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Chicago theater Event News Australia's Strange Fruit Coming To Chicago.Coming to Millennium Park this summer for five days as part of the Family Fun Festival is Australia's Strange Fruit, the Melbourne-based performing arts company that fuses dance, circus and spectacle theater in their work. Perched atop fourteen-foot flexible poles that bend and sway in the air, Australia's Strange Fruit can be found outdoors in the Chase Promenade Central from July 10-14, 2008.
Originally based on the image of a field of wheat swaying in the breeze, the poles' extreme strength and flexibility allow the performers to bow to impossible angles, swaying back and forth, as the audience looks up in wonder. The company will perform Swoon!, a quartet for two male and two female daredevils that tells the story of love, loss, joy, and freedom up on high.
We are so pleased to bring Australia's Strange Fruit to Millennium Park this summer, as part of the Family Fun Festival, said Lois Weisberg, Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. We can't wait to see these whimsical characters, along with the enchanted faces of young and old that will delight in the universal story that they tell-all reflected in the surface of Cloud Gate.
Australia's Strange Fruit will perform 14 times throughout their stay and hold a free workshop on July 12 at 5 p.m. in Millennium Park's Wrigley Square. The performance schedule on the Chase Promenade is as follows:
July 10 - 1:00, 3:00, 5:00
July 11 - 1:00, 3:00, 5:00
July 12 - 3:00, 7:00
July 13 - 1:00, 3:00, 5:00
July 14 - 11:00, 1:00, 3:00
With a world-renowned repertoire that celebrates a wide variety of themes and stories, Australia's Strange Fruit has achieved near-cult status in almost every continent across the globe. Since 1994, they have performed for over 250 international festivals and events in more than 35 countries in Europe, Asia, North America, Latin America and Australia. With nearly 30 return engagement festival invitations, the company has performed for over one million people. They have been awarded the national (Australian) Myer Performing Arts Award, the Silver Trophy at the Daidogei World Cup, Japan in 1999 and 2000, and the 2003 Premio Del Publico, in Valladolid, Spain. Their Millennium Park engagement is the beginning of a United States tour.
]]> Chicago on stage - CultureCrawl.comChicago theater Event News New Seasons Announced.
Raven Theatre has announced their 2008/2009 Season, which includes Stephen Adly Guirgis' searing Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train, the world premiere of Tom Patrick's darkly comic Misamerica, and Jon Robin Baitz's adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's classic Hedda Gabler.
Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train
October 7 - December
Raven begins its 26th season with the playwright responsible for The Last Days of Judas Iscariot and Our Lady of 121st Street. Guirgis' plays mine his conflicted youth (attending Catholic parochial school in Harlem) to combine spiritual and religious themes with the rough streets of New York. His plays are controversial and at times ferocious, but also stimulating and fiercely intelligent, inspiring audiences to question and debate long after they leave the theatre. Jesus Hopped the 'A' Train centers on Angel Cruz, a young Latino man in jail for shooting a religious cult leader. Also in prison is an infamous, born-again serial killer who raises the question: Is faith enough to save those who have not practiced what they believe?
Misamerica
January 27 - March 28, 2009
Somewhere in the Mid-east, in the near future, an entrepreneurial American corporation is ready to tackle the next big market. Basic supplies are hard to come by and dangerous fighting continues throughout the area, but Starbucks and McDonald's are popping up everywhere, and the Operation American Sole sandal company isn't about to miss out. A darkly humorous tale of American hubris, Misamerica takes an unapologetic look at our country's policies and priorities.
Hedda Gabler
April 28 - June 27, 2009
Ibsen's masterpiece depicts a woman's inevitable road to tragedy. Hedda has recently married a kind and reliable yet unexciting scholar. She is visited by two old acquaintances: a female schoolmate and another scholar. The former has saved the latter from an unsavory lifestyle, helping him find success as a writer; Hedda is resentful both of his talent and her schoolmate's influence on it. Out of jealousy and boredom, she proceeds to destroy each of the people around her, and finally herself. Is Hedda a heroine, a villain, a victim... or all of the above?
Season subscriptions are available for just $50. Visit www.raventheatre.com or call 773-338-2177 for more information.
Also, following the success of The Hypocrites 2007/2008 Season, Artistic Director Sean Graney has announced their new season of theatrical exploration.
Graney directs the Season Opener, The Threepenny Opera by Bertolt Brecht with music by Kurt Weill to be performed in the Steppenwolf Merle Reskin Garage Theatre as part of the Steppenwolf Visiting Company Initiative. Opening Tuesday, September 2nd, The Threepenny Opera is the first musical The Hypocrites have produced in their 11-year history and the first production authored by Bertolt Brecht.
In February 2009, The Hypocrites are co-producing The Hairy Ape by Eugene O'Neill with Goodman Theatre as part of a global exploration of O'Neill in the 21st Century. While still early in his career, O'Neill risked popular success with a turn toward experimental Expressionism, trying to capture the true tragedy of the working-man being poisoned by the growing, toxic monster of Capitalism.
The close of the 2008/2009 Season marks the return of The Hypocrites to the basement of the Chopin Theatre with Oedipus Rex, adapted and directed by Sean Graney. Drawing from The Hypocrites Company, Graney will craft a 3-person Oedipus Rex staged promenade set to open in June, 2009.
In addition to The Hypocrites 2008/2009 Season's new theatrical experiences, the sold-out hit from the 2007/2008 Season will return. David Cromer's inner-hypocrite was unleashed in the basement of the Chopin Theatre, resulting in the 'masterwork' Our Town. Cromer reprises his role as the Stage Manager in this remount of the original production, opening September 25 at the Chopin Theatre Studio.
For more information visit www.the-hypocrites.com
]]> Chicago on stage - CultureCrawl.comChicago theater Event News Dirty Dancing Principal Cast Announced.
Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage has announced principal casting for the upcoming pre-Broadway U.S. premiere. Josef Brown will re-create the role of Johnny Castle direct from the London production and Amanda Leigh Cobb will play Frances "Baby" Houseman. Chicago's own Britta Lazenga - member of the Joffrey Ballet - will return home direct from the Toronto production in the role of Penny Johnson.
The National Tour of Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage will host its pre-Broadway U.S. premiere in Chicago at the Cadillac Palace Theatre (151 W. Randolph St.) for a limited engagement from September 28 through December 7, 2008.
Josef Brown comes to the National touring company direct from the London and Australian productions of Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage starring in the role of Johnny Castle. London's Evening Standard praised his performance in the West End, "His spectacular agility expressed in leaps and spins, puts an enviable muscled torso to work... [and] assertively dancing Baby back into his life."
Brown was trained at the Australian Ballet School in Melbourne before performing to critical acclaim with The Australian Ballet. Commenting on his casting in the upcoming U.S. premiere, "It is a genuine thrill to be bringing the role of Johnny Castle to the U.S. stage. This is an American story full of hope, personal revelation and, of course, sensuality and love, uplifting literally millions of theatergoers around the world since it first opened. It has been my pleasure to be part of this experience, and I look forward to performing in three great cities of the world: Chicago, Boston and Los Angeles," Brown states.
Britta Lazenga is a Chicago-based dancer and member of the world-renowned Joffrey Ballet. Lazenga says about her casting in the U.S. premiere, "It fills me with great joy and tremendous honor to be returning home to perform in the American premiere of Dirty Dancing. It is challenging for me to express just how grateful I am to be included in such a memorable production and it is even more challenging for me to contain my excitement. I can't wait to share this excitement and experience with the audiences of Boston, Los Angeles and of course, Sweet Home Chicago."
Amanda Leigh Cobb recently performed on Broadway in The Country Girl and The Coast of Utopia and is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama. Her other credits include the Yale Repertory Theater, Milwaukee Shakespeare and the Williamstown Theater Festival. Regarding her casting she commented, "I am thrilled to be playing such an iconic role that continues to inspire people decades after the film and cannot think of three more exciting cities than Chicago, Boston and Los Angeles to welcome us on this tour across the country! I particularly look forward to soon exploring Chicago's amazing art scene, architecture, and natural beauty when we start rehearsals later this summer."
The rest of the casting for the U.S. premiere of Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage will be announced at a future date.
Proclaimed "The biggest live theatre sensation of all time" by The Observer newspaper in London, Dirty Dancing - The Classic Story On Stage also received four stars from The Times, The Independent, Financial Times, Evening Standard, Mail on Sunday, Sunday Times and Time Out London.
Individual tickets ranging in price from $35 - $95 are currently on-sale. A limited number of premium tickets are available to all performances and range in price from $125 - $150. Tickets are available at Broadway In Chicago Box Offices (18 W. Monroe, 24 W. Randolph St. and 151 W. Randolph St.), through the Broadway In Chicago Ticket Line at 312-902-1400, at all Ticketmaster ticket centers or online at Ticketmaster.com.]]> Chicago on stage - CultureCrawl.com
Chicago theater Event News Chicago Theater Happenings.
Artistic Director Jamil Khoury and Executive Director Malik Gillani announced Silk Road Theatre Project's collaboration with San Francisco's Golden Thread Productions and New York City's Lark Play Development Center in New York to form Middle East America: A National New Plays Initiative. This tri-coastal initiative represents the first-ever national effort to actively cultivate and support development of Middle Eastern American playwrights and their plays.
Khoury comments, "Silk Road was founded in response to the attacks of September 11, 2001, and the subsequent backlash against peoples of Middle Eastern and Muslim backgrounds. In establishing Middle East America, we are taking a proactive stance in assuring that playwrights of Middle Eastern backgrounds receive the nurturing and support they deserve. It is high time that Middle Eastern American voices be heard as integral to the mosaic of American storytelling."
Torange Yeghiazarian, Golden Thread Production's Founding Artistic Director, says of the initiative, "It is critical in ensuring that playwrights, such as Yussef El Guindi and Betty Shamieh, continue to be discovered, nurtured, and produced. Not only because the work of Middle Eastern American artists is worthy of broader audiences, but more importantly because American audiences can no longer afford not to see their work."
Middle East America will provide a $10,000 commission to a Middle Eastern American playwright to write a new play. Awarded through an application process, the prize also provides intensive developmental support from the Lark, staged readings and possible productions at Golden Thread Productions and Silk Road Theatre Project, and travel expenses for the writer to be present at all stages of the process. During the play's development and production arc, representatives of partner organizations will travel to each city-Chicago, New York, and San Francisco-to observe the process and to engage in public conversations and panel events about Middle Eastern American voices.
The initiative is designed to encourage other theatres, both American and international, to produce work from Middle Eastern American writers, and to creatively challenge the lack of representation and one dimensional, stereotypical depiction of persons of Middle Eastern descent often seen on America's stages. Lark Producing Director, John Clinton Eisner says the initiative "supports with dollars and deeds the stories and perspectives of a still-marginalized community that has the potential to change our national -and global-conversation for the good."
For more information and application guidelines on Middle East America: A National New Plays Initiative, visit: www.middleeastamerica.org. The application deadline is July 31, 2008. The selected writer will be announced in September 2008.
Nine High Schoolers To Participate In Victory Gardens' Summer Playwriting Program
The Victory Gardens Theater Arts Education Department has selected nine talented Chicago-area high school students to participate in its free, summer youth playwriting intensive program, Sound Off: Your Words/Your Voice 2008.
Now in its 6th year, Sound Off is designed for high school students to receive mentoring from a professional playwright while learning the mechanics of writing a play and having it produced for the stage. The following nine students have been selected to work Victory Gardens' resident playwright Douglas Post from a pool of more than 50 candidates:
These young writers will meet twice a week from June 24 through July 31 at the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater to work on developing their original plays. The program concludes with each nominee holding auditions for their play, which will be subsequently performed on the Biograph mainstage Sunday, August 3 at 4 pm, allowing the young playwrights to see their work performed Readers Theater-style by working actors in front of a live audience.
Candidates were nominated by their teachers and have displayed interest in theater, creative writing, and self-expression. "The goals of Sound Off include mentoring students in the craft of writing a play, and nurturing and developing their individual voices," said Victory Gardens Arts Education Director Robert Cornelius. "Being a playwrights' theater, we also want to spur interest in playwriting and the theater arts as career options. We've found helping students write their own play with guidance from a real playwright, and watching actors bring life to the students' words is a great way to do that."
Shakespeare en EspaÑol
Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST), recent recipient of the 2008 Regional Theatre Tony Award, announced that it will produce a staged reading of Romeo y Julieta, a newly commissioned, bilingual adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, in the Theatre at Little Village Lawndale High School July 25 and 26. Henry Godinez, co-founder of Teatro Vista, director of Chicago's Latino Theatre Festival and a veteran of nine productions as a member of CST's acting company, will direct a local and national cast of Latino theater artists including Elizabeth Pena, four-time winner of the American Latino Media Arts Award. Karen Zacarías, founding artistic director of Young Playwrights' Theatre in Washington, D.C. and winner of the 2006 Francesca Primus Award, will adapt the 75-minute work. Chicago's own Luna Blues Machine, whose music blends Latin influences with modern rock, will create a live musical soundscape for the performance.
With Romeo y Julieta, director Henry Godinez re-imagines Shakespeare's story of two lovers on opposite sides of a divided city within a modern Latino community. "For many in the United States, growing up bilingual is a fact of life," said Godinez. "It cuts across the generations. Spanish at home, English at work or school, both with friends. Finding how these two headstrong teenagers fall for each other in a world divided not just by two households, but by two languages, is fascinating."
"Shakespeare's stories belong to all of us," said CST Artistic Director Barbara Gaines, "regardless of language or time. Chicago Shakespeare brings international companies and thousands of Latino students to our theater every year. We've seen how new languages can be a bridge to understanding. With Romeo y Julieta, language serves as common ground for Spanish and English speakers alike."
Romeo y Julieta will be performed July 25 and 26, 2008 at 7:00pm in the Theatre at Little Village Lawndale High School located at 3120 S. Kostner Avenue in Chicago and is recommended for both English and Spanish-speaking audiences. Admission is free. Seating is first come, first served. Reservations are not required, but may be made by calling CST's reservation line at 312.595.5460. Immediately following each performance, the director and cast will join the audience in a 30-minute discussion. For more information, visit www.chicagoshakes.com.
Second City Sets Up Shop at the Apollo
The Second City has announced the opening of The Second City Improv All-Stars on Saturday, July 12, 2008 at 8:00pm & 10:00pm at The Apollo Theater Chicago (2540 N. Lincoln Avenue). The show will run every Saturday through August 30, 2008.
Comedy with no net. "The Second City's Improv All-Stars" is an evening of hilarious improvisation from the masters of the form. A collection of alumni of the famed theatre use audience suggestions to create comedy on the spot - never seen before and probably never seen again. It's a one of a night evening with the most legendary improv artists in North America.
The Second City's Improv All-Stars will be directed by Mick Napier and will feature a rotating cast including Alex Fendrich, TJ Jagodowski, Niki Lindgren, Rachael Mason, Craig Uhiler, Claudia Wallace and Steve Waltien. Musical Director is TJ Shanoff and Stage Manager is Josh Miller.
Tickets for The Second City Improv All-Stars are $25 each. To reserve tickets, call the Apollo Theater Box Office at 773-935-6100
Are High Gas Prices Keeping You Away From the Theatre?
Wicked will help get visitors to Chicago this Fouth of July by offereing a $50 Gas Card when they prurchase a pair of tickets for July 1 - July 6 performaces of Wicked. You just need to mention the code "GAS" when ordering. Tickets are availabe by calling 312-902-1400 or visiting ticketmaster.com.
More Theatre Articles...
TheatreInChicago.com has joined forces with the Examiner.com to offer readers even more Chicago theatre related news. Examiner.com is one of the fastest growing websites for local news and information and has just recently launched in the Chicago market. Serving 57 local markets, Examiner.com connects consumers with a premium blend of news and information from the best local sources. The Examiner is also in print in San Francisco, Baltimore and Washington, DC. To check out the Theatre Page, click on over to Examiner.com.
Also, to help visitors find other great articles, TheatreInChicago has just rolled out a new "Related Articles" feature. Now visitors to the site will see a "Related Articles" section on many of the play information pages which will take them to great articles about that show from sources such as the Chicago Tribune, SunTimes, Daily Herald, SouthtownStar, TimeOut Chicago, blogs, etc. For an example, scroll to the bottom of the Kooza page for some featured articles about that show.
]]> Chicago on stage - CultureCrawl.comChicago theater Event News Flying Solo.
The 2008 Fillet of Solo Festival Schedule is:
Potholes On The Path To Englightenment
July 10 - July 27
Presented by Live Bait Theater and Tellin' Tales Theatre
Solo performers: Tekki Lomnicki, Rob Schroeder, Matt Kerns & Maia Morgan
Tellin' Tales Theatre returns to Fillet of Solo for a sixth smash year with present Potholes On The Path To Englightenment, which will feature tales of saints, painful estrangements and 4 am bars. Tellin' Tales has been featured on the Live Bait stage with the critically-acclaimed Blurred Vision, Body Language, Shrink and 2001: A Wedding Odyssey.
A Dreadful Day
July 11 - July 19
Presented by BoyGirlBoyGirl
Solo performers: Susan McLaughlin Karp, David Kodeski, Stephanie Shaw, Diana Slickman & Edward Thomas-Herrera
BoyGirlBoyGirl, Chicago's favorite solo performance ensemble, returns to the Live Bait Theater stage after a three-year hiatus with their new show: A Dreadful Day. OK, let's see... how to explain this... A Dreadful Day is the name of this 19th-century children's book that Kodeski found in a bookstore in Evanston and it's pretty messed up. It tells the story of a single day in the lives of Millicent and Archie, two preternaturally well-spoken orphans whose best intentions have this funny way of paving the road to Hell. Well, not so "funny." More like "ominous." And not exactly the road to Hell inasmuch as a sure-fire way to catch scarlet fever. A cursory reading of the book will lead you to believe it's a warning against random acts of kindness towards others. An in-depth reading confirms it to be a more darkly misanthropic suggestion that we best mind our own business. Nice. BoyGirlBoyGirl responds with six tales of orphans, feline euthanasia, good deeds gone wrong, and all things full of dread. Hilarity ensues.
Strip Mauled! The Musical!
August 1 - August 16
Written and performed by Kristin Garrison
Kristin Garrison returns to Fillet of Solo with a world premiere that begs the following questions: how many Walgreens does one neighborhood actually require? And just how many support groups does a person have to join to make some friends around here anyway? Garrison turns her incisive, comic gaze to the search for community in our increasingly isolated, suburbanized and segmented society.
Sweatilicious
August 8 - August 10
Written and performed by the Sweat Girls
Solo Performers: Cindy Hanson, Dorothy Milne, Clare Nolan, Martie Sanders & Pamela Webster
The Sweat Girls kiss and tell. This crew of cheeky females has been at the crux of the center-stage-soul-baring movement for 15 years. Sweatilicious features tales of fantasy, desire, and hanky panky. From seducing a priest to kissing the whole baseball team, the Sweat Girls truly embrace their hot mama past and present. The Sweat Girls have been creating monologue shows since 1993.
Me And My Dad Stories
July 31 - August 16
Written and performed by Martie Sanders, Tom McNamara & Gerrit O'Neill
Some of Chicago's best solo artists tell unforgettable stories about a wide assortment of fathers. An Irish boxer (McNamara), an optimistic gambler (O'Neill) and, last but not least, a 79-year-old Charlie Sanders who pulls out his tap shoes after 40 years and joins his daughter Martie on stage. Three striking monologues about three loveable yet complex dads.
Sampler Superstars!
July 25 - August 9
Performed by Joe Steiff, Rohina, Paul Thomas, Gloria Coco & Margot Bordelon
Over the past thirteen years Livebait has had some cool, talented and memorable solo artists perform in their Solo Festival and they bring back some of their favorites (and a few new up and comers) for the best of the best.
For tickets or more information on the Fillet of Solo Festival, call 773-871-1212 or visit www.livebaittheater.org.]]> Chicago on stage - CultureCrawl.com
Chicago theater Event News Theater On The Lake.
Theater on the Lake remounts eight shows from the previous off-Loop theatre season. Eight weeks, eight shows, eight chances to sample some of the best of what Chicago's flourishing off-Loop theatre scene has to offer; it's a kind of Taste of Chicago for theatre-goers.
The venerable open-air building, located on the lakefront at Fullerton, was once a sanatorium for children suffering from TB. Converted into a theatre a couple of decades ago, the building still offers stunning views and plenty of fresh air - too much, sometimes, when cold lake breezes leave audience members shivering in their seats. The surrounding noise and energy from Lake Shore Drive traffic, runners and bikers on the bike path, and beachgoers on their way to and from Fullerton Beach, can be both exhilarating and distracting.
But the noise and energy that really matters comes from the off-Loop companies who bring their shows to the site. The year's season kicked off with The Misanthrope presented by Greasy Joan & Company and was followed by Pegasus Players' Jitney. The remaining season includes:
Schadenfreude: June 25 - 29
Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind: July 2 - 6
Cadillac: July 9 - 13
Songs for a New Wolrd: July 16 - 20
The Attempters: July 23 - 27
Suddenly Last Summer: July 30 - Aug 3
It's quite a challenge to put together an eclectic season that fairly represents the rich and varied off-Loop theatre scene. And it's a challenge for the companies who reassemble actors, director and designers to reinvent their shows for the idiosyncratic space. This week on the Talk Theatre in Chicago podcast, Artistic Director Hallie Gordon talks about how she chooses the shows, the quirks of producing theatre on the Chicago Park District's nickel, and her hopes for the venue. She is joined by Elizabeth Margolius, who will be remounting Bohemian Theatre Ensemble's Songs for a New World this summer at Theater on the Lake.
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Chicago theater Event News Jeff Award-Winning Actor Stef Tovar Launches The Route 66 Theatre Company.
The Route 66 Theatre Company. Its mission is to cultivate dynamic, relevant and provocative stories that bridge the 2,448 miles of cultural divide, seeking to be the leading arts organization for both national artists and audiences along the historic highway. Along with Artistic Director Tovar, the company also includes Judge Gloria Coco, Heather Meyers, John Mohrlein, Jenniffer Weigel and Gwendolyn Whiteside.
The Route 66 Theatre Company's first production will be the Chicago premiere of John Kolvenbach's On An Average Day, co-produced with the Vs. Theatre Company of Los Angeles. The show will preview July 30, open Saturday, August 2 at 7:30 p.m., and run through August 31 at the Victory Gardens Greenhouse Theater Upstairs Mainstage, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave. On An Average Day received huge critical acclaim during its March 2008 sold out run in Los Angeles. The highly praised cast and artistic team have remained the same with the addition of Lighting Designer Jesse Klug.
On An Average Day first premiered in London's West End in 2002, starring Woody Harrelson and Kyle MacLachlan and directed by John Crowley. Both black comedy and psychological drama, On An Average Day tells the story of the emotional fog surrounding the relationship between two estranged brothers. Robert is clearly in desperate trouble and unraveling, just as his neat and controlled brother Jack arrives after a long absence. The piece evokes the tension of a mystery thriller though the lens of brutal family dysfunction.
For tickets or more information call 773-871-3000 or visit www.route66theatre.org.]]> Chicago on stage - CultureCrawl.com
Philadelphia Art Exhibitions Live Cinema/Carlos Amorales: Four Animations, Five Drawings, and a Plague.
April 11, 2008 - July 13, 2008: Over the last decade, Carlos Amorales has developed a unique visual vocabulary that he has used and reused, both alone and in collaboration with other artists, in mediums ranging from drawing and animation to installation and performance. Art & culture news today - CultureCrawl.com
Philadelphia Art Exhibitions Fashioning Kimono: Art Deco and Modernism in Japan.
April 26, 2008 - July 20, 2008: The Japanese kimono is celebrated worldwide for its elegant, distinctive silhouette. Though quintessentially Japanese, the kimono form has influenced fashion designers around the globe. This exhibition features kimono created in the early to mid-twentieth century, one of the most dynamic periods in the history of Japan's national costume. Art & culture news today - CultureCrawl.com
Philadelphia Art Exhibitions Rhythms of India: The Art of Nandalal Bose (1882-1966).
June 27, 2008 - September 1, 2008: This is the first exhibition to travel outside of Asia showcasing the exquisite and historically groundbreaking work of Nandalal Bose, a major artist who has been called the father of Indian modernism and one of the patriarchs of India's cultural revival. Art & culture news today - CultureCrawl.com
Philadelphia Art Exhibitions Emerging to Established: 25 Years of the Center for Emerging Visual Arts.
April 5, 2008 - July 6, 2008: Organized to celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of a dynamic Philadelphia arts institution—the Center for Emerging Visual Artists (CFEVA)—this exhibition presents a varied and accomplished selection of works on paper by twenty-five artists. Art & culture news today - CultureCrawl.com
Philadelphia Art Exhibitions Turned and Thrown: English Pottery 1660–1820 from Local Collections.
March 29, 2008 - July 27, 2008: These exceptional objects celebrate the inventiveness and ingenuity of anonymous potters active in England from the end of the seventeenth century to the early decades of the nineteenth century. Art & culture news today - CultureCrawl.com
Philadelphia Art Exhibitions Imagining Cathay: 18th- and Early 19th-Century Chinoiserie Textiles and Embroideries from the Collection.
December 8, 2007 - Fall 2008: For Europeans during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, China—or Cathay as it was sometimes called—was a magical place. This exhibition includes nine Chinoiserie textiles and embroideries from the Museum's outstanding collection. Art & culture news today - CultureCrawl.com
Philadelphia Art Exhibitions Transcending the Literal: Photographs by Ansel Adams from the Collection.
March 1, 2008 - August 17, 2008: More than 20 years after his death, Ansel Adams (1902–1984) remains one of the world's most beloved and widely exhibited American photographers. Comprised of more than 40 photographs selected from the Museum's extensive holdings of the artist's work, this exhibition focuses on Adams's less-familiar landscape images in order to demonstrate his innate understanding of graphic form and balanced design. Art & culture news today - CultureCrawl.com
April 11, 2008 - July 13, 2008: Over the last decade, Carlos Amorales has developed a unique visual vocabulary that he has used and reused, both alone and in collaboration with other artists, in mediums ranging from drawing and animation to installation and performance.
Art Competition Hints & Tips
Don't crowd your art work with too much! Don't make it look too busy, remember the motto "Less is more".
Often times if you make your art work too busy it will not impress the judges but make them more likely to move on to the next piece. Make a focus point and work around it...
The Strangerer will be the latest Chicago show heading out to New York. The show, which is currently running at the Chopin Theatre through June 29th and has received rave reviews, will be opening in July for a run at the 199 seat Barrow Street Theatre located at 27 Barrow Street in New York.
The Strangerer collides several of Camus' works with the first Bush/Kerry presidential debate in 2004. The formalities of the debate are overturned as Bush and Kerry struggle with the question not of if or why an innocent man should be killed (the man in question being moderator Jim Lehrer), but rather what is the proper manner in which to go about killing him. The Strangerer is part political satire, part classical drama, and part contemporary debate.
Oak Park Festival Summer Season Underway
With the warm summer months now upon us what better way to enjoy the outdoors then with some theatre. The production of Much Ado About Nothing at the Oak Park Festival is now underway in the Austin Gardens. The production is directed by Jack Hickey and features performers from past productions as well as talented actors from throughout the Chicago area who are new to the company. The show runs through July 19th.
While audience members are always welcome to bring their own picnics to the park, Oak Park Festival is now also offering a convenient option for the first time in a couple of years. Nearby Cosi, located on Lake Street, will deliver picnic dinners to the park for audience members with as little as a one hour notice.
Also, on Sunday June 22 and 29 the theatre will continue their long standing tradition of Family Days. Anyone of any age is welcome to attend, but it is an especially great way to introduce elementary school age children to Shakespeare. The performances of Much Ado will begin at 5:00pm on Family Days and there will be special pre-show events such as a tour of the stage and actors previewing the story of the play.
For more information visit oakparkfestival.com.
The House Theatre of Chicago Welcomes Six New Company Members
The House Theatre of Chicago announced that they will be adding six new company members, including Debbie Baer, Cliff Chamberlain, Lee Keenan, Chad Kenward, Kat McDonnell, and Joey Steakley. With the addition of these individuals, The House now has a total of 34 company members skilled in a variety of technical and artistic disciplines.
"We are thrilled to be adding these awesome artists to our family, and cannot thank them enough for the spirit, time and energy they have already invested in The House," says Artistic Director, Nathan Allen. "We are looking forward to growing and working with them on future projects."
The House Theatre of Chicago was founded in 2001 by a group of friends from around the country with the sole purpose of moving to Chicago and starting a world-class theatrical institution in the tradition of the great Chicago ensembles that had come before. Following a critically acclaimed run of their first show, Death and Harry Houdini, The House burst onto the Chicago scene with the smash hit success of The Terrible Tragedy of Peter Pan, an original adaptation that ran for five months in 2002.
The ensuing years brought more than a dozen world premiere productions including Dave DaVinci Saves the Universe, The Great and Terrible Wizard of Oz, Hatfield & McCoy and the genre bending, three year, epic rock musical, The Valentine Trilogy. In early 2007, the critical and popular success of The Sparrow took The House to both the Steppenwolf Merle Reskin Garage Theatre, and the Apollo Theater, and with it a whole new audience.
For more information on The House Theatre of Chicago visit www.thehousetheatre.com.
Summer Re-Runs Playing at The Spot
Is your jar of lightening bugs dead? Are you already bored with your Slip-n-Slide? Tired of waiting for the Good Humor Man? Then grab your beanbag chair and flop on down with ARFTCo to catch up on your favorite summer re-runs!
A Reasonable Facsimile Theatre Company has announced their upcoming Summer Reading Series: Summer Re-Runs!, staged readings of classic TV shows at The Spot (4437 N. Broadway) which will run Sunday nights at 7:00 PM from July 13 - August 3.
Join the ARFTCO ensemble and some special guests for four fun nights of remembered re-runs including:
7/13- Guys Night In!
Freaks and Geeks, Undeclared, Perfect Strangers, + 5 Minute A-Team
7/20- Swingin' 70's!
Alice, Charlie's Angels, Three's Company, + 5 Minute The Mary Tyler Moore Show
7/27- Young, Rich, and Spoiled!
90210, Dawson's Creek, + 5 Minute Melrose Place
8/3- A Very Special...!
Facts of Life, The Tick, Saved By The Bell, + 5 Minute Ellen!
Tickets for ARFTCo's Summer Re-Runs! are just $10. Visit www.arftco.com for reservations, or call 773-418-4475.
Lion Roars Longer
Writers' Theatre has announced additional dates for James Goldman's The Lion in Winter directed by Rick Snyder due to record ticket demand. The production will now run through August 10, 2008, at Writers' Theatre, 325 Tudor Court in Glencoe.
Weekly sales for The Lion in Winter have broken box office records and nearly doubled the previously set record held by As You Like It. This is the second show to extend this season for Writers' Theatre due to high demand.]]> Chicago on stage - CultureCrawl.com
September 15, 2007 - September 1, 2008: Designing Modern: 1920 to the Present opens Collab's new gallery in the Ruth and Raymond G. Perelman Building with a chronological look at the Museum's collection of modern and contemporary decorative art. On entering the gallery, object platforms joined together and punctuated by four vertical display cases illustrate major movements in design history: Art Deco and the Bauhaus; American and Scandinavian Modern Design; Italian Design; and Postmodernism. Art & culture news today - CultureCrawl.com
Philadelphia Art Exhibitions Cornucopia: Recent Acquisitions in Japanese Art.
November 24, 2007 - October 2008: Showcasing a variety of objects that celebrate the Museum's steadily growing collection of Japanese art, this exhibition features paintings, a display of lacquer vessels, and a selection of contemporary works of art. Art & culture news today - CultureCrawl.com
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