OPENING: World Premiere of 2 UNFORTUNATE 2 TRAVEL at Prop Thrt March 8 – April 15, 2019

ChiIL Live Shows on our radar

Prop Thtr Presents the World Premiere of

2 UNFORTUNATE 2 TRAVEL

A new devised adaptation of

Thomas Nashe’s The Unfortunate Traveller

Adapated and Directed by Zach Weinberg

Devised by The Ensemble

March 8 – April 15, 2019

I'll be ChiILin' at the press opening of Prop Thtr's world premiere of 2 UNFORTUNATE 2 TRAVEL on March 11th, so check back shortly after for my full review.

Prop Thtr is pleased to continue its 2018-19 season with the world premiere of 2 UNFORTUNATE 2 TRAVEL, a late-night, cabaret-style evening of multi-disciplinary live performances and a biting look at privilege and the things we take for granted. This new devised adaptation of Thomas Nashe’s novella The Unfortunate Traveller is adapted and directed by Zach Weinberg and devised by The Ensemble. 2 UNFORTUNATE 2 TRAVEL will play March 8 – April 15, 2019 at 3502 N. Elston Ave. (near Kedzie and Addison) in Chicago’s Avondale neighborhood. Tickets are currently available at www.propthtr.org. 

The 2 UNFORTUNATE 2 TRAVEL Ensemble cast includes Zoë DePreta, Callie Harlow, Jourdan Lewanda, Isa Ramos, Joseph Ramski, Schanora Wimpie and Taylor Wisham.

It’s a tough time right now. You deserve a vacation. Jack Wilton, self-appointed ally and recent returnee from travelling the world wants to give you one. He has transformed his recent vacation into a variety show depicting his adventures in a range of spectacular and crowd-pleasing styles, with everything from shadow puppetry to a live game show. He’s created a safe space where you can sit back, drink a free beer and enjoy an hour free from any political discussion. Over the course of the evening, the cracks begin to show in Jack’s stories, his conduct and the fabric of reality itself as the performing ensemble of five women work to bring Jack’s stories to life and struggle within both a play and a society that profits off of their silence.

Comments adapter/director Zach Weinberg, “This piece is an attempt by a cadre of young artists to have it all; to dive into a deeply collaborative process and create something at once personal and political, entertaining and troubling, engaging and alienating, challenging the established social order and revealing the futility in fighting it, rigidly structured and terrifyingly loose. In an era where we have been forced into political obsession and are desperate both to constantly fight for our rights and find some relief from the onslaught of bad news, I'm driven to create a piece of art that captures and exploits that duality.”

Artistic Director Olivia Lilley adds, “As the next show in my first season as Prop Artistic Director, I am so proud to introduce the cerebral and whimsical theatrical imagination of director/deviser Zach Weinberg and his devising ensemble. 2 Unfortunate 2 Travel promises to take us down a rabbit hole of the burning questions of our times, to entertain and to provoke hours of discussion afterwards.”

Cast: Zoë DePreta, Callie Harlow, Jourdan Lewanda, Isa Ramos, Joseph Ramski, Schanora Wimpie and Taylor Wisham.

Location: Prop Thtr, 3502 N. Elston Ave., Chicago
Dates: Previews: Friday, March 8 at 9 pm and Saturday, March 9 at 9 pm

Regular Run: Friday, March 15 – Monday, April 15, 2019
Curtain Times: Mondays at 8 pm, Fridays and Saturdays at 9 pm
Tickets: Previews: Pay-what-you-can. Regular run: $20. Industry, Student, group discounts available. Tickets are currently available at www.propthtr.org.

About the Playwright/Director

Zach Weinberg is a Chicago-based theater director, adaptor and administrator. He is interested in the creation of new, non-traditional works and finding the perfect medium for the message. Zach is a company member and grant writer at Red Tape Theatre, and a graduate of Oberlin College. Selected theatrical work includes serving as a Directing Apprentice with the late Redmoon Theatre, participating in the 2016 Director's Haven at Haven Theatre and premiering two original adaptations at Curious Theatre Branch's Rhinofest: Love in a Maze ('17) and MAY DAY ('18).

About The Prop Thtr
Prop Thtr strives to redefine what theatre is for the 21st century. Prop Thtr produces and incubates new work, which includes new plays, devised work, director-driven re-imaginings of classics, adaptations, and other alternative forms. Prop Thtr works with makers of all ages, races, gender identities, abilities, and backgrounds. In the spirit of Chicago storefront theatre, Prop Thtr is committed to ongoing relationships with individuals and organizations that create work in diverse and inclusive spaces. We break open how we make, what we are making, and who is making.

ART BEAT: Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago Presents Laurie Simmons: Big Camera/Little Camera February 23 to May 5, 2019

Laurie Simmons: Big Camera/Little Camera

a major survey of the work of Laurie Simmons

Image credit: Laurie Simmons, Big Camera, Little Camera, 1976. Collection of the artist. Photo courtesy of the artist and Salon 94, © Laurie Simmons.

I'll be out for the press opening, February 22nd, so check back soon for my recap. As a photographer, feminist, and daily creator of social media content, this exhibit particularly fascinates me. I'm also intrigued by families full of artists and creatives. Laurie Simmons' husband is painter Carroll Dunham and her children are actress/writer Lena Dunham and writer/activist Cyrus Dunham.

This spring, the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago presents Laurie Simmons: Big Camera/Little Camera, a major survey of the work of Laurie Simmons. This comprehensive exhibition showcases Simmons's career-long exploration of how image culture creates and perpetuates the myths of our society, and upends traditional ideas about photography as a medium. More than four decades of work by Simmons are on display, with her iconic photographs, sculptures, and films highlighting her importance both historically and as an active contemporary artist. Laurie Simmons: Big Camera/Little Camera is on view from February 23 to May 5, 2019 and is organized by the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, and curated by Senior Curator Andrea Karnes. The Chicago presentation is coordinated by MCA Senior Curator Naomi Beckwith.

Simmons's exploration of archetypal female gender roles, for example, women in domestic settings, is the primary subject of this exhibition and is a topic as poignant today as it was in the late 1970s, when she began to develop her mature style using props and dolls as stand-ins for people and places.
  
The namesake work for this exhibition, Big Camera, Little Camera (1976), shows an actual camera juxtaposed with a miniature one, exemplifying Simmons's technique of manipulating scale. The actual camera in the image was given to Simmons by her father, a dentist who took up photography in his free time. Simmons explains, "I put the two cameras together for scale, and as a metaphor - real life versus fiction. It was also a statement about what I intended to do with the camera." Far from documenting the world as it is, her photographs represent the effects of fiction on reality.

Often isolating the dolls and photographing them situated in tiny, austere settings, in series such as Early Black and White (1976-78), Simmons uses fictional scenes that mirror and unsettle the American dream of prosperity and feminine domesticity. The resulting works turn a critical eye on tropes that dominated the era of her upbringing, including the 1950s housewife and the Wild West cowboy.

After graduating from Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia in 1971, then living in upstate New York and subsequently traveling through Europe while living out of her car, Simmons moved to a loft in the then-low-rent Bowery section of Manhattan. To make a living, she briefly worked as a freelance photographer for a dollhouse miniature company, and in her off hours she pursued her main ambition of becoming an artist. Influenced by her day job, as well as a cache of old toys she discovered at a toy store in the Catskills, Simmons began to photograph dolls and small plastic objects, particularly those from the 1950s, the era of her childhood.

Carefully chosen props, preserved by the artist over the years, are on display, including those used to create the early doll house imagery. This ephemera offers new insight into Simmons's process, revealing her continuing fascination with models and fleshing out her use of color-coding to organize vignettes into cohesive and precise imagery.

Monumental photographs from the series Walking and Lying Objects (1987-91), are on view in the exhibition. This iconic body of work features a variety of legs - from human scale to tiny metal Japanese fetish models - showing beneath familiar domestic objects. The poses create personified objects and objectified people, demonstrating how our culture defines, fetishizes, and flattens bodies - especially the female body - and material things.

The exhibition also presents Simmons's more recent series, such as The Love Doll (2009-11), which features high-end, life-size Japanese dolls in day-to-day scenarios. Just as Walking Objects represents a transition to monumental props, The Love Doll moves away from dolls in miniature, but the added element of strangeness is not unlike that evoked by the miniatures. Another recent body of work, How We See (begun in 2014), shows another iteration of the artist's longstanding interest in gender roles.

For these images, Simmons hired makeup artists to paint eyes that look open on her sitters' closed eyelids. Inverting her usual practice by making real people appear uncannily artificial, Simmons says, "Social media allows us to put our most perfect, desirable, funny, and fake selves forward, while naturally raising questions about our longings, yearnings, and vulnerabilities. In How We See, I'd like to direct you how to see while also asking you to make eye contact with ten women who can't see you."

In addition to her photography, there is a small selection of sculpture and three films in the exhibition. The Music of Regret (2006, 45 min) is shown in the gallery space, and is a three-part musical shot in 35mm by the cinematographer Ed Lachman. The Music of Regret grew out of three of Simmons's distinct photographic series: Early Interiors, Walking Objects, and Café of the Inner Mind. The theme of regret is underscored by vintage puppets that interact with actress Meryl Streep, who plays the lead role, and Alvin Ailey dancers dressed as oversized inanimate objects.

The film My Art (2016) was written and directed by Simmons who also stars in the lead role as Ellie Shine, an artist who wishes to reinvigorate her work and address her lack of recognition. In My Art, Ellie embarks on a new project where she reimagines shot-for-shot vignettes from her favorite movies, casting herself as the celluloid stars from the past. Art and life collide in the film as scenes mirror unfolding relationships in her life. The film debuted in September 2016 at the Venice Film Festival and premiered in North America at the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival, where it received high accolades.

A major scholarly catalogue, co-published by the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth and DelMonico Books-Prestel, accompanies the exhibition.

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Laurie Simmons, born in 1949 in Queens, New York, began photographing at age six when her father bought her a Brownie camera. She received a BFA from the Tyler School of Art at Temple University in Philadelphia and moved to New York. Simmons is an internationally recognized artist who has had solo exhibitions at P.S. 1, Artists Space, and the Jewish Museum in New York; the Walker Art Center in Minnesota; San Jose Museum of Art in California; the Baltimore Museum of Art; the Contemporary Art Museum in St. Louis; the Gothenburg Museum of Art in Sweden; and the Neues Museum in Germany. She received a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1984, a Guggenheim Foundation Fellowship in 1997, and a Roy Lichtenstein Residency in Visual Arts from the American Academy in Rome in 2005. She currently lives and works in New York and Cornwall, Connecticut. Her husband is painter Carroll Dunham and her children are actress/writer Lena Dunham and writer/activist Cyrus Dunham.


RELATED PROGRAMS

Talk: Laurie Simmons
Saturday, February 23, 3 pm, MCA Theater
Artist Laurie Simmons leads audiences on a journey through the history of anti-feminist films on the opening day of her exhibition.

Screening: Laurie Simmons
Sunday, February 24, 11 am - 5 pm, MCA Theater
A marathon screening plays a selection of Laurie Simmons's films.

Screenings of My Art 
February 26, March 26 and 31, April 7 and 9, MCA Theater
Screened as part of the exhibition, My Art is ­a feature-length film written, directed by, and starring Laurie Simmons who plays Ellie Shine, a single artist living in New York City. As her decades-old dream of a respectable place in the art world becomes more elusive, her frustration with her lack of recognition feels alarmingly urgent. When she is offered the summer house and studio of a famous friend she seizes the opportunity to hit the reset button on her life and work.

Curator Tour: Laurie Simmons: Big Camera/Little Camera
Tuesday, March 19, noon, exhibition gallery
MCA Senior Curator Naomi Beckwith leads an in-depth tour of Laurie Simmons: Big Camera/Little Camera and discusses the artist's practice.

Talk: Laurie Simmons with Genevieve Gaignard
Thursday, April 10, 6 pm, MCA Theater
Laurie Simmons has sometimes been cast as a "reluctant feminist." In this conversation, the artist brings together a panel of next-generation thinkers to consider the tension between personal politics and the making of feminist art in a moment when gender is increasingly deconstructed. They also address how the feminist reading of her work by younger artists has changed her own perspective and her work.

Lead support for Laurie Simmons: Big Camera/Little Camera is provided by the Harris Family Foundation in memory of Bette and Neison Harris: Caryn and King Harris, Katherine Harris, Toni and Ron Paul, Pam and Joe Szokol, Linda and Bill Friend, and Stephanie and John Harris; Becky and Lester Knight; Zell Family Foundation; Julie and Larry Bernstein; and Cari and Michael J. Sacks. Major support is provided by Stefan Edlis and Gael Neeson. Generous support is provided by Robert J. Buford; Anne L. Kaplan; Kovler Family Foundation; Jennifer and Alec Litowitz; Phillips; Carol Prins and John Hart/The Jessica Fund; Marilyn and Larry Fields; Efroymson Family Fund; Katherine and Judd Malkin; Ellen-Blair Chube; Susie L. Karkomi and Marvin Leavitt; One Bennett Park; Liz and Eric Lefkofsky; Salon 94 New York; Mirja and Ted Haffner; Vicki and Bill Hood; Susan D. Goodman and Rodney Lubeznik; The Robert Mapplethorpe Foundation, New York; and Penelope and Robert Steiner.

OPENING: Tango at Trap Door Theatre February 21-March 30, 2019

ChiIL Live Shows on our radar

THE TRAP DOOR THEATRE is proud to present...

Tango

Written by: Sławomir Mrożek

Translated by: Ralph Manheim and Teresa Dzieduszycka Directed by: Emily Lotspeich

In this hilarious satire, the dangers inherent in contemporary society are inscribed in a universal story of how conformity, anarchy and formalism can come into conflict between generations. I'll be ChiILin' with Chi, IL's Trap Door Theatre in early March, so check back then for my full review.

Cast: Dennis Bisto, Adam Huizenga, Logan Hulick, Katelyn Lane, Joan Nahid, Emily Nichelson and Keith Surney.

Sɫawomir Mrożek (Playwright) was a Polish playwright born in 1930 in a small town near Kraków. He started his professional career as a cartoonist and journalist, and later on wrote many grotesque stories. His first play, The Police (1958) is a Kafkaesque parable, and was followed by a series of political, critical allegories cloaked in absurdist comedy such as Out at Sea (1961), Striptease (1961) and The Party (1963). His most famous play from this period is Tango which had its world premiere in Belgrade, Yugoslavia in January 1965. That same year a famous Polish critic Jan Kott observed that while Stanislaw Ignacy Witkiewicz and Witold Gombrowicz, Mrożek’s dramatic predecessors, were ahead of their time, Mrożek has arrived right on time both in Poland and in the West. Some perceived Mrożek as a kind of “Polish Ionesco” as his plays poke absurdist fun at contemporary mores and life in the 20th century communist-dominated Poland. Mrożek emigrated to France in 1963 and lived in Italy and Mexico before returning to Poland after the fall of communism. While his plays were periodically banned in Poland, they were performed in the cities around the world including New York City where they were produced several times off Broadway and at La MaMa Theatre Club. Among other plays written by Mrożek are Vatzlav (1972—produced at Trap Door Theatre in 2014), The Emigrés (1974), The Ambassador (1981), Alpha (1984) and Love in the Crimea (1994). Mrożek died in France in 2013.

Emily Lotspeich (Director) Emily was born in Cincinnati where she was fortunate enough to attend the television noted School for Creative and Performing Arts from grades 4-12. There she majored in acting, directing, creative writing and oboe. She came to call Chicago home when she moved here to further her theater education at Depaul University. Emily is a Company Member and Development Director at The Trap Door Theatre. Trap Door Director credits include Universal Wolf and a staged reading of Made In Poland at last years International Voices Project. Trap Door Assistant Director credits include Beholder and the twentieth anniversary celebratory remount of R. W. Fassbinder’s Blood on the Cat’s Neck. Trap Door acting credits include Monseur D’eon Is A Woman, Sad Happy Suckers, Locketeer, Phaedra, Fantasy Island For Dummies, The Duchess of Malfi, AmeriKafka, 12 Ophelias and Anger/Fly. Trap Door Stage Manager credits include Ten Tiny Fingers, Nine Tiny Toes, and How To Explain The History Of Communism To Mental Patients which toured in Hungary and Romania. In addition to Trap Door, Ms. Lotspeich has worked with Prop Thtr, Silent Theatre Company, Polarity Ensemble Theatre and Cornservatory.

Set Designer Jacqueline Frole/ Costume Designer Rachel Sypniewski/ Makeup Design Zsofia Otvos / Sound Designer Danny Rocket/ Lighting Designer Richard Norwood / Violence Design Bill Gordon / Choreographer Jesse Hoisington/ Graphic Designer Michal Janicki/ Dramaturg Milan Pribisic/ Assistant Director Nora Lise Ulrey

When: 
Opens: Thursday, February 21, 2019 at 8PM 
Closes: Saturday, March 30, 2019 at 8PM 
Runs: Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays at 8PM

Admission: $20 on Thursdays and Fridays, $25 on Saturdays, 2 for 1 Admission on Thursdays

Where: TRAP DOOR THEATRE 1655 West Cortland Ave. Chicago, IL 60622
For Information/Reservations: 773-384-0494 To purchase online www.trapdoortheatre.com

OPENING: Childhood Beauty at Trap Door Theatre March 3-25, 2019

ChiIL Live Shows on our radar

THE TRAP DOOR THEATRE is proud to present as a part of the TRAP OPEN SERIES….

Childhood Beauty

Written by: Suz Evans

Directed by: Skye Fort

I'm eager to catch this show, as I too grew up in a small suburb of Cincinnati, like the playwright. Jane Fonda’s dance aerobics videos were even a disturbing gym class option in my high school. So I'm no stranger to the peppy "work that tiny body" refrain. I'll be out for opening night, so check back soon for my full review. 

What: Using the forms of theatre, performance art, and dance, Childhood Beauty is about reluctantly participating in Jane Fonda’s dance aerobics videos way-back-when. It is about monopolizing the thoughts that people think about your body. It is about awkward emotions and stool movements. Welcome to the show.

   
Suz Evans (playwright) was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1990. They grew up in a small town, went to church twice a week and learned about the wrath of Hell alongside Jesus’s love. Their work questions the ideas that a Middle American upbringing convolutes around identity, hierarchy and divergence of the expected. As a non-binary queer, Suz is likely to twist gender roles and extend a genuine no-thanks to the cis-tem. Their writing is largely based in literary and field research, with a direct quotation style popular amongst contemporary German playwrights. They dream of a future in which humanoids have full autonomy over thought. Suz graduated with a BFA in printmaking and art history from Montserrat College of Art. Childhood Beauty is their first completed script.

Skye Fort (director)  spent her formative years  in small town New Mexico, but has called Chicago home for the past 7 years. She is a proud member of Trap Door Theatre, where she has previously worked as the assistant director on Old Woman Broods, Monsieur D’eon is A Woman, and Phedre. Skye is the company manager at Trap Door, and over the past six years has also had the honor of touring to Eastern Europe with Trap Door, and working as an actor and a stage manager. Having grown up dancing, Skye is drawn to any piece of theatre that has the possibility for extreme movement. Skye has a degree in theatre from The University of New Mexico and a is founding member of the performance art group So This Is Art. Skye likes to hang out on the line between performance art and theatre, and hopes you’ll join her there.

Costume Designer Josh Pennington/ Sound Designer Ty Easley/ Lighting Designer Gary Damico/ Multi-Media Specialist Ash Brayley/ Assistant Director Miguel Long / Production Assistant Anna Klos

 Cast: Maryam Abdi, David Lovejoy, Nora Lise Ulrey, Kellie Wyatt

When:
Opens:     Sunday, March 3rd, 2019 at 8PM
Closes:     Monday, March 25th, 2019 at 8PM
Runs:       Sundays and Mondays at 8PM

Admission:  $10

Where:  TRAP DOOR THEATRE 1655 West Cortland Ave.  Chicago, IL 60622

For Information/Reservations: 773-384-0494 To purchase online www.trapdoortheatre.com

About the Trap Open Series:  Whether it is a workshop of a bold new play, a daylong performance installation, or a collaboration with artists from other mediums; this series seeks to offer audiences thrilling, unexpected experiences while giving voice to the next generation of groundbreaking theatre artists.

CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR GOODMAN PRODUCTIONS OPENING IN MARCH: PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING SWEAT AND THE WORLD PREMIERE OF LOTTERY DAY BY IKE HOLTER

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CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR TWO UPCOMING GOODMAN PRODUCTIONS: LYNN NOTTAGE’S 

PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING 

SWEAT, 

DIRECTED BY RON OJ PARSON (MARCH 9 – APRIL 14) AND THE WORLD PREMIERE OF 

LOTTERY DAY BY IKE HOLTER, 

DIRECTED BY LILI-ANNE BROWN 

(MARCH 29 – APRIL 28)

Goodman Theatre proudly announces the casts for its Chicago premiere of the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Sweat by Lynn Nottage, directed by Ron OJ Parson, as well as its world premiere of Lottery Day—Ike Holter’s final work in his seven-play “The Rightlynd Saga,” directed by Lili-Anne Brown. Tickets are now available for both productions at GoodmanTheatre.org, by telephone 312.443.3800 or at the box office (170 N. Dearborn). The Goodman is grateful for the support of its sponsors: for Sweat, American Airlines and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are Major Corporate Sponsors; ComEd is the Official Lighting Sponsor; Conagra Brands Foundation is the Production Sponsor; and ITW is the Corporate Sponsor Partner. For Lottery Day, Laurents/Hatcher Foundation is the Institutional Partner.

Sweat
By Lynn Nottage
Directed by Ron OJ Parson

Cynthia……...Tyla Abercrumbie
Oscar………..Steve Casillas
Jason………..Mike Cherry
Evan…………Ronald Conner
Jessie………..Chaon Cross
Tracey……….Kirsten Fitzgerald
Stan………….Keith Kupferer
Chris…………Edgar Sanchez
Brucie………..André Teamer

Sweat marks the fourth Nottage play to be produced at the Goodman, following Crumbs from the Table of Joy (2006), Ruined (a 2008 world-premiere Goodman commission that earned the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama) and By the Way, Meet Vera Stark (2013). A group of friends in a Rust Belt town has spent their lives sharing secrets and laughs on the factory floor. But when layoffs begin to chip away at their trust, they’re pitted against each other in a heart-wrenching fight in this collision of race, class and friendship at a pivotal moment in America. The creative team includes Kevin Depinet (Set Design), Mara Blumenfeld (Costume Design), Keith Parham (Lighting Design) and Richard Woodbury (Sound Design). Alden Vasquez is the Production Stage Manager.

Lottery Day
By Ike Holter
Directed by Lili-Anne Brown

Tori……………...Aurora Adachi-Winter
Mallory………....J. Nicole Brooks
Zora…………….Sydney Charles
Cassandra….....McKenzie Chinn
Robinson……....Robert Cornelius
Avery…………...James Vincent Meredith
Ezekiel………....Tommy Rivera-Vega
Nunley………....Tony Santiago
Vivien…………..Michele Vazquez
Ricky…………...Pat Whalen

“Thrilling Chicago writer” (Chicago Tribune) Holter concludes his acclaimed seven-play cycle, "The Rightlynd Saga,” by assembling his vibrant characters for a raucous theatrical bash. Long the matriarch of a quickly gentrifying neighborhood, Mallory invites the lonely residents, hardcore activists and starving artists of her block to what she hopes will go down as a legendary barbeque—thanks to a special surprise. But her mysterious plan to revitalize her community may be the very thing that tears it apart. Centering on a fictitious Chicago ward, Holter’s seven-play cycle also includes plays Red Rex (on stage through March 16 at Steep Theatre), Rightlynd, Exit Strategy, Sender, Prowess and The Wolf at the End of the Block. The creative team includes Arnel Sancianco (Set Design), Samantha C. Jones (Costume Design), Jason Lynch (Lighting Design) and Andre Pluess (Sound Design). Nikki Blue is the Production Stage Manager.

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHTS AND DIRECTORS

Lynn Nottage (Playwright, Sweat) is the first woman in history to win two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama. Her plays have been produced widely in the United States and throughout the world. Sweat (Pulitzer Prize, Obie Award, Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, Tony Award nomination, Drama Desk Award nomination) moved to Broadway after a sold-out run at The Public Theater. It premiered and was commissioned by Oregon Shakespeare Festival American Revolutions History Cycle/Arena Stage. Her other plays include By The Way, Meet Vera Stark (Lilly Award, Drama Desk Nomination), Ruined (Pulitzer Prize, OBIE, Lucille Lortel, New York Drama Critics’ Circle, Audelco, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards), Intimate Apparel (American Theatre Critics and New York Drama Critics’ Circle Awards for Best Play), Fabulation, or The Re-Education of Undine (OBIE Award), Crumbs from the Table of Joy, Las Meninas, Mud, River, Ston, Por’knockers and POOF! In addition, she is working with composer Ricky Ian Gordon on adapting her play Intimate Apparel into an opera (commissioned by The Metropolitan Opera/Lincoln Center Theater). She is also developing This is Reading, a performance installation based on two years of interviews, which opened at the Franklin Street, Reading Railroad Station in Reading, PA in July 2017. She is the co-founder of the production company Market Road Films, whose most recent projects include The Notorious Mr. Bout directed by Tony Gerber and Maxim Pozdorovkin (premiere at Sundance Film Festival 2014), First to Fall directed by Rachel Beth Anderson (premiere at International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam, 2013) and Remote Control (premiere at Busan International Film Festival 2013, New Currents Award). She has also developed original projects for HBO, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, Showtime, This is That and Harpo. She is writer/producer on the Netflix series She's Gotta Have It directed by Spike Lee. Nottage is the recipient of a MacArthur "Genius Grant" Fellowship, Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award, PEN/Laura Pels Master Playwright Award, Arts and Letters Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, Columbia University Provost Grant, Doris Duke Artist Award, The Joyce Foundation Commission Project & Grant, Madge Evans and Sidney Kingsley Award, Nelson A. Rockefeller Award for Creativity, The Dramatists Guild Hull-Warriner Award, the inaugural Horton Foote Prize, Helen Hayes Award, the Lee Reynolds Award and the Jewish World Watch iWitness Award. She is a graduate of Brown University and the Yale School of Drama.

Ron OJ Parson (Director, Sweat) returns to Goodman Theatre, where he previously directed Let Me Live. As an actor, he last appeared at the Goodman in Romance. He is a resident artist at Court Theatre, and former co-founder and artistic director of The Onyx Theatre Ensemble. Recent directing credits include Skeleton Crew and Detroit 67 at Northlight Theatre; Fences at Kansas City Repertory Theatre; Five Guys Named Moe, Gem of the Ocean, Seven Guitars, The Mountaintop and Waiting For Godot at Court Theatre; East Texas Hot Links at Writers Theatre (where he is an associate artist); Paradise Blue, A Raisin in the Sun and Sunset Baby at TimeLine Theatre Company (where he is an associate artist), Apt. 3 A at Windy City Playhouse and The Who & The What at Victory Gardens Theater. Additional Chicago credits include Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Black Ensemble Theater, ETA Creative Arts, Congo Square Theatre Company, Teatro Vista (where he is an associate artist), Chicago Dramatists, UrbanTheater Company, Chicago Theatre Company, American Blues Theater and City Lit Theater. Regional and New York credits include Virginia Stage Company, Paul Robeson Theatre, Portland Stage, Studio Theatre, Studio Arena Theatre, Roundabout Theatre Company, Morris A. Mechanic Theatre, Baltimore Center Stage, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, The St. Louis Black Repertory, Pittsburgh Public Theater, Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company, Geva Theatre Center, Signature Theatre (New York), Alliance Theatre, South Coast Repertory and Pasadena Playhouse. In Canada, he directed the world premiere of Palmer Park at the Stratford Festival. Parson is a member of AEA, SAG-AFTRA and SDC. Parson hails from Buffalo, New York and is a graduate of the University of Michigan’s professional theater program. RonojParson.com

Ike Holter (Playwright, Lottery Day) is a 2017 winner of the Windham-Campbell Prize, one of the highest awards for playwriting in the world. Holter is a resident playwright at Victory Gardens Theater, and has been commissioned by The Kennedy Center, The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, South Coast Repertory and The Playwrights’ Center. His work has been produced at the Steppenwolf Garage, The Philadelphia Theater Company, off-Broadway at Barrow Street Theatre and Cherry Lane Theatre, The Lily Tomlin Center in Los Angeles, True Colors in Atlanta, Forward Theater in Wisconsin, Water Tower Theater in Dallas, 3oaks in Michigan and Jackalope Theatre Company, Teatro Vista, A Red Orchid and The Inconvenience in Chicago. He is the artistic director of The Roustabouts and is a regular performer at Salonathon in Chicago.

Lili-Anne Brown (Director, Lottery Day) is a native Chicagoan who works as a director, actor and educator, both locally and regionally. She is the former artistic director of Bailiwick Chicago, where she directed Dessa Rose (Jeff Award), Passing Strange (BTA Award and Jeff nomination for Best Director of a Musical), See What I Wanna See (Steppenwolf Theatre Garage Rep) and the world premiere of Princess Mary Demands Your Attention by Aaron Holland. Other directing credits include The Wolf at the End of the Block (16th Street Theatre), Marie Christine (Boho Theatre), Peter and the Starcatcher (Metropolis Performing Arts), The Wiz (Kokandy Productions),  Xanadu (American Theatre Company), Jabari Dreams of Freedom by Nambi E. Kelley (Chicago Children’s Theatre), American Idiot (Northwestern University); the national tour of Jesus Snatched My Edges; and Little Shop of Horrors, Hairspray, Unnecessary Farce, Cabaret, Sweet Charity, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story at Timber Lake Playhouse. She is a member of SDC, SAG-AFTRA and a graduate of Northwestern University.

ABOUT GOODMAN THEATRE

AMERICA’S “BEST REGIONAL THEATRE” (Time magazine), Goodman Theatre is a premier not-for-profit organization distinguished by the excellence and scope of its artistic programming and civic engagement. Led by Artistic Director Robert Falls and Executive Director Roche Schulfer, the theater’s artistic priorities include new play development (more than 150 world or American premieres), large scale musical theater works and reimagined classics (celebrated revivals include Falls’ productions of Death of a Salesman and The Iceman Cometh). Goodman Theatre artists and productions have earned two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards, over 160 Jeff Awards and many more accolades. In addition, the Goodman is the first theater in the world to produce all 10 plays in August Wilson’s “American Century Cycle;” and its annual holiday tradition A Christmas Carol, which marks its 41st production this season, has created a new generation of theatergoers. The Goodman also frequently serves as a production partner with local off-Loop theaters and national and international companies by providing financial support or physical space for a variety of artistic endeavors.

Committed to three core values of Quality, Diversity and Community, the Goodman proactively makes inclusion the fabric of the institution and develops education and community engagement programs that support arts as education. This practice uses the process of artistic creation to inspire and empower youth, lifelong learners and audiences to find and/or enhance their voices, stories and abilities. The Goodman’s Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement is the home of such programming, most offered free of charge, and has vastly expanded the theater’s ability to touch the lives of Chicagoland citizens (with 85% of youth participants coming from underserved communities) since its 2016 opening.

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.

Goodman Theatre leadership also 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. David W. Fox, Jr. is Chair of Goodman Theatre’s Board of Trustees, Denise Stefan Ginascol is Women’s Board President and Megan McCarthy Hayes is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals.

OPENING: Hell in a Handbag Productions Announces Casting for POSEIDON! An Upside Down Musical

ChiIL Live Shows on our radar

POSEIDON! An Upside Down Musical

Book & Lyrics by David Cerda

Music by David Cerda & Scott Lamberty

Directed by Derek Van Barham

Music Direction by Andrew Milliken

Choreography by Breon Arzell

March 15 – April 28, 2019 at The Edge Theater

Hell in a Handbag Productions is pleased to announce casting for its revival of the musical that started it all: POSEIDON! An Upside Down Musical, a musical parody and loving homage to the classic 1972 film, The Poseidon Adventure, the grandmother of all disaster films. I'll be out for the press opening March 22nd, so check back soon for my full review.

PHOTO CREDIT: The cast of Hell in a Handbag Productions’ revival of POSEIDON! An Upside Down Musical includes (top, l to r) Ryan Armstrong, Katherine Bellantone, Brittney Brown, Tommy Bullington, Sydney Genco and Caitlin Jackson (center, l to r), Josh Kemper, Elizabeth Lesinski, David Lipschutz, Stevie Love, Nicky Mendelson, Michael S. Miller and Courtney Dane Mize (bottom, l to r), Elissa Newcorn, Marc Prince, Shane Roberie, Scott Sawa, Patrick Stengle and Maiko Terazawa.

POSEIDON! will feature Handbag ensemble members Sydney Genco* (Ensemble), Caitlin Jackson* (Toni/Doctor), Elizabeth Lesinski* (Linda Rogo), David Lipschutz* (Reverend Scott), Stevie Love* (Nonnie Parry) and Michael S. Miller* (Manny Rosen) with Ryan Armstrong (Robin Shelby), Katherine Bellantone (Susan Shelby), Brittney Brown (Ensemble), Tommy Bullington (Belle Rosen), Josh Kemper (Ensemble), Nicky Mendelson (Acres), Courtney Dane Mize (Ensemble), Elissa Newcorn (Lara, Nurse), Marc Prince (Captain Harrison, Ensemble), Shane Roberie (Mike Rogo), Scott Sawa (James Martin), Patrick Stengle (Ensemble) and Maiko Terazawa (Ensemble).

Handbag’s very first show will return March 15 – April 28, 2019 at a venue befitting of an ocean liner: The Edge Theater, 5451 N. Broadway in Chicago. POSEIDON features a book and lyrics by Handbag Artistic Director David Cerda*, music by David Cerda* with Scott Lamberty, direction by Derek Van Barham, music direction by Andrew Milliken, and choreography by Breon Arzell. Tickets are currently available at brownpapertickets.com or by calling (800) 838-3006. 

The original 2002 Chicago production of POSEIDON! was a critical and popular smash and extended for a five-month sold-out run in Chicago, and was accepted into The New York International Fringe Festival, where it was the most attended show of 2003, winning an award of excellence for Best Ensemble. The show was remounted in 2009 at The Chopin Theatre and enjoyed another extended run.

It’s New Year’s Eve and a group of hardcore fans have gathered for their annual viewing of the greatest film ever – The Poseidon Adventure, the story of the capsize of the SS Poseidon on New Year’s Eve, and the handful of misfit passengers that decide to climb to the top of the ship – which is now the bottom. As the story progresses the viewers become one with the film. POSEIDON! An Upside-Down Musical is part parody, part homage – and a look at how movies can leave their mark on you.

The production team includes: Christopher Rhoton (scenic design), Beth Laske Miller (costume design), Cat Wilson* (lighting design), Danny Rockett (sound design), Adrian Hadlock* (props design), Sydney Genco* (make-up design), Keith Ryan (wig design), Madison Smith (assistant director) and Andrew Donnelly (stage manager).

*Denotes Handbag ensemble member.


Location: The Edge Theater, 5451 N. Broadway, Chicago

Dates: Previews: Friday, March 15 at 7:30 pm, Saturday, March 16 at 7:30 pm, Sunday, March 17 at 3 pm and Thursday, March 21 at 7:30 pm

Opening/Press performance: Friday, March 22 at 7:30 pm

Regular run: Saturday, March 23 – Sunday, April 28, 2019

Curtain Times: Thursday, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm; Sundays at 3 pm.

Industry Night: Monday, April 22 at 7:30 pm

Tickets: Previews $22. Regular run $38 in advance, $45 at the door. Group rates $32 for 10 or more. $32 senior and student rates. Tickets are currently available at brownpapertickets.com or by calling (800) 838-3006.

 

About the Artists     
David Cerda (Book, Lyrics, Music) is the Artistic Director and co-founder of Hell in a Handbag Productions. Cerda has written or collaborated on Caged Dames, TROGG- A Rock and Roll Musical, Sexy Baby, Lady X: The Musical, Christmas Dearest, Rudolph the Red-Hosed Reindeer, SCARRIE – The Musical, Snowgirls – The Musical, and many others. He has also worked as a songwriter with Amazon Studios, and as an actor around Chicago. In 2016, Cerda was in inducted into the Chicago GLBT Hall of Fame and in 2017 he received a Lifetime Achievement Jeff Award for his contributions to the Chicago theater community and philanthropic efforts.

Scott Lamberty (Music) has collaborated with David Cerda on several Handbag musicals including Rudolph the Red-Hosed Reindeer, SCARRIE – The Musical, Sexy Baby and Lady X: The Musical. Scott has also worked extensively with Corn Productions on the Tiff and Mom shows, The Bad Seed The Musical, Jesus Camp – The Musical and Snowgirls- The Musical, among many others.

Derek Van Barham (Director) is the Producing Artistic Director of Kokandy Productions and a member of the Red Tape Theatre ensemble. He previously served as Associate Artistic Director of Pride Films & Plays. For PFP, he directed Perfect Arrangement, Angry Fags (Steppenwolf Garage), Songs from an Unmade Bed (Jeff nomination) and (co-directing) PRISCILLA, Queen of the Desert. Other directing credits include The View Upstairs (Circle Theatre), Three Days of Rain (Boho), Miracle! by Dan Savage, Skooby Don't (Hell in a Handbag) and HOT PINK (New American Folk Theatre). Choreography credits include The CiviliTy of Albert Cashier and BITE (PFP), all Black Button Eyes productions, and Salonathon. He was named one of Windy City Times 30 Under 30, recognizing Chicago's LGBTQ+ community.   

Andrew Milliken (Music Director) has been a music director/pianist in the Chicago area since 2016. Poseidon will be his second production with Hell in a Handbag, following 2017's Bewildered. Other favorite credits include Pippin (Mercury Theater), Avenue Q (Metropolis Theater), Vinegar Tom (Northwestern University) and Carousel (Timber Lake Playhouse). 

Breon Arzell (Choreographer) is most commonly known as an actor, however his breakout, and award-winning, premiere as a Chicago choreographer came with Oracle Productions’ The Hairy Ape. This Detroit native received his first training while at Miami University. In Chicago, he has worked as a dancer, choreographer and instructor at Joel Hall Dancers & Center, Porchlight M.T., Vagabond School and The Goodman Theatre (for their Musical Theater Program). Developing his own style of dance (hip-hop, jazz, modern, lyrical, contemporary and body percussion) and storytelling, movement credits include: The Total Bent (Haven Theatre), Rightlynd, The House That Will Not Stand (Victory Gardens Theater); Night Runner, Wig Out (DePaul University); Julius  Caesar (Writers Theatre), Marie Christine (BoHo Theatre), The Wiz  (Kokandy Productions), Scottsboro Boys (Porchlight Music Theatre), and more. His talents have allowed him to work all across the U.S., Canada, England, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Singapore and Malaysia.

About Hell in a Handbag Productions
Hell in a Handbag is dedicated to the preservation, exploration, and celebration of works ingrained in the realm of popular culture via theatrical productions through parody, music and homage. Handbag is a 501(c)(3) Not for Profit.

LEGENDS AND LESSONS ABOUND IN BLACK ENSEMBLE THEATER'S 43RD SEASON OF EXCELLENCE

BLACK ENSEMBLE THEATER ANNOUNCES

43RD SEASON OF EXCELLENCE: 

LEGENDS AND LESSONS 

Season to include tributes to Mahalia Jackson, Lena Horne,

Funk greats from James Brown to The Parliaments, Stevie Wonder

and the return of The Other Cinderella

Black Ensemble Theater’s Founder and CEO Jackie Taylor announces the 43rd Season of Excellence: Legends and Lessons. The 2019 Season includes tributes to the renowned Gospel great Mahalia Jackson, legendary singer and actress Lena Horne, funk legends from James Brown to The Parliaments, and the legendary Motown artist, American icon and musical genius Stevie Wonder. The season culminates with the return of audience favorite The Other Cinderella. All performances will be held at the Black Ensemble Theater Cultural Center, 4450 N. Clark Street in Chicago. 

Jackie Taylor comments, “It's hard to believe that we are now in our 43rd Season here at the Black Ensemble Theater. As you know, we have a style all our own, and it will be in full swing for 2019. This is the Season of Legends and Lessons and it begins with renowned Gospel Great Mahalia Jackson, followed by the story and music of legendary Lena Horne. In You Can't Fake the Funk audiences will experience several legends from James Brown to the Parliaments, bringing you the kind of music that will not allow you to stay in your seats. In this Season of Legends, who is more eminent than Stevie Wonder? Our final musical of the Season is legendary because audiences continue to ask for it since we first produced it in 1976—and that's the magical The Other Cinderella. The 2019 season—The Season of Legends and Lessons—will go down in history as one of our best!”

The Black Ensemble Theater’s 2019 Season includes:



Mahalia Jackson: Moving Through The Light
Written and Directed by Jackie Taylor

March 2-April 14, 2019, Previews: March 2, 3, 8 and 9, Press Opening: Sunday, March 10 at 3 p.m.

Mahalia Jackson was considered the greatest gospel singer in the world. Her deep rich voice made her an international star. We learn through this riveting tribute to her life that she not only sang the Gospel, she lived the Gospel. This musical tribute will feature many of her classics including “Precious Lord,” “How Great Thou Art,” “Move on up a Little Higher,” and “I Believe,” to name a few.

Lena: In Tribute to Lena Horne
Written by Kylah Williams and Rueben Echoles
Directed by Kylah Williams

May 11 – June 30, 2019, Previews: May 11, 12, 17 and 18, Press Opening: Sunday, May 19 at 3 p.m.

With a career that spanned roughly 70 years – Lena Horne is a legend with many life lessons from which we can learn. Join us for a true Black Ensemble style exploration of the people, the music and the experiences that reflect the life of this extraordinary performer, civil rights pioneer and phenomenal woman known as Lena Horne.

You Can’t Fake the Funk (From James Brown to Parliament)
Written and Directed by Daryl D. Brooks

July 20 – September 8, 2019, Previews: July 20, 21, 26 and 27, 2019,Press Opening: Sunday, July 28 at 3 p.m.

Hop on the “Mothership” as we journey back when Afro’s were big, bellbottoms were tight, and the music was out of sight. You Can’t Fake the Funk (From James Brown to Parliament guides us through a musical genre that is sure to have you groovin in your seats...Ya’ Digg!!

Songs in the Key of Stevie
Written and Directed by Rueben Echoles

October 5 – November 17, 2019, Previews: October 5, 6, 11 and 12, 2019, Press Opening: Sunday, October 13 at 3 p.m.

Prodigy, genius and phenomenon are just a few of the words used to describe the amazing Stevie Wonder! This show is a musical journey that pays tribute to Stevie’s incredible body of work and sheds a little light on the life and times of this phenomenal artist!


The Other Cinderella
Written and Directed by Jackie Taylor

December 14, 2019 – January 26, 2020, Previews: December 14, 25, 20 and 21, 2019, Press Opening: Sunday, December 22 at 3 p.m.

The Other Cinderella is a Black Ensemble classic that has been enjoyed by people of all colors, kinds and ages. In this African American rendition of this African fairy tale, Cinderella is from the projects, The Stepmamma works at the Post Office, there is a King, Queen and Prince, there are the Brothers are From The Hood, and The Fairygodmama is from Jamaica. The Other Cinderella is a musical classic that audiences have returned to see time and time again. The music is divine, the dancing is wild and the story is uplifting, positive and infectious.

In addition to Black Ensemble Theater’s regular season, a number of special events will be presented during the year, including:

The Annual Black Ensemble New Year’s Eve Show
December 31, 2019

Like all Black Ensemble events, the New Year’s Eve celebration will be an occasion filled with joy and excitement. Guests at the celebration will enjoy a performance by the stars of Black Ensemble Theater, along with great entertainment, fabulous food, dancing with the stars and champagne flowing all night long!  

Tickets
Tickets are available at www.blackensemble.org, (773) 769-4451 or at the Black Ensemble Theater Box Office, 4450 N. Clark Street in Chicago. Single tickets for regular season performances are priced at $55 on Thursdays, and Saturday matinees; and $65 on Fridays, Saturday evenings, and Sunday matinees. A 10% discount is available for students, seniors, and groups. Previews are priced at $45.

The Black Ensemble Theater will sell the Gold Card which allows the holder to see all 5 plays for $210 which represents a $30% discount on full price tickets.  The Gold Card is good for 1 ticket per production.  For more details or to purchase a Gold Card contact the box office at 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. 

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, visit www.BlackEnsembleTheater.org or call 773-769-4451.