Photo Flash: First Look at American Blues Theater's YANKEE TAVERN, Opening Tomorrow

Producing Artistic Director Gwendolyn Whiteside and American Blues Theater, Chicago's second oldest Equity ensemble, are proud to announce the Chicago premiere of Yankee Tavern, by Steven Deitz and directed by Joanie Schultz, February 20 - March 22, 2015 at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N. Lincoln Ave. "Pink Previews", where tickets sales benefit the Lynn Sage Foundation for breast cancer research, are Friday, Feb. 20 and Saturday, Feb. 21 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 22 at 2:30 p.m. Opening night is Thursday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. The performance schedule is Thursday - Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2:30 p.m. with additional performances Saturday, March 14 and Saturday, March 21 at 3:30 p.m. Tickets for "Pink Preview" performances are $19. Regular run performances tickets are $29 Thursdays and Fridays and $39 Saturdays and Sundays. Opening night tickets are $49 and include access to the post-show reception. All tickets are currently on sale at 773.404.7336 or AmericanBluesTheater.com.

This spring American Blues Theater is proud to present this dramatic and conspiracy-laden thriller for the first time to Chicago audiences. Since its debut in 2008, Yankee Tavern has met with rave reviews from critics and theatergoers across the nation including The New York Times calling Yankee Tavern "Intriguing and absorbing!" and the Daily News says it is "One helluva show by a superb playwright who has slyly fashioned an edge-of-your-seat thriller." The jukebox inside the Yankee Tavern stopped in the middle of "Bye, bye, Miss American Pie" as the first hijacked plane impacted the north tower of the World Trade Center on September 11. Inside the walls of this crumbling New York tavern, a young couple (Ian Paul Custer* and Darci Nalepa) finds themselves caught up in conversations of what happened that day and who is telling the truth. Dietz's acclaimed and dramatic thriller is a fierce, funny and ultimately mind-bending work of theatrical power that grips the audience until the final word.

Yankee Tavern Steve Key* as "Palmer;" and Richard Cotovsky as "Ray." The production team includes American Blues Ensemble members and Artistic Affiliates Grant Sabin (scenic); Christopher Neville (properties); Arianna Soloway (dramaturg); Sarah Burnham (production manager) with guest artists Brandon Wardell (lights); Izumi Inaba (costumes); Rick Sims (sound); Michael Trudeau (technical director) and Kathryn Lochert (stage manager).

Photos by Johnny Knight