OPENING: Award Winning Moby Dick Returns to Lookingglass 6/7-9/3

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

Here at ChiIL Mama and ChiIL Live Shows, we caught the initial run of Moby Dick at Lookingglass and were mesmerized! Moby Dick could easily be dry and pedantic, but not in the creative and capable hands of Lookingglass Theatre, with director David Catlin at the helm! The rhythm of the words is hypnotic, the integration of circus arts to advance the story line is captivating, and the action, adventure, sets, costumes and acting are nothing short of stunning. This production is an absolute must see! We loved it before and can't wait to return and see it again. 

Winner of four Jeff Awards, the critically-acclaimed Moby Dick returns to Lookingglass in this harrowing and intoxicating exploration of revenge, obsession, and destiny. Madness rages like the angry sea when man pits himself against leviathan in Herman Melville’s classic tale, furiously reimagined by director David Catlin (Lookingglass Alice).

Performances of Moby Dick begin today!

Don't miss your chance to experience this epic adventure. 

Best Availability:
Thursday, June 8, 7:30PM 
Thursday, June 15, 7:30PM
Friday, June 16, 7:30PM
Wednesday, June 21, 7:30PM

Written and Directed by 
Ensemble Member David Catlin
From the Book by Herman Melville
In Association with
The Actors Gymnasium

Group Discounts Available: bring a group of 8 or more and save up to 25%.
lookingglasstheatre.org/groups

Watch the cast of Moby Dick soar through the air during rehearsals at The Actors Gymnasium. 

Chicago Style Magic Returns with Groundbreaking on New Andersonville Art Deco Home for Chicago Magic Lounge

CHICAGO MAGIC LOUNGE UNVEILS NEW LOCATION FOR PERMANENT VENUE 

Multi-Million Dollar Renovation to Host “Chicago Style Magic” Featuring Close-Up Magic with More Than 35 Famed Magicians

Today, ChiIL Mama was ChiILin' just north of Chicago in the charmingly diverse Andersonville neighborhood, for the groundbreaking of a new, art deco home for Chicago Magic Lounge at 5050 N. Clark St.

Check out our full set of shots in the slideshow here and more favorites below.

Chicago Magic Lounge, Chicago’s home for close-up magic, today broke ground in its new home. The multi-million-dollar renovation, designed by Morris Architects Planners, will usher in a new wave of entertainment, bringing back “Chicago Style Magic” under the leadership of Donald Clark, Jr. and Joseph (Joey) Cranford. From magicians to mind readers, Chicago Magic Lounge will provide guests the unique, one-of-a-kind experience of seeing wonders up-close and personal.

“Chicago Magic Lounge expects to open its luxurious new entertainment center in Chicago in early 2018,” said co-owner Donald Clark, Jr. “The newly renovated building will be an art deco-style magic lounge featuring secret entrances, a performance bar—replete with craft cocktails and decadent small bites—and an approximately 100 seat cabaret theater with a mezzanine overlooking both the stage as well as the bar underneath it. In addition, the space will feature a separate, exclusive close-up performance room, the “654 Club" (named for a classic Chicago card trick story, where guests will have the option to get an even closer look into our world of magic.” He added, “You truly won’t believe your eyes.”



The renovation, which will transform what was once a commercial laundry facility into a state-of the art venue, plans to be completed by late 2017 and will be in the heart of the Andersonville community. Prior to the completion of Chicago Magic Lounge, the show will continue to run at the Uptown Underground (4707 N. Broadway) where a community of 35 magicians entertain audiences every Thursday and Saturday night. 

Chicago Magic Lounge will continue to delight audiences with close-up magic as they engage with guests by breaking the fourth wall and thrive on pure audience interaction and reaction.

As stated by Thrillist, “The Chicago Magic Lounge isn’t so much a physical structure as it is a reality that magicians have invited the audience into. The whole evening is essentially one big performance, and during it, magicians must believe in what they’re doing for it to feel real for the spectator. And when the spectator gets lost in the moment completely, even for a second -- that’s it. That’s the real magic.”



“Chicago Magic Lounge brings back a style of magic unique to the Windy City, which once hosted over 15 bars, restaurants and lounges all dedicated to what would become known as ‘Chicago-Style Magic,’” said co-owner Joey Cranford. "Dating back to the 1920s, magic bars and lounges were wonder-filled places of mystery and prestidigitation. One by one, the magic bars seemingly disappeared. Gone were the sleight of hand card tricks at the bar. Gone were simple, elegant illusions that made you wonder if you had one too many cocktails, and with it, Chicago forgot about a style of entertainment that it had created,” said Cranford.  “Well, now the magic is back.”






About Joey Cranford

An actor, director and marketing executive, Joey Cranford founded the Chicago Magic Lounge in 2015. Cranford moved to Chicago to train with The Second City in 2002, and began performing with I.O. and the Annoyance Theater while traveling with a national touring improv group. He transitioned into Film and Television with credits including “Man of Steel,” “Batman v Superman,” “Chicago Fire” and “Better Call Saul.” Cranford began his career in magic directing a local show called “Bending Minds and Bending Dreams.” He now works with a dedicated team of the best magicians in the country.  

About Donald Clark, Jr.



Donald Clark, Jr., who recently retired from his successful career as an attorney, has always been appreciative of the art of magic and is now immersed in the entertainment business. Clark’s producing credits include “The Encounter,” (winner of a Special Tony Award, an Outer Critics Circle award and a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Sound Design in a Play), as well as the upcoming “Bull Durham: The Musical” on Broadway. Clark has served as Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Adler Planetarium as well as the Chicago Theological Seminary, where he is now the Acting President and General Counsel.

About Chicago Magic Lounge

The Chicago Magic Lounge reinvents the classic "magic bar" that once dotted Chicago's nightlife landscape, bringing cocktails and card tricks back together again. Shows include magic performance at the bar, on the stage and in true Chicago-Style magic form, at the tables of the guests, providing the classic "Close-Up" tradition Chicago-Style magic is known for. Chicago Magic Lounge is also the home of the Chicago-land magic community, showcasing over 30 local professionals, and serving as a networking hub for working magicians from all over the world. 

Renderings for the new space:

 bar 

view from the stage

view from the audience

Stacy Keach Recovering From Mild Heart Attack During Pamplona Opening Night at Goodman Theatre

GOODMAN THEATRE ANNOUNCES UPDATE ABOUT PAMPLONA’S STACY KEACH

Here at ChiIL Live Shows and ChiIL Mama our hearts go out to Stacy Keach's family and friends and we wish him a speedy and full recovery. My husband, Dug, has worked on location sound for numerous American Greed episodes for years now, a long running CNBC show that Stacy Keach narrates. I was also at the press opening where Goodman halted Pamplona, and for obvious reasons, we won't be reviewing unless a remount happens down the road. 

After a week of medical observation, it is now confirmed that stage and screen star Stacy Keach experienced a mild heart attack during the May 30 opening night performance of Pamplona, a one-man show by Jim McGrath. After it became clear that Keach was struggling, the performance was halted midway by Goodman Artistic Director Robert Falls. According to doctors, Keach is expected to make a complete recovery following a period of cardiac rehabilitation and rest. As previously announced, all remaining performances of Pamplona have been canceled; however, plans to reschedule the production are underway.

“On behalf of Stacy Keach, his family and the Goodman, we would like to extend our gratitude for all of the generous support and concern shown to Stacy this past week. I remain awed by Stacy’s courage and strength after experiencing such a disturbing event; his spirits are high and he is resting and recovering comfortably. Jim, Stacy and I look forward to continuing our collaboration on Pamplona,” said Artistic Director Robert Falls.

McGrath’s 80-minute, world premiere production starring Keach as the iconic American author Ernest Hemingway was scheduled to run May 19 through June 25 in the Goodman’s 350-seat Owen Theatre. Keach, who has no understudy given the unique nature of the play and his extensive involvement in the project’s development, completed every preview performance from May 19-28. The May 30 opening night was halted mid-performance, and the following three performances were cancelled as Keach underwent medical testing.

Ticket holders will be offered a full refund to Pamplona, or tickets to the upcoming Ah, Wilderness! by Eugene O’Neill, directed by Steve Scott. A Goodman Theatre Ticket Services representative will be in touch, or patrons can call 312.443.3800 or visit the box office in-person at 170 N. Dearborn (the box office is open daily from 12 noon to 5pm; on performance days, it remains open until 30 minutes past curtain).

The Goodman is grateful for its Pamplona sponsors, including The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation (Major Support) and Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP (Contributing Sponsor) with additional support from the Director’s Society.

FREE Concerts Tonight and Every Tuesday: Rush Hour Concerts’ 18th annual Summer Concert Series

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

Tonight marks the opening night performance of Rush Hour Concerts featuring Kontras Quartet performing String Quartet Op. 33, No. 5 by Franz Joseph Haydn & Black Bend by Dan Visconti

Photo by Elliot Mandel

Tuesday, June 6
St. James Cathedral, 65 E. Huron Street (at Wabash)

5:00 pm: Pre-concert Reception
5:45 pm: 30-minute Concert

Rush Hour Concerts celebrates the 18th anniversary of its beloved Summer Concert Series, offering live classical music every Tuesday evening after work in the serene St. James Cathedral. Curated by Artistic Director Anthony Devroye, this year’s concert series features masterworks by Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart, Copland, Barber, Shostakovich plus a first-ever Quartet Festival within the series.

Rush Hour Concerts are Tuesdays, June 6-August 29.
All Rush Hour Concerts are FREE.

To learn more about Rush Hour Concerts, visit www.rushhour.org. 

OPENING: ANTI-WAR OPERETTA JOHNNY JOHNSON AT STAGE 773 VIA CHICAGO FOLKS OPERETTA 6/24-7/9

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

CHICAGO FOLKS OPERETTA ANNOUNCES CHICAGO PREMIERE OF KURT WEILL’S ANTI-WAR OPERETTA JOHNNY JOHNSON, JUNE 24 – JULY 9, AT STAGE 773

Chicago Folks Operetta (CFO) is proud to announce the fully staged Chicago premiere of Kurt Weill’s anti-war operetta Johnny Johnson, June 24 – July 9, playing at Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave.  Based on the novel The Good Soldier Schwejk by Jaroslav Hasek, Johnny Johnson is written by Kurt Weill (music) and Paul Green (libretto) and edited by Tim Carter for the Kurt Weill Foundation.  The CFO version is edited by Gerald Frantzen, directed by George Cederquist and music directed by Anthony Barrese.  

Opening night is Saturday, June 24 at 7:30 p.m. The regular performance schedule is Thursdays – Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Tickets are $40 for adults, $35 for seniors (65 years and older), $30 for students (with student ID) and $20 for children (12 years and younger). For tickets and more information, please visit www.chicagofolksoperetta.org.

Kurt Weill’s and Paul Green’s witty anti-war operetta Johnny Johnson is set during World War I and the United States, having pledged to remain neutral, is pulled into the fight in order to make the world safe for democracy “over there.” Lowly American tombstone cutter Johnny Johnson, has been persuaded to enlist in the U.S. Army both by his sweetheart, Minny Belle Tompkins, and by President Woodrow Wilson’s promise of “a war to end all wars.” But confronted with the horrors of the trenches in France, he is outraged at the absurdity of it all, and with a hint of laughing gas, he fools the Allied generals into calling a cease-fire. Johnson is arrested, shipped back to America, and locked up in a lunatic asylum for his “peace monomania.” After 20 years in prison, Johnson is released and makes a living selling handmade toys as the trumpets of war once more sound in the distance.

Kurt Weill, like many other European operetta composers of Jewish origins, was forced out of Germany with the arrival of the Third Reich in the early 1930’s. The show, written in 1936, was “pure Weill,” with its anti-war theme and music that drew largely upon his unique orchestrations of his earlier European works. Johnny Johnson was developed in conjunction with the famed Group Theater headed by Lee Strasberg in New York City and ran for 68 performances at the 44th Street Theater. With a book and lyrics by Paul Green, the show was loosely based on Jaroslav Hasek’s novel the The Good Soldier Svejk, and its pacifist take on the First World War.  The show’s anti-war theme resonates throughout and was indeed a brave undertaking by Weill. The name Johnny Johnson was derived from the American First World War casualty lists, as it was the name that appeared most frequently.  Although rarely performed, Johnny Johnson is considered an important piece of the American musical theater and operetta canon. 

The production, with a 15-piece orchestra, features singers from the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Chicago Symphony and Grant Park choruses, as well as up and coming performers from throughout Chicagoland. Chicago Folks Operetta Music Director Anthony Barrese, artistic director of Opera  Southwest, conducts the orchestra with George Cederquist, Chicago Folks Operetta resident director, directing the production.

“The year 2017 is the 100th Anniversary of the U.S. entry into the First World War,” said Artistic Director Gerald Frantzen, “With wars currently raging in the Middle East and new provocations by the former Cold War power Russia and in North Korea; Johnny Johnson’s anti-war and pacifist leanings are more relevant than ever. Our Midwest premiere commemorates this country’s involvement in “the war to end all wars” and the lessons to be learned from aggression on an international scale.”

Performers include: Kaitlin Galetti, Robert Morrissey,  Christine Steyer, William Dwyer, Gabriel di Gennaro, Maxwell Seiftert, Jonathan Zeng,  Teaira Burge, Joshua Lee Smith, Nich Radcliffe  and Mary Lutz.

Production team includes: Anthony Barrese, conductor; George Cederquist, director; Eric Barry, co-lighting designer; Josh Prisching, technical director and Adam Veness,  co-lighting designer.




ABOUT ANTHONY BARRESE, Conductor

Anthony Barrese is the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of Opera Southwest and works frequently as an award-winning freelance composer and conductor that is regularly engaged by North American and Italian companies. He has led several productions with Sarasota Opera (Lakmé, Le nozze di Figaro, Hansel and Gretel), and with Opera Southwest (Le nozze di Figaro, Die Fledermaus, La cenerentola). He was the Assistant Conductor of the Dallas Opera in 2006 - 2007 and returned there as Guest Conductor for a production of Tosca in 2008 and in 2015 for La Wally. In 2008, Barrese conducted a new production of Turandot in Ascoli Piceno’s historic Teatro Ventidio Basso, with a cast that included Nicola Martinucci as Calaf. He also made his French debut conducting Turandot at the Opéra de Massy. He made his operatic conducting debut in Milan with La bohème and recorded Roberto Andreoni’s quattro luci sul lago with ”I Solisti della Scala” (a chamber group made up of the first chair musicians of the La Scala Philharmonic) for broadcast on Italian National Radio (RAI 3).

As Artistic Director of Opera Southwest he has performed Rossini’s Otello with the American staged premiere of the finale lieto and in 2014 he lead the new world premiere of Amleto, not heard anywhere since 1871. In the 2015-16 season Barrese led a “Return of Rossini” festival at OSW, as well as a production of Norma at Florida Grand Opera. In recent seasons Barrese made debuts with Florid Grand Opera (Les pêcheurs de perles), Opera Theatre of St. Louis (The Kiss), Opera North (L’elisir d’amore) and Boston Lyric Opera (Don Giovanni).

Barrese is the recipient of numerous composition awards including the 2007 Georg Solti Foundation U.S. award for young conductors, a N.E.C. Contemporary Ensemble Composition Competition Award for his Madrigale a 3 voci femminili and two B.M.I. Student Composers Awards. As a musicologist, Mr. Barrese rediscovered, prepared and edited the critical edition of Franco Faccio’s opera Amleto, in conjunction with Casa Ricordi. Upcoming engagements include L’italiana in Algeri at Sarasota Opera (2017) and Semiramide with Opera Delaware (2017)

ABOUT GEORGE CEDERQUIST, Director

George Cedequist has directed new productions and opera scenes with Chicago Fringe Opera (where he is the Artistic Director), Chicago Summer Opera, North Park University, Wolf Trap Opera, Chautauqua Opera, Roosevelt University, the Bay View Music Festival and Chicago Opera Vanguard. 

Cederquist is the recipient of the 2015 American prize in Directing, the 2011 – 2012 German Chancellor fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and his production of Kevin Puts’ Silent Night was chosen as a winner of Opera America’s Director-Designer competition. In May 2013, he presented Silent Night’s production concept to artistic directors and industry professionals during a special session of Opera America’s annual National Opera Conference in Vancouver, Canada. Also, during his fellowship in Germany, he served as a Regieassistent at the Staatstheater Darmstadt.

In September 2015, he launched “Opera Box Score,” America’s talk radio show about opera. Now in

its second season, he hosts the show every Monday at 9 pm (CT) live on WNUR 89.3 FM Chicago and it also shared as a podcast on iTunes. 

Cederquist served as the Resident Artist Stage Director at Pittsburgh Opera during the 2013-2014 season. He served as the Assistant Director for the company’s mainstage productions and directed new productions of Nico Muhly’s Dark Sisters and Gregory Spears’s Paul’s Case. As the Summer 2013 Apprentice Stage Director at the Merola Opera Program, he directed the Merola Grand Finale at the War Memorial Opera House, collaborating with conductor John DeMain and the San Francisco Opera Orchestra. Cederquist’s training includes an MFA in Directing from Northwestern University, a BA in Theatre Studies and English from Yale University and a Directing Fellowship at Wolf Trap Opera. A dual US-UK citizen, he is also an ensemble member of Steep Theatre Company (Chicago) and a member of the American Guild of Musical Artists.

ALSO PLAYING FROM CHICAGO FOLKS OPERETTA

A Lecture Featuring Music by Chicago Folks Operetta

“Kurt Weill and Paul Green: The Story Behind Johnny Johnson” 

May 24

Directed by Gerald Frantzen

Music accompanied by Anatolyi Torchinskyi

Lecture by Tim Carter

Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave.

Performance schedule: Wednesday, May 24 at 7:30 p.m. 

Tickets: $20

Performers include the singers Alison Kelly, Mary Lutz, William Dwyer and Gerald Frantzen and on piano Anatolyi Torchinskyi

Chicago Folks Operetta welcomes Kurt Weill scholar Tim Carter to Chicago for a lecture and performance.  Carter, one of the most acclaimed Weill scholars, shares with the audience information on the creation and history of Weill and Green’s Johnny Johnson.  The evening also includes performances of selections from Johnny Johnson and other Kurt Weill songs that showcase the operetta’s unique sound.

A Multi-Media Concert
Operetta and The Great War

June 28 and June 29

Directed by Gerald Frantzen

Music accompanied by Anatolyi Torchinskyi

Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave.

Performance schedule: Wednesday, June 28 and Thursday, June 29 at 7:30 p.m. 

Tickets: $30

The second offering in the 2017 season is Operetta and The Great War, a multi-media concert looking at how the operetta industry survived The Great War. Featuring performances of many of the forgotten World War I operettas, as well as examining the role of operetta in wartime propaganda efforts, Operetta and The Great War includes the music of Emmerich Kálmán, Leo Fall, Edmund Eysler, Harold Fraser-Stimson, Reynaldo Hahn, Leo Ascher, Henri Christine, Jerome Kern and others. At the height of its popularity when the First World War broke out, operetta found itself in the unusual position of being a vehicle for the propaganda of nations. Whether Axis or Allied, the operetta stars and composers of the time joined their nation’s war effort delivering patriotic messages and raising money. During the late years of the war, the thin line that once separated operetta and cabaret was breeched, as the political song writing so common to the cabaret stage now found voice in operetta. Operetta would not only survive, but also thrive during one of the most destructive wars in history.

This original multi-media presentation was written by CFO Artistic Director Gerald Frantzen and includes a host, four singers and a small chamber group accompanied by images of artists and photographs from The Great War. 

ABOUT CHICAGO FOLKS OPERETTA
Chicago Folks Operetta is a 501(c)(3) non-profit theater company devoted to the nurturing of live operetta through articulate and dynamic productions.  In the belief that the arts serve to illuminate the human condition, Chicago Folks Operetta is dedicated to the revival and development of operetta, a popular and accessible form of music and theater for general audiences.  In particular, the Chicago Folks Operetta concentrates on producing both Viennese and American operettas from the early 20th century.

Mr. Jerry Critser, The Pauls Foundation and the Kurt Weill Foundation for Music sponsor Chicago Folks Operetta

TONIGHT: JAZZ ON SUNDAYS TO FEATURE RON OJ PARSON AND ORBERT DAVIS AS SPECIAL GUEST PRESENTERS AND PERFORMANCES BY THE ORBERT DAVIS QUINTET

TIMELINE THEATRE'S  PARADISE BLUE, THE CHICAGO JAZZ PHILHARMONIC AND  THE HYDE PARK JAZZ SOCIETY COLLABORATE TO PRESENT A "CAN'T MISS"  EVENT  JUNE 4 AT ROOM 43 IN HYDE PARK

  

TimeLine Theatre's PARADISE BLUE, directed by Ron OJ Parson, features an original score composed by Orbert Davis. Music from the play will be featured and both will speak at Jazz on Sundays, June 4 at Room 43. 

Ron OJ Parson


Orbert Davis

TimeLine Theatre Company Member Ron OJ Parson and Orbert Davis, the co-founder, conductor and Artistic Director of Chicago Jazz Philharmonic, will talk about their new collaboration, TimeLine's current hit play PARADISE BLUE, as special guests at the Hyde Park Jazz Society's Jazz on Sundays event, Sunday, June 4 at Room 43.



Parsons is the director of PARADISE BLUE, a critically acclaimed, jazz-infused drama about a gifted but troubled trumpeter in Detroit's Black Bottom neighborhood. Davis composed and recorded the play's original jazz score. 

The evening starts at 7:30 pm with a brief conversation between Parson and Davis about their history, artistic processes and how they worked together to bring an authentic jazz sound to a live theater production. Their talk is followed by a live set with Davis and Chicago Jazz Philharmonic side men Leandro Lopez Varady (piano), Stewart Miller (bass) and Samuel Jewell (drums) playing selections from the PARADISE BLUE score until 9:15 pm. 

The second set, with Davis and the band performing selections from the CJP repertoire, starts at 9:45 pm.

A newly released, limited edition CD of Davis's score for PARADISE BLUE will be for sale at the event for $20. The CD is also available for purchase in the TimeLine Theatre lobby at performances of PARADISE BLUE, and online at 3sixteenstore.com.

Room 43 is located at 1043 E. 43rd St. in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. Tickets are $10 adults; $5 for students or children accompanies by adults. Room 43 offers bar and food service, including a tasty selection of "Jazz Bites." For more information, visit hydeparkjazzsociety.org.

More about PARADISE BLUE
"Juicy and resonant...filled with the music and longing of composer Orbert Davis," (Chicago Tribune) and "highly recommended...every note is pitch perfect" (Chicago Sun-Times) are among the many raves for TimeLine's Midwest premiere of PARADISE BLUE, a historical drama by acclaimed Detroit playwright Dominique Morisseau.

The play is set in 1949 in Detroit's Black Bottom neighborhood, where Blue, the gifted trumpeter and troubled owner of the Paradise nightclub is contemplating a buyout offer for the city's urban renewal plan. As the inhabitants of his famed but faltering jazz club ponder their options and dream of a better life, a mysterious woman arrives, relationships are tested and new challengers emerge that could turn their worlds upside down.

PARADISE BLUE runs through July 23 at TimeLine Theatre, 615 W. Wellington Ave., Chicago. Show times are Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. EXCEPTIONS: Additional performance Tuesday, June 20 at 7:30 p.m. No show on Sunday, June 25. For tickets and information, visit timelinetheatre.com or call the Box Office at (773) 281-8463 x6.
                                                                                                     
TimeLine Theatre and the Chicago Jazz Philharmonic were both awarded the MacArthur Award for Creative and Effective Institutions in 2016. Through this award, the MacArthur Foundation recognizes exceptional nonprofit organizations that demonstrate creativity and impact. 

The involvement of Davis and Chicago Jazz Philharmonic in TimeLine's production of PARADISE BLUE was made possible through the support of The Chicago Community Trust.

For more information, visit timelinetheatre.com and chicagojazzphilharmonic.org.




SPEAKER BIOGRAPHIES
Ron OJ Parson (Director) previously directed A RAISIN IN THE SUN and Morisseau's SUNSET BABY at TimeLine, where he is a Company Member. He is a native of Buffalo, New York, and a graduate of the University of Michigan's professional theatre program. He is the co-founder and former Artistic Director of Onyx Theatre Ensemble of Chicago and a co-founder and co-director of Ripe Mango Productions. Ron is a Resident Artist at Court Theatre and an Associate Artist with Teatro Vista. Since moving to Chicago from New York in 1994, he has worked as both an actor and director. His Chicago credits include work with The Chicago Theatre Company, Victory Gardens, Goodman, Steppenwolf, Chicago Dramatists, Northlight, Court, Black Ensemble Theatre, Congo Square, Urban Theatre Company, City Lit Theater, ETA Creative Arts and Writers. Regionally, Parson has directed shows at Studio Arena Theatre, Alliance Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Milwaukee Repertory, South Coast Repertory, Pasadena Playhouse, Geva Theatre, Virginia Stage, Roundabout Theatre, Wilshire Theatre, The Mechanic Theatre, CenterStage, St. Louis Black Repertory, Pittsburgh Public Theater, Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre, Signature Theatre, and Portland Stage, among others. In Canada, he directed the world premiere of PALMER PARK by Joanna McClelland Glass at the Stratford Festival. Acting credits on television and film include ER, EARLY EDITION, TURKS, AMERICAN PLAYHOUSE, VAMPING, BARBERSHOP 2, PRIMAL FEAR, DROP SQUAD and most recently Starz Network's BOSS. He is a member of AEA, SAGAFTRA, and SDC. For more information, visit ronojparson.com.


Orbert Davis (Original Music) is an Emmy-Award winning trumpeter, composer and educator, and co-founder, conductor and artistic director of Chicago Jazz Philharmonic (CJP), a 55+ piece symphonic jazz orchestra dedicated to bringing together audiences of diverse backgrounds through multi-genre projects. Davis has many composer commissions and has played key roles in major film and television projects, including his work as jazz consultant to Academy Award-winning director Sam Mendes for the film ROAD TO PERDITION. Recent projects include "Home and Away" honoring U.S. men and women in uniform, and an original score for the Emmy Award-winning national PBS documentary DUSABLE TO OBAMA: CHICAGO'S BLACK METROPOLIS produced by WTTW, which garnered Davis an Emmy Award for its soundtrack. His 2004 CD "Blue Notes" was the follow-up to his critically acclaimed "Priority" CD, which garnered an LA Times 4-star review, hit the Top 50 list for "most played on national radio" jazz CDs in 2002, and was named a Top 10 best jazz CD of 2002 by the Chicago Tribune. His 2009 CD of Chicago Jazz Philharmonic's "Collective Creativity" received rave reviews. Davis's latest release, Chicago Jazz Philharmonic's "Havana Blue," was born from CJP's relationship with Cuba's Universidad de las Artes (ISA). Davis is the longtime radio personality and host of "The Real Deal with Orbert Davis," a weekly 3-hour program airing on 90.9FM WDCB (also streaming live online at wdcb.org.) For more, visit orbertdavis.com.

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

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

Victory Gardens Theater presents the

Up Close & Personal Series 

featuring

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Up Close & Personal Series 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Production Sponsor: The Wallace Foundation

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

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

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

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

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

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