VICTORY GARDENS THEATER received a $25,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, earmarked for their production of Jackie Sibblies Drury’s new play, “We Are Proud to Present a Presentation about the Herero of Namibia, Formerly Known as South-West Africa from the German Sudwestafrika, Between the Years 1884-1915.”
(No word on whether the bulk of the money will go toward reinforcing the marquee to hold that prodigious title!)
Drury’s piece was developed through the Victory Gardens Ignition Festival of new work in 2010. Eric Ting is the director. It runs March 30 through April 29 at Victory Gardens’ $11.8 million renovated Biograph theatre.
Victory Gardens artistic director Chay Yew, himself a playwright, will join a panel of other playwright/artistic directors at a meeting for the local membership of the Dramatists Guild on Monday, Dec. 12, 7 p.m., at Stage 773.
Other panelists include Trina Kakacek of Courier 12 Collective; Nicholas Patricca, former artistic director for the Chicago New Plays Festival Company; and Madelyn Sergel, artistic director for Waukegan’s Clockwise Theatre.
Dramatists who are DG members or are considering membership may attend. No reservations required.
THE WILMETTE THEATRE OWNERS Carole and David Dibo recently announced that they are morphing into a non-profit known as “The Wilmette Theatre Education Project,” with the aim of bringing more training opportunities to the North Shore along with the existing programming.
The Wilmette Theatre has been offering a combination of film, live performance (especially cabaret and comedy) and a youth training program since 2006, when the Dibos and Judy and Sam Samuelson saved the centrally-located theatre (which opened in 1913) from being turned into a furniture store.
IN OTHER VENUE NEWS, Teatro Luna has taken over the former venue of The Artistic Home at 3914 N. Clark St. and will be operating it for the next three years. The space was originally the longtime home of Live Bait Theater.
The Luna-ticas have been itinerant since giving up their storefront in Pilsen several years ago.
“We will produce our own work and we are inviting other theatre companies and community groups to use our venues,” says executive director Alexandra Media. She adds that Teatro Luno is putting together a coalition of leaders and theatres of color.
Teatro Luna’s current production of “Crossed: (How Going South Flipped Our Script,” runs through Dec. 18 at the Viaduct Theater. They host a fundraising holiday party on Dec. 14, 6:30 p.m., at their new Clark St. location. Tickets are $15.
THREE OF THOSE 15 ARTS ORGANIZATIONS, which recently received grants of $25,000 apiece from the 2011 Chase Community Giving program tell how they will put their grant money to good use. .
Ensemble-driven Ka-Tet (the name means “a group of people brought together by ka, or fate, to achieve a common goal) founded in 2008 by Purdue Theatre alums Dan Meisner and Suzanne Miller, will hire a marketing consultant to assist with their summer 2012 production of John Godber’s “Salt of the Earth,” revamp their website, and expand stipends for artists.
Porchlight Music Theatre founded in 1994 by former artistic director Jill Moore, and located at the Theatre Building Chicago, will put the funds toward general operating support.
Repertoire dance ensemble Joel Hall Dancers and Center, which has been going strong since 1974, will use the funds to help replace the wooden floor in their tap studio, according to executive director Valerie Bushey.
They also will expand programming for their partnerships with the South Shore Cultural Center and with their Edgewater neighbor, Raven Theatre.
CONGRATS TO ACTRESS/SINGER JESSE MUELLER who is making her New York debut. She stars opposite Harry Connick, Jr. in the newly re-imagined Broadway staging of “On a Clear Day You Can See Forever,” opening Sunday, Dec. 11.
Connick called Mueller “a super freak” and “a crazy talent: on the “Today” show – and he meant it with great affection. (Those of us who have been blown away by Mueller’s pipes concur with Connick!)
ROUTE 66 THEATRE COMPANY will take its critically acclaimed production of A Twist of Water by Caitlin Montanye Parrish (which played Theater Wit and the Mercury earlier this year) to off-Broadway’s 59E59 theater next fall. All original cast will be on board.
The play, about a grieving gay father, his adopted daughter, and the phoenix-from-the-ashes nature of Chicago history, caught the eye – and praise — of Mayor Emanuel early in its first run.
Happy Holidays to all! Please send your news to kerryreid@comcast.net.
