LAST CALL: Three Stellar Shows Closing This Weekend Include Saturday Night Fever at Drury Lane, A Disappearing Number at Timeline, and The Hard Problem at Court Theatre

Don't Miss This:

Saturday Night Fever at Drury Lane,  A Disappearing Number at Timeline, and 

The Hard Problem at Court Theatre

If you still haven't made it to these shows, it's your final chance. We caught the press openings of all 3, and they all made our highly recommend list. All must close this Sunday, April 9th.

Drury Lane's Saturday Night Fever has been extended 3 weeks due to high demand, but it must close this Sunday. This new rewrite is a delight on stage and a welcome respite from the current exhausting political climate. Drury Lane's high energy production leaves everyone grinning, and harkens back to the disco days of the 70's with an instantly recognizable score. I'd forgotten the still timely pro-immigrant, pro-tolerance twist, the teen angst of changing blue collar neighborhoods, underemployment, and the trauma and drama of accidental death. As always, Drury Lane does a stellar job casting the best and brightest local talent. 

We'll be back out on the 28th, for the press opening of Chicago, so check back soon for our full review.

Don’t miss out on the hottest ticket in town! This critically-acclaimed new version, rewritten for the Drury Lane stage, features music and lyrics by The Bee Gees, based on the smash-hit Paramount/RSO Film and the story by Nik Cohn, and adapted for the stage by Robert Stigwood in collaboration with Bill Oaks. This North American version was written by Sean Cercone and David Abbinanti and is helmed by Tony-nominated director and choreographer Dan Knechtges with musical direction by Roberta Duchak. 

Tickets, priced $43 - $60 are available by calling 630.530.0111 or at DruryLaneTheatre.com. 

Alex Newell (Glee) joined the cast of Saturday Night Fever in the role of disco singer Candy. He stars alongside Adrian Aguilar as Brooklyn teen Tony Manero and Erica Stephan as Stephanie Mangano. Newell is an actor and singer best known for playing the transgender student Wade “Unique” Adams on the Fox musical series Glee. He has also appeared at the North Shore Music Theater and is a recording artist with Atlantic Records.

Based on the 1977 hit film, Saturday Night Fever follows Tony Manero in his attempt to escape his troubles by spending weekends at the local disco. Watch Tony win the admiration of the crowd, as well as his heartthrob Stephanie Mangano, as he burns up the dance floor with his electric moves. This new production features favorite Bee Gees songs from the movie such as “Night Fever,” "Stayin' Alive,” and "Jive Talkin’.”

To accommodate the extension of Saturday Night Fever, Drury Lane's electrifying new production of Chicago, featuring a book by Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse, music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and based on the play by Maurine Dallas Watkins, will now run April 20 – June 18, 2017. The Press Opening is Friday, April 28, 2017 at 8:00 p.m. This fiery new take on Chicago is directed by Drury Lane Theatre’s Artistic Director William Osetek with choreography by Jane Lanier, the Tony-nominated student of Bob Fosse.

Season and Subscription Information
Drury Lane Theatre’s 2017-2018 season will open with Chicago – the first professional Chicagoland production of the hit musical in 30 years. The season continues with the Pulitzer-winning play The Gin Game featuring Chicago theatre legends John Reeger and Paula Scrofano, followed by the powerhouse musical tribute to the 1980s Rock of Ages. For the holiday season Drury Lane will stage beloved tap classic 42nd Street and then close its 17-18 season with the iconic Tim Rice & Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. The 2017/2018 season runs March 30, 2017 through March 25, 2018 at Drury Lane Theatre, 100 Drury Lane in Oakbrook Terrace.

Subscriptions for the 2017 - 2018 Season are priced from $144.60 to $175.80. Subscribers receive special offers on dining, flexible ticket exchanges and early notification and priority seating for added events and concerts. For more information, visit DruryLaneTheatre.com.

The performance schedule for all productions is as follows: Wednesdays at 1:30 p.m., Thursdays at 1:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 5 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Student group tickets start as low as $30 and Senior Citizens start at $40 for matinees. Dinner and show packages are also available. For individual ticket on-sale dates and ticket reservations, call the Drury Lane Theatre box office at 630.530.0111, TicketMaster at 800.745.3000 or visit DruryLaneTheatre.com.

About Drury Lane Theatre
Under the leadership of President Kyle DeSantis and Artistic Director William Osetek, Drury Lane Theatre is a major force in the Chicagoland theatre scene, presenting world-class productions in collaboration with some of the nation’s leading actors, artists, writers and directors. Over the past 30 years, Drury Lane has staged more than 2,000 productions and has been nominated for more than 350 Joseph Jefferson Awards. Drury Lane is committed to breathing new life into beloved classics and introducing audiences to exciting new works.


Throughout its 30-year history, Drury Lane has employed more than 7,500 actors and 10,000 musicians, designers and crewmembers to entertain upwards of nine million audience members. Originally founded by Anthony DeSantis, Drury Lane Theatre remains a family-run organization known for producing breathtaking Broadway classics, top-rated musicals, bold new works, hilarious comedies and unforgettable concert events.

A Disappearing Number

Timeline Theatre's A Disappearing Number and Court Theatre's The Hard Problem are both Chicago premieres with a scholarly bent, strong female protagonists, and psychological real world applications for the studies of academia. Let's hear it for the brainy blondes. Both shows have striking similarities and are thought provoking, multilayered explorations in human nature that are utterly compelling. Highly recommended. 

A Disappearing Number

The Hard Problem

A Disappearing Number 

If the thought of higher math classes gives you hives, never fear, you won't be called to the white board to solve equations. A Disappearing Number deals with the cool side of mathematics, too, like coincidence and synchronicity. As always, we recommend you come early and explore Timeline's lobby. They delve into the artistic side of math with fractals, math in art and architecture, optical illusions and more! We adored this production, based on a real life occurrence from 1913, expertly interwoven with the present day.

Check out more of my original photos of Timeline's lobby at the bottom of this feature.

“A mathematician, like a painter, or a poet, is a maker of patterns 

… and beauty is the first test.”

The long-awaited Chicago premiere of this exquisite, internationally acclaimed play about love, math, and how the past and future connect. In 1913, a clerk in rural India named Srinivasa Ramanujan sends a letter to famed mathematician G.H. Hardy, filled with astonishing mathematical theorems. In the present, a math professor and a businessman fall in love. Told in a whirlwind of vignettes spanning history and time, A Disappearing Number is a love letter to numbers, blending the beauty of everyday relationships with the mysticism of the cosmos.

Winner of the 2007 Critics’ Circle Theatre, Evening Standard, and Laurence Olivier awards for Best New Play, TimeLine’s production is a new and rare staging of this mesmerizing play.

Click here for full production details

The Hard Problem

I don't want to give away any spoilers, because this production benefits from the mystery. Suffice it to say, there are some craftily wrought plot twists that make this drama a delight. Don't miss this. The Hard Problem is classic Tom Stoppard and a thrill to see. Kudos to Court Theatre for producing this Chicago Premiere.

Click here for full production details

ChiIL Mama's Adventures in Timeline's lobby

at A Disappearing Number:

OPENING: JOHNNY 10 BEERS’ DAUGHTER at CHICAGO DRAMATISTS 5/19-6/18

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

SOMETHING MARVELOUS, IN ASSOCIATION WITH CHICAGO DRAMATISTS’ GRAFTING PROJECT, PRESENTS 

JOHNNY 10 BEERS’ DAUGHTER, 

STARRING 

RANDY STEINMEYER AND ARTI ISHAK, 

MAY 19 – JUNE 18

Powerful and Poignant Drama, Written by 

Dana Lynn Formby and Directed by Emmi Hilger

(left to right) Randy Steinmeyer (Johnny) and Arti Ishak (Leila). 

Photos by Laura Nash.

 
Something Marvelous and Randy Steinmeyer, in association with Chicago Dramatists’ Grafting Project, present the Johnny 10 Beers’ Daughter. Written by Dana Lynn Formby and directed by Emmi Hilger, Johnny 10 Beers’ Daughter runs May 19 – June 18 at Chicago Dramatists, 1105 W. Chicago Ave. 

Previews are Friday, May 19 and Saturday, March 20 at 8 p.m. Opening performances are Sunday, May 21 at 3 and 7 p.m. Regular performance times are Thursdays - Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. Ticket prices are $18 for preview performances, $22 for Thursday and Sunday performances and $28 for Friday and Saturday performances. Tickets may be purchased online at http://www.somethingmarvelous.org/johnny-ten-beers-daughter/.

A father and daughter fish for silence in both the Euphrates and Poudre Rivers after serving in Iraq—a Marine Corp enlistment separated by 16 years. Johnny 10 Beers’ Daughter shares the personal and public struggles created by war. This dialogue-driven drama showcases the battle with post-war life and inner-self capturing the silence and the explosions of anger created by PTSD.

Johnny 10 Beers’ Daughter was a finalist for the 2016 Eugene O’Neill Award, Princess Grace finalist in 2015 and received an honorable mention by Kilroys in 2015.  The cast for Johnny Ten Beers’ Daughter includes: Randy Steinmeyer (Johnny) and Arti Ishak (Leila).

The production team for Johnny 10 Beers’ Daughter includes: Dana Lynn Formby (Playwright), Emmi Hilger (Director, Producer), Adam Greye (Stage Manager), Nicholas Schwartz (Scenic Director), Kara Grimm (Lighting Designer), Barry Bennett (Sound Designer), Jonathan Berg-Einhorn (Props Designer), Uriel Gomez (Costume Designer), Michelle Underwood (Projections Designer), Justin Glombicki (Technical Director) and Gracie Meier (Assistant Producer).


About Randy Steinmeyer (Johnny, Producer)
Johnny 10 Beers’ Daughter marks Steinmeyer 10th world premiere and first time as a producer.  An Associate Artist at Chicago Dramatists, Randy has appeared in:  Chops, McMeekin Finds Out, A Steady Rain (Jeff award for Best Actor), and The Prophet of Bishop Hill, all plays developed at Chicago Dramatists.  He also appeared in The Troll and The Elephant Prince, developed at the Goodman School of Drama/DePaul University, where he received a professional certificate in Acting.  Steinmeyer received a BA in Theater Arts from Blackburn College.  Other new work includes the musicals Larger than Life, All That Entertainment and Psychedelic Sundae, developed at Milwaukee Rep. Additional stage credits include: Man and Superman, The Infernal Machine, The Diviners, The Tempest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Wait Until Dark, Reckless, A Wrinkle in Time, Brigidoon, Out of Order, Rough for Theater 2/ Catastrophe, and The Bourgeouis Gentleman. Film work includes Public Enemies, The Babe, Transformers 3 and Game Day. TV work includes Chicago PD, The Playboy Club, The Beast, Early Edition, Turks, The Untouchables, and Mario and the Mob, a made for TV movie. 

About Arti Ishak (Leila)
Ishak is a Chicago theatre artist, transplanted from Detroit, working on stage as well as producing and marketing for various storefront companies. She is a proud graduate of Western Michigan University’s Theatre Performance and Business programs. As an artist she is committed to being a part of and producing pieces that inspire social change and growth. She is specifically passionate about contributing to the growth of a strong female presence in the arts. It is her goal to challenge traditional gender roles and racial stereotypes that are typically associated with women of color in the media today. She believes magical realism can be an incredibly impactful tool as it has the unique ability to ask the worlds' big questions while engaging the audience's sense of wonder Along with being the Communications Manager for Something Marvelous, Ishak also serves as the social media marketing manager for The Strange Bedfellows Theatre.

About Dana Lynn Formby, playwright
Dana Lynn Formby is a resident playwright at Chicago Dramatists. She was a finalist for the 2016 Emory Fellowship in Playwriting as well as a finalist and semi finalist for the 2015 and 2016 Princess Grace Award for playwriting. Formby’s most recent play, The Play That Used To Be Titled ‘1247 Likes’ Decides To Go Dancing In The Cemetery, was commissioned by Theater Emory. The Labeler was a 2016 finalist for the American Blues Theatre Blue Ink Award and will be read at Luna Stage in 2017. Her play American Beauty Shop was read at Steppenwolf’s First Look 2014 and is was published by Bloomsbury Methuen in conjunction with the world premiere at Chicago Dramatists this past spring. Formby is a three-time ‘Kilroy Honorable Mention’ playwright and her plays have been produced, workshopped and read by Pegasus Theatre Chicago, Chicago Dramatists, Mortar Theatre Company, Steep, PICT, Victory Gardens, WordBRIDGE, Florida Studio Theatre, The Alliance Theatre of Atlanta, The Kennedy Center, Theater Emory and New York Theatre Workshop. Her short play A Deck of Monsters was featured in Goodman Theatre's New Play Bake-Off. Her play Until Death was produced in 2015 at Concordia University Chicago in association with Chicago Dramatists. She holds an MFA in playwriting from Ohio University and is represented by The Robert A. Freedman Dramatic Agency in New York.

About Emmi Hilger, Director, Producer
Emmi Hilger currently lives in Chicago where she is the artistic director of Something Marvelous, a festival of magical realism. Relationships are at the heart of every story she tells, and Hilger enjoys collaborating with playwrights to explore theatre's unique ability to inspire imagination. For Something Marvelous, Hilger has directed The Clean House by Sarah Ruhl, References to Salvador Dalí Make Me Hot by José Rivera, the workshop of Koalas by J. Joseph Cox, Sunrise: Ardmore Beach by Hallie Palladino and Sheltered by Laura Nessler.

About Chicago Dramatists’ Grafting Project
Since 1979 Chicago Dramatists has nurtured extraordinary playwrights with the space, resources, and collaborators needed to realize new work and thrive as artists.  Through the Grafting Project, Chicago Dramatists offer companies producing a resident playwright's work free production space.  Resident Playwright Dana Lynn Formby developed Johnny 10 Beers’ Daughter through Chicago Dramatists’ Round Table and Saturday Series programs.  Chicago Dramatists grants 23 Resident Playwrights and 6 Tutterow Fellows developmental programs such as table readings, workshops, and public staged readings. 

About Something Marvelous
Something Marvelous is a theatre company based in Chicago dedicated to creating works of magical realism. Each year the company puts up a full production, conducts workshops of new plays in collaboration with playwrights, curates a series of special events involving local theatre companies and leads a dialogue about imagination in the theatre. 2013 was its inaugural festival, with three readings, a Night of New Works and a production of The Clean House by Sarah Ruhl. In 2014, Something Marvelous presented References to Salvador Dalí Make Me Hot by José Rivera, a Night of New Works, and eight reading series events. The 2015 festival featured six world premieres of ten-minute plays in a fully produced Night of New Works, three workshops culminating in staged readings at the Chicago Cultural Center thanks to the DCASE In the Works residency and four special events geared towards actors, directors and designers. 2016 brought Something Marvelous’ first world premiere, Don't Look by Gina Doherty, as well as a continuation of the workshop series and special events. For more information, please visit www.somethingmarvelous.org.

 

Something Marvelous and Randy Steinmeyer, in association with Chicago Dramatists’ Grafting Project, present the Johnny 10 Beers’ Daughter. Written by Dana Lynn Formby and directed by Emmi Hilger, Johnny 10 Beers’ Daughter runs May 19 – June 18 at Chicago Dramatists, 1105 W. Chicago Ave. Previews are Friday, May 19 and Saturday, March 20 at 8 p.m. Opening performances are Sunday, May 21 at 3 and 7 p.m., press is invited to attend either opening day performances.  Regular performance times are Thursdays - Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. Ticket prices are $18 for preview performances, $22 for Thursday and Sunday performances and $28 for Friday and Saturday performances. 

Tickets may be purchased online at http://www.somethingmarvelous.org/johnny-ten-beers-daughter/.

Phylicia Rashad to Direct Steppenwolf's 2017-18 Season finale, The Roommate

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

PHYLICIA RASHAD TO DIRECT 

THE ROOMMATE

BY JEN SILVERMAN

STEPPENWOLF ANNOUNCES FINAL DIRECTOR FOR 

2017/18 SEASON

Steppenwolf Theatre Company announced acclaimed director, actor, singer and 2017 Steppenwolf Women in the Arts honoree Phylicia Rashad will direct Steppenwolf’s Chicago premiere production of The Roommate, a comedy by Jen Silverman. Featuring ensemble members Ora Jones and Sandra Marquez, this touching comedy will be the final slot in the 2017/18 season, June 21 – August 21, 2018 in the Downstairs Theatre (1650 N Halsted St). Subscription and Flex memberships for the 2017/18 season are currently available through Audience Services at 312-335-1650 and steppenwolf.org.

“We are thrilled to have the phenomenal Phylicia Rashad join us next season. Her captivating artistry spans theater, television and film, and her work continues to break boundaries. Steppenwolf’s relationship with Phylicia began when she portrayed Viola Westin in August: Osage County on Broadway and has deepened through her work in ensemble member Tarell Alvin McCraney’s Head of Passes. It was a true joy to pay honor to her at this year’s Women in the Arts luncheon, and we look forward to welcoming her back to direct this beautiful play,” shares Artistic Director Anna D. Shapiro.

Sharon is Midwestern nice. But to Robyn, her new roommate from the Bronx, that just means nosy and very, very talkative. A comical mismatch leads to a surprising and touching friendship in The Roommate, a new comedy about how early-life choices lead to mid-life challenges and the unexpected rewards of bridging the divide.

Whether she is bringing laughter to millions of television viewers around the world, moving theatre-goers to tears, thrilling movie fans, offering new insights to students by teaching at renowned learning institutions such as Howard University and Julliard, or breaking new ground as a director, Phylicia Rashad is one of the entertainment world's most extraordinary performing artists.

Phylicia Rashad’s directing credits include August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean at the Seattle Repertory Theatre, August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and Joe Turner’s Come and Gone at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles (2014 NAACP Theatre Award for Best Director) and Fences at the Long Wharf Theatre and the McCarter Theatre.

Ms. Rashad received both the Drama Desk and the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her riveting performance in the Broadway revival of Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin In The Sun. She received the 2016 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Leading Actress in a Play for her performance in ensemble member Tarell Alvin McCraney's Head of Passes at the Public Theater, which opens at the Mark Taper Forum this fall. She has performed on Broadway in Steppenwolf’s production of Tracy Letts’s August: Osage County; Tennessee Williams’s Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (a role that she reprised on the London Stage), August Wilson’s Gem Of The Ocean, (Tony Award nomination) and Cymbeline at Lincoln Center.

Well-known to television audiences for her groundbreaking role of attorney Clair Huxtable on The Cosby Show, her recent film credits include Tyler Perry’s For Colored Girls and the 2015 Rocky spin-off and sequel Creed, and she currently has a featured guest-starring role in Empire.

Jen Silverman’s The Roommate premiered at the Actor’s Theatre of Louisville in 2015, and has received subsequent productions at South Coast Rep, Williamstown and SF Playhouse. Additional work includes The Moors, Phoebe in Winter, The Dangerous House of Pretty Mbane (Barrymore Award) and Collective Rage: A Play in 5 Boops (Woolly Mammoth). She is a member of New Dramatists, and has developed work with the O’Neill, New York Theatre Workshop, Portland Center Stage, Berkeley Rep and the Royal Court in London. A recipient of the Helen Merrill and Yale Drama Series Awards, she’s also a two-time MacDowell Fellow and 16/17 Playwrights of New York (PoNY) Fellow at the Lark.

Ora Jones has been a Steppenwolf ensemble member since 2007, and was most recently seen in Les Liaisons Dangereuses at the Booth Theatre in New York. Sandra Marquez has been an ensemble member since 2016, and returns to Steppenwolf after last being seen in Tracy Letts’s Mary Page Marlowe.

Membership Information
Last season Steppenwolf expanded from a 5-play to 7-play season and with that has expanded the ways in which audiences can experience all the offerings. Steppenwolf Flex Card Memberships include the Steppenwolf Black Card and the Red Card. The Black Card provides six ticket credits that can be used at any time for any production; credits are valid for one year with the option to add on credits as needed. Membership perks include easy and free exchanges, access to seats before the general public, savings on single ticket prices and bar and restaurant discounts for pre- and post-show socializing. The Red Card offers audiences under the age of 30 the option to purchase six ticket credits at a discounted price to use towards any play, anytime.

Steppenwolf’s Subscription Memberships allow audiences to lock in dates, confirm seats in advance and receive all the membership perks. Options include 7-Play, 6-Play and 5-Play Subscription Memberships, in addition to discounted Student/Educator Series and Accessible Series.

To purchase a 2017/18 Subscription Membership, visit Audience Services at 1650 N Halsted St, call 312-335-1650 or visit steppenwolf.org/memberships. Single tickets to the 2017/18 will go on sale at a later date.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company is the nation’s premier ensemble theater. Formed by a collective of actors in 1976, the ensemble has grown to 48 members who represent a remarkable cross-section of actors, directors and playwrights who continue to redefine the landscape of acting and performance. Thrilling and powerful productions from Balm in Gilead to August: Osage County—and accolades that include the National Medal of Arts and 12 Tony Awards—have made the theater legendary. Steppenwolf produces hundreds of performances and events annually in its three spaces: the 515-seat Downstairs Theatre, the 299-seat Upstairs Theatre and the 80-seat 1700 Theatre. Artistic programing includes a seven-play season; a two-play Steppenwolf for Young Adults season; Visiting Company engagements; and LookOut, a multi-genre performances series. Education initiatives include Steppenwolf for Young Adults, which engages 15,000 participants annually from Chicago’s diverse communities; the School at Steppenwolf for actors; and Professional Leadership Programs for arts administration training. While firmly grounded in the Chicago community, nearly 40 original Steppenwolf productions have enjoyed success both nationally and internationally. Anna D. Shapiro is the Artistic Director and David Schmitz is the Executive Director. Eric Lefkofsky is Chair of Steppenwolf’s Board of Trustees. 

For additional information, visit steppenwolf.org, facebook.com/steppenwolftheatre, twitter.com/steppenwolfthtr and instagram.com/steppenwolfthtr.

OPENING: TEATRO VISTA'S LA HAVANA MADRID AT STEPPENWOLF'S 1700 THEATRE 4/14-5/21

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

TEATRO VISTA PRESENTS

LA HAVANA MADRID, 

SANDRA DELGADO'S IMMERSIVE RECREATION OF A 1960s LATINO CHICAGO NIGHTCLUB, 
APR. 14-MAY 21 
AT STEPPENWOLF'S 1700 THEATRE

Sandra Delgado, Cruz Gonzalez-Cadel, Phoebe González, Tommy Rivera-Vega, Donovan Diaz, Mike Oquendo, Krystal Ortiz and Marvin Quijada 

to star indocu-play based on true story of Chicago nightclub 

La Havana Madrid.

La Havana Madrid, Sandra Delgado's world premiere reincarnation of an actual 1960s Carribbean Chicago nightclub is debuting April 14-May 21, 2017 at Steppenwolf's new 1700 Theatre.

ChiIL Live Shows will be out for the press opening on Thursday, April 20th, so check back soon for our full review.

In addition to conceiving and writing La Havana Madrid, Delgado will play the title role of La Havana Madrid, a mystical woman who conjures vibrant songs and true stories in this immersive, documentary-style tale of La Havana Madrid, a popular 1960s melting pot for Caribbean Latino immigrants at the corner of Belmont and Sheffield in Chicago.

Well-known Chicago comedian and producer Mike Oquendo will portray Tony Quintana, the one-time owner of La Havana Madrid and host of the 1960s Chicago radio show "Tony's Latin A-Go-Go."

Rounding out the cast as Cuban, Colombian, Caribbean and Puerto Rican patrons, staff and musicians who all met, danced, loved and lost at La Havana Madrid are Teatro Vista ensemble members Cruz Gonzalez-Cadel, Tommy Rivera-Vega and Marvin Quijada, and, in their Teatro Vista debuts, Donovan Diaz, Phoebe González and Krystal Ortiz.
                                        
Legendary Colombian-American musician Roberto "Carpacho" Marin, joined by his band of 30 years, Carpacho y Su Super Combo, will perform live at every show. In fact, Carpacho's own story is one of the play's inspiring true vignettes. 
With Delgado as lead singer, Carpacho y Su Super Combo will chronicle the history of Caribbean Latino music, live, from mambo to the birth of salsa. 

Cheryl Lynn-Bruce, also a Teatro Vista ensemble member, will direct Delgado's theatrical, cinematic history of Latino Caribbeans in Chicago. 

The design team charged with crafting an intimate, immersive recreation of a lively 1960s music club in Steppenwolf's new 1700 Theatre - complete with cabaret seating, a bar, a dance floor and a small stage for a live band - are Ashley Woods (set), Elsa Hiltner (costumes),Heather Sparling (lights), Misha Fiksel (sound), Liviu Pasare (projections and video design) and William Carlos Angulo (choreography).

La Havana Madrid will premiere April 14-May 21, 2017 at Steppenwolf's 1700 Theatre, 1700 N. Halsted, Chicago, Steppenwolf's casual, intimate and flexible 80-seat space dedicated to showcasing the work of its ensemble and local theater companies like Teatro Vista. It is located immediately behind Front Bar: Coffee and Drinks, Steppenwolf's new 2,500 square ft. café & bar.

Previews are April 14-19: Wednesday through Saturday at
8 p.m.; Sunday at 4 p.m. 

Performances run through May 21: Thursday-Saturday at
8 p.m.; Sunday at 4 p.m. 
Single tickets are $15-$45, and go on sale February 3. Regular tickets are $35 (all previews and weekdays during the regular run) and $45 (Saturdays and Sundays). Student rush tickets are $15. Seniors 62+ and military tickets are $20. Steppenwolf Red and Black Card holders may use their cards as per Steppenwolf policies. For
tickets and information, visit Steppenwolf.org, TeatroVista.org or call (312) 335-1650. 

*Thursday, April 20 is an updated press date, rescheduled from the previously announced press opening, Saturday, April 22.

Following its run at Steppenwolf, Teatro Vista will present La Havana Madrid at The Miracle Center, 2311 N. Pulaski Rd., in Chicago's Belmont-Cragin neighborhood. This residency, funded by The Chicago Community Trust, is part of Teatro Vista's new program TEATRO VISTA, TEATRO VECINO (Spanish for "neighbor).



Behind the scenes of La Havana Madrid

"La Havana Madrid is about recapturing a lost chapter in Chicago history, and as a born and bred Chicagoan, this play is my love letter to the city I cherish," said Delgado, a Colombian-American actor, writer, and producer, well-known to Chicago audiences. 

In the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s, Latinos from Caribbean countries such as Puerto Rico and Cuba settled all along Chicago's lakefront, from North Avenue to Devon.

Although from different countries, music brought them together. Their shared rhythms -  African rhythms - became the guaguanco, the mambo and the merengue. Now in the United States, these rhythms merged with traditional big band sounds and eventually became salsa. 

On the North side of Chicago, a handful of Latino music clubs opened up: Coco Loco on Lincoln Avenue, The Mirror Lounge on North Avenue and La Havana Madrid on Belmont and Sheffield. While the history of La Havana Madrid may be fuzzy, what is known is Cubans opened it in the early 1960s and the club became a busy melting pot for newly arrived Latinos in Chicago. It's believed La Havana Madrid closed in the mid-1970s.

In addition to support from The Chicago Community Trust, Delgado received a 2015 Joyce Award and a 3Arts 3AP Project Grant to support the development of La Havana Madrid. She developed the script as a member of the 2015-16 Playwright's Unit at Goodman Theatre.



About Teatro Vista

Teatro Vista (TeatroVista.org) produces, develops and commissions plays that explore the wealth and variety of the human experience from a Latinx perspective. The company provides work and professional advancement opportunities for Latinx theatre artists, with special emphasis on the company's ensemble members, and seeks to enhance the curricular goals of Chicago students through theatre. 

Teatro Vista was recently celebrated as one of "Chicago's Cultural Leaders" by the Arts & Business Council of Chicago and received the League of Chicago Theatre's Artistic Leadership Award.                                                                        
Teatro Vista's primary focus is producing new works by Latinx theatre artists and presenting classic plays featuring artists of color. Its artistic vision is shaped by the company's ensemble members, a group of multi-generational, multi-ethnic and multi-disciplinary artists. They inform Teatro Vista's artistic aesthetic by devising original works as well as by selecting plays with themes that are engaging and relevant to Chicago's diverse population.

Teatro Vista founded in 1990 by Edward Torres and Henry Godinez. As Teatro Vista's first Artistic Director, Godinez guided the company during the formative years. He helped stage successful productions and establish vital relationships with other theatre companies and artists. When Godinez stepped down, Torres was appointed Artistic Director. Under Torres' direction, Teatro Vista used the stage to engage, connect and challenge audience members using the company's mission as his guide. In 2012, Torres moved to New York and the Board of Directors promoted longtime Associate Artistic Director Ricardo Gutiérrez to the position of Executive Artistic Director.

In addition to Gutiérrez, Teatro Vista ensemble members include Charín Álvarez, Max Arciniega, Desmín Borges, Cheryl Lynn Bruce, Ramón Camín, Ivonne Coll, Laura Dahl, Sandra Delgado, Liza Fernández, Khanisha Foster, Erik Juárez, Jon Lyon, Sandra Márquez, Joe Minoso, Christina Nieves, Marvin Quijada, Tommy Rivera-Vega, Gabriel Ruíz, Cecilia Suarez and co-founder Edward Torres. 

Teatro Vista's Board of Directors includes Ezequiel "Zeek" Agosto, President; Rodrigo García and Rosanna Márquez, Vice Presidents; Joan Pantsios, Secretary; Tom Vega-Byrnes, Treasurer; and Bhuvana Badrinathan, José Antonio Cruz, Edgar Delgado, Ricardo Gutiérrez, Yolanda Hardy and Kareem Mohamednur.

Teatro Vista is supported by The Joyce Foundation, Alphawood Foundation, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, The MacArthur Fund for Arts & Culture at the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events of the City of Chicago, The Shubert Foundation, TheGaylord and Dorothy Donnelly Foundation and The Saints.

Purple Group and Cumberland Irving are Teatro Vista's Headline Season Sponsors. Teatro Vista is a Victory Gardens Resident Theater.

OPENING: Rarely Seen Sondheim Revue, MARRY ME A LITTLE Concludes PORCHLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE’S Season at Stage 773

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

PORCHLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE’S 

2016 – 2017 SEASON 

CONCLUDES WITH STEPHEN SONDHEIM’S 

MARRY ME A LITTLE 

STARRING 

AUSTIN COOK AND BETHANY THOMAS 

AT STAGE 773, APRIL 14 – MAY 21

The 2016 - 17 Goodman Theatre Michael Maggio Fellow Jess McLeod Directs with Jeff-Award Winning Cook Music Directing this Rarely Seen Sondheim Revue 

ChiIL Live Shows will be there for opening night, Tuesday, April 18th, so check back soon for our full review. 

Porchlight Music Theatre and Artistic Director Michael Weber are proud to announce the final mainstage production it its 2016 – 2017 season Marry Me a Little starring Austin Cook and Bethany Thomas, music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and originally conceived by Craig Lucas and Norman René, with direction by Jess McLeod and music direction by Porchlight Artistic Associate Cook. Previews are Friday, April 14 at 8 p.m., Saturday, April 15 at 8 p.m., Sunday, April 16 at 2 p.m. and Monday, April 17 at 7:30 p.m. Opening night is Tuesday, April 18 at 7:30 p.m. The performance schedule is Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 4 and 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. with an added matinee performance Thursday, May 11 at 1:30 p.m. 

NOTE There are no 7:30 p.m. performances Thursday, April 20 and  May 11 and no 4 p.m. performance  Saturday, April 22. 

Tickets to Marry Me a Little are available at PorchlightMusicTheatre.org or by calling the Stage 773 box office, 773.327.5252. 

Two urban singles, each alone in their apartments in the same building, share a Saturday night of sweet fantasies and deep yearning never knowing that they're only a floor away from each other and the end of their lonely dreams. Following in the tradition of Porchlight's hit Sondheim on Sondheim, and re-conceived with special permission given by Stephen Sondheim especially for this production, the rarely seen Marry Me a Little breathes new theatrical life and meaning into a collection of songs that were culled from the final productions of Anyone Can Whistle, Follies, Company, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, A Little Night Music and other Sondheim favorites. 

Conceived by original Sweeney Todd cast member Craig Lucas and Norman René, the Off-Broadway premiere of Marry Me a Little debuted in 1981 starring Lucas and Suzanne Henry at the Actors' Playhouse. Marry Me a Little includes such songs as "So Many People," "The Girls of Summer," "All Things Bright and Beautiful," "There Won't Be Trumpets," "Can That Boy Foxtrot," "Bang!," "Your Eyes Are Blue," "Happily Ever After," "It Wasn't Meant to Happen" and "A Moment with You."

The two-person cast of Marry Me a Little includes: Austin Cook as “The Man” and Bethany Thomas  as “The Woman.”

The production team includes Jess McLeod, director; Austin Cook, music director, Jeff Kmiec, scenic designer; Stephanie Cluggish, costume designer; Becca Jeffords, lighting designer; Mealah Heidenreich, props designer; Keegan Bradac, sound designer; Ashlee Rowland, stage manager; Alex Rhyan, production manager; Shelby Brand, wardrobe supervisor with Jordan Fleming, house manager.


ABOUT JESS McLEOD, director
Jess McLeod, recently named the recipient of the 2016-17 Goodman Theatre Michael Maggio Fellowship, returns to Porchlight Music Theatre where she recently directed the Porchlight Revisits production of Babes in Arms. Additional Chicago credits include the Chicago premiere of How We Got On and The Wedding Singer (Haven Theatre Company); Lauren Yee’s in a word (Strawdog Theatre Company), For Your Art: portrait of a young blu artist (Lyric Unlimited/Lyric Opera of Chicago), Shawn Pfautsch’s Season on the Line (The House Theatre of Chicago); Kevin Coval’s L-vis Live! (Victory Gardens Theater); Suzan-Lori Parks’s Venus (Steppenwolf Next Up!); Kin (Griffin Theatre); Emily Schwartz’s Funeral Wedding: The Alvin Play (Strange Tree Group); and The 48-Hour Musicals: Encore!, The Pajama Game and Fugitive Songs (The Music Theatre Company). New York credits include Joyce Carol Oates's The Corn Maiden, Harrison David Rivers’ Fell, Rachel Axle’s Kitchen Sink, Jason Robert Brown’s The Last Five Years, Brad Ross & Joe Keenan’s The Times, and The Unauthorized Musicology of Ben Folds (NYMF).  Assistant/Associate Director: Moonshine! That Hee-Haw Musical (Dallas Theater Center), A Parallelogram (Steppenwolf Theatre Company), The New Moon (City Center Encores!), Willful (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), and Gypsy and A Midsummer Night's Dream (Chicago Shakespeare Theater). McLeod served as co-artistic director of The Music Theatre Company from 2014-15, director of programming of The New York Musical Theatre Festival from 2005-08, festival coordinator of Louder Than A Bomb 2016 and works currently as a teaching artist with Storycatchers Theatre. She received her MFA from, Northwestern University.

ABOUT AUSTIN COOK, music director and “The Man”
Austin Cook is a Porchlight Music Theatre artistic associate. He made his Porchlight debut in Ain’t Misbehavin’ for which he won the Jeff Award for “Artistic Specialization” and later music directed and co-starred in the award-winning Sondheim by Sondheim where he received the Jeff award for “Music Direction.” The recipient of three Jeff awards, he is currently based in Brooklyn, NY. A native of Kansas City, MO, Cook has been a dedicated musician his entire life. After receiving his bachelor's degrees in piano and vocal performance, Cook toured Europe performing Rachmaninov's Piano Concerto No. 2. In 2008, he came back to the States to join Walt Disney Entertainment as a composer/orchestrator. In 2009, he moved to Chicago to continue his work as a music director, producer  and actor. He is a proud member of AEA and the AFM. As a producer, his most recently produced album The Beast in Me received the 2014 Independent Music Award for Best Roots EP. The album was performed in its entirety on the nationally televised PBS series Sun Studio Sessions. Cook moved to New York in 2016 after being in the orchestra for the pre-Broadway run of War Paint at the Goodman Theatre.

ABOUT BETHANY THOMAS, “The Woman”
Bethany Thomas made her Porchlight debut with Children of Eden in 2002 and has been a recurrent performer at Porchlight Music Theatre’s concert fundraiser Chicago Sings as well as starring as “The Witch” in its Into The Woods. Other Chicago credits include: All Shook Up, Big Fish (Theatre at the Center); South Pacific (Jeff Award-Marriott Theatre); Porgy and Bess (Court Theater); Hairspray (Drury Lane Theatre); Hair (Paramount Theatre); The Tempest (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre) as well as work with The Second City, About Face Theatre, Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre and American Theater Company. Regional credits include: Little Shop of Horrors (Geva Theatre Center); The Color Purple, Ain’t Misbehavin’ and Ragtime (Milwaukee Repertory Theater). She frequently performs around Chicago at locations including The Hideout, Salonathon and “The Paper Machete” and has appeared on FOX Television’s “Empire.”

ABOUT PORCHLIGHT MUSIC THEATRE
Porchlight Music Theatre, now in its 22nd season, is nationally recognized for developing innovative new works, reimagining classic productions and showcasing musical theatre’s noted veterans and rising stars. Porchlight elevates the genre in Chicago by providing intimate and powerful theatrical experiences for its growing and diverse audiences. With the vision of Artistic Director Michael Weber, Porchlight builds on its role as Chicago’s only Equity not-for-profit company exclusively specializing in music theatre. Porchlight’s rich history includes the staging of more than 60 productions with 15 Chicago premieres and five world premieres. Through Porchlight’s “Off the Porch” new works program, the musicals of the next generation are developed and given a first audience. The School at Porchlight is Chicago’s new center for music theatre training in the areas of performance, writing and appreciation. The company’s many accolades include 17 Black Theatre Alliance nominations and three awards, as well as a total of 126 Joseph Jefferson Award nominations resulting in 39 Jeff Awards including four consecutive Best Production awards for Dreamgirls (2016), Sondheim on Sondheim (2015), Ain’t Misbehavin’ (2014) and A Class Act (2013).

Tickets to Marry Me a Little are available at PorchlightMusicTheatre.org or by calling the Stage 773 box office, 773.327.5252.



Porchlight Music Theatre is partially supported by generous contributions from the Actors’ Equity Foundation, the Arts Work Fund at the Chicago Community Trust, the Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, Cooper’s: A Neighborhood Eatery, the Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, James P. and Brenda S. Grusecki Family Foundation, the MacArthur Fund for Arts & Culture at the Prince Foundation, the National Association of Realtors, The Saints and the Service Club of Chicago. The season program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency, a state agency.

OPENING: The Mystery of Love & Sex at Writers Theatre 4/5-7/9

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

Writers Theatre presents

The Mystery of Love & Sex

Written by Bathsheba Doran

Directed by Marti Lyons

April 5 – July 2, 2017

Writers Theatre, under the leadership of Artistic Director Michael Halberstam and Executive Director Kathryn M. Lipuma, continues its 2016/17 season with The Mystery of Love & Sex written by Bathsheba Doran and directed by Marti Lyons. The production runs April 5 – July 9, 2017 in The Gillian Theatre, 325 Tudor Court, Glencoe. 

Charlotte and Jonny have grown up together, and are now trying to determine whether their close friendship might be something more. When they discover exactly what “more” actually entails, however, it comes as a surprise to them both—and to Charlotte’s parents, who are holding secrets and resentments of their own. This compelling, spirited story of intricate relationships is an entertaining and explosive look at race, sexual identity and family dynamics.

Marti Lyons, one of Chicago’s finest emerging directors, brings her unique vision to this deeply insightful and very funny new play, using the intimacy of WT’s Gillian Theatre to bring audiences face-to-face with the challenges of loving someone completely while trying to determine exactly what that means.

“I have had the pleasure of following the impressive rising careers of playwright Bash Doran and Director Marti Lyons for the past few years and I am delighted to find a project that suited both their considerable talents so perfectly,” said Artistic Director Michael Halberstam.  “The Mystery of Love & Sex enjoyed a very successful and critically-acclaimed run at Lincoln Center Theatre’s Mitzi Newhouse Theatre and is now receiving a number of productions nationwide and with good reason. Doran manages to create a world in which themes of sexuality, gender, friendship, race, and privilege all feature prominently. She does so with enormous wit and joy and I think our audiences will very much appreciate and ultimately be very moved by the journey of her deliciously crafted characters and expertly articulated text.  Marti has brought together a superbly gifted and engaging cast and a top-notch design team taking full advantage of the intimacy of the Gillian Theatre and Writers Theatre’s hallmark intimacy.”

The cast includes: Hayley Burgess (Charlotte), Keith Kupferer (Howard), Jerry Miller (Howard’s Father), Lia Mortensen (Lucinda) and Travis Turner (Jonny). 

The creative team includes: Andrew Boyce (Scenic Designer), Samantha C. Jones (Costume Designer), Paul Toben (Lighting Designer), and Andrew Hansen (Sound Designer). Rebecca Adelsheim is the Dramaturg, Tyrone Phillips is the Assistant Director, and Rebecca Pechter is the Stage Manager. 

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Bathsheba Doran’s (Playwright) The Mystery of Love & Sex received its world premiere at Lincoln Center in 2015 under the direction of Sam Gold, starring Diane Lane and Tony Shalhoub. Her critically acclaimed play Kin received its world premiere in spring 2011 at Playwrights Horizons, directed by Sam Gold. Her play Parents' Evening premiered at The Flea Theater, directed by Jim Simpson, and her play Ben and the Magic Paintbrush premiered in spring 2010 at South Coast Repertory Theater. She is a 2009 recipient of the Helen Merrill Playwriting Award and three Lecomte du Nouy Lincoln Center playwriting awards. She is also a Cherry Lane Mentor Project Fellow and a Susan Smith Blackburn Award finalist. Bash is currently developing the limited series Codes of Conduct with Steve McQueen for HBO. She also served as a writer/producer for the second season of Showtime’s hit series Masters of Sex, and she was recently a story editor on Smash for NBC. Bash wrote on season two of the acclaimed Martin Scorsese/HBO series Boardwalk Empire (for which her episode received a WGA nomination). Bash Doran is also developing a series for Channel 4 called Jerusalem. Bash’s first play Feminine Wash was produced at the Edinburgh Fringe festival while she was a student at University of Cambridge, from which she holds a B.A. and an M.A. She then went on to University of Oxford, where she received an M.A. before working as a television comedy writer with the BBC. Bash moved to the United States on a Fulbright Scholarship in 2000, received her M.F.A. from Columbia University and went on to become a playwriting fellow of The Juilliard School. She is currently under commission from Lincoln Center Theater, Atlantic Theater and Playwrights Horizons in New York City. Her work is available from Samuel French and Playscripts Inc.

Marti Lyons (Director) returns to Writers Theatre, where she previously assistant directed Days Like Today and The Letters. Lyons is also an ensemble member at The Gift Theatre Company and received the 2015 Maggio directing fellowship from Goodman Theatre. Chicago credits include Title and Deed (Lookingglass Theatre Company), The City of Conversation (Northlight Theatre), Short Shakespeare! Romeo and Juliet (Chicago Shakespeare Theater), Wit (The Hypocrites), Mine, Bethany and Body and Blood (The Gift Theatre Company), Hot Georgia Sunday, Seminar (Haven Theatre), Give it All Back, Mai Dang Lao, 9 Circles, Maria/Stuart, co-director for The Golden Dragon (Sideshow Theatre Company), Prowess, The Peacock, The Last Duck (Jackalope Theatre Company) and The Play About my Dad (Raven Theatre). Regional credits include Wondrous Strange (Humana Festival at Actors Theatre of Louisville). Next up Marti will direct Native Gardens for Victory Gardens Theater.

Hayley Burgess (Charlotte) is making her Writers Theatre debut. Theatre credits include Stupid Kid (First Look at Steppenwolf Theatre Company), Domesticated (Steppenwolf Theatre Company), Ugly (New Stages at Goodman Theatre), The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window, The Little Foxes (Goodman Theatre), Fugitive Awareness (First Floor Theatre), and Jake's Women (Spartan Theatre). Hayley is a graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts and The School at Steppenwolf.

Keith Kupferer (Howard) returns to Writers Theatre where he previously appeared in Death of a Streetcar Named Virginia Woolf: A Parody. Chicago credits include Support Group For Men, The Old Neighborhood(Goodman Theatre), The Qualms, Good People, Middletown, South of Settling, Of Mice and Men, Carter's Way, Men of Tortuga, Things Being What They Are, Jesus Hopped the A Train, Tavern Story (Steppenwolf Theatre Company), Never the Sinner, Appropriate (Victory Gardens Theater), The Humans (American Theater Company), God of Carnage, High Holidays Passion Play, Gypsy (Chicago Shakespeare Theater), End Days (Windy City Playhouse), Execution of Justice (About Face Theatre), Cat Feet, The Old Neighborhood  (Northlight Theatre), Desire Under the Elms, (Philadelphia’s Freedom Theatre, Court Theatre, How the World Began, American Wee-Pie (Rivendell Theatre Ensemble), The Unseen, The Meek, Canus Lunis Balloonis, The Physicists (A Red Orchid Theatre), Big Lake, Big City, Trust and Hillbilly Antigone (Lookingglass Theatre Company). Regional credits include: Shear Madness (Kennedy Center Theater Lab). Television and film credits include Shameless (Showtime), Better Call Saul (AMC), Betrayal, Detroit 1-8-7 (ABC), Crisis, Chicago P.D., Chicago Fire (NBC), The Beast (A&E), Prison Break (FOX), The Jamie Kennedy Experiment (WB), Early Edition (CBS), The Dilemma (2011), The Dark Knight (2008), Public Enemies (2009), The Express (2008), Stranger Than Fiction (2006), Road to Perdition (2002), Finding Santa (2015), The Last Rites of Joe May (2011), The Merry Gentleman (2008), Resurrecting McGinn(s) (2016) and Open Tables (2015).

Jerry Miller (Howard’s Father) makes his Writers Theatre debut. Jerry is a Chicago actor, director, producer and playwright. His favorite roles include Otto Frank and Mr. Van Daan in The Diary of Anne Frank and Scrooge in A Christmas Carol (Metropolis Performing Arts Center), Ben in The Secret Garden, Mr. Lunde in Brigadoon and the Rabbi in Fiddler on the Roof (Light Opera Works). In August 2017 Jerry will be appearing as Pops in the musical Gypsy (Music Theater Works, formerly known as Light Opera Works). Jerry has also worked for Redtwist Theater, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Walkabout Theater, and Windy City Playhouse.  Jerry is a member of Screen Actors Guild. He holds a Masters in Fine Arts in Acting from the University of South Carolina. 

Lia Mortensen (Lucinda) returns to Writers Theatre where she previously appeared in Company. Chicago credits include Julianna in the Midwest premiere of The Other Place (Joseph Jefferson Award nomination—Principal Actress), Annapurna (Profiles Theatre), Dionysa in Pericles, Isabella in Measure for Measure, Helena in All's Well that Ends Well (Chicago Shakespeare Theater), An Inspector Calls, Night and Day (Remy Bumppo Theatre Company), Cymbeline (First Folio Theatre), Faith Healer (The Den Theatre), Becca in Rabbit Hole (Goodman Theatre), Big Meal (Joseph Jefferson Award—Ensemble, American Theater Company), Lynn Fontanne in Ten Chimneys, Lady Windermere’s Fan, Sky Girls, Sally in Talley’s Folly (Northlight Theatre), Closer, Faith Healer (Steppenwolf Theatre Company), Fighting Words (Rivendell Theatre Ensemble), Well, Nora in A Doll’s House, Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, The Illusion (Next Theatre Company), Jacob, Hiding Place, Spoon River Anthology Christmas Miracle of Jonathon Toomey (Provision Theater), Ghosts, All's Well That Ends Well, Measure for Measure, Serious Money (Court Theatre), No Wake (Route 66 Theatre Company) and Merchild (16th Street Theater). Directing credits include Bus Stop, Quality of Life (The Den Theatre), and Jacob (Provision Theater). Film credits include Resurrecting McGinn(s) (2016), The View from Tall (2016,) Consumed (2015), Imperfections (2016), Market Value (2015), A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) and Blink (1994). Television credits include Shameless (Showtime), Empire (FOX), Crisis, Chicago Fire (NBC), Easy Abby (Webisode), The Onion, Chicago Code (FOX), Family Practice, Early Edition (CBS) and Missing Persons (ABC). Lia is an ensemble member of Provision Theater and The Den Theatre.

Travis Turner (Jonny) makes his Writers Theatre debut. Recent Chicago credits include: Bootycandy (Windy City Playhouse), Thaddeus and Slocum (Lookingglass), The Flick (Steppenwolf), The Upstairs Concierge (Goodman), Tartuffe, The Misanthrope (Court) and We Are Proud to Present... (Victory Gardens). Second City credits include Longer, Louder, Wagner (with Lyric Opera Chicago), Twist Your Dickens (with Goodman Theatre), and The Art of Falling (with Hubbard Street Dance). 

AUDIENCE ENRICHMENT

Accessible Performances
ASL-Interpreted performance: Friday, June 16 at 7:30pm
Open-Captioned performance: Friday, June 23 at 7:30pm

Sunday Spotlight—Sunday, May 21, 2017
This one-hour event will follow the matinee performance and feature an expert in a field related to the themes or setting of The Mystery of Love & Sex, moderated by a member of the WT Artistic Team. Seating is limited. RSVP is required.

The Making of… Series—Monday, June 5, 2017 at 6:30pm
Writers Theatre will once again host its popular The Making of… Series, providing insight into a different aspect of creating the productions seen on our stages. Enjoy a short and lively presentation by our actors, designers or other experts who will walk you through the process of preparing for and executing a production. The Making of… events are FREE and open to the public. Seating is limited. RSVP is required.

Post Show Conversation: The Word
Join us after Tuesday evening performances (excluding previews and extensions) for a 15-minute discussion of the play, facilitated by a member of the WT Artistic Team. 

Post Show Conversation: The Artist
Join us after every Wednesday evening performance (excluding previews and extensions) for a 15-minute talk-back featuring actors from the production, facilitated by a member of the WT Artistic Team. 

For more information about Writers Theatre Audience Enrichment programs visit writerstheatre.org/events.

RIDE METRA TO WRITERS THEATRE
In an effort to promote taking public transit to the Theatre, Writers Theatre launched a new promotion in 2013. Any audience member who purchases a ticket to a Writers Theatre production and rides Metra’s Union Pacific North Line to the Theatre may snap a photo of themselves on the train and post it to their Facebook page or Twitter feed with a tag of @WritersTheatre and #TheMysteryofLoveandSex, and upon showing the post at the Writers Theatre Box Office, receive $5 in cash to put toward the cost of your fare as a thank you for going green.

This promotion is available for a limited time only, and may end without warning. Ticket must have been paid for in advance. Not valid on comp tickets. More information available at writerstheatre.org/metra

WRITERS THEATRE PARTNERS
Writers Theatre is pleased to recognize BMO Harris Bank as the 25th Anniversary Season Sponsor for the 2016/17 season. ComEd is the Official Lighting Sponsor of the season. Jand and Richard Liptonare Artist Council Sponsors and Laurie and Michael Petersen serve as Artists Council Sponsors.

For more information about Writers Theatre’s 2016/17 Partners, visit writerstheatre.org/our-supporters.

ABOUT WRITERS THEATRE
For 25 years, Writers Theatre has captivated Chicagoland audiences with inventive interpretations of classic work, a bold approach to contemporary theatre and a dedication to creating the most intimate theatrical experience possible.

Under the artistic leadership of Michael Halberstam and the executive leadership of Kathryn M. Lipuma, Writers Theatre has grown to become a major Chicagoland cultural destination with a national reputation for excellence, being called the top regional theatre in the nation by The Wall Street Journal. The company, which plays to a sold-out and discerning audience of more than 60,000 patrons each season, has garnered critical praise for the consistent high quality and intimacy of its artistry—providing the finest interpretations of both classic and contemporary theatre in its two intensely intimate venues. 

In February 2016, Writers Theatre opened a new, state-of-the-art facility. This established the company's first permanent home—a new theatre center in downtown Glencoe, designed by the award-winning, internationally renowned Studio Gang Architects, led by Founder and Design Principal Jeanne Gang, FAIA, in collaboration with Theatre Consultant Auerbach Pollock Friedlander. The new facility has allowed the Theatre to continue to grow to accommodate its audience, while maintaining its trademark intimacy. The new facility resonates with and complements the Theatre’s neighboring Glencoe community, adding tremendous value to Chicagoland and helping to establish the North Shore as a premier cultural destination.

Find Writers Theatre on Facebook at Facebook.com/WritersTheatre, follow @WritersTheatre on Twitter or @Writers_Theatre on Instagram. For more information, visit www.writerstheatre.org.

Clutch to Headline Inaugural Earth Rocker Festival in Shiley Acres West Virginia May 20th

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar:

CLUTCH ANNOUNCE FIRST ANNUAL EARTH ROCKER FESTIVAL AT SHILEY ACRES IN INWOOD, WV 

Here at ChiIL Live Shows, we're pretty jazzed Clutch is starting an annual Earth Rocker Festival. It's a one day event for 2017, with huge potential. Obviously this one's not in Chi, IL -- about a 10 hour road trip actually, but Clutch, Lucero, The Sword and the other bands in the lineup have plenty of fans among Chicago locals. We're stoked that kids under 12 will be free with paying adults, lawn chairs, and pop up tents are allowed, and overnight camping is permitted too. Check it out!

Clutch is pleased to announce their first annual Earth Rocker Festival at Shiley Acres in Inwood, WV on Saturday, May 20th. The lineup includes: Lucero, The Sword, Bad Seed Rising, Apollo’s Prophecy, and  the Frederick Maryland School of Rock band. Tickets for the festival are on sale now at this location: https://tinyurl.com/n3saltt. 

The festival is a daytime event that has the parking field opening at 9am.  Gates to the show open at 12 noon and music starts at 1pm.  The festival ends at sunset with overnight camping permitted.  Children under 12 are admitted free of charge.  10x10 pop up tents and lawn chairs are allowed inside designated festival concert areas.

For more information on the line up, directions, camping, on site food and beverages available, hotel accommodations and all “Things You Should Know”, visit http://www.shileyacres.net

"The first annual Earth Rocker Festival takes place at Shiley Acres, in West Virginia” states the band’s front man Neil Fallon.  “We played at Shiley Acres last year and it was a blast.  Our intent is to have a really diverse bill.  If all goes as planned,  Earth Rocker Festival will continue as an annual event, hopefully growing in scope over the years.”  

Guitarist Tim Sult adds “Enjoy the May weather in the best way possible- with a day of rock n roll in a West Virginia field!"   

Drummer Jean-Paul Gaster adds “Earth Rocker Festival is a great way to kick off summer! The green rolling hills of West Virginia will provide the backdrop for our inaugural music event. We wanted to create a musical experience that included a diverse line up of music. We are pleased to announce this year’s line up includes our friends the Sword and the legendary Lucero. Come rock with us!” 

Shiley Acres is an outdoor concert venue located in Inwood, West Virginia. For 40 years Shiley Acres has seen many local and national acts grace it's stage.

                                                  

For more  information, check out Earth Rocker Festival:

@earthrockerfest

Facebook: www.facebook.com/earthrockerfest

Instagram: www.instagram.com/earthrockerfest

Twitter: www.twitter.com/earthrockerfest