Tickets On Sale August 3 for Illinois Theatre 2016-17

When the fall semester begins at the University of Illinois in August, the new season of Illinois Theatre, the producing arm of the University's theatre department, will also begin. Tickets go on sale August 3 for a collection of plays "whose themes pose questions related to the nature of identity, family, history, and the stories people tell themselves to help make sense of their lives." What's on the schedule in 2016-17?

Going Broader and Deeper: New Play Reading
September 16, 2016, in the Studio Theatre
Illinois Theatre is presenting new play readings "in order to hear the voices of new playwrights–and in particular, writers from underrepresented populations." They will be offering a reading of a brand-new play each semester, with the hope of creating a discussion about these new works.

Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea, by Nathan Alan Davis
September 29–October 1, October 8–9 and 11–14, 2016 in the Studio Theatre
Guest director Tyrone Phillips, who earned his BFA at U of I, will be at the helm of this "contemporary quest that aims to redress transgressions of the past through a distinctive blend of poetry, humor, and ritual." Playwright Nathan Alan Davis is also a graduate of the Illinois Theatre program. Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea was a finalist for the ATCA/Steinberg Prize in 2015.

Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play, by Anne Washburn
October 13–15 and 20–23, 2016, in Colwell Playhouse
Yes, the Mr. Burns in the title is that Mr. Burns, the evil millionaire from The Simpsons. Anne Washburn's play was one of the most talked about pieces of drama in years when it began at Woolly Mammoth Theatre in Washington DC in 2012 and then moved to New York's Playwrights Horizon in 2013. In Washburn's view of our dystopic future, the people left after an apocalypse reenact a Simpsons episode to entertain themselves. And after that... As the years go by, what was pop culture becomes mythic and powerful. Lisa Gaye Dixon directs this unusual, imaginative play.

The Minotaur, by Anna Ziegler
October 27–29 and November 1–6, 2016, in the Studio Theatre
In the classic Greek myth, Theseus is out to slay the monstrous half-bull, half-man Minotaur to fulfill his destiny as a hero, and he must negotiate a huge labyrinth to make it happen. Let's just say all would've been lost if Ariadne, the Minotaur's half-sister, hadn't fallen in love with Theseus and provided a big ball of string to help him work his way out of there. Anna Ziegler has written a modern version of this myth, putting Ariadne at the center of the action as she must choose between family loyalty and the man she loves, with a chorus of a priest, a rabbi and a lawyer looking on. Tom Mitchell will direct Ziegler's play for Illinois Theatre.

Failure: A Love Story, by Philip Dawkins
February 2–4 and 7–12, 2017, in the Studio Theatre
JW Morrissette directs Dawkins' fun, fizzy and ultimately sad look at three sisters, Nelly, Jenny June and Gerty Fail, who live in a quirky clock-filled house in Chicago in the 1920s. There is nothing realistic about Failure: A Love Story, but its story feels poignant and heartfelt, as the sisters continue to come up short at life and love. Failure: A Love Story was part of the Illinois Shakespeare Festival's summer season three years ago.

Going Broader and Deeper: New Play Reading
February 24, 2017, in the Studio Theatre
The second offering in Illinois Theatre's new initiative of play readings.

Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare
March 2–4 and 9–12, 2017, in Colwell Playhouse
Shakespeare's tale of woe about teenage love gone wrong will be directed by Robert G. Anderson, himself a fine Shakespearean actor. For Illinois Theatre, expect a contemporary setting and a transformation of Colwell Playhouse. They've done Macbeth backwards there (with the audience on the stage and Birnam Wood coming to Dunsinane through the seats) so anything is possible. petuous love.

Iago’s Plot
March 30–April 1 and April 4–9, 2017, in the Studio Theatre
Shozo Sato is a Master of Zen arts and emeritus faculty member at the University of Illinois. His Kabuki infused performances of Shakespeare are highly dramatic and theatrical, with Iago's Plot bringing his distinctive style to Othello. In the play, Iago schemes to bring down his commander, Othello, after he feels he's been passed over for a promotion. That scheme involves Othello's wife, Desdemona, as Iago works to convince Othello that his wife has been unfaithful.

For more information about the upcoming Illinois Theatre season as well as the rest of the 2016-17 season at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, click here. And remember -- tickets are on sale for all of it starting August 3.

Nick Offerman Comes Back to U of I in October to Benefit Japan House

I remember Nick Offerman from his days as a theater student at the University of Illinois in Urbana, and I remember very distinctly that he didn't get cast a lot at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. I remember him playing a policeman blowing a whistle in a Feydeau farce in the Colwell Playhouse, and doing multiple scenes with fellow actors as part of a senior showcase. The group also sang Stephen Sondheim's "Opening Doors." And that's about all I recall, except for some work he did at Urbana's Station Theatre, outside the program. Oh, wait. There was also a new play staged at the Armory Free Theatre, written by Christopher Johnson, that involved Offerman stripping, wearing skimpy women's undies, and shoving his arm down a garbage disposal. At the time, I was all, ooh, gross, but in retrospect, I'm pretty impressed they could pull off the disposal/blood spatter effects in the Armory Theatre.

Now that Offerman is headed back to U of I for some special events planned to support Japan House, a project started by famed theater artist Shozo Sato on the Urbana campus, I've learned that he almost gave up his acting dream while he was a student, and it was Sato's Kabuki theater class that kept Offerman in the biz. At least that's what U of I's press release is telling us, as they announce that tickets are on sale now for a special Krannert Center stop on Offerman's "American Ham Tour," an evening of comedy and cautionary tales scheduled for the Foellinger Great Hall at 7:30 pm on October 26.

Apparently, Offerman was a frequent dinner guest at the Sato residence when he was an undergrad, and the two stayed in touch over the years, with the master of Zen arts also officiating when Offerman married actress Megan Mullally in 2003.

This visit to Champaign-Urbana will include not just the comedy show at Krannert on Saturday night, but also an "East Meets Midwest" eleven-course dinner on Sunday, October 27, with Shozo Sato and his wife, Alice, as a benefit for Japan House. Space is obviously very limited for the fundraising dinner, which will take place at Prairie Fruits Farms, and tickets are priced at $325 per person. If you'd like to see if tickets are still available for that event, you can visit the Japan House website or call them directly at 217-244-9934.

Chefs Shin Matsuda, Thad Morrow and Drew Starkey will be preparing this eleven-course meal, while a Japanese drumming group from Chicago called Ho Etsu Taiko will perform during dinner.

For all the details, check out the U of I press release here and Japan House's posted notice here.

Entertainment Marches On!

I don't know about going out like a lamb, but March is definitely coming in like a lion in terms of local entertainment. It's unusual to have so much happening on the very first day of the month, but that's the way it is for March, 2012.

If you want to go out tonight, you have a choice of great holdovers, promising new stuff, Oscar-winning movies, or a touch of legit* March Madness. First up, what's opening tonight...

Noël Coward's "Blithe Spirit" begins its run at Community Players tonight with a 7:30 Pay-What-You-Can preview. "Blithe Spirit" is, to my mind, Coward's best play, brimming with the wit and droll humor Coward is known for. Its plot involves British novelist Charles Condomine, who is married to a sensible woman named Ruth. But when Charles and Ruth host an unfortunate seance with eccentric Madame Arcati, they accidentally conjure up the spirit of Charles' blithe, beautiful, infuriating first wife, Elvira, who isn't too keen on leaving now that she's back. Uh oh. Now Charles is caught between two wives, one ghostly and the other very much alive and not very happy to be supplanted by an invisible rival.

"Blithe Spirit" is directed by Tom Smith for Community Players, with a cast that includes Thom Rakestraw as Charles, Hannah Kerns and Gayle Hess as his wife, past and present, and Judy Stroh as Madame Arcati. Performances continue through March 17.

Also opening tonight is the Station Theatre's production of Gina Gionfriddo's "Becky Shaw," a tart little comedy of its own. "Becky Shaw," whose title references Becky Sharp, the amoral antiheroine and best part of Thackeray's "Vanity Fair,"was a hit at the 2008 Humana Festival and enjoyed subsequent New York and regional productions. It begins with a terrible, terrible, terrible first date, a fix-up, played off against the pair of dewy-eyed newlyweds who fixed them up, commenting on love, romance, sex and sexual ethics in the modern world.

The acerbic humor of "Becky Shaw" is its strength, and it should do very well at the Station under the able direction of Kay Bohannon Holley, with Lindsey Gates Markel, Mathew Green, Mike Prosise, Martha Mills and Joi Hoffsommer in the cast. "Becky Shaw" opens tonight at 8, playing till the 17th.

Meanwhile, you have two other do-not-miss theatrical choices that are finishing up this weekend. People continue to discuss the problem of female playwrights not getting enough productions, but here in Bloomington-Normal, we have four more performances of Theresa Rebeck's snappy, dark and jaded "Mauritius," about sisters and shady wheeler-dealers battling over a valuable stamp collection, at Heartland Theatre, and three more performances of Caryl Churchill's sprightly but provocative gender-bent comedy "Cloud 9" at ISU's Westhoff theatre..

ISU also has two smaller productions opening tonight, with Vanessa Stalling and Matt Campbell directing Young Jean Lee's "Pullman, WA" and Heather Raffo's "9 Parts of Desire," respectively. Those two shows, more chances to support the work of female playwrights, play this weekend only, both closing on Sunday, March 4.

The women playwrights celebration continues at Illinois Wesleyan University, with April de Angelis's "Playhouse Creatures" taking a bow on March 6 in the E. Melba Kirkpatrick Laboratory Theatre. Christopher Connelly directs this bawdy look at English theater in the 17th century, when women were first allowed to trod the boards (instead of men playing all the roles) and Nell Gwynn went from Orange Girl to theatrical star. IWU's box office page says there are only three performances March 6-8, which means you'll need to be quick on your feet if you want to see this one.

The Normal Theater offers a mini Woody Allen Film Fest with two of his best, "The Purple Rose of Cairo" and "Annie Hall" playing on the big, beautiful screen March 15-16 and 17-18, respectively. 'The Purple Rose of Cairo" stars Mia Farrow as an unhappy wife who loves to lose herself in movies, and Jeff Daniels as the pith-helmeted leading man who leaps off the screen into her life, while "Annie Hall" is the quintessential Allen romantic comedy, about a man very much like Woody who falls for a woman very much like Diane Keaton, and all the sweet, bittersweet and humorous quirks in their relationship.

On screen, the movie that just swept the Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor awards at the Oscars, "The Artist" is available right now in Champaign at The Art Theater, where they promise us that they have the only "beautiful 35mm print" in town. If you miss it there but want the vintage movie theater experience, you can try to catch it at the Normal Theater March 29-31. That was unconfirmed as of today, but the Normal Theater invites you to keep an eye on their Facebook page for details as the time gets closer.

New Route Theatre gears up for 2012 with its first "One Shot Deal," a reprise of "The Mystical Willie Lynch," Gregory Hicks' poetic exploration of the lasting repercussions of slavery on African-American history, on March 21 at the Eaton Gallery.

Over in Champaign, Parkland College's production of "Pinkalicious, the Musical," directed by J.W. Morrissette, continues through March 10, the University of Illinois opera program opens Rossini's "The Barber of Seville" tonight in Krannert Center's Tryon Festival Theatre, and the Champaign-Urbana Theatre Company (CUTC) will offer the rollicking musical comedy, "The Producers," directed by Mikel Matthews, beginning March 15.

Late in the month, Shozo Sato returns to U of I with his production of "Lady Macbeth: A Kabuki Play," conceived by Sato and written by Karen Sunde. The U of I Department of Theatre says that this take on Shakespeare "retells the Scottish Play from the power-driven perspective of the would-be queen." Further, "[w]ith this evocative production, the Department of Theatre joins the National Theatre Conference’s Initiative to Celebrate American Women Playwrights."

Good for you, U of I. And thank you, ISU, IWU, Heartland, and the Celebration Company at the Station Theatre, for doing your part, as well. I doubt that most of them are focusing on female playwrights on purpose, but even a happy coincidence is to be celebrated.

*Legit March Madness refers to high school basketball in Illinois, where the term "March Madness" was coined. I will tell you all about how that happened someday. For right now, suffice it to say that if I say "March Madness," I mean Illinois and I mean high school. This one's for you, H.V. Porter!