REVIEW: Porchlight Theatre's Tony-award winning Fun Home Now Playing Through March 2, 20252025

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar

Tony-Award Winning Pulitzer Prize-Nominated Musical

FUN HOME

NOW PLAYING THROUGH MARCH 2, 2025

AT THE RUTH PAGE CENTER FOR THE ARTS

This Moving Story of Seeing One’s Parents Through Adult Eyes is Directed by Stephen Schellhardt and Music Directed by Heidi Joosten.

Members of the cast of FUN HOME from Porchlight Music Theatre, now playing through March 2 at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts. Credit for all Photos: Liz Lauren 

CONTENT ADVISORY: verbal abuse, depictions of homophobia and a death by suicide as well as allusions to sexual contact between an adult and teenagers.

The running time is 100 minutes with no intermission. 

REVIEW

By Bonnie Kenaz-Mara

Family dynamics are complicated, especially when one or both parents are living a lie. Porchlight's Fun Home is 100 unforgettable minutes of love and loss, with a fabulously flawed family. 

Patrick Byrnes 

This production brings world class talent, a gorgeous set design, and a score that will send shivers up your spine. We adored the way the overarching home is constructed and compartmentalized into individual frames that light up and change by location. Brilliant design work. 

The children bring life and levity to the overarching serious themes of Fun Home, and it's a joy to experience their early years growing up in a family run funeral home. Small Alison and her brothers are all well cast.

(L to R) Tessa Mae Pundsack (SMALL ALISON), Eli Vander Griend and Austin Hartung

(L to R) Lincoln J. Skoien, Hayes McCracken, Meena Sood and Charlie Long 

*NOTE: Because there are two casts of the young actors. We have included both of the casts in the photos 

We love the construct of having three ages of Alisons as queer, female narrators. For opening night we saw Meena Sood in the role of small Alison and she was fantastic, as were Alanna Chavez (ALISON) and Z Mowry (MIDDLE ALISON).

(L to R) Meena Sood (SMALL ALISON), Alanna Chavez (ALISON) 

and Z Mowry (MIDDLE ALISON) 

We adore Porchlight Music Theatre's take on this Tony Award-winning and Pulitzer Prize-nominated musical. Fun Home has long been a favorite of ours here at ChiIL Live Shows, and I can attest, this dark yet tender, queer coming of age story is in capable hands with Porchlight. I've had the pleasure of reviewing the Broadway national tour in 2016, Victory Gardens' show in 2017, and Paramount's production in 2022. Porchlight Music Theatre left us impressed, with world class talent across the board.

There's plenty of humor and laughter in this family drama, and the serious, heartbreaking elements are handled with care. The entire cast is stellar, with particular kudos to Neala Barron (Helen Bechdel) whose "Days and Days" brought down the house. The rousing standing ovation at curtain call was well deserved by all. 

(L to R) Neala Barron and Z Mowry

Don't miss this! Highly recommended. ★★★★ Four out of four stars.

Bonnie is a Chicago based writer, theatre critic, photographer, artist, and Mama to 2 amazing adults. She owns two websites where she publishes frequently: ChiILLiveShows.com (adult) & ChiILMama.com (family friendly).

Porchlight Music Theatre is proud to present the Tony Award-winning and Pulitzer Prize-nominated musical Fun Home, now playing through March 2, at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn St. Fun Home, with music by Jeanine Tesori and book and lyrics by Lisa Kron, is based on the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel and is directed for Porchlight Music Theatre by Stephen Schellhardt with music direction by Heidi Joosten. 

(L to R) Lincoln J. Skoien, Patrick Byrnes and Alanna Chavez 

The performance schedule is Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 3 and 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. with additional performances Thursday, Jan. 23 at 2 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 30 at 2 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 5 at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 19 at 7:30 p.m. and Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 7:30 p.m. Post-show discussions are scheduled for Friday, Jan. 31, Thursday, Feb. 13 and Sunday, Feb. 23 with Open Caption performances Saturday, Feb. 8 at 3 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 22 at 3 p.m. The running time is 100 minutes with no intermission. Tickets are $20 - $85 and are on sale now at PorchlightMusicTheatre.org. Group discounts are available for groups of 10 or more. Contact Audience Services Director August Compton at August@PorchlightMusicTheatre.org for more information on group sales.

Alanna Chavez (ALISON) 

Winner of seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and a Pulitzer finalist, Fun Home is a refreshingly honest, emotional and revolutionary musical. Based on Alison Bechdel’s critically acclaimed graphic novel, Fun Home shares how Bechdel unlocks memories, milestones and mysteries of her youth as she begins to write her first graphic novel. With a compassionate score and a brilliant script, Fun Home tells the story of seeing your parents through grown-up eyes.

Tickets are $20 - $85 and are on sale now at PorchlightMusicTheatre.org. Group discounts are available for groups of 10 or more. Contact Audience Services Director August Compton at August@PorchlightMusicTheatre.org for more information on group sales.

 

(L to R) Patrick Byrnes and Meena Sood 

Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn St.

Tickets: $20 - $85

Website: PorchlightMusicTheatre.org/fun-home/

Thursday, Jan. 23 at 2p.m. 

Thursday, Jan. 23 at 7:30 p.m.

Friday, Jan. 24 at 7:30 p.m. - Porchlight Young Professionals Night 

Saturday, Jan. 25 at 3 p.m. 

Saturday, Jan. 25 at 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, Jan. 26 at 2 p.m. 

 (L to R) Dakota Hughes and Z Mowry

Thursday, Jan. 30 at 2 p.m.

Thursday, Jan. 30 at 7:30p.m. 

Friday, Jan 31 at 7:30 p.m. - Post-Show Discussion 

Saturday, Feb. 1 at 3 p.m. 

Saturday, Feb. 1 at 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, Feb. 2 at 2 p.m. 

Wednesday, Feb. 5 at 7:30 p.m. 

Thursday, Feb. 6 at 7:30 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 7 at 7:30 p.m.  

Saturday, Feb. 8 at 3 p.m. - Open Caption Performance

Saturday, Feb. 8 at 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, Feb. 9 at 2 p.m. 

(L to R) Meena Sood (SMALL ALISON) and Alanna Chavez (ALISON) 

Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 7:30 p.m. 

Thursday, Feb. 13 at 7:30 p.m.  - Post-Show Discussion 

Friday, Feb. 14 at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 15 at 3 p.m. 

Saturday, Feb. 15 at 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, Feb. 16 at 2 p.m. 

Wednesday, Feb. 19 at 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, Feb. 20 at 7:30 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 21 at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Feb. 22 at 3 p.m.  - Open Caption Performance

Saturday, Feb. 22 at 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, Feb. 23 at 2 p.m. - Post-Show Discussion 

Meena Sood in FUN HOME

Wednesday, Feb. 26 at 7:30 p.m.

Thursday, Feb. 27 at 7:30 p.m.

Friday, Feb. 28 at 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, March 1 at 3 p.m. 

Saturday, March 1 at 7:30 p.m.

Sunday, March 2 at 2 p.m. 

Show dates,  post-show discussions, etc. subject to change. 

Meena Sood and Patrick Byrnes

Tessa Mae Pundsack and Patrick Byrnes

The cast of Fun Home including two children’s casts, in alphabetical order, is Neala Barron (she/her, Helen); Liz Bollar (she/they, Helen U/S, Alison U/S); Patrick Byrnes (he/him, Bruce); Alanna Chavez (she/her, Alison); Eli Vander Griend (he/him, Christian); King Hang (he/him, Roy/Mark/Pete/Bobby/Jeremy U/S); Austin Hartung (he/him, John); Josiah Haugen (he/him, Bruce U/S); Dakota Hughes (they/them, Joan, dance/intimacy captain); Charlie Long (he/him, Christian); Adelina Marinello (she/her, middle Alison U/S, Joan U/S); Hayes McCracken (he/him, John); Z Mowry (they/them, middle Alison); Tessa Pundsack (she/her, small Alison); Elin Joy Seiler (she/her, small Alison) and Lincoln J. Skoien (any with respect, Roy/Mark/Pete/Bobby/Jeremy).

The Fun Home production team includes Stephen Schellhardt (he/him, director); Heidi Joosten (she/her, music director/conductor); Sheryl Williams (she/they, intimacy coordinator); Jonathan Berg-Einhorn (he/him, scenic designer); Marquecia Jordan (she/her, costume designer); Denise Karczewski (she/her, lighting designer); Matthew R. Chase (he/him, lighting designer); Drew Donnelly (he/him, production stage manager, AEA); Carli Shapiro (they/them, assistant stage manager); Olivia Leslie (she/her, assistant stage manager); John McTaggart (he/him, technical director); Danny Carraher (he/him, assistant technical director); Lydia Moss (she/her, scenic charge); Kayne Bowling (he/they, lead carpenter/spot 2); Mark Brown (he/him, deck chief); Bette Schneider (she/her, costume director); Rachel West (she/her, lighting designer); Riley Woods (they/them, assistant lighting supervisor/spot 1 ); Sam Anderson (they/she, lead electrician); Morgan Dudaryk (she/they, audio and video director); Joe Court (he/him, A1); Ali Westendorf (she/they, asst. costume director/wardrobe supervisor ); Amanda May (she/her, hair & makeup director/wardrobe swing); Clare McCullough (she/her, wardrobe assistant); Patrick McGuire (any with respect, properties director); Heather Gervasi (she/her, production manager); Michael Weber (he/him, artistic director); Majel Cuza (she/her, director of production) and Frankie Leo Bennett (he/him, producing artistic associate).

ABOUT JEANINE TESORI, MUSIC

Jeanine Tesori (she/her) has written a diverse catalog for Broadway, opera, film and television. Her Broadway musicals include: Fun Home (2015 Tony Award Winner, Pulitzer finalist); Violet; Caroline, or Change; Shrek the Musical; Thoroughly Modern Millie; Twelfth Night (LCT); John Guare’s A Free Man of Color. Delacorte: Mother Courage (starring Meryl Streep). She has received five Tony nominations, three Obie Awards and three Drama Desk Awards. The hallmarks of her work have been described as "close-to-the-surface emotion, structural rigor and rhythmic drive."

Her operas include: The Lion, the Unicorn and Me and Blizzard on Marblehead Neck (MET/LCT Opera/Theater and Glimmerglass Opera commission); her upcoming collaboration with Tazewell Thompson, Blue, was commissioned for Glimmerglass Opera company and will premiere there next season. She wrote the musical featured in the 2016 revival of “Gilmore Girls” and has also written special material for artists such as The Girl in 14G for Kristin Chenoweth and has been featured in the documentaries “Show Business” and “Theater of War.”

Jeanine Tesori became the founding artistic director of a new concert series at New York City Center called Encores! Off-Center, for which she has helmed seasons joined by artists such as Stephen Sondheim, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Randy Newman, William Finn, Alan Menken, Renee Elise Goldsberry, Sutton Foster and Jonathan Groff. After producing four seasons of Off-Center concerts, she took one of those concerts, Sunday in the Park with George (starring Jake Gyllenhaal) to Broadway where she produced the 2017 revival, with ATG and Riva Marker. She was the recording producer for Sunday as well as the Original Cast Recordings of Violet; Caroline, or Change; Shrek; Twelfth Night; etc.

A lecturer in music at Yale and on faculty at Columbia University, Tesori has spoken and taught at universities and programs all over the country. She is the founding creative director of the non-profit A BroaderWay, an arts empowerment program for young women. She was given the Einhorn Mentorship Award by Primary Stages for her exceptional work with young artists. Her daughter, Siena Rafter, is a sophomore at Brown University.

ABOUT LISA KRON, BOOK AND LYRICS

Lisa Kron (she/her) is a writer and performer whose work has been widely produced in New York, regionally and internationally. Her plays include Well, 2.5 Minute Ride and The Ver**zon Play. She wrote the book and lyrics for the musical Fun Home (with music by composer Jeanine Tesori), winner of five 2015 Tony Awards including Best Musical. Kron and Tesori were the first all-woman team to ever receive a Tony for best score.

As an actor, Kron was most recently seen as “Mrs. Mi-Tzu” and “Mrs. Yang” in the Foundry Theater’s acclaimed production of Good Person of Szechuan (Lortel Award, Outstanding Featured Actress). Honors include a Guggenheim fellowship, a Doris Duke Performing Artists Award and the Cal Arts/Alpert Award. She is a proud founding member of the OBIE- and Bessie-Award-winning collaborative theater company The Five Lesbian Brothers.

Kron currently serves as secretary of the Dramatists Guild Council and on the boards of the McDowell Colony and the Lilly Awards.

ABOUT STEPHEN SCHELLHARDT, DIRECTOR

Stephen Schellhardt is thrilled to be back at Porchlight and working with this beautiful company of artists. Stephen is a Jeff Award-winning director whose credits include The Play That Goes Wrong, The Wizard of Oz and Footloose (Barter Theatre), A Gentleman’s Guide to Love & Murder (Porchlight - Jeff Nomination), Queer Eye: The Musical Parody (Second City), Big Fish (Jeff Award), Urinetown (Jeff Nomination), Dogfight (Jeff Nomination) at BoHo Theatre, Greater Tuna (Timberlake Playhouse), Songs for a New World (Rockford University) and You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown (Northwestern University) Stephen is a proud graduate of Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Drama.

ABOUT HEIDI JOOSTEN, MUSIC DIRECTOR

Heidi Joosten is a Jeff-Award winning music director (Assassins, Theo, 2024), composer and performer who has music directed and conducted more than 150 productions across the country. National conducting/adaptation credits include Avatar: The Last Airbender, Barbie: Live in Concert at The Hollywood Bowl, Spider-Man: Into The Spiderverse and Labyrinth in Concert. Other recent Chicago credits include Kokandy Productions (Alice by Heart, American Psycho), Drury Lane Theater (Grease), Chicago Shakespeare Theater (Beauty and the Beast) and The Second City (Don’t Quit Your Daydream). An avid performer, she has released two solo piano albums and continues to innovate in theatre and concert music internationally.

 Z Mowry

ABOUT PORCHLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE

Porchlight Music Theatre, entering its 30th season, is the award-winning center for music theatre in Chicago. Through live performance, youth education and community outreach, we impact thousands of lives each season, bringing the magic of musicals to our theatre home at the Ruth Page Center for the Arts in the Gold Coast and to neighborhoods across the city. Porchlight has built a national reputation for boldly reimagining classic musicals, supporting new works and young performers, and showcasing Chicago’s most notable music theatre artists, all through the intimate and powerful theatrical lens of the “Chicago Style.”

Porchlight's history over nearly three decades includes more than 70 mainstage works with 15 Chicago premieres and five world premieres.

Porchlight's education and outreach programs serve schools, youth of all ages and skill levels and community organizations. Porchlight annually awards dozens of full scholarships and hundreds of free tickets to ensure accessibility and real engagement with this uniquely American art form.

The company’s many honors include 178 Joseph Jefferson Award (Jeff) nominations and 50 Jeff awards, as well as 44 Black Theatre Alliance (BTA) nominations and 15 BTA awards. In 2019, Porchlight graduated to the Large Theatre tier of the Equity Jeff Awards and has been honored with seven awards in this tier to date including Best Ensemble for Duke Ellington’s Sophisticated Ladies (2019) and Best Production-Revue for Blues in the Night (2022).

Through the global pandemic, Porchlight emerged as one of Chicago’s leaders in virtual programming, quickly launching a host of free offerings like Sondheim @ 90 Roundtables, Movie Musical Mondays, Porchlight by Request: Command Performances and WPMT: Classic Musicals from the Golden Age of Radio. In 2021, Porchlight launched its annual summer series, Broadway in your Backyard, performing at parks and venues throughout the city.

The 30th Anniversary Season is Sponsored By Elaine Cohen & Arlen Rubin and Brenda & Jim Grusecki.

Porchlight Music Theatre is partially supported by generous contributions from Actors’ Equity Foundation; Allstate; Comcast/Xfinity; Cliff Dwellers Arts Foundation; Free for All; Glimpse Vision; James P. and Brenda S. Grusecki Family Foundation; Hearty Boys; the Pritzker Traubert Foundation; Ryan and Spaeth, Inc.; Daniel and Genevieve Ratner Foundation; The Saints; Dr. Scholl Foundation; Service Club of Chicago and The Shubert Foundation.

The season program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency, a state agency, and by a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events. 

Porchlight Music Theatre wishes to thank members of the Matching Gift Corporate Program including Allstate; BDO; Google; Jackson National Life Insurance; Lloyd A. Fry Foundation and The Saints. 

PORCHLIGHT UPCOMING EVENTS ...

NEW FACES SING BROADWAY NOW

Monday, Nov. 11 at 7:30 p.m.

Evanston SPACE, 1245 Chicago Ave.

Tickets: $45

Tuesday, Nov. 12 at 7:30 p.m.

The Arts Club of Chicago, 201 E. Ontario St.

Tickets: $75 (includes a pre-show wine and cheese reception at 6:30PM)

Directed by Producing Artistic Associate Frankie Leo Bennett

Music Directed by Carolyn Jean Brady

Hosted by Adrian Aguilar

The popular New Faces Sing Broadway series returns in Porchlight’s 30th Anniversary Season. Chicago’s up-and-coming talent join Broadway’s Adrian Aguilar for a 90-minute revue of the hottest shows on Broadway today including Hell’s Kitchen, The Notebook, Death Becomes Her, The Outsiders and others as well as trivia contests with prizes.

FUN HOME

January 16 – March 2, 2025

Ruth Page Center for the Arts, 1016 N. Dearborn St.

Music by Jeanine Tesori

Book and lyrics by Lisa Kron

Based on the graphic novel by Alison Bechdel

Directed by Stephen Schellhardt

Music Directed by Heidi Joosten

Winner of seven Tony Awards, including Best Musical, and a Pulitzer finalist, Fun Home is a refreshingly honest, emotional and revolutionary musical. Based on Alison Bechdel’s critically acclaimed graphic novel, Fun Home shares how Bechdel unlocks memories, milestones and mysteries of her youth as she begins to write her first graphic novel. With a compassionate score and a brilliant script, Fun Home tells the story of seeing your parents through grown-up eyes.

TITANIQUE

Chicago Premiere

Presented in association with Broadway In Chicago

March 25 – May 18, 2025

Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place, 175 E. Chestnut St.

Co-Written by Marla Mindelle, Constantine Rousouli and Tye Blue.

All aboard NYC’s must-sea musical comedy! When the music of Céline Dion makes sweet Canadian love with the eleven-time Oscar®-winning blockbuster film “Titanic,” you get Titanique, off-Broadway’s most award-winning splash hit, which turns one of the greatest love stories of all time into a hysterical musical fantasia. Want to find out what really happened to Jack and Rose on that fateful night? Just leave it to Céline Dion to enchant the audience with her totally wild take, recharting the course of Titanic’s beloved moments and characters with her iconic song catalog. Sailing on fierce powerhouse voices in show-stopping performances of such hits as “My Heart Will Go On,” “All By Myself” and “To Love You More” – backed by the unparalleled energy of a full live band – Titanique is a one-of-a-kind theatrical voyage bursting with nostalgia, heart and campy chaos.

CHICAGO SINGS 30 YEARS OF PORCHLIGHT

Monday, May 12, 2025

House of Blues Chicago, 329 N. Dearborn St.

Tickets: $75 – $175 

The spring fundraising concert fittingly concludes the season with an unforgettable night of live performances commemorating 30 years of Porchlight with performances by Chicago theatre luminaries, the presentation of the 2025 Guy Adkins Award for Excellence in the Advancement of Music Theatre in Chicago and more.

Please note: Performances, actors and dates are subject to change.

REVIEW: Juicy Chicago Premiere of Fat Ham Now Extended Twice Through March 9, 2025

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar 

Chicago Premiere of 

Fat Ham

HIGH DEMAND FOR TICKETS NOW EXTENDING THE CHICAGO PREMIERE THROUGH MARCH 9th

**UPDATE: This "Juicy" collab's so nice they extended it twice! FAT HAM is Goodman Theatre's co-production with Definition Theatre and an absolute must see. Now playing through March 9, 2025. Don't miss this! 

REVIEW

By Bonnie Kenaz-Mara

So you think you know Hamlet... but until you've seen a ghost emerge from a smoker, and young adults transform into their true selves, you ain't seen nothin' yet. It was my great pleasure to catch opening night of Fat Ham, reviewing for ChiIL Live Shows. 

Photo Credit: B. Kenaz-Mara

We've long been fans of Definition Theatre's excellent work and love this creative, high energy riff on Hamlet, set at a modern, black, backyard barbecue. We've long adored director Tyrone Phillips, playwright James Ijames, E. Faye Butler, and Sheldon D. Brown. Fat Ham has a strong cast all around. 

(L-R) Sheldon D. Brown, Ronald L. Conner, Trumane Alston, E. Faye Butler, Ireon Roach 

and Anji White. All Production Photos by Liz Lauren.

Tyrone Phillips’ Chicago premiere-production of James Ijames’s Pulitzer Prize-winning, five-time Tony Award-nominated play Fat Ham is an absolute must see! We've known Tyrone Phillips for years and long admired his talent. I believe we first met when he worked on a show at A Red Orchid, back in the day. It's been a joy watching him move from scrappy storefronts to directing at Steppenwolf, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, and now Goodman, without sacrificing his creative vision. Tyrone is an excellent director, and under his guidance, this award winning script and crazy talented all-Chicago cast shine! 

This Goodman production is co-produced with Chicago’s famed Definition Theatre—of which Phillips is Founding Artistic Director and Ijames is a company member. I got to know Definition Theatre well, back in 2018, when I was chosen to join them for a multiweek DCASE Playwriting workshop. They're a wonderfully welcoming company and the talent pool runs deep!

If you're well versed in The Bard's work, you'll notice many parallel plot points, and character details, like friends Tio, Larry, and Opal instead of Horatio, Laertes, and Ophelia. If you're not a Shakespeare scholar, never fear. Fat Ham is a solid, stick-to-your-ribs production that works as a hilarious stand alone piece as well. In this version, Hamlet is Juicy, a young man who is both black and gay. Like the original, his father's been murdered by his uncle who then marries his mother, inappropriately soon after. His father, like Hamlet's, makes repeat appearances from the afterlife. His lecherous uncle's devious designs are revealed in a game of charades instead of Hamlet's play within a play. Thankfully, in Fat Ham everyone does not die in the end. 

(L-R) Anji White and Ronald L. Conner.

In our current political and social morass, I'm still firmly committed to amplifying DEI voices and works. Fat Ham is a universal exploration of family dynamics and drama, as well as a celebration of black culture and style in the form of a backyard barbecue. What face do we show our parents and long time family friends? What secrets do we hide and what do we share? Fat Ham is at once classic and modern, fierce and funny, and unapologetically black. 

Fat Ham is decidedly more comedy than tragedy, and it was fun seeing Shakespeare's text catapulted into the 21st century in James Ijames’s Pulitzer Prize-winning, five-time Tony Award-nominated play. 

(L-R) Trumane Alston and Sheldon D. Brown.

Finally, I don't want to give too many spoilers, but it was great to see Sheldon Brown back in town from LA, and in such a fabulously fun, transformative role as Larry. I've always admired his skills as an actor and his outlook on life and healing after trauma. I was blown away by his performance in Fat Ham and even more impressed knowing his backstory. He played a shirtless lead in About Face Theater's "This Bitter Earth." back in May 2019 and I remember how much depth and bravery he brought to the role. He was still healing from multiple surgeries following a violent attack in Uptown in April of 2018, and unflinchingly bared his physical and emotional wounds in a powerful way that left a lasting impression on me. 

Though we differ in obvious ways, I've always felt a particular affinity and common ground with Sheldon. He hails from Dayton Ohio originally, while I grew up in nearby Cincinnati. We both came to Chicago after college and moved first to Uptown, sketchy but affordable on struggling actor wages. I was also attacked in nearly the same block he was, in a random act of street violence, where the perpetrators were never caught. In my case it was May of 1994, when 3 men with a large, curved, serrated hunting knife, attacked me in a robbery attempt outside of my apartment near Kenmore and Wilson. Both my arms and hands were cut multiple times with defensive wounds as I tried to mace them and shielded my face. My watch was hit so hard the watch face smashed and the time stopped. I'm pretty sure my left hand would have been severed completely if I hadn't been wearing that watch. Healing emotionally, PTSD, nightmares, and getting back to feeling reasonably safe again took much longer than healing from the physical injuries. His even more horrific and traumatic attack resonated with me on a personal level. I have nothing but admiration for his strength and resilience, and it brings such joy to see him succeeding. Read more about Sheldon's attack and recovery journey at these 2 links:

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2018/11/09/a-chicago-actor-was-shot-months-later-hes-worked-his-way-back-to-the-stage/

https://www.chicagotribune.com/2020/09/23/actor-sheldon-brown-was-shot-in-uptown-2-years-ago-he-was-filming-cicada-2-months-later-now-hes-sharing-his-take-on-living-with-trauma/

(L-R) Victor Musoni, Trumane Alston, Sheldon D. Brown, E. Faye Butler and Ireon Roach.

Back to the show at hand, Fat Ham is stellar storytelling and we were wowed all around by the acting, directing, creatives, and cast. It's always a joy to see E. Faye Butler, and though she's best known for musical theatre, her comedic timing is impeccable and we adored her over the top role as Rabby. I was not familiar with Trumane Alston's work before Fat Ham, but he's caught my attention now. Don't miss this! Highly recommended. 

★★★★ Four out of four stars. B Kenaz-Mara, ChiIL Live Shows

“Fat Ham”: James Ijames’s riff on Hamlet centers on Juicy (Trumane Alston), “a Black, gay, self-aware young man struggling with body image, personal confidence and the oppressive expectations of others, especially his father, as much as any broader existential angst.

Check out the fun show tie in drinks at Goodman's bar. 

Photo Credit: B. Kenaz-Mara

ChiILin’ at opening night of Goodman Theatre’s Fat Ham! Such joy and support among all the cast/creatives/crew and audience. Love drink tie-ins with show themes, but I think this is the first one in 16 years of reviewing that’s a tie-in with my +1, Barbara B! “Hard to be the Barb” indeed. 

Photo Credit: B. Kenaz-Mara

By the way, I've been part of Goodman's GeNarrations Storytelling workshops for 4 sessions now and I was chosen twice to perform at Lobby Stories. Here's the storyteller lineup for the Goodman's production of Fat Ham, on the theme of "Family"--biological and/or chosen. I'll be performing before the Fat Ham matinee on Thursday, February 20th at 1pm in the second-floor mezzanine lobby. Drop in if you can. FREE. 

LINEUP:

Thursday, February 6th

Carrie Waller; "A mother's power of persuasion." 

Cora Rambert; "Did The System Fail me or did I Fail the System?"

Thursday, February 13th

Regan Burke, "Holidays Interrupted."

Margot McMahon, "Painting Polyp Portraits."

Thursday, February 20th

Pamela Schumacher, "Tea and Crumpets."

Nancy Solomon, "Mama Golda and Her Famous Blintzes."

Bonnie Kenaz-Mara, "Once Bitten." (My real life Voodoo engagement story, set in New Orleans) ❤

Bonnie is a Chicago based writer, theatre critic, photographer, artist, and Mama to 2 amazing adults. She owns two websites where she publishes frequently: ChiILLiveShows.com (adult) & ChiILMama.com (family friendly).

 

Fat Ham

By James Ijames

Directed by Tyrone Phillips

January 11 - March 9, 2025 in the Owen Theatre

(L-R) Trumane Alston and Anji White.

Fat Ham tells the story of Juicy, a Black, queer young man who is confronted by the ghost of his father during a family barbeque. Seeking revenge for his murder, his father puts a screeching halt to Juicy’s quest for joy and liberation. Ijames’s reinvention of Shakespeare’s masterpiece features an all-Chicago cast: Trumane Alston (Juicy), Sheldon Brown, E. Faye Butler, Ronald L. Conner, Victor Musoni, Ireon Roach and Anji White. Fat Ham opens tonight and runs through March 2. Tickets ($25 - $85; subject to change) are available at GoodmanTheatre.org/Ham or by phone at 312.443.3800. Goodman Theatre is grateful for the support of ITW (Corporate Sponsor Partner) and the Elizabeth Morse Charitable Trust (Lead Sponsor of IDEAA Programming).

EXTENSION WEEK SCHEDULE

-Tuesday, February 25 at 7:30pm

-Wednesday, February 26 at 7:30pm

-Thursday, February 27 at 2pm and 7:30pm

-Friday, February 28 at 7:30pm

-Saturday, March 1 at 2pm and 7:30pm

-Sunday, March 2 at 2pm

Special events for the production include: Drinks and Discussion: Conversation with Definition Theatre (January 24) featuring a panel of the talented Black creatives behind the Chicago-premiere production exploring the unique experiences and perspectives of Black queer artists; Black Affinity Night (February 7) celebrates the richness of Black culture and community at a special pre-show reception and conversation, followed by the evening performance.

(L-R) Trumane Alston and Ireon Roach.

Full Company of Fat Ham (in alphabetical order)

By James Ijames

Directed by Tyrone Phillips

Trumane Alston…Juicy

Sheldon Brown…Larry

E. Faye Butler…Rabby

Ronald L. Conner…Rev/Pap

Victor Musoni…Tio

Ireon Roach…Opal

Anji White…Tedra

Understudies for this production include Blake Hamilton Currie, Marquise De’Jahn, TayLar, Joseph Primes and Jazzy Rush.

Creative Team

Set Designer…..Arnel Sancianco

Costume Designer ……Jos N. Banks

Lighting Designer…..Jason Lynch

Sound Designer….. Willow James

Illusion Consultant…Benjamin Barnes

Fight and Intimacy…Gaby Labotka 

Casting is by Lauren Port, CSA. Jared Bellot is the Dramaturg. Patrick Fries is the Production Stage Manager.

ENHANCED AND ACCESSIBLE PERFORMANCES AT GOODMAN THEATRE

ASL-Interpreted Performance: Friday, January 31 at 7:30pm – Professional ASL interpreter signs the action/text as played.

Touch Tour* and Audio-Described Performance: Saturday, February 1, 12:30pm Touch Tour; 2pm performance – The action/text is audibly enhanced for patrons via headset.

Spanish-Subtitled Performance: Saturday, February 1 at 7:30pm – An LED sign presents Spanish-translated dialogue in sync with the performance.

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

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

(L-R) Victor Musoni and Trumane Alston.

Fat Ham

By James Ijames

Directed by Tyrone Phillips

January 11 - February 23, 2025 in the Owen Theatre

Photos by Liz Lauren

ABOUT DEFINITION THEATRE

Definition Theatre has been a vibrant force for over a decade, celebrating stories created with, inspired by, and intended for people and communities of color. Through the act of making, Definition expands perspectives, stewards resources, and bridges the possibilities found at the intersection of art, innovation, and education. Known for bold and impactful productions, we’ve brought to life plays by Oscar-winner Tarell Alvin McCraney, Pulitzer Prize-winners James Ijames and Jackie Sibblies Drury, and Tony Award-winner Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. We strive to promote equity, foster empathy, and enhance the quality of life for our community members by offering opportunities for creative, entrepreneurial, and cultural expression. Our work emphasizes collaboration in theater-making and raises awareness of career paths in the arts. In 2024, Definition leased and equipped a storefront space in Hyde Park, enabling us to engage artists and expand programs as we prepare for our permanent home in Woodlawn on the southside of Chicago. This new theater, community center, and business incubator will amplify and preserve BIPOC voices, promote social justice, and empower the next generation of artists, entrepreneurs, and changemakers to drive positive progress through the transformative power of the arts. Tyrone Phillips is the Artistic Director, Neel McNeill is the Executive Director, Willow James is the Civic Engagement Director.

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 John Collins, 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 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.\

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

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.

REVIEW: Cabinet of Curiosity's The Cabinet Through January 19, 2025 and Returning This Fall

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar

Chicago's Cabinet of Curiosity's

The Cabinet

7th Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival

The return after 15 years of The Cabinet, a legendary Chicago puppet work, revived by Chicago’s Cabinet of Curiosity. 

Run Time: 60 minutes. Suggested for ages 14+ 

REVIEW

By Bonnie Kenaz-Mara

The Cabinet is an absolute must see! Don’t miss this somnambulist nightmare massacre. Cabinet of Curiosity’s The Cabinet is a bloody good time! We adored this visually stunning, deviant delight, with multiple puppet styles. Highly recommended.  ★★★★ Four out of four stars.

It was my great pleasure to catch opening night of Cabinet of Curiosity's short run remount of The Cabinet as part of this year's Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival. There's no Narnia at the back of this wardrobe, but an exciting tale of murder, mayhem, and psychiatric care with questionable morals, based on the 1919 German Expressionist silent film, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Back and bigger than ever, The Cabinet is a gargantuan dresser containing worlds of wonder and multiple styles of puppetry, from creepy 3 dimensional paper mache creations, to shadow puppets, 2D stick puppets, scroll work, and even a giant pop-up book. 

We love that the puppeteers are a vital and visible part of this production in stark black and white. Their talent and timing was impressive, even down to the multilevel puppeteering spaces and climbing skills involved in some of the space changes. Utterly impressive!

We saw several of Redmoon Theatre's renditions of this incredible piece back in the day, and are so excited Cabinet of Curiosity is bringing this tale back to life! We've covered many of Cabinet of Curiosity's shows and spectacles over the years, and we've even shots lots of behind the scenes photos and videos of their works in progress. For years before that we extensively documented Redmoon's epic installations and community rituals, including making-of previews and documented performances. Their collaborative style and penchant for spectacle make them longtime favorites of ours. If you can't make it out for this short 3 day run, rumor has it they have a fall remount in the works and are planning on a longer October run! 

The delightfully askew set design and puppets are visually stunning and we love the victrola playing out this story in vintage record form. Kudos to the entire cast, crew, and creatives. You've done Chicago proud on an international playing field! 

Back in the day, we caught the original Redmoon Theatre production of The Cabinet in 2005 and their remount 15 years ago, and covered both in depth at ChiIL Mama & ChiIL Live Shows. You'll never look at an armoire (or the hundred year old, black and white film this show is based on) quite the same way again. Don't miss this! Highly recommended. ★★★★ Four out of four stars.

Bonnie is a Chicago based writer, theatre critic, photographer, artist, and Mama to 2 amazing adults. She owns two websites where she publishes frequently: ChiILLiveShows.com (adult) & ChiILMama.com (family friendly).

It’s been 15 years since Chicago has seen The Cabinet, the story of the murderous Dr. Caligari and his somnambulist slave Cesare set in an off-kilter world of puppetry and intricate machinery. Evoking the 1919 German Expressionist silent film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, inspired by the original Redmoon Theatre production from 2005, Cabinet of Curiosity’s Frank Maugeri is creating another abstract “cabinet of curiosities” in which puppeteers manipulate the characters and objects, just as Caligari controlled Cesare’s plight.


It’s been 15 years since Chicago has seen The Cabinet, the story of the murderous Dr. Caligari and his somnambulist slave Cesare set in an off-kilter world of puppetry and intricate machinery. 
Evoking the 1919 German Expressionist silent film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, inspired by the original Redmoon Theatre production from 2010, Cabinet of Curiosity’s Frank Maugeri is creating another abstract cabinet of curiosities – a “spectacle in miniature” in which puppeteers manipulate the characters and objects, just as Caligari controlled Cesare’s plight.

“I was very eager to return to The Cabinet, Redmoon Theater's longest-running and most acclaimed indoor production, which I created over a decade ago with the brilliant Mickle Maher and Mark Messing, two of Chicago’s legendary creative stalwarts,” said Maugeri. “I am grateful to be joined by my co-director Corrie Bessie and a new collective of unparalleled artists and designers inspired by the shared belief that powerful mythical stories using images, objects, transformation, and craft can disorient and arrest an audience. This tale of Tyranny's weakness under the weight of Love has current potency that will inspire dialogue. I also believe there’s a new generation that has not seen work like this, though the original show invented a style that still permeates puppetry today.”

 

“I was excited to continue building a new collective of artists inspired by the shared belief that powerful mythical stories using images, objects, transformation, and craft could disorient and arrest an audience. I wanted to experiment again with the production's fluidity and intensely focused manipulation of materials as an exercise in virtuosity.”

 

“This tale of Tyranny's powerlessness and weakness under the weight of Love has current potency. As a believer that art is both a spiritual and political practice, this show can resonate as a work that inspires dialogue and discussion, which is my creative mission.” 

 

“I also believe there is a new generation of audience members who have likely not seen work like this in our city, though the original show invented a style that still permeates the puppetry artist community today. I wanted to return to the experiment to see how it resonates with a new, young, curious audience.”

The Cabinet features puppets by Jesse Mooney-Bullock, whose work has been seen in Chicago for the past 23 years, starting with Redmoon The Old Man and the Sea, and most recently in Paramount Theatre’s production of Disney’s Frozen. The cast features Gabrielle Frabotta, Danielle H. Gennaoui, Abby Palen, Jacinda Ratcliffe, Sion Silva, Allyce Torres and Dustin Valenta. The production team includes Frank Maugeri, creator/co-director; Corrie Bessie, co-director; Mickle Maher, writer; Mark Messing, composer; Kass Copeland, scenic painter and collage artist; Diane Fairchild, lights; Brandin Hurley; shadow animations; Liviu Pasare, projections; Janet Eckleberger,costumes; Shawn Ketchum Johnson, scenic engineer and designer; D C Krause, scenic engineer, designer and set build manager. 

 

The 2024 production of The Cabinet was inspired by a 2010 show Maugeri created and directed at the now defunct Redmoon Theater. The “Spectacle in Miniature” was Redmoon’s most acclaimed indoor show and its longest running production. It toured to Brazil as well. This recent production was made cooperatively with a largely new team of designers, builders, engineers and makers. The show was and is a meditation on tyranny’s weakness over love. It returns Frank to his immense curiosity of ritual, transforming mundane objects into mystical materials, and chasing aesthetic arrest and the power of awe.

The Cabinet Cast Bios


Gabrielle Frabotta ENSEMBLE (she/her) Gabrielle arrived in Chicago in 2021 as a portraiture painter, to attend The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. As a personal experiment she leapt into performance and puppetry under the much-appreciated guidance of Blair Thomas. She’s been committed to embracing an interdisciplinary art practice since 2022- including but not limited to- seeking publication for her working series of children’s books, welding steel and painted papier mâché installations, and inserting herself into live performance. Gabrielle intends to continue challenging herself to step into her full range of expression as her career unfolds, and guiding others to do the same. In 2023 she had the opportunity to background sing and dance for Teatro ZinZanni Circus and Cabarete Zazou’s Liv Warfield. Additionally, she served as a production assistant for Théâtre De l’Entrouvert’s ‘Anywhere’ during the 2023 Chicago International Puppet Theatre Festival. She would like to extend a special thanks to her friends and family for their unwavering faith in her creative process, as well as to Cabinet of Curiosity’s Frank Maugeri for his vision of his politically poignant remount of ‘The Cabinet’, to which she feels honored to announce will be her first official theatrical debut.

Danielle H. Gennaoui ENSEMBLE Danielle (she/her) is a Lebanese American circus and theatre artist from St. Louis, MO. Specializing in aerial arts, partner acrobatics, and physical theatre, Danielle has been coaching, performing, and choreographing professionally for over 12 years. Since she was little, Danielle loved to direct plays in her parents’ basement, climb every tree in sight, and spin around in circles until she fell over. Fortunately, not much has changed (though the falling over is fewer and further between). Danielle took her first aerial class in 2008 and immediately fell in love with circus arts while training at The Actors Gymnasium. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre, focus in directing and performance, from the Jordan College of Fine Arts at Butler University and is a graduate of The Aloft Circus Arts Full-Time Training Program (Major: Lyra). Currently based in Chicago, IL, Danielle is proud to have created new work, performed, and coached with: The Actors Gymnasium, Aloft Circus Arts, Circus Harmony, Chicago Center for Dynamic Circus, MSA & Circus Arts, Gravity Aerial Arts, Thodos Dance Chicago, Apple Tree Theatre, Sussurus Performance Group, and The Alexandrinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia. [daniellegennaoui.com]

Jacinda Ratcliffe ENSEMBLE Jacinda (she/her) is a Chicago-based performing artist and Jeff-nominated choreographer. She is an ensemble member with Lucky Plush Productions with which she has toured nationally and performed on various Chicago stages including the Harris Theater, Pritzker Pavilion, and Steppenwolf 1700. Recent performing credits include Actor 1 in PORTAL (Lookingglass Theatre); Tish/Kylie (u/s) in THE LOVE OBJECT (The Story Theatre); Puppeteer in DRIFT TO SLEEP (Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival) as part of Little Amal’s Walk Across America in 2023; Echo 1 in GET OUT ALIVE (California Center for the Arts, Escondido); and Grim Reaper in Happy Songs About Unhappy Things (independent film produced by Jamie Foxx & Detari Turner) which premiered at Cinequest Film Festival in 2024. Choreographic & Movement Direction credits include PRELUDE TO A KISS (Milwaukee Repertory Theatre), LAVENDER MEN (About Face Theatre), THE ISLAND (Court Theatre); GET OUT ALIVE (Haven Theatre); LADY FROM THE SEA (Court Theatre); LACED (About Face Theatre); MLIMA’S TALE (Griffin Theatre). She is on faculty at the Actor’s Gymnasium and Chicago Movement Collective, the latter of which she also serves as Collective Manager & sits on the Board of Directors. Ratcliffe graduated from Northwestern University with a B.A. in Dance and Psychology. Upon graduating, she studied on scholarship at Lou Conte Dance Studio, under Claire Bataille. She received additional dance training through intensives with The Washington School of Ballet, San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, Ballet Hispánico, and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. She is represented by Big Mouth Talent. More at jacindaracliffe.com

Sion Silva ENSEMBLE Sion is a non-binary Chicago based visual artist, puppet maker and performer whose personal work specializes in the philosophy of myth and the macabre. Their practice dubbed "The Graveyard of Eden" is a lifelong spiritual journey in which they manifest their own personal mythology into physical art as artifacts, manuscripts and performative renditions. Outside of their personal work they are a freelance art and puppetry fabricator, working through Chicago Puppet Studio, Manual Cinema, Rough House, Tom Lee, Mary Zimmerman, Whitesnake Productions, Drury Lane, Kehoe Designs and Pretorius Studios. Alongside all of this they are a part of Rabbitfoot Puppetry a collective focused on devising narrative driven weird and spectacular giant puppets. With Rabbitfoot, they have developed and performed shows for Electric Forest, New Orleans Giant Puppetry Festival, Southeastern Regional Puppetry Conference (Puppet Paradise), Night Out in the Parks, Nightmare on Clark Street and other small commissions. They are also an Art Institute alumnus and have been living in Chicago since 2016. To them art is a perpetual practice of purifying the soul.

Allyce Torres ENSEMBLE Allie (she/her) is an actor, powerlifter, and puppeteer originally from San Diego, CA. She has worked with companies such as Steep, [producing body], Chicago Children’s Theatre, 16th Street Theatre, Cabinet of Curiosity, Teatro Vista, The Passage, and Lookingglass. She is proudly represented by Big Mouth Talent. 

Dustin Valenta ENSEMBLE Dustin (he/him) returns to the Cabinet (from its last production at Redmoon, which also toured Brazil), and is thrilled to be reimagining it with this incredible crew. He was born in Vermont and grew up in Minnesota. As a traveling yoga teacher, Dustin spent four years living all over the world from Australia to Italy, and he is the 2019 USA Yoga National Champion. Education: MFA DePaul University, The School at Steppenwolf and the Stella Adler Physical Theatre training program. Select Theatre: Inanimate (Theater Wit), Mesmerized (Chicago Children’s Theatre), The Secret Lives of Coats (Red Eye Theatre, Minneapolis) The History of Invulnerability (Six Points Theatre, St. Paul), The Feast: An Intimate Tempest (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre). Film: Ponderosa, Beyond Belief. TV: Crisis. Dustin is represented by the great team at DDO. Thanks to Frank, Corrie, V, MR, MD, SE, and SD. Love to Marbles.

Abby Palen ENSEMBLE UNDERSTUDY- (they/them) Abby is a director, designer, and performer based in Chicago, IL. Abby's long-standing fascination with puppetry fabrication and performance has taken them across North America. For Abby, puppets express ideas and emotions that transcend the human form; a puppet can embody many anything’s and anyone’s simultaneously. Abby is a founding member and director of Rabbit Foot Puppetry and is grateful to have collaborated with The Chicago International Puppet Festival, Paperhand Puppet Intervention, Bread and Puppet Theater, In the Heart of the Beast, The Fox and Beggar Theater, and The Chicago Sculpture Institute, among many others. Recently, they have started using mechanisms and technology in their work and are excited to see where it takes them.

The Cabinet design team bios

Corrie Besse CO DIRECTOR Corrie (she/her) has collaborated with artists in a myriad of ways throughout her career. Whether as an arts administrator, educator, producer, or production stage manager her mission is to foster and support the holistic health of artists and arts organizations by empowering artists and the creative community through a dedication to curiosity, integrity, and abundance. She earned her M.F.A. in Theatre with a focus on Arts Leadership from Virginia Tech in Virginia and a B.A degree in Theatre Arts and Communication Studies from Central College in Iowa. Past professional credits include serving as the Managing Director for the Theater & Performance Studies Program at the University of Chicago, and Operations Manager for Salonathon. Additionally, she has worked in Minnesota with Springboard for the Arts, and locally with A Red Orchid Theatre, Albany Park Theater Project, Barrel of Monkeys, Cerqua Rivera Dance Theater, Chicago Dance Crash, Chicago Humanities Festival, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Famous Door, Hypocrites, Mary – Arrchie, PineBox, Redmoon, Roosevelt University, Seanachai, Shattered Globe, Teatro Vista, and the Gate Theatre in London. Currently she serves as the Business Manager at Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis, MN.

Jesse Mooney-Bullock PUPPET DESIGNER (he/him) is a freelance puppet-designer and director of Moonbull Studio. His puppets have been seen in the Chicago area for the past 23 years, beginning with Redmoon Theatre’s adaptation of the Old Man and the Sea, and most recently in Paramount Theatre’s production of Disney’s Frozen. He has also created puppets for Blair Thomas & Company, House Theater, Nashville Children’s Theatre and Marin Theatre. A Jeff Award and Bay Area Theater Critics Award recipient, Jesse lives in Cincinnati on a homestead with his family and menagerie of animals, constant inspirations for life and puppets.

Kass Copeland SCENIC PAINTER AND COLLAGE ARTIST Kass Copeland (she/her) has worked as an artist and designer in Chicago since 1995. Prior to earning her BFA in graphic design from The Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida, she studied and apprenticed with her father, a theatrical and circus prop designer and craftsman.  She participates regularly throughout the Midwest in group exhibitions and has had solo and two-person shows at The Lubeznik Center in Michigan City, IN, The Illinois State Museum in Lockport, IL, The Union League Club of Chicago, Adventureland Gallery and Gallery Oh in Chicago.

As a designer she collaborated with the former Redmoon Theater for over a decade and now enjoys working with Cabinet of Curiosities, The Chicago Children's Theater, and other theater, event, and advertising clients. 

​Diane Fairchild LIGHTING DESIGNER- Diane (she/her) is a Chicago-based freelance lighting designer. Chicago area credits include work with Lifeline (ensemble), Rivendell (ensemble), Raven, Teatro Vista, Babes with Blades, the side project, Wilmette Parks District, Grant Community High School, Momenta, Academy of Movement and Music, Theater Wit, Wheaton College, Next, Northlight, Court, Sideshow, and Victory Gardens. Regional credits include work with Michigan Shakespeare Festival, Intiman, Trinity Rep, Michigan Shakespeare Festival, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Boise Contemporary Theatre, First Stage (Tysons Corner), and City Theatre. Her excellence in design has earned her nominations for Jeff, Broadway World Chicago, Wilde, and Midwest/Chicago Emmy Awards. Ms. Fairchild earned her BFA in Design and Technology from Wright State University and her MFA in Lighting Design from New York University. Diane lives in Evanston with her husband, two children, and their very adventurous tortoise.

 

Brandin Hurley SHADOW ANIMATIONS Brandin (she/her) is an installation artist with a background in scenic design. Her work, inspired by the seemingly eternal and awe-inspiring patterns found in nature, allows her to explore the beauty, fragility, and interconnectedness of the natural world and our responsibility towards it. Her installations, sculptures, and fine art utilize clean contemporary lines to honor the beauty and diversity of our ecosystems. Recent collaborations include work with Four Seasons, Adorn Restaurant, Comcast, Hilary Matt, Tribune Tower Residences, SoHo House, Magnificent Mile Association, Clayco, Hilton, One Steakhouse, and WNDR Museum.

Shawn Ketchum Johnson SCENIC ENGINEER AND DESIGNER (he/him) Shawn Ketchum Johnson is a theater artist focused on design, devising, and site-specific performance.  Johnson's award-winning work has been seen on Chicago stages, throughout the midwest, and in west coast regional theater.  He has been collaborating with Frank Maugeri on innovative theatrical gestures for over a decade (including Redmoon's BELLBOYS, BEARS AND BAGGAGE and Cabinet of Curiosity's SEA CHANGE) and is glad to have a hand in bringing this seminal work to new audiences.  He is currently directing, designing and producing a surround-sound audio installation performance of 4.48 PSYCHOSIS, which will be hosted next month at Cornell College before moving to other venues.  Johnson is an alumnus of Northwestern University.

D C Krause SCENIC ENGINEER AND DESIGNER, SET BUILD MANAGER (He/Him) David is an Educator, Designer, and Entrepreneur, David Christopher “big” Krause has been designing and fabricating for cinema, theater, television, advertising, events and museums for over twenty years. As Associate Professor of Production Design in Cinema and Television Arts at Columbia College Chicago he developed Chicago’s first BA and BFA program in Cinema and television Production Design. Melding a science and mathematics background with study in arts and management, Krause has forged a reputation as a “make-it-happen” resource for the Chicago entertainment community with his design and fabrication boutique “Big Works Industries” creating award winning work for Ogilvy, Burnett, Sandro Miller, and many others. Inspired by the possibilities of emerging technologies, Krause has also explored the worlds of virtual production and augmented reality as storytelling media.

Mickle Maher WRITER Mickle’s plays have appeared Off-Broadway and around the world, and been supported by grants from the NEA, the Rockefeller MAP fund, and Creative Capital. They include There is a Happiness That Morning Is; Song About Himself; An Apology for the Course and Outcome of Certain Events Delivered by Doctor John Faustus on This His Final Evening; The Hunchback Variations; The Strangerer; Jim Lehrer and the Theater and Its Double and Jim Lehrer’s Double; Spirits to Enforce ; Cyrano (translator); Song About Himself; It Is Magic; and the book and lyrics for the musical Small Ball. He is a cofounder of Chicago’s Theater Oobleck and teaches playwriting and related subjects at the University of Chicago. This April, his adaptation of Jason Lutes’ celebrated graphic novel Berlin will premiere at the Court Theatre. A number of his works are available through Agate Publishing. 

Frank Maugeri CREATOR/DIRECTOR Frank (he/him) is a designer and director committed to the art of celebration, creating and studying urban rituals, developing uncanny visual theater that investigates universal human experiences like love, death, spirituality and faith. He currently runs his singular design program, "Parties with the Purpose," for The Clayco Foundation, where he creates interactive, immersive events which raise critical funds to study and cure rare medical diseases. He continues his partnership with The School of the Art Institute, where he shares his unique pedagogy, "The School of Celebration," and mentors and employs emerging artists to develop and execute rituals and interactive events in neighborhoods, parks, city streets and urban spaces across the nation. His academic writing focuses on the “Spirituality of the Mundane." He has been commissioned to make celebrations and spectacles by President Barack Obama's White House, the Museum of Contemporary Art, The Actors Gymnasium of Evanston, The Chicago Shakespeare Theater, The Chicago Children's Theater, The Chicago Humanities Festival, the Shedd Aquarium, The Lawndale Neighborhood Association, and TED X, the Loop Alliance, the Chicago Park District, The Botanic Gardens, The University of Chicago, Columbia College, the past four Mayors of Chicago; notably, directing the Millennium Park's Grand Opening, the grand opening of the North Wing of the Art Institute, and the premiere celebration of the Chase Pavilion at Navy Pier. He developed, devised, and directed the Chicago Children's Theaters S.T.E.A.M. curriculum and academic philosophies at their current hub in the West Loop before he left to create his current enterprise, Cabinet of Curiosity, which empowers an ever-evolving collective of engineers, dancers, poets, visual artists, and educators to create immersive events. He has been hired as a civic engagement consultant to several chapters of The Young Presidents Organization, The Salt Shed, and The Epiphany Center for the Arts. He attended art school to become an animator and quickly became a pariah in commercial animation after declining a position with an unknown new television show called "The Simpsons." That drove him to a life of social work and civic art. He is a past winner of the prestigious NEA/TCG Directors award, where he studied outdoor theatre across Europe and community rituals in Bali. Frank was raised by witches in an atmosphere of ghosts, seances, and the divine. He was the Producing Director of Redmoon Theatre for 2 decades. Frank wants to thank Mike Meluch, Tony Willis, Lou Silverstein, Shawn Clark, El, and Leah for their unwavering support.

Mark Messing COMPOSER Mark (he/him) was delighted to find that humans can conjure magic together when on the third day of band practice in Mr. Koenig’s sixth grade music program at Pompano Beach Florida elementary school the class got to the page in the book where the band plays in harmony. He is delighted to conjure with Cabinet of Curiosity on the long-awaited return of The Cabinet. In between The Cabinet and Mr. Koenig’s class, he’s made music and sound for Theater Oobleck, Blair Thomas Puppet Theater, The Ljubljana Puppet Theater, Bricklayers Theater/Collectif Masque, Chicago Children’s Theater, Lookingglass Theater Company, Walkabout Theater, and a few others now on the posterity circuit. Currently he is working with Court Theater to realize a stage version of Jason Lute’s graphic Novel, Berlin.

Liviu Pasare PROJECTIONIST- Liviu (he/him) is a Chicago-based video designer creating new and immersive experiences. His work encompasses video installations, interactive design and immersive experiences for public spaces and stages. With a strong art and technology background and a passion for collaboration, Liviu has partnered with a diverse range of artists and organizations to enable and manifest new visions. Recent engagements include Luftwerk, Cabinet of Curiosity, The Seldoms, Bob Faust, Nick Cave, Daniel Arsham, Federico Solmi, Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project, In the Realm of Senses. He is a company member with Collaboraction and a longtime collaborator with Teatro Vista. For more information. visit liviu.stoptime.live.

 

Janet Eckleberger  COSTUMES Janet (she/her) makes many items from fabric, found objects, and will do your taxes. She lives in a Camper in Greensboro with her man boy Eliot.

Cabinet of Curiosity (cocechicago.com) is intentionally composed of diverse project-by-project collectives who authentically collaborate on original celebrations, rituals, and productions. Cabinet uses sophisticated puppetry and handmade devices to develop unique interactive experiences, productions, and events. We focus on creating new types of gatherings, ceremonies, and rituals that promote community, dialogue, and interactivity among people who may not usually mix. We support multicultural professionals in the fields of theatre, visual arts, dance, sculpture, and music while mindfully training high school and college-age apprentices to become the future creators of new meaningful rituals. All of the objects and devices created by Cabinet are engineered to expose their mechanical operations so they are simultaneously educational, informative, and magical. We embrace commissions requiring unique ritual, ceremony, procession, and pageantry elements. These commissions create funding that establishes an innovative revenue stream, reduces the responsibility of sustainability from a board, audience, and foundations, trains apprentices through a unique scholarship apparatus, builds community, and funds our free and significantly discounted public work. We are committed to social engagement — both grand and intimate. Our purpose is to promote curiosity, community, and culture. The remount of Frank Maugeri’s spectacle in miniature, The Cabinet, follows several new works, Death is Not the End, Tabletop Tragedies, Farewell Fables, and numerous original rituals, including Panoramic Prayers, Pedal Powered Playground, Pedal Powered Poetry, Reflections on Fire, Messages of Hope, Sea Change, and Journey for the Sun. Our “season of celebration” includes free ritual workshops, a summer of unexpected parades and performances, our leadership of The Clayco Foundations Illumination, and our free year-round School of Celebration and Celebration Consultancy programs. Cabinet of Curiosity does not permit stipend wages or volunteers and only pays artists by the hour for design, rehearsal, and execution or performance. We maintain a commitment to being a right-sized, debt-free arts enterprise. 

The Cabinet

Cabinet of Curiosity

Chicago

The Biograph's Začek-McVay Mainstage, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Lincoln Park

Thursday, January 16 at 7 p.m.; Friday, January 17 at 9 p.m.; Saturday, January 18 at 9 p.m.; Sunday, January 19 at 3 p.m.

60 minutes

14 and up

Tickets: $25-$43

cocechicago.com

About the 7th Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival

The Cabinet is one of  more than 100 shows and special events that are part of the 7th Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, January 15-26, 2025. The 2025 Chicago Puppet Fest is the largest event of its kind in North America, spanning 12 days and dozens of Chicago venues, presenting  an international pageant of puppet artists in all-ages spectacle shows in landmark theaters, intimate works on smaller stages, and late night puppet cabarets. Last year’s festival attracted nearly 20,000 fans of puppetry, a record, from Chicago and around the world. This year, see puppet artists from Canada, Chile, China, France, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Norway, Puerto Rico, Poland, Scotland, South Africa, the U.S. and Chicago performing the full range of contemporary and traditional puppetry styles.



For tickets and information,visit chicagopuppetfest.org, sign up for the festival’s e-news, and follow the festival on Facebook, Instagram or Vimeo, hashtag #ChiPuppetFest.