Displaying items by tag: Patrick Stengle

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.  

When we think holidays in Chicago, we think ‘A Christmas Carol’ at Goodman, Joffrey’s ‘Nutcracker’, Christkindlmarket, Zoo Lights at Lincoln Park Zoo, Winter Wonderfest at Navy Pier and the list goes on and on. We should count our lucky stars, Chicago has a lot to offer this time of year. But perhaps one of the most fun holiday traditions (one I certainly look forward to each year) is Hell in a Handbag’s annual Christmas musicals and this year is no exception. Parody master David Cerda and company, who have brought us such hits in the past as ‘Rudolph the Red-Hosed Reindeer’ and ‘Christmas Dearest’, keep the tradition rolling this year with ‘Snowgirls’. You guessed it – a lampoon on the 90’s cult classic Showgirls.

It’s a tough, dog-eat-dog world out there for reindeer who want to make it to the top of the exotic dancing game. Making a name for yourself in local strip dives is one thing, but Snowmi Malone has her sights set much higher. She’s looking to make it in crowned jewel of the exotic revue world – the North Pole. But to do that, not only does opportunity need to present itself, she needs to be the best she can be. Ice Crystal Connors, the star dancer and Queen of the Scene might have something to say about that.

In “Snowgirls’ we are taken on a journey through the sleazy underworld of the North Pole in a hilarious adventure that rings the holidays in Handbag style.

Directed and Choreographed by Jon Martinez, with book by Derek Van Barham and Music by David Cerda, the world premiere holiday production of “Snowgirls the Musical’ comes with its Handbag stamp and certainly holds its own to other past holiday productions by this talented theatre company. As outrageous, envelope-pushing and downright funny as one would hope for, Hell in a Handbag has yet another hit show on their hands thanks to its witty and devilishly comical script and the company’s skilled ability for casting just the right people in just the right parts.

Harper Leander is adorable in the role of Snowmi where she not only gets the chance to display her well-timed physical humor and droll line delivery, she even gets to bust a few moves as the bratty stripper who will make it at any cost. Handbag favorite Sydney Genco as Ice Crystal Connors is terrifically cast as the top drawing attraction of the North Pole’s exotic dance scene. Conniving and ruthless when need be, Grenco gives us a brilliant Gina Gershon parody that is simply hysterical. So many reindeer so many performances that should be recognized. Patrick Stengle as a grown up and kinda hardcore Herbie (the dentist wannabe in ‘Rudolph’) delivers many laugh out moments as does Max McKune as shady club manager Rudolph (he apparently didn’t grow up as innocent as we thought he would) and Terry McCarthy, who has been with Hell and a Handbag since its inception, as club owner and tough guy, Tony.

Other familiar faces make this production the success that it is with their own stand out performances including Grant Dagger (Zip), Brittani Yawn (Jolly) and Erin Daly as Mrs. Claus.

‘Snowgirls’ is holiday fun and can be enjoyed whether you’ve seen Showgirls or not (but it does help to have seen it beforehand). Go see what everyone is buzzing about and see why Hell in a Handbag just might be the funniest theatre company in Chicago.

‘Snowgirls the Musical: The Other Side of the North Pole’ is being performed at Mary’s Attic through December 30th. For tickets and/or more show information visit www.handbagproductions.org.