The Neo-Futurists to Rock Out with POP WAITS This February

Who are you? What are we? Do I repeat the chorus or hit the bridge? Explore these questions and more at The Neo-Futurists' upcoming show, POP WAITS. The show opens Monday, February 8 at 7:30 p.m. at The Neo-Futurarium, 5153 N. Ashland. Audiences can tap their inner rock stars by enrolling in Malic and Molly's special class, "We Could Be Heroes": A Neo-Futurist and Monsterclown Devising Workshop.

POP WAITS is an athletic, participatory, clown provocation to write a song. Partners and performers Malic White and Molly Brennan both struggle with depression and rely on music to yank themselves out of despair. With the help of a live band and the audience, White and Brennan call on the powers of their heroes, Iggy Pop and Tom Waits, to write a song of their own. Through monologues, movement pieces and performance of their rock heroes' most influential songs, Brennan strips away her penchant for theatricality, while White discovers that building a larger-than-life persona might be the key to survival.

"I think a lot of us are just taught that experimenting is something you do and then you're done. And I'm not done," says Co-creator, Malic White.

Director, Halena Kays says, "Molly and Malic are some of the most wildly entertaining and profoundly smart performers in the city- when they asked if I wanted to collaborate with them I didn't think twice- opportunities to work on something this unique at a theater I love this much with people I admire reminds me why Chicago is home to the best new work in the country. I feel lucky."

Malic White (Co-creator) has been an Ensemble Member of The Neo-Futurists since October 2012, where Malic has assistant directed The Miss Neo Pageant and continues to perform and write in Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind. Malic's performance work has been featured at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Jay Pritzker Pavilion at Millennium Park, Davenport's Piano Bar, Logan Square Auditorium, Tour de Fat, and Chances Dances. Most recently, Malic appeared as St. Jimmy in The Hypocrites' production of American Idiot. Malic is a co-host and co-curator of the monthly variety series, The Kinky Butch Witching Hour.

Molly Brennan (Co-creator) is an actor, singer and clown, playing the Red Queen in Lookingglass Theatre's Lookingglass Alice, an Accessible Lesbian in The Second City's American Mixtape and as Madam Barker in Red Tape' Theatre's The Life and Death of Madam Barker. Other credits include The Second City's Guide to the Opera at Lyric Opera of Chicago, Peter Pan: A Play at Lookingglass Theatre, Animal Crackers at Goodman Theatre, Theatrical Essays at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, and 500 Clown Macbeth and 500 Clown Frankenstein in multiple venues in Chicago and the United States. On the variety/cabaret/storytelling front, Molly has appeared at the Chicago Humanities Festival, MCA Chicago, Salonathon, Davenport's, Followspot, The Paper Machete, and You're Being Ridiculous. She has hosted The Moth Chicago and is a co-creator/curator of The Kinky Butch Witching Hour. Molly served as Artistic Director of Barrel of Monkeys for three years. Molly was named Chicago's "Queen of Mischief and Make Believe" by American Theatre Magazine, February 2015. She's also got a couple Jeff prizes for being an acting winner.

Halena Kays is former Artistic Director of The Hypocrites and a founding member of the artistic collaborative, The Ruffians. With The Neo-Futurists she has directed Burning Bluebeard, 44 Plays for 44 Presidents, Daredevils, Daredevils Hamlet and Fake Lake. Other interesting Chicago credits include: Endgame, Ivywild, Six Characters in Search of an Author at The Hypocrites; The Magic Play at The Goodman, Lord of the Flies at Steppenwolf Theatre Company; Feast (part of a collaborative directing effort) with The Albany Park Theatre Project at The Goodman. Kays is the co-founder and former artistic director of Barrel of Monkeys where she directed the majority of their public performances. She is a UT-Austin and Northwestern grad, former member of the Big Apple Circus Clown Care unit and professor of directing at MTSU. Halena has been nominated for a Jefferson Citation for Best Supporting Actress and Best Direction, was the recipient of the prestigious 3Arts Award, was named one of the top 50 "players" in Chicago theater by Newcity, and received a signed letter from Mr. Rogers saying she was "special" in 1978.

The band of POP WAITS includes: Spencer Meeks (Musical Director) who assistant directed Trust Us/Screw You with The Neo-Futurists, has also worked with Theatre Wit, The Hypocrites and is a founding member of The New Mechanics and the band Mary, Queen of Scots; David Smith who has been seen in American Idiot with The Hypocrites and has performed with the bands Lame*O, Blackeye, El Blanco Diablo, the Sleep Sound, Bucketmouth, and Glass City Colonels; and Elisa Carlson who was also seen in American Idiot with the Hypocrites and Holiday One World with Shedd Aquarium, is a member of Innervation Dance Cooperative and Barrel of Monkeys and has performed with the bands Mechanical Animals and Man Called Noon.

The POP WAITS staff includes: Lizzie Bracken (Scenic and Props Design), Jared Gooding (Lighting Design), Leah Urzendowski (Choreographer), Kate Hardiman (Production Manager), and Jeremy Ohringer (Assistant Director). Stacey Klingberg and Burnadette Hagen serve as Stage Manager and Assistant Stage Manager respectively.

POP WAITS

Created by Malic White and Molly Brennan

Directed by Halena Kays

Previews: Thursday, February 4 through Saturday, February 6, 2016

Opening Night: Monday, February 8, 2016 at 7:30 p.m.

Performances continue through March 12: Thurs/Fri/Sat at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets are $20, $10 for students/seniors with ID, or pay-what-you-can on Thursdays.

All performances take place at The Neo-Futurarium, 5153 N. Ashland

For tickets or information, visit www.neofuturists.org or call 773-275-5255.

Bonus event - POP WAITS inspired devising workshop led by Malic and Molly!

"We Could Be Heroes": A Neo-Futurist and Monsterclown Devising Workshop (2 WEEKS)

2/15 & 2/22 - 6pm - 9pm

2/24 - Class Performances (Time TBA)

Cost: $125

Registration information can be found at neofuturists.org/workshops/we-could-be-heroes.

Using students' idols as source material, Malic White and Molly Brennan guide students through a devising process to create original performance work. With Neo-Futurist and Monsterclown principles, students study the gestures, intent and mediums of rock stars and other cultural heroes to explore and challenge their own limits and voices on stage.

Materials:

Journal for recording written material.

Clothes and shoes appropriate for athletic movement.

The Neo-Futurists, performers of Too Much Light Makes The Baby Go Blind and creators of over 65 original, full-length productions, are a collective of wildly productive writer-director-performers who are committed to creating immediate, non-illusory, irreproducible events at head-slappingly affordable prices. The Neo-Futurists pioneered a new form of theater in 1988, launching what became Chicago's longest running show, Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, now in its 27th year. >From humble beginnings as the first late-night theater production in Chicago, The Neo-Futurists have grown to become one of the most highly regarded experimental theater companies in America. Over 70 Ensemble-alumni have added thousands of new works to the American theatre canon and today branches bring Neo-Futurism to both coasts in New York City and San Francisco.