Cast Set for City Lit Theater's TWO HOURS IN A BAR

City Lit Theater has revealed the full cast and crew for the third production of its 2023-24  season: TWO HOURS IN A BAR. TWO HOURS IN A BAR is a double bill of one-acts comprising the world stage premiere of WAITING FOR TINA MEYER by Kristine Thatcher (with material by Larry Shue) and the world premiere of TEXT ME, a musical with book, music and lyrics by Kingsley Day. WAITING FOR TINA MEYER is the only collaboration between Thatcher, City Lit's resident playwright, and Shue, the late playwright of the farces THE NERD and THE FOREIGNER. Written while they were best friends and resident actors at Milwaukee Repertory Theater in the 1980s, it concerns a pair of best-friend actors--a man and a woman--sitting in a bar because the man is expecting to be met there by Tina Meyer, a woman he doesn't know who sent him a note backstage earlier that evening. Day's musical, TEXT ME, commissioned by City Lit as a companion piece to Thatcher and Shue's play, is a 21st Century look at the problem of meeting people. In this musical version of life at the bar, 21st Century dating patterns get tangled up in 21st Century technology, and the age-old questions of love and romance persist as two gay men who have previously met only online plan their first in-person meeting. McCabe will direct both pieces. TWO HOURS IN A BAR will run from March 8 through April 21, 2024. 

McCabe’s cast of five, who will appear in both plays, includes Jimmy Hogan (The Bridegroom in City Lit’s TRIAL BY JURY, one-half of City Lit's evening of classic one-acts, TWO DAYS IN COURT), Freddy Mauricio (“The Chosen One” of City Lit’s AZTEC HUMAN SACRIFICE by Day and Philip LaZebnik), Kat Evans (Bridget in City Lit’s THE SAFE HOUSE by Thatcher, one of her many City Lit roles), Shraman Ghosh (of THE STEADFAST TIN SOLDIER at Lookingglass Theatre), and marssie* Mencotti (whose many roles at City Lit include her Jeff-nominated portrayal of Hannah in THE SAFE HOUSE). The production team includes Ray Toler (Set Design), Mike McShane (Lighting Design), Andres Mota (Costume Design), Shraman Ghosh (Music Director, and Hazel Flowers-McCabe (Stage Manager). (*lower case intentional).

Both Thatcher and Day have been frequently produced at City Lit. Thatcher’s VOICE OF GOOD HOPE, produced by City Lit on stage in 2020 and via Zoom during the pandemic, was praised in a 4-star review by the CHICAGO SUN-TIMES as a “vivid, resonant portrait of Texas lawmaker Barbara Jordan,” who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1973-1979.  NEW CITY STAGE said Day’s score for the musical AZTEC HUMAN SACRIFICE, produced at City Lit last year, was “unequivocally enchanting…sophisticated and haunting.”
 
Tickets for TWO HOURS IN A BAR are $30 for previews and $34 for regular performances and are on sale now at www.citylit.org. Senior prices are $25 for previews and $29 for regular performances. Students and military are $12.00 for all performances. Tickets may be ordered online at www.citylit.org or purchased over the phone by calling 773-293-3682.

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