ASC Announces 2010-2011 Season for Young Audiences

Adventure Stage Chicago (ASC) proudly announces their 2010-2011 season for young audiences, comprised of three thrilling plays making their Chicago debuts: a moving Holocaust drama, an action-packed magical adventure and a comedic physical theater event.

October 30 - Dec. 9, 2010
Chicago Premiere!
AND A CHILD SHALL LEAD
Written by Michael Slade
Directed by ASC Producing Artistic Director Tom Arvetis

Thirty miles outside Prague lies the city of Terezin, a Nazi-described "Jewish ghetto" and makeshift way station for millions of people awaiting transfer to death camps. Amid such bleak surroundings, a group of courageous children create stories, music, poetry, drawings, plays, puppets, and even an underground newspaper to craft a dream world of hope and beauty in a place where neither exist. Incorporating actual poems and other writings recovered from Terezin after the war, this exquisite play explores the strength, optimism and extraordinary resilience at the core of the human spirit. Recommended for ages 11 and older.

Michael Slade (playwright) has written several plays for family audiences, including musicals Hansel and Gretel, The Great Brain, Goldilocks and the Three Bears, Where's Waldo?, The Swiss Family Robinson, The Three Pigs, Peter Rabbit, Lyle Lyle Crocodile and Superfudge, all of which were produced by Theatreworks/USA and opened in New York City before touring the country. He also wrote the book to Pokemon Live, which opened at Radio City Music Hall prior to embarking on national and international tours. His first children's novel, The Horses of Central Park, won the 1993 ISAR Award. Mr. Slade's work for television has garnered him a 1997 Writers' Guild Award nomination for "Another World" and a 2001 Emmy nomination for "One Life to Live". He has also written for "Passions" and "Days of Our Lives". Other television credits include "Charles Schulz: A Charlie Brown Life" for A&E's Biography for Kids.

Tom Arvetis (director) is the founding Producing Artistic Director of Adventure Stage Chicago, where he has directed world premieres of Katrina: The Girl Who Wanted Her Name Backby Jason Tremblay, The Blue Houseby Jose Cruz Gonzalez, and I Dream in Blues, which he co-wrote with Chicago blues singer Katherine Davis. Additionally, he recently helmed a workshop reading of Dragon/Sky by Elizabeth Wong at Silk Road Theatre Project. Mr. Arvetis is an Emeritus Company Member with Barrel of Monkeys, has acted in award-winning productions with the Neo-Futurists, Bailiwick Repertory Company and Pyewacket Theatre, and is a veteran sound designer. He is a graduate of Northwestern University.

AND A CHILD SHALL LEAD Performance Schedule:
Previews: 10:30 a.m. Oct. 28 & 29
Weekends: 2:00 p.m. Oct. 30, Nov. 6, Nov. 13, Nov. 20 & Nov. 27 (Saturdays) and Nov. 14 & 28 (Sundays)
Weekdays: 10:30 a.m. Nov. 2, 4, 9, 16, 18, 23, 30 & Dec. 2, 7, 9
Evenings: 7:00 p.m. Friday, Nov. 26 only.

March 19 - April 16, 2011
U.S. Premiere!
SINBAD: THE UNTOLD TALE
Written by Charles Way
Directed by Amanda Delheimer

Ittifaq, the pampered daughter of famed sailor Sinbad of the Seven Seas, bristles under her father's overprotective care and longs for an adventure of her own. Young Sinbad, an orphaned porter, lives on the streets and relies on his clever wit to survive. The two meet by chance just before a bitter sorceress casts a poison cloud over the city of Baghdad. Rendered sick by the witch's curse, the elder Sinbad bids his daughter and the porter to set sail in search of the poison's antidote. On their quest, the unlikely duo form a reluctant bond as they encounter good and evil genies, daring swordfights, magic boats and flying carpets. But can Sinbad and Ittifaq defeat the sorceress in time, or will their beloved city be destroyed forever? Recommended for ages 9 and older.

Charles Way (playwright) has written over forty plays, many of them for young people, including Sleeping Beauty, The Search for Odysseus (produced by Adventure Stage Chicago in 2007) and A Spell of Cold Weather, all of which were nominated as Best Children's Play by the Writers Guild of Great Britain. His play Merlin and the Cave of Dreams was nominated for a Helen Hayes award for Outstanding New Play. He has recently published the book collection Classic Fairytales Retold for the Stage. Mr. Way's play Red Red Shoes was named 2004's Best Play for Young People by the Arts Council of England. His plays for adults include a well-known version of Bruce Chatwin's On the Black Hill and an adaptation of Independent People by Halldor Laxness. Recent new plays include Still Life and The Long Way Home. SINBAD: THE UNTOLD TALE was first produced by the United Kingdom's Theatre by the Lake in 2006.

Amanda Delheimer (director) is a freelance director, choreographer, writer and educator. She previously directed Sideways Stories from the Wayside School, And Then They Came For Me: Remembering the World of Anne Frank, The Ash Girl, The Cay and The Ghosts of Treasure Island
for ASC, where she is a teaching artist. She has worked with Steppenwolf, Court, Next, Pegasus Players, Redmoon, Collaboraction, Roadworks, Strawdog, Serendipity, Red Hen Productions, Teatro Vista, and Striding Lion InterArts Workshop, among others. Ms. Delheimer is the Artistic Director of Serendipity Theatre and an Artistic Associate with Collaboraction Theater. Ms. Delheimer has also trained in a variety of schools of physical theater, including Viewpoints, Suzuki, Lecoq and Commedia dell 'Arte.

SINBAD: THE UNTOLD TALE Performance Schedule:
Previews: 10:30 a.m. March 17 & 18
Weekends: 2:00 p.m. March 19, March 26, April 2, April 9 & April 16 (Saturdays)
Weekdays: 10:30 a.m. March 22, 24, 29, 31 & April 5, 7, 8, 12, 14, 15
Evenings: 7:00 p.m. Friday, April 8 only.

May 3 - May 21, 2011
World Premiere!
500 CLOWN NOSE
A co-production between Adventure Stage Chicago and 500 Clown Theater Company
Created by 500 Clown
Conceived by Adrian Danzig
Directed by Paola Coletto

Experience 500 Clown's signature mix of high physicality, raw emotion and powerful storytelling with content accessible to an all-ages audience. In 500 CLOWN NOSE, three clowns stumble into a quagmire and soon find themselves jailed in a barren landscape. Their attempts at escape encompass slapstick mishaps, vaudevillian turns, clown acts and daring physical feats. Their desperate search for a way out relies on ingenuity and resilience. When they find the exit, freedom comes at the price of leaving the fun world they've created. Featuring 500 Clown founder Adrian Danzig with Timothy Heck and Lea Pascal.

500 Clown creates evening-length clown-theater performances using physical actions, improvisation and circus arts to tell dramatic stories. Its mission is to create a charged environment at each performance that allows performers and audience to celebrate the unpredictable power of the moment. Since 2000, 500 Clown has created 500 Clown Macbeth, 500 Clown Frankenstein, 500 Clown Christmas and 500 Clown and the Elephant Deal. Its productions tour throughout the United States, and the company teaches regularly in Chicago and on the road. This is 500 Clown's first collaboration with Adventure Stage Chicago.

Adrian Danzig (conceiver and 500 Clown Artistic Director) was driven to create this show because 500 Clown has been asked for a decade if it does children's shows, the answer to which was always a resounding NO. At a certain point we began asking ourselves, why not? Why not create a show that genuinely breaks boundaries of age-based theater? (Why not humbly and excitedly stand atop the awesome shoulders of Looney Tunes, Chaplin and Keaton?) These questions combined with a deep inquiry into the roots of traditional red-nose clown are the foundation for this new work.

Paola Coletto (director) is the co-founder of Kiklos Teatro, an international theater company and award-winning theater school in Italy. As a graduate of the Ecole Internationale de Theatre Jacques Lecoq in Paris with a post-graduate certification as a pedagogical specialist, Ms. Coletto now directs, teaches and gives workshops at numerous Chicago theater companies and universities.

500 CLOWN NOSE Performance Schedule:
Weekends: 2:00 p.m. & 7:00 p.m. May 7, 14, & 21 (Saturdays) and 7:00 p.m. May 6, 13 & 20 (Fridays)
Weekdays: 10:30 a.m. May 3, 5, 10, 11, 17 & 19

Adventure Stage Chicago creates dynamic and transformative theatre for young audiences that activates the imagination, inspires dialogue and strengthens community among families, educators and artists. ASC strives to become Chicago's premier destination for theatrical productions and programming designed for young people aged 9 to 14 and the adults in their lives. We aim to be leaders in theatre education through professional development workshops, residencies and resources that offer innovative ways to infuse theatre into the classroom. We seek to cultivate and create challenging new work as well as produce celebrated stories. This is ASC's seventh season. (The first three seasons were produced under the name Vittum Theater.)

ASC has received numerous honors from local and national organizations since its inception in 2004, including:
Two-time Finalist for the Broadway In Chicago Emerging Theater Award
Participant in the New Visions/New Voices Festival at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, Washington D.C.
Zeta Phi Eta WiniFred Ward Award for Outstanding New Children's Theatre Company from the American Alliance for Theatre and Education
Three-time Recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Access to Artistic Excellence Grant
Adventure Stage Chicago is a program of Northwestern University Settlement House, the oldest continually operating settlement house in Chicago. Throughout its 119-year history, the Settlement has remained committed to providing resources that empower our neighbors to overcome the obstacles of poverty. ASC extends this mission by presenting Chicago's young audiences, educators and families with an affordable artistic experience rooted in performance. Last season, ASC served over 5,000 students from 76 schools throughout the Chicagoland area and over 1,500 audience members for our weekend matinees.

Each Adventure Stage Chicago production presents weekday performances primarily for school groups, as well as weekend matinees for the general public. Every performance includes a post-show audience talkback with the cast.

All shows are performed at Vittum Theater, 1012 N. Noble St., in the heart of Chicago's West Town neighborhood. Street parking is available, and the theater is close to the Noble St. stop on the #56 Milwaukee bus line and the Division stop on the CTA Blue Line. The theater is wheelchair accessible.

Tickets for all shows are $17.00 for adults, $12.00 children aged 14 and under, $10.00 previews and $8.00 school groups. Other group discounts available. Passport to Adventure subscriptions are available beginning in mid-September. For tickets or more information, call (773) 342-4141 or visit www.adventurestage.org.

Don't Miss a Chicago News Story Sign up for all the news on the Winter season, discounts & more...