Victory Gardens Theater 2008/09 Season

Victory Gardens Theater, Chicago's #1 presenter of new work, announced today an exciting line-up of two world premieres, a
Chicago premiere, a major revival, the return of its smash hit holiday musical The Snow Queen, and a TBA project starring William L. Petersen, to complete its 2008/09 season of "theater so close, it touches you."

The season kicks off October 3-November 9, 2008 with a major revival of Eurydice, an astonishingly fresh take on the Greek Orpheus myth by Sarah Ruhl, author of The Clean House, Passion Play, and Dead Man's Cell Phone, and one of the most important young voices in American theater today.Victory Gardens Associate Artistic Director Sandy Shinner will direct.

Chicago folk legend Michael Smith's smash hit musical The Snow Queen, based on Hans Christian Andersen's beloved winter tale, directed again by Tony Award-winner Frank Galati, with puppets by Blair Thomas & Co. and choreography by Jim Corti, is gathering momentum for her third straight year as Chicago's #1 alternative to traditional holiday fare, November 28-December 28, 2008.

Next are two consecutive world premieres by members of the Victory Gardens Playwrights Ensemble. Living Green, by Gloria Bond Clunie (Shoes, North Star), is a timely drama about an upper middle class black family considering a move back to the "old neighborhood," January 23-March 1, 2009. Victory Gardens Resident Director Andrea J. Dymond will direct. Class Dismissed by Jeffrey Sweet (Flyovers, The Value of Names), directed by Victory Gardens Artistic Director Dennis Zacek, is a comedic drama set in
the free-spirited 1960s about youth and living with the consequences of how you spend it. Performances are March 20-April 26, 2009.

Playing May 15-June 14, 2009 is the Chicago debut of Aditi Brennan Kapil's Love Person. One of the hottest new plays among regional theaters devoted to new work, this intriguing love story, performed in English, Sanskrit, American Sign Language, and projected e-mail, explores language as a portal and barrier to human connection. Sandy Shinner will direct.

Closing Victory Gardens' 35th season is Chicago's must-see theater event of 2009. William L. Petersen, star of CBS-TV's CSI, will return to the theater where he earned his Equity card to star in a new project to be announced, directed by Dennis Zacek, July 3-August 9, 2009.

"Collectively, next season's productions do what new plays do best - explore the hot-button issues on our minds right now," said Zacek.  "Responsibility to one's community, language and communication, love and loss, and class divisions in the U.S. are just a few of the topics that will be artfully investigated on our stage next season."

Five-play subscriptions to Victory Gardens' 2008/09 season are on sale now for only $80-$185. Five play packages include Eurydice, Living Green, Class Dismissed, the TBA starring Bill Petersen, and a choice of Love Person or The Snow Queen. Six-play packages are $96-$222.  All performances will be staged at the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue.  For subscription information, call the Victory Gardens box office, (773) 871-3000  (tty:  (773) 871-0682), email information@victorygardens.org, or
visit http://www.victorygardens.org

Victory Gardens Theater's 2008/09 Season: A Closer Look

EURYDICE
By Sarah Ruhl
Directed by Sandy Shinner
October 3-November 9, 2008; Opens Monday, October 13, 7:30 pm

Victory Gardens' season opens with a major revival of Eurydice, a fresh take on the Greek Orpheus myth by Evanston native, Pulitzer Prize nominee, and MacArthur Genius award winner Sarah Ruhl. Eurydice's wedding to Orpheus is cut short when she wanders after a man bearing a letter from her dead father. Her disappearance turns out to be from life itself, when she is transported to the underworld in a raining elevator. A story of love, loss and the mystery of death,  From the author of The Clean House, Passion Play, and Dead Man's Cell Phone.

THE SNOW QUEEN
Music and Lyrics by Michael Smith
Directed by Frank Galati
Puppet Design by Blair Thomas & Co.
November 28-December 28, 2008; opens Monday, December 1, 7:30 pm

The Snow Queen is gathering momentum for her third year as Chicago's #1 alternative to traditional holiday family fare. Warm storytelling, amazing puppetry and Michael Smith's magical score combine for a wild ride into Hans Christian Andersen's beloved winter tale. Returning are Tony-winning director Frank Galati, master puppeteer Blair Thomas & Co., choreographer Jim Corti, as well as veteran cast and band members. A delight for kids eight and up, Smith's wickedly funny lyrics and sophisticated songs of the heart equally engage adults of all ages. 

LIVING GREEN
A World Premiere
By Gloria Bond Clunie
Directed by Andrea J. Dymond
January 23-March 1, 2009; opens Monday, February 2, 7:30 pm

The year is 1995. The Freemans, an upper middle class black family in an affluent, predominantly white Chicago neighborhood are contemplating selling their home to fund their daughter's college education. When the men in the family return from the first Million Man March, the Freemans grapple with where to resettle their two children: another "safe" white community, or back to "the old neighborhood?" A modern-day homage to A Raisin in the Sun, this timely new work by ensemble member Gloria Bond Clunie (North Star, Shoes) asks, "What happened to our families as we "moved up" and fled the black communities that once nurtured us?"

CLASS DISMISSED
A World Premiere
By Jeffrey Sweet
Directed by Dennis Zacek
March 20-April 26, 2009; opens Monday, March 30, 7:30 pm

In the heat of the 1960s, you can't blame a rich kid for wondering where his priorities lie. There's your dad, who wants you to carry on the family business. Your friends (who don't know you have money) are trying to build a new way of living. There's a renegade professor.  And sex, of course. Some pot, naturally. And you know what comes after sex and drugs...a comedy about youth and living with the consequences of how you spend it. From the award-winning author of Court-Martial at Fort Devens, Flyovers, and The
Value of Names.

LOVE PERSON
A Chicago premiere
By Aditi Brennan Kapil
Directed by Sandy Shinner
May 15-June 14, 2009; opening Tuesday, May 26, 7:30 pm

One of the hottest new plays among regional theaters devoted to new work, Love Person is an intellectually intriguing love story about language as a portal and a barrier to human connection. Can love transcend sexual orientation, physical attraction, and social structure, and rely instead on the ways in which people communicate? Two couples, three cultures, and four languages blossom, break, sustain, repair, and flourish in this language laden love mystery, performed in American Sign Language, Sanskrit, English, and projected e-mail.

CHICAGO'S MUST-SEE THEATER EVENT OF SUMMER '09 - TBA!
Starring William L. Petersen
Directed by Dennis Zacek
July 3-August 9, 2009; opening Monday, July 13, 7:30 pm

William L. Petersen will return to Victory Gardens, the theater where he first earned his Equity card, and the last Chicago stage he played before becoming the star of CBS-TV's hit drama CSI.  Back in 1978, Bill rose from the ranks of the Victory Gardens Training Center to play the title role in Dillinger. The rest is history. Petersen went on to be a nationally acclaimed star, and was a sensation when he last performed at Victory Gardens in Jeffrey Sweet's 1998 smash hit Flyovers. Don't miss the fireworks when he reunites with director Dennis Zacek next summer to star in an exciting new project to be announced.

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