Full Cast Set For PrideArts' Production of SHAKESPEARE'S R & J

Full casting has been announced for PrideArts’ production of SHAKESPEARE’S R & J with an all-female cast. Though Joe Calarco’s reimagining of the Bard’s tragedy ROMEO AND JULIET was originally set within an exclusive boys’ prep school, it has sometimes been played with an all-female cast. PrideArts had previously announced the production with all-male casting, but the concept was changed to all-female when the previously announced director became unavailable and PrideArts Managing Director Amber Mandley assumed directorial responsibilities. The production will open to the press on Monday, February 26, 2024, at 7:30 pm, following previews from February 22-25, 2024, and play through March 24, 2024.
 
In SHAKESPEARE’S R & J, the young students secretly act out the play at night, eventually getting caught up in the passion and eroticism of the text. Originally produced off-Broadway in New York in 1999, where it won the Lucille Lortel Award, SHAKESPEARE’S R & J has been a favorite throughout the United States and the UK ever since. PrideArts’ staging will be the first fully staged professional production of the play in Chicago in 14 years.
 
Mandley’s cast will include Madelyn Strasma (Student #1), Luz Espinoza (Student #2), Hannah Eisendrath (Student #3), and Isabel Roden (Student #4). Understudies are Ava Pirie (u/s Student #1), Annemarie Andaleon (u/s Student #2), Elise Blanchard (u/s Student #3), and Fran Bixby (u/s Student #4). The production team will include Shawn Quinlan (Costume Design), Brett Baleskie (Scenic Design), Val Gardner (Sound Design), August Tiemeyer (Lighting Design), Cecilia Chen (Props Design), James Stone (Fight Choreographer), Grace Goodyear (Intimacy Director), Elijah McTiernan (Stage Manager), Elissa Wolf (Dramaturg and Co-Assistant Director), and Magdiel Carmona (Co-Assistant Director).

Performances will be at Pride Arts Center, 4139 N. Broadway, Chicago. Tickets $35 for regular performances, $25 for previews. Seniors and students receive a $5 discount off all performance prices. Tickets and more information are available shortly at www.pridearts.org.