SAVE THE DATES: Destinos 5th Chicago International Latino Theater Festival to return September 15-October 16, 2022

Fest Alert

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar

Destinos 5th Chicago International 

Latino Theater Festival 

(left) New Orleans performance artist José Torres-Tama performed Aliens, Immigrants & Other Evildoers at the National Museum of Mexican Art in 2019 as part of Destinos, 3rd Chicago International Latino Theater Festival (credit: J Taviesa). (right) Adriel Irizarry (front) and Wanda Baez starred in Chicago's Visión Latino Theatre's premiere Y Tu Abuela, Where is She? at The Den Theatre at last year's 4th Destinos (credit: Dylan Cruz)

Mark your calendar!

Here at ChiIL Live Shows, we've been covering Destinos, Chicago International Latino Theater Festival since their inception and we've seen some incredible, world class talent and some amazing story telling over the years. Save the dates and check out Destinos, 5th Chicago International Latino Theater Festival.

Destinos, Chicago’s citywide international festival bringing together and showcasing Latino theater artists and companies from Chicago, the U.S. and Latin America, will return, live and in-person, September 15-October 16, 2022.

For five weeks this fall, Destinos will give Chicagoans and visitors to the city the chance to experience a rich, diverse multitude of Latino-themed shows, panels and student performances presented at marquee venues downtown, neighborhood storefront theaters and cultural institutions throughout the Chicago area.

“Do not miss the fifth annual Destinos,” said CLATA Executive Director Myrna Salazar. “Vibrant solo performances, spoken word, and large scale productions from Chicago and U.S. Latino companies, plus visiting artists and productions from Mexico, Puerto Rico and Latin America, will all be on display on Chicago’s top stages, each celebrating the Latino experience.”=

Stay tuned later this spring for the initial Destinos line-up. Until then, visit clata.org for more information and to sign up for CLATA’s weekly e-newsletter. Also, follow Destinos at @latinotheater on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to receive first notice of all festival events.

Destinos is produced by the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance (CLATA), a transformative cultural engine helping drive the city’s local Latino theater community to international prominence.

CLATA was founded in 2016 as a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization by Myrna Salazar and Chicago’s three most prominent Latino arts organizations: the National Museum of Mexican Art (NMMA), the International Latino Cultural Center (ILCC), and the Puerto Rican Arts Alliance (PRAA).

For more, visit clata.org or call (312) 631-3112.

CLATA gratefully acknowledges ongoing support from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, Joyce Foundation, Ford Foundation, Walder Foundation, Arts Work Fund, Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelly Foundation, Illinois Humanities, Shubert Foundation, a CityArts grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, Illinois Arts Council Agency, National Endowment for the Arts, Wintrust, Allstate, ComEd and Comcast/Xfinity.

(left) Corazón de Papel by Puerto Rico's Agua, Sol y Sereno, a powerful depiction of Puerto Rico, post-Hurricane Maria, had its Chicago premiere in 2021 at Chopin Theatre as part of Destinos, 4th Chicago International Latino Theater Festival (credit: George Riveron). (right) Chicago’s UrbanTheater Company premiered Back in the Day: An ‘80s House Music Dancesical in 2019, as part of the 3rd Destinos (credit: J Taviesa)

Season Announced: PARAMOUNT THEATRE'S 2022-23 BROADWAY SERIES

 ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar 

PARAMOUNT THEATRE ANNOUNCES 2022-23

BROADWAY SERIES: 

DREAMGIRLS, THE SOUND OF MUSIC, 

INTO THE WOODS AND SCHOOL OF ROCK

Aurora’s Paramount Theatre enters its second decade with today’s announcement of the four blockbuster musicals on tap for its 2022-23 Broadway Series:

Meet the Dreamgirls - Effie, Lorrell and Deena - three talented young Black singers in the turbulent 1960s whose rise to the top will test their friendships to the very limit. This Tony-winning musical spawned an Oscar-winning movie for a reason: Henry Krieger’s music and Tom Eyen’s lyrics and book are unstoppably excellent. Christopher Betts makes his Chicago directing debut with Dreamgirls. Performances are August 31-October 16, 2022. Opening Night is Friday, September 9, at 8 p.m.

Set in Austria 1938 on the brink of World War II, The Sound of Music is the unforgettable Rodgers and Hammerstein classic musical about Maria, a young woman who takes a job as governess of the von Trapp Family while deciding whether to become a nun. After falling in love with the children, and eventually, Captain von Trapp, a clever ruse leads to the family’s daring escape from the Nazis through the Austrian Alps. Paramount’s Amber Mak directs. Performances are November 9, 2022-January 8, 2023. Opening Night is Friday, November 18, at 8 p.m.

Into the Woods, a seminal work by the late Stephen Sondheim, reimagines Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel, Cinderella and other Brothers Grimm characters in one of the most astounding and original fairytale retellings the stage has ever seen. Artistic Director Jim Corti directs Paramount’s journey Into the Woods. Performances are February 1-March 19, 2023. Opening Night is Friday, February 10, at 8 p.m.

Now we’re rocking, because Paramount Theatre’s 11th season finale is School of Rock, the fun-loving musical based on the popular Jack Black movie, from the genius mind of Andrew Lloyd Webber. Trent Stork directs. Performances are April 12- May 28, 2023. Opening Night is Friday, April 21, at 8 p.m.

“The promise of Season Eleven is a theatrical panorama of magnificent orchestras and a rock ‘n’ roll romp telling tales of making music and family on the merits of some of the most popular Broadway shows ever written for the stage,” said Paramount Artistic Director Jim Corti. “At once classical and contemporary, there is something for everyone here gathering us together, laughing and loving in sync, discovering loss and joy and what perhaps we have most in common: 'No one is alone.'”

Just as it has since it launched its first Broadway Series in 2011, Paramount still offers the same “Buy Two Shows, Get Two Shows Free” subscription offer. Broadway Series packages start as low as $56. In fact, Paramount subscribers pay no more than $39.50 per show, and that’s the most expensive ticket. Fees not included.                                                                        

Renewals begin today, Tuesday, March 8 at 10 a.m. As always, current subscribers are given the first chance to secure their seats for all four shows. During this renewal process, new subscribers can also pre-order a subscription to queue up for the best seats available before subscriptions and single tickets go on sale to the general public in July. 

Paramount Theatre is located at 23 E Galena Blvd. in downtown Aurora. For information, visit ParamountAurora.com, call (630) 896-6666, or visit the Paramount Theatre box office, 23 E. Galena Blvd. in downtown Aurora, Wednesday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m.-8 p.m; or, Sunday, 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m.

Paramount’s 2022-23 Broadway Series:

Dreamgirls

August 31 – October 16, 2022

Opening Night: Friday, September 9, 8 p.m.

Book and lyrics by Tom Eyen

Music by Henry Krieger

Original Broadway production directed and choreographed by Michael Bennett

Orchestrations by Harold Wheeler

Produced on Broadway by Michael Bennett, Robert Avian, Geffen Records and The Shubert Organization

Directed by Christopher Betts

It’s the 1960s where the sound of Motown is on the rise. Meet the Dreamettes, Effie, Deena and Lorrell, three women trying to break their way onto the music scene. When car salesman Curtis Taylor Jr. signs the trio to a record label, he sets in motion a series of events that will forever change their lives, for better and for worse. Join the Dreamgirls as they navigate the highs and lows of life, love and fame. And remember, all you gotta do is dream.

Dreamgirls was nominated for 11 Tony Awards, including Best Musical. Originally from Chicago, director Christopher Betts makes his hometown debut with Dreamgirls. He is a New York-based writer, director and professor, currently earning his MFA at Yale School of Drama. He was the 2017-18 Julie Taymor World Theater Fellow, and received his BFA in drama from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.

 

The Sound of Music

November 9, 2022 – January 8, 2023

Opening Night: Friday, November 18, 8 p.m.

Music by Richard Rodgers

Lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II

Book by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse

Directed by Amber Mak

When Maria, a prospective nun is sent to be the governess of seven children for a captain of the Navy, she finds herself unexpectedly questioning her life path as she falls in love with the entire family. Music is at the heart of what unites them as they face tough decisions as Austria, their homeland, is on the brink of World War II. Do they stay or do they leave? 

Director Amber Mak has staged so many unforgettable Paramount blockbusters, including Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, nominated for six Jeff Awards including Best Musical, The Wizard of Oz, which earned seven Jeff nominations including Best Musical and Best Director. Just wait until you experience Mak’s staging of The Sound of Music, a nine-time Tony Award nominee and winner of Best Musical. Bring the family for a holiday outing at Paramount Theatre, where the lobby will be decked out in Christmas decorations and a two-story Christmas tree.

Into The Woods

February 1 – March 19, 2023

Opening Night: Friday, February 10, 8 p.m.

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Sondheim

Book by James Lapine

Originally directed on Broadway by James Lapine

Orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick

Original Broadway production by Heidi Landesman, Rocco Landesman, Rick Steiner, M. Anthony Fisher, Frederic H. Mayerson and Jujamcyn Theaters

Originally produced by The Globe Theater, San Diego, CA

Directed by Jim Corti

A red cape, a strand of yellow hair, a golden shoe and a white cow. It’s these four items that send a baker and his barren wife through the woods on a magical journey to reverse a spell cast by an evil witch. Throw in Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk, Rapunzel and Cinderella and you have one of the most astounding and original fairytale retellings the stage has ever seen. If you’ve seen The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast or Cinderella on Paramount’s stage, then you know the spectacle and extravagance that awaits you in Stephen Sondheim’s brilliant reimagining, nominated for ten Tony Awards, and winner, Best Score.

Paramount’s trip Into the Woods will be staged by Artistic Director JIm Corti, Chicago’s only theater artist to have won Jeff Awards as an actor, choreographer and director, responsible for such Paramount past hits as Newsies, The Producers, Sweeney Todd and Les Misérables.

School of Rock

April 12–May 28, 2023

Opening Night: Friday, April 21, 8 p.m.

Based on the Paramount movie by Mike White

Book by Julian Fellowes

Lyrics by Glenn Slater

New Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber

Directed by Trent Stork

From the genius mind of Andrew Lloyd Webber comes a rousing, feel good and inspirational story of kids at a prestigious prep school. Wannabe rocker, Dewey Finn, has just been kicked out of his band, he can’t pay rent and his life is falling apart. When he scams his way into a teaching job meant for his roommate, Dewey turns a class of straight-A pupils into a guitar-shredding, bass-slapping, mind-blowing rock band. Dewey’s love of music and rock soon inspires the kids to pursue what they love. 

Based on the hit movie starring Jack Black, School of Rock was nominated for four Tony Awards, including Best Musical. The director of School of Rock is Trent Stork, who staged Paramount’s hit productions of Kinky Boots and Legally Blonde.

Subscribe now to Paramount’s 2022-23 Broadway Series 

The rewards of subscribing to Paramount’s 2022-23 Broadway Series are ample – four amazing, Broadway-quality musicals at one of the most glamorous Art Deco theaters in the Midwest, all for less than the price and hassle of seeing just one show downtown.

In addition to the lowest major theater subscription prices in Illinois, exclusive benefits for Paramount Broadway subscribers are first choice of the same seats for all four shows, free ticket exchange privileges and first notice of added shows and special events. Broadway subscribers also receive first notice and exclusive pre-sale discounts of 10% off single tickets for Broadway performances and other select shows at Paramount, including concerts by internationally acclaimed music artists, comedy, dance, holiday shows, movies and family presentations. 

Paramount’s 2022-23 Broadway Series is sponsored by Dunham Foundation, BMO Harris Bank, ComEd, Illinois Arts Council and City of Aurora.

About Paramount Theatre

Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd., is the center for performing arts in Aurora, the second largest city in Illinois. The beautiful, 1,843-seat theater, graced with a strong 1930s Art Deco influence and original Venetian décor, nationally known for its high-quality productions, superb acoustics and historic grandeur, has been the anchor of downtown Aurora since 1931.

After launching its own Broadway Series in 2011, Paramount Theatre grew to be the second largest subscription house in the U.S. Before Covid, more than 41,000 subscribers from all over Chicagoland and the Midwest were enjoying Paramount’s critically acclaimed, 2019-20 Broadway-caliber productions. In addition, Paramount also presents an array of internationally known comedians, musicians, dance troupes and family shows annually.

Paramount Theatre is one of four live performance venues programmed and managed by the Aurora Civic Center Authority. ACCA also oversees downtown Aurora’s newly renovated 165-seat Copley Theatre, home to Paramount’s new BOLD Series, along with the Paramount School of the Arts, RiverEdge Park, the city’s 6,000-seat outdoor summer concert venue, and Stolp Island Theatre, an immersive space opening in summer 2023.

Paramount Theatre continues to expand its artistic and institutional boundaries under the guidance of Tim Rater, President and CEO, Aurora Civic Center Authority; Jim Corti, Artistic Director, Paramount Theatre; a dedicated Board of Trustees and a devoted staff of live theater and music professionals.

For the latest updates, visit ParamountAurora.com or follow @ParamountAurora on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.

SAVE THE DATES: Sean Masterson’s Message in a Bottle at Chicago Magic Lounge Wednesdays beginning April 6, 2022

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar 

Chicago Magic Lounge Presents

Sean Masterson’s Message in a Bottle

Wednesdays beginning April 6, 2022

**Tickets go on sale February 7, 2022**

Chicago Magic Lounge, Chicago’s home for close-up magic, continues its Artist-In-Residence series with Sean Masterson’s Message in a Bottle, Wednesdays at 7:00pm, April 6 – June 29, 2022. Masterson’s combination of magic and storytelling in this brand new show will amaze and enchant audiences. Tickets for all Chicago Magic Lounge shows are available at the box office, (312) 366-4500 or online at chicagomagiclounge.com.

The discovery of a message in a bottle makes the past present in Sean Masterson’s very visual and highly deceptive show. Sleight-of-hand magic is seamlessly woven into the true tale of the 19th century battle to decide American’s #1 magician.

In 1912 theatrical impresario Michael B. Leavitt published his 700-page memoir dishing the untold story of this jealousy-fueled battle between his clients, the magic greats Alexander Herrmann and Harry Kellar. Recently, Sean Masterson procured a signed edition of Leavitt’s memoir at auction and together with his research of Harry Houdini’s original archives at the Library of Congress in D.C., he has found the thread that nearly tells the whole tale. All Masterson needs now is a message in a bottle.

Sean’s blend of magic and storytelling have been part of the Chicago theater scene since his 1992 run at Shattered Globe Theater. Since then, he has performed in extended runs at Live Bait Theater, The Actors Gymnasium, The Music Box Theater, and Theater Wit. His close-up magic has been seen at many corporate, social events including Abbott Laboratories, The Chicago Architecture Foundation, Copia Capital and The Driehaus Museum. He regularly performs at the Old Town Art Fair and The Acorn Theater in Three Oaks, MI and has made appearances at Festimagic in Paris and The International Theater Festival of Grenoble, France. Each year Sean makes 40 appearances in local children’s hospitals.

Message in a Bottle will be presented on Wednesdays at 7:00pm, April 6 – June 29, 2022. Tickets are priced $45 (Main Floor) and $50 (Front Row). Tickets go on sale February 7, 2022.

Also Happening at Chicago Magic Lounge

 

Music & Magic

Mondays at 7:00pm

Tickets: General Admission $25

 

The Showcase

Tuesdays at 7:00pm

Tickets: Standard: $35; Front Row: $40

Artist-in-Residence Series

Wednesdays at 7:00pm

 

Kayla Drescher: Magic in Heels, Now through March 30, 2022

Tickets: Standard: $45; Front Row: $50

Ever wonder what the life of a magician is like? Join Kayla Drescher on this wild ride of magic, laughter, and interactive fun. And it’s all done in heels…because “magic in pajamas” was already taken.

Kayla Drescher, based in Los Angeles, brings her interactive show to the Chicago Magic Lounge. She’s performed for clients like Microsoft, IBM, Wells Fargo, and many more. You may have seen her on Penn & Teller’s “Fool Us,” Access Hollywood, or NBC’s “Today Show,” where she was given the title “The Next Great Magician” by David Copperfield. Most recently, Kayla could be seen touring the world with the Champions of Magic. Kayla hosts a popular magic podcast, Shezam, focused on diversity and inclusion within the magic and allied arts communities.

 

The Signature Show

Thursdays-Sundays at 7:00pm, Fridays and Sundays at 10pm

Tickets: Front Row $80, Premium Main Floor (main floor banquette and main floor cabaret) $70, Standard (rail and elevated banquette) $60, Mezzanine $50 

The Signature Show was conceived in 2015 as an homage to the historic, Chicago magic bar scene. Experience close-up magic right at your table during the cocktail hour, followed by an hour of stage magic featuring masters of their craft performing feats of prestidigitation and sleight of hand. Guests who purchase Premium tickets (Front Row, Main Floor Cabaret, Main Floor Banquette) are invited to an exclusive performance of close-up magic directly after the main stage show in our 43-seat close-up gallery, The 654 Club.

Tickets for all Chicago Magic Lounge performances are available at the box office, (312) 366-4500 or online at chicagomagiclounge.com. Chicago Magic Lounge is a 21+ venue. Ages 16+ allowed to ticketed shows with a legal guardian. 

For the health and safety of our staff, guests and community, you must be fully vaccinated to enter the premises. Ticket holders will be asked to present proof of vaccination status upon arrival.

For a complete schedule of performances and more information about Chicago Magic Lounge, resident and guest performers, and more, please visit chicagomagiclounge.com.

SAVE THE DATES: The Lady from the Sea Via Court Theatre February 4 – March 6, 2022

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar:

Court Theatre continues Season with

The Lady from the Sea

Chaon Cross, Samuel Taylor. Photo by Michael Brosilow 

By Henrik Ibsen

Translated by Richard Nelson

Directed by Shana Cooper

February 4 – March 6, 2022

Court Theatre, under the continuing leadership of Charles Newell, Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director, and Angel Ysaguirre, Executive Director, continues its 2021/22 season with The Lady from the Sea by Henrik Ibsen, translated by Richard Nelson, and directed by Shana Cooper. The Lady from the Sea runs February 4 – March 6, 2022 at Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave. The press opening is Saturday, February 12, 2022 at 7:30pm.

When a sailor returns to fulfill their promise, a lighthouse keeper’s daughter must choose between her landlocked marriage and the mesmerizing allure of the sea. Hailed as a watershed moment in Ibsen’s writing, The Lady from the Sea dissects issues of duty, marriage, and agency with raw emotion and disarming resonance.

Canceled in March of 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, The Lady from the Sea makes a triumphant return to Court’s stage in a new translation from playwright Richard Nelson starring Chaon Cross. Director Shana Cooper injects Nelson’s text with a visceral physicality that thrillingly reflects and refracts Ibsen’s structure and characterization.

The cast of The Lady from the Sea includes Chaon Cross (Ellida), Gregory Linington (Dr. Wangel), Tanya Thai McBride (Bolette), Will Mobley (Lyngstrand), Angela Morris (Hilda), Kelli Simpkins (A Stranger), Samuel Taylor (Arnholm), and Dexter Zollicoffer (Ballested),

The creative team includes Erika Chong Shuch (Choreography), Andrew Boyce (Scenic Design), Linda Roethke (Costume Design), Paul Toben (Lighting Design), Andre Pluess (Sound Design), and Becca McCracken (Casting). Erin Albrecht is the production stage manager.

Individual tickets are on sale and available by calling (773) 753-4472, or online at www.CourtTheatre.org.

The Lady from the Sea is sponsored by Sidley Austin Foundation and Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation.

 

About the Artists

RICHARD NELSON (Translator) His plays include The Gabriel Plays (Women Of A Certain Age, What Did You Expect?, Hungry), Oblivion, Nikolai And The Others, The Apple Family Plays (That Hopey Changey Thing, Sweet And Sad, Regular Singing), Farewell To The Theatre, Conversations In Tusculum, Frank’s Home, How Shakespeare Won The West, Rodney’s Wife, Franny’s Way, Madame Melville, Goodnight Children Everywhere (Olivier Award Best Play), The General From America, New England, Two Shakespearean Actors (Tony Nomination, Best Play), Some Americans Abroad (Olivier Nomination, Best Comedy), and others. His musicals include James Joyce’s The Dead (with Shaun Davey, Tony Award Best Book of a Musical), and My Life With Albertine (with Ricky Ian Gordon). He has adapted and/or translated numerous classical and contemporary plays; his films include Hyde Park On Hudson (Roger Michell, director, Focus Features), Ethan Frome (Miramax Films) and Sensibility And Sense (American Playhouse). He is an honorary associate artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company, a recipient of the Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and the PEN/Laura Pels “Master Playwright” Award.

SHANA COOPER (Director) is a company member at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, D.C., where her directing credits include The Nether and HIR by Taylor Mac. Other directing credits include The Unfortunates (A.C.T., San Francisco); American Night, Romeo and Juliet (Yale Repertory Theatre); Straight White Men (Studio Theater, Washington D.C.); The Unfortunates (World Premiere Musical), Julius Caesar, Love’s Labor’s Lost (Oregon Shakespeare Festival); Venus In Fur (Seattle Rep, Arizona Theatre Company), The Taming of the Shrew, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (California Shakespeare Theater); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Playmakers Rep); Camino Real (New York University MFA Program); Three Sisters (The Studio/New York); and The Whale Play, Twelfth Night Parking Lot Project (New Theater House). Shana was the Associate Artistic Director of the California Shakespeare Theater (2000-2004), and also a Cofounder of New Theater House with Yale School of Drama alumni (2008-present). Awards include: 2014 U Grant (Funded by The Melon Foundation and administered by TCG), 2010 Princess Grace Award, Julian Milton Kaufman Memorial Prize in Directing (Yale School of Drama), Drama League Directing Fellow, TCG Observership Grant, OSF Phil Killian Directing Fellow, and G. Herbert Smith Presidential Scholarship. She is an Assistant Professor in the Theatre Department at Northwestern University.

CHAON CROSS (Ellida) returns to Court Theatre, where her credits include: The Hard Problem, One Man Two Guvnors, Proof , Uncle Vanya, The Glass Menagerie, Scapin, The Romance Cycle, and Phèdre. Other Chicago credits include: Macbeth, Red Velvet, As You Like It, Private Lives, Cymbeline, Troilus and Cressida, The Two Noble Kinsmen, and The Taming of the Shrew (Chicago Shakespeare); Macbeth (Lyric Opera of Chicago); Life Sucks, Brothers Karamazov (Lookingglass Theatre); Cyrano (Court Theatre and Redmoon Theatre); Grace (Northlight Theatre); The Wheel, The Cherry Orchard (Steppenwolf Theatre Company). Regional credits include Lady Windermere in Lady Windermere’s Fan(Milwaukee Repertory Theater) and Elizabeth Bennett in Pride and Prejudice (The Cleveland Playhouse). She has also appeared in productions with Frump Tucker, Shattered Globe Theatre, TimeLine Theatre Company, Theatre at the Center, First Folio Shakespeare Festival, and TheatreHikes. TV credits: The Exorcist (FOX), Chicago Fire (NBC), Boss (Starz), and Detroit 1-8-7 (ABC). Film: Widows, My Dog Skip (Warner Bros). Before moving to Chicago, Ms. Cross toured the US and Canada for two years with American Shakespeare Center.

GREGORY LININGTON (Dr. Wangel) Makes his Court Theatre debut. Chicago: Goodman Theatre, Northlight Theatre. New York: Brooklyn Academy of Music and Joe’s Pub. Regional: Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, Ford’s Theatre, Arena Stage, Shakespeare Theatre DC, Theater J, Kennedy Center, Shakespeare Center LA, CTG and PCPA. A 12-year company member of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival he is also a five-year company member of Misery Loves Company in Prague. Film and television credits include Innocent Sleep, Harrison’s Flowers; Station Eleven, Chicago PD, Grey’s Anatomy, Shameless, Major Crimes, and The West Wing. 

TANYA THAI MCBRIDE (Bolette) is pleased to make her debut at Court Theatre. Chicago theater credits: Stop.Reset. (Goodman Theatre); The White Snake (Goodman Theatre); Twilight: Los Angeles 1992 (The Other Theatre Co.); Yellow Face (Silk Road Rising); and punkplay (Pavement Group at Steppenwolf Garage), among others. Regional: The White Snake (The Old Globe, Guthrie Theater, McCarter Theatre, Berkeley Repertory and Oregon Shakespeare Festival), A Midsummer Night’s Dream and The Heart of Robin Hood (Oregon Shakespeare Festival). TV: Chicago PD, Chicago Fire. Tanya holds an MFA from The Ohio State University.

WILL MOBLEY (Lyngstrand) is pleased to make his Court Theatre debut. Chicago credits include: The Wickham’s: Christmas at Pemberley (Northlight); The Winter’s Tale U/S (Goodman); Ragtime (Marriott); My Fair Lady (Lyric Opera); SS! Twelfth Night (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre); Days Like Today, Antony and Cleopatra (Writers). Regional credits include: Miss Bennett: Christmas at Pemberley (Theatre Squared); The Legend of Georgia McBride (Cardinal Stage Company); The Hound of the Baskervilles, A Christmas Carol, Other Desert Cities (Indiana Repertory Theater); Other Desert Cities (Arizona Theatre Company); A View From the Bridge, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, Hamlet, Antony and Cleopatra, Twelfth Night, Richard III, The Admirable Crichton, The Taming of the Shrew, The Critic and Of Mice and Men (American Players Theatre); A Midsummer Night’s Dream (tour), Macbeth, The Merchant of Venice and Great Expectations (Utah Shakespeare Festival); and The Lieutenant of Inishmore (Artists Repertory Theatre). Will is also a member of the Chicago band The Winchesters.

ANGELA MORRIS (Hilda) is thrilled to make her Court debut. Chicago credits include Twilight Bowl – Jeff Nomination Best Ensemble (Goodman Theatre); Hang Man (The Gift Theatre); The Hamlet Project (The Collective); and Horatio (A Beautiful Fight Productions). Regional credits include The Comedy of Errors (John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts). Television/Film credits include Chicago Fire; Two in the Bush: A Love Story; and the award-winning shorts “SPACEMAN.,” “Trash,” and “My Best Girl,” which she also co-wrote. She voices the main character (and others) in the video game Perception. 

KELLI SIMPKINS (A Stranger) THEATER: Off Broadway: MCC Theater: Charm | Union Square Theater: The Laramie Project. REGIONAL: About Face Theater: The Gulf, Bull in a China Shop, The Secretaries, The Kid Thing (Jeff Award nomination), Pony | American Theater Company: We’re Gonna Be Okay, Men on Boats, T., Celebrity Row | Victory Gardens: Cocked | Goodman Theatre: Teddy Ferrara | Steppenwolf Theatre: Good Boys and True, Fair Use, One Arm | Denver Center: The Laramie Project | Berkeley Rep: The People’s Temple, The Laramie Project | Guthrie Theater: The People’s Temple | La Jolla Playhouse: Think Like Girls, The Laramie Project. FILM: Slice, Chasing Amy, A League of Their Own | TV: Proven Innocent, Chicago Fire, Patriot, Betrayal, The Laramie Project (Emmy nomination– Ensemble Writing), Law & Order: CI. AWARDS: 3ARTS Award (2013). OTHER: Tectonic Theater Project: company member, teaching artist and original creator/performer – The Laramie Project | About Face Theater: Artistic Associate. 

SAMUEL TAYLOR (Arnholm) is co-founder of the Back Room Shakespeare Project and teaches Shakespeare at the University of Chicago. Samuel is also owner & operator of Long Table Pancakes. Chicago credits include Mr. & Mrs. Pennyworth, Thaddeus & Slocum, Lookingglass Alice, and Peter Pan at Lookingglass; The Hot L Baltimore at Steppenwolf Theatre Company; Marnie & Phil at The Actors Gymnasium; Hunchback at Redmoon; and 9 shows at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. Regional credits include work at American Players Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Syracuse Stage, and the Guthrie Theater. On Camera credits include recurring roles on Boardwalk Empire and Crisis.

DEXTER ZOLLICOFFER (Ballested) appeared at Court Theatre in Electra, Water by the Spoonful, and The Mystery Cycle: Creation and Passion. Dexter appeared in Charm for Northlight Theatre (Jeff Award for Actor in a Principal Role and a nomination for Ensemble). Other theatre credits include: The Little Foxes, Dartmoor Prison, The Odyssey, Blues for an Alabama Sky, and A Christmas Carol at Goodman; To Kill a Mockingbird, A Lesson Before Dying, and Pudd’nhead Wilson at Steppenwolf; Relatively Close, Knock Me a Kiss and The Sutherland at Victory Gardens; and The Overwhelming at Next Theatre. Regionally, Mr. Zollicoffer appeared in Blues for an Alabama Sky at Alabama Shakespeare Festival, The Odyssey at McCarter Theatre Center, and Seattle Repertory Theatre, Our Country’s Good at Berkeley Repertory Theatre, The Recruiting Officer and Our Country’s Good at Madison Repertory Theatre, Voice of Good Hope at BoarsHead Theater, and Permanent Collection at Indiana University Northwest. On television, Mr. Zollicoffer has been seen on Chicago Fire, Chicago Med, Detroit 1-8-7, and the upcoming feature, Who Gets the Dog. He is an administrator at The Theatre School at DePaul University where he received best director, best ensemble, and Special Jury Prize nominations for his original work, Ma Fille, Ma Naturelle at the 6th annual International Theatre Festival of University Theatre in Tangier, Morocco. He is a 2011-12 recipient of the Spirit of DePaul award given by DePaul’s Office of Mission and Values.

Chaon Cross, Lady from the Sea, credit: Michael Brosilow

Dates:             Previews:            February 4 – 11, 2022

                       Press Opening:   Saturday, February 12, 2022 at 7:30pm

                       Regular Run:       February 13 – March 6, 2022

           

Schedule:        Wed/Thurs/Fri:    7:30 p.m.

Sat/Sun:              2:00 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.

Location:         Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave.

Tickets:           $28.50-$66 previews

                    $37.50-$84 regular run

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

 

Court Theatre  is the professional theatre of the University of Chicago, dedicated to innovation, inquiry, intellectual engagement, and community service. Court endeavors to make a lasting contribution to classic American theatre by expanding the canon of translations, adaptations, and classic texts. The theatre revives lost masterpieces; illuminates familiar texts; explores the African American theatrical canon; and discovers fresh, modern classics. Court engages and inspires its audience by providing artistically distinguished productions, audience enrichment activities, and student educational experiences.

SEASON ANNOUNCEMENT: Victory Gardens Theater 2021/2022 Season to Include 3 Mainstage Productions, a New Reading Series, and a New Play Festival

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Victory Gardens Theater announces plans for the 2021/2022 Season

Victory Gardens Theater announces their 2021/2022 Season, which will be presented in-person at the Biograph Theater in Lincoln Park. The season will feature three mainstage productions: Queen of the Night by travis tate, the World Premiere of In Every Generation by Ali Viterbi, and the Regional Premiere of cullud wattah by Erika Dickerson-Despenza.

Top row: travis tate, Ali Viterbi, Erika Dickerson-Despenza

Bottom row: Ken-Matt Martin, Devon de Mayo, Lili-Anne Brown 

In addition to the mainstage season, Victory Gardens presents the evolution of the Ignition Festival of New Plays, now renamed the Ignition New Play Program, sponsored by The Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation. The Ignition New Play Program consists of two events for the 2021/22 season: the Ignite Chicago reading series, offering free readings of new works between October 2021 and July 2022, and the 20/50 Festival in June 2022, featuring 3 new works by playwrights over 50, staged by VG Directors Inclusion Initiative Fellows.

Top row: Nygel D. Robinson, Brian Quijada, Ada A.

bottom row: Nicholas Pilapil, Gage Tarlton, Rhiana Yazzie

“We have lost so much in the past 18 months, and I don’t take for granted that those of us still living are blessed to have survived,” says Victory Gardens Artistic Director Ken-Matt Martin. “The pandemic has left many of us wondering, ‘How do we move forward?’ All of these plays feature families dealing with the fallout of situations beyond their control—much like the last 18 months we all just endured. These families move forward with love, humor, joy, and a commitment to healing long-held hurts. I am hopeful this season inspires those who see it to do the same.”

The Ignition New Play Program will include the 20/50 Festival and a yearlong new play reading series, Ignite Chicago. The 20/50 Festival will feature 3 playwrights over age 50, and all plays will be staged by the Directors Inclusion Initiative Fellows. Ignite Chicago readings will take place not only at Victory Gardens’ home in Lincoln Park, the Biograph Theater, but at partner locations throughout the city, to bring new plays into Chicago’s many

communities. “It was important to me to not only continue but expand the Theater’s commitment to new play development as we reopen, and credit goes to Roxanna Conner for her instrumental work in redeveloping Ignition for the future,” added Ken-Matt Martin.

“We’ll be offering more resources and opportunities for our Ignite Chicago playwrights, as well as creating a new festival devoted to those often overlooked in our industry: the veterans, and the next generation of up-and-coming artists. By bringing these two groups together, it creates a wonderful opportunity for collaboration and learning between artists who might not otherwise have the opportunity to create together,” shares Acting Managing Director Roxanna Conner.

Flex Passes to the 2021/22 Season are currently on sale at victorygardens.org or by phone at 773.871.3000, and offer 20% savings over single ticket prices. Single tickets will go on sale later this fall, and range from $29-$62. Registration for Ignition New Play Program events will be available at victorygardens.org approximately one month before each event.

In conjunction with a coalition of member theatres of the League of Chicago Theatres, Victory Gardens has new attendance policies in place for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic. Attendees to all in-person events will be asked to show proof of vaccination or negative COVID-19 test within the last 72 hours, and must remain masked for the duration of their time at the Biograph.

In addition to its onstage work, Victory Gardens has invested in inclusion, diversity, equity, accessibility, and anti-racism (IDEAA) projects over the past year. The outcome of this work has been numerous adjustments to artistic practices and policies, as well as new initiatives designed to make IDEAA an integral part of the Theater’s daily work. For full details on changes and projects to date, visit victorygardens.org/idea. 

Queen of the Night

By travis tate

Directed by Ken-Matt Martin

Saturday, January 29, 2022 - Sunday, March 13, 2022

Press Openings: Friday, February 4 and Saturday, February 5, 2022

A divorced father and his queer son head to the woods of southeastern Texas to relive the camping trips of earlier, easier days. But even without cell service, certain things are inescapable. Playwright travis tate explores masculinity and queerness through the lens of multi-generational Blackness, offering a hilarious, heart-rending family portrait about reckoning with the wilderness of a shared past, while facing an uncertain future. Staged

by Victory Gardens Artistic Director Ken-Matt Martin, Queen of the Night will kick off the 2021/22 Season.

The Queen of the Night design team includes: Sydney Lynne (Scenic), Rueben D. Echoles (Costumes), Sim Carpenter (Lights), and G Clausen (Sound).

World Premiere

In Every Generation

By Ali Viterbi

Directed by Devon de Mayo

Saturday, April 2, 2022 - Sunday, May 1, 2022

Press Opening: Friday, April 8, 2022

Each Passover, for four millennia, we ask: why is this night different from all other nights? And each year, the Levi-Katz clan has answered, while grappling with questions of race and religion that never seem to get resolved. The family finds strength in tradition (vegan brisket or no); but each year of celebration brings more pressing questions about the future: if trauma is generational, then must we be defined by it? Will we ever be free? Written by Ali Viterbi, In Every Generation was the 2019 winner of the National Jewish Playwriting Contest, and will have its world premiere at Victory Gardens, staged by Devon de Mayo (If I Forget, Victory Gardens).

Regional Premiere

cullud wattah

By Erika Dickerson-Despenza

Directed by Lili-Anne Brown

Saturday, June 11, 2022 - Sunday, July 17, 2022

Press Opening: Friday, June 17, 2022

Thanksgiving, 2016: Flint, Michigan has been without clean water for 936 days. Marion, a third-generation General Motors assembly line worker, worries over impending layoffs while struggling to fight the poison that floods her home—and her family's bodies. When her sister, Ainee, seeks restitution for lead poisoning, secrets bubble to the surface, threatening to capsize not only their family, but all of Vehicle City. Penned by award-winning playwright Erika Dickerson-Despenza, cullud wattah will be staged by Victory Gardens Resident Director Lili-Anne Brown (Lottery Day; School Girls: Or The African Mean Girls Play, Goodman Theatre).

The cullud wattah design team includes: Sydney Lynne (Scenic), Christine Pascual (Costumes), Jason Lynch (Lights), Trey Brazeal (Associate Lights), and Victoria Deiorio (Sound).

cullud wattah is sponsored by The Joseph and Bessie Feinberg Foundation.

Ignite Chicago Reading Series

Readings will take place at Victory Gardens Theater and partner locations to be announced. All readings are free to attend, but RSVPs will be required, as capacity for each reading is limited.

October 2021: Mexodus by Nygel D. Robinson & Brian Quijada

November 2021: Tokens of Promise by Ada A.

December 2021: The Bottoming Process by Nicholas Pilapil

February 2022: exercise your demons: a play on the trauma of a gay male body by Gage Tarlton

July 2022: Nancy by Rhiana Yazzie

20/50 Festival

June 2022 at Victory Gardens Theater

Featuring 3 new works by playwrights over age 50. Full details to be announced next year.

For complete details on the 2021/2022 Season and artists, Flex Passes, and the Ignition New Play Program, please visit victorygardens.org.

Victory Gardens Theater receives major funding from Allstate Insurance, Alphawood Foundation, Crown Family Philanthropies, Exelon Corporation, Illinois Arts Council, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Joyce Foundation, Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, Polk Bros. Foundation, Prince Charitable Trusts, and The Shubert Foundation.

Victory Gardens also receives support from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events, Coffman Law Offices, Conant Family Foundation, Golden Country Oriental Food, Goldman Sachs, a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency, Mayer Brown LLP, The Charles H. and Bertha L. Boothroyd Foundation, and The Charles and M.R. Shapiro Foundation.

About Victory Gardens Theater

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Ken-Matt Martin and Acting Managing Director Roxanna Conner, Victory Gardens is dedicated to artistic excellence while creating a vital, contemporary American Theater that is accessible and relevant to all people through productions of challenging new plays and musicals. Victory Gardens Theater is committed to the development, production and support of new plays, which has been the mission of the theater since its founding, set forth by Dennis Začek, Marcelle McVay, and the original founders of Victory Gardens Theater, and continued by former Artistic Director Chay Yew.

Victory Gardens Theater is a leader in developing and producing new theater work and cultivating an inclusive Chicago theater community. Victory Gardens’ core strengths are nurturing and producing dynamic and inspiring new plays, reflecting the diversity of our city’s and nation’s culture through engaging diverse communities, and, in partnership with Chicago Public Schools, bringing art and culture to our city’s active student population.  

Since its founding in 1974, the company has produced more world premieres than any other Chicago theater, a commitment recognized nationally when Victory Gardens received the 2001 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. Located in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, Victory Gardens Biograph Theater includes the Začek-McVay Theater, a state-of-the-art 259-seat mainstage, and the 109-seat studio theater on the second floor, named the Richard Christiansen Theater.

For more information about Victory Gardens, visit www.victorygardens.org.  Follow us on Facebook at Facebook.com/victorygardens, Twitter @VictoryGardens, and Instagram @victorygardenstheater.

SAVE THE DATES: Broken Nose Theatre Announces Eighth Season, “Change The Rules”

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World Premiere!

PEG

By Liam Fitzgerald

Directed by Artistic Director Elise Marie Davis

A Co-Production with The New Colony

U.S. Premiere!

LABYRINTH

By Beth Steel

Directed by Spenser Davis

World Premiere!

THIS IS ONLY A TEST

By Eric Reyes Loo

Directed by Toma Langston

BECHDEL FEST 8

BNT’s Perennial Feminist Play Festival

PHOTO CREDIT: Broken Nose Theatre’s 2019-20 season playwrights and directors include (top, l to r) Liam Fitzgerald, Beth Steel, Eric Reyes Loo and Michael Turrentine with (bottom, l to r) Elise Marie Davis, Spenser Davis, Toma Langston and Cassandra Rose.

Broken Nose Theatre is pleased to announce its Eighth Season, exploring the theme “Change the Rules,” with two world premieres and one U.S. premiere to be presented at BNT’s resident home, The Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood.

This fall, BNT joins forces with The New Colony to present the world premiere of Liam Fitzgerald’s sexually charged comedy PEG, directed by Broken Nose Artistic Director Elise Marie Davis. PEG will feature Stephanie Shum and Gage Wallace.

Next winter, the 2019-20 season continues with the U.S. premiere of Beth Steel’s propulsive financial drama LABYRINTH, directed by Spenser Davis.

In spring 2020, BNT presents the world premiere of Eric Reyes Loo’s terrifyingly timely drama THIS IS ONLY A TEST, directed by Toma Langston.

The season concludes next summer with BECHDEL FEST 8, BNT’s annual feminist festival, featuring a full slate of new short plays with all female-identifying casts. Playwrights, directors and casting will be announced in 2020.

During its eighth season, BNT will also provide institutional support to two outside playwrights through The Paper Trail – its new play development program. This season’s playwrights include Cassandra Rose and Michael Turrentine.

Comments Artistic Director Elise Marie Davis, “As conversations around concepts like gender roles, class divides and gun safety continue on a national scale, the rules regarding how and when we talk about these issues are also changing. With this upcoming season – my second as Artistic Director – the Broken Nose family is thrilled to bring two world premieres and one U.S premiere to Chicago audiences, stories that illustrate the ways in which societal limits are tested and reset, with a variety of outcomes. Along with these three mainstage productions will be our eighth annual Bechdel Fest and two playwrights whose new work we'll be developing over the course of the season, making this one of our most ambitious years yet. We'll see you at the theater!”

Tickets for all Broken Nose Theatre productions are available on a “pay-what-you-can” basis, allowing patrons to set their own price and ensuring theatre remains economically accessible for all audiences. Tickets for all productions will go on sale at a later date. For additional information, visit www.brokennosetheatre.com.

Broken Nose Theatre’s Eight Season includes:

November 13 - December 14, 2019
PEG – World Premiere/Co-Produced with The New Colony
By Liam Fitzgerald
Directed by Artistic Director Elise Marie Davis
Featuring Stephanie Shum and Gage Wallace

Peg is excited. Steve is nervous. Sure, they've opened a nice bottle of wine, dinner smells delicious... but the brand-new strap-on they ordered has just arrived, and tonight's plan is to flip the script. Peg wants to peg Steve. And even though he was all for it initially, his last-minute hesitation will force this ordinary couple to face their kinks, quirks and societal conditioning, as they're quickly reminded that gender politics follow them everywhere - including the bedroom.

January 31 - February 29, 2020
LABYRINTH – U.S Premiere!
By Beth Steel
Directed by Spenser Davis

New York City, 1978. Having just landed his dream job as a Wall Street banker, John Anderson finds himself swept off on luxurious trips to Latin America with only one goal: selling loans to the region’s developing nations eager to borrow. But as the banks’ excessive lending strategy starts pushing whole countries toward the brink of bankruptcy, and the biggest credit bubble in history threatens to burst, John and his colleagues must come to terms with the true price of chasing their fortunes.

May 1 - May 30, 2020
THIS IS ONLY A TEST – World Premiere!
By Eric Reyes Loo
Directed by Toma Langston

Nowadays, it could happen anywhere, at any time, and the faculty at Washington High have decided to take "being prepared" to a whole new level: through a series of cutting-edge Active Shooter Drills, their students will be trained on how to fight back, just in case their school is the next to hit the news cycle. But as they’re asked to quell violence by responding violently, four teenagers begin to wonder: if we’re so prepared, why do we feel even more unsafe?

Summer 2019
BECHDEL FEST 8

BNT'S perennial favorite feminist festival returns! As with the past seven iterations, BECHDEL FEST 8 will feature an ensemble of female-identifying and nonbinary artists performing new short plays written and directed by some of Broken Nose's favorite artists – and all passing the Bechdel-Wallace Test. Created by cartoonist Alison Bechdel, the Bechdel Test asks whether a work of entertainment features two non-male characters talking about something other than men. Playwrights, directors and casting to be announced in 2020.

About the Artists

Liam Fitzgerald (Playwright, Peg) is a Chicago-based writer, director and producer. He holds a BFA from the University of Miami and an MFA from Northwestern University. His work has been performed and developed in Chicago and nationally with theaters including Stage Left, Broken Nose Theatre, Chicago Dramatists, Theatre Masters and the Campfire Theatre Festival. He is a resident designer at Links Hall and has worked for the production departments of Chicago Children’s Theatre, Red Theatre, Theatre Wit, Strawdogs, Pegasus Players, Chicago Dramatists and WildClaw theatre. 

Elise Marie Davis (Director, Peg) is entering her second year as Artistic Director of Broken Nose Theatre, where she has performed in the award-winning productions of Girl in the Red Corner, Plainclothes and At The Table, as well as My First Time, several iterations of Bechdel Fest, and her own play A Phase. She is also an ensemble member with The Factory Theater, where she was onstage for the world premieres of Adventures of Spirit Force Five and Zombie Broads. Other Chicago acting credits include Blue Stockings (Promethean Theatre), Baby With the Bathwater (Eclipse Theatre), Pine (Uncommon Ground), Hot Pink (New American Folk Theatre), Kin Folk and Here After (The New Colony), A Funny Thing… (Route 66, u/s), Speech & Debate (Brown Paper Box), as well as work with Lyric Opera, Strawdog, Artemisia, Midsommer Flight, American Blues and Pride Films and Plays, among others. She recently appeared in Squid, a short-form comedy series now released on Amazon Prime. As a playwright, she has had her work performed at Steppenwolf 1700, First Floor Theater, Broken Nose and Arc Theatre, while her play A Phase has been taught at the University of Chicago. She is represented by Big Mouth Talent Agency.

Beth Steel (Playwright, Labyrinth) is U.K.-based playwright. She was awarded the Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards. Her first play Ditch premiered at the HighTide Festival, transferred to the Old Vic Tunnels and was shortlisted for the John Whiting Award. Wonderland, Steel's critically acclaimed second play, was directed at Hampstead Theatre by Edward Hall; it was broadcast live worldwide through the Guardian website and was a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, an award for best new play in the English language by a female playwright. Labyrinth is her third play; it had its world premiere at Hampstead Theatre in 2016, with Anna Ledwich directing. This marks the play's U.S. premiere.

Spenser Davis (Director, Labyrinth) is Director of Programming for Broken Nose Theatre, where his directorial credits include At The Table (Jeff Awards – Best Director, Production, Ensemble), his own play Plainclothes (Jeff Award – Best Ensemble), A Phase, From White Plains and several iterations of Bechdel Fest. Other credits include Blue Stockings (Promethean Theatre); May the Road Rise Up and Adventures of Spirit Force Five (The Factory Theater, ensemble member); Bachelorette (Level 11); the upcoming world premiere of Under The Tree with The New Colony; as well as readings, workshops and festivals with American Blues Theater, A Red Orchid, Hell in a Handbag, ATC, Strawdog, Otherworld, First Floor and Pride Films and Plays, to name a few. As a playwright, his play Plainclothes received the 2019 M. Elizabeth Osborn Award from the American Theatre Critics Association and was named a finalist for the 2019 Harold and Mimi Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award. He is currently adapting his first play Merge as a pilot for television. He is a series writer-director on Squid, a short-form comedy series on Amazon Prime. He is proud to be represented by William Morris Endeavor.

Eric Reyes Loo (Playwright, This is Only a Test) is a Los Angeles-based playwright and television writer. He writes for the upcoming Netflix series A.J. & the Queen. Eric’s plays have been developed at LA theatres including Rogue Machine, Moving Arts and East West Players. Eric helps run new play development at Chalk Repertory Theatre, where he is also a company member. His play, Death and Cockroaches was produced by Chalk Rep in Fall 2018. Eric received an MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts and attended undergrad at Santa Clara University. His mother would want you to know that he’s a product of a prestigious Jesuit education. 

Toma Langston (Director, This is Only a Test) is a freelance theater director. Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre: Hedwig and The Angry Inch. The New Colony: The Light (2018 Joseph Jefferson Nomination for Director – Play). Victory Gardens: 2015 Directors Inclusion Initiative Director Fellowship (Assistant Director) Sucker Punch. Jackalope Theatre: (Assistant Director) 1980 (or Why I’m Voting for John Anderson). Sideshow Theatre: (Assistant Director) truth and reconciliation and Give It All Back. Other directorial credits include The Last Five Years, The Shadow Box, For Colored Girls Who Considered Suicide/When the Rainbow Is Enuf. 



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 20 full-length plays (including 12 Chicago or world premieres) and over 50 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 www.brokennosetheatre.com.

SAVE THE DATES: Underscore Theatre Company's 2019-20 Season

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Underscore Theatre Company's 2019-20 Season:

PHOTO CREDIT: Underscore Theatre Company’s 2019-20 season will feature musicals by (left to right) Alexander Sage Oyen, Rachel Franco, Austin Regan and Annabelle Revak.

Non-Equity World Premiere!
PROXY
By Alexander Sage Oyen, Rachel Franco and Austin Regan
Directed by Stephanie Rohr


World Premiere!
NOTES & LETTERS
Book, Music & Lyrics by Annabelle Revak

 The 6th Annual
CHICAGO MUSICAL THEATRE FESTIVAL
Full Line-Up Announced!


Underscore Theatre Company is pleased to announce its full 2019-20 Season, featuring two fully-produced musicals, plus the 6th annual CHICAGO MUSICAL THEATRE FESTIVAL. The season kicks off this fall with the non-Equity world premiere of PROXY by Alexander Sage Oyen, Rachel Franco and Austin Regan, a story of journalistic and personal integrity set to a punk rock score, directed by Stephanie Rohr.

This winter, Underscore is pleased to present its 6th annual CHICAGO MUSICAL THEATRE FESTIVAL, created to showcase and support the growing field of musical theatre creators from Chicago and beyond. After receiving more than 35 submissions, Underscore has chosen eight new musicals for this year’s Festival to be presented in full productions. (see full line-up below!)

Underscore’s 2019-20 Season will conclude next spring with the world premiere NOTES & LETTERS featuring book, music and lyrics by Annabelle Revak, based on the author's great-great grandfather's letters sent to his family upon his immigration to Chicago. 

PROXY and NOTES & LETTERS will play at Underscore’s new permanent home, The Understudy, 4609 N. Clark St. in Chicago’s Uptown neighborhood. The CHICAGO MUSICAL THEATRE FESTIVAL will be performed simultaneously on two stages at The Edge Theater, 5451 N. Broadway (The Broadway stage) and 1133 W. Catalpa Ave. (The Off-Broadway stage) in Chicago Edgewater neighborhood.

Tickets for the mainstage season are currently available at underscoretheatre.org. Tickets for CHICAGO MUSICAL THEATRE FESTIVAL will go on-sale at a later date.

Comments Underscore Theatre Artistic Director Whitney Rhodes, "I am sparked by the theme of ‘choice’ in our shows this season, particularly the two mainstage pieces. It's fascinating to see how two very different shows in sound and style explore the similar idea of how we make choices, especially when we aren't ready yet to make them."



Underscore Theatre Company’s 2019-20 Season includes:

October 18 – November 24, 2019
PROXY – Non-Equity World Premiere!
Book by Austin Regan
Music and Lyrics by Alexander Sage Oyen
Lyrics and additional Book by Rachel Franco
Directed by Stephanie Rohr
at The Understudy, 4609 N. Clark St., Chicago
Press opening: Tuesday, October 22 at 7:30 pm

Fifteen years ago, when she was a kid, Vanessa was almost murdered by her best friend. Now she is an investigative journalist in a bind, and she decides to do what anyone would do – exploit her personal story by disguising herself and interviewing her childhood best friend and attempted murderer. Vanessa must navigate her estranged family and confront her trauma in the age of going viral. Who has the right to tell our story? When we have been traumatized, how do we pass that pain onto others – and can we ever really heal?


April 10 – May 17, 2020
NOTES & LETTERS – World Premiere!
Book, Music and Lyrics by Annabelle Revak
at The Understudy, 4609 N. Clark St., Chicago
Press opening: Tuesday, April 14 at 7:30 pm

NOTES & LETTERS follows Joe’s journey from war-torn Prague to Williams Piano Shop in Chicago in 1917. He quickly befriends the owner Charlie, his girlfriend Nora, and composer Olivia. The foursome become inseparable – until World War I hits the U.S. Businesses, relationships and lives are put to the test. Based on a true story and set to a jazz-contemporary score, four young people struggle to make choices amid complete chaos.


February 3 – 23, 2020
The 6th annual CHICAGO MUSICAL THEATRE FESTIVAL
at The Edge Theater, 5451 N. Broadway (The Broadway stage) and 1133 W. Catalpa Ave. (The Off-Broadway stage).

The full-line up includes:

On the Broadway stage:
WONDER WOMEN THE MUSICAL
Book, Music and Lyrics by Gregory Becker

WONDER WOMEN THE MUSICAL is an inspiring Golden Age-style musical comedy that tells the true story of the birth of the 1941 classic comic book character, Wonder Woman®. This hilarious upbeat show follows three women who lived in a clandestine four-way polyamourous relationship with the scientist who invented the lie detector. We see how this group overcame the discrimination, misogyny, and sexual taboos of the day and eventually became a ‘family’. Working together, they fused their individual passions for reproductive rights, gender psychology, equal rights, and BDSM and gave the world a superhero who would defeat ignorance using the powers of love and acceptance,and ignite humanity’s inner desire for a matriarch.


DOUBLE VISION
Book, Music and Lyrics by Olivia Popp

Astrophysics PhD student Luke needs to prove his theory of parallel universes for his dissertation. Rising young filmmaker Sam needs to salvage her latest script for a chance at a big break. When Luke successfully opens a wormhole and finds Sam on the other side, the two discover that they can help each other more than they think. DOUBLE VISION is an original sci-fi comedy musical by Olivia Popp about science (well, sort of), love (okay, kind of), relationships (in more ways than one), and the power of seeking something new.


MOBY DICK – A MUSICAL
Book and Lyrics by Ed Bryan, Music by William Berry

The story of MOBY DICK is a headlong race into the jaws of death. Those on land wait, worry and go about their lives while Captain Ahab and the crew of the Pequod sail inexorably toward a tragic fate.  Honorable Starbuck, carefree Stubb, practical Flask, heroic Queequeg, mysterious Fedallah and the rest of the crew: all are lost to Ahab’s fanatical obsession as he hurls himself against the will of God and the harsh divinity of nature. From the rowdy hijinks of “The Great Leviathan” to the cheeky high spirits of “Nantucket Girls” to the poignant reverie of Ahab’s “What Price I Paid”, the music weaves a haunting spell around a diverse cast of characters who live and die by the dictates of the sea.  Ishmael, alone, lost and adrift on Queequeg’s coffin, survives to tell the tale and turn, at last, towards the comforts of hearth and family.


PAPER SWORDS
Book by Kelsey Tharp, Music and Lyrics by Matt Day

PAPER SWORDS is a romantic comedy musical, focusing on two groups of live action role-players (LARPers) as they navigate adolescence. When the king announces his retirement, the teenagers and the kingdom of Eloren are thrown into shambles. To determine the next ruler of the land, the knights of competing teams Ferndrey and Silvermore must battle one another for the throne. Full of young love, heartbreak, awkwardly-long high fives, nostalgia and wonderfully catchy tunes, PAPER SWORDS will have you in tears (from laughing and/or crying) as you exit the theatre.


BILLY AND THE POTATO POWERED TIME MACHINE
Story and Lyrics by Lawrence Adelson and Keith Gatchel, Music by Alex Chauncy and Nick Davio 

Two kids, Billy and Jamie, have been taken by their mom to live at their grandmother’s house while she starts a divorce with their dad. In the basement, they discover a time machine powered by potatoes. Billy uses it to make honor roll and defeat the school bully. But, when things go wrong, Billy and his mother need to try and find a better way to change the future in this rock and roll fairy tale for kids.


On the Off-Broadway Stage:
BAKED! THE MUSICAL
Book, Music and Lyrics by Jordan Liu and Deepak Kumar

When she doesn’t receive the scholarship that would send her to her dream school, habitual overachiever Jane Huang, with the help of her best friend, joins forces with the class degenerate to build the greatest drug empire ever run by high schoolers. Kept in the dark are Jane’s parents, whose inability to cope with their daughter leaving for college while maintaining a profit at their struggling Chinese bakery drives them pry and potentially unravel Jane’s web of lies.



BAKED! THE MUSICAL is a reflection on perfectionism, self-worth, and the question of what we owe the people we love. It features an all Asian-American cast, and the themes are born out of the writers’ own experiences growing up as the children of immigrants in the US.


VERVE
Book and Lyrics by Fran Zell, Music by Karena Mendoza

Five women at a gym lose the fat fetish and find friendship. Each focuses on her weight and appearance, while harboring a secret she is afraid to share. During the course of a weight loss contest and a rigged game of Truth or Dare, everyone has the opportunity to come clean and test her own capacity for friendship.


ADIRA
Book by Brittany Handler, Music by John Love, Lyrics by Brittany Handler

Adira is a musical satire that tells the story of one princess who must rescue her kingdom. After learning of a terrible curse, Adira runs away to find herself and to break the spell. Along her journey, she encounters a series of new characters, both friend and foe who teach her things that she never knew, including a troll and his bridge, some magic mushrooms and an evil sorcerer. With the help of some dancing dildos and her singing vibrator sidekick, Adira has some big O! moments and learns that she is stronger and more capable than she ever knew.


About the Artists

Alexander Sage Oyen (Music and Lyrics, Proxy) is an NYC songwriter with over five million plays on Spotify. He is the recipient of the 2017 Lotos Foundation Prize in Arts and Sciences for his lyrics and the 2014 ASCAP Foundation’s Lucille and Jack Yellen award for lyricists. His musicals include DIVA: Live From Hell (available for licensing through DPS- Director Daniel Goldstein, Book and Characters S.P. Monahan), Tethered (Book by Rachel Franco), Proxy (Book by Austin Regan, Co-lyrics and additional book by Rachel Franco), Discount Ghost Stories (world premiere 2019 Local Theatre Co., Boulder, CO. Directed by Austin Regan book by Pesha Rudnick and Rob Wright), Outlaws (Goodspeed Fest. New Musicals 2015- book by James Presson, dir. Noah Himmelstein), Archie’s Final Project (Book by James Presson and David Lee Miller), and Moment by Moment (Production at Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand 2015. Available on Spotify/Apple Music). He was awarded the 2013-14 Dramatist Guild Fellowship and his musical Outlaws was featured in the 2014 ASCAP Workshop. He’s been named one of Playbill’s “Contemporary Musical Theatre Writers You Should Know,” and was selected for the 2014 Johnny Mercer Songwriter’s Project. Additionally, he was a 2017 Jonathan Larson Grant Finalist. His music has been heard at Lincoln Center, Goodspeed Opera House, Symphony Space, 54 Below, Joe’s Pub, Playwrights Horizons, The Signature Theatre, New World Stages, The Laurie Beechman Theatre and venues in Thailand, London, The Netherlands and all across the world. Proud member of ASCAP and The Dramatists Guild. 

Rachel Franco (Lyrics and Additional Book, Proxy) is an actor/writer in NYC. She’s written two musicals, the book for Tethered (SCRT Writing Retreat, 2018. Music and Lyrics by Alexander Sage Oyen) and co-lyrics and additional book for Proxy (Book by Austin Regan, Music and Co-Lyrics by Alexander Sage Oyen). As an actor she has been seen Off-Broadway in Nibbler (The Amoralists, Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre) and F**k Marry Kill (Less Than Rent, The New Ohio Theatre). BFA Tisch at NYU.

Austin Regan (Book, Proxy) is a NYC-based writer and director. His other writing includes The Adventures of Pericles, adapted from Shakespeare, as co-composer and lyricist with Christy Altomare. He is currently developing The Valley, a new musical, with composer/lyricist Peter Lerman. As director: Rigoletto at Minnesota Opera ("a scorching take on politics, patriarchy, and power" – Minneapolis Star Tribune), Discount Ghost Stories at Local Theatre Company in Boulder, CO ("hauntingly beautiful" – Boulder Daily Camera), The Trojan Women (The Hangar Theatre), Mad Libs (New World Stages); Well Worn Words (Ars Nova), The Blind (The Flea Theater), Three Decembers (FM Opera). As assistant/associate director: four Broadway shows and the Metropolitan Opera. Drama League Fellow, LCT Directors Lab, MTF Founding Member, and former Resident Director at the Flea Theater. 

Annabelle Revak (Book, Music and Lyrics, Notes & Letters) is a composer, music director, arranger, and pianist. Cabaret: Antithesis (The Understudy); Keeper of the Keys (Davenport’s), TSCS (The Understudy). Arrangements/Orchestrations: Take Me (Strawdog Theatre), Wife Material (Underscore Theatre), Make Me Bad (Columbia College Chicago). MD: The Last Five Years (JPAC), The Ballad of Lefty and Crabbe (asst., Underscore Theatre), The Incredible 6,000-ft. Ladder, Something Blue, The Bone Harp (CMTF 2019), High Fidelity (Columbia College Chicago). BA in Music Composition & BA in Musical Theatre at CCC. 

About Underscore Theatre Company
Founded in 2011, Underscore Theatre Company is a team of producing artists dedicated to exploring stories of power and resonance through a musical lens; fostering the development of new musicals; and bolstering Chicago’s role as a national leader in musical theatre. Since its creation, Underscore has produced or co-produced 65 new mainstage and workshop musicals in Chicago. Underscore is proud to be Chicago's home for new musicals.