Cast and New Director Announced for PrideArts’ All-Female Production of SHAKESPEARE’S R & J February 26-March 24, 2024

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Amber Mandley to direct Joe Calarco’s reimagining of 

ROMEO AND JULIET

SHAKESPEARE’S R & J

Full casting has been announced for PrideArts’ production of SHAKESPEARE’S R & J with an all-female cast. Though Joe Calarco’s reimagining of the Bard’s tragedy ROMEO AND JULIET was originally set within an exclusive boys’ prep school, it has sometimes been played with an all-female cast, including productions at London’s Globe Theatre and the Classic Stage Company in New York, directed by Calarco. It has additionally been performed with  mixed-gender casts by the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C., and the Reading Rep Theatre in the United Kingdom. PrideArts had previously announced the production with all-male casting, but the concept was changed to all-female when the previously announced director became unavailable and PrideArts Managing Director Amber Mandley assumed directorial responsibilities. The production will open to the press on Monday, February 26, 2024, at 7:30 pm, following previews from February 22-25, 2024, and play through March 24, 2024.

In SHAKESPEARE’S R & J, the young students secretly act out the play at night, eventually getting caught up in the passion and eroticism of the text. Originally produced off-Broadway in New York in 1999, where it won the Lucille Lortel Award, SHAKESPEARE’S R & J has been a favorite throughout the United States and the UK ever since. PrideArts’ staging will be the first fully staged professional production of the play in Chicago in 14 years.

Mandley’s cast will include Madelyn Strasma (Student #1), Luz Espinoza (Student #2), Hannah Eisendrath (Student #3), and Isabel Roden (Student #4). Understudies are Ava Pirie (u/s Student #1), Annemarie Andaleon (u/s Student #2), Elise Blanchard (u/s Student #3), and Fran Bixby (u/s Student #4). The production team will include Shawn Quinlan (Costume Design), Brett Baleskie (Scenic Design), Val Gardner (Sound Design), August Tiemeyer (Lighting Design), Cecilia Chen (Props Design), James Stone (Fight Choreographer), Grace Goodyear (Intimacy Director), Elijah McTiernan (Stage Manager), Elissa Wolf (Dramaturg and Co-Assistant Director), and Magdiel Carmona (Co-Assistant Director).

Top row L-R: Hannah Eisendrath, Luz Espinoza, Isabel Roden, Madelyn Strasma

Lower row L-R: Annemarie Andeleon, Fran Bixby, Elise Blanchard, Ava Pirie

THE NEW YORK TIMES called SHAKESPEARE’S R & J “Hot-blooded…Wrenching…[It] pulsates with an adolescent abandon and electricity of which Romeo himself might approve,” while THE WALL STREET JOURNAL said, “R&J is a gem, the most inventive reimagining of a classic in years.” London’s THE TELEGRAPH said “This is one of the most electrifying adaptations of Shakespeare I have ever seen. When it comes to originality, sexiness, and daring, it is right up there with WEST SIDE STORY.”

Performances will be at Pride Arts Center, 4139 N. Broadway, Chicago. Tickets $35 for regular performances, $25 for previews. Seniors and students receive a $5 discount off all performance prices. Tickets and more information are available shortly at  www.pridearts.org.

February 22 – March 24, 2024

Previews Thursday, February 22 through Saturday, February 24 at 7:30 pm and Sunday, February 25 at 3 pm

Press Opening Monday, February 26, 2024, at 7:30 pm

Regular run February 29-March 24, 2024

Curtain times Thursdays–Saturdays at 7:30 pm, Sundays at 3 pm, plus Industry Night Wednesday, March 20 @ 7:30 pm

Pride Arts Center, 4139 N. Broadway, Chicago

Tickets $35 for regular performances, $25 for previews. Seniors and students receive a $5 discount off all performance prices. Tickets and more information at www.pridearts.org.

773-857-0222

Four young female prep school students, tired of going through the usual drill of conjugating Latin and other tedious school routines, decide to vary their very governed lives. After school, one breaks out a copy of William Shakespeare’s ROMEO AND JULIET, and they all take turns reading the play aloud. The Bard’s words and the story itself are thrilling to the girls, and they become swept away, enmeshed in the emotion so much so that they break school rules in order to continue their readings. Perceptions and understanding are turned upside-down as the fun of play-acting turns serious, and the words and meanings begin to hit home and universal truths emerge.

BIOS 

Amber Mandley (Director) most recently directed during Rhinofest in Chicago. Other directing experiences include Violet Fest, Clock Productions, school productions for CICS-Bucktown, City Lit Adaptation Festival, Abbie Hoffman Festival, Milwaukee Avenue Arts Festival, On the Spot Theatre Company, and Hass Ben Productions.  Amber is the Managing Director for PrideArts.  She will be directing WELLS AND WELLES for Lucid Theatre in summer 2024.  Amber believes in a collaborative process of directing and finding the heart of a piece with the cast.

Jay Españo (PrideArts Artistic Director). Born in Manila, The Philippines, he joined the prestigious Tanghalang Pilipino’s Actors Company in 1998, where he trained with acclaimed Filipino director Nonon Padilla. He acted in several commercials, television series and films. Notably, he was a regular cast member of Koko KwikKwak - a spin-off of Batibot (Philippine SESAME STREET). He toured The Philippines with that show’s mascots, performing for kids throughout the country. In 2000, Jay was one of many Filipino actors who were cast in the Action Theater Singapore’s hit musical CHANG AND ENG, which toured Asia for several years.

Since moving to the Chicago area, Jay has worked with storefront theater companies such as Silk Road Rising, Prologue, Ghostlight, Halcyon, City Lit, and PrideArts. Most recently, he directed the musical GAY CARD for PrideArts, and City Lit Theater’s world premiere musical AZTEC HUMAN SACRIFICE. He has played the role of the King in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s THE KING AND I with various theater companies in the US and in Canada.

JOE CALARCO (Writer). Joe Calarco’s published work, in addition to SHAKESPEARE’S R&J (Lucille Lortel Award), includes WALTER CRONKITE IS DEAD (included in “The Best Stage Monologues of 2013”); IN THE ABSENCE OF SPRING (inaugural production of Second Stage’s Uptown Series and included in “The Best Stage Scenes of 2004”); his short plays JUST A LITTLE SNIFFLE and PARTING GIFTS; and two collections of his plays for teens, SIGNATURE IN THE SCHOOLS, Volumes 1 & 2, which include the plays MY VACATION IN PARIS, SALAT, CIVIL WARS, AFTERSHOCK, SHAKESPEARE, WILL, IMAGE IS EVERYTHING, REVOLUTION, HERO WORSHIP, and VENI, VIDI, VICI.

 

ABOUT PRIDEARTS

PrideArts tells queer stories on a variety of platforms, including both live and virtual performances. Since its founding in 2010, PrideArts has had several chapters, including operating as an itinerant theater for their first six seasons, and as the developer and primary tenant in the Pride Arts Center from 2016 to the present.

The company produces full seasons of plays and musicals, as well as events including cabaret, and more. The company has earned 39 Jeff Awards and nominations, and six nominations in the 2019 ALTA Awards from the Alliance of Latinx Theater Artists of Chicago. Programming has reflected the diversity of queer communities by including work made by and illuminating the experiences of women, gay men, transgender people, and BIPOC.

PrideArts is supported by Illinois Arts Council, a State Agency; City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE), Alphawood Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Arts Work Fund, Driehaus Foundation, The Saints.

PrideArts is a member of Buena Park Neighborhood Association, Uptown United, Northalsted Merchants Association, League of Chicago Theaters, Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce of Illinois, Lakeview East Merchants Association.

For more information and to donate, visit www.pridearts.org or call 1.773 857 0222.

Score Big With Auditorium Philms Concert Series North American Premiere of Blade Runner In Concert Saturday, February 17 , 2024

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AUDITORIUM PHILMS CONCERT SERIES 

debuts with North American premiere of 

Blade Runner in concert

One night only Saturday, February 17 at 7:30 PM At the Auditorium Theatre

See the classic sci-fi action film on the big screen while the Chicago Philharmonic performs the iconic score live on stage

Here at ChiIL Live Shows we adore pop culture and chamber orchestra music, and this pairing is a win for both! The Auditorium Theatre (Chicago’s landmark stage at 50 E. Ida B. Wells Drive) proudly kicks-off the new Auditorium Philms Concert Series, a new multi-media experience presenting iconic films brought to life with scores performed in concert by the Chicago Philharmonic, with the North American premiere of one of the all-time sci-fi classics Blade Runner. 

The original 1982 film (2007 final cut) will play in its entirety on the big screen of the iconic Auditorium Theatre stage while an all-electric 11-piece chamber orchestra made up of members of the Chicago Philharmonic perform the thrilling futuristic score by Vangelis mixed in-sync with dialogue and sound effects from the original film. The one night only performance is Saturday, February 17 at 7:30 PM at the Auditorium Theatre, 50 E Ida B Wells Dr. Tickets start at $59.00 and are available at auditoriumtheatre.org.

Ridley Scott’s multi-Academy Award®-nominated Blade Runner follows detective Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) as he hunts down four bio-engineered synthetic humans, or Replicants, from space colonies who’ve returned to earth. His mission however is complicated when he falls for Rachel (Sean Young); a Replicant based at the Tyrell Corporation. Hailed as one of the greatest sci-fi movies of all time, Blade Runner has become a beloved cult-classic spawning numerous sequels and spin-offs. Composed by the forward-thinking Greek orchestral and electronic music composer Vangelis, the soundtrack was nominated for both a BAFTA and a Golden Globe. The film’s score was revolutionary for electronic music, with Vangelis' mastery of the Yamaha CS80, a powerful and complex synthesizer that permeated the sonic soundscape of the 1980s and beyond.

“The Auditorium Philm series continues our partnership with the Chicago Philharmonic,” said Auditorium Theatre CEO Rich Regan. “We are looking forward to kicking off this thrilling new series with a film as beloved as Blade Runner.”

Added Chicago Philharmonic Executive Director Terell Johnson, “At Chicago Philharmonic, we are committed to bringing cutting-edge, innovative programs to life. It's fitting that we're kicking off this major concert series with a film and music score that show the brilliant possibilities at the intersection of music and technology. We believe that the future of the performing arts lies in innovation and collaboration. It's an honor to expand our long-time partnership with the Auditorium Theatre for this thrilling concert and year-long series." 

The inaugural 2024 Auditorium Philms Concert Series continues with Batman 1989 in its 35th Anniversary year, April 13; the return of Marvel Studios’ Black Panther after Chicago Philharmonic’s triumphant 2022 Chicago Premiere of the film concert, June 22 & 23; the North American debut of Bram Stoker’s Dracula just in time for Halloween, October 26; and the pop holiday fan favorite, Love Actually, December 7. Subscription packages with discounted tickets are available for as few as two or up to six films. Find out more information about the series at auditoriumtheatre.org.

About The Chicago Philharmonic Society 

Founded by musicians of the Lyric Opera Orchestra in 1979, The Chicago Philharmonic Society is a collaboration of nearly 200 of the highest-level classical musicians in the Midwest. The orchestra, known as the Chicago Philharmonic, has been called one of the country’s finest symphonic orchestras. The brilliance of Chicago Philharmonic’s structure is in its versatility - the organization curates the best ensemble for each concert from an exceptional pool of musicians, be it classical, jazz, pops, movie concerts, outreach programming, and everything else. Find out more about Chicago Philharmonic at chicagophilharmonic.org. 

 

About The Auditorium Theatre

The Auditorium Theatre, located at 50 E. Ida B. Wells Drive at Roosevelt University in Chicago, is an Illinois not-for-profit organization committed to presenting the finest in international, cultural, community, and educational programming to all of Chicago and beyond as The Theatre for the People. The organization also is committed to the continued restoration and preservation of this National Historic Landmark that originally opened in 1889. 

The Auditorium Theatre’s 2023-24 performance season features a dynamic mix of cultural events from ballet to rock and roll and everything in between. For more information on the Auditorium Theatre and a complete listing of events at the Auditorium Theatre, please visit auditoriumtheatre.org.

 

Chicago Opera Theater Presents Huang Ruo's Chinese Mythology based 'Book of Mountains and Seas' with Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival Jan. 26 -28

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Chicago Opera Theater Presents 

Huang Ruo's Chinese Mythology based 

'Book of Mountains and Seas' 

with Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival Jan. 26 -28

Larger-than-life puppets designed by master puppeteer Basil Twist

In partnership with the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival, this feast for the ears and eyes features visually stunning giant puppets designed by world-famous puppeteer Basil Twist

 

Chicago Opera Theater (COT), Chicago’s foremost producer of new and reimagined opera, continues its 50th Anniversary season with the Midwest Premiere of Huang Ruo’s environmentalist opera Book of Mountains and Seas presented in partnership with the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival and produced by Beth Morrison Projects. Scored for twelve singers -the artists of ARS NOVA Copenhagen – and two percussionists, the opera also features six puppeteers wielding beautiful, larger-than-life puppets designed by the opera’s Director, world-renowned puppeteer Basil Twist. Book of Mountains and Seas will be performed Friday, January 26 and Saturday, January 27 at 7:30 PM and Sunday, January 28 at 3:00 PM at the Studebaker Theater in the Fine Arts Building, 410 S Michigan Ave. Tickets start at $45 and available now at chicagooperatheater.org.

Book of Mountains and Seas is inspired by the ancient compilation of Chinese myths and legends of the same title – 山海經 (Shanhai jing)- first written down during the Qin Dynasty in the 4th Century BC. Throughout the centuries, these classic tales have been told over and over again, becoming part of Chinese written and oral history.  The opera Book of Mountains and Seas is a contemporary retelling of four of these well-known stories that brings into focus our modern-day relationship with the natural world and the relevance of the ancient wisdom of the original tales during a time of overlapping environmental crises of 21st century society. Composer and librettist Huang Ruo’s vibrant and inventive score, which draws inspiration from Chinese folk music alongside other musical idioms, and the unique libretto featuring a combination of Chinese and an invented language, conjure a sense of respect and awe for the environment while challenging audiences to be good stewards of the natural resources we have been given. Also on the creative team, Miles Lallemant conducts, and Poe Saegusa is lighting designer.

"Over the centuries, the stories that make up the Book of Mountains and Seas have become part of Chinese written and oral history. They have been told and reimagined through the voices of many artists," said COT Edlis Neeson General Director Lawrence Edelson. "Huang Ruo and Basil Twist's perspective on these timeless tales combines a haunting, evocative score with visually stunning puppetry - juxtaposing our relationship with the natural world today to these beautiful and deeply moving ancient stories of creation and destruction. COT is thrilled to be partnering with the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival and Beth Morrison Projects to bring this truly unique production that challenges audiences to see the world in a new way to Chicago audiences for the first time.”

Book of Mountains and Seas was commissioned by Beth Morrison Projects, Ars Nova Copenhagen, Moss Arts Center at Virginia Tech, Toronto Soundstreams, Koorbiennale, Hong Kong New Vision Arts Festival, and Linda & Stuart Nelson. It was originally Produced by Beth Morrison Projects, Ars Nova Copenhagen, Internationale Koorbiennale and Toronto Soundstreams. The tour is produced by Beth Morrison Projects. The Chicago Premiere of Book of Mountains and Seas is presented by Chicago Opera Theater in partnership with the Chicago International Puppet Theatre Festival.

About the Artists

Huang Ruo has been lauded by the New Yorker as “one of the world’s leading young composers” and by The New York Times for having “a distinctive style.” His vibrant and inventive musical voice draws equal inspiration from Chinese ancient and folk music, Western avant-garde, experimental, noise, natural and processed sound, rock, and jazz. As a member of the new generation of Chinese composers, his goal is not just to mix both Western and Eastern elements, but also to create a seamless, organic integration. Huang Ruo’s diverse compositional works span from orchestra, chamber music, opera, theater, and dance, to cross-genre, sound installation, multi-media, experimental improvisation, folk rock, and film. Huang Ruo was born in Hainan Island, China in 1976 – the year the Chinese Cultural Revolution ended. His father, who is also a composer, began teaching him composition and piano when he was six years old. Growing up in the 1980s and 1990s, when China was opening its gate to the Western world, he received both traditional and Western education at the Shanghai Conservatory of Music. As a result of the dramatic cultural and economic changes in China following the Cultural Revolution, his education expanded from Bach, Mozart, Stravinsky, and Lutoslawski, to include the Beatles, rock and roll, heavy metal, and jazz. Huang Ruo was able to absorb all of these newly allowed Western influences equally

Basil Twist, a third-generation puppeteer, has significantly contributed to the art of puppetry since 1998, and is known worldwide for creating original abstract adult puppet works focused on their integration with music. His famous work Symphonie Fantastique, which takes place in a tank of water, is performed to the symphony of the same name and a new film version was screened as part of the 2023 Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival. Twist created the puppetry for the Broadway productions of The Pee-wee Herman Show and The Addams Family. Other works include Dogugaeshi, La Bella Dormente nel Bosco, Petrushka, Hansel and Gretel, Master Peter’s Puppet Show, The Araneidae Show, Behind the Lid and Arias with a Twist. He has received numerous awards, including a Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome, an Obie Award, a Creative Capital Award in Performing Arts and a Guggenheim fellowship. He was a 2015 MacArthur Fellow at the NYU Center for Ballet and the Arts. He attended Oberlin College and graduated from the École Supérieure Nationale des Arts de la Marionnette in Charleville-Mézières, France. He is founder and director of the Dream Music Puppetry Program at Here Arts Center in New York. In 2023, he led the puppetry in the Royal Shakespeare Company adaptation of My Neighbor Totoro at the Barbican Theatre, London. Closer to home, Twist’s puppets are represented in Christopher Wheeldon’s The Nutcracker for The Joffrey Ballet.

ARS NOVA Copenhagen is a Danish-based, international vocal ensemble of 12 members that specializes in renaissance polyphonic choral music and new vocal music, which is performed with precision and nerve, and with a sound that attracts attention all over the world. The ensemble has long since established itself as one of the world's finest vocal ensembles and has toured in more than 40 countries over the years. With concerts in Copenhagen and the rest of Denmark and several annual tours worldwide, the group is today more in demand than ever.  Over the years, Ars Nova has had close collaborations with a large number of both international and Danish composers, including Pelle Gudmundsens-Holmgreen, Per Nørgård and Avo Pärt. Most recently, the ensemble premiered works by Bent Sørensen, Signe Lykke, Caroline Shaw and Galina Grigorjeva (summer 2023). Ars Nova has recorded a number of award-winning albums; including a Grammy for The Little Match Girl Passion with music by David Lang (with Theater of Voices at Harmonia Mundi). The ensemble's latest release is "...and..." (Naxos) with works by Arvo Pärt, Julia Wolfe and Caroline Shaw as well as Italian medieval songs from Laudario di Cortona, which was nominated as release of the year at the P2 Prize 2022, and Crossing Borders (Dacapo) with music by Carl Nielsen, Niels W. Gade, Vagn Holmboe, Wilhelm Stenhammer and Line Tjørnhøj.

About Beth Morrison Projects

Beth Morrison Projects (BMP) is one of the foremost creators and producers of new opera-theatre and music theatre, with a fierce commitment to leading the industry into the future, cultivating a new generation of talent, and telling the stories of our time. Founded by “contemporary opera mastermind” (LA Times) Beth Morrison, who was honored as one of Musical America’s Artists of the Year/Agents of Change in 2020 and a Kennedy Center Next50 in 2022, BMP has grown into “a driving force behind America’s thriving opera scene” (Financial Times), with Opera News declaring that the company, “more than any other… has helped propel the art form into the twenty-first century.”

Operating across the US and internationally, with offices in Brooklyn and Los Angeles, BMP’s unique model offers living composers the support, guidance, and freedom to experiment, allowing them to create singularly innovative and impactful projects. Since forming in 2006, the company has commissioned, developed, produced and toured over 60 works in 14 countries around the world, including the Pulitzer Prize-winning chamber operas Angel’s Bone and p r i s m. In 2013, BMP co-founded the PROTOTYPE Festival with HERE Arts Center, which has been called “utterly essential” (The New York Times), “indispensable” (The New Yorker), and “one of the world’s top festivals of contemporary opera and theater” (Associated Press). For more information visit bethmorrisonprojects.org

About the Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival

The Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival advances the art of puppetry by presenting sophisticated programs vital to the cultural life of Chicago. Engaging and inspiring the largest and most diverse audiences for puppetry possible, the Festival is the biggest event dedicated to puppetry in North America and traditionally offers more than 100 activities annually including performances, workshops, artist intensives, free neighborhood events and symposia to audiences up to 14,000 over 11 days each January. The organization is also home to other key initiatives, including the Chicago Puppet Studio and Chicago Puppet Lab, that nurture the development of puppeteers and deepen the field locally, nationally, and internationally with the ultimate goal of promoting peace, equality, mutual understanding, and justice locally and globally. The sixth annual Chicago International Puppet Theater Festival is January 18-28, 2024 and includes over two dozen performances, workshops, and events. For more information visit chicagopuppetfest.org.

 

About Chicago Opera Theater

Celebrating its 50th Anniversary season in 2023/24, Chicago Opera Theater is a company laser-focused on living its values: expanding the tradition of opera as a living art form, producing high-quality works new to Chicago audiences, identifying top-tier casts and creative talent at the beginning of grand operatic careers, and following through on commitments to equity and access – behind the scenes, on the stage, and in the audience. Since its founding in 1973, COT has grown from a grassroots community-based company to a national leader in an increasingly vibrant, diverse, and forward-looking art form. COT has staged over 155 operas, including 81 Chicago premieres and 47 operas by American composers. COT is led Lawrence Edelson who began his tenure as General Director in the 2023/24 season; and Music Director Lidiya Yankovskaya who concludes her tenure with the company at the end of this season.

The Vanguard Initiative, founded in 2018 and celebrating its fifth anniversary this Spring, is COT's fully comprehensive program for composers ready to delve into the world of opera. This immersive two-year residency includes participation in all COT productions, sessions with top industry leaders, extensive study of repertoire and vocal writing, and direct insight into administrative and other behind-the-scenes processes, culminating with the development of a full-length opera commissioned by the company. The program is guided and overseen by Elizabeth Morse and Genius Music Director Lidiya Yankovskaya, with Composer Advisors Jake Heggie, Kamala Sankaram, and Gene Scheer. The program has renewed funding from the Mellon Foundation for the 2023/24 season. The 2023/24 Vanguard Composers are Gillian Rae Perry (second year) and Carlos R. Carrillo (first year).

Chicago Opera Theater’s season continues with the Vanguard Initiative concert premiere of The Weight of Light April 27 at the Epiphany Center for the Arts and the World Premiere tour of Before it All Goes Dark with Music of Remembrance May 25 & 26 at the Studebaker Theater. Chicago Opera Theater’s 50th Anniversary Gala will be April 5 at Venue West.

For more information on Chicago Opera Theater productions, visit chicagooperatheater.org

 

The Plagiarists Present World Premiere of When You Awake You Will Remember Everything!

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When You Awake You Will Remember Everything! 

World Premiere! A brand new play by Plagiarists founding member Gregory Peters.

This will be The Plagiarists’ final production, so don’t miss your last chance to experience this smart, quirky, and innovative Chicago theatre company!

Image by Sir Pea Green Studios

WHAT:

World Premiere! A brand new play by Plagiarists founding member Gregory Peters!

This will be The Plagiarists’ final production, so don’t miss your last chance to experience this smart, quirky, and innovative Chicago theatre company!

A proud part of Chicago Theatre Week 2024!

A superhero called The Titan is exiled by his arch-foes to another dimension, a monstrous evil makes a final gambit to destroy the universe, supervillains give interviews, a comics publisher finds out her missing brother may be alive, a henchman betrays his boss, and a therapist encounters a unique case: a man who wakes from a coma and claims to be a superhero named "The Titan." It’s up to a fiendish super scientist, a martial arts master who names her kicks, a petty crook who can see the future, and a man who doesn’t believe any of it is real to get over themselves and save the universe! That is, of course, if any of it is real. Drawn from a love of comics and paired with a keen sense of the theatrical, this one will surely knock the socks off of audiences of all kinds!

Click here for tickets and more on the production.

WHO:

The Plagiarists steal from literature, visual art, history, and the culture at large to create new theatre that finds the familiar in the strange, the unique in the commonplace and ultimately enlarges the world.

WHERE:

The Edge Theater Off Broadway, 1133 W Catalpa Ave, Chicago, IL 60640

WHEN:

Previews Friday February 2 and Saturday, February 3 at 8:00 pm, and Sunday, February 4 at 2:00 pm

Show Runs February 8-March 2 - Thursday - Saturday nights at 8:00 pm, Sunday Matinees at 2:00 pm.

Runtime 1 hr. 45 min, one ten minute intermission

TICKETS:

Click here for tickets and more on the production

Ticketing questions, please email: reservations@theplagiarists.org

Tickets are Pay What You Can! ($15 suggested)

CAST: 

Bryan Breau, Julia Stemper, Katie Bevil, Tess Galbiati, Stephen McClure, Joe Feliciano

Understudies: Andre Colin, Theresa Liebhart, Paul Kastner, Katharine Jordan, Bill Daniel, Markley Bortz

PRODUCTION TEAM: 

Playwright: Gregory Peters

Director: Jack Dugan Carpenter

Stage Manager: Emily Szymanski

Set/Props Designer / Technical Director: Andy Cahoon

Lighting Designer: Ellie Humphrys

Sound Designer/Composer: Hunter Leach

Costume Designer: Cindy Moon

Citadel Theatre's SILENT SKY February 16 Through March 17, 2024

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Citadel Theatre’Announces Cast and Creative Team for 

Lauren Gunderson’s Drama of the First Female Astronomers

Full cast and crew have been announced for Citadel Theatre’s upcoming production of SILENT SKY by Lauren Gunderson, one of the most produced playwrights in the U.S. Beth Wolf, nominated in the 2022 Jeff Awards – Equity wing for her direction of Citadel’s OUTSIDE MULLINGAR (nominated for Best Production of a Play – Midsize) returns to direct this drama celebrating the contributions of Henrietta Leavitt and other 19th century female astronomers employed at the Harvard Observatory who, because of their gender, were not recognized at the time for their work. SILENT SKY will open on Friday, February 16 (following previews on February 14 and 15) and play through Sunday, March 17, 2024.

Leading Wolf’s cast as Henrietta Leavitt will be Melissa Harlow, a member of Actors Equity Association who just completed a run as Mary Bailey in IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE: A LIVE RADIO PLAY with The Repertory Company of St. Louis. Playing Williamina Fleming and Annie Cannon, Henrietta’s fellow “human computers” at the Harvard Observatory, are Cameron Feagin and Anne Lentino of Promethean Theatre Ensemble. Feagin recently appeared with Promethean in the title role of RICHARD III as well as in A TOWN CALLED PROGRESS. Lentino and Feagin both appeared in that company’s highly regarded BLUE STOCKINGS in 2019. Adam Thatcher, of Citadel’s 2023 holiday hit SHE LOVES ME, will play Henrietta’s love interest Peter Shaw. Laura Michele Erle, who co-wrote and recently appeared in THREE SISTERS, FOUR WOMEN with SoHo Repertory Theatre in New York City, will play Henrietta’s sister Margaret Leavitt.  Understudies are Paige Klopfenstein (Henrietta Leavitt), Kelly Levander (Williamina), Tina Shelley  (Annie Cannon), Josh Bernaski (Peter Shaw), and Emily Turner (Margaret Leavitt). 

Top row L-R: Laura Michele Erle, Cameron Feagin, Melissa Harlow, Anne Lentino

Middle row L-R: Adam Thatcher, Josh Bernaski, Paige Klopfenstein, Kelly Levander

Lower row L-R: Tina Shelley, Emily Turner

The creative and production team for SILENT SKY, in addition to Wolf as stage director, are Trevor Dotson (Set Designer), Rachel Sypniewski (Costume Designer), Joel Zishuk (Lighting Designer), Stefanie Senior (Sound Designer), Patrick McGuire (Properties Designer), Cate Gillespie (Dialect Coach), Chris Owens (Projection Designer), and Sheryl Williams (Intimacy Designer). Rounding out the production team are Brian Wasserman (Master Carpenter), Alex Trinh (Stage Crew), Erin Galvin (Stage Manager), and Scott Phelps and Ellen Phelps (Production Managers).

Citadel Theatre is in residence in the West Campus of the Lake Forest School District at 300 S. Waukegan Road, Lake Forest. Further information and ticketing is available on the company’s website at www.citadeltheatre.org or by phone at 847-735-8554, ext. 1.

Friday, February 16 - Sunday, March 17, 2024

(Previews February 14 and 15 @ 7:30 pm)

Press Opening Friday, February 16 at 7:30 pm

Thursdays*, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm, Sunday matinees at 3 pm. Wednesday matinees at 1 pm on February 21 and March 6.

*No performances on Thursdays February 22 and March 7.

Preview ticket prices $20. Regular run prices Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays $40; Saturdays and Sundays $45.00. Discounts available for groups, seniors and students.

Citadel Theatre, located in the West Campus building of the Lake Forest School District 300 S. Waukegan Road, Lake Forest, IL

Tickets available online at www.citadeltheatre.org or by phone at 847-735-8554, ext. 1

 

When 19th-century astronomer Henrietta Leavitt began work at the Harvard Observatory in the early 1900s, she wasn’t allowed to touch a telescope or express an original idea. Instead, she joins a group of women “computers,” charting the stars for a renowned astronomer who has no time for the women’s probing theories. As Henrietta, in her free time, attempts to measure the light and distance of stars, she must also take measure of her life on Earth, trying to balance her dedication to science with family obligations and the possibility of love. SILENT SKY explores a woman’s place in society during a time of immense scientific discoveries, when women’s ideas were dismissed until men claimed credit for them.

BIOS

Beth Wolf (Director) is the founder and Producing Artistic Director of Midsommer Flight, where she has directed eleven Shakespeare plays in Chicago parks since the company's founding in 2012, including critically acclaimed productions of CYMBELINE, A MIDSUMMER NIGHT’S DREAM, THE TEMPEST, TWELFTH NIGHT, and HAMLET, among others. Her production of OUTSIDE MULLINGAR at Citadel was nominated for Best Production and Best Direction of Play (Midsize) in the 2022 Jeff Awards. Other recent credits include THE SUFFRAGE PLAYS at Artemisia, THE ROOMMATE at Citadel Theatre (Equity Jeff Recommended), AND NON-PLAYER CHARACTER at Red Theater (2020 Non-Equity Jeff nomination for Projection Design). Other Chicago credits include LIAR!, which won first place in the City Lit Art of Adaptation Festival; ROSENCRANTZ & GUILDENSTERN ARE DEAD, BLACK MAGIC: AN EVENING OF SHAKESPEARE, BURY THE DEAD, and THE FANTASTICKS (Promethean Theatre Ensemble, where she was formerly the Artistic Director and co-founder); and various staged readings and assistant directing credits with Remy Bumppo, Idle Muse, City Lit Theater, and more. Beth is a proud Northwestern University graduate with a double major in Theatre and Gender Studies. She lives in Chicago with her husband and their two young children.

Lauren Gunderson (Playwright) has been one of the most produced playwrights in America since 2015, topping the list thrice including 2022/23. She is a two-time winner of the Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award for I AND YOU and THE BOOK OF WILL, the winner of the Lanford Wilson Award and a finalist for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. She is a playwright, screenwriter, musical book writer and children's author who lives in San Francisco. She graduated from NYU Tisch as a Reynolds Fellow in Social Entrepreneurship. LaurenGunderson.com 

Scott Phelps (Artistic Director) is in his 22nd year as the Artistic Director at Citadel. He’s acted in and directed dozens of Citadel productions over the two decades since founding this North Shore theatre in 2002 with his friend and lifelong companion, Ellen. Earlier in 2023, he starred in the leading role of Pastor Paul in THE CHRISTIANS. He has acted/directed in NYC, and in his home state of California, trained as an actor at the Pacific Conservatory of the Performing Arts in Santa Maria, CA, received his BFA from the University of Utah, and did an apprenticeship at the Actors Theatre of Louisville in KY. For 18 years Scott worked for a promotional company and raised his three daughters and his son in Lake Forest. Recently he has been taking on the next chapter of his life — the role of “Beepa” to his grandchildren. Although he is unsure if he is old enough to play that part, he’s been enjoying the challenge.

Citadel Theatre is one of Chicagoland’s premier live theatres, producing hundreds of performances annually and inspiring audiences for nearly 22 years. Founded by Scott and Ellen Phelps in 2002, Citadel Theatre is comprised of its Main Stage performances and its theatre acting classes for children. A proud member of the League of Chicago Theatres and the Lake Forest/Lake Bluff ArtsLink, Citadel Theatre offers a unique intimate theatre experience that transports you to another setting and leaves you feeling exhilarated and wanting more. A recognized 501(c)3 non-profit organization, Citadel can accept tax-deductible donations. For more information, ticketing, and to donate, please visit Citadel online at www.citadeltheatre.org or call 847.735.8554.

Paramount’s BOLD Series Presents A Streetcar Named Desire March 13-April 21, 2024

ChiIL Live Shows On Our Radar Paramount’s BOLD Series revival of  A Streetcar Named Desire  March 13-April 21, 2024

Paramount’s BOLD Series production of A Streetcar Named Desire, directed by (top,  from left) Jim Corti and Elizabeth Swanson, features (bottom, from left) Amanda Drinkall as Blanche DuBois, Casey Hoekstra as Stanley Kowalski and Alina Taber as Stella Kowalski. New Orleans. The heat is sweltering, the liquor flows, and the secrets are thick as humidity. To your left is Stanley, hard drinking, hard playing, and hard fists that get used a lot. On your right is Stella, who would do anything for her husband. And there, right in front of you, is Blanche, vulnerable, alone and ready to break.  Tennessee Williams’s 1947 drama A Streetcar Named Desire is forever seared into the collective memory of American society. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, A Streetcar Named Desire is one of the most critically acclaimed plays of the 20th century and Williams's most popular work. This spring, jump aboard Paramount’s Streetcar, the finale of the theater’s second BOLD Series for audiences who crave intimate, honest, fervent and emotionally intoxicating theater experiences.  Artistic Director Jim Corti and Elizabeth Swanson are teaming up to direct Paramount’s revival, with a cast led by Chicago A-listers Amanda Drinkall as Blanche, Casey Hoekstra as Stanley and Alina Taber as Stella. With a set by Angela Weber Miller and costumes by Mara Blumenfeld, just two members of a stellar design team, Paramount’s Copley stage will be transformed into a shabby New Orleans apartment, hot and sticky with desire, where morality melts away. A Streetcar Named Desire pulls into Paramount’s Copley Theatre, 8 E. Galena Blvd. in downtown Aurora, March 13-April 21, 2024. Press openings are Wednesday and Thursday, March 20 and 21 at 7 p.m. Single tickets, $40-$55, are on sale now.  Visit paramountaurora.com for tickets and information, call (630) 896-6666, or stop by the Paramount box office, 23 E. Galena Blvd., Monday–Saturday,  10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and until show time on show days.

Paramount’s A Streetcar Named Desire: A look under the hood A Streetcar Named Desire famously recounts how the faded and promiscuous Blanche DuBois is pushed over the edge by her handsome, toxic brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski. This classic American drama confronts audiences with the tenuous relationship between reality and illusion, hope and despair and the brutal battle for beauty and tenderness when the world feels like it’s conspiring against you. A Streetcar Named Desire is Tennessee Williams's most popular work and one of the most critically acclaimed plays of the 20th century. It was first performed on Broadway on December 3, 1947, produced by Irene Mayer Selznick and directed by Elia Kazan. Selznick originally wanted to cast Margaret Sullavan and John Garfield, but settled on the less well-known Jessica Tandy as Blanche and a virtual unknown at the time, Marlon Brando, as Stanley. The opening night cast also included Kim Hunter as Stella and Karl Malden as Mitch. Immortalized on film in 1951, Streetcar launched Marlon Brando’s film career, and remains one of Vivien Leigh’s most indelible performances, as Blanche. It also solidified the position of Tennessee Williams as one of the most important young writers of his generation, as well as that of Elia Kazan as the greatest American directors of the 1940s and ’50s.

Vivien Leigh and Marlon Brando in a press photo for the 1951 film, A Streetcar Named Desire.  Paramount’s cast for A Streetcar Named Desire (at press time) includes Amanda Drinkall as Blanche DuBois, Casey Hoekstra as Stanley Kowalski, Alina Taber as Stella Kowalski, Ben Page as Mitch Mitchell, Joshua L. Green as Steve Hubbell, Andrea Uppling as Eunice Hubbell, Roberto Antonio Mantica as Pablo Gonzales and Desiree Gonzalez as Nurse. External understudy is Gabriel Fries. All three leads are making their Paramount debuts: Amanda Drinkall (Blanche) is truly one of Chicago’s leading ladies, with credits including Venus in Furand A Cherry Orchard at Goodman, Mary Page Marlowe at Steppenwolf, King Charles III at Chicago Shakespeare and Last Train to Nibroc at Haven (Jeff Award, Best Actress). Casey Hoekstra (Stanley) has credits at Chicago Shakespeare, Guthrie Theater, Northlight Theatre, Writers Theatre, American Players Theater, and recently appeared in Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? at Milwaukee’s Chamber Theater. Alina Taber (Stella), best known as Lexi Olinsky for four seasons on NBC’s Chicago P.D., played Rizzo in Grease at Drury Lane Theatre and performed in Marriott’s Beautiful: The Carol King Musical.

Amanda Drinkall (from left) plays Stella, Casey Hoekstra is Stanley, and Alina Taber plays Stella in Paramount's BOLD Series production, A Streetcar Named Desire. Paramount’s design team includes Jim Corti and Elizabeth Swanson, directors; Angela Weber Miller, scenic designer; Mara Blumenfeld, costume designer; Cat Wilson, lighting designer; Forrest Gregor, sound designer; Kevin O’Donnell, composer and audio associate; Aimee Plant, properties designer; Susan Gosdick, dialect coach; Erin Nicole Eggers, stage manager; and Emma Franklin, assistant stage manager. 

Jim Corti (Paramount Artistic Director, director) inaugurated Paramount’s Broadway Series with President and CEO Tim Rater in fall 2011 with the critically acclaimed My Fair Lady and a subscriber base of 12,500 patrons. In 2015, Paramount’s Broadway Series became Jeff Award eligible. Since then, Paramount has garnered 115 nominations with 29 wins, including three consecutive Best Large Musical awards for Les Misérables, West Side Storyand Sweeney Todd. Corti helmed all three, and won Best Director for two of them, Les Misérables and Sweeney Todd. Corti also directed Paramount’s Fiddler on the Roof, Miss Saigon, RENT, The Who’s Tommy, Oklahoma!, Mamma Mia!, Million Dollar Quartet, Once, The Producers, Newsies, Groundhog Day: The Musical, Next to Normal, and co-directed Into the Woods and Fun Home. A Broadway veteran, he appeared in the original New York casts of Ragtime and Candide, joined the long running A Chorus Line, and toured nationally in Urinetown, Cabaret and Bob Fosse’s Dancin’. Other highlights include being the only director to have two productions in the same year in the Chicago Tribune’s 2009 list of 10 Best Shows for Drury Lane’s Cabaret and Writers Theatre’s Oh, Coward! He remains the sole honoree to have won Jeff Awards as an actor (Marriott’s Grand Hotel), choreographer (Drury Lane’s Singin’ in the Rain) and director (Paramount’s Sweeney Toddand Les Misérables, Drury Lane’s Sweet Charity and Northlight’s Blues in the Night). 

Elizabeth Swanson (director) is a Chicago-based director dedicated to complicating, questioning and celebrating new and classic works. Recent projects include: Emma Donoghue’s I Know My Own Heart (North American premiere, Pride Arts Center), Cabaret (Columbia College Chicago) and the sold-out, critically acclaimed Head Over Heels (Kokandy Productions, Jeff directing nomination). Swanson recently served as Artistic Director of BoHo Theatre, programming and producing the company’s 19th successful season, including tick, tick…BOOM! (dir. Bo Frazier), REMOTE (dir. Ruben Carrazana), and the world premiere of Valen-Marie Santos’s National Merit (dir. Enrico Spada). Swanson currently teaches at Columbia College Chicago, and is developing Saint Hildegard, a new musical. Previous credits include Where All the White Sneakers At? (Second City, director), Fun Home (Victory Gardens, assistant director, dir. Gary Griffin) and Love’s Labor’s Lost (Chicago Shakespeare Theater, assistant director, dir. Marti Maraden). Swanson studied history and theater at Princeton University and received their MFA in directing from the Lir National Academy of Dramatic Art at Trinity College, Dublin. 

Tennessee Williams was one of the preeminent American dramatists of the 20th century. His major plays include The Glass Menagerie (New York Drama Critics' Circle Award), A Streetcar Named Desire (Pulitzer Prize and New York Drama Critics' Circle Award), Summer and Smoke, The Rose Tattoo(Tony Award), Camino Real, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award), Orpheus Descending, Suddenly, Last Summer, Sweet Bird of Youth, The Night of the Iguana (Tony Award), The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore and Vieux Carre. Born Thomas Lanier Williams in 1911 to a shoe salesman and a southern belle, Williams grew up in Mississippi and later St. Louis, Missouri. He attended university in Missouri and became interested in theater, adopting the name Tennessee. Williams died in 1983 at the age of 71. 

Performance schedule A Streetcar Named Desire starts previews on Wednesday, March 13, with two Pay-What-You-Can Previews, Thursday, March 14 at 7 p.m., and Saturday, March 16 at 2 p.m. Opening Nights are Wednesday and Thursday, March 20 and 21 at 7 p.m. Performances run through April 21: Wednesdays at 1:30 p.m. and 7 p.m.; Thursdays at 7 p.m.; Fridays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 2 p.m. and  8 p.m.; Sundays at 1 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. Note: A Streetcar Named Desireincludes mature language, domestic violence, alcohol abuse and mental health topics. Access Services Paramount will offer an American Sign Language interpreted performance on Friday, April 19 at 8 p.m.  Paramount offers assistive listening devices free of charge at all performances. Check in at the box office before the show to borrow a listening device. If you require wheelchair or special seating or other assistance, please contact the box office at (630) 896-6666 or boxoffice@paramountarts.com in advance. Sponsor Paramount’s 2023-24 BOLD Series is sponsored by Old National Bank.

Also playing at Paramount: Billy Elliot and Beautiful

Right across the street from the Copley, Paramount Theatre’s 12th Broadway Series continues this spring with: Billy Elliot: The Musical February 7-March 24, 2024 Opening Night: Friday, February 16, at 8 p.m. Directed by Trent Stork Book and Lyrics by Lee Hall Music by Elton John Originally directed by Stephen Daldry Orchestrations by Martin Koch Nominated for 15 Tony Awards with 10 wins, including Best Musical The music of Elton John brings to life the story of Billy Elliot, an 11-year-old English boy who stumbles upon a ballet class during his weekly boxing lesson. His surprise love for dance must be hidden at all costs, especially from his coal miner father. With help from his sharp-tongued teacher, Mrs. Wilkinson, Billygets the chance to attend a prestigious ballet school and must decide what is most important: doing what he loves or doing what other people want.

Beautiful: The Carole King Musical April 24-June 16, 2024 Opening Night: Friday, May 3, at 8 p.m.  Directed by Jim Corti and Johanna McKenzie Miller Book by Douglas McGrath Words and Music by Gerry Goffin, Carole King, Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil Orchestrations, vocal and incidental music arrangements by Steve Sidewall Nominated for seven Tony Awards, with two wins, plus a Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album Carole King made more than beautiful music. She wrote the soundtrack to a generation with songs including “You’ve Got a Friend,” “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman,” “It’s Too Late,” “I Feel the Earth Move,” “Will You Love Me Tomorrow” and “So Far Away.”   Before she was the Carole King we know today, she was a young songwriter from Brooklyn trying to make a name for herself. Beautiful: The Carole King Musical tells the inspiring true story of her remarkable rise to stardom with her husband and songwriting partner, Gerry Goffin, and how she went on to become one of the most successful singers, songwriters and musicians in contemporary music history.  For tickets and information, visit paramountaurora.com, call (630) 896-6666, or stop by the Paramount Theatre box office, 23 E. Galena Blvd., Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and until show time on show days.

About Paramount Theatre 

Paramount Theatre, 23 E. Galena Blvd., is the center for performing arts in Aurora, the second largest city in Illinois. The beautiful, 1,843-seat theater, graced with a strong 1930s Art Deco influence and original Venetian décor, nationally known for its high-quality productions, superb acoustics and historic grandeur, has been downtown Aurora’s anchor attraction since 1931. Since launching its own Broadway Series in 2011, Paramount has amassed more than 37,000 subscribers, making it the largest subscription house in the U.S.  For over 50 years, the Joseph Jefferson Awards has recognized excellence in Chicago area theater. Paramount has been honored to earn 115 Jeff nominations and 29 wins over the last 12 years, including six Jeff Awards in 2022 for Kinky Boots, including Best Musical-Large, Paramount’s fourth win in that category following Sweeney Todd (2017), West Side Story (2016) and Les Misérables (2015).  Paramount Theatre is one of four live performance venues programmed and managed by the Aurora Civic Center Authority (ACCA). Paramount’s “sister stage” is the newly renovated, 165-seat Copley Theatre, home to Paramount’s BOLD Series, across the street in North Island Center. ACCA also programs and manages RiverEdge Park, a 6,000-seat outdoor summer concert venue in downtown Aurora, Stolp Island Theatre, an immersive space opening on the Fox River riverwalk in 2024, and the Paramount School of the Arts. Paramount Theatre continues to expand its artistic and institutional boundaries under the guidance of Tim Rater, President and CEO, Aurora Civic Center Authority; Jim Corti, Artistic Director, Paramount Theatre; a dedicated Board of Trustees and a devoted staff of live theater and music professionals. For the latest updates, visit paramountaurora.com or follow @paramountaurora on Facebook and Instagram, and Paramount Theatre on LinkedIn.