Photo Flash: First Folio Theatre Presents TWELFTH NIGHT

First Folio's Season of Passion closes with Twelfth Night, Shakespeare's most romantic comedy, performed under the stars at the Mayslake Peabody Estate in Oak Brook. Set during the height of the British Raj, Michael Goldberg's production combines the beauty of 19 th C.India with the glorious elegance of Shakespeare's most romantic comedy. With a multi-ethnic cast and a score by British composer Henry Marsh, this promises to be a thrilling ride through an exotic land.

Henry Marsh's previous venture with First Folio, A Midsummer Night's Dream, earned him aJoseph Jefferson nomination for his score. More currently, he is co-composer and keyboard player on the title track of Eminem's long awaited album Recovery, released worldwide in June of this year.Henry's music credits for Chicago Shakespeare include The Comedy Of Errors, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, and The Taming Of The Shrew , all directed by David H. Bell and all of which earned him Jeff nominations, with Henry receiving the Jeff award for Comedy Of Errors.

The cast features First Folio Artistic Associates Nick Sandys and Melanie Keller in the roles of Malvolio and Olivia, as well as Chicago favorites Minita Gandhi and Anish Jethmalani, making their First Folio debuts as Viola and Orsino. Anish Jethmalani is a familiar figure on Chicago stages, where his credits include Wit and five seasons of A Christmas Carol at the Goodman Theatre; Romeo and Juliet at Chicago Shakespeare; Sita Ram and Around the World in 80 Days at Lookingglass Theatre; Merchant on Venice at Silk Road Theatre; and Titus Andronicus at Court Theatre. Regional credits include Henry VIII and Much Ado About Nothing at The Oregon Shakespeare Festival.Playing his love interest, who must disguise herself as the young Cesario, is Minita Gandhi.

She most recently appeared as Princess Aouda in Bill Brown's production of Around the World in 80 Days at Indiana Repertory Theatre, and has also been seen in A Christmas Carol, Half-Life and The Voysey Inheritance at Milwaukee Repertory Theatre, as well as Mary Zimmerman's The Arabian Nights. Melanie Keller most recently appeared in Northlight Theatre's acclaimed production of A Life, with John Mahoney. Her First Folio credits include the flighty Madeline Basset in Jeeves in Bloom and the manipulative Gilda in Design for Living. Melanie spent 2007-2008 as the Chicago Associates Fellow at the Stratford Festival of Canada, where she appeared in Caesar and Cleopatra, Love's Labour's Lost and Romeo and Juliet and was the winner of a Tyrone Guthrie award.

Nick Sandys last appeared with First Folio as Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing (Jeff Nomination 2008), Richard III, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. He was seen this past spring as Valmont in Les Liaisons with Remy Bumppo Theatre, and has also performed with the Goodman, Lookingglass, Writers Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare, Northlight, Light Opera Works and more than two dozen theater companies around the nation. All performances take place on the grounds of the Mayslake Peabody Estate, which is owned and operated by the Forest Preserve District of DuPage County. Indoor shows are presented in Mayslake Hall, a 30-room Tudor Revival style mansion originally built by coAl Baron Francis S. Peabody. Completed in 1922, the mansion is on the National Registry of Historic Places.

Located at 31st St. and Rt. 83 in Oak Brook, First Folio is easy to get to from either the East-West Tollway (I-88) or the Stevenson Expressway (I-55).

All photos by D. Rice

Melanie Keller, Minita Gandhi and Anish Jethmalani

Minita Gandhi and Anish Jethmalani