THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING Comes To The Court Theater 1/14-2/14/2010

Court Theatre continues its 55th season with the Chicago Premiere of The Year of Magical Thinking written by Joan Didion and directed by Artistic Director Charles Newell. The production will run January 14 - February 14, 2010 at Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Avenue. Press opening is Saturday, January 23, 2010 at 8:00 PM.

Acclaimed writer Joan Didion adapts her own National Book Award-winning memoir to the stage. A fiercely intelligent, courageous, and comic exploration of loss, this monumental one-woman journey will be performed by Mary Beth Fisher in its Chicago Premiere. The Year of Magical Thinking marks Mary Beth Fisher's seventh production under the direction of Court Theatre Artistic Director Charles Newell; her latest collaborations with Newell include Rock ‘n' Roll at the Goodman and Court's production of The Wild Duck.

"Joan Didion's book The Year of Magical Thinking was instrumental for me in coping with the loss of my mother, so when Mary Beth Fisher and I were invited to visit Didion herself at her home in New York, it was an unforgettable meeting for me, both personally and artistically." says Artistic Director Charlie Newell, "This process has been a journey for Mary Beth and me, and I'm thrilled to return to directing in Court Theatre's space for the first time since Caroline, or Change."

The designers are Jennifer Tipton (lighting design), John Culbert (set design), Susan Hilferty (costume design), Andre Pluess (sound design), and Mike Tutaj (projection design). Megan Geigner is the production dramaturg, William Collins is the production stage manager, and Jonathan Nook is the assistant stage manager.

Joan Didion (Playwright) was born in California and is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley. Winner of the 2005 National Book Award, The Year of Magical Thinking is one of 13 books by Joan Didion. Her other books include Play It As It Lays, Democracy, Slouching Towards Bethlehem, The White Album, Salvador, Miami and Political Fictions. With her husband, John Gregory Dunne, she wrote the screenplays for such pictures as The Panic in Needle Park with Al Pacino, True Confessions with Robert De Niro and Robert Duvall, A Star Is Born with Barbra Streisand, and Up Close & Personal with Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert Redford. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, which awarded her its 2005 Gold Medal in nonfiction. She also received the 1996 Edward MacDowell Medal, the 1999 Columbia Journalism Award and the 2002 George Polk Book Award. She contributes to various periodicals, most frequently The New York Review of Books. Didion has spent her adult life in New York and Los Angeles.

Charles Newell (Artistic Director / Director) has been Artistic Director of Court Theatre since 1994, where he has directed over 30 productions. He made his Chicago directorial debut in 1993 with The Triumph of Love, which won the Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Production. Directorial highlights at Court include The Wild Duck, Caroline, or Change, Titus Andronicus, Arcadia, Man of La Mancha, Uncle Vanya, Raisin, The Glass Menagerie, Travesties, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Hamlet, The Invention of Love, The Little Foxes, Nora, and The Misanthrope. Charlie has also directed at the Goodman Theatre (Rock ‘n' Roll); the Guthrie Theater (Resident Director: The History Cycle, Cymbeline); Arena Stage; John Houseman's The Acting Company (Staff Repertory Director); the California and Alabama Shakespeare Festivals; Juilliard; and New York University. He is the recipient of the 1992 TCG Alan Schneider Director Award. He has served on the Board of Theatre Communications Group, as well as on several panels for the National Endowment for the Arts. Opera directing credits include Marc Blitzstein's Regina at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Rigoletto at Opera Theatre of St. Louis. Charlie is a multiple Joseph Jefferson Award nominee and recipient. Most recently, his production of Caroline, Or Change at Court was the recipient of 4 Joseph Jefferson Awards, including Best Production-Musical and Best Director-Musical.
Mary Beth Fisher (Joan Didion) Chicago credits include The Wild Duck, What the Butler Saw, Arcadia, The Glass Menagerie, Travesties, The Importance of Being Earnest (Court Theatre); Frank's Home, The Clean House, Dinner With Friends, Heartbreak House, The Rose Tattoo, The Guys, Boy Gets Girl, Spinning Into Butter, Design For Living, Light Up the Sky, The Night of the Iguana, Marvin's Room (Goodman Theatre); Dead Man's Cell Phone, The Dresser, The Memory of Water (Steppenwolf Theatre); Little Dog Laughed, Theatre District (About/Face); My Own Stranger (Writer's). Her NY credits include Frank's Home (Playwright's Horizons); Boy Gets Girl (Drama League Honoree, Lucile Lortel and Drama Desk nominations), The Radical Mystique, By The Sea (Manhattan Theatre Club); The Night of the Iguana (Roundabout); Extremities (Westside Arts); Are You Now or Have You Ever Been? (Promenade). She has worked in regional theatres all over the country, most recently in the world premiere of Richard Nelson's How Shakespeare Won the West (Huntington Theatre, Boston). Her TV/Film credits include: Without a Trace, Numb3rs, Prison Break, NYPD Blue, Profiler, Early Edition, Turks, To Have & To Hold, Formosa Betrayed, Dragonfly, Trauma, and Safe Storage. Ms. Fisher was recently named an inaugural fellow of The Ten Chimneys' Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Program dedicated to the creation of artist-mentors in the American Theatre.

Previews are January 14- 22, 2010. The opening press performance is on Saturday, January 23, 2010, at 8:00 p.m. Curtain times are Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. with Saturday matinees at 3 p.m.; Sundays at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

Ticket prices are $32 to $40 for preview performances; $38 to $56 for regular run performances. Tickets are available at the Box Office, 5535 S. Ellis Avenue, Chicago; (773) 753-4472 or online at www.CourtTheatre.org. Student and senior discounts available. Groups of 10 or more may purchase tickets by calling Milan Pejnovich at (773) 834-3243.

The Year of Magical Thinking is sponsored by The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation.

Upcoming Events
David Bevington Discussion
Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 7:30 PM
Join world-renowned University of Chicago theater scholar David Bevington in a lively post-show conversation with Resident Dramaturg Drew Dir and Artistic Associate Jack Tamburri. Your comments and questions are part of the discourse as Professor Bevington and the artistic staff provide context and probe the deeper issues of each play in Court Theatre's season. One Wednesday performance of each play features this popular in-depth discussion. These conversations begin immediately after the performance, last approximately 30 minutes, and are free and open to all.

University of Chicago Student Night
Friday, January 15, 2010 at 8:00 PM
University of Chicago students are invited to enjoy free food and soda after the performance. University of Chicago student tickets are always just $10 with valid U of C student ID.

Court Theatre, the professional theatre in residence at the University of Chicago, is located at 5535 S. Ellis Ave. in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. To purchase single tickets for The Year of Magical Thinking or to receive more information, call the Court Theatre Box Office at (773) 753-4472, or visit Court's website at www.CourtTheatre.org.

Court Theatre's 55th Season, under the leadership of Artistic Director Charles Newell, is generously supported by Richard and Barbara Franke, Hyde Park Bank, The Joyce Foundation, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Polk Brothers Foundation, Shubert Foundation, and the University of Chicago. Court Theatre is also funded in part by grants from CityArts Program IV of the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs; and the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.

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