Displaying items by tag: Chicago Shakespeare Theater

A.B.L.E.—Artists Breaking Limits & Expectations—a Chicago-based nonprofit that creates theatre and film for, with, and by individuals with Down syndrome and other intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) announce today a re-imagining of the epic classic The Odyssey.

A.B.L.E's production weaves music, movement, shadow puppetry, and scenes devised by the group into a powerful and joyful celebration of the choices we make, and the challenges we face along our journey. The vibrant adaptation features a neurodiverse cast of 44 performers, including 24 actors with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The performance in the Courtyard Theater on May 11, 2024 at 2:00pm will mark the two companies' 7th collaboration, most recently having co-produced A Midsummer Night's Dream last spring.

The theme of fate vs. agency is prevalent in Homer's tale, and it's one that co-directors Braden Cleary and Katie Yohe particularly wanted to highlight with the Ensembles. Currently, 24 actors with varying disabilities including Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, and autism take part in A.B.L.E.'s performance ensembles. "Folks with intellectual and developmental disabilities often have a lot of choices made for them, or it's presumed that they are not capable of making their own choices," says Yohe, also A.B.L.E.'s Executive Artistic Director. "Braden and I drafted a loose skeleton of the story but the script and production is really actor-led." Each actor self-identified where their strengths lie as a performer and were assigned to a chapter of the story based on their interests.

Over the course of a 10-week rehearsal process, actors collaborated with a team of volunteer facilitators to build the story. Facilitator Kara Davidson, a company member at Manual Cinema, helped actors design and build shadow puppets to bring to life monsters like the Cyclops and Scylla. Music Educator Polly Yukevich loaned the ensembles 15 ukuleles to bring musical magic to The Lotus Eaters and the seductive Sirens.

A.B.L.E. is committed to ensuring everyone feels they have a space in the theatre. The sensory-friendly performance will include numerous accessibility supports for audience members of all ages and ability levels. This includes dual ASL interpretation and open captioning. A.B.L.E. also reserves a designated movement zone for audience members who need to move around to help them focus. Audience members will receive a social story and sensory guide before the show to help audience members know what to expect from their trip to the theatre. "We hope we can set an example for our community of what true inclusion looks like both onstage and off."

EVENT DETAILS

Saturday May 11, 2024 at 2:00pm
Chicago Shakespeare's Courtyard Theater
800 East Grand Avenue
Chicago, IL 60611

Tickets: All tickets are Pay-what-you-can starting at $15, general admission
Online: ableensemble.com/events
Phone: 312.595.5600
In person: at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater Box Office

Access: Performances will be open captioned and dual ASL interpreted. Out of consideration for our immunocompromised community members, masks are required in the theater.

This production of The Odyssey is sponsored by Gail and Dennis Rossow. A.B.L.E.'s 2023-2024 Season is partially supported by grants from The Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events, FunFund, The Illinois Arts Council, Innovation 80, The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, and The National Endowment for the Arts.

ABOUT A.B.L.E.

A.B.L.E.—Artists Breaking Limits & Expectations - is celebrating their 8th anniversary of creating theatre and film for, with, and by individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. A.B.L.E. engages actors ages 13 and up through ensembles and outreach programming. Whether in person or online, all A.B.L.E. programs strive to foster agency, and nurture lifelong skills like communication, collaboration, and creativity. A.B.L.E.'s ensembles have produced more than 25 projects for the stage and screen, ranging from adaptations of theatrical classics by Shakespeare, Dickens, and Gilbert & Sullivan, to original work, to innovative Zoom projects including Romeo & Juliet Remix. A.B.L.E.'s feature films have been recognized by several local and international festivals. By placing people with disabilities in the spotlight, A.B.L.E.'s work strives to shift societal preconceptions, and build more inclusive, empathetic communities. For more information about A.B.L.E., please visit www.ableensemble.com and find them on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

ABOUT CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER

Regional Tony Award-recipient Chicago Shakespeare Theater produces a bold and innovative year-round season—plays, musicals, world premieres, family productions, and theatrical presentations from around the globe—alongside nationally recognized education programming serving tens of thousands of students, teachers, and lifelong learners each year. Founded in 1986, the Theater's onstage work has expanded to as many as twenty productions and 650 performances annually. Chicago Shakespeare is dedicated to welcoming the next generation of theatergoers; one in four of its audience members is under the age of eighteen. As a nonprofit organization, the Theater works to embrace diversity, prioritize inclusion, provide equitable opportunities, and offer an accessible experience for all. On the Theater's three stages at its home on Navy Pier, in classrooms and neighborhoods across the city, and in venues around the world, Chicago Shakespeare is a multifaceted cultural hub—inviting audiences, artists, and community members to share powerful stories that connect and inspire. www.chicagoshakes.com.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater announces today a thrilling addition to the season: Tony Award-nominated actor Eddie Izzard brings her celebrated solo theatrical performance of Hamlet to Chicago, direct from a triple-extended New York run at the Orpheum and Greenwich House Theaters and prior to launching a highly anticipated London transfer at Riverside Studios. Izzard portrays 23 characters in William Shakespeare's iconic play in this dynamic new staging adapted by Mark Izzard and directed by Selina Cadell. This strictly limited two-week engagement plays April 19–May 4, 2024 in the Courtyard Theater.

In Hamlet, The King of Denmark is dead, and Prince Hamlet is determined to take revenge—initiating a cascade of events that will destroy both family and state. Izzard portrays men, women, ghosts, scholars, tyrants, courtiers, lovers, fools, and poets.

She says of the monumental undertaking, "I have always gravitated towards playing complex and challenging characters and Hamlet is the ultimate. This is a production for everyone, a timeless drama with an accidental hero. Selina, Mark, and I want audiences to see and hear an accessible, touching, scary, and dramatic Hamlet."

CST Executive Director Kimberly Motes and Artistic Director Edward Hall shared, "After seeing Eddie's extraordinary performance in New York, we are thrilled she's agreed to join us at CST and share her Hamlet with Chicago audiences before London. It's a rare opportunity to see a Hamlet that makes this a play for all of us—truly a play for today."

A Tony Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning actor, Izzard's boundary-pushing career includes critically acclaimed roles in theater, film, and television. On Broadway, Izzard starred in Roundabout Theatre Company's 2003 revival of A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, garnering the Tony nomination for Leading Actor in a Play—and appeared in David Mamet's Race. Major London stage credits include The Cryptogram, Edward II, 900 Oneonta, Joe Egg, and Lenny. Izzard made her West End debut in 1993 in the solo show Live at the Ambassadors, receiving an Olivier Award nomination for Outstanding Achievement. Izzard's film roles include Stephen Frears' Victoria & Abdul opposite Dame Judi Dench, Julie Taymor's Across the Universe, Peter Bogdanovich's The Cat's Meow, Valkyrie, Ocean's Twelve, Ocean's Thirteen, and the recent Doctor Jekyll in which she plays Dr. Nina Jekyll and Rachel Hyde. She is the recipient of two Emmy Awards for her televised special, Dressed to Kill. She's also been seen as Dr. Abel Gideon in "Hannibal" and in FX's critically acclaimed series, "The Riches," in which Izzard both starred and executive produced.

In 2022, Izzard performed a solo adaptation of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations—also created in collaboration with Mark Izzard and Selina Cadell—which played to rave reviews and sold-out audiences in New York and in London's West End. The creative team reunites for Hamlet, which features set design by Tom Piper, lighting by Tyler Elich, costume styled by Tom Piper and Libby DaCosta, composer Eliza Thompson, movement director Didi Hopkins, and fight director J. Allen Suddeth. It is produced by Westbeth Entertainment, Mick Perrin Worldwide, and John Gore.

More information at www.chicagoshakes.com/hamlet or on social media at @chicagoshakes.

Hamlet will be presented April 19–May 4, 2024, in the Courtyard Theater. Single tickets starting at $69 are on sale now. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact the Box Office at 312.595.5600 or visit www.chicagoshakes.com.

ABOUT CHICAGO SHAKESPEARE THEATER

Regional Tony Award-recipient Chicago Shakespeare Theater produces a bold and innovative year-round season—plays, musicals, world premieres, family productions, and theatrical presentations from around the globe—alongside nationally recognized education programming serving tens of thousands of students, teachers, and lifelong learners each year. Founded in 1986, Chicago Shakespeare's onstage work has expanded to as many as twenty productions and 650 performances annually. CST is dedicated to welcoming the next generation of theatergoers; one in four of its audience members is under the age of eighteen. As a nonprofit organization, Chicago Shakespeare works to embrace diversity, prioritize inclusion, provide equitable opportunities, and offer an accessible experience for all. On CST's three stages at its home on Navy Pier, in classrooms and neighborhoods across the city, and in venues around the world, Chicago Shakespeare Theater is a multifaceted cultural hub—inviting audiences, artists, and community members to share powerful stories that connect and inspire. www.chicagoshakes.com.

As the audience takes its seats around the Shakespeare Theater’s Courtyard thrust stage, wraiths in black gowns and white masks silently infiltrate the aisles, imparting an air of menace and suspense about what will unfold as we near the opening of “Richard III.” Soon enough, they take to the stage, where mounds of skulls deck the bottom of industrial scaffolding, a surgical partition concealing the center of the stage. The wraiths whisk away the shield, revealing Richard III (Kaity Sullivan).

“Now is the winter of our discontent,” Richard cries, and declares an intention to recapture the throne, and sets the play in motion. In this production, director Director Edward Hall has cast as Richard III the Tony-nominee Sullivan, an athletic paraplegic who plays powerfully from a wood captains chair on wheels, and her infirmity seamlessly substitutes for that of the famously hunchbacked and deformed king, “so lamely and unfashionable that dogs bark at me.”

This is Hall’s first production as the successor to founder and long-time artistic director Barbara Gaines, who in 2023 retired after 36 remarkable years. And Hall’s production of Richard III shows we have an outstanding new talent on a premiere Chicago stage. The core of a successful Shakespeare is the language, and when the delivery is right, the bard’s Elizabethan language arrives with clarity on the audience’s ears. Hall brings us something more, too. The nuance inherent in the lines is brought forth with exquisite timing—benefitting passages of dark humor, threat, and the starkest evil as Richard III plots through murder and marriage to capture the throne.

This is not Shakespeare dressed up in contemporary, ill-fitting trappings. Any anachronistic elements—body bags, guns, chain saws—are purposeful and instantly resonate. Those ghoulish wraiths form a corps of murderous henchmen, carrying out the grisly killings of those who stand in the way of Richard’s path to the crown. Often the murders are backlit and done behind the screens, with silhouettes and bloody showers indirectly visible to the audience, making them truly horrific. As a sickle blade eviscerates George, the Duke of Clarence (Scott Aiello), we see it from behind, and his entrails are dropped over the screen into a bucket, signifying his end. Wow!

Music underscores a number of scenes, and particularly powerful are Gregorian and other melodious chants by Richard’s minions—suggesting an effort to confer weight and worthiness on this violent pretender to the throne who seeks the endorsement of the populace, using manipulative tactics and positioning familiar to anyone watching politics today.
In Act 3 Scene 7, for example,we hear the Duke of Buckingham (Yao Dogbe) report to Richard on efforts to talk him up at a public meeting, where he sought a call to the throne by popular demand:

Buckingham: I bid them that did love their country’s good cry “God save Richard, England’s royal king!”
Richard: And did they so?
Buckingham: No. So God help me, they spake not a word. But, like dumb statues or breathing stones, stared at each other . . . .

So Buckingham suggests a different tack, in which he will bring the officials to “discover” RIchard deeply in prayer, and charges Sir William Catesby (Anatasha Blakely) to act as a shill and beg Richard to take the throne, to which he will at first resist, then reluctantly accept.

Mayor: Do, good my lord. Your citizens entreat you.
Buckingham: Refuse not, mighty lord, this proffered love.

At last comes Sir William Catesby (Anatasha Blakely), entreating RIchard to accept the crown, but delivering the line in a broad Chicago accent, full of knowing irony and a wink: “O, make them joyful. Grant their lawful suit.” The moment is pricelessn as the scene plays out like something out of the storied tales of Chicago’s City Hall pols. And like Napoleon, Richard crowns himself,

Though this is Shakespeare’s second longest play, the performance speeds by, and I was surprised to find the hour when I got back to my car. Highly recommended, “Richard III” runs through March 3 at Chicago Shakespeare Theater on Navy Pier. 

Chicago Shakespeare Theater announces today the full company of Judgment Day, a hilariously irreverent world premiere comedy starring Tony and Emmy Award winner Jason Alexander (Seinfeld) in his Chicago stage debut. Alexander leads a cast that features Daniel Breaker as Father Michael and Candy Buckley as the Angel, along with Maggie Bofill, Olivia Denise Dawson, Joe Dempsey, Michael Kostroff, Ellis Myers, and Meg Thalken. Judgment Day unites the powerhouse comedic talents of Alexander with director Moritz von Stuelpnagel, a Tony Award nominee and leading director of stage comedy, and playwright Rob Ulin, a Golden Globe and Peabody Award-winning television writer. Judgment Day debuts April 23–May 26, 2024, in The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare.

Judgment Day tells the story of Sammy Campo, a staggeringly corrupt, morally bankrupt lawyer who's threatened with eternal damnation by a terrifying angel after a near-death experience. In a desperate attempt to redeem himself, Sammy forms an unlikely bond with a Catholic priest who is having his own crisis of faith. Filled with razor-sharp wit, this deliciously devious comedy rollicks through the timeless questions of Western philosophy—"morality," "faith," and "Are people any damn good?"

Jason Alexander, who stars as Sammy, is best known for his role as George Costanza on the long-running hit TV series Seinfeld, for which he was nominated for seven consecutive Emmy Awards and four Golden Globe Awards. Alexander began his career in the original Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim's Merrily We Roll Along. He won the 1989 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his performance in Jerome Robbins' Broadway and performed as Max Bialystock in the Los Angeles production of The Producers. Alexander made his Broadway directorial debut last year with The Cottage. His many film and television credits include Pretty Woman, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Curb Your Enthusiasm, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.

Daniel Breaker plays the conflicted Catholic priest Father Michael. Breaker was last seen in Chicago as Aaron Burr in Hamilton, a role he subsequently performed on Broadway. He also performed in the original Broadway cast of Shrek The Musical, originating the role of Donkey, and won an Obie Award for his leading performance in the Off-Broadway premiere of Passing Strange. Other theater credits include The Book of Mormon and The Performers on Broadway and the Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park musical production of Love's Labor's Lost. Breaker's television credits include Billions and the Peacock series Girls5Eva.

Candy Buckley appears as the Angel. Buckley has performed on Broadway in Cabaret, After the Fall, Scandalous, and Thoroughly Modern Millie; her many additional stage credits include Lincoln Center Theater's Becky Nurse of Salem, the Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park production of The Taming of the Shrew, American Repertory Theatre's Hedda Gabler, and The Old Globe's Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. Buckley's film and television credits include The Kill Room, Rare Objects, and WeCrashed.

In the role of Sammy's wife Tracy is Maggie Bofill. Bofill's prolific acting credits include Nora in A Doll's House Part Two at Long Wharf Theater, Between Riverside and Crazy at Second Stage, and The Last Days of Judas Iscariot at the Public Theater. A writer in addition to her work as an actor, Bofill wrote and starred in Devil of Choice, which premiered at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, and is a member of LAByrinth Theater Company and Ensemble Studio Theatre. Michael Kostroff plays the Monsignor. Kostroff is best known as Maury Levy on HBO's The Wire, in addition to recurring roles on The Blacklist, Billions, The Good Wife, and Law and Order: SVU. He performed in The Nance on Broadway, the first national tour of The Producers, and as Thénardier in the touring company of Les Misérables. Ellis Myers plays Sammy and Tracy's young son Casper. Myers' credits include the film Perpetrator, in addition to voiceover and commercial work. 

Olivia Denise Dawson plays Della, Sammy's faithful, world-weary secretary. Dawson performed in The Comedy of Errors, The Book of Will, and The Tempest with the Illinois Shakespeare Festival's 2023 season and has also worked at Steppenwolf Theatre, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, Portland Center Stage, and many more. In the role of Jackson, a cranky and crooked insurance adjuster, is Joe Dempsey. Dempsey returns to Chicago Shakespeare after appearing in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Short Shakespeare! The Taming of the Shrew. Other credits include work with American Blues Theater, Lookingglass Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, Goodman Theatre, and many more. Meg Thalken plays Edna, a widow whom Sammy must help in his quest to become a better person. Thalken's Chicago credits include work at Rivendell Theatre, Steep Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, Goodman Theatre, and more. She was most recently seen in Becky Nurse of Salem at Trinity Repertory Theatre.

One of the most in-demand directors nationwide, Moritz von Stuelpnagel's credits include the Broadway productions Bernhardt/Hamlet, Present Laughter, Hand to God, for which he was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Director, and most recently, I Need That starring Danny DeVito. Off-Broadway credits include Seared, The Thanksgiving Play, Teenage Dick, Important Hats of the 20th Century, and Verité. Rob Ulin, a Golden Globe and Peabody Award winner who got his start as a professional comedy writer with the legendary Norman Lear, has written and produced acclaimed sitcoms such as Ramy, Young Sheldon, Malcolm in the Middle, Roseanne, and Dinosaurs.

In addition to Ulin and von Stuelpnagel, the creative team includes Scenic Designer Beowulf Boritt, Costume Designer Tilly Grimes, Lighting Designer Amith Chandrashaker, Sound Designer Mikaal Sulaiman, Hair and Make-up Designer Tommy Kurzman, Fight and Intimacy Director Max Fabian, Chicago Casting Director Bob Mason, New York Casting Director Laura Stanczyk, C.S.A., Assistant Director Mallory Metoxen, Assistant Scenic Designer Alexis Distler, Assistant Costume Designer Caity Mulkearns, Assistant Lighting Designer Max Grano De Oro, Production Stage Manager Jinni Pike, and Assistant Stage Manager Mary Zanger.

The press opening for Judgment Day is scheduled for Wednesday, May 1, 2024 at 7:30 p.m.

Judgment Day is the latest opportunity for Chicago Shakespeare audiences to be the first to experience thrilling new theatrical events. A celebrated incubator for new work development, CST has commissioned more than 30 world premieres that have gone on to productions on hundreds of stages around the world. Chicago Shakespeare's artistic team nurtures and empowers theatermakers in crafting new plays, musicals, and adaptations through readings, workshops, and direct support. CST most recently celebrated the sold-out press premiere of Illinoise, which next transfers to Park Avenue Armory beginning March 2. On March 14, Chicago Shakespeare's world premiere musical The Notebook opens at the Schoenfeld Theatre on Broadway, joining CST's North American premiere of SIX, now playing at the Lena Horne Theatre. Also on tour across the US and Canada, SIX garnered the Tony Award for Best Original Score, the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Musical, and a Grammy Award nomination.

Accessible and enhanced performances for Judgment Day include:

• ASL-interpretation – Friday, May 10, 2024, 7:30
  All dialogue and lyrics are translated into American Sign Language by two certified interpreters.
• Open-captioning – Wednesday, May 15, 2024, 1:00 & 7:30
  A text display of the words and sounds heard during a play, synced live with the action onstage.
• Projected Spanish Translation – Thursday, May 16, 2024, 7:30
  A text display of the words and sounds heard during a play, synced live with the action onstage.
• Audio-description with optional touch tour –
  Sunday, May 19, 2024, 2:00
  A program that provides spoken narration of a play's key visual elements for patrons who are blind or have low vision. Touch Tours provide patrons the opportunity to experience, firsthand, a production's design elements.

More information at www.chicagoshakes.com/judgment or social media at @chicagoshakes and @judgmentdaybroadway.

Judgment Day will be presented April 23–May 26, 2024, in The Yard at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Single tickets starting at $45 are on sale now. Special discounts are available for audience members under the age of 35 and for groups of 10 or more. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact the Box Office at 312.595.5600 or visit www.chicagoshakes.com.