Music, lyrics, and book by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell
Directed and choreographed by Ericka Mac
Music Direction by Julie Nichols
March 16 – May 5, 2019
Performing at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago
BoHo Theatre begins its 2019 season with BRIGHT STAR, a new musical by playwright Steve Martin and musician Edie Brickell, directed by Ericka Mac. This production marks the company’s first as a resident company at Lincoln Park’s Greenhouse Theater Center and also the first under new artistic director Stephen Schellhardt. BRIGHT STAR was nominated for five Tony Awards and called “a shining achievement” by The New York Times. It received a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Music and Outer Critics Circles Awards for Outstanding New Broadway Musical and Outstanding Score.
THE PLAY BoHo is proud to bring to Chicago this new work from Grammy, Emmy, and Academy Award-winner Steve Martin and Grammy Award-winner Edie Brickell. Inspired by a real event, BRIGHT STAR tells a sweeping tale of love and redemption set against the rich backdrop of the American South in the 1920s and ‘40s. The story follows young writer Billy Cane, recently returned from World War II, and Alice Murphy, the editor who takes a chance on him. As Billy mines his childhood home for engaging stories, Alice sets out to explore the pain and mystery of her own small-town past. The overlapping secrets they uncover lead them a startling and heart-warming connection. “For me, BRIGHT STAR is about how unconditional love and hope can overcome obstacles,” says director Ericka Mac. “How forgiveness can redeem a person/situation and create miracles.” Similar to many recent BoHo productions, the music in BRIGHT STAR will be fully integrated into the storytelling by having actors play their own instruments to create a seamless, up-close musical experience.
Left-right: Josiah Robinson, Missy Wise, Jeff Pierpoint, Scott Danielson, Kiersten Frumkin
PERFORMANCE TIMES Previews: Saturday, March 16 @ 8:00pm, Sunday, March 17 @ 2:00pm, Thursday, March 21 @ 8:00pm, and Friday, March 22 @ 8:00pm Press Opening / Opening Night: Saturday, March 23, at 8:00 pm Performance run: March 24 – May 5 Thursdays through Saturdays at 8:00 pm and Sundays at 2:00 pm. TICKETS General Tickets on sale February 19 at www.BoHoTheatre.com, (773) 975-8150, or the Greenhouse Theater Center box office. Tickets are $25 for previews and $35 for regular performances.
Steve Martin has been a prolific comedian, musician, and writer dating back to the 1960s, when he first came to public notice as a writer for THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS COMEDY HOUR. He began his playwriting career in 1993 with PICASSO AT LAPIN AGILE, and has also written THE UNDERPANTS, and METEOR SHOWER. A life-long banjo-player, he is a frequent collaborator with the bluegrass band Steep Canyon Rangers. Edie Brickell is a singer-songwriter who first achieved fame with her band The New Bohemians in the 1980s with the single “What I Am.” She began a successful solo career beginning the in the 1990s and later founded the band The Gaddabouts in 2010. Martin and Brickell collaborated on the bluegrass/folk albums LOVE HAS COME FOR YOU and SO FAMILIAR prior to writing BRIGHT STAR. Their song “Love Has Come For You” won a Grammy Award for Best American Roots Song in 2013. Ericka Mac is a Chicago-based director and choreographer. Her Chicagoland credits as choreographer/associate director include MAMMA MIA! (Jeff Award nomination for Best Choreography), SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK LIVE! (Marriott Theatre), SHREW’D (First Folio Theatre), RIDE THE CYCLONE (Chicago Shakespeare, MCC Theatre (Off Broadway), & ACT Theatre (Seattle)), DIARY OF A WIMPY KID (World Premiere at The Children’s Theatre of Minneapolis), PARADE and COMPANY (Writer’s Theatre), WTTW’s NIGHT ON BROADWAY Gala featuring Heather Headley (WTTW/WFMT studios), SEUSSICAL (Drury Lane Oakbrook), MADAGASCAR and THE LITTLE MERMAID (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre), ALICE’S ROCK & ROLL ADVENTURE (Chicago Children’s Theatre), and THE POLAR EXPRESS (Warner Bro’s./Rail Events). CAST Missy Wise as Alice, Josiah Robinson as Jimmy Ray, Jeff Pierpoint as Billy, Scott Danielson as Mayor Dobbs, Kiersten Fumkin as Margo, Rachel Whyte as Lucy, Dwayne Everett as Daryl, Peter Robel as Daddy Cane John B. Boss as Daddy Murphy Jenny Rudnick as Mama Murphy with Brittany Sue Hines, Max Kramer, Jennifer Ledesma, Kelan Smith, and Mike Weaver as the ensemble.
PRODUCTION TEAM Produced by Meg Love Scenic Design by Lauren M. Nichols, Lighting Design by G. Max Maxin, Costume Design by Bob Kuhn, Sound Design by Joe Palermo, Properties Design by Lacie Hexom, Assistant Music Director by Andrea Swanson, Production Managed by Lindsay Brown, Stage Managed by Dalton Long. BoHo Theatre tells stories examining and celebrating human relationships — focusing on the Bohemian pillars of Truth, Beauty, Freedom, and Love — using bold, intimate theatrical stagings. Our vision is to create a shared community of artists and patrons in which all members are moved through art to make thoughtful, well-examined, caring relationships the highest priority in their lives. BoHo’s 2019 mainstage season features BRIGHT STAR by Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, directed by Ericka Mac; THE RIVER by Jez Butterworth, directed by Jerrell L. Henderson; and BIG FISH by Andrew Lippa and John August, directed by Stephen Schellhardt. BoHo is a resident company at the Greenhouse Theater Center in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood.
FOUR CHICAGO ACTORS CAST IN NORTH AMERICAN TOUR OF
CRUEL INTENTIONS: THE ‘90s MUSICAL
COMPLETE CASTING ANNOUNCED IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE 20th ANNIVERSARY OF THE CULT-CLASSIC FILM
PLAYING AT BROADWAY IN CHICAGO’S BROADWAY PLAYHOUSE AT WATER TOWER PLACE
APRIL 2-14, 2019
In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the cult classic film Cruel Intentions, producers have announced the casting for the North American tour of the Off-Broadway smash hit CRUEL INTENTIONS: THE ‘90s MUSICAL. Following sold-out runs in Los Angeles and a critically acclaimed, sold-out run in New York City, the new musical will play Broadway In Chicago’s Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place (175 E. Chestnut St) for a limited two week engagement April 2 – 14, 2019.
Four of the touring cast members have ties to Chicago. Betsy Stewart (Annette Hargrove) is a Northwestern graduate and performed in several Marriott Theatre productions, including October Sky, Spring Awakening and Godspell. Brooke Singer (Cecile Caldwell) is a graduate of The Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University and starred as Chava in Paramount Theatre’s 2013 production of Fiddler On The Roof. David Wright (Blaine Tuttle) performed in Marriott Theatre’s 2017 production of Newsies. Aramie Payton (Male Understudy) is a Chicago resident who graduated from Walter Payton College Prep High School and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and who performed in Marriott Theatre’s 2017 production of Mamma Mia!
Additional CRUEL INTENTIONS: THE ‘90s MUSICAL touring cast members include John Battagliese as Greg McConnell, Richard Crandle as Ronald Clifford, Jeffrey Kringer as Sebastian Valmont, Dara Orland as Mrs. Bunny Caldwell, Taylor Pearlstein as Kathryn Merteuil and Nicole Medoro as the Female Understudy.
When Sarah Michelle Gellar, the film’s original Kathryn Merteuil, was asked about the news, she said, “Everybody loves me and twenty years later I intend to keep it that way, with the support of the exquisite Cruel Intentions Musical and soundtrack. Not that I need support. I don’t, because I’m fabulous.”
Original film director Roger Kumble adds, “Never in my darkest fantasies would I believe twenty years later, my movie about a pair of hedonistic Manhattan step-siblings would turn into a musical. An amazing musical that even people who hate musicals would love, complete with a soundtrack loaded with the greatest 90s guilty pleasure songs.”
As previously announced, a cast recording featuring the original Off-Broadway company will be released on March 8, 2019 on CD and all digital formats on ABKCO Records.
Grammy-winning producer Stewart Lerman captured the dynamic arrangements from the Off-Broadway production, in his studio outside New York City in August this year. Featuring the stellar talents of Carrie St. Louis, Constantine Rousouli and Alex Boniello alongside Patricia Richardson, the album will contain a collection of lively tracks from CRUEL INTENTIONS: THE ‘90s MUSICAL, including ‘Losing My Religion’ ‘Bye Bye Bye’ and a unique take on ‘No Scrubs’ that is not to be missed. The album is available now for pre-order at www.smarturl.it/cruelmusical. “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “Foolish Games,” and “Lovefool” are currently available to stream and as Instant Grat tracks with pre-order now. http://www.smarturl.it/cruelmusical
ABKCO Records will release CRUEL INTENTIONS: THE ‘90s MUSICAL Original Cast Album on CD and digital platforms on March 8. Coinciding almost perfectly with the 20th anniversary of the Roger Kumble film from which it is based, the new Off-Broadway musical uses hit songs from the 1990s as its central motif. Cast members pay tribute to the decade with stellar performances of The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony,” Christina Aguilera’s “Genie In a Bottle,” the Cardigans’ “Lovefool” and the lead single “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” originally by Deep Blue Something now available streaming services and as an Instant Grat with pre-order now. http://www.smarturl.it/cruelmusical
Set to the greatest pop and rock hits of the ‘90s, CRUEL INTENTIONS: THE ‘90s MUSICAL is an exhilarating and deceptively funny musical that pulls you into the manipulative world of Manhattan’s most dangerous liaisons: Sebastian Valmont and Kathryn Merteuil. Seduced by revenge and fueled by passion, the two diabolically charming step-siblings place a bet on whether or not Sebastian can deflower their incoming headmaster’s daughter, Annette Hargrove. As the two set out to destroy the innocent girl – and anyone who gets in their way – they find themselves entangled in a web of secrets, temptation, and the cruelest game of all: love. Audience members experience the intoxicating story full of hilarity and heart, set to the greatest throwback hits of the decade by such artists as Goo Goo Dolls, No Doubt, R.E.M., Ace of Base, Jewel, ‘NSYNC and more – in addition to songs from the film's iconic soundtrack such as "Bittersweet Symphony” by The Verve and “Colorblind” by Counting Crows.
CRUEL INTENTIONS: THE ‘90s MUSICAL debuted at The Rockwell Table & Stage in Los Angeles in 2015, where it ran for 38 sold-out performances, before being remounted for a second sold-out run at LA’s Prospect Theatre in November 2016. In February 2017, the musical played a sold-out “pop-up” engagement at (le) Poisson Rouge and returned in November 2017 to play a successful twenty-one-week engagement at the downtown NYC nightspot before its final performance on April 8, 2018.
CRUEL INTENTIONS: THE ‘90s MUSICAL was created by Jordan Ross (“The Royals”), Lindsey Rosin and Roger Kumble (“Cruel Intentions”) with original direction by Lindsey Rosin (The Unauthorized OC Musical), Kenneth Ferrone (“RENT Live!”) is the tour director. The production features Choreography by Jennifer Weber (West End: & Juliet), Set Design by Jason Sherwood (“RENT Live!”), Costume Design by Tilly Grimes (Small Mouth Sounds), Lighting Design by Jeanette Yew (The Idiot), and Sound Design by Matt Kraus (Kathy Griffin Wants a Tony).
The CRUEL INTENTIONS: THE ‘90s MUSICAL national tour is produced by Eva Price, Sucker Love Productions, Marty Bowen, Neal Moritz, Hunter Arnold, Blood Orange Pictures, Mark Lonow & Joanne Astrow, Tom McGrath, Rachel Weinstein and Sara Beth Zivitz.
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE Tuesdays at 7:30PM Wednesdays 7:30PM Thursdays at 7:30PM Fridays at 7:30PM Saturdays at 2PM and 8PM Sundays at 2PM and 7:30PM
TICKET INFORMATION Individual tickets are on sale and range in price from $35-$72 with a select number of premium tickets available. Tickets are available now for groups of 10 or more by calling Broadway In Chicago Group Sales at (312) 977-1710 or emailing GroupSales@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 19 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 more than 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 Cadillac Palace Theatre, CIBC Theatre, James M. Nederlander Theatre, and just off the Magnificent Mile, the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place and presenting Broadway shows at the Auditorium Theatre.
Broadway In Chicago proudly celebrates 2019 as the Year of Chicago Theatre.
For more information, visit www.BroadwayInChicago.com. Facebook @BroadwayInChicago ● Twitter @broadwaychicago ● Instagram @broadwayinchicago ● #broadwayinchicago
CAST BIOS
John Battagliese (Greg McConnell) Credits include: Las Vegas: BAZ: Starcrossed Love (Romeo, The Palazzo Theater); Regional: Hairspray (Link Larkin, The MUNY) Have You Met Miss Jones? (Jack Cassidy, The New Theater), Grumpy Old Men (Bo, Ogunquit Playhouse); Proud CCM 2016 grad.
Richard Crandle (Ronald Clifford) National Tour: Hairspray; Australia: Kinky Boots; Upcoming: Little Richard in Rock and Roll Man (Colonial Theatre).
Jeffrey Kringer (Sebastian Valmont) Regional: The Fingerlakes Musical Theatre Festival, The Palace Theater (NH), The Axelrod Performing Arts Center, The Texas Shakespeare Festival, Clear Space Theatre Company. Originally from Upstate New York, Jeffrey is a proud graduate of Fredonia State University with a BFA in Musical Theatre.
Nicole Medoro (Female Understudy) Recent credits: This Ain’t No Disco (Atlantic Theater Co.) Broadway: The Illusionists. Brooklynettes (NBA). Performances with Madonna, Nicki Minaj and Hailee Steinfeld. Appearances on “The Tonight Show,” “SNL,” “Last Week Tonight,” and Nickelodeon. A recording artist, known as Nella Cole with music available everywhere.
Dara Orland (Mrs. Bunny Caldwell) Regional credits include Babette/Dance Capt. (Beauty and the Beast), Mayzie Le Bird (Seussical), Graziella (West Side Story), The Little Mermaid (Disenchanted), Tina (Sister Act), Ensemble u/s Ms. Fleming and Dance Captain (Heathers: The Musical). She most recently appeared in the National Tour of Cirque Dreams Holidaze as the Angel. Dara holds a BFA in Drama from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Her choreography has been featured Regionally, Off-Broadway, and Internationally at the National Theatre of Abu Dhabi.
Aramie Payton (Male Understudy) Recent credits: The Scottsboro Boys (Signature Theatre); Dreamgirls Korean Tour; Flashdance the Musical National Tour; Mamma Mia! (Marriott Theatre); Hairspray (Starlight Theatre); A Chorus Line (Gallery Players); “Nickelodeon’s Dance Battle Playlist” Winner.
Taylor Pearlstein (Kathryn Merteuil) Recent credits: Flashdance (Gateway), and as Hodel in Fiddler (Arizona Theatre Company). Taylor performs her music around NYC, and her debut album, When the Birds Wake You Up is available on all streaming platforms. She is a BFA graduate from the University of Arizona.
Brooke Singer (Cecile Caldwell) Off-Broadway: The Great Pie Robbery (The Elektra Theatre). Regional: Grumpy Old Men The Musical (Karla, Ogunquit Playhouse) Hair (Crissy), Fiddler on the Roof (Chava, Paramount Theatre) Spring Awakening (True West Award Best Actress in a Musical, Wendla). Tangled The Musical (Disney Cruise Line) Disney Dreams (Belle, DCL) 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Olive) World Premier of Whatever Happened to Baby Jane (Young Baby Jane, Theatre Under the Stars).
Betsy Stewart (Annette Hargrove) Regional: October Sky (Marriott Theatre and The Old Globe), Spring Awakening (Marriott Theatre), Godspell (Marriott Theatre). NYC: Discount Ghost Stories (Joe's Pub and Ars Nova). Betsy is a proud Northwestern graduate, AEA member, and Iowa native.
David Wright (Blaine Tuttle) LABS: Becoming Nancy. National Tour: R&H Cinderella. Regional: Beauty & the Beast (NSMT), Newsies (Marriott Lincolnshire).
DATES KICK OFF APRIL 12 IN LOS ANGELES AT THE REGENT THEATER
PLAYING PUNK ROCK BOWLING FESTIVAL MAY 24 IN LAS VEGAS
Original members, Ted Falconi and Steve DePace will be joined by David Yow (the Jesus Lizard, Scratch Acid) and Rachel Thoele (Mud Women, Frightwig)
Seminal punk band Flipper are celebrating 40 years of being a band this year with a North American tour to be followed by dates in the UK and Europe. The shows kick off on April 12 in Los Angeles at the Regent Theater. Further, Flipper will support Killing Joke for their Punk Rock Bowling Festival show on May 24 at Las Vegas’ DLVEC 3rd St. Stage. All dates are listed below. Original members, Ted Falconi and Steve DePace will be joined by David Yow (the Jesus Lizard, Scratch Acid) and Rachel Thoele (Mud Women, Frightwig). Further, along the way Flipper will be inviting special guests to join them on stage. The band also has plans to head into the studio with various musicians along the tour. More details as they confirm! Rolling Stone included Flipper’s 1982 debut album Album - Generic Flipper in their list of “40 Greatest Punk Albums of All Time” and of the album’s “hit” song “Sex Bomb” Stereogum has noted, “what looks on paper like the most annoying song on the planet ends up sounding infectious beyond the sum of its parts.” SF Weekly dubbed them “easily the most influential” band to rise out of the “vibrant San Francisco punk scene” and Henry Rollins has described them as “heavier than anything.”
Flipper formed in 1979 by former members of San Francisco punk bands Negative Trend, Sleepers and SST/Rad Command. Instead of following the pack with “loud and fast” they instead opted for slow dirges that Black Flag would emulate a few years later. Flipper would go on to also heavily influence the likes of Nirvana (Kurt Cobain used to wear a DIY Flipper t-shirt) and the Melvins a decade later. The lineup has always included DePace and Falconi, and long time vocalist Bruce Loose, who recently retired due to a spinal cord injury. Yow joined the band on their last tour and Nirvana’s Krist Novoselic played and recorded with them from 2006-2009. Flipper has released 4 studio albums, 5 live albums and four singles. Flipper was one of the most visceral bands in rock 'n' roll, heavily distorted punk-rock stripped to its grinning skull, slowed down enough to make your skin crawl, as antagonistic as it could possibly manage, and its shows in the early and mid-'80s were among the most erratic and enervating imaginable, no two alike. The Los Angeles Times
FLIPPER TOUR DATES 4/12 - Los Angeles, CA - Regent Theater 4/13 - Long Beach, CA - Alex’s Bar 4/14 - San Diego, CA - Casbah 5/24 - Los Vegas, NV - Punk Rock Bowling * 6/6 - Portland, OR - Bossanova 6/7 - Vancouver, BC - Astoria 6/8 - Seattle, WA - El Corazon 6/27 - Indianapolis, IN - Melody Inn 6/28 - Chicago, IL - Reggie’s 6/29 - St. Louis, MO - Fu Bar 7/11 - San Jose, CA - The Ritz 7/12 - Sacramento, CA - Blue Lamp 7/13 - San Francisco, CA - GAMH 7/26 - Ventura, CA - Ventura Theatre
* = w/ Killing Joke
Classic” photo of Flipper by Vince Anton L-R back Ted Falconi, Will Shatter, Steve DePace. Bruce Loose in front
Revamped She the People Re-Conquers UP Comedy Club at The Second City
I'll be ChiILin' with Chi, IL's infamous Second City for the relaunch of The Second City's She The People: The Resistance Continues on March 14th, so check back soon for my full review. She The People is one of my favorite Second City shows to date and I can't wait to see the new material they've added. The women of She the People are breaking ceilings and taking names. If you've heard the old cliche that feminists are humorless, you'll never believe it again. This show is fierce, funny and unapologetically feminist. You'll never look at advertising, pop culture, and dating quite the same way again. Don't miss this!
Bonnie Kenaz-Mara (AKA: ChiIL Mama) and Chicago artist, Kathy Blankley Roman, ChiILin' at the press opening of Chi, IL's She The People, January 2018.
The Second City’s knockout show She the People: The Resistance Continues is electrifying UP Comedy Club with a refreshed name, updated material, new cast members, and all of its signature witty, empowering bite. The all-female, all-funny show directed by Carly Heffernan welcomes Mary Catherine Curran, Sayjal Joshi, and Kaye Winks who join original cast members Carisa Barreca, Alex Bellisle, and Katie Caussin.
“The Second City has never been lacking for new material, and just like entertainment juggernaut Blue Man Group or the most recent tour of Miss Saigon, art must evolve to stay true and relevant and inspiring to its audience,” said Second City CEO and Executive Producer Andrew Alexander. “People coming back to She the People for the second or third time will be delighted to see that about half of the show is brand new.”
"Our goal is, and always has been, to satirize the woes of being a woman in this wild world while also empowering the audience to take a stand and make real change. The show bounces around everything our writing team knows are hot button topics these days--dating, body positivity, motherhood, and what might prove to be the most important election of our lifetime. It's a call to action bundled up inside a party, and we're all proud to be part of it." says director and head writer Carly Heffernan.
She the People first hit The Second City in September 2017. After its smash run in UP Comedy Club, the show brought its tour-de-female-force to Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in Washington, DC, where it earned a Helen Hayes award nomination and became the highest grossing show in the theatre’s history. “It’s a fast-paced, wild ride of a show that throws off sparks,” said MD Theatre Guide. DC Metro called the show “a dip into the often hilariously unbelievable or absurd situations that women– queer women, women of color, plus-sized women– find themselves in on a daily basis, and it does so not just playfully, but with a deep intelligence and purpose that never veers into the pedantic.”
She the People was originally written by Carisa Barreca, Alex Bellisle, Marla Caceres, Katie Caussin, Carly Heffernan, Maria Randazzo, Rashawn Nadine Scott, Tien Tran, Kimberly Michelle Vaughn, and Lauren Walker. Additional material for the re-launched production was written by Carisa Barreca, Alex Bellisle, Katie Caussin, Mary Catherine Curran, Carly Heffernan, Alexis J. Roston, and Kaye Winks. Other team members include Mary Mahoney (Music Director/Original Music/Sound Designer), Abby Beggs (Lighting Designer), and Jaci Entwisle (Stage Manager).
She the People plays in The Second City’s UP Comedy Club (230 West North Avenue). Tickets start at $31.00 and are available by phone at 312-337-3992 or online at www.secondcity.com. The show schedule is as follows:
About the Artists CARISA BARRECA (Ensemble/Assistant Director/Choreographer) is thrilled to be a part of She the People. She is an alumna of The Second City's e.t.c. stage, where she wrote and performed in three critically acclaimed revues. She has had the honor of performing at Lyric Opera of Chicago with Sir Patrick Stewart and Renée Fleming in The Second City's Guide to the Opera, at Goodman Theatre and the Kennedy Center with Twist Your Dickens and wrote and performed in Hubbard Street Dance Chicago and The Second City's collaboration The Art of Falling. Follow her @Cinderisa.
ALEX BELLISLE (Ensemble) is thrilled to be working on She the People! A Chicago-based actress and comedian, Alex is one-half of the improv and sketch duo Girlish, which has performed its self-titled show around the country, including at the New York International Fringe Festival. Other credits include The Best of The Second City, Feminine Wilds, PANTS!, No Selfie Control and Just Being Honest. Alex can be seen performing with various improv groups around Chicago, including Gone Gone at The iO Theater.
KATIE CAUSSIN (Ensemble) is originally from Springfield, VA, and received her degree in Theater from Radford University. She has been an actor in Chicago for over 20 years, many of them with The Second City as part of their Touring Company and Theatricals shows. Most recently, she returned from a month-long run of She the People at the Woolly Mammoth Theater in Washington, D.C. Previously, she appeared as Mrs. Cratchit in Twist Your Dickens at Goodman Theater and toured around the US in The Realish Housewives of (Your City Here). Katie has also performed with Second City for the USO in the Balkans and at both the iO and Annoyance theaters in Chicago. On camera, Katie has appeared in an episode of Chicago Justice on NBC and has been featured on the Onion Network’s Special Report webseries.
MARY CATHERINE CURRAN (Ensemble) is so excited to join this cast of badass women! MC studied Theatre Performance at the University of Maryland and trained at The Second City Conservatory and iO Theater in Chicago. She has improvised, written, performed, and directed shows all over Chicago, at the Annoyance (Steamworks, Bite Size Broadway, Burlesque is More) and iO (Virgin Daiquiri, Lil' Tooties, One Woman Space Jam). MC just finished the debut run of The Second City's Love Factually at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Follow @itismarycatherine on Insta and @yomarycatherine on Twitter for great content.
SAYJAL JOSHI (Ensemble) hails from North Carolina where she earned her BA in theater from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and co-founded Greensboro’s first improv comedy club, The Idiot Box. For sixteen years, she has been writing, performing, and teaching theater, sketch, improv, film, guitar comedy, and stand-up all over the universe. Credits include The Second City e.t.c., the Kennedy Center, Goodman Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Zanie’s Comedy Club, The Laugh Factory, The Second City Touring Company, The Annoyance Theater, iO (formally Improv Olympic), ComedySportz, Laugh Out Loud Theater, and the critically acclaimed Asian-American sketch ensemble Stir-Friday Night. Follow her @SayjalJoshi.
KAYE WINKS (Ensemble) is #blessed to be alongside the fabulous ladles of She the People! Kaye trained with the Moscow Art Theater. She recently performed her hit solo show TOKEN to sold-out audiences at The Second City Training Center and toured it to UCB LA, Out of Bounds Comedy Festival, and United Solo Theater Fest In NYC. She is proudly repped by Shirley Hamilton and NV Talent.
CARLY HEFFERNAN (Director/Head Writer) is an award-winning alumna of The Second City Toronto, where she wrote and performed in four Mainstage revues. She recently co-wrote the hit show The Second City Guide to the Symphony and toured with it across Canada and the United States. She directed the critically acclaimed Second City Toronto Mainstage revue Come What Mayhem!, as well as for The Second City Touring Company and several Norwegian Cruise Line shows. Carly currently writes for Second Jen (City TV), The Irrelevant Show (CBC Radio) and Air Farce Canada 150 special (CBC).
MARY MAHONEY (Music Director/Original Music/Sound Design) is thrilled to be working with the talented women of She the People. Mary has worked as a Musical Director for sketch and improv comedy all over the continent while touring with Second City Theatricals aboard the Norwegian Dawn and with The Second City Touring Company. A former music faculty member of Western Washington University, she is now a proud faculty member at The Second City Training Center.
ABBY BEGGS (Lighting Design) is excited to be joining The Second City on this show. When she's not in the booth at The Second City, she can be found stage managing, directing, and composing music for theater around town. Stage management credits include: L’enfant et les Sortilèges, L’incoronazione di Poppea (Roosevelt University), The Out of Tooners (Off-Color Theatre Company}, Gallo (Guerilla Opera), Blue Window (Brown Box Theatre Project), The Scene, Good People, and Barefoot in the Park (Dorset Theatre Festival), among others.
JACI ENTWISLE (Stage Manager) is excited to return to Second City for She the People, having previously worked on #DateMe in UP Comedy Club, as well as on stage management teams in Sonoma (Transcendence Theatre Company), Philadelphia (Quintessence Theatre Group) and Chicago (Goodman Theatre, Remy Bumppo Theatre Company, A Red Orchid Theatre, American Blues Theater).
About The Second City The Second City is the leading brand in improv-based sketch comedy. With theatres and training centers in Chicago, Toronto and Hollywood, 11 full time touring ensembles, thriving corporate communications and theatricals divisions as well as television and film operations, The Second City has been called "A Comedy Empire" by The New York Times. The Second City has a current student body of 3,500 per week and is the largest school of improvisation and sketch comedy in the world.
Sung in Italian with projected English translations
Guest Review By Catherine Hellmann
At first, I thought there was a mistake in the program, or my eyes are bad (which they are, but I doubted the Lyric had a misprint…). George Frideric Handel’s Ariodante was first performed at Covent Garden in London on January 8, 1735 and “First performed by Lyric Opera of Chicago on March 2, 2019.” 1735? 2019? Huh?? How did it take 284 years (I had to do the subtracting on a calculator...I teach English, not math…) for the Lyric to present this glorious music? What a treasure has been neglected! Well, at last it is here in our beloved city, so “treat yo’self” (thanks, Tom Haverford and Donna on Parks and Rec!) by going to see it while it lasts. (and we hope it won’t be another nearly three centuries to return.) The plot is a little kooky and quite like Shakespeare. I am going to save myself the mental gymnastics by quoting the Lyric press release which summarizes the storyline beautifully: “The original plot of Ariodante is full of Shakespearean twists, disguises, mistaken identities, wrenching misunderstandings, and eventual reconciliation (not unlike Much Ado About Nothing). Ginevra and Ariodante love each other and are about to be wed with the blessing of her father, the King of Scotland. Polinesso covets Ginevra and uses her lady-in-waiting, Dalinda (who loves Polinesso), to trick Ariodante into believing Ginevra is unfaithful and provoke his apparent suicide. Ariodante’s brother Lurcanio, meanwhile, loves and is shunned by Dalinda, and blames Ginevra for his sibling’s seeming demise. Eventually Ariodante turns up alive, Polinesso is vanquished, and the “right” couples are united.” My first reaction was, ”So they both love each other, and her father APPROVES? What is the problem here?” Ha ha ha. Oh, silly me. Enter the super-creepy Polinesso, played by astounding British countertenor Iestyn Davies, to stir up trouble. (In a previous review for ChiIL Live Shows on The Scarlet Ibis for Chicago Opera Theater, I referred to countertenors as “unicorns.” You swear you are hearing a woman singing a “trouser role” dressed as a man...which in this opera is the case with the equally amazing Alice Coote, as future-husband-to-Ginerva, Ariodante. But it is a guy with a super-high voice. It’s a little freaky.) Polinesso is dressed in a priest’s black cassock with a biker look of jeans, a denim jacket, and sporting tattoos underneath his “holiness.” It is an icky transition, especially when witnessing how he abuses Dalinda; I couldn’t help cringing thinking of the priest abuse scandals. Blek. (One really hilarious highlight of the evening is that Davies received “boos” and hisses from the audience at curtain call, not for his performance being poor, but quite the opposite, because he rocked playing a chilling villain. I loved the Lyric audience in that moment!) My teenagers have to keep me educated of the latest terms on sexual identity (I swear this ties into my review…) like “cis-gender,” “trans,” and foreign concepts like “preferred pronouns.” But think about the gender fluid-ness of Handel’s opera from 1735. The counter-tenor is a man who sings like a woman, and the title character is a woman dressed as a guy (who looks like a lesbian in this production). When the opera premiered, there were still castrati around, a horrifying procedure performed deliberately before puberty to keep the boys’ voices high. Talk about sacrifice for one’s art! Wow. Radical. Part of Polinesso’s evil plan is to plant “evidence” of nude male drawings in Ginerva’s bedroom, like she was sketching her new paramour. I don’t know of any straight woman when confronted with that kind of virility who would waste her time drawing...and if he is hung like that, I mused, how does he sing so high?? The most “manly” character is the handsome Kyle Ketelsen as the King of Scotland who is Ginerva’s father. It takes great strength to look that good in a kilt while singing so sweetly mourning the supposed death of his future son-in-law. Also deserving special recognition is American soprano Heidi Stober as the what-the-hell-is-she-thinking-liking-that-asshole-Polinesso? Dalinda. We have all known friends who like someone who is no good for them, and she is delusional about Polinesso’s sinister feelings for her. Girlfriend, run away from him while you still can! She looks devastated after he tricks her, but she still sings beautifully about how she likes him anyway. Wtf… At nearly four hours long, this opera is not for the faint-hearted. However, the singing is so superb, and I love harpsichord with recitative; the opera does not feel as long as other operas that are shorter. Handel could have easily cut the singing down by an hour if he left out the impressive vocal theatrics. Eric Ferring as Ariodante’s brother Lurcanio has a musical passage where one word lasts about ten bars of music; I counted thirty-six quick notes for one syllable. But the singers are vocal athletes in fine form, and the arias are just a joy to hear. The virtuosity of the singers is half the fun. The modernized staging sets the opera in the 1970’s era of bad fashion. The chorus members wear ghastly sweaters and a mismash of clothing taken from my sister’s high school yearbook. It was ugly then and does not need a revival. Another overhaul was to drop the ballet dances as intended in the original production and substitute with puppets representing the lovebirds. The puppets are mesmerizing and predict the futures of the characters. When the marriage is anticipated, Ariodante and Ginerva are seen getting married and climbing into bed. (Puppet sex! Is this Avenue Q?) Four babies soon follow, which elicited chuckles from the audience. When Ginerva is believed to have been unfaithful, her puppet is portrayed as a common whore, stripped down, dressed in a plastic bag with high red heels, walking the strip and dancing on a pole. The effect is eerily powerful to show her fall from grace. Brenda Rae, making her Lyric debut as Ginerva, gets to show off her acting and singing talents; she excels at both. Ginerva begins the opera by considering how she can make her “sparkling and seductive charm more appealing to her beloved.” Hmmm...feminist icon, she is not. But by the end, the wrongful accusations from her betrothed and her self-righteous father send her on a different path. Ginerva doesn’t need a man. She’s got a Handel on this. ;-)
Catherine Hellmann is a feminist who loves lipstick, likes gardening but lives in a condo, and hates the cold but adores Chicago. But there are no contradictions in her complete love for theater, books, and her children.
**This production includes mature themes**
Provocative Baroque drama about abuse and complicity
in a bold, updated staging
New coproduction and Lyric premiere of Handel’s masterpiece
The Lyric Opera of Chicago premiere of George Frideric Handel’s Baroque masterpiece Ariodante opens Saturday, March 2 at 7:30pm in a provocative new coproduction. There are six performances March 2 through March 17 at the Lyric Opera House, 20 N. Wacker Dr., Chicago. Tickets start at $39, and are available now at lyricopera.org/Ariodante or at 312-827-5600.
VILLAINOUS POLINESSO LUSTS AFTER GINEVRA, BUT SHE LOVES NOBLE ARIODANTE, WHO LOVES HER IN RETURN.
Sometimes opera takes you to completely unexpected, dramatically powerful places. That’s certainly the case with the Lyric premiere of Handel’s Ariodante, on multiple levels. Some of its thrilling arias might be familiar from concerts or recordings, but the full Baroque masterpiece is terra incognita for many (even though it was wildly popular when Handel, the German expat living in London, was composing multiple Italian operas). Still, there is inviting familiarity in the bouncing beat and virtuoso vocal writing in this new-to-Lyric opera. The original plot of Ariodante is full of Shakespearean twists, disguises, mistaken identities, wrenching misunderstandings, and eventual reconciliation (not unlike Much Ado About Nothing). Ginevra and Ariodante love each other and are about to be wed with the blessing of her father, the King of Scotland. Polinesso covets Ginevra and uses her lady-in-waiting, Dalinda (who loves Polinesso), to trick Ariodante into believing Ginevra is unfaithful and provoke his apparent suicide. Ariodante’s brother Lurcanio, meanwhile, loves and is shunned by Dalinda, and blames Ginevra for his sibling’s seeming demise. Eventually Ariodante turns up alive, Polinesso is vanquished, and the “right” couples are united. Richard Jones’s production moves the story from medieval times to an isolated, religiously fundamentalist Scottish island in the 1970s. Polinesso is an outsider from the mainland who penetrates this closed community in preacher’s clothes, wreaking terrible havoc on several relationships and the fabric of the village itself through acts of abuse and manipulation. Rather than ending with the reconciliation and redemption traditional in 18th-century opera, this production of Ariodante takes an intriguing detour that will resonate with contemporary audiences. Puppets representing Ginevra and Ariodante pantomime scenes that reflect the community’s expectations and misperceptions of the central couple in this production, replacing ballet sequences used to close each act in the original opera. Baroque opera “is radical theater,” says Anthony Freud. “Ariodante deals with abuse and complicity.” Lyric’s general director calls this production of Ariodante “a clear, immediate, powerful telling of the story that will defy preconceptions about Handel’s Baroque formality. Our production reflects many contemporary issues. Handel’s masterpiece may be over 280 years old, but is startling in its topicality and intensity.” The creative team drew inspiration for this production of Ariodante from the dark indie film Breaking the Waves, and also the plays of Strindberg and Ibsen. There are similarities to Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah, in which an innocent young woman in Appalachia is seduced by an itinerant preacher. There are also traces of Benjamin Britten’s Peter Grimes in the community turning against one of its own. Lyric’s splendid cast inhabits the complex characters while singing the daunting score to great effect. Mezzo-soprano Alice Coote takes on the title role, with soprano Brenda Rae (Lyric debut) as Ariodante’s betrothed, Ginevra. Soprano Heidi Stober portrays the vulnerable Dalinda, manipulated by the evil Polinesso, played by countertenor Iestyn Davies. Bass-baritone Kyle Ketelsen is the King of Scotland. Tenor Eric Ferring portrays Lurcanio. and tenor Josh Lovell portrays Odoardo (the latter two are Ryan Opera Center artists).
Acclaimed Baroque specialist Harry Bicket conducts, and Benjamin Davis (Lyric debut) is revival director. The production is designed by ULTZ (Lyric debut), with lighting by Mimi Jordan Sherin. Michael Black is chorus master, Lucy Burge is choreographer, Finn Caldwell is puppetry director and designer, and Nick Barnes is puppetry designer (the latter three are Lyric debuts).
Don't miss your chance to experience this critically-acclaimed premiere — view the trailer here and find out for yourself why critics are praising its "tight, compelling story and rich, well-developed characters" (Chicago Sun-Times).
ARIODANTE IS "QUITE MOVING" (CHICAGO TRIBUNE)
In a small town rife with rumors, who can you trust? The highly anticipated U.S. premiere co-production of Handel's Ariodante opened Saturday night and critics are raving. With only five more performances, Ariodante must close March 17. See what people are saying about this Lyric premiere:
"Vocally, visually and dramatically arresting"
"Clarity and rhythmic verve from the Lyric Opera Orchestra and Chorus"
"An opera penned nearly three centuries ago can resonate profoundly with modern times, when staged as tellingly as this"
"★ ★ ★ ★" (out of four)
–Chicago Tribune
"Unexpected and intriguing"
"The casting for this production could hardly have been better"
"Many vocal high points"
"★ ★ ★ ½" (out of four)
–Chicago Sun-Times
"Dazzling vocal pyrotechnics"
"A daunting tour de force"
–Stage and Cinema
What happens when someone your town trusts is actually the villain? For Ginevra and her beloved Ariodante, things may never be the same. Lyric is proud to produce the company premiere of this important Baroque masterpiece from the composer of Messiah which marries stunning vocalism and riveting drama. Making its U.S. debut, this critically-acclaimed Lyric coproduction from Director Richard Jones updates the story to 1970s Scotland, where a close-knit, fundamentalist community provides the thought-provoking backdrop. The Toronto Globe and Mail says, "The decisions Jones has made to update and deepen the resonances of the opera work beautifully both to preserve the integrity of the original and add to it touches and textures that only a modern audience can appreciate…If you needed one example to demonstrate why modern staging and perfectly realized music from the past need each other, this was it."
Don't miss this highly anticipated Lyric premiere that critics are calling "dramatically complex... deliciously interesting" – (The Toronto Star).
5 REASONS YOU CAN'T MISS ARIODANTE Handel’s Baroque masterpiece is currently playing Lyric, and there are so many reasons you can’t miss it. Here are just a few:
1. It’s a Lyric premiere. Believe it or not, this rare gem by the composer of the beloved Messiah has never been performed on Lyric’s stage. 2. The cast is truly world-class. Our dream team of opera superstars have voices ideally suited to bring Ariodante to life. 3. It's the U.S. premiere of a production that earned rave reviews. TheToronto Star called it "deliciously interesting" and the National Post praised its "inspired and meticulous staging." 4. Handel’s music is exhilarating. You will fall in love with a score that exudes both passion and elegance. 5. It's not just great music, it's great theater. This story of true love plagued by obstacles in a small town is just as universal today as it was when the opera first premiered.
Save your seats today for Ariodante, on stage March 2-17, and experience this delightful and innovative production for yourself.
Chicago Shakespeare Theater announces updated casting for
Hamlet
Maurice Jones steps into title role
Joins company featuring: Karen Aldridge, Timothy Decker, Larry Yando, Sean Allan Krill, Paul Deo, Jr., Rachel Nicks, Mike Nussbaum, Greg Vinkler, Kevin Gudahl, Alex Goodrich, Samuel Taylor, Sarah Chalcroft, and Callie Johnson
Chicago Shakespeare Theater announces that Maurice Jones has stepped into the title role of the Theater’s upcoming production of William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, staged by Artistic Director Barbara Gaines, in the Courtyard Theater, April 17–June 9, 2019. Most recently appearing on Broadway in The Lifespan of a Fact opposite Daniel Radcliffe, Jones is an accomplished classical performer whose Broadway credits include Saint Joan staged by Tony Award-winner Daniel Sullivan, The Cherry Orchard featuring Diane Lane, Romeo and Juliet starring Orlando Bloom and Condola Rashad, and Julius Caesar with Denzel Washington—as well as credits at the Public Theater and Roundabout Theatre Company. The role of Hamlet was originally to be played by Raúl Esparza who had to withdraw from the production due to scheduling conflicts.
Joining Jones in the Hamlet company are Karen Aldridge (Gertrude), Timothy Decker (Claudius), Larry Yando (Polonius), Sean Allan Krill (Horatio), Paul Deo, Jr. (Laertes), Rachel Nicks (Ophelia), Mike Nussbaum (Gravedigger), Greg Vinkler (Gravedigger/Player King), Kevin Gudahl (Osric), Alex Goodrich (Rosencrantz), Samuel Taylor (Guildenstern), Sarah Chalcroft (Voltemand/Player Queen), Callie Johnson (Reynalda), and Drew Shirley (Barnardo), as well as ensemble members Al'Jaleel McGhee and Sam Pearson.
Cast of Hamlet Celebrated actress Karen Aldridge takes on the role of Gertrude, queen of Denmark. In addition to numerous credits with Goodman Theatre, Writers Theatre, and Chicago Shakespeare, Aldridge originated the role of Tamyra in Tracy Letts’s Pulitzer-Prize-nominated Man from Nebraska at Steppenwolf Theatre, as well as Mrs. Phelps in the Broadway production of Matilda the Musical. She also starred in the international tours of Battlefield and Le Costume, both directed by the legendary Peter Brook. Timothy Decker portrays Hamlet’s uncle and adversary Claudius. Decker has appeared onstage at Chicago Shakespeare, Goodman Theatre, and American Blues Theatre, where he garnered the Jeff Award for his performance in Toys in the Attic. He notably completed a four-year run with 1,600 performances as Sam Philips in Million Dollar Quartet at the Apollo Theatre. In his twenty-fifth Chicago Shakespeare production, Larry Yando performs the role of Polonius. The five-time Jeff Award-winner—named “Best Actor in Chicago” by Chicago Magazine—is a mainstay on Chicago stages, including eleven seasons as Ebenezer Scrooge in the Goodman Theatre’s A Christmas Carol. Veteran of the National Tour of The Lion King, Yando recently concluded a critically acclaimed European tour of Peter Brook’s Battlefield. Sean Allan Krill portrays Hamlet’s close friend and confidante Horatio. Krill debuted on Broadway as Sam Carmichael in Mamma Mia!, a role which he reprised in the production’s North American tour; additional Broadway credits include On a Clear Day You Can See Forever and Honeymoon in Vegas. He recently appeared in American Repertory Theater’s world premiere production of the Alanis Morrissett musical Jagged Little Pill, which is headed to Broadway in Fall 2019. Appearing as Laertes is Paul Deo, Jr., who has previously performed in the Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park production of Troilus and Cressida, as well as Shakespeare Theater Company’s Twelfth Night and Romeo and Juliet. Rachel Nicks takes on the role of Ophelia. Nicks has appeared Off-Broadway in Final Follies, War, And I and Silence, and The Good Negro, as well as in productions with McCarter Theatre and The Old Globe. Portraying the Gravediggers are Mike Nussbaum and Greg Vinkler. A seven-time Jeff Award-winner, Nussbaum’s illustrious career at Chicago Shakespeare has included notable performances in Henry VIII, Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, and Follies. The Sarah Siddons Society honoree starred in Peter Brook’s international touring production of The Cherry Orchard, as well as in the original Broadway productions of David Mamet’s American Buffalo and Glengarry Glen Ross. Now 95 years old, Nussbaum is hailed “the oldest working actor in the United States.” Vinkler has appeared in nearly forty Chicago Shakespeare productions, garnering Jeff Awards for his performances in King Lear, Hamlet, and Twelfth Night. He made his Broadway debut in the 2009 revival of West Side Story, and has appeared regionally with Milwaukee Repertory Theatre and Peninsula Players Theatre, where he also serves as artistic director—and in Chicago with Writers Theatre, Court Theatre and Goodman Theatre. Multiple Jeff Award-winner Kevin Gudahl is Osric. A veteran of more than forty Chicago Shakespeare productions, Gudahl has also appeared onstage at Court Theatre, Goodman Theatre, and Writers Theatre, in addition to five seasons with the Stratford Festival. As Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Alex Goodrich and Samuel Taylor, respectively. Goodrich has previously appeared on Chicago Shakespeare’s stages in Love’s Labor’s Lost, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and The Taming of the Shrew. Goodrich frequently appears at Northlight Theatre and Marriott Theatre, where his performance in the world premiere musical Hero earned him a Jeff Award. Taylor returns to Chicago Shakespeare after memorable performances in Macbeth, Henry V, Julius Caesar, The School for Lies, and The Feast: an Intimate Tempest. His numerous Shakespeare credentials include teaching courses on the playwright at the University of Chicago and co-founding the Back Room Shakespeare Project. Sarah Chalcroft returns to Chicago Shakespeare after appearing in King Charles III to perform the roles of Voltemand and the Player Queen. Playing Reynalda is Callie Johnson, who garnered a Jeff Award for her performance in Porchlight Music Theatre’s Pal Joey and has also appeared at Drury Lane Theatre and Marriott Theatre. As a leading director of Shakespeare internationally renowned for her populist and dynamic interpretations, Barbara Gaines has staged more than sixty productions at Chicago Shakespeare throughout her distinguished career, garnering the prestigious Honorary OBE (Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) and Joseph Jefferson Awards for Best Production (Hamlet, Cymbeline, King Lear, and The Comedy of Errors), and for Best Director (Cymbeline, King Lear and The Comedy of Errors). Joining Gaines on the Hamlet creative team are Scenic Designer Scott Davis, Costume Designer Susan E. Mickey, Lighting Designer Robert Wierzel, Sound Designer Lindsay Jones, Projection Designer Mike Tutaj, Wig and Make-up Designer Richard Jarvie, and Fight Choreographer Matt Hawkins. Tyrone Phillips is the production’s Associate Director. For more information, visit www.chicagoshakes.com/hamlet. Hamlet is presented in Chicago Shakespeare’s Courtyard Theater, April 17–June 9, 2019. Single tickets ($48–$88) are on sale now. Special discounts are available for groups of 10 or more. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s Box Office at 312.595.5600 or visit the Theater’s website at www.chicagoshakes.com. Chicago Shakespeare strives to make its facility and performances accessible to all patrons through its Access Shakespeare programs. Accessible performances for Hamlet include: Audio-description – Sunday, May 19, 2019 at 2:00 p.m. with optional touch tour at 12:00 p.m. ASL Duo-interpretation – Friday, May 31, 2019 at 7:30 p.m. Open-captioning – Thursday, June 6, 2019 at 1:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
ABOUT CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER Under the leadership of Artistic Director Barbara Gaines and Executive Director Criss Henderson, Chicago Shakespeare has redefined what a great American Shakespeare theater can be—a company that defies theatrical category. This Regional Tony Award-winning theater’s year-round season features as many as twenty productions and 650 performances—including plays, musicals, world premieres, family programming, and presentations from around the globe. Chicago Shakespeare is the city’s leading producer of international work, and has toured its own productions across five continents. The Theater’s nationally acclaimed arts in literacy programs support the work of teachers, and bring Shakespeare to life on stage for tens of thousands of students annually. Each summer, the company tours a free professional production to neighborhood parks across Chicago. In 2017 the Theater unveiled The Yard, which, together with the Jentes Family Courtyard Theater and the Thoma Theater Upstairs, positions Chicago Shakespeare as Chicago’s most versatile performing arts center.
Executive and Artistic Director, Keith Gerth and Associate Artistic Director, Stephen Smith of the Oil Lamp Theater in Glenview announce their next production, the uproarious comedy Play On! by Rick Abbot. This production is directed by Keith Gerth and will be performed from March 21st through May 5th 2019 at 1723 Glenview Road in Glenview. Play On! takes audiences behind the scenes of a local amateur theater company as it prepares a production of Murder Most Foul, an original murder mystery written by a local playwright. Abbot’s side-splitting look at the inner workings of amateur theater unfolds in three acts of cascading goofiness. First at a rehearsal less than a week before the show opens, next during the disaster-plagued dress rehearsal, and finally, the show's opening night. Geraldine “Gerry” Dunbar (Whitney Minarik) is the long-suffering director who struggles to breathe life into the original script. Her troupe has their work cut out for them. First, the murder mystery script is not very good. And the set isn’t finished. And the cast is still wobbly on their lines. The good news is that the novice playwright, Phyllis Montague (Nicki Howard), has allowed the company to produce her new play for free. The bad news is that Phyllis keeps changing her script, forcing the cast of amateurs to re-learn their lines over and over again. The biggest mystery of all seems to be whether the company will possibly be able to get this ever-changing production ready in time! Everyone involved with Murder Most Foul lacks skill and experience, and it shows. As Play On! Opens, the troupe is just four days away opening night. Despite the best efforts of Louise Peary (Jolie LeBell), the company’s omnipresent sound, light and scenic technician, the set is incomplete and technical issues abound. Stage Manager and prompter Aggie Manville (Sarah Myers) has her hands full trying to manage the show’s many sound cues while she stays busy prompting actors who keep forgetting their lines. The actors, unsurprisingly, are having their own crises and they are pushing their director and crew to the breaking point. The older married couple and amateur theater veterans, Henry Benish/Lord Dudley (Rob Weinstein) and Polly Benish/Lady Margaret (Suzy Krueckeberg), challenge their director at every turn. Some cast members react to the mounting backstage tension by either by hitting the bottle of getting on each other’s nerves. Saul Watson/Dr. Rex Ford (Travis Monroe Neese), the mystery’s villain, has a special dislike for Polly whom he taunts her with snarky personal insults. Polly -- a bit of a diva herself -- is having none of it and huffs her indignation to everyone within earshot. Meanwhile, the young ingénues of Murder Most Foul, Billy Carewe/Stephen Sellars (Josh Marshall) and Violet Imbry/Diane Lassiter (Katie O’Neil) are warming to each other in “real life” just as their characters do in the mystery they are rehearsing. They regularly forget to call each other by their scripted character names during rehearsals as their on-stage romance seems increasingly real. Wait… is love blooming right there on stage? Then of course, there’s Marla “Smitty” Smith (Emrose Seidenberg), the high school student playing Doris the maid. Like everyone else, Smitty worries about keeping her lines and cues straight in the constantly-evolving play, but she has additional concerns that are practical and immediate. Will she ever get tomorrow’s biology homework done? Will her mother be angry if she gets home late because the rehearsal ran over? Play On! is a fast-paced frolic that has been called “a love letter to amateur theater.” It affectionately pokes fun at the foibles of a lovable group of thespians who struggle valiantly, and hilariously, toward their big opening night. Their energy and enthusiasm crashes up against looming deadlines, warring egos, missed cues, and an ever-changing script… and the results are both heartwarming and hysterical. This Oil Lamp Theater production of Play On! will feature Whitney Minarik (Geraldine “Gerry” Dunbar), Nicki Howard (Phyllis Montague), Sarah Myers (Stage Manager Aggie Manville) Jolie LeBell (Sound, Light and Scenic Technician Louise Peary), Rob Weinstein (Henry Benish/Lord Dudley), Suzy Krueckeberg (Polly Benish/Lady Margaret), Travis Monroe Neese (Saul Watson/Doctor Rex Forbes), Katie O’Neil (Violet Imbry/Diana Lassiter), Josh Marshall (Billy Carewe/Stephen Sellers), and Emrose Seidenberg (Marla “Smitty” Smith /Doris the Maid)
Understudies for this production are Grace Hutchings, Gina Phillips and Jared Sheldon. Stage Manager for this production is Helen O’Brien Rick Abbot (Playwright) is one of several pennames used by the prolific playwright Jack Sharkey who was born in Chicago in 1931. Abbot graduated from college with a degree in English with an emphasis on Creative Writing. After serving in the army, Mr. Abbot moved to New York City and began his successful freelance writing career. In 1975 he devoted himself exclusively to writing plays. He wrote and published 83 plays, including thrillers, comedies and musicals – many of which continue to be performed around the world. One of his plays, is Par for the Corpse written under the name Jack Sharkey, has been produced twice on the Oil Lamp Theater stage. He died of cancer in 1992.
Keith Gerth (Executive and Artistic Director) founded Oil Lamp Theater in 2005. Prior to establishing the Theater, which was originally located in the Lakeview neighborhood of Chicago, Keith held a number of positions. After high school, Keith was a carpenter for eight years with Murray Countertops in Streator, Illinois. He left that position in 1989 to obtain a degree in Financial Accounting from Illinois State University. Keith graduated with honors and began working for the global professional services firm of Deloitte in 1991 and became a Certified Public Accountant. He worked at Deloitte for fifteen years in the Audit and Assurance practice, from which he retired in 2005 at the level of Director. Keith was professionally trained in acting at Act One Studios in Chicago, Illinois. Keith has been actively involved in the community and has served on the boards of the Glenview Art League and the Glenview Chamber of Commerce. Keith is married to Carole Flamm. They live in Northbrook. Performances of Play On! are presented Thursdays through Sundays, with evening performances at 8:00pm and Saturday and Sunday matinees at 3:00pm. Tickets are $40 and include complimentary cookies and soft drinks. Student tickets are available for $25. Oil Lamp Theater is BYOB with complimentary corkage and glasses. The complete performance schedule and tickets are available at 847-834-0738 or online at oillamptheater.org. Group rates are available. PARKING/TRANSPORTATION Oil Lamp Theater is located in downtown Glenview, Illinois, at 1723 Glenview Road. Free parking lots are available immediately west of the theater and across the street. Street parking is also available throughout downtown Glenview. Handicap parking is available adjacent to the theater. The theater may be reached by car (approximately one mile west of I-94) or by Metra (three blocks east of Milwaukee District/North – Glenview Station). For more information on traveling to Oil Lamp Theater, visit oillamptheater.org/plan-visit.
Dates:First performance and press opening: Thursday, March 21, 2019, 8:00pm Closing performance: Sunday, May 5, 3:00pm Schedule:Thursdays through Sundays. Evening performances at 8:00pm, Saturday and Sunday matinees at 3:00pm. Location: Oil Lamp Theater, 1723 Glenview Road, Glenview Prices:All performances $40 Group and student rates are available Box Office: 847-834-0738; oillamptheater.org
ABOUT OIL LAMP THEATER Over the past thirteen years, Oil Lamp Theater has been dedicated to the presentation of traditional theater in an immersive, intimate setting. Under the executive and artistic leadership of Keith Gerth, Oil Lamp Theater has welcomed more than 50,000 guests into its unique, inviting venues. In March, 2012, Oil Lamp Theater was incorporated at a not-for-profit theater and established its current 60-seat location in downtown Glenview. The professional company performs plays that present and appeal to core American traditional values relevant to current issues. Oil Lamp Theater welcomes patrons as family, encouraging a personal atmosphere and artist interactions to emphasize human emotional connections. In 2017 and 2018 Oil Lamp Theater was awarded the North Shore Choice Award in recognition as the best suburban theater in Chicago.
Find Oil Lamp Theater on Facebook or follow @OilLampTheater on Twitter. For more information, visit oillamptheater.org.
