Henry Godinez Directs WATER BY THE SPOONFUL at the Court Theatre, Now thru 4/6

Court Theatre continues its 2013-2014 season with the Chicago premiere of Water by the Spoonful written by Quiara Alegría Hudes, and directed by Henry Godinez. Water by the Spoonful will run tonight, March 6 - April 6, 2014 at Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Avenue. Press Opening is Saturday, March 15, 2014 at 8:00PM.

Winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize, Water by the Spoonful takes a painfully honest and surprisingly humorous look at the unconventional communities we create when we seek redemption from our personal failings. Dancing artfully from story to story, playwright Quiara Alegría Hudes unlocks an intimate portrait of both a family and the members of an online recovery community as they struggle with the harrowing consequences of addiction and relapse. An expansive play that covers the distance from Puerto Rico to Japan, Philadelphia to San Diego, and the virtual world to the physical, Water by the Spoonful ties together the lives of a host of unforgettable characters in a play of genuine warmth about forgiveness and redemption.

"I'm so excited to introduce Court's audience to Quiara Alegría Hudes' beautiful play, Water by the Spoonful, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2012," says Artistic Director Charles Newell. "Quiara writes from a place of deep empathy and understanding, particularly in her portrayal of characters struggling with addiction. Her story of Americans in crisis is powerful and moving, punctuated by moments of unexpected joy. I'm thrilled that the artist leading this Chicago premiere of Water by the Spoonful is the inimitable Henry Godinez, making his directorial debut here at Court Theatre. Henry, a director I've long admired, shares my passion for Quiara's play, and I'm so pleased to welcome him to Court."

Water by the Spoonful features Charin Alvarez (Odessa/Haikumom), Daniel Cantor (Fountainhead), Yadira Correa (Yazmin), Anish Jethmalani (Aman/Ghost), Marissa Lichwick (Orangutan), Edgar Miguel Sanchez (Elliot), and Dexter Zollicoffer (Chutes and Ladders).

The artistic team includes John Boesche (Scenic & Production designer), Linda Roethke (Costume Designer), Heather Gilbert (Lighting Designer), Joshua Horvath (Sound Designer), Kevin O'Donnell (Sound Designer). The Stage Manager is Amanda Weener.

Henry Godinez (Director) is Resident Artistic Associate at the Goodman Theatre, and director of Goodman's Latino Theatre Festival. Most recently for the Goodman he fostered the co-production of Pedro Paramo with Teatro Buendia of Cuba, which premiered at Goodman in March of 2013. Also at Goodman he has directed The Sins of Sor Juana, Boleros for the Disenchanted (also world premiere at Yale Repertory Theatre), Regina Taylor's Millennium Mambo, Straight as a Line, The Cook, Mariela in the Desert, Electricidad, Zoot Suit, and the Goodman/Teatro Vista co-production of Cloud Tectonics. Other Chicago credits: A Civil War Christmas (Northlight), A Year With Frog and Toad, Esperanza Rising (Chicago Children's Theatre 2006, 2013), Two Sisters and a Piano (Apple Tree), and Anna in the Tropics (Victory Gardens). Godinez is the co-founder and former artistic director of Teatro Vista and has directed at Portland Center Stage, Signature Theatre Company in NYC, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, and Colorado Shakespeare Festival. He is the recipient of the 1999 TCG Alan Schneider Directing Award, the Distinguished Service Award from the Lawyers for the Creative Arts, the 2008 Chicago Latino Network's Latino Professional of the Year, and in 2010, was appointed by Governor Pat Quinn to the Illinois Arts Council. Born in Havana, Cuba, Mr. Godinez is an associate professor at Northwestern University where he serves on the Editorial Board of the NU Press, and also proudly serves on the Board of Directors of Albany Park Theatre Project.

Charin Alvarez (Odessa/Haikumom) theatre credits include: Upstairs Concierge, Pedro Paramo, El Nogalar, Dollhouse, and Electricidad at Goodman Theatre; Mojada, Oedipus El Rey, Anna in the Tropics, and A Park in the House at Victory Gardens Theatre; Our Lady of the Underpass, I Put the Fear of Mexico in 'Em, Dreamlandia, and Another Part of the House with Teatro Vista; What We Once Felt with About Face Theatre; Kita and Fernanda with 16th Street Theatre, Esperanza Rising with Chicago Children's Theatre; Two Sisters and a Piano at Apple Tree Theatre; The Infidel, Ordinary Yearning, and World Set Free with Steppenwolf Theatre; Generic Latina with Teatro Luna; La Casa de Bernarda Alba with Aguijon Theatre. Film and TV credits include: Shameless, Mob Doctor, Boss, Chicago Code, Rooftop Wars, Arc of a Bird, Were the World Mine, Chicago Overcoat, First and Only Lesson, Eric's Haircut, Night of Thrones, and Bachelor's Grove.

Daniel Cantor (Fountainhead) makes his Court Theater debut with Water by the Spoonful. Chicago: Goodman Theater (Rabbit Hole, Chicago Boys, Fish Men), Victory Gardens (Jacob and Jack, Relatively Close), Drury Lane (Boeing Boeing), Chicago Shakespeare Theater (The Comedy of Errors), Silk Road Rising (Paulus), Next Theater (Return to Haifa). Off Broadway: Things You Shouldn't Say Past Midnight at Promenade Theater, Tuesdays With Morrie at Minetta Lane Theatre, and Strictly Personal at SoHo Playhouse. National production: Picasso in Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Regional: American Conservatory Theater, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Cleveland Play House, Studio Theater, TheaterWorks (Hartford), Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Contemporary American Theater Festival, Barrington Stage Company, Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival, Arkansas Repertory Theatre, Worcester Foothills Theatre, Mill Mountain Theatre, National Shakespeare Company, among others. TV and Film: Law & Order, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Conviction, The Sopranos, As the World Turns, Loving and Asphalt Man (Korea), The Auteur Theory (Showtime), and Alchemy on (ABC), among others. Daniel is an Associate Professor of acting and directing at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

Yadira Correa (Yazmin) is a native of Puerto Rico. She has worked with Renaissance Theatreworks (Milwaukee) Teatro Vista, Collaboraction, Halcyon Theater, About Face Theater, Vitalist Theatre, Mortar Theatre, Sour Mash Productions, and Urban Theater Company. Plays include: Tanya Saracho's Enfrascada: A Comedy of Hoodoo Proportions at 16th Street and Renaissance Theatreworks, Corazón de Manzana with Mortar Theatre Company, as well as most ensemble-devised works at Teatro Luna (from 2003 to 2009) including: Machos, Lunatica(s), Solo Tu, S-e-x-Oh!, and Jarred. She performed with Chicago Shakespeare's Theatre in the parks series doing Comedy of Errors in the summer of 2013. Yadi is an alumni of the School at Steppenwolf Theatre.

Anish Jethmalani (Aman/Ghost) returns to Court Theatre after having appeared in Titus Andronicus, Mary Stuart, The Invention of Love, and Life's a Dream. Some of his other stage credits include Wit and A Christmas Carol at Goodman Theatre; Romeo and Juliet at Chicago Shakespeare Theater; Homeland Security at Victory Gardens Theater; Blood and Gifts at TimeLine Theatre; Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo, Around the World in 80 Days, and Sita Ram at Lookingglass Theatre; The Caretaker and To the Green Fields Beyond at Writers' Theatre; Citizens of the World at Steppenwolf Theatre; Omnium Gatherum, Return to Haifa, and The Millionairess at Next Theatre; Twelfth Night at First Folio Theatre; Indian Ink and The Sign of the Four at Apple Tree Theatre; The Merchant of Venice at Silk Road Rising, and The Age of Cynicism or Karaoke Night at The Hog at Chicago Dramatists. He is a company member of Eclipse Theatre Company. Regionally, he has appeared in Henry VIII and Much Ado About Nothing at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and his television credits include Boss on Starz and Leverage on TNT, and Early Edition on CBS.

Marissa Lichwick (Orangutan) is excited to make her Court debut! She hails from New York City and has performed around the world, including South Korea and London, England. Some favorites include: Guthrie Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Denver Center Theatre Company, Steppenwolf Theatre, Urban Stages, La MaMa E.T.C., New York International Fringe Festival, Connecticut Free Shakespeare, and the Hollywood Fringe Festival. She will next appear at the Goodman Theatre, understudying the title role of White Snake in Mary Zimmerman's critically acclaimed The White Snake. She is an MFA Acting graduate from the University of Washington in Seattle.

Edgar Miguel Sanchez (Elliot) Edgar Miguel Sanchez is making his Court Theatre debut in Water by the Spoonful. Chicago credits include: The Wheel (Steppenwolf), Romeo And Juliet (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre), This Is Our Youth (Sankofa), Fever Chart (Eclipse), Brothers Of The Dust (Congo Square), Sinbad: The Untold Story (Adventure Stage), 1001 (Collaboraction), Red Noses-Remount (Strawdog), Welcome To Arroyo's (ATC), Wilson Wants It All (The House) and Twelfth Night (CST) Regional Credits include: Title role in Hamlet (The Gable Stage); Twelfth Night, Richard III, Troilus And Cressida, and The Admirable Crichton (American Players Theatre); and Midsummer Night's Dream, Othello, and Comedy of Errors (The Oregon Shakespeare Festival). Edgar helped found Sankofa Theatre Company in 2012 for which he serves as Artistic Director, was born in Dominican Republic, raised in Miami, FL, and received his B.F.A. in acting from The Theater School at DePaul University.

Dexter Zollicoffer (Chutes and Ladders) was last seen at Court theatre in 1993 as the Angel Gabriel in Bernie Sahlins' production of The Mystery Cycle: The Creation and The Passion. More recent productions include Dartmoor Prison at Goodman Theatre, To Kill a Mockingbird at Steppenwolf, and The Overwhelming at Next Theatre Company (BTAA nomination, Best Leading Actor, Joseph Jefferson nomination, Best Production at a Mid-Sized Theatre). Other credits include Blues for an Alabama Sky (BTAA award, Best Supporting Actor), The Odyssey, and A Christmas Carol at Goodman Theatre, and Relatively Close, The Sutherland (BTAA nomination, Best leading actor), and Knock Me a Kiss (BTAA nomination, Best supporting actor) at Victory Gardens Theater. He has also performed in productions at numerous other local and regional theatres including: Berkeley Repertory, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, McCarter Theatre, Seattle Repertory, Madison Repertory, Steppenwolf Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre, BoarsHead Theater, American Blues Theatre, Illinois Theatre Center, and Northlight Theatre. On television, he has been seen in Chicago Fire and as a guest star on the ABC crime drama Detroit 1-8-7. In his role as an administrator at The Theatre School at DePaul University, he was nominated for Best Director for his original work, Ma Fille, Ma Naturelle at The International Festival of University Theatre in Tangier, Morocco.

Previews are March 6-14, 2014. The opening press performance is on Saturday, March 15, 2014 at 8:00 p.m. Curtain times are Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. with Saturday matinees at 3 p.m.; Sundays at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Ticket prices are $35 to $45 for preview performances; $45 to $65 for regular run performances. Tickets are available at the Box Office, 5535 S. Ellis Avenue, Chicago; (773) 753-4472 or online at www.CourtTheatre.org. Student and senior discounts available. Groups of 10 or more may purchase discounted tickets by calling Kate Vangeloff at 773-834-3243.

Water by the Spoonful Events:

University of Chicago Student Night

Friday, March 7, 2014 at 8 PM

University of Chicago students are invited to enjoy free food and soda after the performance! U of C Student tickets are always just $15 with valid University of Chicago ID.

Now in its 59th season, Court Theatre is guided by its mission to discover the power of classic theatre. Court endeavors to make a lasting contribution to American theatre by expanding the canon of translations, adaptations, and classic texts. Court revives lost masterpieces, illuminates familiar texts, and distinguishes fresh, modern classics. Court engages and inspires its audience by providing artistically distinguished productions, audience enrichment activities, and student educational experiences. Court Theatre is the professional theatre in residence at the University of Chicago continuing to discover the power of classic theatre.