Displaying items by tag: Greenhouse Theater Center

This narrative tracks five individuals within the "People’s Diasporatic Party"—outfitted in corporate attire—as they take refuge in a desolate East New York residence While the group anticipates the fallout from an orchestrated bombing, hysteria takes hold, exposing the rift between their brutal insurgent schemes and abstract revolutionary principles.

Cast:

Kwame: Kevin Aoussou

Tamara: Justice Ford

Ahmed: Joseph Pryce

James: Dontaye Albert

Lance: Jimmie Rogers III

Lewis: Grayson Kennedy*

Creative Team:

Director: Makari Robinson-McNeese

Stage Manger: Shreya Khanna

Production Manager: Tommy Thams*

Producer: Tommy Thams*, Grayson Kennedy*+

Lighting Design: Emma Berry

Scenic Design: Catalina Nino

Costume Design: Grace Weir

Props Design: Ellory Jezuit

Marketing: JonMarie Johnson*

* - Denotes Ensemble Member

+- Denotes Artistic Director

About Gwydion: The Gwydion Theatre Company was formed in Los Angeles, CA by a group of actors following their completion of training in 2019. It started with doing Shakespeare in parking lots, apartments, parks, to then tackling full scale productions during the Hollywood Fringe Festival. Following the pandemic, a decision was made to move operations to Chicago, IL in order to connect with the storefront community that Chicago is renowned for. Gwydion has now served as a resident company at The Greenhouse Theater Center since 2022 and has mounted nine full-length productions, as well as co-producing Chicago’s first “Theatre of the Absurd Festival” alongside the Chopin Theatre. Gwydion Theatre aims to be a theatre of class, one that addresses the growing dominance of commercialism and pay-to-play in our artform through critical and provocative theatre that challenges the biases of the theatre community here in Chicago. Gwydion Theatre also aims to uphold the theatre as a central pillar of the identity of Chicago.

Theatre 31 Productions’ Gus and Alice has returned to the Greenhouse Theater Center this month. Written by Chicago playwright Mike Rago, the light‑hearted slice‑of‑life comedy follows an elderly married couple whose days revolve around avoiding gluten and surviving a game of Trivial Pursuit. As they enter their next chapter, Alice wonders whether a retirement community might be the right move - though her curmudgeonly husband will need some convincing.

Gus and Alice made its debut in New York before heading to the Windy City earlier this year for a sold‑out run. Now the original cast returns for this limited engagement, greeted with an unmistakably warm welcome on opening night.

The one‑act play has the feel of a ’90s sitcom (albeit one with a few well‑placed expletives). It kicks off with snappy dialogue and brisk blackouts that introduce the couple and their marriage - full of the love and bickering reminiscent of The Honeymooners’ Ralph and Alice. These characters are familiar, but the timelessness of the humor still rings true.

Rago set out to write a show centered on aging parents, a group often sidelined in comedy. At the core of the production’s success is the chemistry between Al Lerner and Michelle McKenzie‑Voigt, who bring Gus and Alice to life with a dynamic ease that anchors every scene they share. McKenzie‑Voigt, a Chicago‑based theater actress, professional voice talent, and multiple Chicago Emmy Award‑nominee, gives Alice a warm, grounded presence that balances Lerner’s sharper edges. Chicagoans may recognize Lerner from his days as a sports reporter and radio talk show host - a career that includes his work as a Sports Anchor/Reporter for ABC’s WLS‑TV, a Feature Reporter for NBC’s WMAQ‑TV, and a major on‑air presence at WGN Radio, where his talk show was nationally syndicated. Together, Lerner and McKenzie‑Voigt play off each other beautifully, trading barbs or getting on each other’s nerves while keeping their characters rooted in an understanding of love. Lerner grounds the cantankerous Gus with a short‑tempered crankiness that somehow remains endearing, while McKenzie‑Voigt shines as the sensible, fun‑loving Alice who can keep her husband in check.

Supporting the central pair is Peter Goldsmith as their son. His relaxed, relatable persona fits the role naturally; he deftly portrays a son who understands his parents’ quirks and effortlessly lets it slide when his dad calls him by his brother’s name. He proves to be the perfect straight man, playing the role with an intelligent ease.

The small ensemble adds quirky flavor. Valerie O’Connor is especially funny as the neighbor who’s had a bit too much to drink. A few ensemble members lean into a heightened, overly silly style of comedy, but it mostly suits the material. The show caps off with a high‑energy curtain‑call dance to the Macarena, a playful final beat that even draws a few audience members to join in.

Gus and Alice delivers a warm, laughter‑filled evening. This breezy comedy may tread familiar territory, but it reminds us what truly makes a family: loving each other even when we drive each other crazy.

Runtime: 1 hour 5 minutes

Rating: PG‑13

No intermission

Remaining show dates and times: Saturday, August 15 at 7:30 PM, Saturday, August 22 at 3:00 PM, Sunday, August 23 at 3:00 PM

The Greenhouse Theater Center 2257 N Lincoln Ave Chicago, IL 60614 Up Main Stage

Tickets: https://ci.ovationtix.com/36644/production/1281986

Tin Drum Theatre Company is proud to announce the cast and creative team for Chicago premiere for A Dark Wood, October 15 - November 1, written by Eric Coble and directed by Steve Needham, at Studio 44 in the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave. The preview performance for A Dark Wood is Thursday, Oct. 15 at 7:30 p.m. with the opening night performance Friday, Oct. 16 at 7:30 p.m. The performance schedule is Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. The Understudy Performance is Saturday, Oct. 31 at 2:30 p.m. There will be a post-show talk-back with playwright Eric Coble after a select performance date, to be announced. Tickets are $29 with $15 student tickets. Tickets go on sale Tuesday, Sept. 1  at TinDrumTheatre.com or by calling the Greenhouse Theater Company box office at 773.404.7336. 

“The Fix” was supposed to correct everything that had gone wrong with the country. Now, three members of a shattered family, Earthworm, Hummingbird and Armadillo, occupy different corners of a society in free-fall, each surviving in their own way. Earthworm squats in no-man’s land beside his only friend, desperate to cross the river border and begin a new life. Hummingbird hides in a boarded-up apartment, secretly reading books with a fugitive teacher who will do anything to keep both her — and the resistance — alive. Armadillo stands alone in her police armor searching for justice, or perhaps forgiveness. Which of them will make it to Paradise and what will it cost? Does such a place even exist?

A Dark Wood ensemble cast includes Renzo Vicente (he/him, Earthworm), Delaney 

Vallese (she/her, Hummingbird), Marlee Feacher (she/her, Armadillo), Carlos Andrés Mai (he/they, Montrose), Shannon Leigh Webber (she/her, Miss Vivian) and Raúl Alonso (he/him, Dipper).

The creative team includes Eric Coble (he/him, playwright); Steve Needham (he/him, producer/director),  Jason Palmer (he/him, production manager),  Sil Rivera (they/them, stage manager); Will Hughes (he/him, technical director and scenic designer); Kasey Wolfgang (she/her, costume designer); Emma Berry (she/her, lighting designer and master electrician); Zach Stinnett (he/him, sound designer) and Erin Alys (she/her, director of intimacy and movement). 

ABOUT ERIC COBLE, playwright

Eric Coble is an award-winning American playwright whose work spans sharply drawn dramas, audacious comedies and incisive social satire. Born in Edinburgh and raised on the Navajo and Ute reservations of the American Southwest, Coble brings a distinctive blend of wit, empathy and theatrical boldness to the stage.

His plays have been produced across the United States and internationally, including on Broadway, Off-Broadway and at major regional theatres. His Broadway debut, The Velocity of Autumn, starring Estelle Parsons and Stephen Spinella, earned Parsons a Tony Award nomination. Other widely produced works include The Giver (stage adaptation), Bright Ideas, My Barking Dog, Fairfield, The Dead Guy, Natural Selection and Southern Rapture, among many others.

Coble’s scripts have received an ATCA Steinberg New Play Award citation, the Governor’s Award for the Arts (Ohio) and multiple Edgerton New Play Awards. His work has been developed or produced by The Kennedy Center, Playwrights Horizons, Manhattan Class Company, Denver Center Theatre Company, Cleveland Play House, Alliance Theatre, Arena Stage and Actors Theatre of Louisville.

Known for his sharp comic voice and ability to illuminate the tensions and absurdities of contemporary American life, Coble remains a vital presence in the new-play landscape. He is a member of the Playwrights’ Center and a graduate of Ohio University’s MFA program.

ABOUT STEVE NEEDHAM, director

Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, Steve Needham is a founding member of Convergence-Continuum, which is still producing provocative black box theatre for more than 25 years.

In Chicago, Needham has previously worked in various capacities at The Bailiwick Repertory Theatre, About Face Theatre and Pride Films & Plays. He holds a B.A. in theater from Kent State University, a Master’s degree from the University of Chicago and a J.D. from Cleveland State University.

At Tin Drum Theatre, he wrote the company’s inaugural play, Winter Garden about Edwin and John Wilkes Booth, and directed The Unseen by Craig Wright. 

Outside of his artistic pursuits, Needham is an attorney with a litigation firm located in the River North neighborhood.

ABOUT TIN DRUM THEATRE COMPANY

Tin Drum Theatre Company exists to disrupt complacency and reassert theatre’s civic purpose. Creating theatre that asks something of its audience, moving beyond comfort to provoke conversation and critical engagement. Tin Drum believes community begins where audiences and ideas collide, and where dramatic disturbances are created.

We are inside the Pompeii Club. From everything Charity has told us, the club is the place to be, and as the scene unfolds, it’s certainly no surprise. Costume Designer Cindy Moon does not hold back. The ensemble is dressed to the nines – full of dresses and jumpsuits that firmly plant us in the 60s. Lighting Designer Ellie Humphrys fills the stage with bright color – helping the costumes pop even more.

Then the song begins. Fans of Sweet Charity may recognize the opening notes of “Rich Man’s Frug” as the ensemble starts to gather and dance the original Bob Fosse choreography. To say Choreographer Lauryn Schmelzer’s work astounds is an understatement. The group of 11 performs the chorography perfectly in sync, eliciting cheers from the audience with every curve of the shoulder, adjustment of the cigarette, or of course, pop of a jazz hand.  

Fans of Sweet Charity will of course recognize the famous score. The talented cast soars with all the favorites including “Big Spender,” “There’s Gotta Be Something Better Than This,” “You Should See Yourself,” and “I Love to Cry at Weddings.” The boppy music is sure to leave you dancing along in your seats. However, that which especially pushes this production over the top is Schmelzer’s choreography that accompanies each of the hits – making each number unique while at the same time giving the proper nod to Fosse’s influence.

Directed by Johanna McKenzie Miller, Sweet Charity follows Charity Hope Valentine (Teah Kiang Mirabelli) – an optimistic dance-hall hostess with dreams of finding true love. The musical kicks off with a comical disaster as the man Charity thinks will be her forever soul mate pushes her into a river, stealing her dowry in the process. However, she does not give up hope, and the story invites us into her world as she commiserates with her friends at the Fandango Ballroom and even meets new potential suitors – such as Vittorio Vidal (Eldon Warner-Soriano) and Oscar Lindquist (Dustin Rothbart).

Miller does not shy away from the camp, making the production full of comedy as Charity runs into obstacle after obstacle on her quest. However, you might just find that the element that truly draws you into the story is the heart at the center. Charity’s never-ending optimism is certainly something to be celebrated and brings light to a story that could go quite dark if she gave into the hardships that keep getting thrown her way.

“If My Friends Could See Me Now” is a prime exampling - taking place mid-way through Act One. Charity has found herself in the bedroom of Vittorio Vidal – a famous movie star. He briefly leaves her alone and she simply cannot help but gush at the turn of her luck. Her friends had told her to give up on her dreams, but here she is proving that if you just keep believing, anything can happen. Mirabelli’s voice astounds, but in addition, she exudes positive energy as she performs the number, creating a stage presence that you just might find is impossible not to love. The end of the song elicited cheers from the audience, making it clear that I was not alone in my sentiments.

Full of camp and with a powerhouse cast, Sweet Charity makes for a night of fun. Whether you are a long-time fan of the show or this is your first time with the material, Blank Theatre’s production carries a little something for everyone.

Sweet Charity runs through June 8 at the Greenhouse Theater Center. See the Blank Theatre Company website for more information on tickets.

RECOMMENDED

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

It’s been almost 80 years since the publication of Anne Frank’s Diary, and yet it remains one of the most significant personal accounts of the Holocaust on record. Though ‘The Diary of A Young Girl’ is a well-established work of young adult literature, it continues to be challenged by parents and school boards. The irony is that maybe there’s never been a more important time for children to read this haunting personal narrative.

Young People’s Theatre of Chicago presents a new adaptation of the 1955 Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett. This is a secondary adaptation as Wendy Kesselman considerably trimmed the play down for the 1997 Broadway revival. Her updated script is generally considered the standard now. This new, 75-minute version was developed by the Nashville Children’s Theatre along with the Anne Frank-Fonds and is making its Chicago premiere at Greenhouse Theater Center. The goal of the shortened running time was to make the play more impactful for younger audiences. This is not to say this new version has been sanitized to appeal to conservative audiences. In fact, this script keeps the play’s most challenging moments intact.

Randy White directs this intimate production with an impressive young cast. Given that this is one of the most produced plays in the world, it’s reasonable to assume this cast could maybe be influenced by other actors’ portrayals of the two families in hiding. Instead, it feels like this cast decided to depict these real-life figures in their own way. Shelley Winters won an Oscar for her somewhat over-the-top performance as Mrs. van Daan, whereas Amy Stricker plays the part with a realistic coolness. One of the production’s most upsetting moments is when she must sacrifice her beloved fur coat so they can afford rations.

Despite its dark subject matter, ‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ endures because of Anne Frank’s ceaseless optimism in the face of the unimaginable. This fast-paced version moves quickly from scene to scene, but it doesn’t lose any depth. Rather, this is a version that children can identify with. For many children, ‘The Diary of a Young Girl’ is their first exposure to the Holocaust, so while it’s important not to traumatize a younger audience, it’s also important for children to know the truth so that it can’t happen again. This production hits all the emotional high points that make this play so essential. It was touching to see how affected some tiny audience members were by the play’s chilling conclusion.

‘The Diary of Anne Frank’ is a play that everyone should see at least once in their lifetime. While it’s certainly Holocaust adjacent, there’s a lot in this script about that human condition, and what it means to be a misunderstood teenager that everyone can relate to. Though Anne Frank never saw the impact her work had on generations of people, she achieved what she set out to do. Her diary is more than just a record of her time in hiding, it’s a work of literature wise beyond its author’s years and reminds us all to be gentler with each other.

Through March 24 at Young People’s Theatre of Chicago at Greenhouse Theater Center. 773-404-7336

With Renee Zellweger just having won the Academy Award for her portrayal of Judy Garland, focus on Garland’s legacy has been renewed. Local actresses Nancy Hays and Alexa Castelvecchi, along with music director Robert Ollis, reconstruct an iconic moment in pop culture history. A young Liza Minnelli performed just one time with her mother Judy Garland on the Palladium stage in London in 1964. The evening was recorded, and the album proved a highpoint for both Judy and Liza.

“Once in a Lifetime” is not exactly song for song as they appeared on the album, but this cabaret is a touching tribute to Judy and Liza. With Hays as Garland and Castelvechhi as Minnelli, the two take turns singing their favorite songs from the album and relay the history of how it came to be. Though they’re both dressed in character, this is more of a concert than a play.

What remains impressive about this once in a lifetime evening in 1964 is how great the arrangements were. Each song plays to the strengths of these two legendary performers. Judy Garland was in her prime in 1964 and Liza was about a year away from winning her first Tony Award. The song selection is quite a charming playlist. The evening was a love letter to each other. Given the tragedy Judy would endure by the late 60s (including her untimely death), this album remains a time capsule of a happier time in Judy’s life. It also foreshadows the show business powerhouse Liza would become in her own right.

Both Hays and Castelvecchi dispense with all too easy impressions of Judy and Liza. Instead, they both knock it out of the park in the intimate cabaret space at Victory Gardens’ Greenhouse. Castelvecchi really taps into the bluesier aspect of Liza Minnelli’s vocal range. Hays probably has a better voice in 2020 than Judy had by 1964, and her renditions of the jazzy standards are a real treat. All together, “Once in a Lifetime” is a fun hour and a half filled with the enchanting music of Harold Arlen, George Gershwin and Jerry Herman.

At Greenhouse Theater Center through April 5th

When we meet Paul Morel, he is just being born. A bearded gentleman off to the side offers commentary on the scene as the nurses attend to his mother.

That narrator turns out to be D.H. Lawrence, and he reappears regularly in Sons and Lovers, adapted and directed from Lawrence’s breakthrough 1913 novel by Mike Brayndick. It is seeing its delayed U.S. premiere at Chicago’s Greenhouse Theatre.

Featuring a cast of 11 in 16 roles, Sons and Lovers brings the heart of Lawrence’s book onstage in just over two hours. The semi-autobiographical work centers on life and loves of Paul Morel (Miles Borchard), a proxy for Lawrence. His mother Lydia (Amy Gray) has married beneath her station, and is emotionally estranged from her coal miner husband Walter (Stephen Dunn), channeling all her love onto her sons Paul and William (Brian Boller, who also plays Lawrence as narrator).

To some degree, Sons and Lovers lends itself naturally to the stage, with patches of dialog that carry over intact. But not everything would fit, and Brayndick deftly excises and merges numerous scenes to keep the action moving.

Brayndick has done other literary adaptations, and his skill shows in Sons & Lovers. Greenhouse previously presented his versions of 19th century works by Turgenev - Home of the Gentry - and Balzac’s Pére Goriot. Sons and Lovers was originally commissioned by Traffic of the Stage in Hampstead, England, and it toured the UK, including London’s Bloomsbury Theatre, in 1996.

As the title suggests, Lydia Morel’s sons are engulfed in their mother’s needy attentions. Walter flees to a good accounting job in London, fulfilling his mother’s upward economic aspirations. This relegates Paul to an even closer interdependency with her.

An artistic, sensitive type, he explores love in two polarities: innocent and exploratory with Miriam, a girl on a nearby farm; and a more torrid affair with Clara Dawes (Emma Brayndick), a woman who is separated from her husband.

Adaptations raise the question, Why not just read the book? In a novel, our minds bask in the inner lives and travails of characters. Onstage, there is an expectation this should all be leading somewhere. What we get here is a tremendously sensitive and effective presentation of a great literary work. As a drama, it is immersive, and interesting. But as theater it is limited to following a lifeline as its plotline.

Still Sons and Lovers is engaging, in no small measure because of the memorable performances of the cast, with Midlands and other accents nicely polished. Noteworthy are Brian Boller in the dual role as Lawrence’s older brother William, and narrator Lawrence (though frankly it took me some time to figure out he was two characters). Stephen Dunn is outstanding as the coal miner Walter. Likewise for Baird Brutscher in the roles of Edgar Lievers and Baxter Dawes. And Corrie Riedl is innocent sweetness personified as the farm girl Miriam Lievers. Tina Shelley as her mother, and Pete Blatchford as Paul’s supervisor Mr. Pappleworth deliver sharp performances in small roles.

Most notable are two who carry the weight of the show: Amy Gray as Lydia Morel, Paul’s mother, who grows and ages in the role convincingly; and Miles Borchard as her son, Paul. Borchard is striking in inhabiting the role so naturally. Onstage nearly in every scene, Borchard reacts continuously to those around him, and develops a portrait of an unselfconscious young man navigating the exploration of life, and love – exactly the character D.H. Lawrence placed in his pages. Sons & Lovers runs through September 29 at Greenhouse Theater Center on Lincoln Ave.

When having non-stop conversations in his head and agonizing over the most mundane decisions becomes daily reality of living with OCD, finding a cure turns into obsession. Of course it does.

The Mushroom Cure is a comedian Adam Strauss’ true tale of his ongoing battle with OCD.  Though he sees a shrink on a regular basis, cognitive therapy doesn’t seem to be working. When Adam learns about a scientific study showing that hallucinogenic mushrooms may help cure OCD, he’s on it. But magic mushrooms are hard to find; his pot dealer doesn’t have any, and inquiries from friends and fellow comedians turn up nothing. His new girlfriend highly recommends a different plant (cactus), so, the two of them spend a long weekend tripping. As a bonus, we learn some useful information about various psychedelics and how to prepare and use them.  Adam even produces a shot glass of already processed cactus concoction, right on stage, and asks if anyone wants to partake. There’re no volunteers, so he proceeds to drink it himself.  

Even the stage is set up to allude to his illness: a small side table next to the performer’s chair has 5 full glasses of water; during the show Adam intermittently drinks from all of them, possibly in some special order. 

It takes real courage to talk (and laugh) about the psychological torment of a one’s mental illness, and Adam’s willingness to have an open conversation about it is remarkable. The show is occasionally funny, but it mostly puts the audience into shrink’s shoes where we just listen to him vent and recall conversations. In the end, he learns how to help himself, and that might be the entire point of his quest.  

The Mushroom Cure is a one man show. Written and performed by New-York based comedian Adam Strauss, directed by Jonathan Libman, it garnered widespread acclaim as well as New York International Fringe Festival’s Excellence Award for Solo Performance.

The Mushroom Cure is being performed at Greenhouse Theater Center through June 9th.

After one sees Sarah Ruhl’s comedy, Melancholy Play: A Contemporary Farce, one will doubtless ask: Why has melancholy gone out of vogue, just when we need it so?

Melancholy is an emotional condition, like the vapors and neurasthenia, that has simply fallen out of fashion. When one is both inconsolably sad and depressed, but not quite either – that’s melancholia.

In this exceptionally delightful production, Ruhl’s conceptual comedic tone is lovingly presented. Each quirky character is thoughtfully drawn by a cast that most certainly, like me, love Ruhl’s wry view of the human condition.

It’s 1916 in Great Britain when this story opens as 17-year-old Private Tommo Peaceful (played by Shane O’Regan) attempts to stay up all night to try to remember everything. There is a sense of urgency throughout the 80-minute monologue as Tommo flashes from present to past as his watch ticks ahead to whatever awaits him in the coming dawn.

Private Peaceful, based on a children’s novel by Michael Morpurgo, is a one-man play that takes us through Tommo’s short life. Tommo, as narrator of his own life’s story, shares two vastly different tales of his young life, beginning with his first day of school.

As a jubilant young boy growing up in rural Britain, Tommo relives his childhood of fun, and innocence and adulation as he recalls childhood memories of his big brother and idol Charlie, school mate Molly, and his challenged brother “Big Joe”.

When Charlie and Tommo enlist in WWI the tone of the monologue changes, as Tommo’s loss of innocence though the experience of trenches, and blood shed, and death transforms him. From the battle lines of France, Tommo conjures up the horrors of war, the terrible conditions, the death of fellow soldiers, and the relationship with the hellish Sergeant Hanley who hates his brother Charlie.

This is a moving story about the loving relationship of Tommo and his brother Charlie, so intimately linked that they would go to war together. This is also a poignant story about the costs of war, and who ultimately pays the price.

Adaptor and Director Simon Reade in describing his direction of this children’s novel intended “to embrace the kind of play-acting that you can imagine a child enjoying in their own bedroom: tipping their bed over and saying ‘this is a trench’ or being in a field one moment and then in the middle if a market square the next, simply by articulating it. For adults watching it, it reawakens our childlike imagination.”

With this minimalist approach, the story telling relies on the audio and visual cues to frame the story along with the talents of an energetic Shane O’Regan in a truly believable portrayal of a 17-year-old boy with both a clear-eyed youthfulness as well as an opposingly clear eyed view on the horror and inhumanity of war.

Because of his O’Regan’s immense talent, Tommo morphs (throughout his dialogue) into Charlie, Molly, Big Joe as well as 20 others. O’Regan brilliantly weaves the character between a wide-eyed young boy, a toothless old woman, an enemy soldier, and the cruel Sergeant Hanley.

In such an intimate theater as Greenhouse Theatre Center, the audience is able to embrace the minimalism and find the underlying emotions. In the end, the story is a mix of both joy and tragedy that audiences should enjoy. Judging from the ovation, my fellow audience members would agree.

As a final nod to Mr. O’Regan’s talent, I was amazed that he didn’t break character when a very rude audience member’s cellphone started playing marching band music. PLEASE turn off your cell phone when entering a theatre!

Private Peaceful is being performed at The Greenhouse Theater Center through November 11th. More more information on this event visit www.greenhousetheater.org.