There Is a Happiness That Morning Is Plays DCA Storefront Theater 4/14-5/22

Theater Oobleck, in association with Chicago DCA Theater, presents the world premiere of There Is a Happiness That Morning Is. The play written by Mickle Maher runs at Chicago DCA's Storefront Theater at 66 E. Randolph Street, from April 14 through May 22, 2011. Members of the press are invited to the opening performance Thursday, April 14, at 7:30 p.m.

All tickets are available by calling 312.742.TIXS (8497), visiting www.dcatheater.org, or stopping by the DCA Box Office in the Chicago Cultural Center at 78 E. Washington Street, open Tuesday through Saturday, noon to 6 pm and Sundays, noon to 4 pm. Tickets go on sale one hour before each performance at the Storefront Theater.

Performances of There Is a Happiness That Morning Is are Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday afternoons at 3 p.m. The Thursday, May 19, performance will start at 8 pm; No performance on Sunday, April 24, due to Easter holiday. A post-show discussion with the cast and crew will follow the performances on Thursday, April 21 and Thursday, May 19.

Tickets are Pay-what-you-can, $15 suggested donation.

Mickle Maher debuts this comedy in rhymed verse told via two lectures on the topics of poet William Blake and having sex in public: one given in the morning by Bernard, a barely published poet, on Blake's Songs of Innocence, and the other in the afternoon by his lover, Ellen, a reputable scholar on Blake's Songs of Experience. Having engaged the evening before in a scandalous display of public affection on the main lawn of their rural New England campus, the two instructors must now justify their behavior or lose not only their jobs, but their love as well.

Cast

Colm O'Reilly has been an actor in Chicago for nearly 20 years. With Theater Oobleck he's played Faust and Mephistopheles in An Apology for the Course & Outcome of Certain Events Delivered by Doctor John Faustus on This His Final Evening, and Jim Lehrer in The Strangerer (Off-Broadway and Chicago). Other Oobleck work includes Letter Purloined, The Hunchback Variations, The Book of Grendel, Spirits to Enforce, and Babbette's Feast.

Diana Slickman is a 25-year veteran of Chicago's fringe theater scene, working as a writer, performer, producer, director, and administrator. An ensemble member of Theater Oobleck since 2003, she has performed in several Oobleck productions, including Letter Purloined, Spirits to Enforce, and The Trojan Candidate.

Kirk Anderson most recently was at the Goodman Theatre in The Ballad Of Emmet Till. He has appeared in the Diary of Anne Frank, Huck Finn, Lady Madeline, Uncle Vanya, and The Duel at The Steppenwolf Theatre. Other credits include Dandelion Wine with Chicago Children's Theatre, Accidental Death Of An Anarchist with Next Theatre Company, and Mozart And Salieri with TUTA.

Production Team

Mickle Maher (playwright) is a cofounder of Chicago's Theater Oobleck and the author of numerous plays, including An Apology for the Course and Outcome of Certain Events Delivered by Doctor John Faustus on This His Final Evening, and The Hunchback Variations. Recent plays include The Strangerer, Spirits to EnforceI (Theater Oobleck), Cyrano (translator) and The Cabinet (Redmoon Theater), and Lady Madeline (Steppenwolf). His plays have appeared Off-Broadway and in numerous theaters around the world. He is published by Hope and Nonthings (hopeandnonthings.com). He has been the recipient of a Creative Capital grant (for The Strangerer) and, recently, an NEA grant to develop his Hunchback Variations into an opera. He currently teaches at the University of Chicago.

Chris Schoen (composer/sound design) has written, performed and designed music and sound for over ten Oobleck productions, including The Strangerer (2007), Strauss at Midnight (2009), and The Wine Cycle (2010), a hand-cranked cantastoria based on the poems of Baudelaire.

Martha Bayne (lighting design) has designed the lighting for Theater Oobleck's productions of Casanova Takes a Bath, Strauss at Midnight, The Strangerer (in Chicago and New York), Spukt, The Trojan Candidate, and the Passion of the Bush.

Theater Oobleck

Theater Oobleck is a Chicago-based company that has launched 50 productions of idiosyncratic new works, all created and developed by members of the ensemble, working in concert to create a collective vision without an overseeing director. Oobleck has received consistent critical acclaim locally, nationally (Theater Journal, American Theatre, the New York Times, Village Voice), and internationally (The Guardian and the Times in London, Maska in Slovenia, and elsewhere).

The Storefront Theater and the Studio Theater, its companion theater located in the Chicago Cultural Center at 78 E. Washington Street, comprise Chicago DCA Theater, an anchor of the downtown theater district. Chicago DCA Theater offers downtown audiences an off-Loop theater experience with an exciting look at the vibrant theater companies that call Chicago home. Proposals for creative and innovative productions for the January to June 2012 season are being accepted now through May 15, 2011.

Discounted parking is available at Wabash Randolph Self Park at 20 E. Randolph. Patrons can receive the $10 rate by validating their ticket at the Storefront Theater box office.

For more information about There Is a Happiness That Morning Is and Chicago DCA Theater, call 312.742.TIXS (8497) or visit www.dcatheater.org. The enhanced website features more about DCA Theater performances and programs, including a blog, photo galleries, and visitor information. More information on www.theateroobleck.com.

Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events
The Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE) is dedicated to promoting an ongoing celebration of the arts; supporting the people who create and sustain them; and marketing the city's abundant cultural resources to a worldwide audience. DCASE, in partnership with the Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture, programs and promotes thousands of high-quality free festivals, exhibitions, performances and holiday celebrations presented each year at Millennium Park, Grant Park, the Chicago Cultural Center and other venues throughout the city.

Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture
The Chicago Office of Tourism and Culture (COTC) is dedicated to promoting Chicago as a premier cultural destination to domestic and international leisure travelers, providing innovative visitor programs and services, and presenting free world-class public programs. COTC supports local artists through grants and other resources and creates vital opportunities for artists of all levels. For more information please visit www.ExploreChicago.org.

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