Eddie Gray

Moving Bench Theatre first launched THE BALLAD OF LYDIA PINKHAM'S MAGICAL, MIRACLE, SURE-CURE FOR ALL FEMALE WEAKNESSES in April of this year at The Annoyance Theatre. The show was 50 minutes and ran for five performances, and audiences were immediately raving and demanding more; more of the story; more chances to see it; and more of the unique story telling techniques that have become synonymous with Causer and Houghton's collaborative partnership. Chris Causer (Director) and Jenilee Houghton (Writer) heard the excitement and passion and decided to give audiences exactly what they wanted. The result is an expanded and reinvigorated 85-minute production with more original music, more movement, more laughs, more emotion and some new surprises that reviewers are already praising. ChicagolandMusicalTheatre.com wrote, “There is a whole pantomime scene on a train that is so funny and heartwarming that it is worth the price of admission alone. “ They went on to say, “Overall this production is what Chicago theatre is all about. A group of talented performers in a small space giving 110% to entertain an audience. They leave them laughing and thinking. Nothing better than a group giving their all to entertain and be dedicated to a piece of theatrical art.”

Moving Bench Theatre has announced the cast for the upcoming production of THE BALLAD OF LYDIA PINKHAM'S MAGICAL, MIRACLE, SURE-CURE FOR ALL FEMALE WEAKNESSES being produced at the Greenhouse Theater Center this fall. Written by Jenilee Houghton and directed by Chris Causer, this story explores the complexity of one woman's life in the unsolicited limelight and the judgement and criticism she had to endure whilst on a mission to help her female neighbors in a time when getting effective, affordable healthcare was nearly impossible for women. Using an eclectic mix of storytelling techniques including movement, dance, and original bluegrass music, the ensemble will weave a tale that is timeless, hilarious, and also heartbreaking.

In a production where the whole is certainly equal to the sum of its parts, Tuck Everlasting could emerge as a pleasing and long-lasting alternative to splashier or too familiar seasonal holiday fare.

We Wear the MaskTrayvon Martin, Michael Brown, Freddie Gray, Philando Castile, Alton Sterling, Eric Garner - just to name of few from recent, ongoing history. In the social discourse and overt protest surrounding the growing list of Black lives lost to police violence, the connection between these events and the epidemic of public lynching in the Jim Crow south is often cited and just as often derided.

By February of 2016, I realized I was a songwriter with no songs, unable to piece together any words that wouldn't soon be plastered on the side of a paper airplane. I woke up one morning and called my manager, Aram Goldberg.

B-more creative. That's the message the attendees of the Baltimore Arts Summit held this week at CenterStage had for the citizens of Baltimore. BALTIMORE & THE ARTS: A CREATIVE SUMMIT was conducted this past Thursday in conjunction with PNC Bank and Center Stage, as a way to discuss the many merits of the art scene in Charm City. Attendees included Stephanie Carter of ABS Capital, Chris Ford, the Director of Baltimore School of the Arts, Kwame Kwei-Armah, artistic director of Center Stage, and was facilitated by Cara Ober, managing founder of BmoreArt

I find controversy delicious. As an avid theatre goer, there are very few times when I enter a theater with no preconceptions about what I'm about to see. Whether it's just the gossip I've heard around or the ads that I skip after 5 seconds on YouTube, I usually have some prior knowledge about the subject matter. This was especially true when I went into the Delacorte Theater to see the Public's production of Julius Caesar. I learned of Oscar Eustis' choice to make the play explicitly politically relevant when I heard about Delta and Bank of America pulling their sponsorships. As someone who sees herself as a socially active artist, I got excited.

Civic Ensemble, in partnership with the Cornell University Department of Performing and Media Arts, presents Kirsten Greenidge's Baltimore, a contemporary play about racism on a college campus.

This spring Civic Ensemble joins The Cherry, Cornell University's Department of Performing and Media Arts, Hangar Theatre, and Kitchen Theatre Company to bring three provocative new productions to Ithaca audiences.

HBO has confirmed a diverse array of timely and thought-provoking documentaries for the first half of 2017, including: Peter Kunhardt's BECOMING WARREN BUFFETT, a revealing portrait of the billionaire philanthropist; Evgeny Afineevsky's CRIES FROM SYRIA, a searing look at the five-year conflict in Syria; Irene Taylor Brodsky's chilling BEWARE THE SLENDERMAN, exploring how the dark corners of the Internet can influence society's most impressionable young consumers of the media; and Erin Lee Carr's MOMMY DEAD AND DEAREST, the headline-grabbing story of Dee Dee Blanchard and Gypsy Rose Blanchard, touching on child abuse, mental illness and forbidden love.

HBO has confirmed a diverse array of timely and thought-provoking documentaries for the first half of 2017

Letters from Georgia, a new song cycle based on the letters of painter Georgia O'Keeffe and composed by Pulitzer Prize-winner Kevin Puts, will receive its world premiere performances on November 12th and 14th, sung by four-time Grammy Award-winning soprano Renee Fleming and accompanied by the Eastman Philharmonia under the direction of Neil Varon.

Letters from Georgia, a new song cycle based on the letters of painter Georgia O'Keeffe and composed by Pulitzer Prize-winner Kevin Puts, will receive its world premiere performances on November 12th and 14th, sung by four-time Grammy Award-winning soprano Renee Fleming and accompanied by the Eastman Philharmonia under the direction of Neil Varon.