryanna Ciera Colón  

American Blues Theater, under the continued leadership of Artistic Director Gwendolyn Whiteside, announces the World Premiere production of Alma, in cooperation with Center Theatre Group. The production will run at Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, 5779 Ridge Avenue in Chicago, September 22 – October 22, 2022. I'll checking out the opening performance September 29th, so check back soon for my full review. 

Tickets will be available beginning September 1 at (773) 654-3103 and www.amercanbluestheater.com.

Alma is the winner of the Blue Ink Award & National Latinx Playwriting Award and is presented in association with Chicago Latino Theater Alliance as part of the 5th Annual Destinos Festival.

Alma crossed the border 17 years ago in search of the American Dream. Now, on the eve of her U.S.-born daughter Angel’s SAT, Alma believes all their sacrifices and hard work will pay off. There’s one problem – Angel has very different plans for her future. Told in real time, playwright Benjamin Benne’s Alma is a heartfelt and complex exploration of the immigrant generation and their first-generation children.

The cast is: Jazmín Corona (Alma) and Bryanna Ciera Colón (Angel).

The creative team is: Tara A. Houston (scenic design), Rachel West* (lighting design / master electrician), Lily Walls* (costume design), Eric Backus* (sound design), Verity Neely (properties design), Gaby Labotka (fight & intimacy direction), Manny Ortiz* (technical director), Ana Maria Campoy (Spanish translations), and Shandee Vaughan* (production & stage manager).

*Denotes Ensemble Member or Artistic Affiliate of American Blues Theater

 

About the Artists

BENJAMIN BENNE he/him (Playwright) is newly graduated from the David Geffen/Yale School of Drama MFA Playwriting program and represented by Paradigm Talent Agency. He is a member of the Dorothy Strelsin New American Writers Group at Primary Stages and currently under commission from South Coast Repertory Theatre and Seattle Repertory Theatre. His plays include Alma (Center Theatre Group & ArtsWest; forthcoming: Curious Theatre Company & Central Square Theater) and In His Hands (Mosaic Theater Company). His work has been developed by the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, Playwrights Realm, The Lark, The Public, Roundabout, Denver Center, The Old Globe, Two River, Boston Court Pasadena, New Harmony Project, SPACE on Ryder Farm, Pillsbury House Theatre, Parley, among many others. Benjamin has been the recipient of Portland Stage’s Clauder Competition Gold Prize, Arizona Theatre Company’s National Latinx Playwriting Award, Kennedy Center/KCACTF Latinx Playwriting Award, American Blues Theater’s Blue Ink Playwriting Award, Chesley/Bumbalo Playwriting Award, Playwrights’ Center’s McKnight Fellowship in Playwriting and Many Voices Fellowship. www.benjaminbenne.com

ANA VELAZQUEZ she/her (Director) is a Mexican American director and teaching artist in her native Chicago. Her directing experience is deeply tied to new play development and is often in collaboration with playwrights exploring underrepresented stories. Her directing credits include A Los Angeles Mural for Wrights of Spring Festival at The Theatre School at DePaul; I Come From Arizona staged reading for Vittum Theater’s grand reopening at Adventure Stage Chicago; La Ofrenda at Adventure Stage Chicago; Alma for Blue Ink Festival at American Blues Theater; El Pico for A Night of New Works at Something Marvelous; Macha for Tutterow Fellows Showcase at Chicago Dramatists; Oak & Pallets for Peacebook at Collaboraction; Los Frikis for El Semillero at Victory Gardens Theater; Meet Juan(ito) Doe (co-directed) at Free Street Theater; Everybody Loves Big E for Our Chicago Project at Collaboraction; Art House and The Scream for Scrapbook 2017 at Chicago Dramatists; Epic Tales with FEMelanin for Kid’s Fringe 2016 and Raisin Puffs for Black Lives, Black Words at Black Ensemble Theatre. She received the 2018 Alta Award for Outstanding Director of Play for Meet Juan(ito) Doe (co-directed). Ana is a PlayMakers Laboratory company member. Her teaching artist experience includes Disney Musicals in Schools and PlayBuild Youth Intensive Program with Goodman Theatre; TimeLine South Living History Program with Timeline Theatre and Young Playwrights Festival with Pegasus Theatre. Ana recently completed her second residency with Teatro Comunal, a new youth program created through We the Many with Arts Midwest and The Honeywell Foundation in Wabash & North Manchester, Indiana. She received her BA in Theatre from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

JAZMÍN CORONA she/her (Alma) previously appeared in Hurricane Diane (Theater Wit); Zulema (Goodman/Sones de Mexico); Roe (Goodman Theatre); Shrew’d and Macbeth (First Folio Theatre); I’m Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter and The Compass (u/s, Steppenwolf Theatre); 1776 (Porchlight Music Theatre); Women of 4G (Babes With Blades); A Work Of Art (Chicago Dramatists); Two Mile Hollow (First Floor Theater); Gender Breakdown (Collaboraction); Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Christmas Goose (Raven Theatre). TV credits include Chicago Fire (NBC). 

BRYANNA CIERA COLÓN she/her (Angel) is making her American Blues Theater debut in ALMA as Angel. The Chicago based performer made her national tour debut in the hit holiday musical The Elf on The Shelf: A Christmas Musical (Ella) fresh out of high school. She then went on to do In the Heights (Yolanda, Nina US, Ensemble) at the Arts Center of Costal Carolina on Hilton Head Island right after. Some of her other credits include episodes in the critically acclaimed NBC TV series Chicago Fire and the FOX TV series The Big Leap.

Dates:  Previews September 22-25, 2022

Opens September 28 and 29, 2022

Runs through October 22, 2022

Schedule:        

Thursdays: 7:30pm

Fridays: 7:30pm

Saturdays: 3:00pm and 7:30pm

Sundays: 2:30pm

 

Location: Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, 5779 Ridge Avenue in Chicago

Ticket prices: $25-$45

Box Office: Buy online at www.amercanbluestheater.com or (773) 654-3103

Group Sales discounts and Blue Card Memberships available now by calling (773) 654-3103 or visiting www.amercanbluestheater.com

About American Blues

Winner of the American Theatre Wing’s prestigious National Theatre Company Award, American Blues Theater is a premier arts organization with an intimate environment that patrons, artists, and all Chicagoans call home. American Blues Theater explores the American identity through the plays it produces and communities it serves.

The diverse and multi-generational artists have established the second-oldest professional Equity Ensemble theater in Chicago. As of 2022, the theater and artists received 221 Joseph Jefferson Awards and nominations that celebrate excellence in Chicago theater and 44 Black Theatre Alliance Awards. The artists are honored with Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize nominations, Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Emmy Awards and numerous other accolades.   

Casting Announced for Broken Nose Theatre's AFTER THE BLAST - May 13 – June 11, 2022

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar 

 Broken Nose Theatre

Announces Casting for Chicago Premiere of

AFTER THE BLAST

Written by Zoe Kazan

Directed by Ensemble Member JD Caudill

May 13 – June 11, 2022 at The Den Theatre

 

PHOTO CREDIT: The cast of Broken Nose Theatre’s Chicago premiere of After The Blast includes (top, l to r) Kim Boler, Ruben Carrazana and Teresa Kuruvilla (bottom, l to r) Arielle Leverett, David W. Lipschutz and Ana Ortiz-Monasterio Draa.

Broken Nose Theatre, one of Chicago’s premier Pay-What-You-Can theatre companies, is pleased to announce casting for its Chicago premiere of Zoe Kazan’s smart and incisive sci-fi drama After The Blast, directed by ensemble member JD Caudill.

The cast includes ensemble members Kim Boler*, Teresa Kuruvilla* and Arielle Leverett* with Ruben Carrazana, David W. Lipschutz and Ana Ortiz-Monasterio Draa.

After The Blast, will play May 13 – June 11, 2022 at BNT’s resident home, The Den Theatre (2A), 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. Tickets are currently available at brokennosetheatre.com and thedentheatre.com. Tickets for all Broken Nose Theatre performances are “Pay-What-You-Can,” allowing patrons to set their own price. I'll be out for the press performance May 15th, so check back then for my full review. 

Generations after a global disaster has driven humankind into underground cities, partners Anna and Oliver are hoping to have a child – even though Anna's struggles with depression may prevent them from gaining the government approval needed to become parents. But when Oliver brings home a small robot – a new companion they name "Arthur" – their lives are changed forever. Zoe Kazan's smart and incisive play asks, "When the future seems bleak, how do we form bonds and build lives in the face of uncertainty?"

BNT Artistic Director E.M. Davis and Managing Director Rose Hamill comment, "Our ensemble immediately took to this story when we read it two years ago – but after everything we've all been through in that intervening time, what playwright Zoe Kazan has to say about isolation, connection through technology, climate change and pursuing parenthood in an uncertain future has only deepened our appreciation for this excellent play. Bringing puppetry to the BNT stage for the very first time to depict our protagonist's robotic companion, ensemble member JD Caudill and the fantastic production team will bring to life this story that begs the question, 'When outside circumstances have driven us underground and apart, how far will we go to maintain the well-being of our closest loved ones?’” 

The production team includes Therese Ritchie* (scenic design), Jessica Van Winkle (costume design), Cat Davis* (lighting design), Rae Delali (sound design), Andrew "AJ" Morley (props design), Jabberwocky Marionettes (puppet design), Jen Mickleson (intimacy consultant), Rose Hamill* (production manager), Evan Sposato (technical director), Adriana Rodriguez (stage manager) and Jacob Shaffer (assistant stage manager).

 

COVID guidelines: In the interest of keeping patrons and staff safe, and in accordance with the League of Chicago Theatres, The Den will continue to require proof of vaccination to attend any event for the indefinite future. While masking is no longer required, The Den strongly encourages patrons to continue wearing a mask when not eating or drinking. For the most current information on The Den’s COVID guidelines, visit thedentheatre.com/covid19-policy.

 

Cast (in alphabetical order): Kim Boler* (Anna), Ruben Carrazana (Oliver), Teresa Kuruvilla* (Carrie), Arielle Leverett* (Arthur, Sam), David W. Lipschutz (Patrick, Lowes) and Ana Ortiz-Monasterio Draa (Margarita).

 *Denotes Broken Nose Theatre ensemble members

Understudies: Taylor B. Hill, Julie Mitre, Christian Siebert, Faiz Siddique and Carlos Wagener-Sobrero.

 

Location: The Den Theatre (2A), 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago

Dates: Previews: Friday, May 13 at 7:30 pm and Saturday, May 14 at 7:30 pm

Press Opening: Sunday, May 15 at 3 pm

Opening: Monday, May 16 at 7:30 pm

Regular run: Thursday, May 19 – Saturday, June 11, 2011

Curtain Times: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm; Sundays at 3 pm

Industry night: Monday, May 30 at 7:30 pm

Understudy night: Wednesday, June 8 at 7:30 pm

Tickets: Pay-what-you-can. Tickets are currently available at brokennosetheatre.com and thedentheatre.com.

About the Artists

Zoe Kazan’s (Playwright) first full-length play, Absalom, was performed at the Actor’s Theatre of Louisville as a part of the 2009 Humana Festival, and is now available through Dramatists Play Service. Her second play, This Thing of Darkness, was commissioned by Manhattan Theatre Club. As an actress, Zoe has appeared on Broadway in A Behanding in Spokane, Come Back Little Sheba and The Seagull, which garnered her a Drama Desk Award nomination. Her Off-Broadway acting credits include Angels in America (parts 1 and 2); The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, starring Cynthia Nixon; Things We Want; and 100 Saints You Should Know (Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel nominations). Her film work includes Revolutionary Road; The Private Lives of Pippa Lee; Me and Orson Welles; It’s Complicated; HappyThankYouMorePlease; Meek’s Cutoff; and The Exploding Girl (Best Actress, Tribeca Film Festival). Zoe received a BA from Yale University.

JD Caudill (Director) is a queer director, literary manager and music director whose recent direction includes Southern Comfort (Pride Films and Plays); Bechdel Fests 4-6 + 8, Book of Shadows (Broken Nose Theatre), and other plays at The New Coordinates, Haven, The Runaways Lab Theatre, New American Folk Theatre, Hobo Junction, 20% Theatre, Paragon Theatre, Otherworld Theatre, Arc Theatre, 16th Street Theatre, Stage Left, The Syndicates and Red Theater. They are a proud ensemble member of Hell in a Handbag, where they have music directed countless shows, and literary manager at Broken Nose Theatre.

About Broken Nose Theatre

Broken Nose Theatre is a Pay-What-You-Can theatre company. Founded in 2012, BNT was the 2018 recipient of the Emerging Theater Award, presented by the League of Chicago Theatres and Broadway in Chicago. The company has produced and developed 30 full-length plays (including 12 Chicago or world premieres) and over 60 new short plays through our 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 brokennosetheatre.com. 

 

CASTING ANNOUNCED: Goodman's SCHOOL GIRLS; OR, THE AFRICAN MEAN GIRLS PLAY AND AMERICAN MARIACHI

ChiIL Live Shows on our radar

CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR TWO SPRING 2020 CHICAGO PREMIERES: 

SCHOOL GIRLS; 

OR, THE AFRICAN MEAN GIRLS PLAY 

BY JOCELYN BIOH, DIRECTED BY LILI-ANNE BROWN AND 

AMERICAN MARIACHI 

BY JOSÉ CRUZ GONZÁLEZ, DIRECTED BY HENRY GODINEZ

***PRODUCTION DATES FOR THE OUTSIDERS SHIFT BY ONE WEEK, RUNNING JUNE 26 – AUGUST 9***

Goodman Theatre announces casting for two upcoming Chicago premiere productions in its 2019/2020 Season. Jocelyn Bioh’s School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play comes to the Goodman following its acclaimed off-Broadway engagement in a new production directed by Lili-Anne Brown (Lottery Day); and American Mariachi, directed by Goodman Resident Artistic Associate Henry Godinez in a co-production with Dallas Theater Center, featuring live mariachi music on stage. School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play appears March 7 – April 12, 2020; tickets ($20-$70) are on sale now. American Mariachi appears April 25 – May 31; tickets ($20-$70) go on sale February 28 at 10am. Both productions appear in the 856-seat Albert Theatre. For tickets, visit GoodmanTheatre.org, call 312.443.3800 or purchase at the Goodman Theatre box office (170 N. Dearborn).

In addition, the previously-announced performance dates for The Outsiders move by one week due to a shift in the production schedule—now appearing June 26 – August 9. Directed by Tony Award nominee Liesl Tommy, this new musical is adapted from S.E. Hinton’s seminal book and Francis Ford Coppola’s iconic film, with a book by Pulitzer Prize finalist Adam Rapp and featuring a score by Austin-based rock duo Jamestown Revival (Jonathan Clay and Zach Chance) and Justin Levine. The Outsiders appears June 26 – August 9, 2020; tickets are available now for Groups of 15+ (email Groups@GoodmanTheatre.org) and through Goodman Membership only (visit GoodmanTheatre.org/Memberships); individual tickets on go sale March 6. The Outsiders appears in the 856-seat Albert Theatre. 

Goodman Theatre is grateful for the support of its sponsors, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. (School Girls Major Corporate Sponsor), ITW and PWC (School Girls Corporate Sponsor Partners).

ABOUT THE CASTS



School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play 
By Jocelyn Bioh
Directed by Lili-Anne Brown    
March 7- April 12, 2020

In the Albert Theatre

This biting and buoyant comedy, “ferociously entertaining, as heartwarming as it is hilarious” (The Hollywood Reporter), arrives in Chicago on the heels of a critically acclaimed, extended run Off-Broadway. As the reigning queen bee at Ghana’s most exclusive boarding school sets her sights on the Miss Universe pageant, a new student unexpectedly changes the game. Don’t miss this “nasty-teen comedy, wonderfully refreshed and deepened” (The New York Times) that spotlights the universal similarities—and glaring differences—of teenage girls around the globe.

Adia Alli…………………………………………Gifty
Katherine Lee Bourné…………..……………Ama
Kyrie Courter………………..…………………Ericka Boafo 
Ashley Crowe……………..…….……………..Nana
Ciera Dawn………....…...……..………………Paulina Sarpong
Tiffany Renee Johnson………….....………..Mercy
Tania Richard………...………………………..Headmistress Francis
Lanise Antoine Shelley……………….....…..Eloise Amponsah

The creative team includes Yu Shibagaki (Set Design), Samantha C. Jones (Costume Design), Jason Lynch (Lighting Design) and Justin Ellington (Sound Design). Alden Vasquez is the Production Stage Manager.




American Mariachi
By José Cruz González
Directed by Henry Godínez
April 25 - May 31, 2020

In the Albert Theatre

A Co-Production with Dallas Theater Center
Familia, amor and tradición are at the heart of this hilarious and heartwarming new comedy about the freedom to dream big. Lucha spends her days caring for her ailing mother, but longs to shake up her 1970s home life. When a forgotten record album sparks her mother’s memory, Lucha and her cousin strike upon a radical idea: to create an all-female mariachi band. Infused with live mariachi music, this “big-hearted, musical tug at the heartstrings,” (Denver Post) reveals how music and love can make just about anything possible.

Gloria Vivica Benavides……..……..……..……..Soyla 
Gigi Cervantes………………………..…….……..Amalia 
Satya Chavez……………….….……..…..……….Gabby 
Tiffany Solano Desena……………...……..……..Lucha 
Juan Díes…………..…………………………….…Musician
Lucy Godínez...………………….……….…….….Boli
Ricardo Gutiérrez……….….……………………..Federico 
Molly Hernández…………….....…………….…...Isabel 
Erendira Izguerra…….………..………….…..….Musician/Tía Carmen
Zacbe Pichardo……..……………………..……..Musician
Victor Pichardo………………….………….…….Musician
Rudy Piñón………………....….……...…………..Musician
Bobby Plasencia………...…..…………….……..Mino 
Christopher Llewyn Ramirez………………..….Mateo

The creative team includes Linda Buchanan (Set Design), Danielle Nieves (Costume Design), Maria-Cristina Fusté (Lighting Design) and Ray Nardelli (Sound Design). Victor Pichardo is the Music Director.

ABOUT DALLAS THEATER CENTER

One of the leading regional theaters in the country and the 2017 Regional Theatre Tony Award® Recipient, Dallas Theater Center (DTC) performs to an audience of more than 100,000 North Texas residents annually. Founded in 1959, DTC is now a resident company of the AT&T Performing Arts Center and presents its Mainstage season at the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre, designed by REX/OMA, Joshua Prince-Ramus and Rem Koolhaas and at its original home, the Kalita Humphreys Theater, the only freestanding theater designed and built by Frank Lloyd Wright. DTC is one of only two theaters in Texas that is a member of the League of Resident Theatres, the largest and most prestigious non-profit professional theater association in the country. Under the leadership of Enloe/Rose Artistic Director Kevin Moriarty and Managing Director Jeffrey Woodward, DTC produces a six-play season of classics, musicals and new plays and an annual production of A Christmas Carol; extensive education programs, including the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award-winning Project Discovery, SummerStage and partnerships with Southern Methodist University’s Meadows School of the Arts and Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts; and many community collaborations. In 2017, in collaboration with SMU Meadows, DTC launched Public Works Dallas, a groundbreaking community engagement and participatory theater project designed to deliberately blur the line between professional artists and community members, culminating in an annual production featuring more than 200 Dallas citizens performing a Shakespeare play. Throughout its history, DTC has produced many new works, including The Texas Trilogy by Preston Jones in 1978; Robert Penn Warren’s All the King’s Men, adapted by Adrian Hall, in 1986; and recent premieres of Miller, Mississippi by Boo Killebrew; Hood: The Robin Hood Musical Adventure by Douglas Carter Beane and Lewis Flinn; Bella: An American Tall Tale by Kirsten Childs; Clarkston by Samuel D. Hunter and Moonshine: That Hee Haw Musical by Robert Horn, Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally. Dallas Theater Center gratefully acknowledges the support of our season sponsors: Texas Instruments, American Airlines, Lexus and NBC 5.

TICKETS AND DISCOUNTS

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

Audiences can save more with Goodman Theatre’s MEMBERSHIP packages—including Classic, 6-play, 4-play or 2-play packages; Choice, a personalized package that can include both Owen and Albert productions; and Whenever—the ultimate flexible package, to be used at any time during the season. Goodman Members receive unlimited ticket exchanges, discounted parking, 15% savings at the Goodman bar and gift shop, restaurant discounts and more. To purchase a Membership visit GoodmanTheatre.org/Memberships or call the Box Office at 312.443.3800.

ABOUT GOODMAN THEATRE 
Chicago’s theater since 1925, Goodman Theatre is a not-for-profit arts and community organization in the heart of the Loop, distinguished by the excellence and scope of its artistic programming and community engagement. Led by Artistic Director Robert Falls and Executive Director Roche Schulfer, the theater’s artistic priorities include new play development (more than 150 world or American premieres), large scale musical theater works and reimagined classics. Artists and productions have earned two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards and more than 160 Jeff Awards, among other accolades. The Goodman is the first theater in the world to produce all 10 plays in August Wilson’s “American Century Cycle.” Its longtime annual holiday tradition A Christmas Carol, now in its fourth decade, has created a new generation of theatergoers in Chicago. The Goodman also frequently serves as a production and program partner with national and international companies and Chicago’s Off-Loop theaters.
As a cultural and community organization invested in quality, diversity and community, Goodman Theatre is committed to using the art of theater for a better Chicago. Using the tools of the theatrical profession, the Goodman’s Education and Engagement programs aim to develop generations of citizens who understand the cultures and stories of diverse voices. The Goodman’s Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement is the home of these programs, which are offered free of charge for Chicago youth—85% of whom come from underserved communities—schools and life-long learners.

Goodman Theatre was founded by William O. Goodman and his family in honor of their son Kenneth, an important figure in Chicago’s cultural renaissance in the early 1900s. The Goodman family’s legacy lives on through the continued work and dedication of Kenneth’s family, including Albert Ivar Goodman, who with his late mother, Edith-Marie Appleton, contributed the necessary funds for the creation of the new Goodman center in 2000.

Today, Goodman Theatre leadership also includes the distinguished members of the Artistic Collective: Brian Dennehy, Rebecca Gilman, Henry Godinez, Dael Orlandersmith, Steve Scott, Kimberly Senior, Chuck Smith, Regina Taylor, Henry Wishcamper and Mary Zimmerman. David W. Fox, Jr. is Chairman of Goodman Theatre’s Board of Trustees, Denise Stefan Ginascol is Women’s Board President and Megan McCarthy Hayes is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals.

TICKETS ON SALE AND CASTING ANNOUNCED: Steppenwolf's The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington and Catch as Catch Can

ChiIL Live Shows on our radar

The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of 

Miz Martha Washington

By James Ijames 

and Catch as Catch Can

By Mia Chung

Chicago Native and SNL Star Nora Dunn to make Steppenwolf Debut in …Miz Martha alongside Ensemble Member Celeste M. Cooper

Ensemble Member Gary Cole Returns to the Stage and Ensemble Member Amy Morton to Direct Catch As Catch Can

Steppenwolf Theatre Company announced complete casting for two productions today: The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington by James Ijames, directed by Whitney White (April 2 – May 17, 2020); and Catch as Catch Can by Mia Chung, which also announced ensemble member Amy Morton as director (June 4 – July 26, 2020). 

Single tickets ($35 - $93) to The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington go on sale this Friday, January 31 at 11am through Audience Services at 312-335-1650 or steppenwolf.org. Presale access is now available for Members. To learn more about Membership, call 312-335-1650 or visit steppenwolf.org/memberships.

Chicago Premiere 

The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington

By James Ijames 

Directed by Whitney White 

Featuring ensemble member Celeste M. Cooper 

April 2 – May 17, 2020 

In the Downstairs Theatre

The cast features (pictured top row L to R) previously announced ensemble member Celeste M. Cooper (Doll) who will be joined by Nora Dunn (Martha Washington), (pictured bottom row L to R) Sydney Charles (Priscilla), Nikki Crawford (Ann Dandridge), Carl Clemons-Hopkins (Davy), Victor Musoni (William) and Travis Turner (Sucky Boy).

The recently widowed “Mother of America” lies helpless in her Mount Vernon bed, ravaged by illness and attended to by the very enslaved people who are free the moment she dies. The form-shifting fever dream that follows takes us deep into the ugly, uncomfortable and thorny ramifications of America’s original sin. Both fantastical and fraught with cruel reality, this Chicago premiere from a daring new voice pulls no punches as it puts our idols, and ourselves, on trial.

Playwright and Director Bios


James Ijames is a Philadelphia-based performer and playwright. Ijames’s plays have been produced by Flashpoint Theater Company, Orbiter 3, Theatre Horizon (Philadelphia, PA), The National Black Theatre (NYC) and Ally Theatre (Washington, D.C.), among others. He is the recipient of the 2011 F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Artist and has won two Barrymore Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Play and Outstanding Direction of a Play for The Brothers Size. Ijames is an 2011 Independence Foundation Fellow, a 2015 Pew Fellow for Playwriting, the 2015 winner of the Terrance McNally New Play Award for WHITE, the 2015 Kesselring Honorable Mention Prize winner for …Miz Martha, the 2018 Kesselring Prize Winner for Kill Move Paradise and a 2017 recipient of the Whiting Award. His play WHITE will be produced by Definition Theatre Company as part of Steppenwolf’s LookOut Series, April 17 – May 24, 2020 in the 1700 Theatre. More info here.


Whitney White is a director and musician originally from Chicago based in Brooklyn, New York. Recent work includes What to Send Up When It Goes Down (The Movement, NYT Critic’s Pick), Jump (Rolling NNPN, PlayMakers Rep), Canyon (IAMA Theatre), This Land Was Made (Vineyard Theatre Lab), Rita Tambien Rita (Julliard), Othello (Trinity Rep) and Br’er Cotton (Endstation). Her original piece Macbeth in Stride was part of the 2019 Under the Radar Festival at The Public, and her original concert-play Definition is currently in development with Ars Nova and the Bushwick Starr. Associate Directing credits include Marvin’s Room (Broadway), If I Forget (Roundabout) and Othello (NYTW). White is a recipient of the Susan Stroman Directing Award, an Associate Artist at The Roundabout Theatre and was recently a 2050 Fellow at the New York Theatre Workshop. She is currently in residency with the Drama League as part of their Next Wave Residency where she is developing an African American production of Anton Chekov’s Three Sisters set to original music, and Colt Coeur. MFA Acting: Brown University/Trinity Rep, BA: Northwestern University. whitney-white.com

…Miz Martha creative team includes Clint Ramos (Scenic Design), Izumi Inaba (Costume Design), Amith Chandrashaker (Lighting Design), Justin Ellington (Sound Design), Patrick Zakem (Artistic Producer), Tom Pearl (Director of Production); JC Clementz, CSA (Casting Director), Laura D. Glenn (Production Stage Manager), Mary Hungerford (Assistant Stage Manager). For full cast and creative team bios visit https://www.steppenwolf.org/tickets--events/seasons/2019-20/miz-martha/ .

Chicago Premiere 
Catch as Catch Can
By Mia Chung 
Directed by ensemble member Amy Morton 
Featuring ensemble members Gary Cole, Audrey Francis and Tim Hopper 
July 4 – July 26, 2020 
In the Downstairs Theatre

All Steppenwolf ensemble member cast features (L to R): Gary Cole, Audrey Francis and Tim Hopper.

Two blue collar New England families grapple with a spiraling crisis that threatens not just their relationships, but their very identities. Three actors take on the six roles, crossing both generation and gender, upending the kitchen sink drama in what will surely be a theatrical tour-de-force. A distinctive Chicago premiere by the gifted writer Mia Chung.

Playwright and Director Bios

Mia Chung’s Catch as Catch Can received its world premiere at Page 73 in New York in 2018. Chung’s You for Me for You premiered at The Royal Court (London), the National Theatre Company of Korea (Seoul) and Woolly Mammoth Theatre (DC); and is published by Bloomsbury Methuen. Her awards, commissions and residencies include Clubbed Thumb, EST/Sloan, Huntington Theatre, Ma-Yi Writers Lab NEA, NYTW, Playwrights' Center, Playwrights Realm, South Coast Rep, SPACE at Ryder Farm and New Dramatists. She received a 2019 Helen Merrill Playwriting Award.






Amy Morton has been a Steppenwolf ensemble member since 1997 and directed several Steppenwolf productions including Guards at the Taj (also at Atlantic Theater Company), Clybourne Park, American Buffalo, Dublin Carol and The Pillowman, among others. She has performed in more than 30 Steppenwolf productions, including the Taylor Mac's Hir, Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (also on Broadway, Tony nomination) and August: Osage County (also at the National Theatre and Broadway, Tony nomination). Currently she stars as Trudy Platt in the NBC drama series Chicago P.D.

Catch As Catch Can creative team includes Andrew Boyce (Set Design), Jessica Pabst (Costume Design), Yuki Nakase (Lighting Design), Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen (Sound Design), Jonathan Berry (Artistic Producer), JC Clementz, CSA (Casting Director), Laura D. Glenn (Production Stage Manager) and Jaclynn Joslin (Assistant Stage Manager). 

Memberships
Classic Memberships starting as low as $100 guarantee seats, offer early access to special events, invitations to behind-the-scenes events and special discounts at the theatre and in the neighborhood. Stay tuned for information about becoming a member to the 20/21 season; discounted packages for students and teachers and accessible packages are also offered.

Flexible Membership options include the Black Card, which starts as low as $180. With a Black Card, you receive six ticket credits to use whenever and however you want for an entire year. Use all six tickets before that year is up? Reload your card to keep those experiences coming.

Under 30? Join Steppenwolf RED Card for just $100 and enjoy the same six flexible tickets (that’s less than $17 a credit and almost 80% off single ticket prices). Black and RED cardholders receive exclusive discounts, special perks and insider access. For more information, visit steppenwolf.org/memberships.

Accessibility
Committed to making the Steppenwolf experience accessible to everyone, performances featuring American Sign Language Interpretation, Open Captioning and Audio Description are offered during the run of each play. Assistive listening devices and large-print programs are available for every performance and the Downstairs and 1700 Theatres are each equipped with an induction hearing loop. All theaters feature wheelchair accessible seating and restrooms, and Front Bar features a push-button entrance, all-gender restrooms and accessible counter and table spaces.

Visitor information
Steppenwolf is located at 1650 N Halsted St near all forms of public transportation, bike racks and Divvy bike stands. The parking facility ($15 or $17, cash or card) is located just south of our theater at 1624 N Halsted. Valet parking service ($15 cash) is available directly in front of the main entrance starting at 5pm on weeknights, 1pm on weekends and at 12noon before Wednesday matinees. Limited street and lot parking are also available. For last minute questions and concerns, patrons can call the Steppenwolf Parking Hotline at 312.335.1774.

Sponsor information
The Most Spectacularly Lamentable Trial of Miz Martha Washington is sponsored by PwC. Catch as Catch Can is sponsored by Ameriprise Financial. United Airlines is the Official and Exclusive Airline of Steppenwolf.

Front Bar: Coffee and Drinks
Connected to the main lobby is Steppenwolf’s own Front Bar: Coffee and Drinks, offering an inviting space to grab a drink, have a bite, or meet up with friends and collaborators, day or night. Open Tuesdays – Sundays, Front Bar serves locally roasted coffee and espresso by Passion House Coffee Roasters and features food by The Goddess and Grocer. The menu focuses on fresh, accessible fare, featuring grab-and-go salads and sandwiches for lunch and adding shareable small plates and desserts for evening and post show service. front-bar.com

Steppenwolf Theatre Company
Steppenwolf Theatre Company is the nation’s premier ensemble theater. Formed by a collective of actors in 1976, the ensemble members represent a remarkable cross-section of actors, directors and playwrights. Thrilling and powerful productions from Balm in Gilead and August: Osage County to MS. BLAKK FOR PRESIDENT—and accolades that include the National Medal of Arts and 12 Tony Awards—have made the theater legendary. Steppenwolf produces hundreds of performances and events annually in its three spaces: the 515-seat Downstairs Theatre, the 299-seat Upstairs Theatre and the 80-seat 1700 Theatre. Artistic programming includes a seven-play season; a two-play Steppenwolf for Young Adults season; Visiting Company engagements; and LookOut, a multi-genre performances series. Education initiatives include the nationally recognized work of Steppenwolf for Young Adults, which engages 15,000 participants annually from Chicago’s diverse communities; the esteemed School at Steppenwolf; and Professional Leadership Programs for arts administration training. While firmly grounded in the Chicago community, nearly 40 original Steppenwolf productions have enjoyed success both nationally and internationally, including Broadway, Off-Broadway, London, Sydney, Galway and Dublin. Anna D. Shapiro is the Artistic Director and David Schmitz is the Executive Director. Eric Lefkofsky is Chair of Steppenwolf’s Board of Trustees.

Steppenwolf's mission
Steppenwolf strives to create thrilling, courageous and provocative art in a thoughtful and inclusive environment. We succeed when we disrupt your routine with experiences that spark curiosity, empathy and joy. We invite you to join our ensemble as we navigate, together, our complex world.

Steep Theatre Casting Announced for The Leopard Play, or sad songs for lost boys

ChiIL Live Shows on our radar

The Leopard Play, or sad songs for lost boys

By Isaac Gomez

Directed by Laura Alcalá Baker

January 24 – February 29, 2020

Here at ChiIL Live Shows, we're excited for the upcoming Isaac Gomez Commission at Steep Theatre. He's a favorite Chicago playwright of ours, and this year I got to know him personally when I had the honor of being accepted for a playwriting intensive he co-led. I'll be out for the press opening, January 24th, so check back soon for my full review.


Isaac Gomez

All families have secrets, but some live in an underbelly too dark to even whisper about. After ten years of walking away, Son returns to his home along the U.S./Mexican border searching for answers about his uncle’s mysterious death, but what he finds there are the men he tried to escape and the memories he thought he left behind. The Leopard Play, or sad songs for lost boys is an excavation of truth amidst lies, intimacy amidst violence, and a reckoning of learning how to love the very thing you hate the most. 

Laura Alcalá Baker will direct Steep’s second commissioned play, Isaac Gomez’ The Leopard Play, or sad songs for lost boys, opening January 24. Gomez has quickly become one of Chicago’s, and the nation’s, most exciting playwrights with productions being staged throughout the country. Alcalá Baker and Gomez recently collaborated on the world premiere production of his the way she spoke, and both are making their Steep Theatre debuts.

The Leopard Play, or sad songs for lost boys will feature Steep Company Member Brandon Rivera with Sebastian Arboleda, Alec Coles Perez, Eduardo Curley-Carrillo, Arash Fakhrabadi, Dennis Garcia, Victor Maraña, and Juan Muñoz, all making their Steep debuts.

This new work is the fifth Steep world premiere in as many years. Steep has premiered work from Hamish Linklater and notable Chicago playwrights Alex Lubischer, Calamity West, Ike Holter, and now Gomez. “It’s been a dream to collaborate with Isaac throughout this development process,” said Artistic Director Peter Moore. “He and Laura have an inspiring partnership and they’ve assembled a brilliant team to bring this powerful story to life.”

About the Playwright
Isaac Gomez is an award-winning Chicago-based playwright originally from El Paso, Texas / Ciudad Juárez, Mexico. His play La Ruta received its world premiere at Steppenwolf Theater Company this past Winter. His one-woman show the way she spoke premiered Off-Broadway at the Minetta Lane Theatre (produced by Audible) in Summer 2019. He is currently under commission from South Coast Repertory, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, and Steep Theatre. His plays have been supported by Steppenwolf, Primary Stages, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Goodman Theatre, Albany Park Theater Project, WaterTower Theater, Haven Theater, Greenhouse Theater Center, Pivot Arts, and many others. He is the recipient of the 2018 Dramatists Guild Lanford Wilson Award, the 2017 Jeffry Melnick New Playwright Award at Primary Stages, an inaugural 3Arts “Make A Wave” grantee, a Resident Playwright at Chicago Dramatists, an Artistic Associate with Victory Gardens Theater, Ensemble Member with Teatro Vista, Artistic Associate with Pivot Arts, and an advisory committee member of the Latinx Theatre Commons (LTC). He is a Professional Lecturer at The Theatre School at DePaul University, and is represented by The Gersh Agency and Circle of Confusion.

About the Director
Laura Alcalá Baker is a Chicago-based director and casting director. She served as the Casting Director and Artistic Programs Manager at Victory Gardens Theater from 2016-2019 leading programs such as The Access Project and Directors’ Inclusion Initiative. While at working at B Street Theatre, CA, as an Artistic Associate, she directed Equivocation, The Giver, 11:11, Collapse and assistant directed May Adrales on Edith Can Shoot Things and Hit Them.  Shifting her focus to new play development, Laura directed the world premiere of Isaac Gomez’s The Way She Spoke: A Docu-mythologia (DCASE, Greenhouse Theater Center). Other select Chicago pieces include: There is No Message in the Message, Shamed (The Gift Theatre’s TEN), Project Potential (Broken Nose Theatre’s Bechdel Fest), Jets, Sharks, and Beckys (Collaboraction's Peacebook Festival) and assistant directing Seth Bockley on the world-premiere of Samsara by Lauren Yee (Victory Gardens Theater). Most recently, she directed the audio drama BRAVA by Nancy Garcia Loza (Make-Believe Association) which is available on all podcast platforms. Laura has continually sought out creative means for accessibility in the theatre through directing programs such as Chicago Cultural Accessibility Consortium’s Access Live, which provides theatre leaders a live example of growing practices integrated with accessibility in mind. Laura is a proud member of the Alliance of Latinx Theatre Artists and was nominated for 'Best Casting Director' at the 2018 ALTA Awards.



About Steep Theatre
Housed in what was once a small grocery store, steps from the Berwyn Red Line stop, and lead by an ensemble of 41 actors, directors, designers, writers, and other theatre artists, Steep is the quintessential storefront theatre. Described by Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune as "the most fearless theater in town," Steep creates powerful productions of plays by today's most exciting writers and features the work of Chicago's hottest theatre artists in an intimate, accessible space. Currently in its 19th season, Steep is known as a home for hard-hitting, finely tuned ensemble work. With each production, the company has shepherded a growing community of audiences and artists into bold new territories of story and performance.

Steep Theatre is conveniently located by the Berwyn Red Line stop and is within blocks of the #92, #36, #146, #147, and #151 buses.

About Chicago Theatre Week
Chicago Theatre Week is an annual celebration of the rich tradition of theatre-going in Chicago during which visitors and residents can access value-priced tickets. As a program of the League of Chicago Theatres, in partnership with Choose Chicago, CTW is heading into its eighth year and will take place February 13-23, 2020. More than 100 theatre productions are expected to participate in neighborhoods throughout the city and suburbs. Find more information at ChicagoTheatreWeek.com.

WHERE:                 
Steep Theatre
1115 West Berwyn Ave., Chicago, IL 60640

WHEN:
January 24 – February 29, 2020
Previews: January 18 – 23, 2020
Press Opening: Friday, January 24, 8:00pm
Schedule:
Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights at 8pm
Sunday matinees at 3pm
Accessible Performances:
-Audio Description: Saturday, February 15, 8pm
-Open Captioning: Saturday, February 22, 8pm & Sunday, February 23, 3pm
Chicago Theatre Week: February 15 – 23

BOX OFFICE:
General Admission Tickets: $27
Reserved Seat Tickets: $39
Access Tickets: $10 (Steep’s universal discount for students, artists, whomever)
(773) 649-3186
www.steeptheatre.com

GENERAL INFORMATION:
www.steeptheatre.com
773-649-3186
info@steeptheatre.com
Twitter: @SteepTheatre
Facebook: SteepTheatre



CAST:
Sebastian Arboleda*
Alec Coles Perez 
Eduardo Curley-Carrillo 
Arash Fakhrabadi 
Dennis Garcia 
Victor Maraña 
Juan Muñoz 
Brandon Riveraˆ

PRODUCTION TEAM:
Director – Laura Alcalá Baker
Stage Manager – Jon Ravenscroftˆˆ
Set Designer – Arnel Sancianco
Lighting Designer – Alexander Ridgers
Sound Designer – Thomas Dixonˆ
Costume Designer – Uriel Gomez
Props Designer – Emma Cullimore
Intimacy & Violence Director – Micah Figueroa
Choreographer – Breon Arzell
Dramaturg – Lucas Garcia
Production Manager – Catherine Allenˆˆ
Technical Director – Evan Sposato
Assistant Director – Ismael Lara

ˆ Steep Company Member
ˆˆ Steep Artistic Associate
* Appearing through an Agreement between Steep Theatre and Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States


Martyna Majok

Ironbound
By Martyna Majok
Directed by Jonathan Berryˆ 
April 17 – May 23, 2020
Press Opening: April 17 at 8:00

Twenty-two years, three relationships, and one New Jersey bus stop tell the story of Darja’s journey through the American Dream. Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Martyna Majok’s Ironbound navigates the murky waters of love, security, immigration, and mobility with heartbreaking humor.

Cast:
Lucy Carapetyanˆ 
Jeffery Freelon, Jr
Joel Reitsmaˆ*
Brandon Riveraˆ

ˆ Steep Company Member
* Member of Actors' Equity Association