Buffalo Theatre Ensemble Announces 2018-2019 Season

Buffalo Theatre Ensemble (BTE), the professional Equity company in residence at the McAninch Arts Center, is pleased to announce its 2018-2019 season.

"Incredible critical response to our productions and the addition of two new ensemble members made the 2017-2018 Season one of our most memorable yet. We are building off that success with a new season reflecting the full spectrum of theater from entertaining comedy to thought-provoking drama while maintaining the connection to the heart our audiences have come to expect from BTE. None of this would be possible without the support of the College of DuPage, McAninch Arts Center, The DuPage Foundation, the Norm Woodel Inspiration Fund and all our patrons, and we are deeply grateful to all of them," said BTE Artistic Director Connie Canaday Howard.

BTE's 2018-2019 three-play season will include the following:

"The Dingdong, or How the French Kiss" (Chicago Premiere)
A new adaptation by Mark Shanahan from "Le Dindon" by Georges Feydeau
Directed by BTE Artistic Director, Connie Canaday Howard
Sept. 6 - Oct. 7, 2018; Preview Sept. 6, Press Opening Sept. 7
Tickets: $40
Lucy and Vatelin, a mostly faithful couple, are tempted by sly suitors and femme fatales. Five actors play 13 roles in this bubbly, fast-paced adaptation of Georges Feydeau's classic where opening the wrong door can lead to mayhem, giggles, and ultimately some unexpected understandings of a happy marriage.

"Defiance" by John Patrick Shanley
Directed by BTE Ensemble Member, Kurt Naebig
Jan. 31 - March 3, 2019; Preview Jan. 31; Press Opening Feb. 1
Tickets: $40
A 1971 Marine Corps base becomes a collision course over race, women and the exacting cost of doing the right thing.

"Miracle on South Division Street" (Chicago Premiere) by Tom Dudzick
Directed by Steve Scott May 2 - June 2, 2019; Preview May 2; Press Opening May 3
Tickets: $40
Ever since the miraculous night in 1942 when the Blessed Mother appeared to Grandpa in his barbershop, a Brooklyn neighborhood has looked upon the Nowaks' 20-foot shrine as a beacon of hope and faith. Now daughter Ruth announces her plan to write and star in a one-woman show about the family miracle so the "whole world will know," just as a deathbed confession brings the family legend into question. Sprightly, gentle comedy sparkles throughout this play where revelations that might remake a family's sense of itself are each rolled out in service of laughter.

Tickets for Buffalo Theatre Ensemble's 2018-2019 season are currently on sale by subscription only. Subscribers save 20% off of the regular ticket price of $40. To subscribe, call the MAC Box Office at 630.942.4000. Tickets for individual performances go on sale in person at the Box Office, Saturday Aug. 4; online Sunday, Aug. 5 at noon; and by phone on Tuesday, Aug. 7 at noon. For more information, visit AtTheMAC.org or call 630.942.4000. All BTE 2018-2019 season performances contain adult themes and language.

Buffalo Theatre Ensemble members include: Aly Amidei, Robert Jordan Bailey, BTE Associate Artistic Director Amelia Barrett, Bryan Burke, BTE Artistic Director Connie Canaday Howard, Jon Gantt, Christopher Kriz, Loretta Hauser, Michael W. Moon, Kurt Naebig, Galen G. Ramsey, William "Sandy" Smillie and Kelli Walker.

The mission of Buffalo Theatre Ensemble is to provide a forum in which artists, scholars, writers, students and community members explore new ideas and provocative issues through the production of high quality theater for the enjoyment of its audiences. Since 1986 BTE has staged more than 114 productions. For more information about BTE visit btechicago.com.