Profiles Theatre Continues Its 23rd Season With Bachelorette

Profiles Theatre continues its 23rd Season with the Midwest premiere of Bachelorette by Leslye Headland, directed by Profiles Associate Artistic Director Darrell W. Cox. Previews are January 20 – 25 with the press opening on January 26, 2012. The production runs January 26 through March 11, 2012 at Profiles Theatre, 4147 N. Broadway in Chicago.

Ten years out of high school, three unhappy friends show up “not-quite-invited” to their classmate’s hotel room for the perfect bachelorette celebration. Half a bathtub of booze later, the former prom queen is melting down, the nice-girl cokehead is on a mission to mend the mauled wedding dress, and the lacerating maid of honor finds her picture-perfect life less stable than it seemed. A smash hit Off- Broadway, Leslye Headland’s shrewd and biting play is an aria to the anxiety and self-loathing of a generation.

Bachelorette premiered at New York’s Second Stage Theatre Uptown in July 2010 where it enjoyed a sold-out extended run. Leslye Headland, a Los Angeles-based playwright and screenwriter, wrote and directed the Seven Deadly Plays series, which premiered at the IAMA Theatre Company in Los Angeles. Headland directed and adapted the film version of Bachelorette, which was shot in New York City last summer. The film, starring Kirsten Dunst, will premiere as part of the Sundance Film Festival's out-of-competition screenings in January 2012. Her recent play, Assistance, receives its New York premiere at the Playwrights Horizons Mainstage Theater this season. She’s currently developing a pilot based on Julie Klausner’s memoir, I Don’t Care About Your Band for Gary Sanchez Productions (Adam McKay and Will Ferrell). Headland studied at the Playwrights Horizons Theater School where she won the Robert Moss Prize.

"I had this idea for writing a cycle of plays on each of the seven deadly sins,” said playwright Leslye Headland. “I was particularly interested in the shifting morality of people in their late twenties because it is a time when people are dealing with so many different competing standards of behavior. With Bachelorette I wanted to look at female drug abuse and female gluttony. I placed the story at a wedding because I realized a lot of what underlies party seeking behavior is self-pity. Where are women most self-pitying? It's probably other people's weddings. That’s probably the height of when women feel sorry for themselves—when one person is being celebrated and moving into adulthood and everyone else is just miserable."

Directed by Profiles Associate Artistic Director Darrell W. Cox, the cast of Bachelorette includes Profiles’ ensemble member Eric Burgher (A Behanding in Spokane, Kid Sister) along with guest artists Hillary Marren, Linda Augusta Orr, Rakisha Pollard, Amanda Powell and Adam Soule.

The designers are Scott Davis (set), Bekki Lambrecht (lights), Jeffrey Levin (sound and original music), and Erica Griese (costumes). Profiles ensemble member MaryAnn Carlson is the stage manager and Kristin Barnett is assistant stage manager.

Bachelorette is the third production of Profiles Theatre’s 23rd season. Their hit World premiere of Assisted Living by Deirdre O’Connor plans a further extended run at Profiles’ Second Stage Theatre. The final show of the season will be the Midwest premiere of The Break of Noon by Neil LaBute, opening at Profiles in April.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Leslye Headland (Playwright) works in Los Angeles as a writer and director. She directed and adapted the screenplay for the film version of Bachelorette, which will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2012. Her playwriting credits include the Seven Deadly Plays, a series that explores ancient vices in an unfortunately modern generation. The six works written so far consist of Cinephilia (lust), Bachelorette (gluttony), Assistance (greed), Surfer Girl (sloth), Reverb (wrath) and The Accidental Blonde (envy), which all premiered at the IAMA Theatre Company where Headland remains an artist in residence. Assistance premieres at Playwrights Horizons Main Stage Theatre in New York this season. She’s also written for the FX series Terriers and is developing a pilot for HBO based on Julie Klausner’s memoir I Don’t Care About Your Band. Headland holds a B.F.A. in Drama from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and also studied at Playwrights Horizons Theater School where she received the Robert Moss Prize.

DARRELL W. COX (Director) is the Associate Artistic Director of Profiles Theatre and most recently directed the American premiere of The Wonderful World of Dissocia by Anthony Neilson. Prior to that, he directed Profiles’ Midwest premieres of This is How it Goes, “Coax” and the titular piece from Things We Said Today and Profiles’ long running hit, Autobahn, all by Neil LaBute. Mr. Cox has directed numerous productions for Profiles over the years including the Midwest premieres of The Radiant Abyss by Angus MacLachlan and Wonder of the World by David Lindsay-Abaire. Other directorial credits for Profiles include The Water Engine, How the Other Half Loves and The Twilight Zone: The Series.

ERIC BURGHER (Joe) most recently appeared in Profiles' Midwest premiere of A Behanding in Spokane by Martin McDonagh. Prior to that, he was seen in the World premiere of A Beautiful Spell by Greg Kalleres with Rare Terra Theatre at the Royal George. Eric's recent Profiles appearances were as Robert In Profiles' Midwest premiere of Jailbait by Deirdre O'Connor, Babe in Profiles' World premiere of Kid Sister by Will Kern and Jared in Profiles' Midwest premiere of Body Awareness by Annie Baker. Other Profiles credits include: the World premiere of Graceland by Ellen Fairey, the U.S. premiere of The Wonderful World of Dissocia by Anthony Neilson, Profiles' first full Chicago production of Men of Tortuga as well as the Neil LaBute plays This is How it Goes, "Land of the Dead" as part of Profiles' Midwest premiere of LaBute shorts,Things We Said Today and the Midwest premiere of Fat Pig. Eric received an After Dark Award for Outstanding Ensemble in "Bench Seat" as part of Profiles' Midwest premiere of autobahn. He was also seen at Profiles in The Glory of Living, The Radiant Abyss, and Noise. Eric is a graduate of Columbia College, where he is now on the adjunct faculty.

HILLARY MARREN (Regan) is making her Profiles debut in Bachelorette. Originally from Ohio, she has spent the bulk of her two years in Chicago performing with her sketch group Vampeero Productions and putting her musical theatre degree to good use as a founding member of Catalyst Cabaret. Hilary spent a year abroad in New Zealand where her past theatrical credits include Little Shop of Horrors with North Shore Music Theatre, Romeo and Juliet with Shoreside Theatre, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest with Ellerslie Theatrical Society.

LINDA AUGUSTA ORR (Katie) appears at Profiles for the first time. She is a member of the house team, Carl and the Passions at iO Chicago and can be seen performing weekly in the improv show, Chicagoland at the Annoyance Theatre. She most recently finished shooting her 4th independent feature and can also be seen performing with improv teams Almost Atlanta and Elenore.

RAKISHA POLLARD (Becky) was last seen in all three productions of Laura Jacqmin's Dental Society Midwinter Meeting, which premiered at Chicago Dramatists' and subsequently remounted at 16th Street Theater and Theater on the Lake last summer. Other Chicago credits include Stage Door with Griffin Theater Company, The Edward Hopper Project with WNEP Theater, and Chekhov's Ivanov with Sinnerman Ensemble, directed by Sheldon Patinkin. Rakisha is a proud graduate of The School at Steppenwolf and is represented by Big Mouth Talent.

AMANDA POWELL (Gena) is from Gainesville, Florida and is making her Profiles Theatre debut. She has most recently been seen as Rosemary in Jose Rivera's Brainpeople with UrbanTheater Company for which she earned a Jeff Nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

ADAM SOULE (Jeff) was last seen as Arnolphe in Woman School for Vintage Theatre Collective where he is a company member. Other Vintage credit's include Alceste in the tour of The Misanthrope and Gerald in A Wintertime Tale. Adam has spent the last three years completing his comedy training at The Annoyance, iO, and The Second City Conservatory while working on commercials for companies such as Coke Zero and Sears. Other Chicago credits include Not About Heroes for the Feltre Library Theatre, Bloody Poetry for Idle Muse and Sleeping Beauty for Chicago Kids Company. While in Boston, Adam worked for Commonwealth Shakespeare, Publick Theatre, Centa Stage, Boston Theatre Works, Mill 6, and Improv AsyluM. Adam is also on a house improv team for One Group Mind, a member of SAG, and is represented by Big Mouth Talent.

Ticket prices: Previews: $15
Regular Run: Thursdays are $35, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays are $40; Students and Senior Citizens receive a $5 discount on all performances; Group rates are available.
Box Office: Buy online at www.profilestheatre.org
or call (773) 549-1815