LAST CALL: REVIEWS: Up Close & Personal Series at Victory Gardens Theater Ends June 4th

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

Victory Gardens Theater presents the

Up Close & Personal Series 

featuring

A Little Bit Not Normal, written and performed by Arlene Malinowski,

St. Jude, written and performed by Ensemble Playwright Luis Alfaro,

and Where Did We Sit on the Bus?, written and performed by Brian Quijada

Three solo shows run in rotating repertory April 27 – June 4, 2017

 Review:
It was our great pleasure here at ChiIL Live Shows, to catch all three of these heartfelt solo shows. The series covers everything from birth to death, hilarious slice of life moments, mental illness, loss, and love. There's something incredibly intimate about listening to playwrights and actors revealing glimpses of their own lives, beliefs, experiences and truths on stage to an audience, in person. These three are all brave, strong pieces with universal human truths, and deeply personal situations. All three productions are quite different in tone and content but equally full of wisdom and insight. Recommended.

Arlene Malinowski is brave and beautiful in A Little Bit Not Normal. She brilliantly breaks the stigma and silence around bipolar disorder with her one woman show. Even in 2017, so many struggle with mental illness in silence and isolation, because it's invisible, never realizing just how prevalent it is. I have many friends and even family members fighting the same demons, who can't or won't speak about the realities of this disease, and this play was a huge help to me in understanding and empathizing. A heartfelt thank you to Arlene for eloquently expressing and embodying this struggle for those who have no words, and those who love them.

Brian Quijada's Where Did We Sit on the Bus? is a hilarious and comprehensive life story from laugh out loud funny moments in the womb and during birth through his present life. This immigrant story joins a vital body of works this season, on stages throughout Chicago, that serve as a much needed antidote to the rising tide of bigotry and racism in our country. We loved hearing Brian's unique struggles as the theatre loving son of two hard working immigrant parents, struggling to give their children better lives. He has great insight into the experience of being a poor hispanic kid in a rich, predominantly Jewish school. Later he has more nuggets of wisdom on his interracial marriage, the struggles to make a living in the arts, and how our own ancestor stories get embellished and passed down for posterity.

Finally, Luis Alfaro's St. Jude, takes audiences through the loss of a parent, as Luis struggles with his father's long illness, recovery, relapse, and finally, his death. This one man show is original in that he passes out many readings to audience members before the show, and they become a chorus of voices, adding to his own. Luis has the audience singing along with religious songs, familiar to many, and joining him in fond childhood reveries and abusive revelations. This powerful tribute to family aptly examines how where we come from shapes who we become. 

Up Close & Personal Series 

The Up Close & Personal Series is running April 27 – June 4, 2017 and includes A Little Bit Not Normal, written and performed by Arlene Malinowski; St. Jude, written and performed by Ensemble Playwright Luis Alfaro; and Where Did We Sit on the Bus?, written and performed by Brian Quijada. Shows in the Up Close & Personal Series will run in rotating repertory in the Richard Christiansen Theater at Victory Gardens Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue.  The Press Openings are: Where Did We Sit on the Bus? on May 6 at 3:00pm, A Little Bit Normal on May 6 at 7:30pm, and St. Jude on May 18 at 7:30pm.

Individual tickets to each production are $20, or a three show package, including a ticket to each production, is $40. Both are available through the box office at 773.871.3000 or online. With every ticket purchased, Victory Gardens Theater will provide one free ticket to a Chicago Public School student. For a complete performance schedule or to purchase tickets, visit www.victorygardens.org.

"We're thrilled to welcome Luis, Arlene and Brian back to Victory Gardens for our Up Close & Personal series this spring. Each of these remarkably personal stories are written and performed with humor, poetry and courage,” comments Artistic Director Chay Yew. “Now, for six weeks only, these national and Chicago artists will share their most intimate struggles and triumphs of family, hidden disabilities and immigration through performance." 

About the Up Close & Personal Series
All performances take place upstairs at Victory Gardens in the Richard Christiansen Theatre. A calendar of the performance schedule can be viewed online at www.victorygardens.org.

A Little Bit Not Normal
Written and Performed by Arlene Malinowski
Directed by Lisa Portes
3:00 pm: April 29; 13, 14, 27(ASL Interpreted)
7:30 pm: April 30; May 3, 5, 6, 10, 12, 20 (ASL Interpreted), 21
Press Opening: May 6 at 7:30 pm

With her trademark humor, Arlene confronts her own state of mind when Depression walks into her kitchen, lights a cigarette, and makes himself at home. A Little Bit Not Normal is a serious comedy about depression and naming it, claiming it, and standing to be counted. It’s the journey of a love story tested and the secrets we keep about crazy.

St. Jude
Written and Performed by Ensemble Playwright Luis Alfaro
3:00 pm: May 21, 28, June 4
7:30 pm: May 17, 18, 25, 27; June 1, 2, 3
Press Opening: May 18 at 7:30 pm

Award-winning Victory Gardens Theater Playwrights Ensemble member Luis Alfaro (Mojada, Oedipus el Rey) returns to Chicago to perform a new version of his emotionally charged solo work. St. Jude takes us on a personal and powerful journey with Luis as he learns of his father’s stroke and is summoned home to the California Central Valley of his childhood. As his family gathers, Alfaro conjures memories of his youth; from picking grapes, to gospel-infused big tent revivals, from family celebrations, to running away from home. In Alfaro’s words, St. Jude takes us from “who I am” to “who I was.”

Where Did We Sit on the Bus?
Written and performed by Brian Quijada
Directed by Chay Yew
10:00 am: May 3, 5, 10, 12, 19
3:00 pm: April 30; May 6, 20; June 2, 3
7:30 pm: April 27, 28 29; May 4, 11, 13, 24, 26, 28, 31, June 4
Press Opening: May 6 at 3:00 pm

The multi-2016 Jeff Award winner Where Did We Sit on the Bus? is an electric one-man show pulsing with Latin rhythms, rap, hip-hop, spoken word, and live looping. During a third grade lesson on the Civil Rights movement and Rosa Parks, a Latino boy raises his hand to ask, “Where did we sit on the bus?” and his teacher can’t answer the question. This thrilling autobiographical production examines what it means to be an artist and a son of Latino immigrants through the eyes of a teenager.

Production Sponsor: The Wallace Foundation

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

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

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

Victory Gardens Ensemble Playwrights include Luis Alfaro, Philip Dawkins, Marcus Gardley, Ike Holter, Samuel D. Hunter, Naomi Iizuka, Tanya Saracho and Laura Schellhardt. Each playwright has a seven-year residency at Victory Gardens Theater. 

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

Victory Gardens Theater receives major funding from The Wallace Foundation, Alphawood Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, The Shubert Foundation, The REAM Foundation, The Joyce Foundation, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Allstate Insurance, Polk Bros. Foundation, Crown Family Philanthropies, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The William and Orli Staley Foundation, and The National Endowment for the Arts. Additional funding is provided by: Abbot Downing & Wells Fargo, Alliance Bernstein, The Charles H. and Bertha L. Boothroyd Foundation, Exelon, The Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, John R. Halligan Charitable Fund, Illinois Arts Council, Illinois Tool Works, Italian Village Restaurants, Mayer Brown LLP, The McVay Foundation, LLP, The Prince Charitable Trusts, The Saints, Charles & M.R. Shapiro Foundation, Southwest Airlines, The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, Whole Foods Market, and Wrightwood Neighbors Conservation Association.

OPENING: World Premiere of Nautilina Via Agency Theater Collective at The Den Theatre

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar

The AGENCY THEATER COLLECTIVE of chicago Announces cast and creatives for the 

WORLD PREMIERE OF nautilina, 

written by brian Foster 

CO-DIRECTED BY

sommer austin and Anna Lucero, 

june 16 – july 16 At the den THEATRE

The Agency Theater Collective is pleased to announce the cast and creatives for its summer production – the world premiere of Nautilina, written by Brian Foster and co-directed by Sommer Austin and Anna Lucero, June 16 – July 16, at the Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. 

Previews are Saturday, June 10, and Sunday, June 11. Opening night is Friday, June 16 at 7:30 p.m. The performance schedule is Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. Ticket prices for previews are $15 and for the regular run $22.  For more information and to purchase tickets, please visit http://www.wearetheagency.org or call 773.680.4596. 

Nautilina is series of small scenes and monologues which lock into each other like puzzle pieces and create a larger narrative. Nautilina is an examination of what makes people tick, what makes them behave the way they do.

The cast and creatives for Nautilina includes: 
Sommer Austin*, co-director; Anna Lucero, co-director; Niki Dreistadt, asst. director and sound designer; Michael Saarela, asst. director; Kat McNall; production stage manager; Shannon Lauzier, asst. stage manager; Margret Baughman, assistant stage Manager; Hope Rehak, dramaturg; Kate Jacobsen*, costume designer; Ellie Humphrys, lighting designer; Alec Long, scenic designer, Manny Ortiz, technical director; Taylor Tolleson, properties designer.  Andrew Gallant, artistic director of The Agency; Sommer Austin, managing director of the Agency and Tim Touhy, company manager of The Agency. 

The acting ensemble includes: Matthew Collins, (The Couple/Rod); Meg Elliott (Ray); Zach Hebert (Owen); Logan Hulick (Eric); Alex Kliner (Piano Player/Walter); DeChantel Kosmatka (Cassandra); Manuela Rentea (Gerald); Bob Norman (Simon/John); Manny Ortiz (Bar Patron/Robert); Armando Reyes (Bartender/Paul/SSG Cooper); Sara Faye Richmond* (The Couple/Thomas); Kate Gilbert (Understudy); Kate Jacobsen* (Understudy); Carter Petray (Understudy); and David Trudeau (Understudy). 

*indicates The Agency Theatre Collective Company member




ABOUT THE AGENCY THEATER COLLECTIVE
Founded in 2010, The Agency Theater Collective creates relevant, authentic work with a focus on new or rarely produced plays. Past productions include Paul Pasulka’s Skin for Skin, Mia McCullough’s Chagrin Falls, Copi’s Four Twins, Clifford Odets’ Paradise Lost, Out of Tune Confessional, I Wish to Apologize to the People of Illinois, At the Center, Truth in Context (Non-Equity Jeff Award nominee for Best New Work in 2015/2016), and The Spirit of ’76. The Agency also hosts “No Shame Theatre,” a weekly theatrical open mic, every Saturday night at The Lincoln Loft. The Agency Theater Collective hold these principles sacred: revelation, paradox, humor, mischief and collaboration. 

OPENING: The Night Season at Strawdog Theatre Through 6/24

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

STRAWDOG THEATRE COMPANY 

PRESENTS 

REBECCA LENKIEWICZ’S 

THE NIGHT SEASON 

THROUGH JUNE 24 AT THE FACTORY THEATER 

**Note: Adult themes and partial nudity. Recommended for 18+**

We're elated to see Strawdog Theatre presenting an acclaimed female playwright and female director for their closing production for this season which has explored the theme of Lives in Exile. In an era where the theatre industry is still male dominated in areas from scripts to stage, kudos to Strawdog for tipping the scales toward more inclusion and gender balance. We can't wait to catch this production.

THE NIGHT SEASON was made by women. This show was written by a woman, directed and assistant directed by women, features a women-driven storyline and stars some of our favorite women. Women designed the lights, props & costumes and coached the dialects. Women production managed and stage & assistant stage managed this show. And even more women and their allies onstage & behind-the-scenes made it all possible.

Strawdog Theatre Company is proud to announce the third and final production in its 2016 - 2017 season, 

Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s The Night Season, Now – June 24, 

directed by Elly Green, 

at The Factory Theater, 1623 W. Howard. 

The performance schedule is Thursdays - Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m.

  
All performances have ground level access and are wheelchair accessible, with a special Access Project performance Sunday, June 4 at 4 p.m. with a touch tour at 2:45 p.m.* An industry performance is on Monday, June 5 at 8 p.m for $18. Preview tickets are $15 with regular run tickets $30, they may be ordered online at strawdog.org or by calling OvationTix toll-free: 866-811-4111. Subscriptions, group, rush, senior and student discounts are also available.

When the tiny, seaside hometown of W.B. Yeats gets occupied by an English film crew making his biopic, the Kennedys figure giving lodging to the lead actor will put a few extra coins in their pockets. They do get plenty of change, and not just Euros, as the family’s three sisters and their delusional grandmother all decide it’s time to stop letting life pass them by. The mother who ran away, the father who can barely leave the house, a big pile of pent-up desire, it all gets confronted in this skewed romantic comedy helmed by the director of Sideshow Theatre’s No More Sad Things, Stage Left’s Rabbit and Strawdog’s Season 28 smash After Miss Julie.

Cast includes ensemble members Janice O’Neill, Michaela Petro, Michael Reyes, John Henry Roberts, Justine C. Turner, Jamie Vann and guest artist Stella Martin.

The Night Season production team also includes Strawdog Company Ensemble Members Brittany Dee Bodley, costume designer, Heath Hays, sound designer and Mike Mroch, set designer with guest artists Ben Chang, dramaturg; 

*ACCESS PROJECT
All productions in Strawdog’s 2016-2017 season are wheelchair and ADA compliant. In addition, Strawdog Theatre’s Access Project performance Sunday, June 4 at 4 p.m., includes open captioning, audio description and touch tour services. A touch tour begins at 2:30 p.m. on the day of the Access Project performance.

ABOUT REBECCA LENKIEWICZ, PLAYWRIGHT
Rebecca Lenkiewicz is an acclaimed playwright whose work has been performed all over the world. She was the first living female playwright to have an original play - the celebrated Her Naked Skin, which explored the suffragette movement - performed on the National Theatre’s Olivier stage. Other plays include: Soho – A Tale Of Table Dancers, The Night Season, Shoreditch Madonna, The Painter, The Typist, The Invisible and Jane Wenham. Adaptations include An Enemy Of The People, Ghosts, The Soldier's Tale, The Turn Of The Screw, Miss Julie and The Tempest.

Lenkiewicz also writes for radio, film and television. She co-wrote the film Ida with director Pawel Pawlikowski which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2015, the BAFTA and the SPIRIT awards for the same category and the Best Film awards at both the London Film Festival and the Warsaw Film Festival in 2013.  She has recently written a screenplay for Kristin Scott Thomas to direct, The Sea Change, and collaborated on The Sweet Life with Russian director Alexander Zeldovich. She has co-written Disobedience with Sebastian Lelio, a feature for Film 4 to which Rachel Weisz is attached.  Currently, she is adapting a book for Scott Free/BBC TV for Kevin MacDonald. Lenkiewicz is presently working with Steve McQueen and Rainmark films on a seven-hour drama for the BBC and is writing a two-hour drama Mystery in White for Origin Pictures/ BBC.

ABOUT ELLY GREEN, DIRECTOR
Elly Green is a freelance director who previously worked with Strawdog on After Miss Julie by Patrick Marber. She also recently directed the US premiere of The Distance by Deborah Bruce for Haven Theatre and the co-world premiere of Hansol Jung’s No More Sad Things for Sideshow Theatre. Other credits include: The Woman Before (Trap Door), Rabbit (Stage Left – Jeff Nominated), Happy (Redtwist), Unwilling and Hostile Instruments (Theatre Seven) and The Tomkat Project (Playground Theatre & NY Fringe). Elly was assistant-director on Henry V (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre) and Proof (Court Theatre). She is an artistic associate with Sideshow Theatre and Stage Left Theatre. Elly originally trained in London on the MFA in Theatre Directing from Birkbeck College. Her UK directing credits include: Our Country’s Good, My Balloon Beats Your Astronaut, Beyond Therapy, About Tommy, Copenhagen, Skylight, The Beach, & The Zoo Story.

ABOUT STRAWDOG THEATRE COMPANY
Since its founding in 1988, Strawdog Theatre Company has offered Chicagoland the premiere storefront theatre experience and garnered numerous Non-Equity Jeff Awards with its commitment to ensemble acting and an immersive design approach. The celebrated Company develops new work, re-imagines the classics, melds music with theatre, asks provocative questions and delivers their audience the unexpected.

Strawdog recently announced that it has taken residence at 1802 West Berenice in North Center. Its next season will take place here and is currently available for rental by other theatre companies.

Strawdog Theatre Company is proud to announce the third and final production in its 2016 - 2017 season, Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s The Night Season, May 12, 2017 – June 24, 2017, directed by Elly Green, performed at The Factory Theater, 1623 W. Howard. The performance schedule is Thursdays - Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m. All performances have ground level access and are wheelchair accessible, with a special Access Project performance Sunday, June 4 at 4 p.m.* Preview tickets are $15 with regular run tickets $30, they may be ordered online at strawdog.org or by calling OvationTix toll-free: 866-811-4111. Subscriptions, group, rush, senior and student discounts are also available.

RUSH TICKETS 
Strawdog Theatre Company offers six tickets at a 50% discount one hour before every production. The rush ticket must be purchased in person, exclusively at the Strawdog Box Office. Limit of two tickets per person, not applicable with other discounts, offers or on previously purchased tickets, first come, first served. 

Season Theme: Lives in Exile
How much of who we are is where we are? For twenty five seasons, Strawdog had a home of our own. Now we move forward as an an itinerant company. We're looking our new reality straight in the eye, and taking on a season of beautiful plays all about losing one's place.

1 world premiere, 1 Chicago premiere, 1 bold new take on a classic. 0 shows you want to miss. 

Strawdog Theatre Company is supported in part by The Alphawood Foundation, The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, City of Chicago's Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, and through the generous contributions of businesses and individuals. 

OPENING: TOKEN AT SECOND CITY TRAINING CENTER'S JUDY'S BEAT LOUNGE 5/19-6/9

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

TOKEN

KAYE WINKS' SOLO SHOW ABOUT BEING A LONE 

BLACK PERSON IN A WORLD OF WHITE, DEBUTS MAY 19-JUNE 9 AT SECOND CITY TRAINING CENTER'S JUDY'S BEAT LOUNGE

 

Kaye Winks has been a token black for as long as she can remember.

In her new one-woman show Token, Winks shares her hilarious and often cringe worthy adventures in being that lone black person in a world of white.

Through her colorful portrayals of family, friends, strangers and foes, Winks offers a comic and ironic look at what it's like to be the token black person.

But white people aren't her only target. Winks also casts a smart, funny and sometimes sobering lens on class clashes within the black community.

"Token is unapologetically un-PC, but it's fair in its political incorrectness because I pick on everyone equally," says Winks. "The show actually brings people together by 'telli ng it like it is.'"

Don't miss Winks' hilarious, 60-minute takedown of the race discussion through the voices and stories of 30 characters we've all met at some point in our lives.

Token, directed by Schoen Smith, will be presented Fridays May 19-June 9, 2017 at 7:30 p.m. at Judy's Beat Lounge at the Second City Training Center, 230 W. North Avenue, 2nd Floor, Chicago. 


Credit: Joel Maisonet

Tickets are $13. For tickets and information, visit secondcity.com or call
(312) 337-3992.


Token information
Kaye Winks has been a token black since the day she was born in Naperville, Illinois to black Republicans. Today she is a stage and screen actress, writer, part-time funny person and full-time cat person. Winks trained at the Moscow Art Theater's Stanislavsky School in association with the American Repertory Theater and Harvard University. Her improv training was at the Second City Chicago. She also studied physical comedy and clown with world-renowned French master teacher, Philippe Gaulier. She has been featured in national commercial and print campaigns for Honda, Sony and Hot Pockets among others. She has recently returned to Chicago following a six-year stint in LA.


Schoen Smith (director) is an actress, writer, producer and director. In March, she directed a sold-out, one-night only performance of Token as part of Collaboraction Theatre Company's Gender Breakdown Lounge series. She also premiered her original spoken word piece Hands Up at Collaboraction's 2016 PEACEBOOK Festival. Before moving to Chicago, she was Producing Director for DOMA Theatre Company in Los Angeles, and also produced the hit play Elevator in the inaugural Hollywood Fringe Festival. She is a co-producer on the award-winning documentary about homeless youth, American Street Kid, which won Best Social Impact Film at the Hollywood Film Festival and People's Choice Award and Power in Film Award at The Beloit International Film Festival this year. She is the Director of Development for Collaboraction and the VP of Development for Venture Hill Entertainment, LLC.

For more, visit kayewinks.com or follow Winks on Twitter and Instagram: @kayewinks #tokenblack.

Celebrate Dizzy Gillespie Centennial One Night Only 5/20/17 With Chicago Jazz Orchestra

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

CHICAGO JAZZ ORCHESTRA CELEBRATES DIZZY GILLESPIE CENTENNIAL WITH DEFINITIVELY DIZZY, 

SATURDAY, MAY 20 

AT CHICAGO'S STUDEBAKER THEATER 

Dizzy Gillespie

The Chicago Jazz Orchestra, under the direction of Jeff Lindberg, will celebrate the centennial of Dizzy Gillespie with Definitively Dizzy, a live concert celebrating one of the greatest jazz trumpeters of all time. 

Definitively Dizzy is a one-night-only event, Saturday, May 20 at 7:30 p.m. at the newly renovated Studebaker Theater, 410 S. Michigan Ave. on the first floor of Chicago's historic Fine Arts Building. Tickets are $35 and $45. For tickets and information, visit chicagojazzorchestra.org or call (312) 753-3210.

Internationally known guest artists include two-time Grammy winner Roy Hargrove, one of the most innovative trumpeters in the world and a frequent performer at Chicago's Jazz Showcase. 

Marquis Hill, a rising young jazz star and winner of the 2014 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition, is returning to his hometown, Chicago, to perform with the CJO in Definitively Dizzy. 

Also on the program is Walter White, a powerhouse player from Detroit.

Add the CJO Trumpet section - Danny Barber, Art Davis, Victor Garcia and Doug Scharf - for a Dizzy celebration that promises to be uniquely CJO, highlighted by universally loved Dizzy classics.

"The CJO will present an exciting and explosive celebration of Dizzy Gillespie's 100th year, focusing on his formidable big band repertoire. The performance will include such Gillespie classics as 'Salt Peanuts,' 'Manteca,' 'Groovin' High,' 'A Night In Tunisia,' 'Cool Breeze,' 'Things To Come,' 'Tour de Force,' ''Round Midnight' and many more. With soloists Roy Hargrove, Marquis Hill and Walter White, along with the regular CJO trumpet section, Definitively Dizzy promises to be one of Chicago's top jazz events of 2017."

"We're thrilled to be one of first music ensembles to perform in the Fine Art's Building's recently refurbished Studebaker Theater," added Travis Rosenthal, Executive Director, Chicago Jazz Orchestra. "The Studebaker is truly a hidden gem, and the ideal setting for a musical salute to one of the jazz greats of all time."

The newly renovated Studebaker Theater is on the first floor of 

Chicago's historic Fine Arts Building, 410 S. Michigan Ave.

Founded in 1978, the 17-piece Chicago Jazz Orchestra is Chicago's oldest professional jazz orchestra in continuous operation and one of the oldest jazz repertory orchestras in the country. As recently as 2015, Howard Reich of the Chicago Tribune cited the CJO as "one of the best big bands in the country." 

For more information, visit chicagojazzorchestra.org.

The Chicago Jazz Orchestra's concert Definitively Dizzy is supported by an NEA Art Works grant, and sponsored by Chicago Jazz Magazine, WDCB 90.9 FM, the Oppenheimer Family Foundation and Ray and Ann Rusnak.

About Dizzy Gillespie
John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (1917-1993), along with Charlie Parker, ushered in the era of Be-Bop in the American jazz tradition. He left a legacy of goodwill and good humor that infused musicians and fans throughout the world with the genuine sense of jazz's ability to transcend national and ethnic boundaries. For this reason, Gillespie was and is an international treasure. 

Gillespie was born 100 years ago in Cheraw, South Carolina, the youngest of nine children. He began playing piano at age four and received a music scholarship to the Laurinburg Institute in North Carolina. Most noted for his trademark "swollen cheeks," Gillespie admitted to copying the style of trumpeter Roy Eldridge early in his career. 

Gillespie replaced Eldridge in the 'Teddy Hill' Band after Eldridge's departure. He eventually began experimenting and creating his own style which would eventually come to the attention of Mario Bauza, the Godfather of Afro-Cuban jazz who was then a member of the Cap Calloway Orchestra. Gillespie joined Calloway's band in 1939, but was famously fired after two years when he cut a portion of Calloway's backside with a knife after Calloway accused him of throwing spitballs. The two men later became lifelong friends and often retold this story with great relish.

Although noted for his on and off-stage clowning, Gillespie endured as one of the founding fathers of the Afro-Cuban and Latin Jazz tradition. Influenced by Bauza, he was able to fuse Afro-American jazz and Afro-Cuban rhythms to form a burgeoning CuBop sound. Indeed, many Latin jazz classics such as "Manteca," "A Night in Tunisia" and "Guachi Guaro [Soul Sauce]" were composed by Gillespie and his musical collaborators. 

About Chicago Jazz Orchestra
The Chicago Jazz Orchestra (chicagojazzorchestra.org) strives to develop and promote an appreciation for and understanding of music for the American jazz orchestra as it was originally conceived, performed and recorded by jazz master composers and soloists. 

The CJO is Chicago's oldest professional jazz orchestra in continuous operation and one of the oldest jazz repertory orchestras in the country. When Jeff Lindberg and the late Steve Jensen first came up with their big band concept in 1978 (founded as the Jazz Members Big Band), they could not have predicted the remarkable metamorphosis that has turned a group of first-call musicians into what is now known as the Chicago Jazz Orchestra, a 17-piece premiere jazz ensemble that has garnered both national and international recognition.

Conductor and Artistic Director Jeff Lindberg is one of the foremost transcribers in jazz. As a result, the orchestra's repertoire draws upon his vast library, which includes the works of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Dizzy Gillespie, Lionel Hampton, Benny Carter, Oliver Nelson, Ray Charles and many others. Because the CJO has its own transcriptions of the original recordings, much of the music presented in its concerts cannot be heard anywhere else. The CJO also performs compositions and arrangements by members of the CJO, including Associate Artistic Director Charles Harrison.

The CJO has served as the resident orchestra for the Kennedy Center Honors Supper Dance for more than 25 years. In 2006, the Orchestra performed before a sold-out audience at the Spoleto Festival USA in Charleston, South Carolina. The CJO has toured Europe twice, including performances in Italy, Spain, Denmark and Sweden. The Orchestra has performed with such artists as Dizzy Gillespie, Nancy Wilson, Louis Bellson, Herbie Hancock, Jon Faddis, Kurt Elling, Jack McDuff, Kenny Burrell, and many more.

The orchestra performs at a wide variety of top venues across the Chicago area, from City Winery to the Spertus Institute. Merit School of Music is the orchestra's educational partner, including day-long clinics that culminate with students performing alongside members of the CJO, master classes led by renowned guest artists and open rehearsals. The CJO also provides complimentary concert tickets to underserved public school students and their families.

The CJO's recordings include Clark Terry and Jeff Lindberg's Chicago Jazz Orchestra: George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess (Americana Music, 2004), nominated "Jazz Album of The Year" by the Jazz Journalist's Association, and a rare "Five Star" rating by DownBeat magazine, which also named it one of the top recordings of the previous decade. It also made the annual "top CD's" lists of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Jazz Times and Jazz Education Journal. 

To celebrate its 35th anniversary in 2013, the CJO released Burstin' Out with vocalist Cyrille Aimée performing classic and original jazz arrangements. 

The CJO's newest release is the 2017 compilation Live from Space, with live recordings from the summer of 2016.


The newly renovated Studebaker Theater is on the first floor of 
Chicago's historic Fine Arts Building, 410 S. Michigan Ave.

OPENING: Genesis Theatrical Productions' "The Radiant" at the Athenaeum Theatre, Studio One 5/18-6/11

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

"The Radiant" 

by Shirley Lauro

Directed by Kaitlin Taylor

A play about Marie Curie

Opens May 18 at 7:30pm at the Athenaeum Theatre, Studio One
2936 N. Southport, Chicago

Performances are Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30pm
Sunday at 3pm
Production runs until June 11
Tickets are $30 with discounts for students, seniors and groups of 10 or more
Limited number of discounted tickets available on Goldstar and Hot Tix

For tickets call 773-935-6875 or go to

http://www.athenaeumtheatre.org

 A CHANGE IN OUR PLAY READING SERIES

"TWO LIGHTS" OR THE HOPPER PLAY ORIGINALLY SCHEDULED FOR MAY 16
WILL BE RESCHEDULED TO A LATER DATE
DETAILS COMING SOON

For information on Genesis Theatrical Productions go to our web page at
http://www.genesistheatricals.com

OPENING: BLACK PEARL: A TRIBUTE TO JOSEPHINE BAKER

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

BLACK ENSEMBLE THEATER CONTINUES 2017 SEASON WITH

THE WORLD PREMIERE MUSICAL

BLACK PEARL: A TRIBUTE TO 

JOSEPHINE BAKER

WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY DARYL BROOKS

May 6 – June 18, 2017

Black Ensemble Theater Founder and CEO Jackie Taylor continue the 2017 Season (The Dance Theater Season) with the world premiere musical Black Pearl: A Tribute to Josephine Baker, written and directed by Black Ensemble Theater Associate Director Daryl Brooks. Black Pearl: A Tribute to Josephine Baker will be performed at the Black Ensemble Theater Cultural Center, 4450 N. Clark Street in Chicago, May 6 – June 18, 2017. 

Black Ensemble travels across the ocean to Oui Paris to tell the story of the one of the most dynamic performers the world has ever seen.  Black Pearl: The Story of Josephine Baker will take audiences through the life of the first black international superstar, beginning with her meager beginnings to the star power of one of the most iconic figures that the world has ever seen.

The cast of Black Pearl: The Story of Josephine Baker features Joan Ruffin as Older Josephine, Aerial Williams as Younger Josephine, and Rhonda Preston as Mother.  

The ensemble also includes

Dennis Dent, Lemond Hayes, Kelly Maryanski, Linnea Norwood, Rhonda Preston, William Rowland, Henri Slater, Kyle Smith, Jake Stempel, and Vincent Jordan. Additional casting information will be announced at a later date.

Tickets are available at the Black Ensemble Box Office located at 4450 N. Clark St in Chicago, or online at www.blackensemble.org, or by phone at (773) 769-4451. Tickets are $45 for previews (May 6, 7, 12 and 13, 2017); $55 (Thursdays and Saturday matinees) and $65 (Fridays, Saturday evenings and Sunday matinees).  There is a 10% discount for students, seniors and groups.

Dates: May 6 – June 18, 2017

Previews: May 6, 7, 12 and 13

Press Performance: Sunday, May 14, 2017 at 3:00 pm

Schedule: Thursday: 7:30 p.m.

Friday: 8:00 p.m.

Saturday: 3:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.

Sunday: 3:00 p.m.

Location: Black Ensemble Theater Cultural Center, 4450 N. Clark Street, Chicago

Valet parking is available.

Ticket prices: $45 Previews

$55 on Thursdays and Saturday matinees;

$65 on Fridays, Saturday evenings and Sunday matinees

A 10% discount is available for students, seniors, and groups.

Box Office: Buy online at www.blackensemble.org or call (773) 769-4451

The Black Ensemble Theater

Founded in 1976, by the phenomenal producer, playwright and actress Jackie Taylor, Black Ensemble Theater is the only African American theater located in the culturally, racially and ethnically diverse north side Uptown community. Through its Five Play Season of Excellence, The Black Ensemble Theater dazzles audiences locally, nationally and internationally with outstanding original musicals that are entertaining, educational and uplifting. The Black Ensemble Theater has produced more than 100 productions and employed over 5,000 artists.

On November 18, 2011, The Black Ensemble Theater Cultural Center opened and is able to accommodate larger-scale productions, bigger audiences and a wider range of educational programming. The new facility includes amenities such as a 299-seat main stage theater (double the capacity of the original venue); 14 offices, classroom space, rehearsal hall, dance studio, scene shop, costume shop, and wardrobe rooms; seven dressing rooms; rehearsal room for musicians; front lobby space with concession areas; and an indoor parking garage.  The completion of a 150-seat theater, which will serve as an experimental stage for the work of the Black Playwright Initiative (BPI), with construction by General Contractor Norcon Inc., is expected in 2017.

The mission of the Black Ensemble Theater Company is to eradicate racism and its devastating effects upon society through the theater arts.  For more information on the Black Ensemble Theater Company, please visit www.BlackEnsembleTheater.org or call 773-769-4451.