Steppenwolf Presents NPR’s Joe Frank in Is There Something Wrong?: An Evening of Spoken Word and Music 11/14

NPR radio personality, author and performance artist Joe Frank appears at Steppenwolf for a one night only performance of Is There Something Wrong?: An Evening of Spoken Word and Music on Saturday, November 14, 2009 at 8:00 p.m. in the Steppenwolf Downstairs Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted St. Tickets go on sale Friday, October 2 at 11:00 a.m.

Joe Frank takes the Steppenwolf's stage for an evening of spoken word and music in one of his most provocative pieces yet. The depth of his work - essentially a philosophical inquiry - is what gives it its real significance. Beneath every surreal flourish is a search for something to believe in: a yearning for love, a quest for self-acceptance. While one critic has called Frank "the most brilliant comic in America," another has described Frank's stories as "inspired weirdness that feeds on pathos and irony." Others have used the words "hypnotic," "psychotic," "disturbing" and "terrifying." All agree that Frank unfailingly manages to confound his audience's expectations. Cited as a source of inspiration by artists as diverse as Ira Glass, Charlie Kaufman and Beck, Frank's shows are invariably laced with surreal comedy.

Joe Frank began his radio career in 1977 at WBAI, in New York City, and later served as co-anchor of National Public Radio's All Things Considered in 1978. Over the course of the next three decades he produced over 200 radio programs for KCRW and National Public Radio. A Guggenheim Fellow, Frank has been honored with many major industry awards, including the George Foster Peabody Award, two Major Armstrong Awards and two Corporation for Public Broadcasting Awards for radio drama. Over the years, Frank's distinctive approach to making radio has inspired producers around the world to experiment with and stretch the medium beyond traditional boundaries. Joe Frank's regular weekly one-hour radio show airs in Chicago on WBEZ Sunday nights at 11 p.m. For additional information, visit www.joefrank.com.

Title: Joe Frank in Is There Something Wrong?: An Evening of Spoken Word and Music

Location: Steppenwolf Downstairs Theatre

Dates: Saturday, November 14, 2009

Curtain Times: 8:00 p.m.

Ticket prices: $29 ($15 student tickets available via phone and box

office only)

Audience Services: 1650 N. Halsted, 312-335-1650

Online ticketing available at www.steppenwolf.org

Steppenwolf is located near all forms of public transportation and is wheelchair accessible. Street and lot parking are available. Assistive listening devices are available for every performance.

Committed to the principle of ensemble performance through the collaboration of a company of actors, directors and playwrights, Steppenwolf Theatre Company's mission is to advance the vitality and diversity of American theater by nurturing artists, encouraging repeatable creative relationships and contributing new works to the national canon. The company, formed in 1976 by a collective of actors, is dedicated to perpetuating an ethic of mutual respect and the development of artists through on-going group work. Steppenwolf has grown into an internationally renowned company of 42 artists whose talents include acting, directing, playwriting and textual adaptation. For more information, visit www.steppenwolf.org.

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