WEFEST to Showcase Female, Non-Binary and Trans Artists at Pride Arts Center

WeFest (formerly SheFest and LezFest) is Pride Arts Center's' semi-annual celebration of Chicago's queer female, non-binary and trans artists.

Hosted by Molly Brennan and Malic White, WeFest is an inclusive, intersectional variety show celebrating the work of female, non-binary, and trans artists.

WeFest, presented in partnership with the Center on Halsted, will be Monday, December 11. It will begin with a music salon from 6:30 - 7:30 pm, continue with a variety show from 7:30 - 9:00 pm (ASL interpreted) and conclude with a dance party with live music beginning at 9 pm. The event will be held in The Broadway, Pride Arts Center, located at 4139 N. Broadway Ave., Chicago.

Award-winning performers to be featured include Terri Hudson, Ada Cheng, Emma Fondell, Delia Kropp, Tamale Sepp, Lihy Epstein, Niki Gee, The Chanels, Rebecca Beuchel, North Rory Homeward, Lyla Whedbee, Cassidy Hill, Superknova, Khloe Janel and Cruel Valentine.

Pricing: General Admission tickets cost $10 and can be purchased either online or at the door. VIP tickets, including reserved seating and a drink ticket, cost $15. Tickets are avaialble at bit.ly/2yiCnsr. Pride Films & Plays is also offering an "Adopt A Performer" sponsorship option, as well as other levels of sponsorship.

All six past installments of SheFest or LezFest have been sold out, and Pride Arts Center is looking forward to another sold out house!

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ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Molly Brennan: Molly Brennan is a clown, actor and theatre maker. In Chicago, she is currently playing The Ghost of Christmas Past at The Goodman Theatre through December 31. She was recently seen as Killian in Fawzia Mirza's feature MomCom "Signature Move"; as Hal in "Picnic"

at American Theatre Company, directed by Will Davis, and as co-host of "The Fly Honey Show" with the Inconvenience. Other credits include work at Steppenwolf, Neo-Futurists, About Face, Second City, Lyric Opera, House, Factory, Salonathon, and others. She has toured the U.S. extensively as well, most notably Denver Arts Center, PS 122 in NYC, the Arsht in Miami, Alliance in Atlanta, and the KENNEDY Center. She is a member of AEA and represented by Paonessa Talent. Molly is the Director of Physical Theatre at the Actors Gymnasium. Photo by Joe Mazza, Brave-lux.

Malic White is a performance artist and actor ??who has been an ensemble member at the Neo-Futurist Theater since 2012. Theater credits include The Infinite Wrench, Pop Waits (Neo-Futurists), Hir (Woolly Mammoth), Picnic (American Theater Company), and American Idiot (the Hypocrites). Film credits include Princess Cyd, Signature Move, and The Year I Broke My Voice. Malic's pronouns are they/ them/ theirs. Photo by Joe Mazza.

Terri Hudson: Terri Lynne Hudson is an actor, interdisciplinary artist and activist living and working in Chicago. She has recently been seen performing solo comedy at ImprovOlympic and the Annoyance Theatre and performed during Climate Change Theatre Action: A Curated Conversation at Pride Arts. She's overjoyed to be performing at WeFest.

Ada Cheng: Ada Cheng is a professor-turned storyteller. She has been featured in storytelling shows in Chicago, Atlanta, New York, and Cedar Rapids. She will be performing her solo show, Asian Woman by Desire, at The Public House Theater on June 1st, 8th, 15th, and 22nd. She will be taking her solo show on national tours to National Storytelling Conference fringe, Capital Fringe Festival, Minnesota Fringe Festival, and Boulder International Fringe Festival in July and August.

Emma Fondell is a Queer actor, singer, and songwriter hailing from the Chicago burbs. She started humming to herself in 5th grade - and even though her teacher told her to stop - she hasn't been able to since. She loves to belt in the shower, while washing dishes, in her room, and at local open mic nights. So far, she has loved performing with Chicago Theatre companies such as, On the Spot, The Cuckoos Theatre Project, MCL, and The Hedgehog Ensemble. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from Hope College, and studied for a semester at the Gaiety School of Acting in Dublin, Ireland. Her biggest dreams are to pay off her student loans and be able to survive off acting and making music alone.

Delia Kropp made history as the first transgender actress to portray Charlotte Von Mahlsdorf in the Pulitzer and Tony Award winning "I Am My Own Wife" for About Face Theatre. She was recently seen as Nurse Smith in the musical "The Civility of Albert Cashier", and also created the role of Ondi Rivers in "Ragged And", for Pride Films and Plays. Delia works behind the scenes as an advocate-spokesperson for transgender theatre artists. Please read more about her work at www.therealdelia.com

Tamale Sepp: Tamale Sepp trained in improv at I.O. Chicago, Second City's Conservatory Program, and Annoyance Theater, and has performed burlesque with the Sissy Butch Brothers Burlesque, Lavender Cabaret, Angela Eve, and Varietease Cabaret.

She travelled with the international gender performance troupe, Windy City Blenders and began performing drag with members of the Chicago Kings at events like the International Drag King Extravaganza (IDKE) and The Great Big International Drag King Show ("The Great Big"). Somewhere along the way, she picked up fire dancing, performing with members of SPUNN, Pyrotechnique, and Temple of Poi.

Lihy Epstein has been performing in various mediums for years. It all started with theater camp as child, speech team in high school, college drag performances as "Dick Then Dyke", and numerous poetry open mics throughout. She is currently working on keeping both of her family businesses' legacies going, and moonlighting as an aspiring poet and storyteller.

Niki Gee: NIKI GEE is a brilliant beautiful ball of light and is a sought out talent around the country. Known as the Peace and Love Poet, Niki Gee delivers poetry ranging from enlightenment to eroticism. She has graced various stages from Beast Women to Punany Poets and recently performed a one woman play at The Goodman Theater. Niki Gee's delivers her performance with a permeating energy that leaves audiences feeling not only entertained but uplifted. You will certainly enjoy the energy in human form that is...

Cassidy Hill got her start in Gainesville, FL, gathering gig experience playing at churches and coffee shops. Wanting to challenge herself musically, Cassidy taught herself piano and moved to Orlando, FL. After a successful couple years of playing more live music than ever before, she began to get serious about her music career. Since then, she has performed in Atlanta, Boston, and her newest home, Chicago. Her debut EP, What Was Will Be, was released January 2014.

SuperKnova, a Chicago-based transgender artist, creates Queer Pop, a guitar-based sound that mixes electronic drums with driving synths and virtuosic guitar solos. A solo performer with over 15 years of musical experience, SuperKnova writes and plays every instrument in their songs: drums, guitar, piano, synths, orchestration, vocals, lyrics. Many of their songs are built in real-time using looping and Ableton Live. They draw on their roots in jazz, hip hop, and rock to create an original pop sound that is complex and multi-dimensional.

Khloe Janel: Khloe Janel is a proud queer poet, actor, singer, and voice actor of color! They have performed original spoken word around Chicago and recently was crowned the winner of National Vans College Open Mic Series. Khloe has performed at Steppenwolf Theatre, Broadway Playhouse, Greenhouse Theater, and Madison Street Theater. They also recently co-starred on an episode of EMPIRE and can be heard in various animations and commercials around the Chicago area. Khloejanel.com

Cruel Valentine: Known as "Chicago's Own Community Chest", Cruel Valentine is an award-winning, international burlesque entertainer. A lifelong singer, actor, dancer, writer, and artist, Valentine began performing the art of burlesque in 2007. Since then, they have spent the past several years performing their way across the nation and abroad, racking up multiple awards and honors. Valentine is an independent performer, producer and teacher of burlesque, as well as an adult performer with The Lust Garden and an alt model with GodsGirls.com.

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IF YOU GO:

WEFEST
Presented in partnership with the Center on Halsted.
Monday, December 11, 2017 - Doors open at 6 pm
6:30 - Music salon
7:30 - Variety show (ASL interpreted)
9:00 - Dance party with live music
The Broadway, Pride Arts Center, 4139 N. Broadway
Tickets - $15 VIP, $10 general admission
For tickets, visit http://bit.ly/2yiCnsr or call (800)-737-0984

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Center on Halsted is proud to partner with Pride Films and Plays to support programming for all our communities.

Pride Films and Plays changes lives through the generation of diverse new work (or work that is new to Chicago) with LGBTQ+ characters or themes that is essential viewing for all audiences. We accomplish this mission through fully-staged productions, writing contests and staged readings, film screenings, and special events. We foster long term relationships with artists to create programming that is as diverse, unique, and complex as the community we represent. In 2015, Huffington Post called PFP "A powerful and empowering entity." The company acquired its two performance spaces at 4139 and 4147 N. Broadway in July 2016, renaming the spaces the Pride Arts Center.

Pride Films and Plays is supported by The MacArthur Fund for Arts & Culture at The Richard Driehaus Foundation, The Illinois Arts Council, City of Chicago's City Arts Fund, the Elliott Fredland Charitable Trust, Proud to Run, the AmazonSmile Foundation, Arts and Business Foundation, Tap Root Foundation and Alphawood Foundation.

PFP is a member of the Smart Growth Program of the Chicago Community Trust. Pride Films and Plays is a member of the LGBT Chamber of Commerce of Illinois and The League of Chicago Theatres.

For more information, visit www.pridefilmsandplays.com or call 1.800.737.0984.

Pride Arts Center (PAC) opened in 2016 and consists of two performance spaces: The Buena at 4147 N. Broadway which has 50 seats and The Broadway at 4139 N. Broadway which has 85 seats, and it is run by Pride Films and Plays. PAC has become an important part of the arts environment in the Buena Park neighborhood and beyond by hosting events including After Orlando, Bechdel Fest, SheFest and the 525,600 Minutes Cabaret. Additional tenants in 2017 include Walkabout Theater, New American Folk Theater, Cor Productions, Underscore Music Theater, 20% Productions, About Face Youth Theater, Another Door Productions, and of course Pride Films and Plays.

For more information about space at Pride Arts Center, visit www.prideartscenter.com.

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