Casting Announced for Raven Theatre's Chicago Premiere of NICE GIRL

Raven Theatre has announced casting for its Chicago premiere of Melissa Ross's humorous and heartfelt play NICE GIRL, directed by Lauren Shouse.

The central role of Josephine will be played by Lucy Carapetyan, who has appeared in The Hypocrites' You on the Moors Now, Steep Theatre's Earthquakes in London and Northlight Theatre's You Can't Take It With You. Josephine's mother, Francine, will be played by Lynne Baker, whose roles include Babes with Blades' The Invisible Scarlet O'Neil and The Time of Your Life with Artistic Home. Josephine's co-worker, Sherri, will be played by Stella Martin, whose credits include Strawdog Theatre's The Night Season and Merchild at 16th Street Theater. Rounding out the cast in the role of Josephine's new love interest, Donnie, is Benjamin Sprunger, who currently appears in About Face Theatre and Theater Wit's Significant Other and recently appeared in the House Theatre's The Great and Terrible Oz and Miss Marx at Strawdog Theatre.

NICE GIRL will play January 24 - March 11, 2018 in Raven's 105-seat East Theatre, 6157 N. Clark St. (at Granville) in Chicago. Tickets are currently available at www.raventheatre.com or by calling (773) 338-2177. The press opening is Tuesday, January 30 at 7:30 pm.

It's 1984 and Josephine Rosen has a dead-end job, lives in a suburb of Boston with her mother, and has settled into the uncomfortable comfort of being single at 37. When flirtation with an old classmate and a new friendship at work give her hope for change, she begins taking tentative steps toward a new life. NICE GIRL is a play about the tragedy and joy of figuring out who you are and letting go of who you were supposed to be.

The production team for NICE GIRL includes: Lauren Nigri (scenic design) Noel Huntzinger (costume design), Rebecca Jeffords (lighting design), Sarah Putts (sound design), John Buranosky (properties design), Jason Martin (dialect coach), Sydney Achler (scenic artist), Sapier Weinglass (asst. stage manager), Jordan Porkorney (assistant director), Stephen Johnson (production manager), Diane D. Fairchild (master electrician) Jonah White (asst. master electrician & asst. lighting design) and Wilhelm Peters (stage manager).

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IF YOU GO:

NICE GIRL

Written by Melissa Ross

Director: Lauren Shouse

Cast (in alphabetical order): Lynne Baker (Francine), Lucy Carapetyan (Josephine), Stella Martin (Sherri) and Benjamin Sprunger (Donnie).

Location: Raven Theatre East Stage, 6157 N. Clark St. (at Granville), Chicago

Dates:

Previews: Wednesday, January 24 at 7:30 pm Thursday, January 25 at 7:30 pm, Friday, January 26 at 7:30 pm; Saturday, January 27 at 7:30 pm, Sunday, January 28 at 3 pm and Monday, January 29 at 7:30 pm
Press performance: Tuesday, January 30, 2018 at 7:30 pm
Regular run: Thursday, February 2 - Sunday, March 11, 2018

Curtain Times: Thursday, Fridays and Saturday at 7:30 pm; Sundays at 3 pm. Please note: there will not be a performance on Thursday, February 1.

Tickets: Previews $32 ($29 if purchased online). Regular run $46 ($43 if purchased online). Seniors/teachers $41 ($38 if purchased online). Students/active military and veterans $15. Every Thursday is "Under 30 Thursday," when patrons under age 30 can purchase tickets for $15. Single tickets and season subscriptions for the 2017-18 Season are currently available at www.raventheatre.com or by calling (773) 338-2177.

Group tickets: Groups of 10 or more are $30 per person for Thursday and Friday performances and $35 per person for Saturday and Sunday performances. Student groups are $15 per person.

Free parking is provided in a lot adjacent to the theatre - additional street parking is available. Nearest El station: Granville Red Line, Buses: #22 (Clark), #36 (Broadway), #151 (Sheridan), #155 (Devon), #84 (Peterson).

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ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Melissa Ross's (Playwright) plays include Thinner Than Water, You Are Here, Do Something Pretty, The Allies, Nice Girl, Of Good Stock and An Entomologist's Love Story. Thinner Than Water and Nice Girl were both originally produced by LAByrinth Theater Company. Thinner Than Water is included in the anthology "New Playwrights: Best Plays of 2011" B. Smith and Kraus. Of Good Stock received its world premiere at South Coast Repertory as a part of the Pacific Playwrights Festival, followed by a production at Manhattan Theater Club. Melissa is a graduate of the Lila Acheson Wallace Playwriting Program at The Juilliard School, a two-time winner of the Le Comte de Nouy Prize, and is a proud member of both the Dorothy Strelsin New American Writers Group at Primary Stages and LAByrinth Theater Company.

Lauren Shouse (Director) is the Artistic Associate and Literary Manager at Northlight Theatre. Her recent directing credits include: The Legend of Georgia McBride at Northlight Theatre, Betrayal at Raven Theatre, Rapture, Blister, Burn, Superior Donuts and A Christmas Story at Nashville Repertory Theatre, the world premiere of Long Way Down with 3Ps productions (nominated for American Theatre Critics Association Steinberg New Play Award 2011); the world premiere of Religion and Rubber Ducks with Ovvio Arte; Parallel Lives, The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, The Last Five Years and Chess in Concert with Street Theatre Company; the world premiere of Rear Widow at Chaffin's Barn Theatre and Sylvia Plath's 3 Women. As Artistic Associate at Nashville Rep, Lauren directed the Ingram New Works Play Lab and Festival, which developed new works by John Patrick Shanley, David Auburn, Steven Dietz and Victoria Stewart. Lauren also co-founded Ten Minute Playhouse, a company that produced short plays by local playwrights. Before moving to Nashville, Lauren lived in London, UK and worked with Producer/Director Hugh Wooldridge. Her work abroad includes: Production Executive for The Night of 1000 Voices (celebrating John Kander and Fred Ebb and starring Joel Grey with Avenue Q) at The Royal Albert Hall; Production Executive of An Evening with Michael Parkinson at The Theatre Royal - Windsor, Children's Director/Assistant to the Director of A Gift of Music, and Assistant Director of The Night of 1000 Voices at The Odyssey Arena in Belfast, Ireland. Lauren holds an MA in Performance Studies from the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill where she adapted and directed The Time Traveler's Wife. She received her MFA in theatre directing at Northwestern University where she directed Stop Kiss, Eurydice and In the Next Room or the Vibrator Play. In Chicago, Lauren has also worked with Steppenwolf Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre, Rivendell Theatre, Sideshow Theatre, Route 66, Chicago Dramatists, The Gift and Stage Left Theatre. www.laurenshousedirects.com

Raven Theatre tells stories of today and the past that connect us to our cultural landscape. Through its plays as well as its educational programming, Raven is committed to serving our communities' needs through the arts.