Theo Ubique Announces 2018-19 Season

Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre, which recently closed out its 13-year residency in Rogers Park's venerable No Exit Café, has revealed the lineup of shows for its first season in its new venue at 721 Howard Street, Evanston. The company's Founding Artistic Director Fred Anzevino made the announcement today at a gathering of company donors and friends that served as a farewell to the No Exit Café at 6970 N. Glenwood Avenue.

To allow time to complete renovations of the company's new home, an existing building owned by the City of Evanston that is being leased to Theo Ubique for an initial term of 10 years, the company will forgo its usual fall production and instead begin the new season in December with the first of its three shows for 2018-19.

The company's first show in its new 85-seat home will be the musical THE FULL MONTY, running December 7, 2018 through January 27, 2019. David Yazbek and Terrence McNally's musicalization of the British film comedy of the same title opened on Broadway in the fall of 2000. Moving the film's setting from Great Britain to Buffalo, New York, the musical follows the adventures of a group of unemployed steelworkers who decide to make some money and regain some pride by performing as a troupe of male strippers. McNally is one Broadway's most prolific writers, with over 20 credits to his name, including RAGTIME, KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN, MASTER CLASS, IT'S ONLY A PLAY and ANASTASIA. Yazbek followed his Broadway debut of THE FULL MONTY with music and lyrics for DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS, WOMEN ON THE VERGE OF A NERVOUS BREAKDOWN and this year's multiple Tony Award® nominee THE BAND'S VISIT. Anzevino will be stage director and Resident Music Director Jeremy Ramey will be music director. Cast, designers and production crew will be announced later.

THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY will be the second show of the season, beginning performances on March 8 and playing through April 21, 2019. This heartfelt, intimate musical based on the novel of the same name by Robert James Waller is the story of an Italian war bride living in rural Iowa in 1965 who meets and falls in love with a handsome globe-trotting photographer while her husband and children are out of town. Written by Tony Award® winners Jason Robert Brown (PARADE, HONEYMOON IN VEGAS) and Marsha Norman (THE SECRET GARDEN, THE COLOR PURPLE), THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY will be seen in an intimate setting that will be especially well-suited to this tender story of love, regrets and second chances. Anzevino will be stage director and Resident Music Director Jeremy Ramey will be music director. Cast, designers and production crew will be announced later.

The season will close with the thoughtfully funny and hard-rocking musical HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH, playing June 14 - July 28, 2019. This musical by Stephen Trask (music and lyrics) and John Cameron Mitchell (text) ran for over two years off-Broadway, and later won four Tony Awards® including Best Musical Revival when it was produced on Broadway in 2014. Jeremy Ramey will be Music Director. A stage director will be announced later. HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH concerns Hedwig Schmidt, a trans rock 'n' roll goddess from East Germany whose botched sex-change operation not only left her with an "angry inch" of flesh where her female genitalia should be. One of the first musicals to explore issues of gender identity, its varied score includes hard rock songs like "Sugar Daddy," the drag anthem "Wig in a Box" and the tender "Origin of Love."

All performances will be staged in the new Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre, 721 Howard Street, Evanston. Season tickets will go on sale soon at www.Theo-u.com.

Theo Ubique's New Home

Theo Ubique's new performance space will be a renovated storefront owned by the City of Evanston at 721 Howard Street, on the north side of the street that is the border between Evanston and Chicago. The theatre will have a flexible performance and seating area that will seat approximately 85 patrons - some 30 seats more than the previous capacity at No Exit. This expanded capacity will allow more audiences to enjoy the company's frequently sold-out shows but maintain the intimacy of the No Exit Café.

Audiences will enjoy the increased comfort of a newly rehabbed building as well. The City of Evanston is investing $1.2 million of TIF money in a. gut rehab of the building, including all new plumbing, electric, HVAC, asbestos removal, new restrooms, and a "catering kitchen" and bar, allowing Theo Ubique to continue to offer bar service and dinners provided through a catering partner to be announced. The company's ten-year lease with the city includes four options for five-year renewals.

General Manager Adam Webster says "We are excited by this new avenue by which to expand on our idea of thematically pairing our menu and drinks to the current production. The company will offer drink specials as well as expanded food options beyond just full dinner service for most of its productions."

Photo: Architect's rendering of the theater at 721 Howard Street, Evanston

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