2011-2012 Season

WAITING FOR LEFTY

by Clifford Odets
Directed by Kimberly Senior
September 2 – October 2, 2011

Victory Gardens Biograph Theater

Featuring ABT Ensemble members Sarah Burnham, Cheryl Graeff, John Mohrlein, Suzanne Petri, and Gwendolyn Whiteside; ABT Artistic Affiliates Manny Buckley and Warren Levon; with guest artists John Byrnes, Rinska Carrasco, Derek Gaspar, Terry Hamilton, Zachary Kenney, Bradford Lund, Mechelle Moe, and Andrew Swanson.

Featuring designs by Jack Magaw (scenic), Heather Gilbert (lights), Toy DeIorio (sound), Sarah Burnham (props), Elizabeth Flauto &  Samantha C. Jones (costumes).

Inspired by the New York taxi strike of 1934 and first staged by the Group Theater in 1935, these powerful vignettes offer a treatise on societal inequities. “We’ve been kicked around so long we’re black and blue from head to toes.” The Los Angeles Times calls WAITING FOR LEFTY “undeniably relevant” and the New York Times hails it as a “revolutionary drama…soundly constructed and fiercely dramatic.”

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World Premiere

RIPPED: THE LIVING NEWSPAPER PROJECT

Written and Directed by various Chicago artists
Friday nights September 16, 23, & 30, 2011
(Casting will be announced at a later date.)

Victory Gardens Biograph Theater

Based on the 1930’s WPA era program that brought Orson Welles, Arthur Miller and Clifford Odets into public attention, our playwrights use inspiration ripped from today’s headlines. Every Friday following WAITING FOR LEFTY, ABT will present a new program of 10-minute scripts. This work is supported in part by the University of Chicago.

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IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE: LIVE AT THE BIOGRAPH!

Based on Frank Capra’s film
Directed by ABT Artistic Affiliate Marty Higginbotham
November 18, 2011 – December 31, 2011.

Featuring ABT Ensemble members Kevin Kelly, Ed Kross, John Mohrlein, Gwendolyn Whiteside and Artistic Affiliates James Joseph; with guest artists Dara Cameron, Shawn Goudie, Zachary Kenney, and Michael Mahler.

Featuring designs by Grant Sabin (scenic), Katy Petersen (lights), Austin Cook (underscore/jingles), Sarah E. Ross (props), Bobby Richards (projections), Samantha C. Jones (costumes).

The director and Ensemble that have for a decade treated Chicago to Clarence, George, and the delightful characters of Bedford Falls will once again take you back to a 1940s radio broadcast of Frank Capra’s holiday classic “It’s a Wonderful Life” in a full-scale production with Foley sound effects, an original score, and a stellar cast of seven. Critics called this production “perfect Christmas theater” and “first class holiday fare.”

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World Premiere

ILLEGAL USE OF HANDS

Written by James Still
Directed by Sandy Shinner

Featuring ABT Ensemble member Steve Key,  Artistic Affliliate Dennis Zacek, and guest artist Howie Johnson.

Featuring designs by Keith Pitts (scenic), Charlie Cooper (lights), Lindsay Jones (sound), Samantha C. Jones (costumes), and Sarah Burnham (props).

In a small town where buzzards feast on a dead Chevy and the local Wal-Mart hires only college graduates, three men wait out the night in the company of a high school football trophy they’ve rescued from obscurity. It’s a play that wants to be about revenge and glory and being a man—if only the characters could agree on what they can’t remember.

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Performance schedules and ticket information of these productions will be announced at a later date.  Season memberships are available now.