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Thursday, January 23, 2025

Free With RSVP: Chicago Theatre Week 2025 Kick-off party Monday, February 3rd at Black Ensemble Theater

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar 

League of Chicago Theatres,

in partnership with Choose Chicago, announce the 

Chicago Theatre Week 2025 Kick-off party

Monday, February 3

at Black Ensemble Theater

Free and open to all

The League of Chicago Theatres, in partnership with Choose Chicago, announces the Chicago Theatre Week Kick-off on Monday, February 3, 2025, at Black Ensemble Theater, 4450 N. Clark St. in Chicago. The event will preview Chicago Theatre Week 2025 (#CTW25), which is February 6-16, 2025.

The Chicago Theatre Week Kick-off is free and open to all with advance registration at: https://leagueofchicagotheatres.org/event/2025-chicago-theatre-week-kick-off-party/

The Chicago Theatre Week Kick-off begins at 5:30pm (doors open at 5:00pm) with an hour-long program to include an announcement of Chicago Theatre Week events, performances by Young Peoples Theatre (Bob Marley's Three Little Bird), The Revival (Chicago Style) and one more to be announced. A reception will follow the performances.

Tickets Chicago Theatre Week (#CTW25), all priced at $15, $30, or less, are now sale at ChicagoTheatreWeek.com. Chicago Theatre Week (#CTW25), February 6-16, 2025, is an annual celebration of the rich tradition of theatre-going in Chicago during which visitors and residents can access value-priced tickets. For the third consecutive year, HotTix.org will host Chicago Theatre Week Continued from February 17-23, 2025, which will extend Theatre Week discounts to participating productions for an additional week.

Last year’s Chicago Theatre Week saw massive ticket sales with more than 18,000 tickets sold to 81 participating productions for more than 446 performances. 64 theaters participated in CTW 2024, with 29 neighborhoods and suburbs represented. The program continues to bring in new audiences to area theatres with approximately 58% of patrons visiting their chosen theatre for the first time. Chicago Theatre Week also raises the visibility of the theater industry, as evidenced by the 144,689 unique visitors to ChicagoTheatreWeek.com from the ticket onsale through the end of Theatre Week.

Chicago Theatre Week is presented by the League of Chicago Theatres in partnership with Choose Chicago. Subscribe to the Theatre Week email newsletter for updates and announcements. 

The official hashtag for Chicago Theatre Week 2025 is #CTW25.

About Chicago theatre 

Chicago theatre is the leader in the U.S. with more than 250 theatres throughout Chicagoland, comprising a rich and varied community ranging from storefront, non-union theatres to the most renowned resident theatres in the country, including 7 which have been honored with Regional Tony Awards, and the largest touring Broadway organization in the nation. Chicago’s theatres serve 5 million audience members annually and have a combined budget of more than $250 million. Chicago produces and/or presents more world premieres annually than any other city in the nation. Each year Chicago theatres send new work to resident theatres across the country, to Broadway, and around the world. For more information, visit www.chicagoplays.com. #ChiTheatre

The League of Chicago Theatres’ Mission Statement

Theatre is essential to the life of a great city and to its citizens. The League of Chicago Theatres is an alliance of theatres, which leverages its collective strength to support, promote and advocate for Chicago’s theatre industry. Through our work, we ensure that theatre continues to thrive in our city.

About Choose Chicago

Choose Chicago is the official sales and marketing organization responsible for promoting Chicago as a global visitor and meetings destination, leveraging the city’s unmatched assets to ensure the economic vitality of the city and its member business community. 

Follow @choosechicago on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter and tag #ChicaGOandKNOW. For more information, visit choosechicago.com. 

Wednesday, January 22, 2025

Shattered Globe Theatre Presents Lobby Hero at Theater Wit January 24-March 1, 2025

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar

Shattered Globe Theatre’s 34th season continues with

Lobby Hero

January 24-March 1 

at Theater Wit

A cop and a night watchman get tangled in the blurred lines between right and wrong in Shattered Globe's revival of Kenneth Lonergan’s dark comedy 


Expect fireworks when Shattered Globe Artistic Producer Nate Santana directs Lonergan’s “masterpiece…the best drama, the best comedy and the best romance of the year, all rolled into one” (TimeOut New York). 

Shattered Globe Theatre’s 34th season continues with the comic masterpiece Lobby Hero by (top, from left) Kenneth Lonergan, directed by Nate Santana, January 24-March 1, 2025 at Theater Wit. The cast features (bottom, from left) Shattered Globe Ensemble Member Adam Schulmerich as Bill, Emma Jo Boyden as Dawn, Elliot Esquivel as Jeff and Terence Sims as William.

Charm, romance and humor abound in the 2001 comedic masterpiece Lobby Hero by Kenneth Lonergan, the Academy Award-winning screenwriter of Manchester by the Sea. 

Shattered Globe Theatre’s first production of 2025, Lobby Hero runs January 24-March 1 at Theater Wit. Shattered Globe Artistic Producer Nate Santana directs Lonergan’s “masterpiece…the best drama, the best comedy and the best romance of the year, all rolled into one” (TimeOut New York). 

It’s the graveyard shift at a mid-rise apartment lobby in Manhattan. A rudderless security guard, his demanding supervisor, a rookie cop, and her self-centered partner are forced to navigate the question of whether doing the wrong thing for the right reason can ever be justified. Confronting complex moral dilemmas, their choices reveal the blurred lines between right and wrong.

"Motives come in every shade but black and white," wrote Ben Brantley of the New York Times, calling Lobby Hero a "combustible brew of impulses.”  

“These characters all live in a world of light and shadow as they chase their dreams,” said director Nate Santana. “Filled with irreverence and sincerity, charm and ugliness, heart and animosity, two opposing ideas often show up at the same time, in the same place, with the same person, asking each to wrestle with the idea that both could possibly be true. When they look in the mirror what will they see? And what will they accept about themselves as they figure out what kind of person they want to be?”


The cast features (from left) Emma Jo Boyden as Dawn, Elliot Esquivel as Jeff, Shattered Globe Ensemble Member Adam Schulmerich as Bill, and Terence Sims as William. Credit: Jeff Kuryscz


Lobby Hero features (from left) Shattered Globe Ensemble Member Adam Schulmerich as Bill, Terence Sims as William, Elliot Esquivel as Jeff and Emma Jo Boyden as Dawn. Credit: Jeff Kuryscz

Shattered Globe’s new take on Lonergan’s dark comedy features SGT Ensemble Member Adam Schulmerich as Bill, and three Chicago actors all making their Shattered Globe debuts: Emma Jo Boyden as Dawn, Elliot Esquivel as Jeff and Terence Sims as William. The production team includes José Manuel Díaz-Soto (set designer), Uriel Gomez (costume designer), Ellie Fey (lighting designer) Mariah Bennett (props designer) Chris Kriz (sound designer) Sammi Grant (dialect coach) Julia Farrell Diefenbach (dramaturgy) Isabelle Valet (assistant stage manager) Lucy Whipp (production manager) Ronald Hale (technical director) and Tina Jach (production stage manager). 

The first preview of Lobby Hero, Friday, January 24 at 7:30 p.m., is Pay-What-You-Can. Previews continue Saturday, January 25 at 7:30 p.m., Sunday, January 26 at 3 p.m, and Wednesday, January 29 at 7:30 p.m. Previews are $10-$25. No show Friday, January 31. Performances run through March 1: Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m. There’s an added 3 p.m. matinee on closing day, Saturday, March 1. Performances are $15-$52. For group discounts, email groupsales@shatteredglobe.org or call (773) 770-0333.

Theater Wit is located at 1229 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago’s Lakeview neighborhood. Tickets are $10-$52. Purchase tickets online at SGTheatre.org, call the Theater Wit box office, (773) 975-8150, or purchase in person at Theater Wit.

Access: 

Theater Wit is wheelchair accessible, and all patrons with disability needs are invited to purchase $20 access tickets with the code “ACCESS20” at Theater Wit’s checkout page. Please email boxoffice@theaterwit.org to ensure we can reserve the right seat for your access needs. Please do not use this code if you do not require these services. Go to SGTheatre.org and see the Accessible Ticketing info to find out about our Waived Ticket Program.

Assisted Listening Devices are available for all performances.

Audio Description and a Touch Tour will be offered on Friday, February 21. The Touch Tour begins at 6:15 p.m., show at 7:30 p.m.

Open Captions will be provided at the 3 p.m. matinee on Sunday, January 23.

Visit SGTheatre.org for more information, including content warnings, news of special events, accessible and waived ticket programs. Find and follow the company on social media @shatteredglobe on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Shattered Globe’s Lobby Hero features (from left) Elliot Esquivel as Jeff and Terence Sims as William. Credit Jeff Kuryscz

Shattered Globe’s Lobby Hero features (top, from left) Shattered Globe Ensemble Member Adam Schulmerich as Bill, Emma Jo Boyden as Dawn, (bottom) Elliot Esquivel as Jeff and Terence Sims as William.

Company biographies

Kenneth Lonergan (playwright, Lobby Hero) is an acclaimed American playwright, screenwriter and director known for his character-driven dramas that capture the intricacies of everyday life. Born and raised in Manhattan, Lonergan was encouraged to write from a young age, eventually pursuing dramatic writing at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. His breakthrough play, This Is Our Youth (1996), explores the disillusionment of young people in the 1980s and marked the start of his successful theater career. Other notable plays include The Waverly Gallery (2000) and Lobby Hero (2001), both of which later had successful Broadway revivals. Lonergan's film career includes the Oscar-nominated You Can Count on Me (2000) and Manchester by the Sea (2016), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. His work, whether on stage or screen, is celebrated for its deep empathy and nuanced portrayal of complex human experiences.

Nate Santana (director, Lobby Hero, Artistic Producer, Shattered Globe Theatre, he/him) joined the company as an Ensemble Member in 2018. For three years, he taught and directed the Protege Program at SGT as well as produced and oversaw the inaugural Global Playwriting Series (GPS), which received over 150 submissions in its first year. Theatre credits include Marvin’s Room (Shattered Globe); Ironbound (Raven Theatre); The Thanksgiving Play (Steppenwolf); Legend of Georgia McBride, Georgiana and Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley (Northlight); Frankenstein, Sense and Sensibility (Indiana Repertory Theatre); SS! Romeo and Juliet, SS! Twelfth Night (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); Balm in Gilead, Golden Boy (Griffin Theatre); The Abuelas, White Tie Ball, Momma’s Boyz (Teatro Vista); The Rainmaker (BoHo Theatre); References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot (Phoenix Theatre Indianapolis) and What Happened When, Slipping (the side project). Television credits include Chicago Med, Chicago PD, Suits and The Exorcist. Santana is also an Ensemble Member with Teatro Vista. He studied at the School at Steppenwolf, The Moscow Art Theatre, and received his BA from Valparaiso University.

Adam Schulmerich (Bill, he/him) has been a Shattered Globe ensemble member since 2023. His SGT credits include Becky Nurse of Salem, A View From the Bridge, Rasheeda Speaking and Five Mile Lake. Other Chicago credits include The Spirit of ’76 (The Agency); Scissortail (Adapt Theatre); Inventing Van Gogh (Strange Bedfollows Theatre); Wild (Kid Brooklyn); and Ponypool (Strawdog Theatre).




Emma Jo Boyden (Dawn, she/her) is making her Shattered Globe Theatre debut. Chicago credits include Arsenic and Old Lace (Court Theatre); Henry V and Hamlet (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre); Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Drury Lane Theatre); Georgiana & Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley (Northlight Theatre); A Recipe for Disaster (Windy City Playhouse); Sex Tips for Straight Women from a Gay Man (Greenhouse Theater Center); La Boheme and Don Giovanni (Lyric Opera of Chicago).






Elliot Esquivel (Jeff, he/him), born and raised in Austin, Texas, is making his SGT debut. Chicago credits include Manic Monologues (WaterTower Theatre) and Alice by Heart (Chicago's Kokandy Productions).








Terence Sims (William, he/him) is also working with Shattered Globe for the first time. Chicago credits include Toni Stone (Goodman Theatre); Paris (Steep Theatre); Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Writers Theatre); Crumbs From the Table of Joy (Raven Theatre); Damascus (Strawdog Theatre); Barbecue (Strawdog Theatre); and Monster (Steppenwolf Theatre). Regional credits include Broke-o-logy (B Street Theatre) and To Kill A Mockingbird (Children’s Theatre Madison).






Up next: A bold new adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities directed by Mikael Burke

It’s the best of times, and it’s the worst of times. Still today. So what better time to take a new look at A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens? Shattered Globe will present the Midwest premiere of Brendan Pelsue’s bold new adaptation of Dickens’ classic tale of revolution. Acclaimed Chicago director Mikael Burke will make his Shattered Globe debut staging this new riff on Dickens’ classic, chillingly timely novel about privilege, poverty and political adaptation.

A Tale of Two Cities may be 165 years old, but with Burke at the helm, Shattered Globe’s new production will remind us that some things never change. Or, can they? In a society where the gap between the rich and poor widens, and the cries for revolution grow louder, one can hope. Performances of A Tale of Two Cities are April 18 – May 31, 2025. 


About Shattered Globe Theatre

Shattered Globe Theatre seeks to redefine what it means to be an ensemble theatre, discover new connections between story, artist and audience, and explore drama from bold, challenging perspectives. 

Shattered Globe Theatre was born in a storefront space on Halsted Street in 1991. Since then, SGT has produced more than 80 plays, including nine American and world premieres, and garnered an impressive 44 Jeff Awards and 118 Jeff Award nominations, as well as the acclaim of critics and audiences alike. 

Guided by Producing Artistic Director Sandy Shinner, Shattered Globe’s values are rooted in a commitment to racial equity, respect for all artists and support for the ensemble, while creating new opportunities to amplify traditionally marginalized voices and collaborate in all aspects of its work. Through initiatives such as the Protégé Program, Shattered Globe creates a space which allows emerging artists to grow and share in the ensemble experience.

Shattered Globe Theatre’s Ensemble has 29 members: Judy Anderson, Louis Contey, David Dastmalchian, Demetra Dee, Joe Forbrich, Christina Gorman, Daria Harper, Tina M. Jach, Rebecca Jordan, Steve Kleinedler, Vivian Knouse, AmBer Montgomery, Tina Muñoz Pandya, Eileen Niccolai, Jazzma Pryor, Hailey Rakowiecki, Deanna Reed-Foster, Linda Reiter, Nate Santana, Drew Schad, Adam Schulmerich, Leslie Ann Sheppard, Sandy Shinner, Joe Sikora, Shelley Strasser, Devonte E. Washington, Sarah Jo White, Joseph Wiens and Brad Woodard.

SGT’s Artistic Associates now number 20 including Daniela Colucci, Mikey Gray, Lawrence Grimm, Darren Jones, Christopher Kriz, Jason Lynch, Elizabeth Margolius, Kelsey Melvin, Tim Newell, Jane Nix, Aila Peck, Steve Peebles, David Antonio Reed, Jasmine Cheri Rush, Angie Shriner, Abbey Smith, Becca Smith, Michael Trudeau, Ayanna Wimberley and Austin Winter.

Shattered Globe Theatre is partially supported and funded by generous grants from The Bayless Family Foundation, The Shulman-Rochambeau Charitable Foundation, Brenda and James Grusecki, Carol P. Eastin, The Shubert Foundation, a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, The Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation and the Illinois Arts Council.

Visit SGTheatre.org for subscriptions, tickets and information, and follow the company @shatteredglobe on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. 


Friday, January 17, 2025

REVIEW: Cabinet of Curiosity's The Cabinet Through January 19, 2025 and Returning This Fall

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar
Chicago's Cabinet of Curiosity's
The Cabinet
7th Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival


The return after 15 years of The Cabinet, a legendary Chicago puppet work, revived by Chicago’s Cabinet of Curiosity. 

Run Time: 60 minutes. Suggested for ages 14+ 


REVIEW

By Bonnie Kenaz-Mara

The Cabinet is an absolute must see! Don’t miss this somnambulist nightmare massacre. Cabinet of Curiosity’s The Cabinet is a bloody good time! We adored this visually stunning, deviant delight, with multiple puppet styles. Highly recommended.  ★★★★ Four out of four stars.

It was my great pleasure to catch opening night of Cabinet of Curiosity's short run remount of The Cabinet as part of this year's Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival. There's no Narnia at the back of this wardrobe, but an exciting tale of murder, mayhem, and psychiatric care with questionable morals, based on the 1919 German Expressionist silent film, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. Back and bigger than ever, The Cabinet is a gargantuan dresser containing worlds of wonder and multiple styles of puppetry, from creepy 3 dimensional paper mache creations, to shadow puppets, 2D stick puppets, scroll work, and even a giant pop-up book. 

We love that the puppeteers are a vital and visible part of this production in stark black and white. Their talent and timing was impressive, even down to the multilevel puppeteering spaces and climbing skills involved in some of the space changes. Utterly impressive!

We saw several of Redmoon Theatre's renditions of this incredible piece back in the day, and are so excited Cabinet of Curiosity is bringing this tale back to life! We've covered many of Cabinet of Curiosity's shows and spectacles over the years, and we've even shots lots of behind the scenes photos and videos of their works in progress. For years before that we extensively documented Redmoon's epic installations and community rituals, including making-of previews and documented performances. Their collaborative style and penchant for spectacle make them longtime favorites of ours. If you can't make it out for this short 3 day run, rumor has it they have a fall remount in the works and are planning on a longer October run! 

The delightfully askew set design and puppets are visually stunning and we love the victrola playing out this story in vintage record form. Kudos to the entire cast, crew, and creatives. You've done Chicago proud on an international playing field! 

Back in the day, we caught the original Redmoon Theatre production of The Cabinet in 2005 and their remount 15 years ago, and covered both in depth at ChiIL Mama & ChiIL Live Shows. You'll never look at an armoire (or the hundred year old, black and white film this show is based on) quite the same way again. Don't miss this! Highly recommended. ★★★★ Four out of four stars.

Bonnie is a Chicago based writer, theatre critic, photographer, artist, and Mama to 2 amazing adults. She owns two websites where she publishes frequently: ChiILLiveShows.com (adult) & ChiILMama.com (family friendly).

It’s been 15 years since Chicago has seen The Cabinet, the story of the murderous Dr. Caligari and his somnambulist slave Cesare set in an off-kilter world of puppetry and intricate machinery. Evoking the 1919 German Expressionist silent film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, inspired by the original Redmoon Theatre production from 2005, Cabinet of Curiosity’s Frank Maugeri is creating another abstract “cabinet of curiosities” in which puppeteers manipulate the characters and objects, just as Caligari controlled Cesare’s plight.



It’s been 15 years since Chicago has seen The Cabinet, the story of the murderous Dr. Caligari and his somnambulist slave Cesare set in an off-kilter world of puppetry and intricate machinery. 
Evoking the 1919 German Expressionist silent film The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, inspired by the original Redmoon Theatre production from 2010, Cabinet of Curiosity’s Frank Maugeri is creating another abstract cabinet of curiosities – a “spectacle in miniature” in which puppeteers manipulate the characters and objects, just as Caligari controlled Cesare’s plight.

“I was very eager to return to The Cabinet, Redmoon Theater's longest-running and most acclaimed indoor production, which I created over a decade ago with the brilliant Mickle Maher and Mark Messing, two of Chicago’s legendary creative stalwarts,” said Maugeri. “I am grateful to be joined by my co-director Corrie Bessie and a new collective of unparalleled artists and designers inspired by the shared belief that powerful mythical stories using images, objects, transformation, and craft can disorient and arrest an audience. This tale of Tyranny's weakness under the weight of Love has current potency that will inspire dialogue. I also believe there’s a new generation that has not seen work like this, though the original show invented a style that still permeates puppetry today.”
 
“I was excited to continue building a new collective of artists inspired by the shared belief that powerful mythical stories using images, objects, transformation, and craft could disorient and arrest an audience. I wanted to experiment again with the production's fluidity and intensely focused manipulation of materials as an exercise in virtuosity.”
 
“This tale of Tyranny's powerlessness and weakness under the weight of Love has current potency. As a believer that art is both a spiritual and political practice, this show can resonate as a work that inspires dialogue and discussion, which is my creative mission.” 
 
“I also believe there is a new generation of audience members who have likely not seen work like this in our city, though the original show invented a style that still permeates the puppetry artist community today. I wanted to return to the experiment to see how it resonates with a new, young, curious audience.”

The Cabinet features puppets by Jesse Mooney-Bullock, whose work has been seen in Chicago for the past 23 years, starting with Redmoon The Old Man and the Sea, and most recently in Paramount Theatre’s production of Disney’s Frozen. The cast features Gabrielle Frabotta, Danielle H. Gennaoui, Abby Palen, Jacinda Ratcliffe, Sion Silva, Allyce Torres and Dustin Valenta. The production team includes Frank Maugeri, creator/co-director; Corrie Bessie, co-director; Mickle Maher, writer; Mark Messing, composer; Kass Copeland, scenic painter and collage artist; Diane Fairchild, lights; Brandin Hurley; shadow animations; Liviu Pasare, projections; Janet Eckleberger,costumes; Shawn Ketchum Johnson, scenic engineer and designer; D C Krause, scenic engineer, designer and set build manager. 
 
The 2024 production of The Cabinet was inspired by a 2010 show Maugeri created and directed at the now defunct Redmoon Theater. The “Spectacle in Miniature” was Redmoon’s most acclaimed indoor show and its longest running production. It toured to Brazil as well. This recent production was made cooperatively with a largely new team of designers, builders, engineers and makers. The show was and is a meditation on tyranny’s weakness over love. It returns Frank to his immense curiosity of ritual, transforming mundane objects into mystical materials, and chasing aesthetic arrest and the power of awe.


The Cabinet Cast Bios


Gabrielle Frabotta ENSEMBLE (she/her) Gabrielle arrived in Chicago in 2021 as a portraiture painter, to attend The School of the Art Institute of Chicago. As a personal experiment she leapt into performance and puppetry under the much-appreciated guidance of Blair Thomas. She’s been committed to embracing an interdisciplinary art practice since 2022- including but not limited to- seeking publication for her working series of children’s books, welding steel and painted papier mâché installations, and inserting herself into live performance. Gabrielle intends to continue challenging herself to step into her full range of expression as her career unfolds, and guiding others to do the same. In 2023 she had the opportunity to background sing and dance for Teatro ZinZanni Circus and Cabarete Zazou’s Liv Warfield. Additionally, she served as a production assistant for Théâtre De l’Entrouvert’s ‘Anywhere’ during the 2023 Chicago International Puppet Theatre Festival. She would like to extend a special thanks to her friends and family for their unwavering faith in her creative process, as well as to Cabinet of Curiosity’s Frank Maugeri for his vision of his politically poignant remount of ‘The Cabinet’, to which she feels honored to announce will be her first official theatrical debut.

Danielle H. Gennaoui ENSEMBLE Danielle (she/her) is a Lebanese American circus and theatre artist from St. Louis, MO. Specializing in aerial arts, partner acrobatics, and physical theatre, Danielle has been coaching, performing, and choreographing professionally for over 12 years. Since she was little, Danielle loved to direct plays in her parents’ basement, climb every tree in sight, and spin around in circles until she fell over. Fortunately, not much has changed (though the falling over is fewer and further between). Danielle took her first aerial class in 2008 and immediately fell in love with circus arts while training at The Actors Gymnasium. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre, focus in directing and performance, from the Jordan College of Fine Arts at Butler University and is a graduate of The Aloft Circus Arts Full-Time Training Program (Major: Lyra). Currently based in Chicago, IL, Danielle is proud to have created new work, performed, and coached with: The Actors Gymnasium, Aloft Circus Arts, Circus Harmony, Chicago Center for Dynamic Circus, MSA & Circus Arts, Gravity Aerial Arts, Thodos Dance Chicago, Apple Tree Theatre, Sussurus Performance Group, and The Alexandrinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia. [daniellegennaoui.com]

Jacinda Ratcliffe ENSEMBLE Jacinda (she/her) is a Chicago-based performing artist and Jeff-nominated choreographer. She is an ensemble member with Lucky Plush Productions with which she has toured nationally and performed on various Chicago stages including the Harris Theater, Pritzker Pavilion, and Steppenwolf 1700. Recent performing credits include Actor 1 in PORTAL (Lookingglass Theatre); Tish/Kylie (u/s) in THE LOVE OBJECT (The Story Theatre); Puppeteer in DRIFT TO SLEEP (Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival) as part of Little Amal’s Walk Across America in 2023; Echo 1 in GET OUT ALIVE (California Center for the Arts, Escondido); and Grim Reaper in Happy Songs About Unhappy Things (independent film produced by Jamie Foxx & Detari Turner) which premiered at Cinequest Film Festival in 2024. Choreographic & Movement Direction credits include PRELUDE TO A KISS (Milwaukee Repertory Theatre), LAVENDER MEN (About Face Theatre), THE ISLAND (Court Theatre); GET OUT ALIVE (Haven Theatre); LADY FROM THE SEA (Court Theatre); LACED (About Face Theatre); MLIMA’S TALE (Griffin Theatre). She is on faculty at the Actor’s Gymnasium and Chicago Movement Collective, the latter of which she also serves as Collective Manager & sits on the Board of Directors. Ratcliffe graduated from Northwestern University with a B.A. in Dance and Psychology. Upon graduating, she studied on scholarship at Lou Conte Dance Studio, under Claire Bataille. She received additional dance training through intensives with The Washington School of Ballet, San Francisco Conservatory of Dance, Ballet Hispánico, and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago. She is represented by Big Mouth Talent. More at jacindaracliffe.com

Sion Silva ENSEMBLE Sion is a non-binary Chicago based visual artist, puppet maker and performer whose personal work specializes in the philosophy of myth and the macabre. Their practice dubbed "The Graveyard of Eden" is a lifelong spiritual journey in which they manifest their own personal mythology into physical art as artifacts, manuscripts and performative renditions. Outside of their personal work they are a freelance art and puppetry fabricator, working through Chicago Puppet Studio, Manual Cinema, Rough House, Tom Lee, Mary Zimmerman, Whitesnake Productions, Drury Lane, Kehoe Designs and Pretorius Studios. Alongside all of this they are a part of Rabbitfoot Puppetry a collective focused on devising narrative driven weird and spectacular giant puppets. With Rabbitfoot, they have developed and performed shows for Electric Forest, New Orleans Giant Puppetry Festival, Southeastern Regional Puppetry Conference (Puppet Paradise), Night Out in the Parks, Nightmare on Clark Street and other small commissions. They are also an Art Institute alumnus and have been living in Chicago since 2016. To them art is a perpetual practice of purifying the soul.

Allyce Torres ENSEMBLE Allie (she/her) is an actor, powerlifter, and puppeteer originally from San Diego, CA. She has worked with companies such as Steep, [producing body], Chicago Children’s Theatre, 16th Street Theatre, Cabinet of Curiosity, Teatro Vista, The Passage, and Lookingglass. She is proudly represented by Big Mouth Talent. 

Dustin Valenta ENSEMBLE Dustin (he/him) returns to the Cabinet (from its last production at Redmoon, which also toured Brazil), and is thrilled to be reimagining it with this incredible crew. He was born in Vermont and grew up in Minnesota. As a traveling yoga teacher, Dustin spent four years living all over the world from Australia to Italy, and he is the 2019 USA Yoga National Champion. Education: MFA DePaul University, The School at Steppenwolf and the Stella Adler Physical Theatre training program. Select Theatre: Inanimate (Theater Wit), Mesmerized (Chicago Children’s Theatre), The Secret Lives of Coats (Red Eye Theatre, Minneapolis) The History of Invulnerability (Six Points Theatre, St. Paul), The Feast: An Intimate Tempest (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre). Film: Ponderosa, Beyond Belief. TV: Crisis. Dustin is represented by the great team at DDO. Thanks to Frank, Corrie, V, MR, MD, SE, and SD. Love to Marbles.

Abby Palen ENSEMBLE UNDERSTUDY- (they/them) Abby is a director, designer, and performer based in Chicago, IL. Abby's long-standing fascination with puppetry fabrication and performance has taken them across North America. For Abby, puppets express ideas and emotions that transcend the human form; a puppet can embody many anything’s and anyone’s simultaneously. Abby is a founding member and director of Rabbit Foot Puppetry and is grateful to have collaborated with The Chicago International Puppet Festival, Paperhand Puppet Intervention, Bread and Puppet Theater, In the Heart of the Beast, The Fox and Beggar Theater, and The Chicago Sculpture Institute, among many others. Recently, they have started using mechanisms and technology in their work and are excited to see where it takes them.


The Cabinet design team bios

Corrie Besse CO DIRECTOR Corrie (she/her) has collaborated with artists in a myriad of ways throughout her career. Whether as an arts administrator, educator, producer, or production stage manager her mission is to foster and support the holistic health of artists and arts organizations by empowering artists and the creative community through a dedication to curiosity, integrity, and abundance. She earned her M.F.A. in Theatre with a focus on Arts Leadership from Virginia Tech in Virginia and a B.A degree in Theatre Arts and Communication Studies from Central College in Iowa. Past professional credits include serving as the Managing Director for the Theater & Performance Studies Program at the University of Chicago, and Operations Manager for Salonathon. Additionally, she has worked in Minnesota with Springboard for the Arts, and locally with A Red Orchid Theatre, Albany Park Theater Project, Barrel of Monkeys, Cerqua Rivera Dance Theater, Chicago Dance Crash, Chicago Humanities Festival, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Famous Door, Hypocrites, Mary – Arrchie, PineBox, Redmoon, Roosevelt University, Seanachai, Shattered Globe, Teatro Vista, and the Gate Theatre in London. Currently she serves as the Business Manager at Northern Clay Center in Minneapolis, MN.

Jesse Mooney-Bullock PUPPET DESIGNER (he/him) is a freelance puppet-designer and director of Moonbull Studio. His puppets have been seen in the Chicago area for the past 23 years, beginning with Redmoon Theatre’s adaptation of the Old Man and the Sea, and most recently in Paramount Theatre’s production of Disney’s Frozen. He has also created puppets for Blair Thomas & Company, House Theater, Nashville Children’s Theatre and Marin Theatre. A Jeff Award and Bay Area Theater Critics Award recipient, Jesse lives in Cincinnati on a homestead with his family and menagerie of animals, constant inspirations for life and puppets.

Kass Copeland SCENIC PAINTER AND COLLAGE ARTIST Kass Copeland (she/her) has worked as an artist and designer in Chicago since 1995. Prior to earning her BFA in graphic design from The Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, Florida, she studied and apprenticed with her father, a theatrical and circus prop designer and craftsman.  She participates regularly throughout the Midwest in group exhibitions and has had solo and two-person shows at The Lubeznik Center in Michigan City, IN, The Illinois State Museum in Lockport, IL, The Union League Club of Chicago, Adventureland Gallery and Gallery Oh in Chicago.

As a designer she collaborated with the former Redmoon Theater for over a decade and now enjoys working with Cabinet of Curiosities, The Chicago Children's Theater, and other theater, event, and advertising clients. 

​Diane Fairchild LIGHTING DESIGNER- Diane (she/her) is a Chicago-based freelance lighting designer. Chicago area credits include work with Lifeline (ensemble), Rivendell (ensemble), Raven, Teatro Vista, Babes with Blades, the side project, Wilmette Parks District, Grant Community High School, Momenta, Academy of Movement and Music, Theater Wit, Wheaton College, Next, Northlight, Court, Sideshow, and Victory Gardens. Regional credits include work with Michigan Shakespeare Festival, Intiman, Trinity Rep, Michigan Shakespeare Festival, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Boise Contemporary Theatre, First Stage (Tysons Corner), and City Theatre. Her excellence in design has earned her nominations for Jeff, Broadway World Chicago, Wilde, and Midwest/Chicago Emmy Awards. Ms. Fairchild earned her BFA in Design and Technology from Wright State University and her MFA in Lighting Design from New York University. Diane lives in Evanston with her husband, two children, and their very adventurous tortoise.
 
Brandin Hurley SHADOW ANIMATIONS Brandin (she/her) is an installation artist with a background in scenic design. Her work, inspired by the seemingly eternal and awe-inspiring patterns found in nature, allows her to explore the beauty, fragility, and interconnectedness of the natural world and our responsibility towards it. Her installations, sculptures, and fine art utilize clean contemporary lines to honor the beauty and diversity of our ecosystems. Recent collaborations include work with Four Seasons, Adorn Restaurant, Comcast, Hilary Matt, Tribune Tower Residences, SoHo House, Magnificent Mile Association, Clayco, Hilton, One Steakhouse, and WNDR Museum.

Shawn Ketchum Johnson SCENIC ENGINEER AND DESIGNER (he/him) Shawn Ketchum Johnson is a theater artist focused on design, devising, and site-specific performance.  Johnson's award-winning work has been seen on Chicago stages, throughout the midwest, and in west coast regional theater.  He has been collaborating with Frank Maugeri on innovative theatrical gestures for over a decade (including Redmoon's BELLBOYS, BEARS AND BAGGAGE and Cabinet of Curiosity's SEA CHANGE) and is glad to have a hand in bringing this seminal work to new audiences.  He is currently directing, designing and producing a surround-sound audio installation performance of 4.48 PSYCHOSIS, which will be hosted next month at Cornell College before moving to other venues.  Johnson is an alumnus of Northwestern University.

D C Krause SCENIC ENGINEER AND DESIGNER, SET BUILD MANAGER (He/Him) David is an Educator, Designer, and Entrepreneur, David Christopher “big” Krause has been designing and fabricating for cinema, theater, television, advertising, events and museums for over twenty years. As Associate Professor of Production Design in Cinema and Television Arts at Columbia College Chicago he developed Chicago’s first BA and BFA program in Cinema and television Production Design. Melding a science and mathematics background with study in arts and management, Krause has forged a reputation as a “make-it-happen” resource for the Chicago entertainment community with his design and fabrication boutique “Big Works Industries” creating award winning work for Ogilvy, Burnett, Sandro Miller, and many others. Inspired by the possibilities of emerging technologies, Krause has also explored the worlds of virtual production and augmented reality as storytelling media.

Mickle Maher WRITER Mickle’s plays have appeared Off-Broadway and around the world, and been supported by grants from the NEA, the Rockefeller MAP fund, and Creative Capital. They include There is a Happiness That Morning Is; Song About Himself; An Apology for the Course and Outcome of Certain Events Delivered by Doctor John Faustus on This His Final Evening; The Hunchback Variations; The Strangerer; Jim Lehrer and the Theater and Its Double and Jim Lehrer’s Double; Spirits to Enforce ; Cyrano (translator); Song About Himself; It Is Magic; and the book and lyrics for the musical Small Ball. He is a cofounder of Chicago’s Theater Oobleck and teaches playwriting and related subjects at the University of Chicago. This April, his adaptation of Jason Lutes’ celebrated graphic novel Berlin will premiere at the Court Theatre. A number of his works are available through Agate Publishing. 

Frank Maugeri CREATOR/DIRECTOR Frank (he/him) is a designer and director committed to the art of celebration, creating and studying urban rituals, developing uncanny visual theater that investigates universal human experiences like love, death, spirituality and faith. He currently runs his singular design program, "Parties with the Purpose," for The Clayco Foundation, where he creates interactive, immersive events which raise critical funds to study and cure rare medical diseases. He continues his partnership with The School of the Art Institute, where he shares his unique pedagogy, "The School of Celebration," and mentors and employs emerging artists to develop and execute rituals and interactive events in neighborhoods, parks, city streets and urban spaces across the nation. His academic writing focuses on the “Spirituality of the Mundane." He has been commissioned to make celebrations and spectacles by President Barack Obama's White House, the Museum of Contemporary Art, The Actors Gymnasium of Evanston, The Chicago Shakespeare Theater, The Chicago Children's Theater, The Chicago Humanities Festival, the Shedd Aquarium, The Lawndale Neighborhood Association, and TED X, the Loop Alliance, the Chicago Park District, The Botanic Gardens, The University of Chicago, Columbia College, the past four Mayors of Chicago; notably, directing the Millennium Park's Grand Opening, the grand opening of the North Wing of the Art Institute, and the premiere celebration of the Chase Pavilion at Navy Pier. He developed, devised, and directed the Chicago Children's Theaters S.T.E.A.M. curriculum and academic philosophies at their current hub in the West Loop before he left to create his current enterprise, Cabinet of Curiosity, which empowers an ever-evolving collective of engineers, dancers, poets, visual artists, and educators to create immersive events. He has been hired as a civic engagement consultant to several chapters of The Young Presidents Organization, The Salt Shed, and The Epiphany Center for the Arts. He attended art school to become an animator and quickly became a pariah in commercial animation after declining a position with an unknown new television show called "The Simpsons." That drove him to a life of social work and civic art. He is a past winner of the prestigious NEA/TCG Directors award, where he studied outdoor theatre across Europe and community rituals in Bali. Frank was raised by witches in an atmosphere of ghosts, seances, and the divine. He was the Producing Director of Redmoon Theatre for 2 decades. Frank wants to thank Mike Meluch, Tony Willis, Lou Silverstein, Shawn Clark, El, and Leah for their unwavering support.

Mark Messing COMPOSER Mark (he/him) was delighted to find that humans can conjure magic together when on the third day of band practice in Mr. Koenig’s sixth grade music program at Pompano Beach Florida elementary school the class got to the page in the book where the band plays in harmony. He is delighted to conjure with Cabinet of Curiosity on the long-awaited return of The Cabinet. In between The Cabinet and Mr. Koenig’s class, he’s made music and sound for Theater Oobleck, Blair Thomas Puppet Theater, The Ljubljana Puppet Theater, Bricklayers Theater/Collectif Masque, Chicago Children’s Theater, Lookingglass Theater Company, Walkabout Theater, and a few others now on the posterity circuit. Currently he is working with Court Theater to realize a stage version of Jason Lute’s graphic Novel, Berlin.

Liviu Pasare PROJECTIONIST- Liviu (he/him) is a Chicago-based video designer creating new and immersive experiences. His work encompasses video installations, interactive design and immersive experiences for public spaces and stages. With a strong art and technology background and a passion for collaboration, Liviu has partnered with a diverse range of artists and organizations to enable and manifest new visions. Recent engagements include Luftwerk, Cabinet of Curiosity, The Seldoms, Bob Faust, Nick Cave, Daniel Arsham, Federico Solmi, Chicago Black Dance Legacy Project, In the Realm of Senses. He is a company member with Collaboraction and a longtime collaborator with Teatro Vista. For more information. visit liviu.stoptime.live.
 
Janet Eckleberger  COSTUMES Janet (she/her) makes many items from fabric, found objects, and will do your taxes. She lives in a Camper in Greensboro with her man boy Eliot.

Cabinet of Curiosity (cocechicago.com) is intentionally composed of diverse project-by-project collectives who authentically collaborate on original celebrations, rituals, and productions. Cabinet uses sophisticated puppetry and handmade devices to develop unique interactive experiences, productions, and events. We focus on creating new types of gatherings, ceremonies, and rituals that promote community, dialogue, and interactivity among people who may not usually mix. We support multicultural professionals in the fields of theatre, visual arts, dance, sculpture, and music while mindfully training high school and college-age apprentices to become the future creators of new meaningful rituals. All of the objects and devices created by Cabinet are engineered to expose their mechanical operations so they are simultaneously educational, informative, and magical. We embrace commissions requiring unique ritual, ceremony, procession, and pageantry elements. These commissions create funding that establishes an innovative revenue stream, reduces the responsibility of sustainability from a board, audience, and foundations, trains apprentices through a unique scholarship apparatus, builds community, and funds our free and significantly discounted public work. We are committed to social engagement — both grand and intimate. Our purpose is to promote curiosity, community, and culture. The remount of Frank Maugeri’s spectacle in miniature, The Cabinet, follows several new works, Death is Not the End, Tabletop Tragedies, Farewell Fables, and numerous original rituals, including Panoramic Prayers, Pedal Powered Playground, Pedal Powered Poetry, Reflections on Fire, Messages of Hope, Sea Change, and Journey for the Sun. Our “season of celebration” includes free ritual workshops, a summer of unexpected parades and performances, our leadership of The Clayco Foundations Illumination, and our free year-round School of Celebration and Celebration Consultancy programs. Cabinet of Curiosity does not permit stipend wages or volunteers and only pays artists by the hour for design, rehearsal, and execution or performance. We maintain a commitment to being a right-sized, debt-free arts enterprise. 

The Cabinet

Cabinet of Curiosity

Chicago

The Biograph's Začek-McVay Mainstage, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Lincoln Park

Thursday, January 16 at 7 p.m.; Friday, January 17 at 9 p.m.; Saturday, January 18 at 9 p.m.; Sunday, January 19 at 3 p.m.

60 minutes

14 and up

Tickets: $25-$43

cocechicago.com



About the 7th Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival
The Cabinet is one of  more than 100 shows and special events that are part of the 7th Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, January 15-26, 2025. The 2025 Chicago Puppet Fest is the largest event of its kind in North America, spanning 12 days and dozens of Chicago venues, presenting  an international pageant of puppet artists in all-ages spectacle shows in landmark theaters, intimate works on smaller stages, and late night puppet cabarets. Last year’s festival attracted nearly 20,000 fans of puppetry, a record, from Chicago and around the world. This year, see puppet artists from Canada, Chile, China, France, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Norway, Puerto Rico, Poland, Scotland, South Africa, the U.S. and Chicago performing the full range of contemporary and traditional puppetry styles.



For tickets and information,visit chicagopuppetfest.org, sign up for the festival’s e-news, and follow the festival on Facebook, Instagram or Vimeo, hashtag #ChiPuppetFest. 

Thursday, January 16, 2025

Sam Shepard’s FOOL FOR LOVE at Steppenwolf Theatre January 30 – March 16, 2025

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar

FOOL FOR LOVE

Written by Sam Shepard

Directed by Jeremy Herrin 

Featuring ensemble members Cliff Chamberlain, Caroline Neff

and Tim Hopper with Nick Gehlfuss

January 30 – March 16, 2025 in Steppenwolf’s Downstairs Theater 

FIRST LOOK:

Cast and creative team in rehearsal for Steppenwolf Theatre’s revival of

Steppenwolf Theatre’s "Fool for Love" in rehearsal. Photos by Joel Moorman.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company, the nation’s premier ensemble theater company, is pleased to present a searing revival of Sam Shepard’s dark and beautiful masterpiece Fool for Love, directed by Jeremy Herrin, playing January 30 – March 16, 2025 in Steppenwolf’s Downstairs Theater, 1650 N. Halsted St. in Chicago. Single tickets are now on sale at steppenwolf.org or the Box Office at (312) 335-1650. 

Fool for Love features ensemble members Cliff Chamberlain as Martin (The Minutes, Superior Donuts), Tim Hopper as The Old Man (The Thanksgiving Play, Downstate) and Caroline Neff as May (POTUS, Another Marriage) with Nick Gehlfuss as Eddie (Chicago Med, Chicago PD, Chicago Fire) in his Steppenwolf debut.

About the Production:

In a sweltering motel room in the Mojave Desert, May and Eddie lick their wounds and get ready for another relentless round. This brawl is eternal and infernal. And the Old Man is always watching.

Perhaps the sexiest, most haunting play of the 20th century, Fool for Love is a twisted and tequila-soaked love letter from Sam Shepard, one of the greatest American playwrights, indulging the need to get inside someone just to tear them apart.

Steppenwolf Artistic Directors Glenn Davis and Audrey Francis comment, “Through the decades, Steppenwolf has returned again and again to Sam Shepard’s searing body of work. His plays, filled with tension, symbol and muscle, pose delights and demands for actors and audiences alike. Fool for Love is no exception, with Eddie and May’s iconic power struggle at the heart of this prize-winning masterpiece.”

Davis and Francis add, “And–we can’t stress enough–there’s nothing quite like Shepard’s work when we do it here. It’s lightning in a bottle; it’s visceral, timeless, contemporary and mythic all in one. For seven short weeks this winter, our Downstairs Theater will once again be transformed to a house of worship dedicated to Shepard, Steppenwolf’s patron saint of irreverent, enigmatic and downright explosive American Drama.”

The creative team includes Todd Rosenthal (Scenic Design), Raquel Adorno (Costume Design), Heather Gilbert (Lighting Design), Mikhail Fiksel (Sound Design), Samantha Kaufman (Fight and Intimacy Choreography), Kate DeVore (Vocal Coach), Jonathan L. Green (Dramaturg), Patrick Zakem (Creative Producer), Tom Pearl (Producing Director), JC Clementz, CSA (Casting), Laura D. Glenn (Production Stage Manager) and Kathleen Barrett (Assistant Stage Manager). For full cast and creative team bios, click here.

Location: Steppenwolf’s Downstairs Theater, 1650 N. Halsted St., Chicago

Dates: Previews: Thursday, January 30 – Friday, February 7, 2025

Regular run: Tuesday, February 11 – Sunday, March 16, 2025

Curtain Times: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 pm; Saturdays at 3 pm & 7:30 pm; and Sundays at 3 pm. Please note: there will not be 7:30 pm performances on Tuesday, February 4, Wednesday, March 5 or Tuesday, March 11; there will not be 3 pm performances on Saturday, February 8 or Sunday, February 9; there will be an added 2 pm matinee on Wednesday, March 5.

Tickets: Single tickets for Fool for Love ($20 - $128) are now on sale at steppenwolf.org and the Box Office at (312) 335-1650. Steppenwolf Flex Memberships are also currently on sale: Black Card Memberships with six tickets for use any time for any production and RED Card Memberships for theatergoers under 30.


Education and Engagement:

Throughout the 2024/25 season, Steppenwolf continues its commitment to the next generation of theatre learners, makers and appreciators with robust education and engagement programming. Programming includes dedicated student matinee performances during four of the five Membership Series productions including Noises Off, Leroy and Lucy, Fool for Love and The Book of Grace, in-school residencies in partnership with Chicago Public schools, workshops, panels and events specifically geared towards teens, as well as professional development trainings and resources for educators. Additionally, Steppenwolf is reimagining their community engagement and will pilot new public programming, continue accessibility programming and offer opportunities for deeper explorations for audiences throughout the season. For additional information about Steppenwolf’s Education and Engagement programming and to register your school for a field trip visit steppenwolf.org/education-and-engagement/steppenwolf-field-trip-series.

Accessible Performance Dates:

Audio-Described and Touch Tour: Sunday, March 2, 2025 at 3 pm (1:30 pm touch tour)Open-Captioned: Saturday, March 1, 2025 at 3 pm & Thursday, March 6, 2025 at 7:30 pm

ASL-Interpreted: Friday, March 7, 2025 at 7:30 pm


Artist Biographies:

Sam Shepard’s (Playwright) first New York plays, Cowboys and The Rock Garden, were produced by Theatre Genesis in 1964. For several seasons, he worked with Off-Off-Broadway theatre groups including La MaMa and Caffe Cino. Eleven of his plays won Obie Awards, including Chicago, The Tooth of a Crime and Curse of the Starving Class. Other award-winning plays include Fool for Love, True West, A Lie of the Mind and Buried Child, for which he won a Pulitzer Prize in 1979. In 1986, Shepard was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters and received the Gold Medal for Drama from the Academy in 1992. He was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame two years later. As a writer and director, he filmed Far North and Silent Tongue. As an actor, he appeared in numerous films, including The Right Stuff, Days of Heaven and Resurrection. His final works of prose, The One Inside and Spy of the First Person, were published in 2017, the year of his death.

Jeremy Herrin (Director) was previously Artistic Director of Headlong and is a Founding Director of Second Half Productions. Theatre includes: Children's Children (Almeida Theatre); Best of Enemies (Young Vic/ West End, South Bank Show Award for Best Theatre Production); All My Sons (The Old Vic); The Visit, or the Old Lady Comes to Call, The Plough and the Stars, Statement of Regret (National Theatre); People, Places and Things (National Theatre/ Headlong/ West End/ UK tour/ St. Ann’s Warehouse, New York); This House (National Theatre/ Chichester Festival Theatres/ West End); Labour of Love (Olivier Award for Best Comedy); The Nether, That Face, South Downs, Absent Friends, Death and the Maiden, The Glass Menagerie (West End); Wolf Hall, Bring Up the Bodies (RSC/ West End/ Broadway, Evening Standard Award for Best Director); Junkyard, The Absence of War, The Nether (Headlong); Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme (International tour); The Tempest, Much Ado About Nothing (Shakespeare’s Globe); Almost Famous (Old Globe, San Diego); Noises Off (Lyric Hammersmith/ West End); Haunted Child, The Heretic, Kin, Spur of the Moment, Off the Endz; The Priory (Olivier Award for Best Comedy), Tusk Tusk, The Vertical Hour, That Face (Royal Court); South Downs, Uncle Vanya (Chichester Festival Theatre); The Moderate Soprano (Hampstead Theatre); Marble (The Abbey, Dublin); The Family Reunion (Donmar Warehouse); Blackbird (Market Theatre, Johannesburg).

Cliff Chamberlain (Martin) joined the Steppenwolf Theatre Company ensemble in 2018. Steppenwolf Theatre Company: The Minutes, Belleville, Clybourne Park, Theatrical Essays, Superior Donuts. Chicago: The Seagull (Goodman Theatre); The Sparrow (The House Theatre of Chicago). Broadway: The Minutes, Superior Donuts. Television: Homeland, Altered Carbon, The Act, Dirty John: Betty, Easy, State of Affairs, Chicago PD, Paper Girls, The Chair. Film: The Wise Kids, Win it All and Netflix’s upcoming RIP. Cliff trained at UCSB and The School at Steppenwolf. "Love to R + E + E + C.”

Nick Gehlfuss (Eddie) For its entire successful nearly decade-long run, Nick Gehlfuss was one of the leads (and fan-favorite) of Dick Wolf’s hit series Chicago Med on NBC. Gehlfuss has portrayed Dr. Will Halstead since the first spinoff episode that launched the series and can often be seen on crossover episodes of Chicago PD and Chicago Fire. Prior to his television work, Gehlfuss made his stage debut in New York in Classic Stage Company's production of Midsummer Night's Dream (Lysander) starring opposite Bebe Neuwirth and Christina Ricci for which he received the prestigious Rosemarie Tichler Award for outstanding performance in a play. In Los Angeles, he starred in Neil Labute’s Reasons to Be Pretty at the Geffen Playhouse. Nick has also been seen in recurring roles in Showtime’s Shameless, HBO’s Newsroom, Starz Power, as well as guest spots in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, The Good Wife, Person of Interest and Royal Pains. He holds a B.F.A. in Theater and an M.F.A. in Acting.

Tim Hopper (The Old Man) is a member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company ensemble. Recent roles at Steppenwolf include Caden in The Thanksgiving Play and Andy in Downstate, which traveled to the National Theatre in London, and to Playwrights Horizons in New York. He also appeared at the Goodman Theatre in the title role of Uncle Vanya. Television appearances include Chicago Fire, Emperor of Ocean Park, the Amazon series Utopia, Fargo, The Americans and Empire. Film appearances include Perpetrator; Knives and Skin, School of Rock and To Die For, among others. Off-Broadway: New York Theatre Workshop, Theatre for a New Audience, Vineyard Theatre and the Atlantic Theater. Internationally, the Edinburgh Festival and Antwerp's De Singel Theatre.

Caroline Neff (May) is a Steppenwolf ensemble member. At Steppenwolf, she was last seen in POTUS, Another Marriage, Describe the Night, Seagull, Dance Nation, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, You Got Older, Linda Vista (also Taper Forum and Broadway), The Fundamentals, The Flick, Airline Highway (also Broadway), The Way West, Three Sisters, Annie Bosh is Missing and Where We’re Born. Select theatre credits include: Lettie (Jeff Award Best Actor; Victory Gardens Theater); Uncle Vanya (Goodman Theatre); A Brief History of Helen of Troy (Jeff Award for Best Actress), The Knowledge, Harper Regan, In Arabia We’d All Be Kings (Steep Theatre); The Downpour (Route 66 Theatre); Port (Griffin Theatre); 4000 Miles (Northlight Theatre); Moonshiner (Jackalope Theatre). Regional credits include: Peerless (Yale Repertory Theatre). Film and television credits include: FBI, Three Women, Let the Right One In, The Red Line, Chicago PD, Chicago Fire, Open Tables and Older Children, and heard in multiple Audible Projects such as: Song of the Northwoods, Crowded Hours, Denali and Boar's Nest. She is a proud company member of Steep Theatre and holds her BA from Columbia College.

Accessibility:

As a commitment to make the Steppenwolf experience accessible to everyone, performances featuring American Sign Language Interpretation, Open Captioning and Audio Description are offered during the run of each STC production (see dates above). Assistive listening devices and large-print programs are available for every performance and all our spaces are equipped with an induction hearing loop. Our building features wheelchair accessible seating and restrooms, push-button entrances, a courtesy wheelchair and all-gender restrooms, with accessible counter and table spaces at our bars. For additional information regarding accessibility, visit steppenwolf.org/access or e-mail access@steppenwolf.org.

Sponsor Information:

United Airlines is the Official and Exclusive Airline of Steppenwolf. Steppenwolf is also grateful for the significant season support from lead sponsors Allstate Insurance Company, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, Crown Family Philanthropies, Caroline and Keating Crown, Good Chaos, Joyce Foundation, Lefkofsky Family Foundation, Ron and Paula Mallicoat, Northern Trust, Anne and Don Phillips, John Hart and Carol Prins, Robert Rivkin and Cindy Moelis, Shubert Foundation, Inc, Walder Foundation, and Zell Family Foundation. Steppenwolf also acknowledges generous support from premier sponsors Anonymous, ArentFox Schiff, Andrew and Amy Bluhm, Michael and Cathy Brennan, Ann and Richard Carr, Chicago Community Trust, Conagra Brands Foundation, Steven and Nancy Crown, CRC Group, Rich and Margery Feitler, Julius Frankel Foundation, FROST CHICAGO, Goldman Sachs, Shmaila Tahir and Asheesh Goel, Bob and Amy Greenebaum, Kirkland & Ellis, Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, Christopher and Eileen Murphy, The Orlebeke Foundation, Polk Bros. Foundation, Bryan Traubert and Penny Pritzker, Sacks Family Foundation, Smart Family Foundation of Illinois, Gary Sinise Foundation, Elliot A. Stultz, and Vinci Restaurant. Steppenwolf also acknowledges support from the Illinois Arts Council Agency. This project is partially supported by a CityArts Grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs & Special Events. 

About Steppenwolf Theatre Company:

Steppenwolf Theatre Company is the nation’s premier Ensemble Theater with 49 members who are among the top actors, playwrights and directors in the field. Thrilling, powerful, groundbreaking productions — from Balm in Gilead and Grapes of Wrath to August: Osage County, Downstate and The Brother/Sister Plays — have made this theatre legendary. Founded in 1976, Steppenwolf started as a group of teens performing in the basement of a church. Today, the company's artistic force remains rooted in the original vision of its founders: an artist-driven theatre, whose vitality is defined by its appetite for bold and innovative work. Every aspect of Steppenwolf is rooted in its Ensemble ethos, from the intergenerational artistic programming to the multi-genre performance series LookOut, to the nationally recognized work of Steppenwolf Education and Engagement which serves nearly 15,000 teens annually. While grounded in the Chicago community, more than 40 original Steppenwolf productions have enjoyed success nationally and internationally, including Broadway, Off-Broadway, London, Sydney, Galway and Dublin. Steppenwolf also holds accolades that include the National Medal of Arts, 12 Tony Awards, and more. Led by Artistic Directors Glenn Davis and Audrey Francis, Executive Director Brooke Flanagan and Board of Trustees Chair, Keating Crown — Steppenwolf continually redefines the landscape of acting and performance.

Steppenwolf’s Mission: Steppenwolf strives to create thrilling, courageous and provocative art in a thoughtful and inclusive environment. We succeed when we disrupt your routine with experiences that spark curiosity, empathy and joy. 

We invite you to join our ensemble as we navigate, together, our complex world. steppenwolf.org, facebook.com/steppenwolftheatre, twitter.com/steppenwolfthtr and instagram.com/steppenwolfthtr.

REVIEW: Beautifully Macabre Puppet Dracula: Lucy's Dream Now Playing Through January 19, 2025

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar
Dracula: Lucy's Dream
By Plexus Polaire 
Now Playing Chicago's Studabaker Theater as part of the 
7th Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival



Dracula: Lucy's Dream, Plexus Polaire, France/Norway Credit: Christophe Raynaud de Lage

Suggested for ages 14+ 
Running Time 65 minutes


REVIEW

By Bonnie Kenaz-Mara

Last night was a wonderful kickoff for the 7th annual Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival with the beautifully macabre production of Dracula: Lucy's Dream. This unique, female-centric take on Bram Stoker’s age-old Dracula tale, brings new life to the story from Lucy’s point of view. We're elated to welcome back festival favorite, Plexus Polaire - Yngvild Aspeli - From France/Norway.

Credit: Christophe Raynaud de Lage

We loved this evocative storytelling with master level puppetry. Puppeteers seamlessly transformed from invisible forms clad head to toe in black, to characters interacting on stage with life sized puppet versions of Dracula and Lucy. 

Credit: Christophe Raynaud de Lage

The puppets also make stunning transformations from human forms to bats, spiders and even a dog, eliciting audible gasps and exclamations from the audience. We're still astonished at the range of motion involved in manipulating so many creatures and their differing tempos and ways of moving. There are horrifying Exorcist-like elements amid bone chilling beauty. And I'll never innocently befriend a stray dog again!


Credit: Jerzy Doroszkiewicz 

There is no dialogue and few lyrics, so language is no barrier to the universal appeal of this dark, dramatic piece from France/Norway. The mirror mazes, and multiple Lucy characters were a joy to see. The incredible score is full of haunting minor chords and dissonant noises. And the visual interplay of light and shadows meld with the etherial beauty of the puppet design, costumes, projection work, and set pieces, to create an unforgettable production. Plexus Polaire's work is truly world class and we are incredibly lucky in Chicago to have yet another of their unforgettable productions mounted here at the gorgeous, art deco Studebaker Theater.

Credit: Christophe Raynaud de Lage

This production is definitely created for adults, and not for the faint of heart. Please take the 14+ age suggestion seriously. We adored this piece, but it's the stuff of nightmares. Dracula: Lucy's Dream is epic storytelling and a must see. If you love the macabre, don't miss this! 

Credit: Christophe Raynaud de Lage

“Chevalier dans l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres”
It was exciting to be part of the sold-out crowd at the Studebaker Theater on Opening Night of the 7th Chicago Puppet Festival. Aside from catching the brilliant French production of Dracula: Lucy's Dream, that evening, France also gave a medal and title to Blair Thomas, Founder and Artistic Director of the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival. He is now “Chevalier dans l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres”.

The title “Chevalier dans l'ordre des Arts et des Lettres” is given by France to people who have distinguished themselves through their creativity in arts, culture and literature. Past recipients include Cate Blanchett, Tim Burton and Rudolf Nureyev.

As Founder and Artistic Director of the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, Blair Thomas’s support of French culture over many years is undeniable. In addition to his early work as a puppet artist, Thomas had a highly-celebrated presentation of his version of Moby Dick at FMTM (the World Festival of Puppet Theaters) in Charleville-Mézières in 2018. Thomas conceived the 2019 Festival Exchange that brought the French companies Tria Fata, Plexus Polaire and Compagnie Non Nova to Chicago in 2019. He also co-produced with France’s Théâtre de L’Entrouvert Anywhere, a play with a puppet made with ice, playing January 16-19 at this year’s festival. 

Axelle Moleur, Cultural Attaché for Villa Albertine in Chicago, spoke and pinned Thomas with his ceremonial medal at the festival’s Prelude Reception.

Bonnie is a Chicago based writer, theatre critic, photographer, artist, and Mama to 2 amazing adults. She owns two websites where she publishes frequently: ChiILLiveShows.com (adult) & ChiILMama.com (family friendly).

Bram Stoker’s Dracula, but from Lucy’s point of view, from festival favorite Plexus Polaire (France/Norway). Credit: Christophe Raynaud de Lage

Dracula: Lucy's Dream, Plexus Polaire, France/Norway Credit: Christophe Raynaud de Lage

Dracula: Lucy's Dream

Plexus Polaire

France/Norway

Studebaker Theater, 410 S. Michigan Ave., downtown Chicago

Wednesday, January 15 at 7 p.m.; Friday, January 17 at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, January 18 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Sunday, January 19 at 2 p.m.

65 minutes

14 and up

Tickets: $40-$48



Credit: Christophe Raynaud de Lage

France’s internationally acclaimed Plexus Polaire wowed Chicago audiences in 2023 with their spectacular, sold out performances of Moby Dick, and in 2019 with Chambre Noire. Now they’re back at the Studebaker, opening this year’s festival with the Chicago premiere of their internationally acclaimed work, Dracula: Lucy’s Dream, ready to serve up large-scale spectacle, human size bunraku puppets, hypnotic video projection and their signature style of imbuing the puppet with storytelling power.


Credit: Jerzy Doroszkiewicz 

In her visual adaptation of the famous myth of Dracula, Yngvild Aspeli freely draws inspiration from Bram Stoker's hypnotic tale to tell the story of Lucy. As the character fights against her inner "Dracula-esque" demon she surfaces and reveals an inclination toward domination, dependence, addiction and destructive force. A metaphor of control, both forced and desired, seductive and deceptive. 


Credit: Christophe Raynaud de Lage

Plexus Polaire is known for hauntingly beautiful productions that blend gothic themes with emotional depth. Director, actress, puppeteer, puppet-maker and Plexus Polaire Artistic director Yngvild Aspeli develops a visual world that brings audiences’  most buried feelings to life. The use of life-sized puppets is at the center of her work, but the actor’s performance, the presence of the music and the use of light and video are all equal elements in communicating the story. Aspeli studied at Ecole Jacques Lecoq in Paris and at ESNAM (Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts de la Marionnette) in Charleville-Mézières. Within her French-Norwegian company Plexus Polaire, she has directed six shows: Signals (2011), Opera Opaque (2013), Ashes (2014), Chambre noire (2017), Moby Dick (2020) and Dracula (2022). She is currently working on an adaptation of A Doll’s House that premiered in Autumn 2023. plexuspolaire.com/english.


Credit: Christophe Raynaud de Lage

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FEST ALERT: 7th Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival Returns January 15-26, 2025



7th Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival 

January 15-26th, 2025


Marvel at incredible stories told through the lens of contemporary puppetry, performed by amazing puppet artists and companies from around the world!

It's time once again for one of our favorite annual fests -- The Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival. Here at ChiILMama.com and ChiILLiveShows.com, we've been covering Puppet Fest extensively since their inaugural year back in 2015 with dozens of features and hundreds of photos and social media posts. We've done video interviews multiple times with Puppet Fest Founder and Artistic Director, Blair Thomas, and we know quite a few of the Chicago Puppeteers. We're also always jazzed to welcome new puppeteers from around the world. Chicago is truly the multicultural puppet hub of the world, and we're so lucky to host again, this January 15-26, 2025. We're in for 12 straight days of spectacular shows, intimate works, and special events at dozens of venues all over the city. 

There are edgy, adult offerings, family friendly shows, free community productions, in venues across the city. One of our favorite elements of the fest is the community. Puppet people are the best. The performers and audiences are such a unique subset of the theatre scene and we're here for it. Don't miss this! We've got highlights and favorites below, and you can follow our social media for last minute performance additions, changes, and more. Paper schedules are available at the venues and full details including video clips and ticket links are available at the official fest site at chicagopuppetfest.org. Tickets are on sale now. and we suggest you don’t wait. Despite Chicago’s cold January winters, tickets are always a hot commodity and some of the smaller venues will sell out fast!

The 2025 Chicago Puppet Fest will span 12 days and dozens of Chicago venues, presenting an international pageant of puppet artists sharing more than 120 puppetry activities!!! Get set for all-ages spectacle shows in landmark theaters, intimate works on smaller stages, and the always popular, adults-only, late night puppet cabarets.

Warm up to a wildly diverse range of classic and contemporary puppetry styles from around the world, created by puppet artists from China, India and Scotland, the first time for these countries to play a part in the Chicago Puppet Festival, along with Canada, Chile, China, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Norway, Puerto Rico, Poland, South Africa, the U.S. and Chicago.

These stories and more await fans of the 7th Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, all told by puppet artists from around the world, showcasing different forms of traditional and contemporary puppet styles, from bunraku to shadow puppetry, marionettes to object-based works.



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