EFCT's BLITHE SPIRIT Star and Director to Guest on Chicago Radio's 'It's Showtime with Rikki Lee”

On the heels of the heralded opening of Eclectic Full Contact Theatre's production of Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit at the Skokie Theatre, director Michael Woods and star Andrew Pond join radio's It's Showtime with Rikki Lee for an interview airing on Friday June 10 at 3 PM Central on 101.5 FM WHRU.

Eclectic Full Contact Theatre is a thriving Joseph Jefferson Award-nominated member of Chicago's professional theater community. This co-production with the Skokie Theatre brings the high standards of downtown theater into the nearby suburbs.

In the Blithe Spirit interview, Pond, who is also the artistic director of EFCT, explains how the partnership with the Skokie Theater came about and cites previous success bringing EFCT productions to suburban audiences in a relationship with Metropolis Performing Arts Centre in Arlington Heights.

Interestingly enough, the June 17, episode of It's Showtime with Rikki Lee is scheduled to feature an interview with new Metropolis artistic director Rob Gretta and executive director Brookes Ebetsch.

Woods and Pond were two of the founders of EFCT in 2011, along with Jessica Lauren Fisher, Adam Kander, David Bekew, and Angela Woods.

As an actor, Woods received a Jeff Award nomination for his performance in EFCT's production of The Seagull. As a director, he was Pond's first call to bring this show to life.

In the radio interview, Woods explains his emphasis on filling the EFCT production of Blithe Spirit with as much physical comedy as possible. Pond applauds Woods' ability to pull the best comedic performances out of his actors.

In the play, Pond plays Charles Condomine, a successful English novelist. Through a mishap with a psychic, Charles' first wife comes back from the dead. Since Charles is the only one who can see her, his new wife thinks he's going insane. Hilarity ensues.

Also starring in Blithe Spirit are Jessica Lauren Fisher as Elvira, Maiko Terazawa as Ruth, Christopher Grella as Dr. Bradman, Lisa McConnell as Mrs. Bradman, Jan Slavin as Madame Arcati, and Kaeley Osterman as Edith.

Blithe Spirit plays Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays through June 26. Friday and Saturday performances are at 7:30 PM. Sunday matinees are at 2 PM.

The Skokie Theater is located at 7824 Lincoln Avenue in Skokie, IL. There are several municipal parking lots in the area, as well as options for on-street parking.

For ticket information visit www.SkokieTheatre.org or call the Skokie Theatre box office at (847) 677-7761.

For more information on Eclectic Full Contact Theatre visit www.eclectic-theatre.com.

It's Showtime with Rikki Lee is a half hour weekly radio program hosted by Rikki Lee Travolta, providing a glimpse into the world of entertainment including theatre, film, television, and music. Past theatre guests include Tony-nominated Broadway and film star Adam Pascal of RENT fame and Tony-nominated leading man Robert Cuccioli who drew rave reviews in the dual title roles in Broadway's Jekyll & Hyde. Other recent guests include Grammy and Oscar winner Bill Medley of The Righteous Brothers and Steven Adler of Guns N' Roses.

In addition to airing out of the Chicagoland neighborhood of Huntley on 101.5 FM, the program can be streamed from the It's Showtime with Rikki Lee page at www.HuntleyRadio.com.