ATRU Presents On Stage With Susan Werner - 'Classics' 8/13 During Summer Cabaret Series

The Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University (ATRU) proudly presents On Stage with...Susan Werner - "Classics" Thursday, Aug. 13 at 7:30 p.m. as part of the intimate On Stage With... 2009 Summer Cabaret Series. This unique, up-close-and-personal concert allows the audience to enjoy the rare and exciting experience of sitting at tables of six on the stage of the magnificent Auditorium Theatre while enjoying one of the nation's most talented cabaret stars. The stage is transformed into an intimate 1940s-style cabaret club with tables, cocktail service and light appetizers, complete with a magnificent view of the Auditorium Theatre's Louis Sullivan designed interior from a vantage point typically reserved for performers.

Throughout the course of her colorful career, singer songwriter Susan Werner has cultivated a reputation as a daring and innovative songwriter with a sassy, upbeat live show. She boldly endeavors to weave old with new to create altogether new genres of music when existing ones do not suit her muse, and she regularly keeps audiences guessing and laughing. Her work infuses traditional music styles and methods with her unmistakable contemporary worldview, constantly challenging listeners to experience music from a fresh and unexpected perspective.

On her eighth and most recent album "Classics," Werner delivers entirely new string arrangements of mainstream popular songs by top songwriters from a "classical" pop era, the 1960s and 1970s. Drawing on her unique training as a classical vocalist and the diverse talents of esteemed Boston Symphony and Pops players, "Classics" sets a mood that highlights elegance and sophistication previously overlooked in the first lives of songs such as Paul Simon's "A Hazy Shade of Winter," Marvin Gaye's "Mercy Mercy Me (The Ecology)," Paul McCartney's "Maybe I'm Amazed" and America's "Lonely People."

"A clever songwriter and an engaging performer, Susan Werner brings literacy and wit back to popular song," raves The New Yorker. The Chicago Tribune describes Werner as "a triply blessed artist who sings adroitly, plays the piano smartly and best of all, writes songs of genuine distinction and high craft."

Werner currently resides in Chicago and was raised on a rural Iowa farm, where she learned to play the guitar at a young age. She began her professional career in Philadelphia, after earning a graduate degree in classical voice at Temple University. As a critically acclaimed singer-songwriter with four albums under her belt by the late 1990s, Werner toured the nation with luminaries including Richard Thomson, Keb Mo and Joan Armatrading. She was featured in a 1998 Peter, Paul and Mary PBS special as one of the most promising young artists of her generation.

In 2004 Werner released an album of all-original, instant songbook classics entitled "I Can't Be New." She made another splash in 2005 with her "alternative national anthem" entitled "My Strange Nation." Continuously striving to create fresh and relevant material that crosses the boundaries of the traditional music genres, Werner released "The Gospel Truth" in 2007, which incorporates styles ranging from traditional bluegrass gospel to a hand clapping rouser for agnostics. In 2008, Werner released her seventh album entitled "Live at Passim," a collection of live recordings of 2 intimate shows at the legendary Club Passim in Cambridge, Mass. With an active touring schedule that exceeds 100 club dates annually, Werner has garnered a string of accolades from critics throughout the country.

Ticket and Performance Information

On Stage with...Susan Werner - "Classics" comes to the Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University as part of the "On Stage With..." 2009 Summer Cabaret Series Thursday, Aug. 13 at 7:30 p.m. Single tickets are now on sale, priced at $50 for general seats. The $75 VIP seating section is sold out. For tickets, visit the Auditorium Theatre box office at 50 E. Congress Parkway; call (312) 922-2110 ext. 300; or log on to ticketmaster.com/auditorium. For general information, please visit auditoriumtheatre.org.

New this year, groups booking 6 or more seats (or one table) save 10% per "On Stage With..." summer cabaret concert, starting at $270 per show for a regular table. To purchase group tickets, call (312) 922-2110 ext. 300.

The Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University, located at 50 E. Congress Parkway, is an independent, not-for-profit organization committed to presenting the finest in international, cultural and community programming to Chicago, and to the continued restoration and preservation of the National Historic Landmark Auditorium Theatre. This September, the Auditorium Theatre begins a year-long celebration of its 120th Anniversary, and a number of special events will be announced in the coming months. For more information about programming, volunteer and donor opportunities or theater tours, call (312) 922-2110 or visit auditoriumtheatre.org.