OPENING: WORLD PREMIERE of THE CIVILITY OF ALBERT CASHIER STARRING DANI SHAY of THE GLEE PROJECT and AMERICA’S GOT TALENT at STAGE 773 8/31-10/15

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

PERMOVEO PRODUCTIONS, IN ASSOCIATION WITH PRIDE FILMS & PLAYS, PRESENTS THE WORLD PREMIERE OF 

CIVIL WAR ERA MUSICAL 

THE CIVILITY OF ALBERT CASHIER STARRING DANI SHAY 

OF THE GLEE PROJECT AND AMERICA’S GOT TALENT, AUGUST 31 – OCTOBER 15 AT STAGE 773

Photo of Dani Shay - courtesy of Dani Shay. 

Set During the Civil War, this Incredibly Timely New Musical Features a Book by 

GLAAD-Nominated Writer Jay Paul Deratany, 

Music and Lyrics by 

Acclaimed Folk Musician Joe Stevens and Emmy-Nominated Writer / Director Keaton Wooden

Here at ChiIL Live Shows we can't wait to check out this world premiere. Just today, I got an e-mail that the House of Representatives will vote on an anti-transgender Hartzler Amendment that would prohibit transition-related care for service members and their families. It's astounding to me that the military still has a huge issue with treating gay, trans, and even women soldiers in any kind of equitable way. That's all the more reason to revisit, recount and remember the heroic stories of brave individuals like THE CIVILITY OF ALBERT CASHIER. 

Permoveo Productions, in association with Pride Films & Plays, presents the world premiere production of The CiviliTy of Albert Cashier playing at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave., August 31 – October 15, starring former Glee Project star and America’s Got Talent Contestant Dani Shay. The production is co-composed and directed by Keaton Wooden, co-composed by Joe Stevens, written by Jay Paul Deratany and is music directed by Jon Schneidman. 

Opening night is Wednesday, Sept. 6 at 8 p.m. and preview performances are August 31 – September 3. The regular performance schedule, running through October 15, is Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7 p.m., Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m. 

Preview tickets are $30 and regular run tickets are $40. You may purchase tickets at http://www.stage773.com and get more information at www.albertcashierthemusical.com.

This true story, set between 1862 and 1915, tells the astonishing, “timely, essential, insightful” and true story of “an amazing figure from [our] history” (The Windy City Times). In The CiviliTy of Albert Cashier, Albert Cashier is a Civil War soldier with a secret that resonates with today’s modern world. Detailing the soldier’s life fighting in more than 40 engagements during the Civil War, the musical follows Cashier through retirement and the onset of dementia, when a life-long secret was discovered: That Albert was born Jennifer Hodgers. Causing an uproar in the small southern Illinois community where Cashier lived, Cashier was prosecuted for impersonating a soldier, requiring fellow soldiers to return once again after 60 years to detail Albert’s heroism and life.

In a joint statement, Director Keaton Wooden and cast member Delia Kropp said "in so many ways, Albert's story is a true American one -- a soldier who served their country and wanted nothing more than personal liberty to live life as they wished to. We don't know how Albert identified. All we know is they were born female, and lived as Albert. So, in a time where all of America was fighting to define what it would become, Albert fought to define themselves on their own terms. Male? Female? Soldier? Farmer? In Albert's time (and possibly in ours) there may have been no words to describe who Albert wanted to be. So we took the story to a place beyond words: a musical. This is a story about self-determination. While American society drew attention to Albert's gender, this story asks us to look through the eyes of a person who lived simply, authentically, and at peace with themselves until the outside world interfered. In the end, Albert became an outlaw for simply existing."

Jay Paul Deratany and Director Keaton Wooden worked together with acclaimed musician and trans composer Joe Stevens to translate Albert's story to music. The CiviliTy of Albert Cashier has been workshopped at The Chicago Musical Theater Festival at Victory Gardens, and The Los Angeles LGBT Arts Center. The show will make its world premiere in the same state that Albert Cashier lived: Illinois.

Photo of Cast headshot block courtesy of Permoveo Production: (L to R) Charlie Baker, Delia Kropp, Katherine Condit, Chuck Quinn, Josiah Robinson, Billy Rude, Roy Samra, Gabriel Fries, Jonathan Stombres and Jordan Harris. 

Cast for The CiviliTy of Albert Cashier includes: Dani Shay (Young Albert), Katherine Condit (Old Albert), Delia Kropp (Nurse), Billy Rude (Jeffrey), Chuck Quinn IV (Billy), Gabe Fries (Collins/Kirby), Jordan Harris (Joe/U/S Jeffrey), Jonathan Stombres (John/Confederate Soldier), Roy Samra (Bugle Boy/Ensemble/U/S Billy and John), Josiah Robinson (Hearing Officer/Ensemble/U/S Joe, Collins and Kirby) and Charlie Baker (U/S Young Baker). Additional cast will be announced at a later date.

The production and creative team for The CiviliTy of Albert Cashier includes: Jay Paul Deratany (writer/lead producer), Keaton Wooden (director/co-composer/creative producer), Joe Stevens (co-composer), Jon Schneidman (music director), Derek Van Barham (choreography), Robert Ulrich (casting director/producer), Tim Smith (marketing and sales manager), Christopher Pazdernik (associate producer) and David Zak (creative consulting producer). Additional production and creative team members to be announce at a later date.

ABOUT DANI SHAY, Playing Young Albert Cashier
Dani Shay is a non-binary trans singer/songwriter, actor, and activist is honored to portray Albert D.J. Cashier in this poignant piece. After experiencing big waves of internet attention, then appearing on America's Got Talent and The Glee Project 2, Shay co-founded Be More Heroic, a non-profit organization geared toward helping young people cultivate more compassion and confidence. Shay has also worked with the River Phoenix Center for Peacebuilding, Epic Leaders, PeaceLove, and ASTEP: artsINSIDEOUT.  Most recently, Shay started an artist commune in Los Angeles, where seven creatives, a goofy dog, and a lazy cat happily coexist. Shay's original music can be found in all the usual online places.

ABOUT JAY PAUL DERATANY, Book, Additional Lyrics and Lead Producer
A graduate of Michigan State University and then DePaul Law School, Jay Paul Deratany built a career in Chicago as one of the top 100 lawyers in the country and became a well-known human rights advocate, writing op-eds and multiple advocacy articles for legal and political journals. He then decided to pursue his passion for creative writing as a playwright and screenwriter and graduated as valedictorian with a Masters of Fine Arts from the University of California.  Two of Deratany’s earlier plays include Veronica, performed at Victory Gardens, and a comedy Two Grooms and A Mohel, at Bailiwick Theater.

When Deratany saw the abuses committed against the LGBTQ community worldwide, and specifically the murder of alleged gay youth he was inspired to write Haram Iran, for which he received a London Arts counsel grant, and a nomination for a GLAAD award for best theatrical writing in California. Haram Iran initially played in Chicago and went on to the Celebration Theater in LA, London’s Above the Stag Theater and, most recently, at TADA in New York.

In 2012, Deratany wrote his first feature film, Saugatuck Cures, a comedy which follows the struggles between a gay brother and his right wing Christian sister, which earned acclaims:  Official Selection and Audience Choice Award from the Cinema Diverse film festival inPalm Springs, Official Selection from the QFlix film festival in Philadephia and the REELING 32 film festival in Chicago. His recent screenplay, Foster Boy, is currently in production, and is backed by Double Dutch Entertainment and Executive Produced Antoine Fuqua and directed by Youssef Delara.  

Deratany’s recent stage play, The CiviliTy of Albert Cashier, is a musical that has been received with standing ovations for staged readings at the LGBT Center for the Arts in Los Angeles and will be fully produced in Chicago at Stage 773 this September.  Deratany continues to be an advocate for global LGBT youth rights.

ABOUT KEATON WOODEN, Co-Composer and Director
Keaton Wooden is an Emmy and Rhodes nominated writer, producer and director. Wooden's early work gained him an Emmy nomination for "Vibrations," following the Indiana School for the Deaf as they create a performing arts troupe. His next project was the feature film NightLights, at the Lifetime Movie Network. Wooden is a proud member of theatrical producing firm Chicago Commercial Collective, who remounted Chicago's biggest plays, including Ike Holter's Hit the Wall and The New Colony's 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche, and was producer Irvine Welsh's world premiere theatrical adaptation of his novel/film Trainspotting USA. A Rhodes scholar nominee, Wooden studied Modern Literature and Critical Theory at the University of Oxford England as part of the Scholarship and Christianity in Oxford program, and has travelled the world on humanitarian missions. He has presented research on his experience in the entertainment industry and the humanities at the University of Oxford England, Kingston University, IFP Chicago, Wheatstone Academy, and the Screen Actors Guild.

ABOUT JOE STEVENS, Co-Composer
Originally from Sacramento, CA, Joe Stevens received a Bachelor of Music from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, WA, and has been touring and wandering the U.S.A. for the last ten years. Stevens’ music rides the edge of the first wave of transgender performers to break through into the public consciousness. The social media explosion combined with shifting public opinion created the conditions that enabled trans and queer artists, a highly marginalized and isolated subculture, to connect and gain visibility. There is now a thriving community of trans and queer musicians, with new comers and folks who have been playing music all along, that is visible and growing in every corner of the world.

Between 2006 and 2012 Stevens’ first band, Coyote Grace, released five well-loved albums and toured with the Indigo Girls, Melissa Ferrick, and Girlyman; sharing stages with Chris Pureka, Greensky Bluegrass, Reverend Payton's Big Damn Band, and legends such as Cris Williamson and Lowen and Navarro. They quickly gained a strong cult following in the Folk/Americana world, taught workshops at many colleges and universities around the country and drove many a mile touring with their contemporaries and heroes.

Stevens released his first solo album “Last Man Standing” in 2014, recorded in Seattle at Empty Sea Studios and co-produced with everything-man Michael Connolly. The album has a strong focus on word craft, with folk roots and old time sensibilities, yet with subtly altered meters, progressions and content, a work that is both alternative and traditional.

“Songs of the People” was birthed in 2014; a project where Stevens writes songs based on interviews with willing folks. Creating a cohesive narrative of one’s life is a way to come to terms with the past, reintegrating an often times broken sense of self and honoring the conditions that give rise to who we are is one of the gifts of art and songwriting.

ABOUT JON SCHNEIDMAN, Music Director
Jon Schneidman is a Jeff-nominated music director, composer and musician. He has worked on various projects theaters all around the Chicagoland area, including Lookingglass Theater, Mercury Theater, Chicago Children's Theatre, as well as Refuge Theatre Project's award winning production of High Fidelity. Schneidman has also been seen on stages around the country with Close to You: The Music Of The Carpenters. He is a proud Barrel of Monkeys company member. 

ABOUT PERMOVEO PRODUCTIONS
Permoveo was created by Jay Paul Deratany to shed light on his professional and personal experiences with social injustices and bring awareness to the changes needed in society. Permoveo is Latin for “I move, shake up, agitate, or stir up.” Figuratively meaning “I move deeply, stir or rouse up, excite or influence.” Permoveo Productions is about bringing together people that are passionate for change and a greater good in society.  This company is about believing in all that have a voice and telling their story through creating productions that stir up thoughts or ideas.

ABOUT PRIDE FILMS & PLAYS
Pride Films and Plays (PFP) changes lives through the generation of diverse new work (or work that is new to Chicago) with LGBTQ positive characters or themes that is essential viewing for all audiences. The company produces a four-play season of full productions, shoots one short film each year, and continues our famed play developmental projects. PFP is the principal tenant in Pride Arts Center. 

Pride Arts Center, in its own right, produces events complimenting the PFP vision, including dance, cabaret, film, and more. Events can be one-night or limited run productions, or feature national treasures like Charles Busch.  PAC occupies The Broadway at 4139 N. Broadway, which has 85 seats, and The Buena, which has 50 seats at 4147 N Broadway. PAC is also the home of Red Tape Theater. 

Welcome METROPOLITAN BREWING’S NEW AVONDALE LOCATION With THE NEO-FUTURISTS' THE FOOD SHOW 7/27-9/2

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

THE NEO-FUTURISTS PREMIERE DAN KERR-HOBERT’S THE FOOD SHOW AT METROPOLITAN BREWING’S NEW AVONDALE LOCATION

The Neo’s Ongoing Partnership with Metropolitan Expands with this Full-Length World Premiere About Relationships, Memories and Traditions Created Around The Family Table 

FoodShowEdit - (pictured Dan Kerr Hobert and Caitlin Stainken) photo by Will Sonheim

This makes me grin and not just because it's happening in my awesome Avondale neighborhood. Theatre and food (and beer) make a great paring and this concept sounds like too much fun in the capable creative hands of the Neo-Futurists. Welcome to the hood!

The Neo-Futurists present Ensemble Member Dan Kerr-Hobert’s The Food Show, partnering with Metropolitan Brewing to bring the site-specific world premiere to the brewery’s new Avondale location, 3057 N. Rockwell, July 27 – September 2. 

Previews are Thursday, July 27 – Saturday, July 29 at 7:30 p.m., with opening night Monday, July 31 at 7:30 p.m. Performances run Thursdays – Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. Ticket prices for previews and Thursdays are pay what you can; for the regular run, tickets are $10-25. Tickets and information are available at neofuturists.org or 773.275.5255.

What does it mean to change a family recipe? The Food Show, created by Dan Kerr-Hobert with the help of his cousin and Neo-Futurist alum Caitlin Stainken, explores how food brings us together and sets us apart. An ensemble of five writer-performers get their hands dirty in this celebration and cross examination of food and its relationship to identity. The Food Show honors the traditions of our past and acknowledges our impact on the environment as each generation of eaters must decide what parts to keep and what parts to throw away. Farmers, restaurateurs, writers, musicians and audiences come together to experience the common thread of food and memory in American culture.

“The Food Show was partially inspired by my Grandmother and her sisters and an argument they had over the official family recipe for Arroz con Pollo,” says creator Kerr-Hobert. “We take these stories, and we work and talk and cook and eat. And there is music, and there is dancing. We knew we wanted to make a mess and we didn’t want to do it in a theater. I’m so excited to be making another premiere with such an exciting group of artists, especially at Metropolitan—they’re like family to us. This is really a homecoming.”

The Food Show features performances from Oliver Camacho, Neo Alum Bilal Dardai**, Tif Harrison*, musician Spencer Meeks, and New York Neo-Futurist Kyra Sims, with music composed by Mucca Pazza Artistic Director Ronnie Kuller. The six-week run returns Kerr-Hobert to a Metropolitan brewery, after he directed The Neo-Futurists’ Beer in 2009 at Metropolitan’s original location in Ravenswood. The new Avondale location is expected to open to the public in July.

dougofesthorns -(pictured Doug Hurst) - photo by Tracy Hurst

“We’ve been loyal fans of The Neo-Futurists since long before the brewery opened less than half a mile away from the theater in 2007,” said Tracy Hurst, co-founder and president of Metropolitan. “The original partnership to produce and host Beer just as we were releasing our very first kegs of beer into

the world was a synergy of art, craftsmanship and community. Reviving this collaboration is a true celebration of the growth of both organizations over the past eight years, as well our mutual dedication to the preservation and creation of greatness in Chicago. Neos and Metro for life!”

Dan Kerr-Hobert - photo by Joe Mazza

ABOUT DAN KERR-HOBERT* creator/director
Dan Kerr-Hobert* received his BFA in Acting from The Theatre School at DePaul University. He works as an ensemble member of The Neo-Futurists and Blair Thomas and Company and he is the former artistic director of Sans-culottes Theater and Manifest Theatre. As a freelance puppet designer, director, writer, deviser and performer, his work has been seen at The Detroit Institute of Art,  The New York Fringe Festival, The Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami, The New Jersey Performing Arts Center, The Steppenwolf Theatre, the Pritzker Pavilion and Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago, Dad’s Garage in Atlanta, The Actors Theatre of Louisville, The Woolly Mammoth Theatre in Washington D.C. and The National Opera of Belgium. Additionally, he has taught at the Art Institute of Chicago and works as an adjunct professor of acting at The Theatre School at DePaul University. Kerr-Hobert holds a regular teaching artist position at Snow City Arts. 

* denotes an active member of The Neo-Futurist Ensemble

**denotes a Neo-Futurist Alum

The Food Show

July 27 – September 2, 2017
Metropolitan Brewing’s new Avondale location, 3057 N. Rockwell

Created by Neo-Futurist Ensemble Member Dan Kerr-Hobert and Neo-Alum Caitlin Stainken

Previews:  Thursday, July 27 – Saturday, July 29 at 7:30 p.m.
Opening Night: Monday, July 31 at 7:30 p.m.
Run: Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m.

Ticket Prices: Thursdays and Previews Pay-What-You-Can, Run $10-$25 

Tickets and information are available at neofuturists.org or 773.275.5255

About The Neo-Futurists
The Neo-Futurists are a collective of writer-director-performers creating theater that is fusion of sport, poetry and living-newspaper. Originating over 9,936 plays within the newly launched The Infinite Wrench, 28 years of Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, and over 65 full-length productions within their immediate, non-illusory aesthetic, The Neo-Futurists have grown to become one of the most highly regarded experimental theater companies in the United States. From humble beginnings as the first late-night theater production in Chicago, they launched what became Chicago’s longest running show and today sustain multifaceted programs such as Neo-Access, The Kitchen (a micro-festival on art and performance), Prime Time, exchanges with branches in New York and San Francisco, Neo-Lab, and The Infinite Wrench, their flagship ongoing late-night show running 50 weekends every year. For more information visit www.neofuturists.org

About Metropolitan Brewing
German-style lagers have been, and will always be, Metropolitan Brewing's focus, mission, and passion. Since 2007, the Metro team has been producing beer in a 4,500 square foot production facility in the Ravenswood neighborhood of Chicago. In 2017, Metro Brewing will relocate to a ferociously needed 22,000 square foot production facility and taproom in the freshly burgeoning Avondale neighborhood. Metro beers can currently be found on draft and in bottles throughout Illinois and Wisconsin. In the near future, Metro beers will also ship to Indiana, Ohio, and Minnesota.

The Neo-Futurists are partially supported by grants from Alphawood Foundation Chicago, The Chicago Community Foundation, a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events, Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, and The MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation. 

OPENING: Award Winning Broadway Spectacle AN AMERICAN IN PARIS Comes To Chicago's Oriental Theatre 7/15-8/13

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

Most Awarded Musical of 2015 
to play

Broadway In Chicago’s Oriental Theatre

for three weeks only July 25 – August 13, 2017

AN AMERICAN IN PARIS will play Broadway In Chicago’s Oriental Theatre (24 W. Randolph) for a limited three-week engagement July 15 through August 13, 2017.

Inspired by the Academy-Award winning film, AN AMERICAN IN PARIS is the romantic story about an American soldier, a mysterious French girl and an indomitable European city, each yearning for a new beginning in the aftermath of war. Directed and choreographed by 2015 Tony Award-winner Christopher Wheeldon, the show features the music and lyrics of George Gershwin and Ira Gershwin, and a book by Craig Lucas.

The creative team is also comprised of Tony Award-winners Bob Crowley (set and costume designer) and Natasha Katz (lighting designer); Jon Weston (sound designer); 59 Productions (projection designer); Rob Fisher (musical score adaption, arrangement and supervision); Todd Ellison (musical supervisor); David Andrews Rogers (musical director/conductor); Christopher Austin and Bill Elliott (orchestrations); Sam Davis (dance arrangements); Telsey + Company/Rachel Hoffman, C.S.A. (casting); Rick Steiger (production supervisor); Dontee Kiehn (associate director and associate choreographer); and Sean Kelly (associate choreographer and resident director).

The score of AN AMERICAN IN PARIS includes the songs "I Got Rhythm," "Liza," "'’S Wonderful," "But Not For Me," "I'll Build a Stairway to Paradise," and orchestral music including "Concerto in F," "Second Prelude," "Second Rhapsody/Cuban Overture" and "An American In Paris."

The production opened to widespread critical acclaim at the Palace Theatre on Broadway in April 2015 after its world premiere at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. The New York production closed in October, 2016 after playing more than 600 performances.  A West End production of AN AMERICAN IN PARIS opens in March 2017 at the Dominion Theatre.

AN AMERICAN IN PARIS won four 2015 Tony Awards, four Drama Desk Awards, four Outer Critics Circle Awards, the Drama League Award for Best Musical, three Fred and Adele Astaire Awards, and two Theatre World Awards. The musical was included on the Year’s Best lists of The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Entertainment Weekly, The New Yorker, the Associated Press, The Hollywood Reporter, and The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The Masterworks Broadway Original Broadway Cast recording of AN AMERICAN IN PARIS was nominated for the Best Musical Theater Album Grammy Award.

The producing team includes Stuart Oken, Van Kaplan and Roy Furman by special arrangement with Elephant Eye Theatrical, Pittsburgh CLO and Théâtre du Châtelet. 

For more information, visit www.AnAmericanInParisBroadway.com.

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE 
Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m.
Wednesdays at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. (no matinee on July 26)
Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.
Fridays at 7:30 p.m.
Saturdays at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Sundays at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. (no evening performances on August 6 and August 13)

TICKET INFORMATION
Individual tickets for AN AMERICAN IN PARIS at the Oriental Theatre range from $27 - $98.  A select number of premium seats are also available for many performances. Tickets are available now for groups of 10 or more by calling Broadway In Chicago Group Sales at (312) 977-1710.  Tickets are available at all Broadway In Chicago Box Offices (24 W. Randolph St., 151 W. Randolph St., 18 W. Monroe St. and 175 E. Chestnut), the Broadway In Chicago Ticket Line at (800) 775-2000 and online at www.BroadwayInChicago.com.  For more information, visit www.BroadwayInChicago.com.

ABOUT BROADWAY IN CHICAGO
Broadway In Chicago was created in July 2000 and over the past 17 years has grown to be one of the largest commercial touring homes in the country.  A Nederlander Presentation, Broadway In Chicago lights up the Chicago Theater District entertaining well up to 1.7 million people annually in five theatres.  Broadway In Chicago presents a full range of entertainment, including musicals and plays, on the stages of five of the finest theatres in Chicago’s Loop including The PrivateBank Theatre, the Oriental Theatre, Cadillac Palace Theatre, the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University and just off the Magnificent Mile, the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place.  For more information, visit www.BroadwayInChicago.com.

Facebook @BroadwayInChicago ● Twitter @broadwaychicago ● Instagram @broadwayinchicago ● #broadwayinchicago

OPENING: The Tin Woman at Theatre at the Center in Munster Indiana

Chi IL LIVE shows on our radar

THEATRE AT THE CENTER ANNOUNCES CAST FOR CHICAGOLAND PREMIERE OF 

THE TIN WOMAN

Here at ChiIL Live Shows, we'll be out for the press opening on the 16th. Check back soon for our full review. We're looking forward to catching this Chicago regional premiere. TATC has developed a great reputation as a stellar urban caliber professional theatre with small town charm (and free parking). We make a habit of bringing home renowned Munster Donuts from a few blocks away, whenever we make the trek to TATC.

Theatre at the Center (TATC) presents the Chicagoland premiere of Sean Grennan’s newest play The Tin Woman, starring Erin Noel Grennan in the lead role. The Tin Woman begins previews on July 13 and opens on July 16 for a run that continues through August 13. Inspired by a true story, it’s a heartwarming comedy that’s a beautiful blend of family, humor and hope. Joy has had a heart transplant and is questioning her second chance in life. When she connects with the family of her donor, together they learn what it means to truly give one’s heart.



Erin Noel Grennan originated the role of Joy in the World Premiere of The Tin Woman in 2014 at Peninsula Players in Wisconsin. She last appeared at TATC in 2014 in Miracle on South Division Street. Erin has also appeared on the TV series Chicago Fire, Chicago Med and Law & Order.

Steve Pickering, who is making his TATC debut, has appeared in TimeLine Theater’s The Last Wife, Lookingglass’ Treasure Island, and The Little Foxes at the Goodman Theatre (more than 30 productions since 1987), is cast as Hank. Steve has performed on Broadway, Off-Broadway, in London’s West End, New York’s Shakespeare in the Park, and in the title role of Macbeth for Santa Cruz Shakespeare.

Annabel Armour, cast as Alice, is also making her debut at TATC. She is the recipient of three Joseph Jefferson Awards and two After Dark Awards. She has an artistic association with Remy Bumppo Theatre, appearing in Pygmalion, Fallen Angels, and The Clean House (Jeff Nomination). She has performed in Sunday in the Park with George at Chicago Shakespeare, The First Look Series at Steppenwolf and has received a Jeff Nomination for At Home at the Zoo at Victory Gardens Theater.

Doogin Brown, making his debut at TATC, is cast as Jack. His previous work includes Zoya’s Apartment at the Athenaeum Theatre and Saved at Kansas City Repertory Theatre. Cast as Sammy, Kayla Kennedy returns to TATC for the sixth time. Her credits include Nice Work If You Can Get It, All Shook Up, Spamalot, Big Fish and Women on the Verge. Jeri Marshall, who is making her TATC debut as Nurse/Darla, is a Sarah Siddons Scholarship Recipient and holds an MFA from the Theatre School at DePaul University.

Linda Fortunato is Artistic Director of Theatre at the Center and Director of The Tin Woman. Linda has been nominated for five Jeff Awards for her work as a Choreographer and Director. She received both the Equity and Non-Equity Jeff Awards for Outstanding Choreography in the 2013-2014 season, garnering TATC’s first award for her choreography of 42nd Street. Linda has been involved with more than a dozen shows at TATC, directing Cabaret, Annie Warbucks and A Christmas Story, and choreographing Spamalot, Big Fish, A Christmas Carol, Guys and Dolls, Crazy for You and Fiddler on the Roof.

Sarah Ross is Set Designer. Shelley Strasser-Holland is Lighting Designer. Kevin Barthel is Wig Designer, Victoria Deiorio is Sound Designer. Brenda Winstead is Costume Designer and Brittney O’Keffe is Prop Designer. Matt McMullen is Stage Manager and Ann Davis is Production Manager/Technical Director and Dennis Galbreath is Assistant Technical Director.

The idea for The Tin Woman was born when Sean’s sister, actress Erin Grennan, brought him a newspaper clipping she’d saved for years. It was a story about a woman who had received a heart transplant and her eventual meeting with the donor’s family. The Tin Woman uses humor and pathos to explore loss, family and what it means to be given new life.

According to Fortunato, “I was lucky enough to read an early draft of the script and was immediately taken with the interesting characters, beautiful relationships and moving story. I’m thrilled to be bringing it to Theatre at the Center.”

Playwright Sean Grennan studied English at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL. An actor for many years, predominantly in Chicago, he began writing for the theatre in 1995 as co-librettist (with his wife, Kathy Santen) for Phantom of the Country Palace which was produced in the same year at the Marriott Theatre. The Tin Woman was first produced in 2014 by Peninsula Players Theatre in Fish Creek, Wisconsin with his actress sister Erin Noel Grennan cast in the lead role as heart transplant recipient Joy. Sean Grennan and his wife live in New York City, where his actress wife appears in Broadway’s Wicked.

Founded in 1991, the 410 seat Theatre at the Center is a year-round professional theater at its home; The Center for Visual and Performing Arts, 1040 Ridge Road, Munster, Indiana. Theatre at the Center is the only professional theater company in Northwest Indiana, offering downtown caliber performance in an accessible venue with plenty of free parking. Theatre at the Center is located off I-80/94, just 35 minutes from downtown Chicago.

Performances are 2 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursday; 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 3 p.m. Saturdays; 2:30 p.m. Sundays, and select Thursday and Sunday evenings. Individual ticket prices range from $40 - $44. 

To purchase individual tickets, call the Box Office at 219-836-3255 or Tickets.com at 800-511-1552. Group discounts are available for groups of 11 or more and gift certificates are also available. For more information on Theatre at the Center, visit www.TheatreAtTheCenter.com.

OPENING: Fringe Fest Hit, “BLACK!,” A ONE MAN SHOW Comes To Athenaeum Theatre

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

MICHAEL WASHINGTON BROWN,

 IN ASSOCIATION WITH 
ATHENAEUM THEATRE PRODUCTIONS, PRESENT 
“BLACK!,” A ONE MAN SHOW 

EXPLORING DIFFERENT VOICES AND PERSPECTIVES IN THE BLACK GLOBAL COMMUNITY, 
JULY 20 – 30

A Hit at Fringe Festivals Around the Country,

 “BLACK!” Comes to Chicago for a Limited Engagement.

Opening Night is Thursday, July 20 at 7:30 p.m.

Michael Washington Brown, in association with Athenaeum Theatre Productions, present “BLACK!,” July 20 – 30, in Studio 2 at the Athenaeum Theatre, 2936 N. Southport Ave. Opening night is Thursday, July 20 at 7:30 p.m. The performance schedule is Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 2 and 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. The running time is 100 minutes including a 10-minute intermission. Tickets are $25 and available at AthenaeumTheatre.org or 773.935.6875.

Brown, was born in England and created “BLACK!” in 2016. The production has been included in the Asheville Fringe Festival, the FRIGID Fringe Festival in New York City and the Seattle Fringe. It will be performed at the Tempe Center for the Arts and the San Francisco Fringe Festival in September 2017.

In “BLACK!,” Brown inhabits an array of characters from Africa, the United States, England and Jamaica, performing each person’s individual perspective and sharing his experiences. The production highlights the nuances and life perspectives of various people who are from the Black global community.  Many stereotypes currently exist which seem to ‘mesh’ all black people and their stories together.  The truth is that there are distinct differences and very definite similarities between Black people from all walks of life.  In addition, each carries their own distorted and often exaggerated opinions about the other, which is a way to distinguish a separation, even though in truth, they are more alike than they believe. “BLACK!” uses the power of language and performance to delve into these characters to reflect on this communities’ history and their future as well as what they do and do not share of the global Black experience.

“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to share this show, its voices and a global ‘Black’ perspective with the Chicago community,” Brown said.  “Chicago is embedded in a rich history filled with a melting pot of cultures, along with its extensive support of the theatre and arts. It is my mission and purpose to share this show as far and wide as I can.  Chicago is an obvious choice in my journey…I am grateful to have the Athenaeum Theatre, supporting my debut of “BLACK!” in this vibrant and intoxicating city, ” he concluded. 

ABOUT MICHAEL WASHINGTON BROWN
Michael Washington Brown was born in London, England. He is the first generation born outside of his family’s direct heritage of the Caribbean (Jamaica & Barbados). In 1992 at 19, he left London for the shores of California, a place he fell in love with from his initial visit as a child at age 10. He knew even at this young age that he would ‘one day’ make America his home.

In 1994, he began studying scene classes in San Francisco and knew instantly what he wanted to do and be…an actor. He gradually found himself working his way up the local scene and then eventually performing in productions at: The Magic Theatre, San Jose Repertory Theatre, Marin Theatre Company and Berkeley Repertory Theatre. He moved to New York City to continue his journey and landed a variety of New York City productions that began at the Ensemble Studio Theatre. Theatre has always been Brown’s passion, but deep down he always felt there was ‘more to give’. Brown wanted to tell stories that were not being told. It was at the Cherry Lane Theatre in 2012 when he saw a one-man show and was inspired beyond anything he had previously experienced. He realized in this moment what his ‘more to give’ would be: “To write and share my own stories and perspective.” Brown discovered that his love of reading had laid the foundation and allowed the ease of his own voice, to reveal itself to him. 

ABOUT ATHENAEUM THEATRE PRODUCTIONS
Athenaeum Theatre Productions, a not-for-profit 501c3 arts organization, is firmly committed to providing the Chicago non-profit performing arts community a welcoming shared space to incubate new projects and collaborations by providing high quality and below cost performance, rehearsal, office and reception space supported by a staff of theatre professionals. Founded in 1911, the Athenaeum Theatre is Chicago’s oldest, continuously operating off-loop theatre.  Home to 15 not-for-profit performing arts groups and four stages including its 984-seat main stage.

FREE Staged Readings at Goodman Theatre by Their 2016/2017 Playwrights Unit Members 7/16-18

GOODMAN THEATRE PRESENTS 

A FIRST LOOK AT NEW WORKS BY ITS 2016/2017 PLAYWRIGHTS UNIT MEMBERS

LUCAS BAISCH, DAWN RENEE JONES, EVAN LINDER AND EMMA STANTON—IN FREE READINGS, JULY 16-18

***PLAYWRIGHTS UNIT ALUM SANDRA DELGADO BRINGS LA HAVANA MADRID, THE WORK SHE DEVELOPED AT THE GOODMAN WHILE A MEMBER OF THE UNIT, TO THE OWEN THEATRE,  JULY 21 – AUGUST 20***

Goodman Theatre announces a line-up of free staged readings written by 2016/2017 members of its Playwrights Unit— Lucas Baisch, Dawn Renee Jones, Evan Linder and Emma Stanton. The four one-time-only readings take place at Goodman Theatre beginning Sunday, July 16 through Tuesday, July 18, presented in partnership with Chicago Dramatists. Over the past year members worked with the Goodman’s artistic team to develop and discuss their plays-in-progress. Free readings take place July 16-18 at Goodman Theatre (170 N. Dearborn); to make a reservation call 312.443.3800 or visit GoodmanTheatre.org/PlaywrightsUnit. Availability is extremely limited.

As previously announced, Teatro Vista’s La Havana Madrid makes its way to Goodman Theatre in its downtown debut, July 21 – August 20. A world premiere by Playwrights Unit alum Sandra Delgado—who authored the play as a 2015 member of the unit—the production arrives at the Goodman following sold-out runs at Steppenwolf Theatre Company and Logan Square’s Miracle Center. Directed by Teatro Vista ensemble member Cheryl Lynn Bruce, the play was inspired by true stories of Cuban, Puerto Rican and Colombian immigrants who found refuge in the 1960s fabled Chicago nightclub. La Havana Madrid appears July 21 - August 20 in the Owen Theatre (Opening Night is Wednesday, July 26 at 7pm). Tickets ($30-$50; subject to change) are now available; visit GoodmanTheatre.org/LaHavanaMadrid or call the box office at (312) 443-3800. 

**La Havana Madrid is recommended for ages 12 and up.**

The Goodman is grateful for the generosity of its New Work sponsors, including: the Time Warner Foundation, Lead Support of New Play Development; The Pritzker Pucker Family Foundation, Major Support of New Work Development; The Glasser and Rosenthal Family, Support of New Work Development; and the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, Support of New Work Development.

About the 2016/2017 Playwrights Unit Readings

The Beauties by Dawn Renee Jones
Directed by J. Nicole Brooks 
Sunday, July 16 | 2pm

A goddess with an anxiety disorder enlists the aid of her son to procure beauties for placement in the universe where needed. But when a rare and unusually beautiful maiden accepts the hand of a grotesque monster, mother and son are challenged to reassess their relationship to the superficially attractive.

Jones is the recipient of the 2015 Ruby Prize for her play A Heap See. Her interdisciplinary collaboration with composer Carei Thomas and visual artist Seitu Jones entitled S’Kin received a workshop production at the Cornerstone Theatre’s Genesis Festival in New Brunswick, and was produced by Intermedia Arts in Minneapolis where it was recognized as one of the year’s best by the Twin Cities Reader. Her feature screenplay Man of the Word won Best Screenplay at the 2008 FilmColumbia Film Festival. Jones’ writing career began on Madison Avenue where she wrote print and broadcast advertising at the Leo Burnett Company, Young & Rubicam and McCann Erickson advertising agencies and for a broad range of national brands. She has been a script doctor on feature screenplays for Columbia Pictures, Warner Brothers and Paisley Park. Jones was the founder and artistic director of Alchemy Theatre in Minneapolis, where she also directed productions for Actors Theatre of St. Paul (The Blood Knot, If I’m Traveling on a Movin’ Train and Water Torture), Alchemy Theatre (American Menu, A Raisin in the Sun), Mixed Blood (Ali), Penumbra Theatre (Suspenders), At the Foot of the Mountain Theatre (Angela,  Going to Seed, Head Over Heels, Ida B. Wells, and Wake Up Call), Women’s Theatre Project (A Place on Earth) and Starting Gate Theatre (A Raisin in the Sun). She developed theatre curriculum for the State of Minnesota’s Professional Development Institute at the Perpich Center for the Arts, has been an artist in residence at K-12 schools in Minnesota and New York and taught theater history courses at Macalaster College and Metropolitan State University. Jones has an MFA in creative writing with emphasis in playwriting from Goddard College.

Jo and Liv by Evan Linder
Directed by Krissy Vanderwarker
Sunday, July 16 | 7:30pm

Liv has accepted her estranged sister Jo's invitation to spend Christmas together with their families in New York in 1961. With years of hurt between them, they hope this can be their chance to finally exhume all the skeletons in their closets... or at least the contentious Academy Award stuffed in the cupboard.

Linder is a founding member and the co-artistic director of The New Colony in Chicago. He works as a playwright, actor and director. He recently reprised the role of Jim in the remount of his play Byhalia, Mississippi, (2016 Non-Equity Jeff Award for new work) at Steppenwolf's 1700 Theatre. Other plays include FRAT, 11:11, The Warriors,  The Bear Suit of Happiness (published by Chicago Dramaworks), B-Side Studio and 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche (published by Samuel French) which ran off-Broadway at the SoHo Playhouse from 2012-2013 and has been performed all over the U.S., Europe and Australia. Linder's newest play, The Hunted (co-written with Paul Oakley Stovall), recently received its first staged reading with About Face Theatre's “First Draaft” Series. He is beginning his fifth year as a guest lecturer at the University of Chicago where he has created three new playwriting courses. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America and is represented by ICM.

June in the Parade by Emma Stanton 
Directed by Vanessa Stalling
Monday, July 17 | 7:30pm

In June's grandmother's house, everyone is sick. Her grandmother has dementia, her aunt is hallucinating and June is beginning to see things that aren’t there. Three generations of women call into question what we inherit, what we are capable of and who we become as a result of our family.

Stanton’s plays include Bojko and the Glacier, Jitterbug, One Wood Road, Bountiful Planets and No Candy. Her written collaborations include The Cure (Walkabout Theater Company), Storm (Walkabout Theater Company & London’s Moon Fool), Circle-Machine (Oracle Theater), and The Straight Line (American Theater Company, as part of their Chicago Chronicle Program). Additionally, she has worked with such companies as Collaboraction, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Victory Gardens Theater, About Face Theatre, Redmoon Theater, Double Edge Theater, En Garde Arts and Roundabout Theatre Company. Her play In the Danube was a recipient of a Civics and Arts Foundation Playwriting Award for Emerging Artists in Chicago, as well as a finalist for the 2016 Heideman Award at Actors Theatre of Louisville. For her play No Candy, Stanton was a finalist for the 2016 Susan Glaspell Award, a winner of the 2016 Columbia University/Roundabout Theater Underground Reading Series and the recipient of the 2016 Jane Chambers Feminist Playwriting Award. Most recently, she was the recipient of the 2016 Princess Grace Award Playwriting Fellowship, which includes a year-long residency at New Dramatists in New York. She is the associate artistic director of Walkabout Theater Company in Chicago. BA: Boston College; MFA: Columbia University.

Refrigerator by Lucas Baisch
Directed by Kurt Chiang
Tuesday, July 18 | 7:30pm

Eighty-two percent of Earth's population has disposed of their physical bodies and digitally uploaded their consciousness to IceBox & Co. In the midst of a going-away party for a colleague, the company’s few remaining employees battle their moral and socioeconomic inabilities to abandon reality.

Baisch’s work has been read and developed at InFusion Theatre Company, Salonathon, Victory Gardens Theater, Post Q at Links Hall, Gloucester Stage Company, Chicago Dramatists’ Saturday Series, The Bridge Program at American Theatre Company, The Wulfden, The DeYoung Museum, The NeoFuturists’ Kitchen Festival, SF Playground and DePaul University. Full-length productions include The Scavengers (DePaul University), A Measure of Normalcy (Gloucester Stage Company) and Zipped & Pelted  (The Wulfden/Chicago Fringe). He recently completed an eight-month residency as Gloucester Stage Company's 2015 Playwriting Apprentice and will be a 2017 artist-in-residence at Elsewhere Museum in Greensboro, NC. Baisch has also self-published his digital zine series Taste Test since 2015. He received his BFA in playwriting from the Theatre School at DePaul University.

About Goodman Theatre
America’s “Best Regional Theatre” (Time magazine) and “Chicago’s flagship resident stage” (Chicago Tribune ), Goodman Theatre is a not-for-profit organization distinguished by the quality and scope of its artistic programming and civic engagement. Founded in 1925, the Goodman is led by Robert Falls—“Chicago’s most essential director” (Chicago Tribune), who marks 30 years as Artistic Director this season—and Executive Director Roche Schulfer, who is celebrated for his vision and leadership over nearly four decades. Dedicated to new plays, reimagined classics and large-scale musical theater works, Goodman Theatre artists and productions have earned hundreds of awards for artistic excellence, including: two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards, nearly 160 Jeff Awards and more. Over the past three decades, audiences have experienced more than 150 world or American premieres, 30 major musical productions, as well as nationally and internationally celebrated productions of classic works (including Falls’ productions of Death of a Salesman, Long Day’s Journey into Night, King Lear and The Iceman Cometh, many in collaboration with actor Brian Dennehy). In addition, the Goodman is the first theater in the world to produce all 10 plays in August Wilson’s “American Century Cycle.” For nearly four decades, the annual holiday tradition of A Christmas Carol has created a new generation of theatergoers. 

The 2016 opening of the Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement (“the Alice”) launched the next phase in the Goodman’s decades-long commitment as an arts and community organization dedicated to educating Chicago youth and promoting lifelong learning. Programs are offered year-round and free of charge. Eighty-five percent of the Goodman’s youth program participants come from underserved communities.

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

Today, Goodman Theatre leadership includes the distinguished members of the Artistic Collective: Brian Dennehy, Rebecca Gilman, Henry Godinez, Dael Orlandersmith, Steve Scott, Chuck Smith, Regina Taylor, Henry Wishcamper and Mary Zimmerman. Joan E. Clifford is Chair of Goodman Theatre’s Board of Trustees, Cynthia K. Scholl is Women’s Board President and Justin A. Kulovsek is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals. 

Visit the Goodman virtually at GoodmanTheatre.org—including OnStage for insider information—and on Twitter (@GoodmanTheatre), Facebook and Instagram.

SAVE THE DATES: ATC Announces 12 New CORE Projects Throughout Season 33

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

American Theater Company’s 

Chicago Open Residency Experiment (CORE) workshops 12 new projects throughout Season 33

Public CORE performances (free/suggested $15 donation) 

throughout season from August to June

American Theater Company’s (ATC) Chicago Open Residency Experiment (CORE) program, a series of week-long residencies for artists of all disciplines, continues its second year with 25 artists workshopping 12 new projects throughout Season 33

"At ATC, we are invested in exploring unique ways of making new plays for the American theatre,” says Artistic Programs Manager Sarah Slight. “The artists who've received residencies this year are looking at new work from a variety of perspectives and approaches. On the presentation date, you might experience anything from a movement sequence to a staged reading to a guided design tour. For us, the anticipation of cutting-edge artistry is incredibly exciting. We've spread the residencies out this season to ensure that ATC’s space is filled with as many artists as possible throughout the year. Please join us in celebrating their tremendous work all season.”

CORE awards a free week of rehearsal space and a presentation of the work to groups of artists and works in progress. CORE artists will receive space to work and present, as well as basic artistic, technical and box office support. 

Tickets to CORE performances are free with a suggested donation of $15. To make a reservation, please visit http://www.atcweb.org/.  



SEASON 33 CORE PROJECTS INCLUDE:

Black Like Me – Monday, August 7, 2017
Adapted and directed by Monty Cole
Based on the book by John Howard Griffin

In 1959, John Howard Griffin--a white man from Texas--began the process of dyeing himself black. Two pills and regular sessions under a sun lamp made Griffin’s skin “black enough” to pass, and he set out on a journey through the South to discover what it was like to be a black man. His book, Black Like Me, was published in 1961 and made into a movie in 1965. Now Cole, working with an ensemble of actors, will explore the question “What does it mean to be black in America?” and, ultimately, create a script that depicts Griffin’s experience against the contemporary black experience.

Kissing – Monday, August 14, 2017
Conceived by Abigail Boucher
Co-created by Abigail Boucher and Carolyn Defrin
With Brock Alter

Kissing is a multidisciplinary piece which explores cultural customs and personal stories around kissing. It explores how this simple gesture might invigorate our current world order with more joy, love and tenderness.

About Face Theatre’s Untitled Project Inspired by James Baldwin's Giovanni's Room– Monday, August 21, 2017
by Benjamin Sprunger and Paul Oakley Stovall
Directed by Cheryl Lynn Bruce

Presented in conjunction with About Face Theatre's First DrAAFT Series - a program designed to feature the artistic work of AFT's Artistic Associates - playwrights Sprunger and Stovall will workshop and present an adaptation of Baldwin's 1956 novella Giovanni's Room.

Dig – Monday, August 28, 2017
By Theodore Germaine
Directed by Gina Marie Hayes
With Avi Roque

Dig is a new work in development which explores the themes of romantic love, non-monogamy, trans identities, mental illness, and how to overall exist within, challenge, and/or fight the flawed legal system within this country. On the night after their lover's funeral - a trans-masculine person from a highly conservative and religious small-town family - 2/3rds of the remaining romantic triad sneak into their deceased partner's apartment to try to come to terms with the tragedy at hand, but the night takes another-worldly, empowering, and illegal turn as they piece together the truth around their partner's death. 

(saliva) things that i like about my partner that are not their mouth or genitals – Monday, September 18, 2017
By Jasmine Jordan and Valerie Gallucci

(saliva) is about sex, about discovering sex and sharing every detail with a best friend, about keeping score, about discretion, about bodies, about lust, about shame, about exes, about celebration. It is by two friends who don't have sex the same way or make art the same way and are figuring that out. It requires those two friends to learn how to dance, learn how to give a lecture, and learn how to work together for the first time since they were sixteen.

Untitled Project – Monday, December 11, 2017
Directed by Jess McLeod

Any of my Enemies – Monday, December 18, 2017
Molly Brennan (Lead Artist)

Through a series of performance pieces called Any of my Enemies, using a shared title, themes, and devising techniques, an assembly of performers and designers will collaborate to build a series of short performance scenes. This will be a radically inclusive project that incorporates multiple modes of accessibility.

Diagram of a Paper Airplane – Monday, March 12, 2018
By Carlos Murillo
Directed by Bonnie Metzgar

Javier C. is dead, and in his wake are fragments and scraps of his magnum opus mailed mysteriously from New Mexico to his group of ex-friends in New York. Carlos Murillo's Diagram of a Paper Airplane is the first in a trilogy of plays that examine the capacity of friendships to withstand the unimaginable.

As part of their process leading up to production, Metzgar and Murillo will receive a CORE pre-production week to explore a key element(s) of the play.

To The Moon – Monday, March 19, 2018
Written by Beth Kander
Artistic collaborators: Allyce Torres, Amanda Long, Arian Thigpen, Sallee Murphy

To The Moon is a clear-eyed, unapologetic, fierce and tender portrayal of domestic abuse and its survivors. Knowing that such abuse impacts people from all walks of life, five diverse women collaborated to interview survivors and weave together their narratives - stories of strength and wit and loss and hope. Led by playwright Beth Kander, these collaborators' efforts yield a tough and touching true-stories-inspired stage play, which documents and dramatizes the tragic realities of domestic abuse in America.

La Ronde – Monday, March 26, 2018
A reimagining based on the play by Arthur Schnitzler
Directed by Dani Wieder
Choreography by Andy Slavin

This re-imagining explores Arthur Schnitzler's play from 1900 that, while innovative in its form, imagines intimacy as limiting us from reaching our fullest potential - a closed circle, la ronde. Through a combination of his original text and choreography by Andy Slavin, Dani Wieder and the ensemble ask how we can grow wider and become more as we move through and around the lives of others.

FARMED: The Orwell Radio – Monday, June 18, 2018
A song-setting by Trevor Bachman
Inspired by George Orwell's “Animal Farm”

FARMED is a socio-political musical by composer and singer Trevor Bachman. Inspired by the text of George Orwell’s Animal Farm, FARMED combines song, literature, and interview to examine race and class structures in America. Continuing in the tradition of artists like Liz Swados and Joe Papp, Bachman sews a soul-stirring patchwork of fabrics from a diverse and divided country.

Soot & Linen – Monday, June 25, 2018
By BrittneyLove Smith

A young black woman enters the house of a ruined tobacco plantation, as an indentured servant, two years after the Civil War. She is swept away in the world of this South Carolina grand plantation, now reduced to nothing more than a farm, and finds herself entangled in a triangle of both love and lust between herself, the misses of the house, and the misses’ husband. Soot & Linen is a historical and daring TV series that explores the prominent ways black women were desired, hated, loved and abused during slavery and in many ways still are.

Season subscriptions for Season 33 are on sale now and range from $40-$114, with special pricing available for members under the age of 35. To purchase a subscription or for more information, visit
www.atcweb.org or call the ATC Box Office at 773-409-4125.

About American Theater Company
American Theater Company (ATC) challenges and inspires its community by exploring stories that ask the question, "What does it mean to be an American?" ATC’s Ensemble includes Patrick Andrews, Kareem Bandealy, Jaime Castañeda, Kelly O’Sullivan, Tyler Ravelson, and Sadieh Rifai.

American Theater Company is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, Polk Bros. Foundation, the MacArthur Fund for Arts and Culture at Prince, the Shubert Foundation, ArtsWork Fund, Lagunitas Breweing Co, Actors’ Equity Foundation,
The Pauls Foundation and Robert & Isabelle Bass Foundation.

Chicago's Renowned Lookingglass Theatre Searches for New Executive Director

Rachel Kraft to step down 
after 12 years as Executive Director

Lookingglass begins search to find partner 
as it approaches its 30th Anniversary

Photo Credit for all: Joe Mazza

We adore Lookingglass Theatre Company, and they have long been favorites of ours here at ChiILLiveShows.com & ChiILMama.com. In fact, both of my teens were cast in their Summer Theatre Intensive and are spending 96 hours in their Lab Ensemble through August! Rachel Kraft will be dearly missed, but we're eager to see what the future holds for both Lookingglass and for Rachel. 

Lookingglass Theatre Company announces that Rachel Kraft has decided to step down as Executive Director after 12 years with the company. She will remain at Lookingglass through the end of the calendar year as they search for a successor. Lookingglass is in the process of choosing a search firm and the search is anticipated to begin in July.

Rachel has been the Executive Director of Lookingglass Theatre since September 2005. During her tenure, the company and its ensemble were honored as the Recipient of the 2011 Regional Theatre Tony Award; with Best Production for Moby Dick from the Joseph Jefferson Awards in 2015; with one of the first Doris Duke Charitable Foundation’s grants for Commissioning and Playwriting Initiative in 2015; with the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions recognizing exceptional nonprofits in 2016 along with a one million dollar grant; and the Artistic Achievement Award from the League of Chicago Theatres in 2017. 



Under her leadership, the company created 29 world premieres, toured and/or co-produced nine original productions, including Lookingglass Alice, Clay, Around the World in 80 Days, Metamorphoses, The Last Act of Lilka Kadison, Treasure Island and Moby Dick; twice produced the story/circus/food extravaganza Cascabel with partners Frontera Grill and Silverguy Entertainment; retired $500,000 in debt; had operating surpluses seven out of the past 11 years; and completed a Capacity Building Assessment (CBA) looking at critical business drivers of the company.        

                       

Board Chairman John McGowan comments, “Under Rachel’s steadfast leadership, the company has enjoyed the most stable and productive period in our history. She has built a strong staff, assisted by a very capable deputy in General Manager Michele Anderson. Rachel orchestrated a new board structure and responsibilities and was the chief architect of our CBA, which has led to critical changes and investments in our infrastructure. She has been a champion of our Ensemble and their vision while always considering that our ‘theatre without a net’ cannot be achieved by putting the company at risk. With her guidance, we look forward to identifying a new leader to guide us in our fourth decade.”



Artistic Director Heidi Stillman adds, “On the eve of our 30th Anniversary Season, I am very proud that our ‘great experiment’ begun at Northwestern University continues to create new work and partnerships with our community. Rachel has been a true collaborator to the Ensemble and me and we are so grateful to her fierce love of the art and her commitment to the health of our company. Rachel’s leadership has set a high bar as we look for an Executive Director who will allow us to build on the many accomplishments during her tenure.”

Rachel Kraft comments, “From a very young age, the arts, and specifically theatre, have been my greatest passion. After 12 years at the Goodman and 12 years at Lookingglass, I am convinced of the unique place Chicago theater occupies in our country. Lookingglass’ bold mission to develop new work, primarily from within its ensemble, while sharing with the community its values of innovation, transformation and collaboration, remains an inspiration to me. I am proud of the Lookingglass marriage of Artists, Board and Staff and how the company is not afraid to learn and change. As Lookingglass prepares for its 30th Anniversary, I look forward to supporting a smooth transition and taking a personal ‘intermission’ to consider what form my service will take in the future.”

About Lookingglass Theatre Company
Inventive. Collaborative. Transformative. Lookingglass Theatre Company, recipient of the 2011 Regional Theatre Tony Award, was founded in 1988 by eight Northwestern University students. Now in its 29th season, Lookingglass is home to a multi-disciplined ensemble of artists who create story-centered theatrical work that is physical, aurally rich and visually metaphoric. The Company has staged 64 world premieres, received 143 Joseph Jefferson Awards and nominations, and work premiered at Lookingglass has been produced in New York City, Los Angeles, Seattle, Berkeley, Philadelphia, Princeton, Hartford, Kansas City, Washington D.C., Atlanta, Louisville and St. Louis. Lookingglass original scripts have been produced across the United States. In 2016, Lookingglass received the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions.

The Lookingglass Theatre in Chicago's landmark Water Tower Water Works opened in June 2003. In addition to developing and presenting ensemble work, Lookingglass Education and Community programs encourage creativity, teamwork and confidence with thousands of community members each year.

Lookingglass Theatre Company continues to expand its artistic, financial and institutional boundaries under the guidance of Artistic Director Heidi Stillman, Executive Director Rachel Kraft, Producing Director Philip R. Smith, Connectivity and Engagement Director Andrew White, General Manager Michele Anderson, a 24 member artistic ensemble, 23 artistic associates, an administrative staff and a dedicated board of directors led by Chairman John McGowan of CTC| myCFO (a part of BMO Financial Group) and President Nancy Timmers, civic leader and philanthropist. For more information, visit lookingglasstheatre.org.

Celebrate 25 Years of Jane's Addiction - Ritual De Lo Habitual on Blu-ray, DVD, and CD on August 4th

Jane's Addiction - Ritual De Lo Habitual Alive At 25

coming to Blu-ray, DVD, and CD on August 4th

Exclusive trailer courtesy of BILLBOARD.com

Jane's Addiction has long been a favorite of ours here at ChiILLiveShows.com and I've had the pleasure of shooting them live a handful of times, in addition to covering Lollapalooza for decades. So, we're thrilled to see this new release coming in August to celebrate 25 years of Jane's unique sound and showmanship.

Rock Fuel Media, in association with Sonic Films, Cleopatra Records, and MVD Entertainment Group, is excited to announce the August 4th release of the state-of-the-art DVD, Blu-ray, audio CD and vinyl collection by legendary, multi-Platinum rockers Jane's Addiction, called Ritual De Lo Habitual Alive At 25

Directed by Mark Ritchie (Madonna, Kanye West) and produced by Barry Summers (Rock Fuel Media), Jane's Addiction - Ritual De Lo Habitual Alive At 25 features a complete concert filmed at the historic Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre on September 23rd 2016, which was the last stop on the band's 20-city worldwide "Sterling Spoon Anniversary Tour." The powerhouse line-up of Perry Farrell, Dave Navarro, Stephen Perkins and Chris Chaney performed an explosive 90-minute show consisting of their entire landmark album Ritual De Lo Habitual, as well as some of the band's biggest hits spanning their 30-year career. It was all captured with 20 cameras throughout the venue and mixed in 5.1 Surround Sound. 



As Perry Farrell explains, "25 years - what a beautiful milestone for both Ritual De Lo Habitual and Lollapalooza. As both were great achievements in our lives that also helped change the course of music history, we really sought to come up with a special show for this tour so that the fans could celebrate it with us."

Award-winning producer Barry Summers from Rock Fuel Media explains, "The band's great visual and very edgy performances always kick ass on stage. Ritual De Lo Habitual  is such an iconic album that changed the landscape of alternative rock and we wanted to capture the 25 year anniversary in stunning 4k. It's quite mind-blowing and we think fans will enjoy this package for years to come."

Pre-order HERE


About Rock Fuel Media: 
Rock Fuel Media is an award-winning, full-service film and television production company specializing in multimedia content distribution. Rock Fuel Media's goal is to build entertainment brands, engage audiences and boost revenues for its partners. Their team has worked with some of the world's biggest artists, including Guns N' Roses, The Smashing Pumpkins. The Beach Boys, Korn, The Doors, Heart, Carrie Underwood, Jane's Addiction, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Bonnie Raitt, Elvis Costello, Hank Williams Jr., 3 Doors Down, Norah Jones, Cyndi Lauper, Melissa Etheridge, Twisted Sister, Extreme, Skid Row, and Great White. They produce 2D/3D and 4K live entertainment programming and provide a cloud-based, multi-channel content distribution platform for the shows they produce and distribute. They use a proprietary production process and secured content delivery network specially designed to engage audiences, build brands and boost revenues for their partners. 

https://janesaddiction.com
www.facebook.com/JanesAddiction
www.twitter.com/janesaddiction
www.facebook.com/Janes-Addiction-Ritual-De-Lo-Habitual-Concert-FilmDVD-209959692474025/
http://rockfuelmedia.com
www.facebook.com/RockFuelMedia
www.twitter.com/RockFuelMedia