THE SOURCE to Launch Route 66 Theatre Company's 9th Season; Lineup Announced!
By: BWW News Desk Aug. 30, 2016
The season concludes late next summer with the Chicago premiere of Halley Feiffer's dark comedy A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE GYNECOLOGIC ONCOLOGY UNIT AT MEMORIAL SLOAN-KETTERING CANCER CENTER OF NEW YORK CITY directed by Keira Fromm. During its recent world premiere at New York's New York's MCC Theater, The New York Times' Ben Brantley called Feifer's new work "irresistible!"
Tickets for both productions will go on sale at a later date. For additional information, visit www.route66theatre.org.
Route 66 Artistic Director Stef Tovar comments, "Route 66 has gone through so many changes over the years... I couldn't be more proud of how far we've come as a company. This is a big year for us with new personnel, a group of dedicated Artistic Associates and two incredible plays I can't wait to share with Chicago. The Den Theatre is exactly where we should be - closer to the where the actual Route 66 "Road Begins" on Jackson Avenue downtown. It's a critical step in our growth as a company, but it also brings us back to a scrappier, more intimate venue - giving our patrons a truly "Off Loop" experience that birthed the company back in 2008."
Route 66 Theatre Company's 9th Season:
February/March 2017
THE SOURCE - World Premiere
By Gabe McKinley, Directed by Jason Gerace
Casting to be announced.
The Den Theatre (Upstairs Theatre 2A), 1333 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago
On the hunt for the biggest story of their careers, two journalists are summoned to travel across the world to meet with The Source: an unidentified leaker of hacked documents and information on the U.S. government. As these strangers probe one another for the truth and information, they find themselves in a thrilling psychological drama that leads them to examine their motives, their country and themselves... all while waiting for The Source.
Playwright Gabe McKinley comments, "I'm thrilled to find a home for The Source with Route 66 Theatre Company and in the great theatre town of Chicago. It being my father's hometown, I've always had a special place in my heart for The City of Big Shoulders and I'm elated to work with the talented folks at Route 66."
Director Jason Gerace adds, "The question of 'privacy versus security' is central to our time, and I could not be more pleased that Route 66 Theatre Company has agreed to take it on. McKinley's play tackles this question with urgency and frames it in a way that resonates in the current moment, while building a thrilling theatrical experience for the audience. I am beyond excited to be at the helm of the world premiere of this important new play."
August/September 2017
A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE GYNECOLOGIC ONCOLOGY UNIT AT MEMORIAL SLOAN-KETTERING CANCER CENTER OF NEW YORK CITY - Chicago Premiere
By Halley Feiffer, Directed by Keira Fromm
Casting to be announced.
The Den Theatre's new The Bookspan Theatre, 1335 N. Milwaukee Ave., Chicago
A foul-mouthed twenty-something comedienne and a middle-aged man embroiled in a nasty divorce are brought together unexpectedly when their cancer-stricken mothers become roommates in the hospital. Together, this unlikely duo must negotiate some of life's biggest challenges... while making some of the world's most inappropriate jokes. Can these two very lost people learn to laugh through their pain and lean on each other when all they really want to do is run away?
Director Keira Fromm comments, "Halley Feiffer is no-holds-barred when it comes to presenting extremely flawed individuals at their messiest. She's also completely fearless when it comes to exposing the raw spots that result from the friction of our most fragile family relationships. This play is unbelievably funny one moment and moving in the most throat-grabbing of ways the next. I can't wait to dig in."
CREATIVE TEAM BIOGRAPHIES
Gabe McKinley's (Playwright, The Source) plays have been produced and developed by companies nationally and internationally, including Atlantic Theater Company, Naked Angels, Premiere Stages, The Old Vic, American Theater Company, Ensemble Studio Theater, The LARK, Keen Company, Williamstown Theater Festival and Red Dog Squadron, among others. His plays include The Kitchen Sink Play, Welcome Home Rock Rogers, Funny, Floodplains, Skopje, The Source, as well as the critically acclaimed Extinction and CQ/CX (John Gassner Outer Critics Award nomination). His short play, The Grave, was the winner of the Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival. Gabe was the recipient of the Samuel French/New School for Drama Award for Excellence in Playwriting, and his play CQ/CX was included in the Smith and Krause anthology "New Playwrights: The Best New Plays." A graduate of NYU and The New School for Drama, Gabe lives in New York.
Jason Gerace (Director, The Source) is a freelance director in Chicago, and has been Artistic Associate of American Theater Company since 2008. He was the recipient of the 2014 Non-Equity Jeff Award in Outstanding Direction for his work on Great Expectations with Strawdog Theatre Company. Regional directing credits include Last Train to Nibroc (Haven Theatre, Chicago), Wrecks (with John Judd, Profiles Theatre, Chicago), Opus and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf (RedTwist Theatre, Chicago), Hamlet (Oklahoma Shakespeare Chautauqua), Pygmalion (Oak Park Festival Theatre). Jason originally hails from Anchorage, Alaska and holds an MFA in Directing from The University of Oklahoma. He is a resident of Oak Park, and an associate member of SDC.
Halley Feiffer (Playwright, A Funny Thing...) is a writer and actress. Full-length plays include I'm Gonna Pray For You So Hard (Atlantic Theater Company, dir. Trip Cullman; OCC Nom. John Gassner Playwriting Award) A Funny Thing Happened On The Way to the Gynecologic Oncology Unit at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center of New York City (MCC Theater, dir. Trip Cullman) and How To Make Friends And Then Kill Them (Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre, dir. Kip Fagan). Her plays have been developed by Second Stage, New York Theatre Workshop, the O'Neill and elsewhere; they are published by Dramatists Play Service and Overlook Press. Her work has been commissioned by Playwrights Horizons, Williamstown Theater Festival and three times by Manhattan Theater Club. She teaches Playwriting at NYU.
Ms. Feiffer's acting credits include the Broadway revival of The House of Blue Leaves (dir. David Cromer; Theater World Award), Tigers Be Still (Roundabout, dir. Sam Gold; Drama League Nom.), HBO's Bored to Death and the films The Squid and the Whale, Margot at the Wedding (dir. Noah Baumbach) and He's Way More Famous than You (dir. Michael Urie), which she also co- wrote. She currently writes for the upcoming Starz series The One Percent (co-created by Alejandro Iñárritu), the upcoming Showtime series Purity (based on the novel by Jonathan Franzen) and is developing two original television projects with Scott Rudin Productions. This fall, she will appear in the Broadway revival of The Front Page (dir. Jack O'Brien).
Keira Fromm (Director, A Funny Thing...) is a Jeff Award-nominated director, a casting director and a teacher based out of Chicago. Favorite recent directing credits include: How the World Began (Rivendell Theatre Ensemble,) A Kid Like Jake (About Face Theatre,) Luce (Next Theatre,) Charles Ives Take Me Home (Strawdog,) The How and the Why (TimeLine Theatre,) Broadsword (Gift Theatre), and Fallow (Steep Theatre.) Keira is an Artistic Associate with About Face Theatre. She received her MFA in Directing from The Theatre School at DePaul University and is a proud member of SDC. She is a frequent guest director at DePaul as well as the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University. Upcoming directing projects for Keira include the Chicago premieres of The Columnist (with American Blues Theatre) in the winter 2016 and Bright Half Life (with About Face) in the spring 2017.
Route 66 Theatre Company introduces, develops, produces, and exports new work for the stage. The road begins with our new play development process and reaches west, where our World and Chicago Premiere shows are given an advocate for further regional productions along the road less traveled from Chicago to Los Angeles. Since the company's founding, Route 66 has produced 10 productions, 2 in two cities including an Off-Broadway premiere, been nominated for ten Jeff Awards and won two. Route 66 is now a resident company of The Den Theatre. www.route66theatre.org
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