12th Annual IT CAME FROM...THE NEO-FUTURARIUM! Lineup Announced

Neo-Futurist alumnae Rachel Claff and Dina Walters curate It Came from ... the Neo-Futurarium XII: Dawn of the Neo-Futurarium! the 12th annual series of staged readings of the best worst film scripts of all time.

The summer 2017 festival features four of the clunkiest, junkiest movies ever made (details below), brought to life by past and present Neo-Futurists and acclaimed guest artists. Includes a Pride weekend show and gender-bending casts.

The festival will take place Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. (performances run 75-90 minutes without intermission):

Caged! (1950), June 24, 2017
Face/Off (1997), July 1, 2017
Suspiria (1977), July 8, 2017
Someone I Touched (1975), July 15, 2017

All events take place at The Neo-Futurarium, 5153 N. Ashland Ave., Chicago, IL 60640. Some street parking; Berwyn El stop (Red line); #92 (Foster) bus; #22 (Clark) bus.

Online tickets at neofilmfestxii.eventbrite.com. $15 for each performance; $12 for students (with ID); $50 for a festival pass (all four shows)

ABOUT THE FILMS:

June 24: Caged! (1950) - Naïve teenager Marie is thrown into the ladies' slammer for being an accessory to robbery. Will she come out a woman ... or a wildcat? Bust out and come to this over-the-top Pride Weekend reading featuring an all-female-identified cast! Directed by Neo-Futurist alumnus David Kodeski (Wicked Woman; The Flaming Urge) and festival curator Rachel Claff.

July 1: Face/Off (1997) - In our 2009 reading of Cool as Ice, Dina Walters played the role she was born to play: Vanilla Ice. This year she plays the other role she was born to play: Nicolas Cage. Trying to take her down (via sketchy surgical science) is Neo-Futurist Kristie Koehler-Vuocolo as John Travolta. Bullets and doves will fly in this face-swappin', gender-swappin' spectacular! Walters also directs.

July 8: Suspiria (1977) - From the moment she arrives at the prestigious Tanz Academy, ballet dancer Suzy Bannion senses that something horribly evil lurks within its walls. So what if Suspiria's got gorgeous cinematography and buckets of gore? Director and Neo-Futurist alumna Stephanie Shaw is out to prove that this gonzo Italian horror film is as chock full of cheese as a good manicotti.

July 15: Someone I Touched (1975) - Man, made-for-TV movies were so different in the 1970s. Like, remember that one where a pregnant Cloris Leachman's husband cheated on her with a teenager and got syphilis? And then Cloris was worried her baby wouldn't have arms? But she still found time to sing the movie's theme song? *Sigh* Those were the days. Directed by festival veteran Edward Thomas-Herrera (Devil Girl from Mars; Sorority Girl).

Production team: Neo-Futurist alumna Rachel Claff (Creator, Head Curator), Neo-Futurist alumna Dina Walters (Assistant Curator), Jeremy Hornik (Selection Committee; Production), Jason Meyer (Selection Committee; Production), Bob Stockfish (Selection Committee; Production), and Neo-Futurist alumna MeLinda Evans (Technician).

It Came from ... the Neo-Futurarium! (staged readings of the best bad films of all time) was founded in 2002 by Neo-Futurist alumna Rachel Claff. Since then, over 60 terrible, awful movies have been staged, from sci-fi schlock (Devil Girl from Mars; Night of the Lepus) to deplorable drama (Day of the Dolphin) to miserable musicals (The Apple; Purple Rain) to appalling animation (My Little Pony: The Movie).

The festival has featured countless Neo-Futurists as well as theater companies from Chicago and beyond, including The House Theatre, The Plagiarists, Barrel of Monkeys, WildClaw Theatre, and Dad's Garage (Atlanta, GA). The "film fest," as it's affectionately called, has consistently played to sold-out crowds of movie aficionados and has garnered attention from the Chicago Tribune, Time Out Chicago, A/V Club, and more.

More information about ICFTNF is at www.facebook.com/ICFTNF, and for more about the Neo-Futurists, go to neofuturists.org or call 773-275-5255.

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