A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS Returns to Emerald City Theatre this Holiday Season

Broadway In Chicago and Emerald City Theatre are pleased to announce A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS by Charles M. Schulz returns to the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place (175 E. Chestnut) November 11, 2016 through January 8, 2017, after playing to sold-out houses during the 2015 holiday season. Based on the television special by Bill Melendez and Lee Mendelson and adapted for the stage by Eric Schaefferby special arrangement with Arthur Whitelaw and Ruby Persson, this newly-staged production of A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS will be directed by Ann Filmer.

Tis the season to celebrate everyone's favorite Peanuts pals as they dig past the commercialized gimmicks of presents and decorations to rediscover the true meaning of Christmas. Through a pageant and a spindly tree, Charlie Brown and friends bring the holiday spirit back to life for families once again! "And for Charlie Brown, it was truly the merriest Christmas ever."

Ann Filmer is a director and choreographer with a passion for new work. Originally from San Jose, California, she fell in love with Chicago at first sight in 1993 and never left. Since then, she has directed over 40 productions in Chicago, many of those being world premieres, at such theatres as Goodman (Kathleen Tolan's Chicago Boys, David Mamet's Almost Done, Reunion, and Dark Pony), Victory Gardens (Anupama Chandrasekhar's Disconnect), Red Orchid (Brett Neveu's Eric LaRue), Shattered Globe (House of Blue Leaves), Live Bait, Stage Left (David Alan Moore's In Times of War and Mia McCullough's Spare Change), Porchlight, Prop Thtr, The Aardvark, and Emerald City. She also has directed for Northwestern, NIU, DePaul, UIC, Circle Theatre (Susan Hahn'sGolf), and William Inge Theatre Festival in Kansas. She was the 2004-05 recipient of the Michael Maggio Directing Fellowship at the Goodman Theatre. In 2001 she received an After Dark Award for her direction of John Green's The Liquid Moon at Chicago Dramatists. Ann was the Associate Artistic Director of Writers' Theatre in Glencoe for three years and served on the board of the League of Chicago Theatres. While Producing Director of Chicago Dramatists from 2000-2004, Ann co-produced the National Showcase of New Plays 2004. She is the editor of "New Plays from Chicago" Chicago's first-ever anthology of new plays and the creator and Artistic Director of Chicago's Estrogen Fest. Ann founded 16th Street Theater in September 2007 thanks to the North Berwyn Park District and Joseph Vallez. For 16th Street, Ann has developed and directed the world premieres of Steven Simoncic's Broken Fences, Rohina Malik's Unveiled, Susan Hahn's The Scarlet Ibis, Will Dunne's Love and Drowning and The Ascension of Carlotta, Robert Koon's Menorca and Our Holiday Stories. She recently completed directing her adaptation of Tony Fitzpatrick's trilogy This Train, Stations Lost and Nickel History: The Nation of Heat at Steppenwolf's Garage Theatre. She also directed the Jeff-Nominated Kita y Fernanda by Tanya Saracho, Marilyn Campbell's The Beats, Javier Maplica's Our Dad is in Atlantis, Anna Deavere Smith's Fires in the Mirror and Brett Neveu's The Last Barbecue. Ann makes her home in Berwyn with her husband, musician/composer, Barry Bennett and their daughter Hannah.

Founded in 1996, Emerald City Theatre creates theatre experiences that inspire early learners through play. Emerald City is one of Chicago's most attended non?profit theatres, with an annual programing reach of 80,000. Through a rigorous collaboration between innovating artists and leading teaching artists, Emerald City develops new work for young audiences, with over 29 world premieres. The company produces professional productions at the Apollo Theater in Lincoln Park, The Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place, and the Little Theatre.

Group tickets for 10 or more for A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS are now on sale by calling Broadway In Chicago Group Sales at (312) 977-1710. Individual tickets for A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS will go on sale at a later date. For more information, visit www.BroadwayInChicago.com.

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