Displaying items by tag: Ellie Duffey

Court Theatre, under the continuing leadership of Marilyn F. Vitale Artistic Director Avery Willis Hoffman and Executive Director Angel Ysaguirre, is proud to present the new musical, Out Here. Directed by Chay Yew, this charming and bold take on the American kitchen sink drama brings Court's 2025/26 season to a joyous conclusion. This production will run April 10 – May 10, 2026 at Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave. 

The cast of Out Here includes Becca Ayers (Dawn); Cliff Chamberlain (Brian); Ellie Duffey (Cleo); Alex Goodrich (Martin); Z Mowry (Jet); Amanda Pulcini (Gina); and Bethany Thomas (Robin).

The creative team includes Christie Chiles Twillie (Music Supervisor); Breon Arzell (Movement Director); Andrew Boyce and Lauren M. Nichols (Co-Scenic Designers); Christine Pascual (Costume Designer); Lee Fiskness (Lighting Designer); Mikhail Fiksel (Sound Design); David J. Levin (Production Dramaturg); Becca McCracken, CSA (Director of Casting and Artist Cultivation), with Celeste M. Cooper (Associate Casting Director); Katrina Herrmann (Production Stage Manager); and Jaclynn Joslin (Assistant Stage Manager).

Dawn has a house, a husband, and a family, but she wants more. She wants her ex-girlfriend, Robin. She wants nothing to change and she wants everything to change, and she wants to control all the terms. As she's caught between what's been and what's next, Dawn must learn to reimagine her expectations, harmonize with loved ones, and trust the process. If she can do all that, she might just learn a new song. Strikingly original, Out Here explores the unexpected freedom in relinquishing control, and how, sometimes, you have to break something apart to create something better.

Life happens outside of your comfort zone. Out Here is a courageous new musical, developed through an extended and dynamic collaboration between Court Theatre and the Neubauer Collegium at the University of Chicago. Audiences will have the rare opportunity to be the first to experience this fresh and intimate look at a family reconfiguring itself and rediscovering joy.

Led by acclaimed director Chay Yew, making his Court debut, Out Here arrives as a bold, innovative work that invites Chicago audiences to be among the very first to witness its evolution—bringing the 2025/26 season to a joyous conclusion.

Tickets to Out Here are on sale now, and can be purchased by calling the Box Office at (773) 753-4472 or online atCourtTheatre.org. Out Here is supported by the Charles Newell Production Fund.

Court will present a series of engagement programming throughout the run of the show that complements themes within the production. More information will be available at CourtTheatre.org or by calling the Box Office at (773) 753-4472.

This production was developed in partnership with University of Chicago Professors Leslie Buxbaum and David J. Levin; musician, writer, and producer Erin McKeown; and the Arts Labs research project at the Neubauer Collegium for Culture and Society. The Neubauer Collegium cultivates new communities of inquiry at the University of Chicago. Their faculty-led research projects bring together scholars and practitioners whose collaboration is required to address complex questions on any topic. Their Visiting Fellows program brings the most creative thinkers from around the world for collaboration, animating the intellectual and creative environment on campus. Their gallery presents art exhibitions in the context of academic research, and their public events invite broad engagement with the scholarly inquiries we support. The aim of these activities is to deepen knowledge about the world and our place in it.

Fact Sheet / Out Here
Title:                              Out Here

Concept by:                  Leslie Buxbaum, David J. Levin, and Erin McKeown

Book and Lyrics by:       Leslie Buxbaum

Music and Lyrics by:      Erin McKeown

Dramaturgy by:             David J. Levin

Directed by:                  Chay Yew

Featuring: Becca Ayers (Dawn); Cliff Chamberlain (Brian); Ellie Duffey (Cleo); Alex Goodrich (Martin); Z Mowry (Jet); Amanda Pulcini (Gina); and Bethany Thomas (Robin).

Creatives: Christie Chiles Twillie (Music Supervisor); Breon Arzell (Movement Director); Andrew Boyce and Lauren M. Nichols (Co-Scenic Designers); Christine Pascual (Costume Designer); Lee Fiskness (Lighting Designer); Mikhail Fiksel (Sound Design); David J. Levin (Production Dramaturg); Becca McCracken, CSA (Director of Casting and Artist Cultivation), with Celeste M. Cooper (Associate Casting Director); Katrina Herrmann (Production Stage Manager); and Jaclynn Joslin (Assistant Stage Manager).

Dates:               

Previews:                    April 10 – 17, 2026

Press Opening:           April 18, 2026 at 7:30pm

Regular Run:               April 10 – May 10, 2026

Schedule:         Wed/Thurs/Fri:            7:30pm

                         Sat/Sun:                      2:00pm & 7:30pm

Accessible         Touch Tour: Saturday, May 2 at 12:30pm

Performances: Audio Description and ASL Interpretation: Saturday, May 2 at 2:00pm

Open Captioning: Sunday, May 3 at 2:00pm
                       

Location:         Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave.

Tickets:            $42.00 – $74.00 Previews
                        $60.00 – $90.00 Regular Run

Student, group, and military discounts available

Box Office: Located at 5535 S. Ellis Avenue, Chicago; (773) 753-4472 or www.CourtTheatre.org.

Winner of the 2022 Regional Theatre Tony Award, Court Theatre reimagines classic theatre to illuminate our current times. In residence at the University of Chicago and on Chicago's historic South Side, we engage our audiences with intimate and provocative experiences that inspire deeper exploration of the enduring questions that confront humanity and connect us as people.

A quick disclaimer for this review: Couch Penny Ensemble's Everybody, by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, is written with a caveat for anyone who dares to perform it. At the start of each performance, the actors are randomly assigned their roles by lottery, creating 120 possible cast combinations. In other words, the Everybody I saw will likely not be the Everybody you see. This structure demands something borderline absurd from its cast: each actor must memorize the entire script, remain flexible until the show closes, and sacrifice the comfort of traditional rehearsals.

What’s more astonishing is that the performance I saw was effectively unrehearsed yet never unprepared. It was incredible, and knowing it was done only once, just for this audience, is an experience you can’t get anywhere else. Rather than feeling unpolished or improvisational, the production felt confident, precise, and alive—a balance that speaks not only to the performers’ skills but also to the steady hand of director Greta Mae Geiser. It is the kind of theatrical gamble that only Jacobs-Jenkins would demand—and that only the right creative team could successfully meet.

For my production, the role of Everybody was played by Renzo Vincente. As the main character, Vincente was nothing short of phenomenal. His facial expressions, genuine tears, and overall emotional execution gave me goosebumps. There was an openness to his performance that made Everybody’s fear, confusion, and longing feel immediate and shared, and he truly left every part of himself on the stage, perfectly portraying everybody.

The rest of the cast – Caitlin Frazier, Jessica Posey, Ellie Duffey, and Dryden Zurawski, the other “Everybodies” – were randomly assigned one of four other roles, each encompassing three distinct characters. These twelve figures function less as traditional “characters” and more as personified concepts, broad, sometimes exaggerated reflections of the forces and relationships that shape everybody’s life. The actors who were not selected to play Everybody must step into their assigned parts with no prior expectation of fit. The result is an entertaining inconsistency that works entirely in the production’s favor: across the twelve roles, there ends up being a spontaneous mix of uncannily fitting performances alongside equally impressive but parodic ones. At any given moment, there is no way to predict who will enter the stage with manic sincerity or with hilariously inflated vanity, but it is clear throughout that each of the five actors possesses the range and control to deliver any role with intention and impact.

An unspecified role is not a prerequisite for a great performance, however, as Everybody also features four additional, standardly cast roles. Even with a fixed assignment, the demands of the show are formidable. The amount of memorization required for Usher (Jodianne Loyd), who establishes the world of the play with omniscient authority, is no easy task. A final shoutout goes to Zay Alexander, who not only delivered a personable performance as Death but also sang and played guitar hauntingly.

By rejecting conventional polish altogether, Everybody makes room for humor, heart, and an unmistakable dedication from its incredible cast.

Everybody is running at Greenhouse Theater Center through December 21st. Tickets are available at https://ci.ovationtix.com/36644/production/1258591.

Court Theatre’s world premiere of Berlin, adapted by Mickle Maher from Jason Lutes’ monumental graphic novel, is a breathtaking achievement. Directed with precision and deep sensitivity by Charles Newell, Berlin brings the chaos and beauty of Weimar-era Germany to stunning life on stage, rendered in an unforgettable 1930s noir style.

Lutes spent two decades crafting his sprawling graphic epic, and it’s clear Maher and Newell approached this adaptation with profound respect. The production’s black, white, and grey palette—designed by scenic designer John Culbert, lighting designer Keith Parham, and costume designer Jacqueline Firkins—immerses the audience in a city teetering on the edge of catastrophe. Every shadow and seam speak volumes, creating a world that feels both immediate and mythic.

Raven Whitley leads the ensemble as Marthe Muller, capturing a young woman’s vulnerability and fierce independence with magnetic grace. Tim Decker’s Kurt Severing carries the weary idealism of a journalist witnessing democracy’s slow death, while Ellie Duffey delivers a moving performance as the idealistic Silvia Braun. Elizabeth Laidlaw is harrowing as both Gudrun Braun and Adolf Hitler, offering a brutal glimpse into rising fascism.

Special mention must be made of Julia Rhoads’ fluid, expressive movement direction, which underscores the sense of a city swirling with ideas, danger, and desire. Sammi Grant’s expert vocal and dialect coaching ensures every character’s voice feels authentic—from Joseph Goebbels’ oily charisma (a chilling performance by Terry Bell) to the many Berliners struggling to survive an unraveling world.

Kate Collins, Mo Shipley, Jack Doherty, Guy Van Swearingen, Christopher Meister, Molly Hernandez, and Brandon Ruiter round out the exceptional ensemble, each carving out vivid portraits of citizens caught in history’s gears.

Watching Berlin today mirrors America’s turbulent political landscape with haunting clarity. From surging extremism to collapsing civil discourse, from journalism under siege to widening economic divides—these echoes ring too close to home. Berlin is more than historical; it is an urgent warning, a desperate plea, and a piercing call for vigilance.

Newell’s production reminds us that civilizations don’t collapse with a bang—they decay slowly, invisibly. Each small compromise, each overlooked lie, each quiet injustice piles up until the ground gives way beneath us. By then, we’ve sealed our fate, having watched our undoing unfold in slow motion.

Court Theatre hasn’t merely adapted a graphic novel—they’ve unleashed a theatrical thunderbolt. Under Newell’s visionary direction, Berlin transforms into something rare and electric: a defining moment of Chicago theatre that will be talked about for years to come. In a time when we desperately need art that matters, Berlin delivers with a punch that leaves you breathless.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED                                                                                                                                                              

When: Extended through MAY 18TH

Where: Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave.

Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes 15-minute intermission

*This review is also featured on https://www.theatreinchicago.com/!