OPENING: Chicago Premiere of QUEEN OF THE MIST Via Firebrand Theatre at The Den Theatre May 25 – July 6, 2019

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Chicago Premiere!

Firebrand Theatre Presents

QUEEN OF THE MIST

Book, Music & Lyrics by Michael John LaChiusa

Directed by Elizabeth Margolius

Music Direction by Charlotte Rivard-Hoster

May 25 – July 6, 2019 at The Den Theatre

Firebrand Theatre is pleased to present the Chicago premiere of QUEEN OF THE MIST, based on the sensational true story of Anna (Annie) Edson Taylor, the first woman to go over Niagara Falls. Featuring book, music and lyrics by Michael John LaChiusa (The Wild Party, Marie Christine), direction by Elizabeth Margolius and music direction by Charlotte Rivard-Hoster, QUEEN OF THE MIST will play May 25 – July 6, 2019 at The Den Theatre’s Janet Bookspan Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. in Chicago. Single tickets are currently available at firebrandtheatre.org. 

QUEEN OF THE MIST features Barbara E. Robertson as Anna (Annie) Edson Taylor with Maryam Abdi, Neala Barron, Brianna Buckley, Max J. Cervantes, Liz Chidester and Hannah Starr. Understudies/swings include: Liz Bollar, Adelina Feldman-Schultz, Cari Meixner and Steven Romero Shaeffer.

QUEEN OF THE MIST is based on the astounding and outrageous true story of Anna (Annie) Edson Taylor, who in 1901 set out to be the first person to go over the Niagara Falls in a barrel of her own design. Navigating both the treacherous Falls and a fickle public with a ravenous appetite for sensationalism, this unconventional heroine vies for her legacy in a world clamoring with swindling managers, assassins, revolutionaries, moralizing family, anarchists and activists. With a soaring score that incorporates turn of the century themes with LaChiusa’s signature complexity and insight, QUEEN OF THE MIST is the story of a single great fall, and how one woman risked death so that she could live.

Firebrand is the first musical theatre company committed to employing and empowering women by expanding opportunities on and off the stage.

The production team for QUEEN OF THE MIST includes: Lauren Nichols (scenic design), Brenda Winstead (costume design), Carl Wahlstrom (sound design), Cat Wilson (lighting design), Wendy Huber (props deign), Daren Leonard (assistant director), Rose Hamill (production manager), Josh Prisching (technical director), Giselle Castro (sound operator), JC Widman (stage manager) and Martina Scofano (assistant stage manager).


Location: The Den Theatre’s Janet Bookspan Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave.

Dates: Previews: Saturday, May 25 at 7:30 pm and Sunday, May 26 at 3 pm
Press performance: Tuesday, May 28 at 7:30 pm
Regular run: Thursday, May 30 – Saturday, July 6, 2019

Curtain Times: Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays at 7:30 pm; Sundays at 3 pm
Industry Night: Wednesday, July 3 at 7:30 pm

Tickets: Previews $25. Regular run $55. $20 students/industry rush tickets available at the box office. Single tickets are currently available at firebrandtheatre.org. 

About The Creative Team
Elizabeth Margolius (Director) is a Chicago-based stage and movement director with a primary focus in developing and directing new and rarely produced musical theatre, operetta and opera. Stage/movement directorial credits include: James and the Giant Peach (Viterbo University, WI), Machinal (Greenhouse Theater Center), The Bridges of Madison County (Peninsula Players, WI), Uncle Philip’s Coat (Greenhouse Theater – Jeff nomination for Best Solo Peformance), Haymarket: The Anarchist’s Songbook (Underscore Theatre – 3 Jeff nominations, including Best New Musical), Sitayana (Gift Theatre’s TEN Festival), The Girl in the Train (Chicago Folks Operetta), Goldstar, Ohio (ATC), The Merry Wives of Windsor (Chicago Shakespeare Theater, asst. director to Barbara Gaines), The Mikado (the Savoyaires), The Last Cyclist (Genesis Theatrical), The Land of Smiles and The Cousin from Nowhere (Chicago Folks Operetta), Opus 1861 (City Lit Theater – 3 Jeff nominations, including Best Adaptation), Violet (Bailiwick Chicago –5 Jeff nominations, including Best Musical and Best Director), Bernarda Alba and Songs for a New World (BoHo Theatre). Elizabeth is an alumna of the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab in New York, a recipient of a full directorial scholarship at the Wesley Balk Opera-Music Theater Institute in Minneapolis, a respondent and workshop artist for the Kennedy Center’s American College Theatre Festival and a finalist for the Charles Abbott Fellowship. She is the Co-Founder and Artistic Director Emeritus of DirectorsLabChicago; a forum for emerging nationally and internationally based stage directors. Elizabeth is a proud member of the American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA) and the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC).

Charlotte Rivard-Hoster (Music Director) is proud to make her debut with Firebrand! Favorite credits: Legally Blonde, Wizard of Oz (Paramount), Fun Home (Victory Gardens), Marry Me a Little (Porchlight), Urinetown (BoHo), Bat Boy (Griffin), Heathers (Kokandy), Methtacular! (About Face), The Light in The Piazza (Berklee). Charlotte has taught at The Chicago Academy for the Arts, Lake Forest College, Roosevelt, Merit School of Music, and this winter she continues her seventh year with the little musicians at Kellman Elementary through Foundations of Music. With immense gratitude to those I love and lean on, and to those who open doors and leave them open.

Firebrand Theatre’s 2018-19 season sponsor: Michael and Mona Heath of the HeathFund.



Firebrand Theatre is a musical theatre company committed to employing and empowering women by expanding their opportunities on and off the stage. Firebrand is a 501(c)(3) Equity theatre.

Company members: Artistic Director: Harmony France; Advisory Board: Lili-Anne Brown, Emjoy Gavino, Kate Garassino, Amber Mak and Danni Smith; Company Members: Kasey Alfonso, Becca Brown, Sydney Charles, Liz Chidester, Heather Clark, Adelina Feldman-Schultz, Amanda Horvath, Jon Martinez, Eric Martin, Natalie O'hea, Amelia Jo Parish, Tyler Symone and Andra Velis Simon.

OPENING: FOUR PLACES Via The Den Theatre May 24 – June 30, 2019

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The Den Theatre Presents

FOUR PLACES

By Joel Drake Johnson

Directed Ensemble Member Lia Mortensen

May 24 – June 30, 2019

The cast of The Den Theatre’s revival of FOUR PLACES includes (left to right) Amy Montgomery, Bruch Reed, Meg Thalken and Rebekah Ward. 

The Den Theatre is pleased to present a revival of Joel Drake Johnson’s true-to-life drama FOUR PLACES, directed by ensemble member Lia Mortensen, playing May 24 – June 30, 2019 at 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. (2B) in Chicago. Tickets are currently available at www.thedentheatre.com, in person at the The Den box office or by calling (773) 697-3830. I'll be out for the press opening May 30th, so check back soon for my full review.

FOUR PLACES features Amy Montgomery, Bruch Reed, Meg Thalken and Rebekah Ward. 

Deceptively simple in its structure and unfolding in real time, this emotionally precise play deploys its spare components to devastating and darkly comic effect. A brother and sister have gotten word from their elderly parents' caretaker that they may be a danger to each other. The brother joins his sister and mother on their weekly lunch date, hoping that he and his sister can get a clearer picture of the situation. As the mother confronts the indignities of age and the children stare down a mounting list of losses and disappointments, a harrowing and true-to-life image of the family emerges. Ultimately, with unwavering clarity and sensitivity, Joel Drake Johnson explores the ways that familial love and knowledge create both hurt and comfort.

Comments Director Lia Mortensen, “I was drawn to this play because it examines the universality of family: love, secrets, trust, lies – while also navigating how alcoholism threads through the tapestry of this family. It is at once hysterical, tragic, and ultimately moving. We recognize ourselves in these imperfect humans.”

The production team includes Jeffrey D. Kmiec (scenic design), Josh Prisching (technical director) and Tina M. Jach (production stage manager).

Location: The Den Theatre (2B), 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago

Dates: Previews: Friday, May 24 at 7:30 pm, Saturday, May 25 at 7:30 pm, Sunday, May 26 at 3 pm and Wednesday, May 29 at 7:30 pm

Press performance: Thursday, May 30 at 7:30 pm

Regular run: Friday, May 31 – Sunday, June 30, 2019

Curtain Times: Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm; Sundays at 3 pm

Tickets: Previews $28. Regular run $45. Students/seniors: $33. Tickets are currently available at www.thedentheatre.com, in person at the The Den box office or by calling (773) 697-3830.

About The Artists
Joel Drake Johnson (Playwright) is an award winning, internationally-produced playwright and teacher best known for his work at Chicago’s Victory Garden's Theater, where he was a member of the company’s Playwrights Ensemble for many years. His plays include Rasheeda Speaking, Four Places, A Blue Moon, As The Beaver, The End of the Tour, The Fall To Earth, A Blameless Life and Tranquillity Woods. His work has also been produced in Chicago at Steppenwolf Theatre and globally in New York City, Los Angeles, London, and many others cities.

Lia Mortensen (Director) is thrilled to be back at The Den where she co-directed Bus Stop by William Inge alongside her pal, Ryan Martin and directed The Quality of Life by Jane Anderson. As an actor, Lia has appeared in many productions in her hometown of Chicago at Goodman, Steppenwolf, Chicago Shakespeare, Northlight and Writers Theatre to name a few. Some productions include The Mystery of Love and Sex, Company, City of Conversation, Pericles, Annapurna, An Inspector Calls, Cymbeline, Ten Chimneys, The Big Meal, Rabbit Hole, Closer, Faith Healer, All’s Well, Measure for Measure, Lady Windermere’s Fan, Talley’s Folley, Ghosts and Twelfth Night. Her film and TV credits include the 2010 remake of Nightmare on Elm Street, View from Tall, Consumed, Blink, Empire, Shameless, Chicago Med, Chicago Fire, Chicago PD and Crisis.

About The Den Theatre
Artistic Director Ryan Martin opened The Den in 2010 with a single theatre space. Seven years later, The Den boasts five intimate and unique theaters on two floors ranging from 50 – 200 seats, as well as two additional spaces primarily used for classes and rehearsals. The Den is also equipped with two bars enveloped by a never-ending field of lounge space for audiences and like-minded culture hounds to drink, talk, read, watch, think, listen and live. The Den is home to seven resident theatre companies including First Floor Theater, Haven Theatre Company, Griffin Theatre, The New Colony, Broken Nose Theatre, WildClaw Theatre and Firebrand Theatre. Hundreds of other companies from Chicago and beyond have also called The Den home, utilizing its theaters, studio space and easily convertible cabaret space to accommodate a stream of programming, including plays, musicals, film screenings, classical and jazz performances, dance, improv and stand-up, seminars and speaking engagements. For additional information, visit www.thedentheatre.com.

OPENING: Václav Havel’s classic play, THE MEMO Via ORGANIC THEATER COMPANY at The Greenhouse Theater Center May 22 - June 16, 2019

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ORGANIC THEATER COMPANY PRESENTS:

Václav Havel’s classic play,

THE MEMO

Organic Theater Company of Chicago returns to the Greenhouse Theater Center for the second play of its 2019 season with Václav Havel’s classic play, THE MEMO. The Organic is committed to staging bold, relevant productions of classic, contemporary, and adapted works with a permanent group of artists over a sustained period of time.

THE MEMO, Paul Wilson’s 21st century translation of Havel’s The Memorandum, an absurd story of shady, behind-the-scene office politics and ridiculous bureaucracy, has new relevance in our current bizarre political climate.  Havel’s absurdist plays were highly critical of communism and were eventually banned in his home country of Czechoslovakia. This led to his political activism, which resulted in several stays in prison, and eventually landed him, almost unwillingly, the role of the final president of Czechoslovakia.  A few years later, he was elected to be the first president of the newly created Czech Republic.

This Orwellian farce about language, bureaucracies, and surveillance takes place at the surprisingly real and relevant intersection of Monty Python, The Office, and 1984. THE MEMO follows Gross, the harassed managing director who unwittingly authorizes an experiment that will introduce an incomprehensible artificial language in an absurd attempt to increase efficiency. Playwright Václav Havel explores the self-deluding rationalizations and moral compromises that characterize life under a totalitarian political system, or everyday office life…

Directed by Bryan Wakefield, who directed last summer’s THE REVOLUTIONISTS and the previous summer’s EMILIE, THE MEMO features guest artist Tricia Rogers as the baffled managing director Gross who finds herself at a loss to understand how changes were made.  Company Member Joel Moses, as the clever and never-at-a-loss-for-an-explanation Balas, is a great foil against her straightforwardness, a rare commodity in Havel’s crazy workplace, where workers are more invested in reassigning responsibility, running out to buy food or heading off to lunch than actually getting work done.

OPENS: Wednesday, May 22, 2019 at 7:30 (Press Opening)
DATES: May 22 - June 16, 2019
TIMES: Wednesdays - Saturdays at 7:30 PM & Sundays at 2:30 PM
VENUE: The Greenhouse Theater Center - 2257 North Lincoln Avenue
Website: www.organictheater.org

The Cast:
Gross - Tricia Rogers
Balas - Joel Moses
Kubs/Suba – Subhash Thakrar
Director’s Assistant – Mary Mikva
J.V. Brown – Nick Bryant
Kalous – Stephanie Sullivan
Masat – Schanora Wimpie
Kunc – Kate Black-Spence
Talaura – Laura Sturm
Translation Assistant - Kris Downing
The Monitor – Colin Jackson

The Production team: Bryan Wakefield – Director, Nyssa Lowenstein - Assistant Director, Angela Kring - Stage Manager, Jeremy W. Floyd - Costume Designer, Tony Reimer - Sound Designer, Terrence McClellan - Scenic Designer, David Goodman-Edberg - Lighting Designer, Kevin Nedberg-Technical Director, Justin Torres – Props Designer

Purchase tickets online at www.organictheater.org or by calling Greenhouse at 773-404-7366.

Admission is $25 (Adults)---www.organictheater.org

OPENING: Midwest Premiere of SWEET TEXAS RECKONING Via Artemisia at The Den June 7-30, 2019

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar:

Midwest Premiere of Traci Godfrey’s 

SWEET TEXAS RECKONING, 

opening June 7 at The Den

Comedy of a Texas native paying a visit home from New York 

with her new African-American wife will play throughout the 

Pride Month of June

In Traci Godfrey’s comedy, SWEET TEXAS RECKONING, Ellie is a lonely, bigoted alcoholic living in the small southeast Texas town of Sealy. She’s welcoming home her daughter Kate, now living in New York City, back for a visit. Ellie has hopes Kate will reconnect with and even marry Kate’s childhood sweetheart Alan John. Imagine Ellie’s surprise when Kate visits with her beautiful, African-American wife, Samantha.  SWEET TEXAS RECKONING was the First Place Winner of the New Works of Merit International Playwriting Contest, the Artemisia Fall Festival 2016, and the Playwriting Contest of Panndora Productions in Long Beach, California, who produced the play’s world premiere in 2016. Julie Proudfoot, who has collaborated closely with Traci on developing the play, will direct Artemisia’s staging of this heartfelt comedy. 

I'll be there for the press opening June 7th. Can't wait to check it out.  

Top L-R: Molly Lyons, Scottie Caldwell

Lower L-R: Anita Kavuu Ng’Ang’A, John Wehrman

Appearing as Ellie will be veteran Chicago actress Molly Lyons, whose resume includes such disparate roles as the cabdriver in HELLCAB (Agency Theatre Collective), Kate Mayo in BEYOND THE HORIZON (Eclipse Theatre Company) and the title role in JULIUS CAESAR (Unbraced Theatre). Ellie’s daughter Kate will be played by Scottie Caldwell, who has worked in Chicago with Lookingglass Theatre Company, Windy City Playhouse, Strawdog Theatre Company, The Gift, Commission Theatre, First Floor Theatre, and Cor Theatre, among others, and most recently played Raina in City Lit Theater's ARMS AND THE MAN. Cast as Kate’s old flame Alan John is John Wehrman, who recently appeared in A Red Orchid Theatre’s TRAITOR under the direction of Michael Shannon, and as Pato in THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE for Bluebird Arts. Ellie’s wife Samantha will be Anita Kavuu Ng’ang’a, who has worked with Red Tape Theatre and the Goodman.

Playwright Godfrey, whose career includes acting in feature films like GRAND THEFT AUTO IV and V and television shows including LAW AND ORDER CRIMINAL INTENT, AS THE WORLD TURNS and THE SOPRANOS; as well as writing for feature films and the stage, says she drew from personal experience for SWEET TEXAS RECKONING. “Having grown up closeted in Texas, I am acutely aware of the pain and isolation of dealing with one’s sexuality,” Godfrey says. She adds, “Whether we encounter differences in thoughts about race, religion, sexuality, or political views, I believe our best approach to healing is one person, one family, one Theater at a time.”

SWEET TEXAS RECKONING was the winner of Artemisia’s 2016 Fall Festival of new play readings. At that point, it had already enjoyed a fully staged production by Panndora Productions in Long Beach, California earlier that year. The ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER named that production one of the year’s 10 Best, calling it a “superbly crafted comedy-drama … very much along the lines of the great works of Horton Foote, known for his lifelike dialogue and realistic approach to characters whose roots are often in the Deep or Rim South.” 

Since 2016, Proudfoot, who is a story analyst for HBO Films, has worked extensively with Godfrey to further develop and refine the script for this production. Proudfoot says, “I’m thrilled to see SWEET TEXAS RECKONING arrive at this stage of Artemisia’s process of developing new plays about women created as rich, nuanced characters who have agency,”

Artemisia will stage the Midwest Premiere of SWEET TEXAS RECKONING during Pride Month 2019 - from June 7-30, 2019 at The Den. Tickets for SWEET TEXAS RECKONING are $25 and are now on sale at www.artemisiatheatre.org. Windy City Times (www.windycitymediagroup.com) is the official media sponsor of 

SWEET TEXAS RECKONING
BIOS
Traci Godfrey (Playwright) has writing credits including the screenplays SPITTING IMAGE, THE PINK PERFECTION, and HOTTER THAN GEORGIA ASPHALT.  Her stage play SWEET TEXAS RECKONING was the First Place Winner of the New Works Of Merit International Playwriting Contest, Artemisia’s Fall Festival 2016, and Panndora Production’s Playwriting Contest 2015 where it received exceptional reviews with the full production.  SWEET TEXAS RECKONING was also a Finalist in both the NYC Thespis Festival 2015 and South Carolina’s CENTRE STAGE Playwriting Festival and was named “Best Of 2016 Theatre” in the Ocean County Register.  Some of her acting credits include long-time roles on LAW AND ORDER CRIMINAL INTENT and AS THE WORLD TURNS as well as numerous stage roles in New York, London and regionally.

Julie Proudfoot (Director) is the founder and Executive Artistic Director of Artemisia, A Chicago Theatre, a story analyst for HBO Films and an adjunct professor in the creative writing program at Roosevelt University.  Julie has 20 plus years of experience as a professional director and dramaturge developing and producing new work.  Julie won critical and audience acclaim for her direction of BELFAST GIRLS by Jaki McCarrick, in 2015, which played to sold-out houses as Artemisia’s American Premiere at the Den Theatre.  Julie curates Artemisia’s annual search for new feminist plays to be featured in its Fall Festival and selects from the festival a play to be developed into a world or regional premiere production in Chicago.  Julie has worked extensively with Traci Godfrey over the past two years developing SWEET TEXAS RECKONING for full production after directing its staged reading for Artemisia Fall Festival 2016.  Julie is thrilled to be nurturing feminist playwrights with Artemisia’s one-of-a-kind development process that culminates in remarkable and unforgettable productions.

June 7 – 30, 2019
Wednesdays – Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sundays at 3 pm
The Den Theatre
1331 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago
All seats $25.00
More info & tickets at http://artemisiatheatre.org/plays/



ABOUT ARTEMISIA: A CHICAGO THEATRE
Founded in 2011, Artemisia is a professional theatre dedicated to the development and production of all new feminist plays that center on women who have agency, independence, and are the focal point of their own narratives. An annual search for cutting-edge and empowering stories culminates in a groundbreaking premiere production in Chicago.  Artemisia is a 501 c 3 organization and relies on public support to fund theatre that promotes equality and social justice for all women and girls. 

Artemisia Gentileschi was a Baroque artist whose paintings depicted violence with fierce honesty and elegance. For centuries after her death, her art was attributed to men. Feminist curators in the late 1970’s rediscovered Artemisia, who is now considered the greatest female painter prior to the modern period. A common theme in Gentileschi’s later work is women in moments of power, or triumph, which is why she is the perfect namesake for Artemisia. 

Casting Announced: Midwest Premiere of SOMETHING CLEAN Via Sideshow Theatre Company & Rivendell Theatre Ensemble

ChiIL Live Shows on our radar
Sideshow Theatre Company & Rivendell Theatre Ensemble

Announce Casting for the Midwest Premiere of

SOMETHING CLEAN

By Selina Fillinger

Directed by Lauren Shouse

June 16 – July 21, 2019 at Victory Gardens Theater

Sideshow Theatre Company and Rivendell Theatre Ensemble are pleased to announce casting for the Midwest premiere of Selina Fillinger’s breathtaking new drama SOMETHING CLEAN, directed by Lauren Shouse.

The cast includes Patrick Agada, Mary Cross** and Guy Massey.

(left to right) Guy Massey and Mary Cross. Photo by Michael Tutino.

SOMETHING CLEAN will play June 16 – July 21, 2019 at Victory Gardens Richard Christiansen Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave. in Chicago. Tickets are currently available at www.victorygardens.org, by calling (773) 871-3000 or in person at the Victory Gardens Box Office. 

Charlotte has been a mother for nineteen years, a wife for three decades and a respectable community member her entire life. But when her son is incarcerated for sexual assault, Charlotte is forced to reckon with a brand new identity, both public and private. Desperate to find a way back to who she was, she seeks out work at a sexual assault crisis center and meets Joey, a volunteer coordinator and a survivor of assault himself, who allows her a glimpse of who she might be able to become. Can she find a new understanding of who she is? Or has someone else’s crime defined her forever? Inspired by today’s headlines, Selina Fillinger’s breathtaking new drama follows one woman’s struggle to make sense of her own grief, intimacy, culpability and consent.

Comments Sideshow artistic director Jonathan L. Green, "Selina's exquisite play is the fifth premiere to come out of our commissioning program, The Freshness Initiative, and we're so happy to be collaborating with our friends at Rivendell, whose mission aligns with our own so well in this case, to bring it to life in Chicago."

Rivendell Artistic Director Tara Mallen adds, “This new play unflinchingly exposes the complexities of a mother struggling to reconcile her guilt and rebuild her family after her son’s horrific act. Selina’s profoundly resonant voice offers our audiences a new perspective on what it is to bear your children’s sins and Rivendell is excited to be a part of sharing this provocative new work with Chicago audiences.”

Something Clean is supported in-part by The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, Melinda McMullen and Duncan Kime.

The production team to date includes: Arnel Sancianco (scenic design), Noël Huntzinger* (costume design), Diane Fairchild** (lighting design), Eric Backus (sound design), Jonathan Berg-Einhorn (props design), Gina M. Di Salvo* (dramaturg), Jennifer Aparicio (production manager) and Casie Morell (stage manager).

*Denotes Sideshow company member   **Denotes Rivendell company member

Mary Cross in a publicity image for Sideshow Theatre Company and Rivendell Theatre Ensemble’s Midwest premiere of SOMETHING CLEAN. Photo by Michael Tutino.

Location: Victory Gardens Richard Christiansen Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave. in Chicago

Dates: Previews: Sunday, June 16 at 2:30 pm and Wednesday, June 19 at 8 pm
Press Performance: Thursday, June 20 at 8 pm
Gala Opening: Fri June 21 at 8 pm
Regular run: Friday, June 21 – Sunday, July 21, 2019
Curtain Times: Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm; Sundays at 2:30 pm. Please note: there will not be a performance on Thursday, July 4; there will be added performances on Wednesday, July 3 at 7:30 pm and Saturday, July 13 at 2:30 pm.
Tickets: Previews: Pay-what-you-can (online or at the door). Regular run: $20 – $30.  Students/seniors/industry: $15 for all performances (excluding opening). Tickets are currently available at www.victorygardens.org, by calling (773) 871-3000 or in person at the Victory Gardens Box Office.

About the Creative Team:

Selina Fillinger (Playwright) is an LA-based actress and writer. She is a recent graduate of Northwestern University, where she studied playwriting under the instruction of Laura Schellhardt. Something Clean was commissioned for Sideshow Theatre’s Freshness Initiative and workshopped in Roundabout’s Underground Reading Series. Other work includes Faceless (Northlight Theatre premiere, Joseph Jeff Award-nominated, regional productions at Zeitgeist Theatre, St. Louis Repertory Theatre and Park Theatre in London) and The Armor Plays: Cinched/Strapped (Available Light’s Next Stage Initiative, Alley All New, upcoming production at Theatre Three.) Selina is a 2018 recipient of South Coast Repertory’s Elizabeth George Commission and Manhattan Theatre Club’s Sloan Commission.

Lauren Shouse (Director) is thrilled to return to Rivendell after directing The Cake and Sideshow after the Freshness Initiative reading of Something Clean. Lauren is the Associate Artistic director at Northlight Theatre and a Jeff nominated director. Her recent directing credits include: What We're Up Against with Compass Theatre, The Legend of Georgia McBride at Northlight Theatre, Nice Girl and Betrayal at Raven Theatre; Avenue Q,  Rapture, Blister, Burn, Superior Donuts, and A Christmas Story at Nashville Repertory Theatre, Long Way Down with 3Ps productions;  Religion and Rubber Ducks with Ovvio Arte; Parallel Lives, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Last Five Years and Chess in Concert with Street Theatre Company; Rear Widow at Chaffin's Barn Theatre, and Sylvia Plath’s 3 Women. She received her MFA in theatre directing at Northwestern University where she directed Stop Kiss, Eurydice and In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play. In Chicago, Lauren has also worked with Steppenwolf Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre, Route 66, The Gift, Chicago Dramatists, and Stage Left Theatre. www.laurenshousedirects.com

2019 Year of Chicago Theatre

Sideshow Theatre Company and Rivendell Theatre Ensemble are proud to be part of the 2019 Year of Chicago Theatre, presented by the City of Chicago and the League of Chicago Theatres. To truly fall in love with Chicago, you must go to our theatres. This is where the city bares its fearless soul. Home to a community of creators, risk-takers, and big hearts, Chicago theatre is a hotbed for exciting new work and hundreds of world premieres every year. From Broadway musicals to storefront plays and improv, there’s always a seat waiting for you at one of our 200+ theatres. Book your next show today at www.ChicagoPlays.com. 


About Sideshow Theatre Company:

Sideshow Theatre Company: Theatre for the Curious. It is the mission of Sideshow Theatre Company to mine the collective unconscious of the world we live in with limitless curiosity, drawing inspiration from the familiar stories, memories and images we all share to spark new conversation and bring our audiences together as adventurers in a communal experience of exploration.

Over its 10+ year history, Sideshow is proud to have distinguished itself as a vital member of the Chicago theatre community. Sideshow was awarded the 2016 Broadway In Chicago Emerging Theatre Award by the League of Chicago Theatres. Sideshow is a multiple Jeff Award-winning theatre and has been listed on the “Best of” lists in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2018 by the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Reader, Time Out Chicago and the Chicago Sun-Times. Sideshow continues its multi-year residency at Victory Gardens in the historic Biograph Theater in the 2018/19 season.

Sideshow is also the producer of Chicago League of Lady Arm Wrestlers (CLLAW), a wildly popular fundraiser held in benefit of Sideshow Theatre Company and other local community organizations. CLLAW has been featured in local and national press, including The Washington Post, Reuters and the Chicago Sun-Times and on WGN Morning News, ABC 7’s Windy City Live and CBS 2. The next CLLAW match will be held Saturday, July 27, 2019. For more information about CLLAW, visit cllaw.org.

For additional information on Sideshow Theatre Company, visit sideshowtheatre.org.


About Rivendell Theatre Ensemble

Rivendell Theatre Ensemble is a professional company dedicated to advancing the lives of women through theatre.

Rivendell was born out of a specific need: women theatre artists are vastly underrepresented in American theatre, a situation which limits the range of stories produced for audiences. This situation skews our perception of the American experience toward a predominantly male perspective presented by men and it limits career opportunities for women artists - which helps perpetuate the disparity. Rivendell’s mission counteracts these circumstances by providing women theatre artists a creative home where they can nurture, develop, and produce their craft and by producing plays where audience see new voices and stories, including, in many cases, their own.

Since our first production in 1994, Rivendell has staged 48 plays and been honored with 30 Joseph Jefferson nominations and 8 awards. We are a national force in new play development and a home for women theatre artists.

In 2011 Rivendell took up residence in its first permanent home, in Chicago's north side Edgewater neighborhood. This development has enabled significant expansion of the company's programming, from itinerate productions created one at a time to the full three-show seasons, arts education programs, ongoing new play development, and numerous opportunities to provide the audience with more access to the art and artists.

For additional information on Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, visit rivendelltheatre.org.

Casting Announced: American Blues Theater's The Spitfire Grill July 12 – August 17, 2019

ChiIL Live Shows on our radar

American Blues Theater Announces Casting for

The Spitfire Grill

Based on the Film by Lee David Zlotoff

Book by James Valeq & Fred Alley

Lyrics by Fred Alley

Music by James Valeq

Directed by Tammy Mader

Music Direction by Malcolm Ruhl

Featuring Dara Cameron, Ian Paul Custer, Karl Hamilton, Donterrio Johnson,

Jacquelyne Jones, Gabrielle Lott-Rogers, and Catherine Smitko

July 12 – August 17, 2019

American Blues Theater announces casting for the Chicago revival of The Spitfire Grill, based on the film by Lee David Zlotoff, with book by James Valeq and Fred Alley, lyrics by Fred Alley and music by James Valeq. The Spitfire Grill, directed by Tammy Mader with music direction by Malcolm Ruhl, runs July 12 – August 17, 2019 at Stage 773, 1225 W Belmont Ave in Chicago. I'll be out for the press opening July 19th, so check back shortly after for my full review.

A feisty parolee follows her dreams, based on a page from an old travel book, to a small town in Wisconsin and finds a place for herself working at Hannah's Spitfire Grill. The New York Times calls THE SPITFIRE GRILL “a soul satisfying...work of theatrical resourcefulness” and The Wall Street Journal heralds its “soaring melodies”. 

The cast of The Spitfire Grill includes Dara Cameron* (Shelby Thorpe), Ian Paul Custer* (The Visitor), Karl Hamilton (Caleb Thorpe), Donterrio Johnson (Sheriff Joe Sutter), Jacquelyne Jones (Percy Talbott), Gabrielle Lott-Rogers (Effy Krayneck), and Catherine Smitko (Hannah Ferguson).

The creative team for The Spitfire Grill includes Sarah E. Ross* (scenic design), Jared Gooding* (lighting design), Lily Grace Walls (costume design), Rick Sims* (sound design), Mary O'Dowd (props design), Shandee Vaughan* (production manager), and Kate Ocker (stage manager).

Musicians include Ian Paul Custer* (piano), Greg Hirte (violin), Malcolm Ruhl (accordion), Scott Sedlacek (guitar / mandolin), and Magdalena Sustere (cello).

*American Blues Theater Ensemble and Artistic Affiliates. 



Dates:                          
July 12 – August 17, 2019 
Previews: July 12 – 14, 2019
Press Opening: Friday, July 19, 2019 at 7:30 p.m.
Regular Run: July 20 – August 17, 2019

Schedule:                      
Thursdays:  7:30pm
Fridays:  7:30pm
Saturdays:  3:00pm & 7:30pm
Sundays:  2:30pm

Blues Views: 
free post-show discussions follow Sunday performances

Additional performances on July 17 at 7:30pm and August 14 at 2:30pm
& 7:30pm

No performances on July 13 or 20 at 3:00pm nor August 17 at 7:30pm

Location:                      
Stage 773, 1225 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago

Ticket prices:                
$19 - $39
Box Office: Buy online at AmericanBluesTheater.com or by calling 773.654.3103.

Save the dates:




About American Blues Theater  
Winner of the American Theatre Wing’s prestigious National Theatre Company Award, American Blues Theater is a premier arts organization with an intimate environment that patrons, artists, and all Chicagoans call home.  American Blues Theater explores the American identity through the plays it produces and communities it serves.  
  
The diverse and multi-generational artists have established the second-oldest professional Equity Ensemble theater in Chicago.  The 36-member Ensemble has 600+ combined years of collaboration on stage. As of 2018, the theater and artists received 204 Joseph Jefferson Awards and nominations that celebrate excellence in Chicago theater and over 36 Black Theatre Alliance Awards. The artists are honored with Pulitzer Prize nominations, Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, Emmy Awards and numerous other accolades.    
  
American Blues Theater programs and activities are made possible, in part by funding by The MacArthur Funds for Arts & Culture at Prince, the Shubert Foundation, The Chicago Community Trust, SMART Growth Grant, Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the Illinois Arts Council Agency, Anixter Foundation, Actors’ Equity Foundation, and the Chip Pringle Fund. ComEd is the Season Lighting Sponsor.

Season Announced: ARTEMISIA 2019-2020 Season To Feature Two Fully-Staged Productions

ChiIL Live Shows on our radar

Season to kick off in November with THE SUFFRAGE PLAYS by Shaw and Evelyn Glover and conclude in June 2020 with World Premiere of Lauren Ferebee’s EVERY WAITING HEART.

Lauren Ferebee, winner of Artemisia Fall Festival 2018. Her play EVERY WAITING HEART will be developed at Artemisia to be presented as a world premiere in June 2020.  

In a departure from the company’s previous production model, but not from its mission of fostering the development of new feminist plays, Artemisia Theatre will mount two fully staged productions in 2019-20 and forego its Fall Festival of New Play Readings.  Artemisia’s previous seasons consisted of the Fall Festival and a single fully-staged production. 

Artemisia Founding Artistic Director Julie Proudfoot says, “While we will continue to actively solicit and develop new scripts, we’re excited about the opportunity to champion new work by reaching the larger audiences that will be attracted to fully staged productions. Additionally, we will revisit landmark feminist dramas in full productions to celebrate and learn from these classic pieces.” In that spirit, the company’s 2019-20 season will include both an evening of one act plays from the canon of British Suffrage Drama of the early 20thCentury, and the World Premiere of the winner of Artemisia’s 2018 Fall Festival – the drama EVERY WAITING HEART, by Lauren Ferebee.

Playwright Lauren Ferebee and Artistic Director Julie Proudfoot are thrilled about their artistic collaboration and partnership.  

Lauren Ferebee:  “It means so much to me to be working with a theatre that privileges the complex and intricate narratives of women's lives. It is especially meaningful for this play, which looks at different generations of women and what strength has meant to them. I am proud to be working with a theatre whose namesake was one of the greatest women artists of all time, a theatre whose work carries her legacy into our shared future.” 
Julie Proudfoot:  "EVERY WAITING HEART is extremely special and sublime in its fierce feminist examination of the characters’ shared crisis of faith.  Playwright Lauren Ferebee has given us something previously unseen and incredibly unique and inspiring."

FALL 2019 – THE SUFFRAGE PLAYS

Artemisia’s season opener will be THE SUFFRAGE PLAYS, running November 1-24 at The Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave. The program will be three one-act comedies focused on the importance of voting rights for women and will celebrate the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage in America. 

One of the most influential writers of suffrage plays was Evelyn Glover, who dramatized the arguments of working-class women in particular, because of the criticism that was leveled at the Suffrage Movement - that only middle-class women would benefit from sexual equality and the vote. Artemisia’s THE SUFFRAGE PLAYS will include two of her most popular plays. A CHAT WITH MRS. CHICKY, which depicts a conversation between a suffragette charwoman and an upper-class matron; and MRS. APPLEYARD’S AWAKENING. The latter play is a comedy in which an anti-suffrage activist comes to realize the fallacies and illogic of her views.  THE SUFFRAGE PLAYS will also include George Bernard Shaw’s one-act comedy PRESS CUTTINGS, a farce satirizing British politicians and attitudes against suffrage.  The comedy imagines a time when suffrage activism led to an imposition of martial law and a chaotic society.


SPRING 2020 – The World Premiere of EVERY WAITING HEART

Artemisia’s Spring 2020 production will be the World Premiere of EVERY WAITING HEART, by Lauren Ferebee. The drama will be performed at The Den in June 2020 and directed by Artemisia Founding Artistic Director Julie Proudfoot. This winner of Artemisia’s 2018 Fall Festival, EVERY WAITING HEART centers on the relationship between an overworked single mother and her rebellious teenaged daughter. Sherri and Annette have been an unbreakable mother-daughter duo since childhood, but Annette's sudden rebellion terrifies her mother.  Desperate for help, Sherri goes to a speed-dating event at a Pentecostal church that unexpectedly changes the course of both of their lives and fractures the bond that has held them together for so long. A deep and intimate dive into what it means to be a strong woman, EVERY WAITING HEART is an unflinching examination of faith and the many variations of love. 

ARTEMISIA’S COMMITMENT TO NEW PLAY DEVELOPMENT

Artemisia will continue its annual search for all-new feminist plays that empower women.  Chicago playwrights as well as playwrights with whom Artemisia has a working relationship will be invited to submit each year for consideration.  Artemisia’s Artistic Director Julie Proudfoot will curate the submissions and select one play to be fully developed into a world or regional premiere production in Chicago.  Ten plays and playwrights are finalists under consideration for Artemisia’s 2020-2021 Theatre Season.

GET TICKETS
In proud partnership with media sponsor Windy City Times, Artemisia Theatre presents SWEET TEXAS RECKONING during National Pride Month, June 7th-30th.

The voice of Chicago's Gay, Lesbian, Bi, Trans, and Queer community since 1985.

BE SURE TO CATCH THEM #DownAtTheDen


Artemisia's Midwest Premiere of SWEET TEXAS RECKONING, by Traci Godfrey, is funded in part by a grant from the Paul M. Angell Family Foundation. 

Artemisia is supported by the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation. The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation's Gen Ops Plus strategy in the Chicago region provides general operations grants and an array of other kinds of support to help grantees sustain their artistry and strengthen their operations.

Artemisia's 2018-19 Theatre Season is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council Agency.

Artemisia Fall Festival 2018 was made possible in part by a grant from the Illinois Humanities, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Illinois General Assembly.