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LEADING LADIES, GUN SHY & More Set for Buffalo Theatre Ensemble's 2013-14 Season

By: Jul. 26, 2013

Buffalo Theatre Ensemble (BTE) presents its 2013-2014 Season featuring two laugh-out-loud comedies and a heart-warming musical. The first work of the season will be staged in the Building K Theatre, the space that has housed BTE's productions during the 14-month renovation of the McAninch Arts Center (MAC). Then, in January 2014, BTE returns to the MAC for the remainder of the season.

"We are extremely grateful to the staff of the McAninch Arts Center and the College of DuPage for providing the Theatre K space during the renovation process and for our season opener, but we are thrilled with the anticipation of returning to the MAC in the new year, to present works in the renovated Playhouse and Studio Theatre spaces," says BTE artistic director Connie Canaday Howard.

Kicking off BTE's 2013-2014 season is "Leading Ladies" by Ken Ludwig, a comedy following Jack and Leo, two down-on-their-luck Shakespearean actors. Overhearing that an old lady in York, PA is to leave her fortune to her long-lost nieces, they decide to use their acting skills to get the cash by pretending to be someone and something they aren't. BTE Ensemble member Kurt Naebig directs fellow BTE Ensemble members Bryan Burke, RoBert Jordan Bailey and Loretta Hauser, as well as a host of new and returning talent, in this comedy the Houston Press hails as "...so funny, it will make sophisticated and reasonable men and women of the 21st century cackle 'till their faces hurt." "Leading Ladies" runs Sept. 6 - 22 in the Building K Theatre at the College of DuPage.

For the new year, BTE returns to the renovated MAC with Richard Dresser's "Gun-Shy" directed by BTE artistic director Connie Canaday Howard and featuring BTE Ensemble members Kurt Naebig andRoBert Jordan Bailey. "Gun Shy" tells the story of Evie and Duncan, a divorced couple who are rebuilding their lives with new lovers Carter and Caitlin. The foursome, all beyond therapy, eventually become snowbound in a New England cabin where they attempt to unravel the maze of their mismatched couplings. "Scratch the surface of 'Gun-Shy's' adorable lunacy, and you'll find it crazy like a 21st-century fox," says New York Magazine. "Gun Shy" runs Jan. 31 - March 2, 2014 in the MAC's Studio Theatre.

Concluding BTE's 2013-2014 season is the popular musical "I Do! I Do!" with book and lyrics by Tom Jones, music by Harvey Schmidt. Based on the 1951-52 Tony Award-winning Best Play "The "Fourposter"by Jan De Hartog, "I Do! I Do!" follows Agnes and Michael over 50 years as they navigate their lives together, from wedding night jitters, to raising a family and negotiating mid-life crisis. Ending with their golden anniversary, this couple always comes back to "I Do." The Wall Street Journal hails "Do! I Do!" as "... a solid piece of theatrical carpentry...only the hardest-boiled of cynics will dare to resist its winsome sincerity." Directed by BTE associate artistic director Amelia Barrett, "I Do! I Do!" features BTE artistic director and Ensemble member Connie Canaday Howard. Performances run April 25 - May 18, 2014 in the MAC's Playhouse.

Performances for BTE shows are Thursday-Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m. Tickets for BTE's 2013-2014 Season are currently on sale by subscription only; single tickets go on sale August 14. Single tickets are $28 to $36. $2 discounts are available for non-COD students and seniors age 60 and over. For more information, call the MAC Ticket Office at 630-942-4000, or visit AtTheMAC.org.

Buffalo Theatre Ensemble (BTE), under the direction of artistic director Connie Canaday Howard and associate artistic director Amelia Barrett, is a professional Equity theater company in residence at the McAninch Arts Center at College of DuPage. It is rooted in the idea that an acting ensemble and company, who have a history of working together and have developed a sense of trust and community, can create better art. BTE is committed to the American tradition of creating believable characters in the context of the production's style. BTE is supported in part by the College of DuPage Foundation through the Buffalo Theatre Ensemble Fund.

Established as a 501(c) 3 not-for-profit charitable organization in 1967, the College of DuPage Foundation raises monetary and in-kind gifts to increase access to education and to enhance cultural opportunities for the surrounding community. For more information about the College of DuPage Foundation and the Buffalo Theatre Ensemble Fund, visit.cod.edu/foundation or call 630-942-3008.

McAninch Arts Center (MAC) at College of DuPage is located 25 miles west of Chicago near
I-88 and I-355, houses three performance spaces (the 800-seat proscenium Performance Hall, the 195-seat soft-thrust Playhouse space; and the versatile black box Studio Theatre), plus the Cleve Carney Art Gallery and classrooms for the college's academic programming. This unique facility has presented theater, music, dance and visual art to more than 1.5 million people since its opening in 1986 and typically welcomes each season more than 75,000 patrons from the greater Chicago area to more than 230 performances.

The MAC began major renovations in fall 2012 to update its three major performance spaces, construct a new Cleve Carney Art Gallery and make improvement in Patron Service areas. Renovations will also address significant infrastructure needs, improve several academic program areas and include a one-story addition. Scheduled completion date is December 2013. The project will cost $35 million and is funded by the $168 million referendum that voters of District 502 passed in November 2010. Other College of DuPage projects covered by the referendum include the renovation of the Physical Education Center, Student Resource Center and Seaton Computing Center, and construction of the Campus Maintenance Center.

The mission of the MAC is to foster enlightened educational and performance opportunities, which encourage artistic expression, establish a lasting relationship between people and art, and enrich the cultural vitality of the community. For more information about the MAC, visit AtTheMAC.org.


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