INCOMING: March Fourth at Martyr's THIS Friday (21+) Highly Recommended!

ChiIL Live Shows on our radar this week. They're baaaaack.  March Fourth is one of our all time favs, and not just because these kick ass Portland performers put on a rockin' birthday bash every year for my little sis who lives in Portland and was born on 3/4.  We're immersed in the circus arts world and love what March Fourth does.    Click here for ChiIL Live Shows' original March Fourth content from their last 2 Chi-town shows. One of these days they'll play outdoors in Chi-town so they can break out their full blown fire show and we can bring underagers ((hint hint)).   My own 9 & 12 year olds who perform with CircEsteem LOVE March Fourth on line and I'm sure they'd be even more blown away live. For now, we'll be there, but do note, their Martyr's gigs are 21+.   Come early.   Chicago's own Polkaholics who also rock are the openers!! the What-Where-When on this show: Artist: MarchFourth Marching Band Date: Friday, April 5th 2013 Time: 9:00pm City: Chicago, IL Venue: Martyrs Address: 3855 N Lincoln Ave Country: US Admission: $15 Age restrictions: No Minors Notes: M4 plays at 10:45 pm. Check out March Fourth's main site for more details, videos and tunes. HERE'S THE LASTEST FROM MARCH FOURTH Happy Spring! Yesterday as we were loading up the tour bus for another trip across the USA, the sun was shining in our hometown of Portland. Daffodils were blooming, the cherry blossoms were out, but I guess we've got a hankering for a bit more winter because we're heading east to the Rockies, then out to the Great Lakes and finishing up this trip on the east coast. This is the first tour of our new year (which starts on March 4th of course!) and we are so excited to present some new tunes, new routines and even a new band member or two! You'll never know quite what you're going to get since every show is different, but it's a guaranteed good time. Do us a favor and take a moment to spread the word to any friends and family about our shows, particularly in Madison, WI and Ames, IA and Lincoln, NE and Philadelphia, PA. It helps a lot, thanks! Huge armfuls of gratitude to everyone for all the birthday wishes over the past few weeks. We've really been feeling the love from our fans all these years, and especially in March as we celebrate the 10th anniversary of our first show. Wow, ten years! It's been so fun to look back over the years and see where this project has been. It was especially great to have so many of the M4 alumni back on stage for an encore song at our birthday show! If you want to take a peek back, check out this fun slideshow of M4 pics through the years, as seen through the lense of one of our Seattle fans. Our very own Kevin Balmer of Diggable Monkey did this 10-year retrospective mini-short film for Portland Monthly's feature in March.  Check out all our spring tour dates below and we'll see you on the road. Don't fret if you don't see your town on this route...we've got another 150 or so days on the road this year and there's a pretty good chance our paths will cross again soon! As always, you can check our online calendar for the latest info since our summer tour is starting to take shape! 2013 remaining spring tour dates Thu., April 4 Madison, WI Majestic Theater      Fri., April 5 Chicago, IL Martyrs    Sat., April 6 Minneapolis, MN Cabooze   Sun. April 7 Ames, IA DG's Tap House Tue., April 9 Cincinnati, OH Taft Theatre   Wed., April 10 Harrisburg, PA Abbey Bar   Thu-Fri., April 11-12 Brooklyn, NY Brooklyn Bowl    Sat., April 13 Baltimore, MD Baltimore Soundstage  Sun. April 14  Philadelphia, PA The Blockley    media John Averill, bandleader, gives a unique and candid interview with Street Roots. CONNECT: We've just started a new text message notification system. Get SMS updates when we're in your town by texting the name of your city to 503-925-NAME.  Follow M4 on Twitter Facebook Fan Page M4 Youtube channel

Portland P's:

*If we lived just a little closer we'd be all over this!

JOY NOW:

Imagine your child playing alongside MarchFourth! Well, now they can!  The Joy Now Arts Project is a circus, music and performance program for youth 4-18 taught by members of MarchFourth. Registration is now open for our teen performance progam, summer camp and NEW circus classes for kids 4-12! Fnd out more at www.joynowproject.org.

http://video-embed.oregonlive.com/services/player/bcpid649768122001?bctid=2196234346001&bckey=AQ~~,AAAAPLpuSqE~,a1DdoZJH5WSvEcpNW3Kuw2e4b_HTUI38

Watch the Oregonian's recent video article on Joy Now

ACT OUT: BUZZ22 CHICAGO’S SHE KILLS MONSTERS GETS ADDITIONAL PERFORMANCE

(left to right) Company member Sara Sawicki, Rinska Carrasco-Prestinary, Allie Long, Katherine Banks and Morgan Maher

BUZZ22 CHICAGO’S SHE KILLS MONSTERS GETS ADDITIONAL PERFORMANCE AS PART OF STEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY’S FOURTH ANNUAL GARAGE REP 

Buzz22 Chicago’s hit production of She Kills Monsters as part of Steppenwolf’s Garage Rep is getting one additional performance on April 16 at 8pm. 

We haven't made it over to She Kills Monsters yet, but it's high on our must see list.

 (left to right) Company member Ellie Reed and Jessica London-Shields with (background, left to right) Allie Long and Katherine Banks 

By popular demand, Buzz22 Chicago’s critically acclaimed production of

She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen, directed by Scott Weinstein, gets an additional performance as part of Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s fourth annual Garage Rep. This “clever, funny, moving, lively and delightfully geeky” (Chicago Tribune) play now also performs on Tuesday, April 16 at 8pm; the ensemble cast of 11 remains intact. Garage Rep runs through April 21; tickets ($20) are on sale now through Audience Services (1650 N Halsted St), 312-335-1650 and steppenwolf.org.

   

 (left to right) Morgan Maher, Rinska Carrasco-Prestinary, Katherine Banks, Jessica London-Shields and company member Sara Sawicki 

                                           

Agnes's life is turned upside down when she stumbles upon her late sister’s Dungeons & Dragons notebook. As she embarks on an action-packed quest to save her sister's soul, Agnes comes face to face with homicidal fairies, raunchy ogres and blood thirsty cheerleaders, and discovers a side of herself she never knew existed. Qui Nguyen's touching comedy combines real life, fantasy and 90s pop culture in the search for the badass in us all.

(top to bottom) Rinska Carrasco-Prestinary and Allie Long 

The cast of She Kills Monsters features Katherine Banks, Rinska Carrasco-Prestinary, Daeshawna Cook, Fred Geyer, Jessica London-Shields, Allie Long, Morgan Maher, Jose Nateras, Ellie Reed, Sara Sawicki and Richard Traub. The creative team includes William Boles (scenic design), Rachel Goldberg (costume design), Lee Keenan (lighting design), Daniel Carlyon (sound design), Matt Deitchman(composer), Chuck Coyl (fight director) and Lori Buchanan (dance choreography). Additional credits include Colleen Werle (puppetry design); Sarah Fornace, Drew Dir and Julia Miller of Manual Cinema (shadow puppet design); Alex Tey (gore design, assistant fight director); Jamie Karas (properties master); Mary Hungerford (production manager); and Christopher Leck (stage manager).

The fourth annual Garage Rep also features See What I Wanna See, words and music by Michael John LaChiusa, directed by Lili-Anne Brown, music direction by James Morehead, presented by Bailiwick Chicago; and BlackTop Sky by Christina Anderson, directed by Cassy Sanders, presented by Theatre Seven of Chicago. Tickets to all three Garage Rep productions ($20) are currently on sale through Audience Services (1650 N Halsted St), 312-335-1650 and steppenwolf.org.

Credit for all production photos:   Michael Brosilow

Katherine Banks (front) with (background, left to right) company Member Sara Sawicki, Jessica London-Shields and Rinska Carrasco-Prestinary in Buzz22 Chicago’s Midwest-premiere production of She Kills Monsters by Qui Nguyen, directed by company member Scott Weinstein, presented as part of Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s Garage Rep 2013. Performance through April 21, 2013.

Support for Garage Rep is provided by the “Leading for the Future Initiative,” a program of the Nonprofit Finance Fund, funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. OptionsHouse is the Garage Series Sponsor.

Buzz22 Chicago (Scott Weinstein and Sara Sawicki, Co-Artistic Directors; Philip de Guzman, Managing Director) was founded by seven Northwestern University graduates in 2010. Since then, Buzz22 has staged four productions, including the Midwest premiere of Residue by Joel Sinensky and Quake by Melanie Marnich, performed in repertory at Royal George Theatre. The company seeks to provide a home for up-and-coming artists in the Chicago area. Buzz22 stages stories to explore the constant coming of age: the ever-occurring moments that challenge who we are and who we want to be. buzz22chicago.com

Steppenwolf Theatre Company is America’s longest standing, most distinguished ensemble theater, producing nearly 700 performances and events annually in its three Chicago theater spaces—the 515-seatDownstairs Theatre, the 299-seat Upstairs Theatre and the 80-seat Garage Theatre. Formed in 1976 by a collective of actors, Steppenwolf has grown into an ensemble of 43 actors, writers and directors. Artistic programming at Steppenwolf includes a five-play Subscription Season, a two-play Steppenwolf for Young Adults season and three repertory series: First Look Repertory of New Work, Garage Rep and Next Up. While firmly grounded in the Chicago community, nearly 40 original Steppenwolf productions have enjoyed success both nationally and internationally, including Off-Broadway, Broadway, London, Sydney and Dublin. Steppenwolf has the distinction of being the only theater to receive the National Medal of Arts, in addition to numerous other prestigious honors including an Illinois Arts Legend Award and nine Tony Awards. Martha Lavey is the Artistic Director and David Hawkanson is the Executive Director. Nora Daley is Chair of Steppenwolf’s Board of Trustees. For additional information, visit steppenwolf.org,facebook.com/steppenwolftheatre and twitter.com/steppenwolfthtr.

ACT OUT ENDING: There Is A Happiness That Morning Is #review

Catch it while you can.  Happiness is fleeting and Theatre Oobleck's remount is ending this weekend after an extension through April 7th.   The show's upstairs at The Biograph Theatre-Victory Gardens.   

We'll be back at The Biograph for the press opening of The Whale on the 15th--not to be confused with The Elephant and The Whale (at CST-Chicago Children's Theatre).   We're covering their opening Friday the 12th and have some sweet video interviews and a 4 ticket giveaway in the works!

We sat in on an early rehearsal of The Whale, just 3 days in and had an excellent talk back with the actors.   I love to see a piece evolve.   This show has a Mormon (who has friends who went to serve in Africa... like a certain hit Broadway musical), a snarky teenage girl, school papers by an estranged child (like Dream of the Burning Boy), and a gay, obese protagonist who is already a challenge to play in an authentic, truthful way that won't evoke ire.   I'm so intrigued to see where they go with this show!

Back to There is a Happiness, it was an interesting segue to go from Completeness at The Wit on Friday to this show on Saturday.   It was a nerd love fest of a weekend.   This show's a bit more intellectual and esoteric, so less accessible unless you're a true disciple of William Blake's works.   The scenario is a hoot and the characters' responses provide an interesting dynamic, and lend fresh eyes to staid literary staples.  It's certainly worth a look.

Of course Dillinger didn't experience much happiness after seeing a show at The Biograph with The Woman in Red (Ana Sage)  that infamous day in 1934, so my husband and I left our daughter, Sage Ani, at home and had a great time with another woman in red, our long time friend, Cath.

No theatre goers were harmed in the making of this feature.

 

More Happiness!

There Is a Happiness That Morning Is

  "a not-to-be-missed remount" - "soul shaking" - "Killer."
Yes, that one, has been extended until April 7th!
Tickets available here
More info here

There Is a Happiness That Morning Is

by Mickle Maher

“. . . richer, funnier, and more heartbreaking than ever… If the American theater harbors a precedent for Mickle Maher’s astonishing 2011 play There Is a Happiness That Morning Is, I’ve never found it . . .”

–Chicago Reader

“The most remarkable mix of poetry and drama you are ever likely to see.”

-WBEZ

“MAHER’S MOST POWERFUL PLAY TO DATE… SOUL SHAKING”

–Chicago Reader

“an enjoyably lunatic endeavor”

–Chicago Tribune

“Goosed by precise, masterful performances, Maher’s text is almost endlessly engaging and frequently hilarious.”

–Time Out Chicago

“FUNNY, WITTY, LITERATE, and PROFOUND… It’s the actors who make it a slam-dunk”

–Windy City Times

JANUARY 31-MARCH 10, 2013
EXTENDED THROUGH APRIL 7
Thursday-Saturday at 8pm
Sunday at 3pm
(no shows Thursdays March 28 & April 4)
INDUSTRY NIGHT: MONDAY APRIL 1st at 8pm

VICTORY GARDENS BIOGRAPH THEATER
2433 North Lincoln Avenue, Chicago
773.871.3000

TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW

$15 suggested donation*
More if you got it,
free if you’re broke.

Theater Oobleck revives Mickle Maher’s comedy in rhymed verse told via two lectures on the poetry of William Blake: one given in the morning by Bernard, a middle-aged, barely published poet of scant scholarship, on the Songs of Innocence, and the other in the afternoon by his lover, Ellen, a reputable Ph.D., on the Songs of Experience.

Having engaged the evening before in a highly inappropriate display of public affection on the main lawn of their rural New England campus, the two undergraduate lecturers must now, in class, either apologize for their behavior or effectively justify it if they want to keep their jobs.

Featuring Diana Slickman, Colm O’Reilly, and Kirk Anderson.

The script of There Is A Happiness That Morning Is is also available as part of the book of Oobleck plays More If You’ve Got It. Purchase it directly from us.

*Quick ticket explanation: You can get your “more if you’ve got it, free if you’re broke” tickets (as per Theater Oobleck tradition) by calling the box office 773-871-3000. For on-line tickets, click on the link above, then click on the day you want. Then in the next screen you indicate how many tickets you want. Then in the NEXT screen you are given the option of a “Regular Price” (that would be $15), a $10, or a $1 ticket.

Check out this audio link to an interview with Mickle Maher about how he wrote the play.   Then go already.   This weekend is your last shot at Happiness!   

Happiness playwright Mickle Maher talks about the power of public sex, the actor’s prerogative, and why the play was almost about mummies in this half-hour podcast from Talk Theatre in Chicago. Includes bonus stale bread metaphors!

How does a play get written? In particular, how does a verse play about two college English teachers lecturing on the poetry of William Blake to save their jobs after having public sex on the campus green get written? Mickle Maher joins Anne Nicholson Weber to talk about the genesis of his play, There Is A Happiness That Morning Is, which is currently being remounted by Theater Oobleck at Victory Gardens; and about drafts and redrafts, writing in verse, and finding one's voice as a writer. Listen: (MP3) Time: 31:53

ACT OUT EXTENDED: Completeness at Theater Wit Now Through May 4 #review

LONG LIVE GEEK LOVE! 

THEATER WIT ANNOUNCES  SIX WEEK EXTENSION OF 

HIT SHOW  COMPLETENESS;  SMART, SEXY NEW ROM-COM 

NOW RUNNING THROUGH MAY 4

ChiIL Live Shows finally caught Completeness last Friday, and we are elated to share that their run has been extended yet again!   The reasons are exponential.  Completeness gives emotional baggage it's own algorithm!   It's laugh out loud funny, painful, poignant and real.   The actors' adept portrayal of socially awkward, brilliantly flawed lovers is a joy to watch.  Catch this must see.   If you haven't gone yet, what are you waiting for?   Go already.  

We also completely geeked out on the set design.   The simple set pieces evoke student housing while serving as a giant computer.  This provides a visual and effective emersion in modern love, loss, and exploration, from the classroom to the bedroom...through break ups and break downs.

Theater Wit has announced a six-week extension of its current hit play, Completeness.  Wit's "Highly Recommended...knockout Chicago premiere" (Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times) of Itamar Moses's smart, sexy new romantic comedy will now run through May 4, 2013.

Jeff Recommended

*The designation of "Jeff Recommended" is given to a production when at least ONE ELEMENT of the show was deemed outstanding by the opening night judges of The Joseph Jefferson Awards Committee. The entire production is then eligible for nomination for awards at the end of the season.

Completeness "celebrates the seductive power of smarts!" (Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune), while Kris Vire, Time Out Chicago assures  "If you don't find math and science sexy, Completeness might change your mind."  

And audiences agree, geek love is "in." Wits' easily relatable play about two brainy grad students toggling in and out of love has become a fast box office success for Theater Wit, located in the heart of Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood at 1229 W. Belmont Avenue. Performances continue Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 pm; and Sunday at 2 pm, through May 4. Tickets are $15-$36. For tickets and information, visit TheaterWit.org or call 773.975.8150. Note: Completeness contains adult situations and nudity.

Wit's Midwest premiere of Completeness, staged by artistic director Jeremy Wechsler, features universally acclaimed performances by Matt Holzfeind as computer science grad Elliot, who discovers a cerebral, physical and mutual attraction with molecular biologist Molly, played Kristina Valada-Viars. When Elliot and Molly strike up a conversation in the university library, they agree to collaborate on a cross-departmental experiment. But while unraveling the complexities of math and science, Elliot and Molly get tangled up in each other, and the unsolvable problems of love.

Fellow actors Rae Gray and Andrew Jessop equally shine in multiple roles in Wit's new rom-com about the surprisingly sexy intersection of passion and programming. Kudos also to the Completeness design team for the sleek, high tech set and rich, colorful multimedia effects: Joe Schermoly (set), Michael Rourke (lights), Janice Pytel(costumes), Joseph Fosco (sound/original music), Michael Stanfill (projections) andKaren LaCoursiere (props). Sarah J. Luse is stage manager. 

A romantic comedy so rich it can do without "I love you." Don't miss!

- Kelly Kleiman, WBEZ

RECOMMENDED! Sweet and universal!

- Lisa Buscani, New City 

Utterly compelling! Pointed and funny

- Clint May, Chicago Theatre Beat

Critic's Choice! Amazing! Enrapturing

- Tyler Gillespie, Gaper's Block

A Must See! Wechsler's winning production makes for a gripping spectacle

- Centerstage Chicago

More about Theater Wit

In addition to presenting its own productions in 2012-2013, including Completeness, Theater Wit's three 99-seat theaters are always booked with an eclectic slate of new plays and musicals by Chicago's most popular and accomplished off-Loop theater companies.

That's why Theater Wit has introduced Chicago's first live theater, Netflix-like membership program, to encourage cross-pollination among its own productions and those presented by resident and visiting companies. With a Theater Wit Membership, you can see as many plays as you want at Theater Wit, year round, for one low monthly fee of $36 ($22 for students). Traditional multi-play flex passes are also available. To purchase a Membership Program, flex pass, single tickets or for information about current and upcoming productions at Theater Wit, call 773.975.8150 or visit TheaterWit.org.

Theater Wit inaugurated its newly renovated, $1.3 million venue at 1229 W. Belmont Ave., the former home of the Bailiwick Arts Centre, in June 2010. The Chicago Tribunecalled the new Theater Wit "A thrilling addition to Chicago's roster of theaters"(Chicago Tribune) and New City agreed Wit is "a terrific place to see a show."

Today, Theater Wit boasts three intimate 99-seat performance spaces - the only theater in Chicago with such a configuration - plus a new box office, administrative offices, a beer, wine, spirits and coffee bar, and a cool, casual lobby.

In 2012, Theater Wit hosted 593 performances of 42 productions presented by 25 of Chicago's best small companies, entertaining a total audience of more than 33,000. Resident companies presenting their full seasons at Wit in 2012-2013 are New Millennium Theatre Company and Stage Left Theatre. Visiting companies include Book and Lyrics Theatricals, Griffin Theatre, Hell in a Handbag Productions, Pinebox Theatre, Porchlight Music Theatre, Shattered Globe and Steep Theatre.

Founded in 2004, Theater Wit's mission is to explore contemporary issues with wit and wisdom through new works and Chicago premieres.  For more information, visit TheaterWit.org.

                                                                                                    

#   #  #

About the Playwright

  

Itamar Moses is the author of The Four of Us, which like Completeness had its Midwest debut under Jeremy Wechsler's direction at Theater Wit in 2011.  That production earned three-and-a-half stars from the Chicago Tribune, four stars from Time Out Chicago, and for Moses, the new designation "one hell of a playwright" from the Chicago Reader. His subsequent play Completeness has received east and west coast premieres at Playwrights Horizons and South Coast Repertory respectively. Moses' other plays include Bach at Leipzig, Outrage, Celebrity Row, Yellowjackets, Back Back Back,and an adaptation of Jonathan Lethem's The Fortress Of Solitude. 

His work has appeared Off-Broadway and elsewhere in New York, at regional theaters across the U.S. and Canada, and has been published by Faber & Faber, Vintage Heinemann Press, Playscripts Inc., and Samuel French, Inc. He has received commissions from The McCarter Theater, Playwrights Horizons, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Wilma Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club, and South Coast Rep. Moses holds an MFA in Dramatic Writing from NYU and has taught playwriting at Yale and NYU. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild, MCC Playwrights Coalition, Naked Angels Mag 7, and is a New York Theatre Workshop Usual Suspect. Moses has written for HBO's hit series Boardwalk Empire and he was just featured in New York Magazine's "Reasons to Love New York 2012" issue. He was born in Berkeley, California, and now lives in Brooklyn, New York.

All Production Photos Credit: Charles Osgood

WICKED IS FLYING BACK TO CHICAGO OCTOBER 30, 2013 #BroadwayinChicago

BY STEPHEN SCHWARTZ AND WINNIE HOLZMAN

BASED ON THE NOVEL BY GREGORY MAGUIRE

Broadway In Chicago is pleased to announce WICKED, Broadway’s biggest blockbuster, will return to Chicago in celebration of its 10^th anniversary on Broadway and play the Oriental Theatre (24 West Randolph) for a limited eight-week engagement, Oct. 30 to Dec. 21, 2013.

With music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz (Godspell, Pippin, Academy Award®-winner for Pocahontas and The Prince of Egypt) and book by Winnie Holzman (“My So Called Life,” “Once And Again” and “thirtysomething”), WICKED, the untold story of the witches of Oz, is directed by two-time Tony® Award winner Joe Mantello (Take Me Out, Love! Valour! Compassion!, The Vagina Monologues) and features musical staging by Tony® Award winner Wayne Cilento (Aida, The Who’s Tommy, How To Succeed…).

Based on the best-selling 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire, WICKED, winner of 35 major awards, including a Grammy® and three Tony® Awards, is the untold story of the witches of Oz.  It is produced by Marc Platt, Universal Pictures, The Araca Group, Jon B. Platt and David Stone.

“We are thrilled to bring WICKED back home to Chicago,” said Lou Raizin, President of Broadway In Chicago. “To be part of WICKED’s 10^th anniversary celebration and once again share WICKED with Chicago audiences is a great honor.”

Long before Dorothy drops in, two other girls meet in the Land of Oz.  One – born with emerald-green skin – is smart, fiery and misunderstood.  The other is beautiful, ambitious and very popular.  WICKED tells the story of their remarkable odyssey, and how these two unlikely friends grow to become the Wicked Witch of the West and Glinda the Good.

WICKED has “cast quite a spell” (Washington Post) throughout North America, breaking box office records in every city that it has played, including Toronto, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, DC, Philadelphia and Boston to name a few.

WICKED has been declared “A Cultural Phenomenon” by Variety and “The Best Musical of the Decade” by Entertainment Weekly.  There are currently 7 productions worldwide: New York, London, Holland, Japan, Australia/New Zealand, and two concurrent North American Tours.  Globally, WICKED has amassed nearly $2.9 billion in ticket sales and has been seen by 36 million people worldwide in its 9-year history.

WICKED features set design by Tony® Award winner Eugene Lee (Ragtime, Show Boat, Candide, Sweeney Todd), costume design by Tony® winner Susan Hilferty (Into the Woods, Assassins), lighting design by Tony® nominee Kenneth Posner (The Coast of Utopia, Hairspray) and sound design by Tony Meola (The Lion King).  Stephen Oremus is the show’s musical director.  Orchestrations are by William David Brohn, with dance arrangements by James Lynn Abbott.

Grammy Award-Winning Cast recording available on Decca Broadway.

TICKET INFORMATION

Tickets are now available for groups of 15 or more by calling Broadway In Chicago Group Sales at (312) 977-1710. Individual tickets for WICKED will go on-sale at a later date.  

For more information about WICKED, please visit www.wickedthemusical.com or www.BroadwayInChicago.com