Mental Health Takes Spotlight In BIG FAT SOCIALLY DISTANT HOLIDAY ADVENTURE SHOW

Experimenting with new forms of live, interactive performance, focused on creating space for conversations on loneliness, depression and anxiety, LevityTV presents the day-long stream-a-thon LevityTV & Friends' Big Fat Socially Distant Holiday Adventure Show on Saturday, December 19, 2020. The main event begins at 5:30 pm CST, streaming at Twitch.tv/TheLevityChannel, with panel discussions, live music and other special events beginning earlier in the day at 12 pm CST. For a full schedule of events, visit www.LevityTv.com.

Conceptualized and executive produced by Andy Lynn, this FREE one-day-only streaming event, with its heart in Chicago, stretches from coast to coast featuring artists, educators, streamers and mental health professionals from across the United States. Chicago locals include Echaka Agba, Breon Arzell, Micah Beauvais, Tyler Brown, Darby Fitzsimons, Tyler Gabrielle, Tina El Gamal, Tommy Malouf, Taylor Raye, Shane Richlan, Amaya Thompson, Shalyn Welch, Wanese Zarour, Martin Yousif Zebari and others. Additional performers include Annelyse Ahmad, Mark Jacob Chaitin, Jeremy Guyton, Kevin O'Connell and Sheldon White.

Special guest hosts include Shalita Cake, Andy Eninger, Jacob Fjare, Gabriel Fries, Molly Gloeckner, Huy Nguyen, Mo Phillips-Spots, Mel Yonzon and Rebecca Cao Romero Zuñiga. Panelists include Jackie Kappes, Ryan Spahn and Pao-Chang Tsai, hosted by Nik Whitcomb.

New works and adaptations, created by Cara Beth Heath, Hannah Ii Epstein, Preston Max Allen, Jeremy Guyton, and others bend and break traditional performance styles to explore the next evolution of theatre, dance, music and art for the virtual stage. Performances will examine ways in which the virtual audience can directly affect what is happening on the screen, creating a completely ephemeral once-in-a-lifetime production.

LevityTV & Friends' Big Fat Socially Distant Holiday Adventure Show is a pay-what-you-can production with direct-to-artist payments. Each artist will have an interactive chat command you can input during the live performance to pull up a form to give directly to the artist(s) of your choosing.

The production team includes Marie Tredway (co-producer, director), Ada Alozie (co-producer, writer), Gion Defrancesco (scenic design team), Noël Huntzinger (wardrobe stylist), Benjamin Carne & Ellie Humphreys (lighting design team), Tim McNulty (sound design), Wanees Zarour (composer), Jeremy Guyton (choreographer), @CalvinThomasMusic & @TheSlowDrag (Twitch affiliates, musicians), Shannon Lauzier, Gaby Martinau & Krista Mollette (chat hosts), Jordan Affeldt & Kristen Mazzocca (stage management), Allyson Leisure (production assistant), Deanna Downes (performance consultant), Brian T. Gillis, MDiv, LMFT (mental health advisor), Casey Pleek (accessibility coordinator), Darby Fitzsimons & M Mead (community relations).

LevityTV & Friends' Big Fat Socially Distant Holiday Adventure Show is made possible with additional support from Underscore Theatre, AllMid esports, and private contributions.