BCS Spotlight

Buzz Center Stage

Buzz Center Stage

Tuesday, 19 December 2023 17:15

Definition Theatre Announces 2024 Season

Definition Theatre announces two world premiere plays as part of its 2024 season. The company has also added stage and production manager Julie Jachym and Sound Designer Willow James to the ensemble and welcomes media producer and host Troy Pryor to its artistic advisory board. Definition will open its season with the world premiere of Judy's Life's Work by Loy A. Webb, directed by Michelle Bester, running February 2–25, 2024, followed by An Educated Guess by Juan José Alfonso and directed by Artistic Director Tyrone Phillips, running May 3–26, 2024. Both plays will be performed in Hyde Park with location, casts and crew to be announced at a later date. 

"To say it is an absolute honor to work with Definition Theatre and Loy A. Webb, would be an understatement. Both are such impactive engines of knowledge, creativity, and empowerment," comments Director Michelle Bester. "Definition Theatre has done some incredible work already in the city of Chicago, more specifically, the Southside, where there is an obvious void. Loy Webb has done tremendous work bringing to light Black legacy and Black excellence, and always writing beautiful Black stories for all to enjoy and learn from. The opportunity to direct such a piece as Judy's Life's Work with both entities is such a fulfillment for me, and I'm beyond excited to breathe life into this project along with the fantastically talented cast! My mission as a director is to not only entertain but to educate, and thankfully this project is allowing me to do just that plus more!" 

Loy Webb is a Chicago-born playwright, attorney, and theatre journalist. Her play The Light garnered an Outer Critics Circle nomination for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play and a Joseph Jefferson Award. 

"I look forward to tackling this powerful story that we have been developing with Juan since 2018," notes Artistic Director Tyrone Phillips. "It is centered around Alba, a woman who is soul-searching for meaning in her life while running up against the fragility of our current immigration policies, practices, and procedures at work. Juan is an incredibly talented writer who has taken many complex issues and woven them into a work of art that will spark meaningful conversation and a call to action for our community." 

"This is an exciting time for storytellers," says Troy Pryor. "There are so many mediums to connect with an audience, but there is something special about being in front of a live audience. I'm also excited about the opportunity to help build Definiton's media department with a roster of amazing creators." 

ABOUT THE SEASON

The world premiere of 

Judy's Life's Work 

by Loy A. Webb 

directed by Michelle Bester  

February 2—25, 2024 

Press Opening Thursday, February 8, 2024

Tickets: Starting at $25

Only a month after their mother's death, Xavier, a highly praised ex-boxer, and his sister Charli, a brilliant pre-med student, fight to determine the future of their mother's groundbreaking medical notes. As they work through the grief, heartbreak, pain, and unresolved trauma of their childhoods, we discover a story of the healing power of sibling love. 

The world premiere of 

An Educated Guess 

By Juan José Alfonso 

Directed by Artistic Director Tyrone Phillips 

May 3–26, 2024

Press Opening Thursday, May 9, 2024

Tickets: Starting at $35

This play was originally workshopped by Definition Theatre in 2018 with a private reading hosted at Steppenwolf Theatre Company. 

It's been a few years since the September 11 attacks on New York City, but the wounds are still raw. We find Alba Guerrero, a rising star at the federal immigration office in Manhattan, on the day she realizes an immigrant she admitted into the United States has committed a heinous act of mass murder. As her life begins to unravel, we meet characters from all over the world– helping Alba come to grips with guilt, forgiveness, and the inherent fallibility of our government systems.

ABOUT DEFINITION THEATRE

Definition Theatre is a culturally diverse theater dedicated to telling language-driven, relationship-oriented, socially relevant stories about and created with underrepresented communities in Chicago. Our ensemble is a collective of artists, art administrators, educators, and designers who prioritize working towards and representing a more equitable theatre industry. 

Definition has built its reputation on work that reflects its unique voice. It shared the words of Academy Award- Winner Tarell Alvin McCraney in The Brothers Size; it grooved with Amiri Baraka's whirlwind story of a chance meeting on a train in Dutchman. In partnership with, The New Colony staged the world premiere of Byhalia, Mississippi, which starred Academy Award nominee ensemble member Kiki Layne. In association with the Goodman Theatre, Definition staged the Chicago premiere of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins' An Octoroon, a subversive take on race in America that captivated audiences. Definition sent us all to the moon with ensemble member James Ijames's Moon Man Walk, explored the challenges of America's public-school system through Nilaja Sun's No Child... and highlighted the first- generation experience in the world premiere of Sam Kebede's ETHIOPIANAMERICA. The company returned to the stage and inspected white privilege, racial politics and the fine line between appropriation and opportunity in ensemble member James Ijames's WHITE. In 2023, they examined the dark and sweet spots of Black American identity with the choreopoem, ALAIYO and is a searing examination of families, drama, family dramas, and the insidiousness of white supremacy in FAIRVIEW

Definition Ensemble members include: Adia Alli, Owais Ahmed, Ariel Beller, Jared Bellot, Carley Cornelius, Ari Craven, Danielle Davis, Julie Jachym, Willow James, Martasia Jones, Slick Jorgensen, Yeaji Kim, Kristy Hall, James Ijames, Kiki Layne, Kelson Michael McAuliffe, Victor Musoni, Neel McNeill, Sophiyaa Nayar, Karyn Oates, Alexandra Oparka, Julian Parker, Maya Vinice Prentiss, Tyrone Phillips, Ireon Roach, Jacqueline Rosas, Christopher Sheard, and Dujon Smith. 

Definition Artistic Advisory Board members include: director May Adrales, Steppenwolf ensemble member Alana Arenas, actress Shannon Cochran, Erica Daniels, actor Brandon Dirden, actor Jason Dirden, director Pam Mackinnon, Equity Quotient CEO Keryl McCord, professor JW Morrissette, director Ron OJ Parson, professor/lighting designer Kathy Perkins, media producer and host Troy Osborne Pryor, Tony Award-winning actress and stage director Phylicia Rashad, and Goodman Theatre director in residence Chuck Smith. Tyrone Phillips is the Artistic Director and Neel McNeill is the Executive Director. For additional information, visit definitiontheatre.org and @definitiontheatre on Facebook and Instagram #stayinit

Steppenwolf Theatre Company, the nation's premier ensemble theater company, is pleased to announce Harry Lennix (The Blacklist, The DC Universe) and Tamara Tunie (Law & Order: SVUI Wanna Dance with Somebody) will join the cast of its world premiere of Purpose, an epic family drama by two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, directed by two-time Tony Award winner Phylicia Rashad.

 

Lennix and Tunie are joined by ensemble members Alana Arenas (David Makes Man, The Brother/Sister Plays), Glenn Davis (King JamesDownstate) and Jon Michael Hill (Elementary, Pass Over) with Ayanna Bria Bakari (Last Night and the Night BeforeThe Chi).

"I am simply honored to welcome Harry and Tamara as they make their Steppenwolf debuts in Purpose," shares Artistic Director Glenn Davis. "Harry – born and raised in Chicago and a Northwestern alum – has been a lifelong mentor of mine, so appearing onstage with him is both thrilling and humbling. Meanwhile I've known Tamara and have been a big fan of her work for years and have nothing but admiration for her career across film, TV and theater. I know they both will feel right at home at Steppenwolf, and we look forward to sharing their immense talents with Chicago audiences."

 

Purpose will play March 14 – April 21, 2024 in Steppenwolf's Downstairs Theater, 1650 N. Halsted St. in Chicago Single tickets for Purpose starting at $20 are now on sale at steppenwolf.org or the Box Office at (312) 335-1650. The press opening is Sunday, March 24, 2024 at 6 pm.

For decades, the influential Jasper family has been a pillar of Black American Politics: civil rights leaders, pastors and congressmen. But like all families, there are cracks and secrets just under the surface. When the youngest son Nazareth returns home to Illinois with an uninvited friend in tow, the family is forced into a reckoning with itself, its faith and the legacies of Black radicalism. Rowdy, hilarious and filled with intrigue, Purpose is an epic family drama – a long-awaited world premiere from one of the country's most celebrated voices.

The creative team includes Todd Rosenthal (Scenic Design), Dede Ayite (Costume Design), Amith Chandrashaker (Lighting Design), Rob Milburn & Michael Bodeen (Sound Design), Patrick Zakem (Creative Producer), Tom Pearl (Producing Director), JC Clementz, CSA (Casting), Laura D. Glenn (Production Stage Manager) and Jaclynn Joslin (Assistant Stage Manager). For full cast and creative team bios, click here.

Production Details:

Title: Purpose – World Premiere!

Playwright: Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

Director: Phylicia Rashad

Cast: Alana Arenas (Morgan Jasper), Glenn Davis (Solomon "Junior" Jasper Jr.) and Jon Michael Hill (Nazareth "Naz" Jasper) with Ayanna Bria Bakari (Angela Houston) Harry Lennix (Solomon "Sonny" Jasper) and Tamara Tunie (Claudine Jasper).

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

Dates: Previews: Thursday, March 14 – Saturday, March 23, 2024

Regular run: Tuesday, March 26 – Sunday, April 21, 2024

Curtain Times: Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 pm; Saturdays at 3 pm & 7:30 pm; and Sundays at 3 pm. Please note: there will not be a performance on Tuesday, March 19 or Tuesday, April 16; the will be a 2 pm performance on Wednesday, April 10; there will not be a 7:30 pm performance on Wednesday, April 10.

Tickets: Single tickets for Purpose ($20 - $102) are now on sale at steppenwolf.org and the Box Office at (312) 335-1650. Steppenwolf Flex Memberships are also currently on sale: Black Card Memberships with six tickets for use any time for any production and RED Card Memberships for theatergoers under 30.

Accessible Performance Dates:

Audio-described and touch tour: Sunday, April 7 at 3 pm (1:30 pm touch tour, 3 pm curtain)

Open-captioned: Thursday, April 4 at 7:30 pm and Saturday, April 13 at 3 pm

ASL-interpreted: public performance: Friday, April 12 at 7:30 pm 

Artist Biographies:

Alana Arenas (Morgan Jasper) joined the Steppenwolf Theatre Company ensemble in 2007 and created the role of Pecola Breedlove for the Steppenwolf for Young Adults production of The Bluest Eye, which also played at the New Victory Theater Off-Broadway. Recent Steppenwolf appearances include the Steppenwolf for Young Adults production of MonsterThe FundamentalsMarie AntoinetteTribesBellevilleHead of PassesGood PeopleThree SistersThe MarchMan in LoveMiddletownThe Hot L BaltimoreThe Etiquette of VigilanceThe Brother/Sister PlaysThe TempestThe CrucibleSpare Change and The Sparrow Project. Other theatre credits include Disgraced (American Theater Company), The Arabian Nights (Lookingglass Theatre Company, Berkeley Repertory Theatre and Kansas City Repertory Theatre), Eyes (eta Creative Arts), SOST (MPAACT), WVON (Black Ensemble Theater) and Hecuba (Chicago Shakespeare Theater). Television and film credits include David Makes Man, Canal Street, CrisisBossThe BeastKabuku Rides and Lioness of Lisabi. She is originally from Miami, Florida, where she began her training at the New World School of the Arts. Alana holds a BFA from The Theatre School at DePaul University.

Ayanna Bria Bakari (Angela Houston) Steppenwolf Theatre Company: Last Night and the Night Before. Chicago: Relentless, Too Heavy for Your Pocket (TimeLine Theatre); RelentlessHow to Catch Creation (Goodman Theatre); As You Like It (Chicago Shakespeare Theater); The Niceties – Black Theater Alliance Award, Stickfly (Writers Theatre). Regional: The Salvagers (Asst. Dir. at Yale Repertory Theatre); Clyde's (TheaterWorks Hartford); Sunflowered (Northern Sky Theater); The Rainmaker (Peninsula Players Theatre); The Orginalist (Indiana Repertory Theatre). Television: Wu-Tang: An American Saga (HULU), The CHI (Showtime), Chicago PDChicago FireEmpire (FOX) and 61st Street (AMC). Film: Holiday Heist (BET). Education: BFA, The Theatre School at DePaul University. Ayanna Bria is a governing ensemble member of The Story Theatre and is represented by Stewart Talent. #BLACKLIVESMATTER.

Glenn Davis (Solomon "Junior" Jasper Jr.) is an actor, producer and Artistic Director of Steppenwolf Theatre Company alongside Audrey Francis, where he has been an ensemble member since 2017. His Steppenwolf credits include: Downstate, The Christians, You Got Older, The Brother/Sister Plays, Head of Passes, King James (also Mark Taper Forum, Manhattan Theatre Club) and most recently Describe the Night. Broadway credits include: Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo (also Kirk Douglas Theatre, Mark Taper Forum). Off-Broadway credits include: Transfers (MCC Theatre), Wig Out! (Vineyard Theatre) and Downstate (Playwrights Horizons). Other regional credits include: Moscow x6 (Williamstown Theatre Festival). International credits include: Downstate (National Theatre, UK), Edward II, The Winter's Tale and As You Like It (Stratford Festival), as well as Othello at The Shakespeare Company. Television credits include: Billions, 24, The Unit, Jericho and The Good Wife. Glenn is an artistic associate at the Young Vic in London and at the Vineyard Theatre in New York. He is also a partner in Cast Iron Entertainment, a collective of artists consisting of Sterling K. Brown, Brian Tyree Henry, Jon Michael Hill, Andre Holland and Tarell Alvin McCraney. Cast Iron is currently in residence at The Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles. In 2021, Glenn founded The Chatham Grove Company along with his producing partner Tarell Alvin McCraney, which is currently in an overall deal with Universal Content Productions (UCP).

Jon Michael Hill (Nazareth "Naz" Jasper) joined the Steppenwolf Theatre Company ensemble in 2007. Steppenwolf: True West (also Galway International Arts Festival), Pass Over, Constellations, Head of Passes, The Hot L Baltimore, The Tempest, Kafka on the Shore, The Unmentionables. Broadway: Pass OverSuperior Donuts. Off-Broadway: The Refuge Plays (New York Theatre Workshop) Pass Over (Lincoln Center). Film: Pass Over, Widows, In The Radiant City, No Pay, Nudity. Television: Upcoming: A Man in Full (Netflix) Elementary (CBS), Detroit 1-8-7 (ABC), Eastbound and Down (HBO), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC) and Person of Interest (CBS).

Harry Lennix (Solomon "Sonny" Jasper) is a distinguished film, television, stage actor and producer. For the past 10 years, he starred as "Harold Cooper" in NBC's long-running, hit series The Blacklist. Lennix's breakout role was "Dresser" in 20th Century Studio's feature The Five Heartbeats, from director Robert Townsend. He has portrayed fan-favorite characters in blockbuster franchise films such as "General Swanwick/Martian Manhunter" in DC Entertainment's Man of SteelBatman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice and Zack Snyder's Justice League and as "Commander Lock" in Warner Brothers' The Matrix franchise films The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions. He also starred as "Joe Adams" in the Oscar Award-winning feature Ray.

 

Lennix received widespread critical acclaim and a Golden Satellite Award as "Aaron" in Julie Taymor's Titus with Anthony Hopkins and Jessica Lange. Other select film credits over his decades-spanning career include Spike Lee's Chi-Raq and Clockers, Gina Prince-Bythewood's Love & BasketballStomp the YardCanal StreetNothing Is ImpossibleThe Last FallA Beautiful SoulState of PlayResurrecting the ChampChrystalBarbershop 2: Back In BusinessGet on the Bus and Bob Roberts. He has also starred in and produced several films for his production company Exponent Media Group.

On television, Lennix garnered acclaim starring as political activist "Adam Clayton Powell, Jr." in Showtime's Keep the Faith Baby. For his performance, he won a Black Reel Award and earned Golden Satellite Award and NAACP Image Award Nominations. He also starred as "Jim Gardner," the Chief of Staff to POTUS, in the Golden Globe-nominated ABC series Commander in Chief, for which he received an NAACP Image Award Nomination. Other television credits include Showtime's Billions, HBO's Insecure and Little Britain, CW's Emily Owens, M.D., NBC's ER, Fox's Dollhouse and 24, among many others. He recently lent his voice to Matthew A. Cherry's animated MAX series Young Love, based on his Oscar-winning short film, Cartoon Network's Transformers: Robots in Disguise and can soon be heard in Zack Snyder's animated Netflix series Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas.

In theatre, Lennix made his Broadway debut in August Wilson's Tony nominated Radio Golf. He also starred in August Wilson's King Hedley II at the Mark Taper Forum. His portrayal of "Malcolm X" at the Goodman Theater earned him the first Ollie Award. He received Joseph Jefferson Citations for his starring roles in Ma Rainey's Black Bottom and Caught in the Act. He has directed and appeared in productions across the country including Northlight Theatre Company's Permanent Collection at LA's Greenway Arts Alliance, which was later remounted at The Kirk Douglas Theater. He directed the stage version of Robert Townsend's The Five Heartbeats, which received three NAACP Theater Award Nominations and The Glass Menagerie for Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company. In 2001, he was part of the first American company to be Invited to the Royal Shakespeare Company in the production of Cymbeline. This spring he returns to the Chicago stage in two new plays: Steppenwolf's Purpose and Congo Square's How I Learned What I Learned.

A proud Chicagoan raised on the city's South Side, Lennix is creating The Lillian Marcie Center and AAMPA (African American Museum of The Performing Arts), an arts complex he calls "the Black version of Lincoln Center." In 2019 he was named Ambassador for the Prostate Cancer Foundation and brings his message of early detection through PSA's and public speaking. He serves as Spokesman for NOBLE, the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, and is an ambassador to the National Association of Drug Court Professionals. He is on the Advisory Council of Northwestern University, his alma mater, and is a board member of Reading Rescue, a training program for educators teaching reading skills to at-risk elementary school children.

Tamara Tunie (Claudine Jasper) has a distinguished body of work that encompasses stage, television and film. Last year she was seen in the role of Cissy Houston, mother of the great American icon Whitney Houston, in I Wanna Dance with Somebody, reuniting her with Caveman's Valentine and Eve's Bayou director, Kasi Lemmons.


Ms. Tunie also triumphed on the London stage last season at the Old Vic in the critically-acclaimed production of Mike Bartlett's The 47th, in which she starred as Kamala Harris opposite Bertie Carvel's Donald Trump in a futuristic imagining of a presidential run-off between the two. Under the direction of Rupert Goold, Tunie received glowing notices: "Tamara Tunie is magnetizing in her performance," "the charismatic Tamara Tunie," "utterly convincing," "sturdy under fire."

One of the distinct hallmarks of Ms. Tunie's remarkable career is a long examination of American culture and its unique social and power dynamics. Beginning with such films as Oliver Stone's Wall Street with Michael Douglas, Harold Becker's City Hall with Al Pacino, Taylor Hackford's Devil's Advocate with Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron, to Robert Zemeckis' Flight opposite Denzel Washington, with whom she also starred on Broadway as "Calpurnia" in Julius Caesar, Ms. Tunie's attraction to content with depth and meaning is apparent. This thread continues with the Sundance TV series The Red Road, where Tamara starred as the challenged Native-American tribal chief "Marie Van Der Veen" opposite Jason Momoa; the BBC/Netflix international drama Black Earth Rising which scrutinizes the West's complicity in the destabilization of Africa, portraying "Under-Secretary of State, Eunice Clayton;" and AMC's Dietland where she explored the underbelly of the American Beauty-Industrial Complex as "Julia," manager of the mysterious "beauty closet."

Ms. Tunie's award-winning stage works include the world premiere of American Son, a searing examination of race and class in which she originated the role of "Kendra Ellis-Connor;" her Obie-Award winning turn as "Marvelous" in Danai Gurira's Familiar, which grapples with identity, assimilation, tradition and the clashing of ideals of an African-Immigrant family; and most recently she starred in the world premiere of Bernarda's Daughters, where she portrayed matriarch "Florence Delva" with "oracular grandeur," another contemporary play that "mines" the effects of gentrification, police brutality and what it means to be "American,"  in a Haitian-American family in Brooklyn.

Ms. Tunie first gained an international following in the role of medical examiner "Dr. Melinda Warner" with 23 seasons on Dick Wolf's legendary NBC series Law & Order: SVU. She was a series regular on the Netflix cult favorite Cowboy Bebop, and she appeared on the Apple-TV futuristic-drama See as "The Bank" opposite Jason Momoa and Alfre Woodard.  

Recurring guest-starring roles include such hit shows as Almost FamilyEmergenceBetter Call SaulBlue BloodsBillionsAlpha House24ElementaryThe Good Wife and Survivor's Remorse.

Ms. Tunie is a Founder of Black Theatre United. She is Chair Emerita of the Board of Directors of Figure Skating in Harlem, a non-profit organization that supports academic excellence and instills life skills to young girls in the Harlem community through the art and discipline of figure skating, to ensure they are champions "off the Ice!" She serves on the Board of Directors at Harlem Stage/The Gatehouse, City Theatre Company in Pittsburgh, and is on the Advisory Board of Hearts of Gold, a not for profit that supports women and their children in New York City shelters, and helps them transition out of the system.

In 2005, Mayor Bloomberg awarded Ms. Tunie the "Made in New York Award" from the City of New York, for her support and commitment to Film, Television and Theater.

Ms. Tunie holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from Carnegie-Mellon University, and now serves on the Executive Board of Trustees.

Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (Playwright) is a Brooklyn-based playwright and producer and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist. Recent theater credits include The Comeuppance (Signature Theatre), Girls (Yale Rep), Everybody (Signature Theatre), War (Yale Rep; Lincoln Center/LCT3), Gloria (Vineyard Theatre), Appropriate (Obie Award; Signature Theatre), An Octoroon (Obie Award; Soho Rep, Theatre for a New Audience) and Neighbors (The Public Theater). He was showrunner, executive producer and writer for HULU/FX's drama series, Kindred, based on Octavia E. Butler's groundbreaking novel. He currently teaches at Yale University and serves as Vice President of the Dramatists Guild council and on the boards of Soho Rep, Park Avenue Armory, the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and the Dramatists Guild Foundation. Honors include a USA Artists fellowship, a Guggenheim fellowship, the MacArthur fellowship, the Windham-Campbell Prize for Drama and the inaugural Tennessee Williams Award.

Phylicia Rashad (Director) An accomplished actor and stage director, Phylicia Rashad became a household name when she portrayed Claire Huxtable on The Cosby Show, a character whose enduring appeal has earned her numerous honors and awards. She has appeared in NBC's This Is Us, in the popular Fox TV series Empire, in Tarell Alvin McCraney's Peabody Award-winning series David Makes Man on the OWN Network, Diarra From Detroit, The Good Fight, Little America, and The Crossover.

While television was a catalyst in the rise of Ms. Rashad's career, she has also been a force on the stage, appearing both on and Off Broadway, often in projects that showcase her musical talent such as Jelly's Last Jam, Into the Woods, Dreamgirls and The Wiz

In 2016, Ms. Rashad was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame and received the 2016 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Leading Actress in a Play for her performance as Shelah in Tarell Alvin McCraney's Head of Passes at the Public Theater. Ms. Rashad performed the role of the Duchess of Gloucester in Richard II, the 2020 Shakespeare on the Radio collaboration between The Public Theater and New York public radio station, WNYC.

On Broadway, Ms. Rashad has performed in Dominique Morriseau's Skeleton Crew (Tony and Drama Desk Awards), August: Osage County, Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (a role that she reprised on the London stage), August Wilson's Gem of The Ocean (Tony Award nomination) and in Shakespeare's Cymbeline at Lincoln Center. Ms. Rashad received both the Drama Desk and the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for her riveting performance as Lena Younger in the 2004 Broadway revival of Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in The Sun.

  

Among Ms. Rashad's film credits are CreedCreed II, Creed IIIJust Wright, Tyler Perry's Good DeedsFor Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf and the 2020 release, A Fall From Grace. Recent film projects include Black BoxSoul and the Netflix holiday musical, Jingle Jangle

Ms. Rashad made her critically acclaimed directorial debut at the Seattle Repertory Theater with August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean. She has also directed Stephen Adly Guirgis' Our Lady of 121st Street, The RoommateBlues for an Alabama SkyMa Rainey's Black Bottom, Joe Turner's Come and Gone (2014 NAACP Theatre Award for Best Director), Immediate FamilyFencesA Raisin in the Sun and Four Little Girls.

Respected in the academic world, Ms. Rashad has served as Dean of the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts at Howard University since May 2021. In February 2023, she was appointed Howard University's inaugural holder of the Toni Morrison Endowed Chair in Arts and Humanities. Ms. Rashad has conducted Master Classes at many colleges, universities and arts organizations including Howard University, New York University, Carnegie Mellon, The Black Arts Institute of the Stella Adler Studio of Acting and the prestigious Ten Chimneys Foundation. Ms. Rashad also holds the distinction of being the first recipient of the Denzel Washington Chair in Theatre at Fordham University.

Rashad's commitment to excellence in the performing arts has been recognized by the numerous colleges and universities that have presented her with Honorary Doctorates.

Ms. Rashad has also received countless esteemed awards including the BET Honors Theatrical Arts Award, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre's Spirit of Shakespeare Award and the Inaugural Legacy Award of the Ruben Santiago Hudson Fine Arts Learning Center.

She serves on several important boards including Brainerd Institute Heritage (which is steering the restoration of Kumler Hall at the historic site of Brainerd Institute in Chester, South Carolina) and DADA, the Debbie Allen Dance Academy. Since 2017, Ms. Rashad has been the Brand Ambassador of the National Trust for Historic Preservation African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. 

Phylicia Rashad graduated Magna Cum Laude from Howard University and is the mother of two adult children. 

Accessibility

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

Steppenwolf's Mission: Steppenwolf strives to create thrilling, courageous and provocative art in a thoughtful and inclusive environment. We succeed when we disrupt your routine with experiences that spark curiosity, empathy and joy. We invite you to join our ensemble as we navigate, together, our complex world. steppenwolf.orgfacebook.com/steppenwolftheatretwitter.com/steppenwolfthtr and instagram.com/steppenwolfthtr.

Wednesday, 20 December 2023 17:06

GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY is On Sale

Broadway In Chicago and Runaway Entertainment are pleased to announce that individual tickets for Girl From The North Country will be on sale tomorrow, Friday, December 15. Ticket prices will range from $35 - $119 with a select number of premium tickets available. Girl From The North Country will perform a strictly limited engagement from Tuesday, February 13 to Sunday, February 25, 2024, at the CIBC Theatre. Additional ticket information and the performance schedule are below.

It's 1934 in Duluth, Minnesota. We meet a group of wayward travelers whose lives intersect in a guesthouse filled with music, life and hope. Experience this 'profoundly beautiful' production (The New York Times) brought to vivid life by an extraordinary company of actors and musicians.

ABOUT GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY

Written and directed by celebrated playwright Conor McPherson and featuring Tony Award-winning orchestrations by Simon Hale, GIRL FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY reimagines 20 legendary songs of Bob Dylan as they've never been heard before, including "Forever Young," "All Along The Watchtower," "Hurricane," "Slow Train Coming," and "Like A Rolling Stone." 

The Girl From The North Country acting company includes Alan Ariano (Dr. Walker), David Benoit (Mr. Burke), Ben Biggers (Gene Laine), Paul Blankenship (Offstage Cover), Jennifer Blood (Elizabeth Laine), Ashley D. Brooks (Ensemble), Justin Michael Duval (Ensemble), Rayla Garske (Swing), Matt Manuel (Joe Scott), Kelly McCormick (Ensemble), Sharaé Moultrie (Marianne Laine), Hosea Mundi (Ensemble) Warren Nolan Jr. (Swing), Ali Regan (Swing), Jay Russell (Mr. Perry), John Schiappa (Nick Laine), Chiara Trentalange (Kate Draper), Danny Vaccaro (Swing), Jill Van Velzer (Mrs. Burke), Jeremy Webb (Reverend Marlowe), Aidan Wharton (Elias Burke) and Carla Woods (Mrs. Neilsen). Casting subject to change. 

Girl From The North Country features scenic and costume design by Rae Smith; orchestrations, arrangements, and music supervision by Simon Hale, with additional arrangements by Simon Hale and Conor McPherson; lighting design by Mark Henderson; sound design by Simon Baker; movement direction by Lucy Hind; associate direction by Barbara Rubin; and music direction by Timothy Splain.

Girl From The North Country's Original Broadway Cast Album was a 2022 GRAMMY Award® nominee for "Best Musical Theater Album."

For more information visit www.northcountrytour.com

X: @NorthCountryBwy  ● Facebook: @NorthCountryBroadway  ● Instagram: @northcountrybroadway 

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

WEEK ONE

Tuesday, Feb. 13 at 7:00 pm

Wednesday, Feb 14 at 7:00 pm

Thursday, Feb 15 at 7:00 pm

Friday, Feb 16 at 7:30 pm

Saturday, Feb 17 at 2 pm

Saturday, Feb 17 at 7:30 pm

Sunday, Feb 18 at 1 pm

Sunday, Feb 18 at 6:30 pm

WEEK TWO

Tuesday, Feb. 20 at 7:00 pm

Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 1 pm

Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 7:00 pm

Thursday, Feb. 22 at 7:00 pm

Friday, Feb. 23 at 7:30 pm

Saturday, Feb. 24 at 2 pm

Saturday, Feb. 24 at 7:30 pm

Sunday, Feb. 25 at 1 pm

TICKET INFORMATION

Ticket prices range from $35 - $119 with a select number of premium tickets available. Individual tickets will be available by visiting www.BroadwayInChicago.com, or going to any Broadway In Chicago venue box office. Tickets are available for groups of 10 or more by calling Broadway In Chicago Group Sales at (312) 977-1710 or emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

ABOUT BROADWAY IN CHICAGO

Broadway In Chicago was created in July 2000 and over the past 23 years has grown to be one of the largest commercial touring homes in the country. A Nederlander Presentation, Broadway In Chicago lights up the Chicago Theater District entertaining up to 1.7 million people annually in five theatres. Broadway In Chicago presents a full range of entertainment, including musicals and plays, on the stages of five of the finest theatres in Chicago's Loop including the Cadillac Palace Theatre, CIBC Theatre, James M. Nederlander Theatre, and just off the Magnificent Mile, the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place and presenting Broadway shows at the Auditorium Theatre.

For more information, visit www.BroadwayInChicago.com.

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Pegasus Theatre Chicago is proud to announce the authors and plays being presented at the 37th Annual Young Playwrights Festival, January 4 - 28, 2024 at Chicago Dramatists, 798 N. Aberdeen. Previews are Thursday, Jan. 4 - Saturday, Jan. 6 at 7 p.m. with the Opening Ceremony, Sunday, Jan. 7 at 2:30 p.m. The performance schedule is Fridays at 7 p.m. and Saturdays at 2:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.  Tickets are $15 - $30 are on sale now at PegasusTheatreChicago.org. Educators may schedule school group matinees via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..  

For 37 years, the Young Playwrights Festival, the oldest such festival in the United States, has engaged and inspired high school students across Chicago by teaching them to craft one-act plays. Under the auspices of Pegasus Theatre Chicago, the winning teen playwrights’ productions are work-shopped and staged by industry professionals. The competition typically receives more than 300 submissions annually.  

“It’s important that audiences start the year celebrating the work of these young playwrights,” said Executive and Producing Artistic Director ILesa Duncan.”The work from all over Chicago, represents the talent of these teens and offers an artistic outlet for them to mine their world for inspiration while exploring potential careers. We look forward to sharing these four new works.”

The 37th Young Playwrights Festival includes:

Splashes of Paint by Amanda Heckler 

(Taft High School, Teacher: Adrienne Carmona)

Director: Reshmi Hazra Rustebakke 

During the Renaissance period, a young woman is forced to hide her visual art painting which jeopardizes her happiness.

You’re Like, Dead  by Ella Johnson 

(Whitney Young Magnet High School, Teacher: Elizabeth Danesh)

Director: ILesa Duncan 

Richard accidentally dies and befriends Death in the afterlife as they both grapple with their loneliness.

Can’t Sleep by Alexander Loaiza 

(Thomas Kelly High School, Teacher: Chani Buchic)

Director: Enrico Spada

In order to stave off the grief of his dog dying James pretends he's in a happy kids television show.  Can he acknowledge his childhood traumas and awake from his dream?

Listen by Grant Parris 

(Whitney Young Magnet High School, Teacher: Elizabeth Danesh)

Director: ILesa Duncan  

Two friends George and Zach find themselves in a time loop that ends in tragedy. Can they stop the devastating chain reaction from repeating?

The cast of the 37th Annual Young Playwrights Festival includes, in alphabetical order: Seth Hubbard, Evan Morales, Ben Murphy, William A.S. Rose II, AunDria TraNay and Hadar Zusman with understudies Josh Braden, Kyle Johnson and Diego Rivera Rodriquez. 

The production team for the 37th Annual Young Playwrights Festival includes: ILesa Duncan (director, Listen and You’re Like, Dead); Enrico Spada (director, Can’t Sleep); Reshmi Hazra Rustebakke (director, Splashes of Paint); Lindsay Mummert (scenic designer); Josh Wroblewski (lighting designer); Brandon Reed (sound designer); Jessica Gowens (costume designer); Amanda Herrman (props designer); Line Bower (technical director); Avery Spellmeyer (head electrician); Adi Davis (production manager); NaVada Reed (stage manager) and Ben Locke (casting director).

ABOUT THE DIRECTORS

RESHMI HAZRA RUSTEBAKKE, DIRECTOR, Splashes of Paint 

Reshmi Hazra Rustebakke is a multi-faceted film and theater maker who develops work as a creator, director, producer, storyteller and curator. She works creatively developing new work and also directing, producing and production managing many varieties of shoots and plays. She has worked at The Vineyard, Playwrights Horizons Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, TimeLine Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Free Street and many more. She is the co-director of critically acclaimed “BRUJOS” and director for “8,000,” “FOBia,” “The Haven,” “Ethel and Agnes,” “Geeta’s Guide to Moving On” and several more projects in development. She has her BFA from New York University, Playwrights Horizons Theatre School. During her time in New York, she received the Robert Moss Directing Fellow at Playwrights Horizons Theatre, as well as the Artist of Color Fellowship at New York Theatre Workshop.

ILESA DUNCAN, DIRECTOR, You’re Like, Dead and Listen

ILesa Duncan is the executive and producing artistic director at Pegasus Theatre Chicago and the artistic director and an ensemble member at Lifeline Theatre. She has directed numerous plays for Pegasus’ Young Playwrights Festival as well as Eclipsed (Jeff Nominated), Shakin’ The Mess Outta Misery (Jeff Nominated), Rutherford’s Travels (Jeff Nominated, co-adapter), The Green BookFor Her as a Piano, and Blacula: Young, Black & Undead. At Lifeline, she recently directed From the Mississippi DeltaNeverwhere (Jeff Recommended 2018) and Blue Shadow (2010 KidSeries Premiere). A producer, director, writer, educator and theater-maker, Duncan is an avid collaborator on new work. Duncan has also worked with The Goodman, Writers Theatre, Congo Square, Rivendell Theatre Ensemble, Stage Left and Chicago Dramatists, as well as Contemporary American Theatre Company (Ohio), The Alliance Theatre (Atlanta), Arena Stage (Washington D.C.) and Lincoln Center Theater (New York). As an educator, she has led youth development and arts education programs in Chicago for more than 13 years. She is a past awardee of an NEA/TCG Directing fellowship and a 3 Arts Ragdale’s Fellowship. She is a member of the Lincoln Center Theatre Director’s Lab and the Chicago Director’s Lab and is an associate artist with Chicago Dramatists (where she previously served as education and community engagement director).

ENRICO SPADA, DIRECTOR, Can’t Sleep

Enrico Spada is a freelance director and teaching artist who returns to the Young Playwrights Festival where he directed Dead Boy Walking in 2024. Other credits include: Much Ado About Nothing at Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre; The Light in the Piazza, The Illusion, All's Well That Ends Well and Kimberly Akimbo at Illinois State University and Sleeping Beauty at Illinois Shakespeare Festival. As founder and artistic director of Pittsfield Shakespeare in the Park, Spada directed Twelfth Night, The Tempest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Romeo and Juliet. He received his MFA candidate from the professional directing program at Illinois State University/Illinois Shakespeare Festival and holds a B.A. in acting and theatre Education from Emerson College in Boston.

ABOUT PEGASUS THEATRE CHICAGO

Pegasus Theatre Chicago has been a mainstay in the Chicago theater community for more than four decades. Its mission is to champion new, authentic voices and produce boldly imaginative theatre primarily by and about black or other people of color. Home of the Young Playwrights Festival, the company promotes cultural equity while celebrating diversity, inclusion and first voice and is committed to initiating important conversations through the arts with strong community engagement and socially relevant programming. The Young Playwrights Festival for high school-age scribes celebrates its 37th year in 2024. Pegasus Theatre Chicago has received 77 Joseph Jefferson Awards since its inception.

Pegasus Theatre Chicago is proud to announce the authors and plays being presented at the 37th Annual Young Playwrights Festival, January 4 - 28, 2024 at Chicago Dramatists, 798 N. Aberdeen. Previews are Thursday, Jan. 4 - Saturday, Jan. 6 at 7 p.m. with the Opening Ceremony, Sunday, Jan. 7 at 2:30 p.m. The performance schedule is Fridays at 7 p.m. and Saturdays at 2:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.  Tickets are $15 - $30 are on sale now at PegasusTheatreChicago.org. Educators may schedule school group matinees via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..  

Curious Theatre Branch, currently celebrating its 35th Anniversary Season, announced today that the revival of Hit Me Like a Flower, written and directed by Beau O’Reilly and assistant directed by Chris Zdenek, will now be performed January 12 - February 4, at Facility Theatre, 1138 N. California Ave. Opening night is Friday, Jan. 12 at 7:30 p.m. The performance takes place Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. with the closing performance Sunday, Feb. 4 at 3 p.m. The running time is 90 minutes. Tickets are priced on a “pay what you can” scale, with a suggested price of $20. For more information about Hit Me Like a Flower visit CuriousTheatreBranch.com. NOTE: Hit Me Like a Flower replaces the previously announced The Rose is Off The Bloom.

It’s 2003: Bush's Iraq War is in full swing and in the small east coast town of Little Chicken Mountain, it's been raining hard for weeks, a bear is on the attack, Jackie's therapy office is in full swing, William has had a stroke and even the skateboarding activists are looking for love.

The cast of Hit Me Like a Flower includes Paul Brennan (he/him), Jayita Bhattacharya (she/her), Steve Lehman (he/him), Shaun Rosten (he/him), Allison Gruber, Mike Amandes (he/him), Kristin Garrison, Hannah Johnston and Beau O'Reilly (he/him). 

The production team includes Beau O’Reilly (he/him), playwright and director; Chris Zdenek (he/him), assistant director and Charlotte Lastra (she/her), technical director. 

ABOUT BEAU O’REILLY, PLAYWRIGHT AND DIRECTOR

Beau O’Reilly is a founding member and co-artistic director of the Curious Theatre Branch and the bands Maestro Subgum and the Whole and The Crooked Mouth, as well as a curator of the Rhinoceros Theater Festival for 30 years. His work has appeared at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, the Poetry Foundation and on “This American Life.” The author of more than 80 original plays, O’Reilly is also a working actor who teaches playwriting at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. His latest solo album, “Thrifty,” was released on Uvulittle Records in 2021.

ABOUT CURIOUS THEATRE BRANCH

Curious has been holding up their end of the Chicago theater scene since 1988, creating new works of the imagination, works focused on language and creatively expressing the difficulties of being human. Curious Theatre Branch is dedicated to the creation of new plays and performances and to the production of its annual Rhinoceros Theater Festival. Curious aims to promote innovative works of the imagination in the performing arts from a broad and inclusive spectrum of artists and are also devoted to mentoring programs that engage emerging artists as a way to enrich and expand our artistic community. Curious is committed to creating and producing new plays and performances in a collaborative manner, encouraging our members as artists to share decision making and responsibilities, while expanding their skills as writers, actors, designers, directors and arts administrators. Curious also is committed to the idea that a pay what you can pricing policy is sustainable and will suffice over the long term as an economic model.

Curious Theatre Branch, currently celebrating its 35th Anniversary Season, announced today that the revival of Hit Me Like a Flower, written and directed by Beau O’Reilly and assistant directed by Chris Zdenek, will now be performed January 12 - February 4, at Facility Theatre, 1138 N. California Ave. Opening night is Friday, Jan. 12 at 7:30 p.m.. The performance takes place Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. with the closing performance Sunday, Feb. 4 at 3 p.m.The running time is 90 minutes. Tickets are priced on a “pay what you can” scale, with a suggested price of $20. For more information about Hit Me Like a Flower visit CuriousTheatreBranch.com. NOTE: Hit Me Like a Flower replaces the previously announced The Rose is Off The Bloom.

'Gypsy' is an excellent musical about a family in Vaudeville. The mother is overbearing trying to make the children, specifically the daughters, create a wildly famous act. It is at Marriott Theater in Lincolnshire, Illinois directed by Amanda Dehnert.

An initial striking character is Rose, played by Lucia Spina. She brings great energy and urgency right from the get-go that captures the audience's attention. Rose intensely rushes and pushes her children, Louise (Lauren Maria Medina) and June (Tori Heinlein), to fulfill bold theater dreams as a family. There are spirited performances at the beginning with Young Louise played by Elin Joy Seiler and Baby June played by Daryn Whitney Harrell.

The production takes an exhilarating turn at the song "Mr. Goldstone," when the family gains the connection to a powerful theater figure Mr. Goldstone played with an idiosyncratic charm by Sawyer Smith. The "Mr. Goldstone" number highlights the epic singing skills of Lucia Spina as Rose. All musical numbers have great choreography.

Another force in Act I is Tulsa, played by J'Kobe Wallace. The budding romance between Tulsa and June (Tori Heinlein) has a more carefree tenderness that is expressed in standout dance choreography. The more relaxed yet gleeful pacing of the number "All I Need Is the Girl" toward the end of Act I contrasts the relentlessness overdrive of the musical numbers starring Rose. This demonstrates the excellent quality of this production of 'Gypsy' that the pacing and sense of speed frequently varies, which makes it highly engaging for viewers.

Set design and lighting shines in Act II, where characters are constantly on tour in different areas. The stage set up demonstrates their changes in location in clear and innovative ways. The joy of many different locations, from Wichita, Kansas to New York City, adds to the charm of the Act II.

The production comes to a captivating emotional climax towards the end of Act II, powered by dialogue expertly directed by Amanda Dehnert. Dialogue between Rose, played by Lucia Spina, Herbie, played by Nathaniel Stampley, and Louise, played by Lauren Maria Medina, is extremely expressive. One of the core narratives of mother-daughter conflict and expectation is made widely resonant to all viewers by the amazing acting.

The themes of ambition, expectation, family, adventure, and joy are expressed in a thought-provoking and relevant way to all viewers.

'Gypsy' is scheduled to run Wednesdays at 1 pm and 7:30 pm, Thursdays at 7:30 pm, Fridays at 8 pm, Saturdays at 4 pm and 8 pm, and Sundays at 1 pm and 5 pm. To reserve tickets, call the Marriott Theatre Box Office at 847.634.0200 or go to tickets.marriotttheatre.com.

About Face Theatre announces plans for its 29th season. Dedicated to advancing LGBTQ+ equity through community building, education, and performance, About Face will present two regional premiere productions at The Den Theatre in Wicker Parker, as well as the return of its popular workshop reading series Re/Generation Studio and touring performances and workshops.

About Face's 2023-2024 season will begin in October with Re/Generation Studio, a free three-week reading workshop series charting the future of LGBTQ+ theatre. AFT first presented Re/Generation Studio in its 2022-2023 season and featured such plays as Roger Q. Mason's Lavender Men, Steven Strafford's The Model Congressman, and Derek Lee McPhatter's underdrown, among others. Plays and workshops in this season's Re/Generation Studio will be announced in August. The season will continue in 2024 with the Midwest premiere of The Brightest Thing in the World by Leah Nanako Winkler, directed by AFT Artistic Associate Keira Fromm. The Brightest Thing in the World charts the evolution of a lesbian couple's rom-com courtship through struggles with honesty and addiction. The season will conclude with the Midwest premiere of Lavender Men by Roger Q. Mason, directed by Lucky Stiff, starting in April 2024. In Lavender Men, contemporary gender non-conformist Taffeta plays post-mortem matchmaker to Abe Lincoln and his queer legal assistant Elmer Ellsworth, only to realize she is the one who needs real love healing. During the season, About Face will also offer customized touring workshops and performances throughout Chicagoland designed to increase a sense of belonging, invite brave dialogue, and move individuals and groups toward equity and action.

"We are at a fraught moment in history where it is vital that we continue elevating LGBTQ+ stories and amplifying queer voices," says AFT Artistic Director Megan Carney. "About Face's mission is all about advancing LGBTQ+ equity through community building, education, and performance. And this season features some truly unique stories that will bring audiences together and incite our imaginations in the ways that only great theatre can."

ABOUT FACE THEATRE'S 2023-2024 SEASON

The Brightest Thing in the World

Written by Leah Nanako Winkler

Directed by AFT Artistic Associate Keira Fromm

 

March 14 – April 13, 2024 | Press opening: Friday, March 22

Showtimes: Thurs & Fri @ 8:00pm, Sat @ 3:00pm & 8:00pm, Sun @ 3:00pm

All performances will take place at The Den Theatre, 1331 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago

Pay-what-you-can tickets ($5 – $35) on sale September 15, 2023, at The Den Theatre box office or About Face Theatre's website.

Charmingly free-spirited barista Lane is determined to win over her new regular, the reserved and intellectual Steph. Delightful romantic comedy ensues with poetry, homemade desserts, and sparks flying. But both women are carrying life-changing secrets involving addiction, past relationships, and family. What happens when the giddy romance wears off and Lane and Steph must do the work of building a lasting relationship out of honesty, compassion, and courage? The Brightest Thing in the World is a funny, heartfelt new play delving into the people we think we know and the people we know we love.

"I love Leah Nanako Winkler's use of language and the smart, messy, recognizable women at the center of the story," says director Keira Fromm. "She has created a play that manages to be both a funny queer rom-com and a devastating portrait of addiction and the ways we're all constantly in a state of recovery." The Brightest Thing in the World was commissioned by Yale Repertory Theatre in 2019, where it received its world premiere in 2022. About Face's production will be the play's Midwest premiere.

Lavender Men

Written by Roger Q. Mason

Directed by Lucky Stiff

May 9 – June 8, 2024 | Press opening: Friday, May 17

Showtimes: Thurs & Fri @ 8:00pm, Sat @ 3:00pm and 8:00pm, Sun @ 3:00pm

at The Den Theatre, 1331 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago

Pay-what-you-can tickets ($5 – $35) on sale September 15, 2023, at The Den Theatre box office or About Face Theatre's website.

Taffeta is a fat, multi-racial femme with a unique form of queer magic: she can conjure dead historical figures. In this energetic and surreal play, Taffeta invites audiences along as she summons none other than President Abraham Lincoln and his handsome young law clerk Elmer Ellsworth to her stage. Playing every other character in Abe and Elmer's gay narrative, Taffeta uses this fantasia to confront issues of visibility, race, and LGBTQ+ inclusion. But is any of this historically accurate? Sit down, honey, that's not what we're here for. Lavender Men is an embrace to every queer, fat person of color who has been ignored, neglected, or erased for unapologetically being themselves.

Lavender Men was first produced at Skyline Theatre in Los Angeles in 2022 with playwright Roger Q. Mason in the role of Taffeta. About Face Theatre introduced the play to audiences last season through our Re/Generation Studio workshop series, featuring playwright Roger Q. Mason and director Lucky Stiff. Audience reaction was so enthusiastic that About Face is now thrilled to present a full production of this new work in our 29th season.

"Lavender Men was born from my time living and studying in Chicago, almost 10 years ago," says playwright Roger Q. Mason. "The city's vibrant embrace of LGBTQIA+ life liberated me personally and artistically, and I emerged a proud plus-sized, queer, POC playwright in the American Theatre. About Face Theatre is a leader, locally and nationally, in queer storytelling, and I am honored to partner with them to bring Lavender Men home to its birthplace—Chicago."

Re/Generation Studio

An intergenerational workshop series building the future of queer theatre

Nov 30 – Dec 16, 2023

Individual workshop days & times TBD

at The Den Theatre, 1331 N Milwaukee Ave, Chicago

All workshops are free and open to the public.

Re/Generation Studio is About Face Theatre's invitation to build the future of queer theatre together. This welcoming series of public workshops is shaped as a collective dreaming space for connecting with each other, learning about new plays, world-building, and exploring new production models. Each workshop will be grounded by staged readings of sections of new plays designed to invite conversation, collaboration, and creation in a shared space. Facilitators will offer key questions and considerations raised by the playwrights and directors and encourage participants to work together to brainstorm and develop creative solutions.

About Face premiered Re/Generation Studio in February 2023 as a vehicle for reconnecting, restoring, and recreating with audiences and artists after the pandemic. The overwhelming response from participants proved to us that these kinds of creative events are necessary to build and rebuild our communities. AFT is thrilled to be bringing the series back to continue engaging audiences and artists directly with up-and-coming new LGBTQ+ plays.

"Re/Generation Studio is all about taking the risk of coming together and sharing experiences," says co-curator Pen Wilder. "The perspective I gained through the workshops as an artist, a playwright, and a person were invaluable. Every great play was once a new play, and being there for so many different beginnings, middles, and ends is something really special. I'm thrilled to be involved and look forward to dreaming bigger this upcoming season."

Touring Workshops and Performances

About Face teaching artists offer fun and accessible workshops for groups throughout the year. In collaboration with schools, churches, workplaces, clubs, and community groups, these sessions can increase a sense of belonging, invite brave dialogue, and move groups toward equity and action goals. The company's facilitators work with group leaders to identify key goals and then present activities in mindfulness, listening, and storytelling. Interested parties can learn more at AboutFaceTheatre.com/education/touring-programs.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Keira Fromm (she/her)The Brightest Thing in the World director

Keira is a Chicago-based, Jeff Award-nominated director. She is also an Artistic Associate with About Face Theatre where she directed Bull in a China ShopSignificant OtherBright Half Life, and A Kid Like Jake. Other directing credits include: Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (Milwaukee Chamber Theatre), The MoorsA Phoenix Too Frequent, and A Doll's House (American Players Theatre), The Last Match (Writers Theatre); At the Wedding and Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley (TheatreSquared); Top Girls and hang (Remy Bumppo); The Columnist (American Blues Theater); Charles Ives Take Me Home (Strawdog); The How and the Why (TimeLine Theatre); Broadsword (The Gift Theatre); and Fallow (Steep Theatre.) She received her MFA from DePaul University, her BFA from Boston University, is an alumna of Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, and a member of SDC, the professional directors union. Keira will be directing The Liar at American Players Theatre this upcoming summer.www.keirafromm.com

Leah Nanako Winkler (she/her)The Brightest Thing in the World playwright

Leah Nanako Winkler is an award-winning playwright and TV Writer from Kamakura, Japan, and Lexington, Kentucky. Her plays include God Said ThisTwo Mile HollowKentuckyHot Asian Doctor Husband, and The Brightest Thing in the World, as well as many short plays all produced Off-Broadway and regionally. Accolades and fellowships: Yale Drama Series Prize, Mark O'Donnell Prize from The Actors Fund and Playwrights Horizons, Audible's Emerging Playwrights Fund, Jerome New York Fellow at the Lark, Francesca Primus Prize, and a 2020 Steinberg Playwright Award. She is published by American Theater Magazine, Nanjing University's Stage and Screen Reviews, Yale University Press, Backstage, Smith and Krauss, Samuel French, and Dramatists Play Service. TV credits include Michael Moore's TV NATIONNew Amsterdam, A24's Ramy on Hulu (where she along with the other writers won a Peabody Award), Love Life on HBO MAX, and currently on projects at Apple, Warner and Amazon.

Roger Q. Mason (they/them)Lavender Men playwright

Roger Q. Mason is a writer and performer who uses the lens of history to disrupt the biases that divide rather than unite us. Their playwriting has been seen on Broadway (Circle in the Square Reading Series); Off and Off-Off-Broadway; and regionally. Mason's world premiere of Lavender Men was lauded by the Los Angeles Times as "evoking the mingled visions of Suzan-Lori Parks, Jeremy O. Harris, and Michael R. Jackson." As a filmmaker, Mason has been recognized by the British Film Institute, Lonely Wolf International Film Festival, SCAD Film Festival, AT&T Film Award, and Atlanta International Film Festival. Their films have been screened in the US, UK, Poland, Brazil, and Asia. Mason holds degrees from Princeton University, Middlebury College, and Northwestern University. They are a member of the Dramatists Guild of America and Ma-Yi's Writing Lab, and are an alum of Page 73's Interstate 73 Writers Group and Primary Stages Writing Cohort. Mason has co-hosted the podcast Sister Roger's Gayborhood and hosted This Way Out Radio's Queerly Yours: Portraits in Courage. They are a lead mentor of The Marsha P. Johnson Institute's Starship Fellowship, the New Visions Fellowship, and the Shay Foundation Fellowship. Instagram: @rogerq.mason

Lucky Stiff (they/them)Lavender Men director

Lucky Stiff is a trans and nonbinary director, writer, and performer working in Chicago and New York. They build original experiences that combine nightclub culture and performance art which have been featured at the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Blue Man Group Chicago, Boy Friday Dance Company, and Bushwig Festival of Drag, among many others. They hold an MFA in Directing for Theater from Northwestern University and have lectured in performance and directing at UC Santa Cruz, UC Santa Barbara, Northwestern University, University of Illinois at Chicago, and the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.luckystiffdrag.com

Pen Wilder (they/them): Re/Generation Studio co-creator

Pen is a playwright, aspiring dramaturg, and artist with a focus in queer storytelling. They contribute to various literary publications and have been seen in journals such as Mulberry Literary and the ChillFiltr Review. In their free time, they also can be seen performing as part of indie rock group Cowboy Neal. Their play Switch Hitta was featured in last season's Re/Generation Studio, and they are currently working on their next full-length play, Earthshine.

Megan Carney (she/her): AFT Artistic Director, Re/Generation Studio co-curator

Megan's work thrives at the intersection of making theatre and building community. As the Artistic Director for About Face Theatre she combines her love for directing, producing, and teaching. Prior to working with About Face in this role, Megan served as the Director of the Gender and Sexuality Center at the University of Illinois at Chicago and was one of the founders of About Face Youth Theatre. She is a certified mediator with the Center for Conflict Resolution, earned an MFA in Theatre with a focus on Directing and Public Dialogue from Virginia Tech, and a BA from Kalamazoo College, where her ideas about art and activism began to take shape. Recent Chicago directing credits include The Gulf20/20, and Time Is On Our Side (About Face), WinterGrizzly Mama, Danielle Pinnock's Body/CourageAmerican Wee Pie, and The Walls (Rivendell). Plays based on extended oral history projects including Women At War (Rivendell); Open Systems (Goodman Theatre); and Let Them Eat Cake (Dixon Place, NYC). Megan designed and teaches a Queer Theatre class for Columbia College Chicago and has been an adjunct instructor at DePaul University. Her work has been recognized with multiple After Dark Awards, the GLSEN Pathfinder Award, an APA Presidential Citation, induction into Chicago's LGBT Hall of Fame, and a Rockefeller Foundation MAP Grant, among others.

Logan Jones (he/him): AFT Managing Director

Logan is a Chicago-based artist, administrator, and consultant. He has frequently collaborated with multiple theatre companies while utilizing his artistic and technical skills, organizational capabilities, and highly-collaborative working style. Logan has worked with Ensemble Consulting as Facilitator and Project Manager on various leadership transitions and organizational development projects since 2015. As a stage manager and production manager, he has helmed multiple productions for About Face Theatre, American Theater Company, The House Theatre of Chicago, Windy City Playhouse, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, 13Exp, and the American Music Theatre Project, among others. Logan holds a BA in Theatre and BA in Modern Languages from Kansas State University, a certificate in Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in the Workplace from University of South Florida, and is a graduate of the Axelson Center Bootcamp for Nonprofit CEOs at North Park University.

ABOUT FACE THEATRE advances LGBTQ+ equity through community building, education, and performance. Learn more at aboutfacetheatre.com

Founded in 1999, Congo Square Theatre Company (Congo Square), one of the nation's premier African American ensemble theater companies, celebrates its 25th Anniversary in 2023-2024 with a powerful theatrical season honoring the myriad experiences that make up Black culture. Anchored by two live performances, the season begins with the Rolling World Premiere of Inda Craig-Galván's dark comedy about housing inequality in a Chicago suburb, WELCOME TO MATTESON!, and closes with the Chicago Premiere of August Wilson's autobiographical one-man show, How I Learned What I Learned, starring Chicago's own Harry Lennix. Congo Square's popular digital shows continue with the third and final season of the old-fashioned radio melodrama, The Clinic, and the fourth season of the hit online sketch comedy show, The Blackside. Congo Square will officially celebrate its milestone anniversary with a bigger-than-ever 25th Anniversary Homecoming celebration and its annual free Festival on the Square.

 

This season, Congo Square continues its Radical Generosity model for live performances in which, partnering with community organizations throughout the city, up to half of all tickets for each performance are donated or heavily discounted to traditionally underserved groups. To learn more about discounted community partner tickets, or to become a sponsor, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

"We are thrilled to be celebrating our 25th Anniversary with a diverse season that is packed with talent," said Congo Square Artistic Director Ericka Ratcliff. "At Congo Square, we are focused on three things: radical generosity, radical community, and radical expansion. As we've done since 1999, we will continue to uplift, support, and expand our community of artists and audience members through innovation and collaboration this season and for the next 25 years."

"We are also looking back at our roots this season," added Congo Square Executive Director Charlique C. Rolle"August Wilson was not only one of America's most beloved playwrights, he was also one of Congo Square's earliest supporters and mentors. We are proud to honor this impactful early relationship in Congo's history with a production of Wilson's memory play, How I Learned What I Learned, starring Congo Square Board member, the great Harry Lennix. The play will be produced in association with the Goodman Theatre, the first theater in the country to have produced every play in Wilson's American Century cycle. As we look back, we also look forward to Congo Square's future as we continue to build meaningful relationships with the best Black theater-makers in Chicago and the world."

2023-24 Programming in chronological order

The Clinic: Season Three

September 1 – October 6, 2023

Audio series

Congo Square's audio series returns for a third and final season starting September 1 with new episodes dropping weekly until the dramatic series finale on October 6.  In the old-school radio melodrama, The Clinic, Dr. Latisha Bradley's discovery will revolutionize the medical field, but her enemies will stop at nothing to keep things the way they are. Episodes will be released at congosquaretheatre.org/the-clinic. Seasons one and two are available for streaming now.

Rolling World Premiere: WELCOME TO MATTESON!

September 10 – October 1, 2023 (opening night September 29)

Northwestern University Chicago Campus Abbott Hall Wirtz Theatre, 710 N DuSable Lake Shore Dr.

 

A dark comedy by Inda Craig-GalvánWELCOME TO MATTESON! follows two Black couples over the course of a dinner party; one couple has lived in the Chicago suburb of Matteson for years, the other has just moved in after being forcibly relocated from the Cabrini-Green housing projects. A uniquely Chicago story, the play explores universal themes of gentrification, housing justice, and inter-class relationships. Directed by Congo Square Theatre Artistic Director Ericka Ratcliff, the play features Congo Square Ensemble Members Ronald L. Conner,  Anthony L. Irons, and  Alexis J. Roston. Congo Square's production of WELCOME TO MATTESON! is part of the National New Play Network's Rolling World Premiere program in which a new play will be premiered by multiple companies over an 18-month period allowing the playwright to collaborate and make adjustments while working with unique perspectives from each company. WELCOME TO MATTESON! will receive its World Premiere at New Jersey Repertory Company, Long Branch, New Jersey (SuzAnne Barabas, Artistic Director; Gabor Barabas, Executive Producer).  Tickets for WELCOME TO MATTESON! will go on sale August 1, 2023. General admission tickets are $45 and Radical Generosity tickets are $75 - covering the cost of a single ticket and sponsoring a second community member ticket. For tickets, visit congosquaretheatre.org

Pearl Cleage Festival: Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous

October 8, 2023

Location to be announced

The Pearl Cleage Festival is a citywide celebration honoring the work of Atlanta's Poet Laureate, revered poet, activist, playwright, mentor, and educator Pearl Cleage. Festival events will take place across the city in September and October during the run of Cleage's Nacirema Society at the Goodman Theatre. In addition to Congo Square, other participating companies include Black Ensemble Theater, Definition Theatre, ETA Creative Arts Foundation, Ma'at Production Association of Afrikan Centered Theatre (MPAACT), and Remy Bumppo Theatre Company. Congo Square's contribution to the festival is a reading of Cleage's 2019 comedy Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly GorgeousIn Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous, two Black women performers from two different generations must confront assumptions about each other and themselves in time for opening night.

The Blackside: Season Four

October 13 – December 9, 2023

Digital video series

Congo Square's popular online sketch comedy series, The Blackside (formerly Hit 'em on the Blackside), returns for a fourth season this fall. Audiences can expect more of the witty, pitch-perfect, and timely humor that made sketches from the first three seasons like "Black History Game Show" and "Black Survivalist" so funny and poignant.  Episodes will be released weekly on Congo Square Theatre's website, social media, and YouTube channel starting October 13 with the final episode airing on December 9. The first three seasons of The Blackside are available on Congo Square's YouTube channel.

 

Chicago Premiere: How I Learned What I Learned

Spring 2024

Location to be announced

August Wilson's autobiographical play, How I Learned What I Learned, follows Wilson's journey as a young Black writer from Pittsburgh to one of the most celebrated American playwrights of the 20th century. Written three years before his death, the one-man show recounts numerous stories from the author's long career and the lessons they taught about what it means to be a Black artist in America. Congo Square Board Member, and star of stage and screen, Harry Lennix will perform the play. Most recently, Lennix has been seen as Harold Cooper on NBC's acclaimed series Blacklist, and as General Swanwick/Martian Manhunter in numerous films and TV shows in the DC Extended Universe.  How I Learned What I Learned is produced in association with the Goodman Theatre and runs concurrently with Goodman's production of August Wilson's Joe Turner's Come and Gone.

25th Anniversary Homecoming

June 21, 2024

Location to be announced

Congo Square's annual Homecoming benefit is the not-to-be-missed party of the season. In celebration of 25 years of unapologetic Black theater-making, the 2024 Homecoming benefit promises to be even bigger, Blacker, and more bodacious than ever before. Featuring food and drink, live entertainment, and one of the biggest gatherings of Chicago's Black theater artists, the evening will also include an awards ceremony honoring three artists who've impacted Chicago's theater scene.

Festival on the Square

June 2024

Various locations to be announced

Congo Square's annual Festival on the Square honors the original Congo Square marketplace in New Orleans, where people of color have built community through music, dance, art, and commerce for centuries. These FREE events feature elevated play readings – including readings from plays by the outgoing and incoming Next Up Fellows – performed in community hubs across the city.

Congo Square Industry Training Institute

Congo Square's ensemble-led Congo Square Industry Training Institute (CITI) workshops are affordable classes designed for working and aspiring artists to enhance their knowledge of the industry as well as their acting skills. Upcoming courses include Self-Tape for the Working Actor with Tracey N. BonnerMy Big Break: Breaking into the Industry with Javon JohnsonHow to Write for TV/Film with Javon Johnson; Secure the Bag: Grant Writing for Individual Artists with Ann J. DouglasClassical Interpretation with Allen Gilmore and Classical (Re)interpretation with Al Goldfarb. Each four-week workshop is $50.00 for the general public, and free for currently enrolled high school, college, or graduate school students.

 

About Congo Square Theatre Company

Congo Square Theatre Company is an ensemble dedicated to producing transformative work rooted in the African Diaspora. Congo Square is a haven for artists of color to challenge and redefine the theatrical canon by amplifying and creating stories that reflect the reach and complexities of Black Culture and is one of only two African American Actors' Equity theater companies in Chicago. Founded in 1999 with a mission to provide a platform for Black artists to present work that exemplified the majesty, diversity, and intersectionality of stories from the African Diaspora, Congo Square's guiding principles are radical generosity, radical community, and radical expansion.

Congo Square has risen to become one of the most well-respected African American theaters in the nation. Previously mentored by two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright August Wilson, Congo Square's August Wilson New Play Initiative has cultivated talents such as playwright Chadwick Boseman (Marvel Studio's Black Panther), who penned the 2006 Jeff nominated play Deep AzureLisa Langford who's play How Blood Go was premiered by Congo Square in 2023, and playwright Lydia Diamond, who penned the massively successful Stick Fly, a critically acclaimed play that explores race, class, and familial friction. Stick Fly ultimately ran on Broadway and is currently being developed into a full-length series for HBO with Alicia Keys serving as a producer. Congo Square also produced the widely praised Seven Guitars, which won top honors for best ensemble, best direction, and best production at the 2005 Joseph Jefferson Awards. This would earn the theater company the distinction of being the first African American theater company to receive such an honor.

Congo Square's Samuel G. Roberson Next Up Fellowship celebrates young playwrights by providing resources for college and high school aged students to enhance their writing and identity as a playwright. Each selected fellow not only has their ten-minute play workshopped into a full-length play with Congo Square, but they also receive a yearlong writing mentorship with founding ensemble member and playwright, Aaron Todd Douglas. The 2023-24 Fellow is Maria D. Smith. Outgoing 2022-23 Next Up Fellows are Helaina Coggs and Bair Warburton-Brown.

Congo Square's Community Engagement and Education programs bring the impact of theater to young audiences. Its outreach programs, CORE (Curriculum Objectives Residency Enrichment), and CAST (Congo After School Theater), present and teach theater arts by providing classroom and after-school residencies that provide Teaching Artists to build upon already established Chicago Public Schools literature and art curriculums. CORE and CAST impact students, schools, and community organizations located on the South and West sides of Chicago.

About Goodman Theatre

Chicago's theater since 1925, Goodman Theatre (Artistic Director Susan V. Booth and Executive Director/CEO Roche Schulfer) is a not-for-profit arts and community organization in the heart of the Loop, distinguished by the excellence and scope of its artistic programming and community engagement. The theater's artistic priorities include new play development (more than 150 world or American premieres), large scale musical theater works and reimagined classics. Artists and productions have earned two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards and more than 160 Jeff Awards, among other accolades. Its longtime annual holiday tradition A Christmas Carol, now in its fifth decade, has created a new generation of theatergoers in Chicago. The Goodman also frequently serves as a production and program partner with national and international companies and Chicago's Off-Loop theaters. Using the tools of the theatrical profession, the Goodman's Education and Engagement programs aim to develop generations of citizens who understand the cultures and stories of diverse voices.

For more information on Congo Square's 2023-24 Season, visit www.congosquaretheatre.org.

Buffalo Theatre Ensemble (BTE), the professional Equity theater company in residence at the McAninch Arts Center (MAC), announced its 2023-2024 three-play season today. The season will open with “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley” by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon, directed by BTE Associate Artistic Director Amelia Barrett (Nov. 16 - Dec. 17). It will be followed by Bruce Graham’s “The Outgoing Tide” directed by guest director Steve Scott (Feb. 1 - March 3). The world premiere of Brian Watkins’ Into the Earth with You” by Brian Watkins, directed by BTE Member Kurt Naebig completes the season (May 2 - June 2).

BTE Managing Artistic Director Connie Canaday Howard remarked, “At BTE we understand the important cathartic experience live theater offers. It provides the chance to be part of an event that is special as it is ephemeral, offering a way to step out of our world for a couple of hours to gain new perspectives on what it means to be human and recharge our spirit. Each play has been chosen with that in mind while also offering BTE a chance to grow. We thank everyone who will be joining us on this new season adventure.”

BTE’s 2023-2024 three-play season includes the following:

“Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley”
By Lauren Gunderson & Margot Melcon
Directed by Amelia Barrett+*
Nov. 16 - Dec. 17
Preview: Thursday, Nov. 16
Performances: 8 p.m. Thursday - Saturday
and 3 p.m. Sunday
(No performance Thanksgiving Nov. 23. Two performances Saturday Nov. 25 at 3 & 8 p.m.)
Tickets: $44

In this charming “sequel” to “Pride and Prejudice,” Mary Bennet, the bookish, unmarried middle sister yearns for more in life when an expected guest joins the Christmas festivities at Pemberley. The Chicago Tribune hails “Miss Bennet: Christmas at Pemberley” as “unstuffy, highly entertaining and warm-spirited work, the kind of thing multiple generations can enjoy together;” and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel calls it, “a smart and moving comedy for women and the people who love them."

There will be a free pre-show discussion Thursday, Nov. 16 and a post-show discussion Friday, Nov. 24.

“The Outgoing Tide”
By Bruce Graham
Directed by Steve Scott
Feb. 1 - March 3
Preview: Thursday, Feb. 1
Performances: 8 p.m. Thursday - Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday
Tickets: $44

Set on the bank of Chesapeake Bay, Gunner has created a plan to safeguard his family’s future, surprising his wife and son, who have other plans. Weaving both humor and powerful emotion, this highly relatable story poses thoughtful questions about personal choice, and what it means to truly love someone. The Chicago Tribune says, “Graham zeroes in on recognizable truths;” and The New York Times says, “Its poignant conclusion will have resonance for many in the audience.”

There will be a free pre-show discussion Thursday, Feb. 1 and a post-show discussion Friday, Feb. 8.

“Into the Earth with You” – WORLD PREMIERE
By Brian Watkins
Directed by Kurt Naebig+*
May 2 - June 2
Preview: Thursday, May 2
Performances: 8 p.m. Thursday - Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday
Tickets: $44

Granddad is gone. No elegies. No dirges. But his three granddaughters cannot forget what is buried.When an impossible discovery upends their notions of loss, it has them asking, “who among us has been digging?” This new play, penned by the creator of the Amazon Studios’ television series “Outer Range,” was a 2016 O’Neill Finalist.

There will be a free pre-show discussion Thursday, May 2 and a post-show discussion Friday, May 10.

Tickets

BTE’s 2023-2024 Season performances will take place in the Playhouse Theatre of the McAninch Arts Center located at 425 Fawell Blvd. on the campus of College of DuPage. Subscriptions are now on sale. Those subscribing by May 31 save 25% off single show ticket prices. Subscribers after that date receive 20% off single show ticket prices. A Season Flex-Pass is also available redeemable for each production during BTE’s 2023-2024 Season. Subscriber benefits include free ticket exchanges, invitations to subscriber nights, a subscription to the SuBTExt newsletter, free subscription to West Suburban Living, 10% discount at the MAC Gift Shop and two complimentary tickets to a COD student performance. Single show tickets go on sale July 27.

About Buffalo Theatre Ensemble  

The mission of Buffalo Theatre Ensemble is to provide a forum in which artists, scholars, writers, students and community members explore new ideas and provocative issues through the production of quality theater for the enjoyment of its audiences. Since 1986 BTE has staged more than 120 productions.  

The Ensemble members are Aly Renee Amidei, Robert Jordan Bailey*, Amelia Barrett* (Associate Artistic Director), Bryan Burke* (Business Manager), Robyn Coffin, Rebecca Cox, Lisa Dawn, Nick DuFloth, Jon Gantt, Connie Canaday Howard* (Managing Artistic Director), Christopher Kriz^, Laura Leonardo Ownby, Michael W. Moon, Kurt Naebig*, Galen G. Ramsey*, William “Sandy” Smillie, Kelli Walker and Norm Woodel. For more information about BTE, visit btechicago.com.

*Denotes member of Actors’ Equity; +Denotes member of Buffalo Theatre Ensemble; ^Denotes member of United Scenic Artists

Buffalo Theatre Ensemble is partially supported and funded by generous grants from Arts DuPage, Choose DuPage, College of DuPage Foundation, The Norm Woodel Inspiration Fund, the DuPage Foundation, Benevity, Illinois Arts Council Agency and the generous support of the College of DuPage Trustees and the McAninch Arts Center Staff.

BTE’s 2023-2024 Season is dedicated to the memory of BTE friends Loretta Hauser and Michael J. McCoy, with deep appreciation.

About The MAC

McAninch Arts Center at College of DuPage is located 25 miles west of Chicago near I-88 and I-355. It houses three indoor performance spaces (the 780-seat proscenium Belushi Performance Hall; the 186-seat soft-thrust Playhouse Theatre; and the versatile black box Studio Theatre), the outdoor Lakeside Pavilion, plus the Cleve Carney Museum of Art and classrooms for the college’s academic programming. The MAC has presented theater, music, dance and visual art to more than 1.5 million people since its opening in 1986 and typically welcomes more than 100,000 patrons from the greater Chicago area to more than 230 performances each season. For more information visit AtTheMAC.org.

City Lit Producer and Artistic Director Terry McCabe announced today that the theatre’s 2023-2024 season—its forty-third—will be his last on its staff.  He has been City Lit’s artistic director since February 2005 and its producer since July 2016.  He will retire at the end of June 2024 following the close of both the season and the theatre’s fiscal year.
 
His final season at City Lit will comprise three world premieres—a play, a literary adaptation, and a short musical—as well as the Chicago premiere of a play by its resident playwright and the first local full production in over seventy years of a modern classic. “I love working at City Lit, and I am jazzed about the new season” McCabe said, “but I look forward to being home for dinner every night.”  An announcement concerning McCabe’s successor will be made soon.

City Lit’s forty-third season will open with the world premiere of The Innocence of Seduction by Chicago playwright Mark Pracht, the second play in his projected “Four-Color Trilogy” of plays set during the early years of the comic book industry.  The first play in the trilogy, The Mark of Kane, opened City Lit’s forty-second season.  The Innocence of Seduction examines the 1950s Congressional investigation into the supposed link between comic books and juvenile delinquency, and the effect of the investigation on the careers of three persons:  William Gaines, the originator of the horror genre of comic books; Matt Baker, a Black closeted gay artist of romance comics; and Janice Valleau, creator of a pioneering comics feature starring a woman detective.  Pracht will direct.  The Innocence of Seduction will run from August 25 through October 8, 2023.  Press opening will be September 3, 2023.
 
The season’s second production will be a world premiere stage adaptation of the noir novel The Night of the Hunter by Davis Grubb, adapted by Chicago adaptor Shawna Tucker. Inspired by the crimes of West Virginia serial killer Harry Powers, who was executed in Grubb’s hometown in 1932 for the murders of two widows and three children, The Night of the Hunter is about Henry “Preacher” Powell, who has LOVE tattooed on the knuckles of his right hand and HATE on those of his left, and preys on widows in Depression-era West Virginia.  Having killed Willa Harper, he zeroes in on her two children, John and Pearl, who he is convinced know where their late father has hidden ten thousand dollars.  City Lit’s resident director, Brian Pastor, will direct.  The Night of the Hunter will run from October 20 through December 3, 2023.  Press opening will be October 29, 2023.
 
The third production of the season will be Two Nights in a Bar, a double bill of one-acts comprising the Chicago stage premiere of Waiting for Tina Meyer by Kristine Thatcher (with material by Larry Shue) and the world premiere of Text Me, a musical written and composed by Kingsley Day.  Waiting for Tina Meyer is the only collaboration between Thatcher, City Lit's resident playwright, and Shue, the late playwright of the farces The Nerd and The Foreigner.  Written while they were best friends and resident actors at Milwaukee Repertory Theater in the 1980s, it concerns a pair of best-friend actors--a man and a woman--sitting in a bar because the man is expecting to be met there by Tina Meyer, a woman he doesn't know who sent him a note backstage earlier that evening.  Day's musical, Text Me, commissioned by City Lit as a companion piece to Thatcher and Shue's play, is a 21st Century look at the problem of meeting people.  In this version of the bar, a group of people come to try to make connections--on their phones.  Fittingly for our fractured times, all the songs in the show are solos.  McCabe will direct both pieces.  Two Nights in a Bar will run from March 8 through April 21, 2024.  Press opening will be March 17, 2024.
 
The season will close with the first full production in Chicago since the early 1950s (though there have been concert readings from time to time) of Murder in the Cathedral by T.S. Eliot, author of Cats and a series of letters to Groucho Marx, among other works.  The play dramatizes the martyrdom of Archbishop Thomas Becket at the hands of knights loyal to Henry II in 1170.  Eliot wrote it on commission to be performed in the sanctuary at Canterbury Cathedral, the room where Becket was murdered; his depiction of the killing draws from the eye-witness account of Edward Grim, a monk who was wounded trying to protect the Archbishop.  City Lit’s production will be staged in the sanctuary of Edgewater Presbyterian Church, the building in which City Lit resides.  McCabe will direct.  Murder in the Cathedral will run from May 3 through June 16, 2024.  
 
City Lit Season 43 subscriptions are available at $99.00, good for all performances, or $77.00 for preview performances. Subscriptions may be ordered online at www.citylit.org or purchased over the phone by calling 773-293-3682. Single tickets for the Season 43 are priced at $30 for previews and $34 for regular performances and will be on sale soon. Senior prices are $25 for previews and $29 for regular performances. Students and military are $12.00 for all performances.
 
McCABE BIO
 
Terry McCabe has worked in Chicago theatre since 1980, when he assisted director Michael Maggio on a production of Moss Hart’s Light Up the Sky at Northlight, at the time called North Light Repertory Theatre.  He joined the staff at the Body Politic Theatre in 1981 as assistant to artistic director James O’Reilly; two years later he used the money he made there to found Stormfield Theatre Company.  Stormfield specialized in new plays by Chicago writers.  Of its thirteen productions, eleven were world premieres, including the first three plays by future Tony-winning playwright and Oscar-nominated screenwriter John Logan.  Stormfield’s production of Logan’s Hauptmann was the first Chicago theatre production to play by invitation at the Edinburgh International Arts Festival, where it won a Fringe First award.  When McCabe closed Stormfield in 1988, it had just won its second consecutive non-Equity Jeff for Best Production and was entirely debt-free.
 
From then until 2005, McCabe directed around Chicago on a free-lance basis at many theatres, including Victory Gardens Theater (where he forged a professional relationship with playwright Kristine Thatcher, now City Lit’s resident playwright, and from where his revival of Hauptmann transferred to off-Broadway), Court Theatre, National Jewish Theater, Body Politic (where he directed the Off-Loop movement’s first King Lear, with his former employer O’Reilly in the lead), Next Theatre, and Oak Park Festival Theatre.  Among the many great Chicago actors he was privileged to work with during this period were William J. Norris, Barbara Robertson, Tom Mula, Thatcher, Nicholas Rudall, Stormfield alums Ann Whitney and Denis O’Hare, Linda Emond, Roger Mueller, Pauline Brailsford, Ernest Perry Jr, Alexandra Billings, and Gary Houston.  He was also resident director at Wisdom Bridge Theatre for four years in the early 1990s, where he directed Hollis Resnik and Steve Carell in the world premiere of Tour de Farce, a comedy by Kingsley Day and Philip LaZebnik (creators of City Lit’s current show, the world premiere musical Aztec Human Sacrifice) that has since been produced across the country and in several European cities, and the Chicago premiere production of My Children! My Africa! by Athol Fugard, which transferred to Vienna’s English Theatre, thereby becoming the play’s Austrian premiere as well.
 
When he became City Lit’s artistic director in 2005, midway through its Season 25, it was a part-time theatre, dark for more than six months of each year.  The board at the time had considered closing up shop altogether.  Instead, they hired McCabe, who expanded the season and added ancillary programming (including the anti-censorship outreach program Books on the Chopping Block, now in its eighteenth year); to date he has either directed or overseen seventy-five City Lit productions, most of them world premieres of either plays or literary adaptations.  Among these premieres have been Frank Galati’s adaptation of The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Thatcher’s plays The Safe House and The Bloodhound Law (part of City Lit’s five-year commemoration of the Civil War Sesquicentennial), Paul Edwards’s adaptations of Peyton Place and a trio of Shirley Jackson novels, L.C. Bernadine and Spencer Huffman’s adaptation of the cowboy novel The Virginian, Mark Pracht’s The Mark of Kane, the first in his trilogy of plays about the history of the comic book industry, Nicholas Rudall’s final translation of a Greek tragedy, Prometheus Bound, McCabe and Marissa McKown’s adaptation of surfing culture’s founding document, the novel Gidget, Douglas Post’s plays Somebody Foreign and Thirty-Two Stories, and a handful of Sherlock Holmes adaptations by McCabe. 
 
Mixed in with the world premieres have been revivals equally eclectic:  Thatcher’s Voice of Good Hope, about pioneering Black congresswoman Barbara Jordan; the first Chicago production in 120 years of Dion Boucicault’s London Assurance; Post’s musical adaptation of The Wind in the WillowsDashiell Hamlet, a film noir/Shakespeare mashup from 1980s Chicago, co-written (and directed at City Lit) by Mike Nussbaum; Oh Boy!, an almost forgotten Jerome Kern musical from 1917; Lope de Vega’s Fuente Ovejuna, from the Golden Age of Spanish drama; and Harold Pinter’s Old Times and The Birthday Party, among many others.  Since 2016 he has also served as City Lit’s producer.
 
ABOUT CITY LIT THEATER COMPANY:
 
City Lit is the seventh oldest theatre company in Chicago, behind only Goodman, Court, Northlight, Oak Park Festival, Steppenwolf, and Pegasus theatres.  It was founded in 1979 with $210 pooled by Arnold Aprill, David Dillon, and Lorell Wyatt.  For its current season, its 42nd, it operates with a budget slightly over $260,000.  It was the first theatre in the nation devoted to stage adaptations of literary material.  There were so few theatres in Chicago at the time of its founding that at City Lit’s launch event, the founders were able to read a congratulatory letter they had received from Tennessee Williams.
 
For four decades and counting, City Lit has explored fiction, non-fiction, poetry, memoirs, songs, essays and drama in performance.  A theatre that specializes in literary work communicates a commitment to certain civilizing influences—tradition imaginatively explored, a life of the mind, trust in an audience’s intelligence—that not every cultural outlet shares.
City Lit is located in the historic Edgewater Presbyterian Church building at 1020 West Bryn Mawr Avenue. Its work is supported in part by the MacArthur Funds for Arts and Culture at the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the Ivanhoe Theater Foundation, the Illinois Arts Council Agency and is sponsored in part by A.R.T. League.  An Illinois not-for-profit corporation and a 501(c)(3) federal tax-exempt organization, City Lit keeps ticket prices below the actual cost of producing plays and depends on the support of those who share its belief in the beauty and power of the spoken written word.
 
LISTING INFORMATION
 

CITY LIT THEATER'S 2023-2024 SEASON:
 

The Innocence of Seduction

by Mark Pracht
WORLD PREMIERE
Directed by Mark Pracht
August 25- October 8, 2023
Previews August 25- September 2, 2023
Preview ticket prices $30.00, seniors $25.00, students and military $12.00 (all plus applicable fees)
 
Regular run Sunday, September 3 – October 8, 2023
Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm; Sundays at 3 pm; Mondays Sept 25 and Oct 2 at 7:30 pm.
Regular run ticket prices $34.00, seniors $29.00, students and military $12 (all plus applicable fees)
Performances at City Lit Theater, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr Ave. Chicago 60660
Info and tickets at www.citylit.org and by phone at 773-293-3682.
The second play in Mark Pracht’s projected “Four-Color Trilogy” of plays set during the early years of the comic book industry, The Innocence of Seduction examines the 1950s Congressional investigation into the supposed link between comic books and juvenile delinquency, and the effect of the investigation on the careers of three persons:  William Gaines, the originator of the horror genre of comic books; Matt Baker, a Black closeted gay artist of romance comics; and Janice Valleau, creator of a pioneering comics feature starring a woman detective. 
 
The Night of the Hunter
by David Grubb
WORLD PREMIERE ADAPTATION
Adapted by Shawna Tucker
directed by Brian Pastor
 
October 20 - December 3, 2023
Previews October 20 -  28, 2023            
Preview ticket prices $30.00, seniors $25.00, students and military $12.00 (all plus applicable fees)
 
Regular run October 29 – December 3, 2023
Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm, Sundays at 3 pm,. Mondays November 20 and 27 at 7:30 pm.
Regular run ticket prices $34.00, seniors $29.00, students and military $12 (all plus applicable fees)
Performances at City Lit Theater, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr Ave. Chicago 60660
Info and tickets at www.citylit.org and by phone at 773-293-3682.
 
A world premiere stage adaptation of the noir novel The Night of the Hunter by Davis Grubb. Inspired by the crimes of West Virginia serial killer Harry Powers, who was executed in Grubb’s hometown in 1932 for the murders of two widows and three children, The Night of the Hunter is about Henry “Preacher” Powell, who has LOVE tattooed on the knuckles of his right hand and HATE on those of his left, and preys on widows in Depression-era West Virginia. 
 
Two Nights in a Bar
A double bill of one-acts:

Waiting for Tina Meyer 
by Kristine Thatcher (with material by Larry Shue)
CHICAGO PREMIERE
           
Text Me   Music, Lyrics, and Book by Kingsley Day
 WORLD PREMIERE
Directed by Terry McCabe
 
March 8 - April 21, 2024
(No performance Easter Sunday, March 31)
Previews March 8 -16, 2024
Preview ticket prices $30.00, seniors $25.00, students and military $12.00 (all plus applicable fees)
 
Regular run March 17– April 21, 2024
Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm, Sundays at 3 pm. Mondays April 1, 8, 15 at 7:30 pm
No performance Easter Sunday, March 31
Regular run ticket prices $34.00, seniors $29.00, students and military $12 (all plus applicable fees)
Performances at City Lit Theater, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr Ave. Chicago 60660 (Inside Edgewater Presbyterian Church)
Info and tickets at www.citylit.org and by phone at 773-293-3682.
 
A double bill of one-acts. Waiting for Tina Meyer concerns a pair of best-friend actors--a man and a woman--sitting in a bar because the man is expecting to be met there by Tina Meyer, a woman he doesn't know who sent him a note backstage earlier that evening.  The musical Text Me is a 21st Century look at the problem of meeting people.  In this version of the bar, a group of people come to try to make connections--on their phones. 
 
Murder in the Cathedral 
by T.S. Eliot
directed by Terry McCabe
 
May 3 - June 16, 2024
Previews May 3 – May 11, 2024
Preview ticket prices $30.00, seniors $25.00, students and military $12.00 (all plus applicable fees)
 
Regular run May 12 - June 16, 2024
Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm. Sundays at 3 pm.  Mondays June 3 and 10 at 7:30 pm.
Regular run ticket prices $34.00, seniors $29.00, students and military $12 (all plus applicable fees)
Performances at City Lit Theater, 1020 W. Bryn Mawr Ave. Chicago 60660
Info and tickets at www.citylit.org and by phone at 773-293-3682.
 
Murder in the Cathedral dramatizes the martyrdom of Archbishop Thomas Becket at the hands of knights loyal to Henry II in 1170.  Eliot wrote it on commission to be performed in the sanctuary at Canterbury Cathedral, the room where Becket was murdered; his depiction of the killing draws from the eye-witness account of Edward Grim, a monk who was wounded trying to protect the Archbishop.  City Lit’s production will be staged in the sanctuary of Edgewater Presbyterian Church

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