Displaying items by tag: Kasey Foster

The Grelley Duvall Show returns with the world premiere of Grelley Duvall Best Actress, written and conceived by Alex Grelle with Jesse Morgan Young, directed by Kasey Foster, choreographed by Erin Kilmurray and Kasey Alfonso and music directed by Aunt Kelly, March 12 - April 12, at the Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St.  The total running time including intermission is two hours and 15 minutes. Previews are Thursday, March 12 at 8 p.m. - Saturday, March 14 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, March 15 at 6 p.m. The performance schedule is Thursdays - Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 6 p.m. with industry performances, $25 industry tickets, Thursdays, March 26, April 2 and April 9 at 8 p.m. Tickets are now on sale for $25 (previews/industry) and $35 and $41 for the run and are available at ChopinTheatre.com.  

Grelley Duvall Best Actress is an all new two-act revue featuring the award-winning performances and iconic cinematic moments that have inspired generations. Bringing together live music, heart-pumping choreography, Oscar-worthy acting and a slew of puppets, this not-to-be-missed blockbuster has it all. Hollywood legends light up the stage for a star-studded evening that is part tear-jerker, part adrenaline rush, part whimsy and all Actress. Best Actress. We will see you on the red carpet. 

The Grelley Duvall Show has been 5, 6, 7, 8'ing on Chicago stages since 2015. Originally incubated through Salonathon as part of Steppenwolf Theatre Company's LOOKOUT series, it soon became a hallmark of the hallowed Hideout Stage. In 2019, The Grelley Duvall Show toured to Theater on the Lake in collaboration with the Chicago Parks District. During the pandemic, The Grelley Duvall Show evolved into a new medium with two spectacular television specials (“Grelley Duvall In My Home In My Prime” and “grelley.”), both aired on the Hideout's online platform. After a brief hiatus, Now That’s Grelley Duvall returned to the Hideout for a limited run in 2022. The fourth edition of The Grelley Duvall Show premiered at Color Club in February 2023 and Grelley Duvall V enjoyed a four-week run at the Chopin Theatre in spring 2025.

The cast of Grelley Duvall Best Actress includes Kara Brody (she/her), Madigan Burke (they/them), Alex Grelle (he/him), Lolly Extract (she/her), Darling Shear (she/they), Patrick Stengle (he/him) and Mary Williamson (she/her).

The band Grelley Duvall Best Actress is Aunt Kelly (she/her, Music Director/Keys/Guitart); Dan Gianaris (he/him, Bass); Max Loebman (he/him, Guitar) and Sarah Weddle (they/them, drums).

The production team of Grelley Duvall Best Actress is Alex Grelle (writer and conceived by, he/him); Jesse Morgan Young (writer and conceived by, he/him); Kasey Foster (she/her, director); Kasey Alfonso (she/they, choreographer); Erin Kilmurray (she/they, choreography); Aunt Kelly (she/her, music director); Sam Burkett (she/they, stage manager); Anastar Alvarez (they/them, production manager); Quinn Chisenhall (he/him, lighting design); Caitlin McLeod (she/her, scenic design); Alaina Moore (she/her, costume design); Peter Wilde (he/him, technical director); Maya Nguyen (she/her, sound engineer); Jackie Berland (they/them, properties design); Keith Ryan (he/him, wig design); Lolly Extract (she/her, puppet designer) and Madigan Burke (they/them, puppet designer) with Glam Hag (they/them, video direction), Derek Spencer (he/him, video production), Eon Mora (he/him, video cinematography), Drew Angle (he/him, video cinematography) and David Brown (he/him, video editing). Produced by Paul Scudder (he/him); Katie Mazzini (she/her) and Grelle.

ABOUT ALEX GRELLE, WRITER/CONCEIVED BY/PERFORMER

Alex Grelle (The Grelley Duvall Show, Ordinary Peepholes, Floor Show, Full Bush, STEPMOM At The Old Ethan Allen Space) is a gay Chicago-based performer. His heartfelt, comedic spectacles gallivant through a wide range of media, including but never limited to live music, dance, sketch comedy, acting, puppetry, Shelley Duvall’s late-career television exploits and video. Grelle's shows are carefully curated to showcase performances and artists that have impacted his life in a profound way.

ABOUT JESSE MORGAN YOUNG, WRITER/CONCEIVED BY 

Jesse Morgan Young is a multidisciplinary artist whose work as a director, writer, and producer bridges theater, video, music and performance art. As a director and creative producer, Young has brought to life genre-defying works like Floor Show and Full Bush, as well as acclaimed video work. His original plays explore queer identity, pop culture and irreverent rewrites of canonical works and his collaborations span stages and screens, often blurring the lines between satire, performance art and social commentary.

Young has many inspirations. Here are a few: In theatre – Eugene Ionesco, Christopher Durang, Sarah Kane and Adam Bock. In film – Federico Fellini, Luis Buñuel, Wong Kar Wai, Gregg Araki, Pedro Almodóvar and giallo. In music – Prince, David Bowie, Kate Bush, Grace Jones, Brian Eno, The Knife/ Fever Ray and the soaring melodies of so many synth-pop and new wave bands. In fashion – Hedi Slimane, Gareth Pugh, John Galliano, Alexander McQueen, Raf Simons and Rick Owens. In fine art – Gottfriend Helnwein, Olafur Eliasson and Andy Warhol. In literature – Dennis Cooper, Brett Easton Ellis and gothic horror. In performance art - Peaches, Casey Spooner, Matthew Barney and Alaska Thunderfuck 5000.

ABOUT KASEY FOSTER, DIRECTOR

Kasey Foster is a performer, producer, creator, director, singer, choreographer, puppeteer and Mom. She is an ensemble member at Lookingglass Theatre, where she also serves as a member of the current Artistic Leadership Team. Her most recent acting credits are: Mesmerized (Chicago Children’s Theatre), The Notebooks of Leonardo Da Vinci (Goodman, STC, and The Old Globe), Steadfast Tin Soldier (Lookingglass) and Mr. Dickens Hat (Northlight). Other Lookingglass productions include The Little Prince, Moby Dick, Treasure Island, and 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas. Some television credits include “Chicago Med” and IFC’s “Documentary Now!” Foster sings with bands Babelon 5, Nasty Buoy, Old Timey, and This Must Be the Band. She has created and directed over 50 original works in Chicago. Foster also works as the events manager at Actors Gymnasium, a place where people at any age can learn to fly.

ABOUT KASEY ALFONSO, CHOREOGRAPHER

Kasey Alfonso is a 2025 Jeff-Nominated choreographer, performer and educator based in Chicago. Their choreography has been featured at the 1800-seat Paramount Theatre (Cats, Come From Away, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Into The Woods), the Broadway Playhouse (Titanique - Chicago cast), Drury Lane Theatre (Disney’s The Little Mermaid), Teatro Vista (Somewhere Over The Border) and in collaborations with Northwestern University, University of Illinois Chicago, University of Chicago and The Grelley Duvall Show, to name a few. She also choreographed the National Tour of God’s Child for RuPaul’s Drag Race Winner Willow Pill and is a long time cast member and choreographer for Chicago Institution The Fly Honeys, named “Best Dance Troupe” by the Chicago Reader five years in a row. Critics describe Alfonso’s work as athletic, sparkling, energetic, emotionally driven and stylish. As a Filipina woman, they grew up dancing with her older cousins, who played Janet Jackson, Missy Elliot, Madonna, Salt-n-Pepa and Ginuwine on repeat at her Tita’s house. Her choreographic style was born from that deep rooted love of the music video culture of the 90s and early 2000s, athletic training and influences from queer dance styles.

ABOUT ERIN KILMURRAY, CHOREOGRAPHER

Erin Kilmurray is a Chicago-based dance artist creating genre-straddling, femme-forward performance work that demands aliveness and collectivity on stage, in studio and with audiences. They facilitate a dance and community practice that relentlessly explores the celebrations and liberations of women, queer folks and the underdog. Her work embraces mess, play, pleasure and lessons in how arbitrary the line between artist and audience can be.

Kilmurray is the creator/director of legendary queer punk dance and variety performance project The Fly Honey Show, where pleasure is king and politics favor the queens. Fly Honey was established in a DIY living space in 2010 and recently sold out rock venue Thalia Hall, was featured at Lollapalooza 2022 and named a “Chicago institution” (Chicago Reader).

She is recognized with a 2024 US Artist Fellowship Award in Dance, an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship Awardee (2023), a Chicago Dancemakers Lab Artist (2020) and one of 50 People Who Really Perform for Chicago (2023; Newcity). Kilmurray was one of three artists commissioned for the inaugural Chicago Performs program at the Museum of Contemporary Art (2022).

Additionally, she has made dances for countless independent makers, parties, music videos, festivals, concerts and theatrical productions. She is currently teaching at Northwestern University and the University of Chicago.

ABOUT AUNT KELLY, MUSIC DIRECTOR

There's a lot to love about Aunt Kelly’s jangly, guitar-driven power-pop—satisfying hooks, crisp pivots, gut-wrenching lyrics, retro references—but bandleader Kelly Hannemann’s raspy vocal deliveries tie everything together for the Chicago trio rounded out by bassist Dan Gianaris and drummer Sarah Weddle.

The Grelley Duvall Show returns with the world premiere of Grelley Duvall Best Actress, written and conceived by Alex Grelle with Jesse Morgan Young, directed by Kasey Foster, choreographed by Erin Kilmurray and Kasey Alfonso and music directed by Aunt Kelly, March 12 - April 12, at the Chopin Theatre, 1543 W. Division St.  The total running time including intermission is two hours and 15 minutes. Previews are Thursday, March 12 at 8 p.m. - Saturday, March 15 at 8 p.m. Press opening is Thursday, March 18 at 8 p.m. The performance schedule is Thursdays - Sundays at 8 p.m. with industry performances, $25 industry tickets, Thursdays, March 26, April 2 and April 9 at 8 p.m. Tickets are now on sale for $25 (previews/industry) and $35 and $41 for the run and are available at ChopinTheatre.com.  

Jules Verne wrote one of the first science fiction novels in 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas, the story of three travelers who find themselves imprisoned on the Nautilus, a submarine captained by the megalomaniacal Captain Nemo. The novel was light on political detail, though Captain Nemo occasionally claimed to use his supremacy in the seas to right wrongs committed on land, especially those perpetrated by colonial powers. Nemo’s reasons were more fully articulated in Verne’s follow-up, The Mysterious Island, elements of which become the framing device for this Lookingglass Production, adapted by David Kersnar, who also directs, and Althos Low (aka Steve Pickering). Ensemble member Kersnar shows a deft hand and strong familiarity with the resources he can muster to bring the undersea world of the novels spectacularly to life, though the attempt to explain Nemo’s vengeful politics weighs the production down.

At its heart, 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas is an entertaining yarn, filled with hair-raising encounters with monsters, encounters made more terrifying by the fact that they take place in the unforgiving confines of the world’s oceans, with their more ordinary terrors. Kersnar and Low have done a remarkable job of bringing this world to the stage, staying true to Verne’s vision while making updates that make the story more accessible to contemporary audiences. One of these is changing the gender of the marine biologist who recounts Nemo’s travels and scientific discoveries. Pierre Aronnax and his aide-de-camp, Conseil, are recast as Morgan Aronnax and Brigette Conseil. This proves to be a strong choice in terms of storytelling, as it makes a little sense of Aronnax’s initial sympathy for Nemo, as both have felt the sting of being underestimated by those in power. The creators have assembled a team of artists and designers who are up to the task of bringing the tour of the seas to the stage. Todd Rosenthal’s set contains a toy-theater proscenium for the wide-angle shots of the ocean, from the sinking of ships to the horrors of the drowning sailors to the view from the windows of the Nautilus. The Nautilus itself is realized as an exterior platform that rises and tilts precipitously as the story demands, and hints at the confinement of the underwater craft that can be accessed only through a small hatch. Costume designer Sully Ratke combines story-telling and function, creating designs that capture the altered states of the characters as their journeys unwind, as well as their backgrounds and social stations. Props by Amanda Hermann avoid getting too steampunk, but capture the Victorian aesthetic of the novel, reminiscent of the original illustrations. However, it is the more ephemeral design elements that really transport the audience to the depths: sound designer Ric Sims and lighting designer Christine Binder immerse the audience in locations from New York City, the decks of various water crafts, to the depths of the seven seas. Floating in this aural and visual landscape are the puppets designed by Blair Thomas, Tom Lee, and Chris Wooten and athletic actors performing Sylvia Hernandez Di-Stasi’s brilliant aerial choreography, which allows the characters to float and dive beneath the waves. The puppets themselves are worth the price of admission: lifelike and magical at once, they float behind and off the stage to invite audience and characters fully into the terrors and wonders of the oceans.

The play begins with a group of refugees from the American Civil War meeting the man who enabled them to survive their escape, Captain Nemo, now older, alone and questioning his prior life as a terror of the seas. It then flashes back to where the book begins, introducing French professor of natural history Morgan Aronnax, who receives a last-minute invitation to join the crew of the USS Bainbridge, under Captain Farragut, who is commissioned to seek and destroy whatever is terrorizing the seas—be it craft or creature. Aronnax postulates a giant narwhal in a scene that brilliantly establishes her character and her position vis-à-vis her male colleagues. Kasey Foster does an admirable job of injecting charm into the generally no-nonsense and humorless professor, who is almost as single-minded in her pursuit of knowledge as Nemo in his pursuit of vengeance and domination. Kareem Bandealy is hampered by a script that does not allow him to fully realize the zealous evil of Nemo—despite his powerful presence and overbearing bluster, he gets bogged down in the scenes that switch to introspection and long-winded revelation. Scenes that allow him to do this while perpetrating acts of terror (the sinking of a naval vessel, for example) serve the plot much better than dinner time polemics and elegiac remembrances of his role in the Great Mutiny of 1847, which led to the losses that spurred his vengeance against imperialism. Rounding out the quartet that forms the center of the narrative are Walter Briggs as the cheeky Ned Land, a harpooner brought on board the Bainbridge to help destroy the monster responsible for the deaths of so many sailors, and Lanise Antoine Shelley as Conseil. Briggs brings the right balance of swagger and empathy to his role, and Shelley makes a good audience foil for the occasionally delusional professor, pointedly and humorously reminding her of the realities of their positions as women in a male world, and then as prisoners (not guests) of the mad Captain Nemo. Nemo’s “guests” also prove themselves to be up to the physical challenges of taking on human and cephalopod foes (Shelley has a brilliant and harrowing encounter with the latter). The rest of the cast—Thomas J. Cox, Joe Dempsey, Micah Figueroa, Edwin Lee Gibson and Glenn-Dale Obrero--provide some of the most striking moments of the evening and fill the stage with a multitude of supporting characters. Cox anchors the crew of Civil War wanderers and helps flesh out the alternate narrative. Joe Dempsey makes an impression as Pencroff, whose gratitude towards Nemo fuels his understanding and as the surprisingly open-minded and humorous Captain Farragut. Edwin Lee Gibson brings stalwart nobility to Cyrus Smith, one of the men who encounters Nemo in the first scene, and a roguish pragmatism to the self-serving constable who allows Ned Land to board the U.S.S. Bainbridge with a little persuasion from the Captain. Micah Figueroa and Glenn-Dale Obrero also fill the ranks of the Civil War escapees (with a humorous turn from Figueroa as the naïve Harbert), as well as handling the bulk of the fighting and diving, including an amazing sequence of pearl diving that captures the best of Lookingglass’s take on Verne’s novel—providing spectacle and social commentary in a seamless melding of physical theater, puppetry and characterization.

It’s not perfect, but 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas has enough to satisfy young (tweens and up) and old. Though it tries valiantly and not always successfully to engage with the political themes of human rights and colonization, ultimately it is buoyed by a strong sense of good old-fashioned story-telling. The breathtaking special effects, aerial dance, puppet magic, and a committed and capable cast who can match the acting and physical demands of the spectacle more than make up for some ponderous philosophical ballast. There is enough food for thought to inspire conversation, but the focus, as it should, remains mostly on the undersea journeys of the Nautilus and its willing and unwilling crew members’ battles with Kareem Bandealy’s power-hungry Nemo and the natural perils of the seas. It is well worth hopping on board to witness the sea battles, sea spiders, fish, squid and other undersea wonders dreamed up by Lookingglass’s team, under the assured direction of David Kersnar.

20,000 Leagues Under the Seas runs through August 19, 2018, at Lookingglass Theater, 821 N. Michigan. Performances are Wednesdays-Sundays at 7:30 pm, and Sundays at 2:00 pm. For tickets and more information, visit www.lookingglasstheatre.org or call 312-337-0665.

*Extended through August 26th