With Love and a Major Organ at Boise Contemporary Theater

CHICAGO-Strawdog Theatre Company, Artistic Director Hank Boland and Hugen Hall Artistic Director Anderson Lawfer are proud to announce the first production in its 2015–2016 Hugen Hall season, the United States premiere of Julia Lederer’s With Love and a Major Organ, September 12 – October 14, directed by Thrisa Hodits at Hugen Hall in Strawdog Theatre Company, 3829 N. Broadway St. Opening night performance is Monday, Sept. 14 at 8 p.m. The performance schedule is Saturdays at 4 p.m., Sundays at 12 p.m., and Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m. with an added performance Wednesday, Oct. 14 at 8p.m. Preview tickets are $10, single tickets are $15 and are currently on sale. Based on availability, a limited number of rush tickets are available at 50% off one hour prior to curtain and must be purchased in person at the box office. Subscriptions, group, senior and student discounts are also available. Tickets may be ordered online at strawdog.org or by calling OvationTix toll free: 866.811.4111.

A young woman finds she’s given her heart, the actual, beating muscle, to a boy she’s just met on the subway. With Love and a Major Organ was first produced at the Toronto Fringe and Next Stage Theatre Festivals, where it was awarded “Patron’s Pick,” “Best of Fringe” and named “Outstanding New Play” by NOW Magazine. Thrisa Hodtis, the assistant director of The Hypocrites’ epic All Our Tragic helms this edgy tale of love in the age of social media.

The cast includes Tom Murphy, Melissa Riemer, and Abby Pierce with understudy Jill Karrenbrock. The production team includes Strawdog Company members John Kelly, light designer; Heath Hays, sound designer; with guest artists Ashley Ann Woods, scenic design; Delia Baseman, costume design; Jamie Karas, properties designer and Jen Poulin, assistant director.

ABOUT JULIA LEDERER, playwright

Lederer is a Toronto-based writer and performer. Her work has been seen in New York, Los Angeles, London, Toronto and now Chicago. Recent other projects include Spooning (Midtown International Short Play Festival: NY), Frame (Seven Collective: NY), Emotional Self-Mutilation (Gi60: NY), Reality Theatre (Driftwood Theatre Jury Prize Winner, 2014), and developing her first play for young audiences, It’s Nothing, with Roseneath Theatre in Toronto. Film/Television include Upstaged (Great Lake Productions, LA Comedy Festival Selection, 2013), Self-Esteem On Pizza (rorbi web short). Lederer’s new play, The Best Plan for Living Happily, will be produced with Birdtown & Swanville Theatre in Toronto next April.

ABOUT THRISA HODITS, director

With Love marks Hodits directing debut with Strawdog Theatre. This summer, she was the second director on the 12-hour All Our Tragic and is currently assistant directing Second Nature, a new children’s opera at Lyric Opera. This fall, Hodits will direct for The Inconvenience’s Citizens Anthology as well as co-direct alongside Sean Graney for The Hypocrites’ Gilbert & Sullivan regional tour to Berkeley Repertory Theatre, Actors Theatre of Louisville, American Repertory Theatre and The Olney Theatre. In spring 2016, she will direct a world premiere play for The New Colony. Hodits has worked with The Strange Tree Group, Victory Gardens, Steppenwolf, 2nd Story, Jackalope Theatre Company, The Inconvenience, First Floor Theatre and is a proud member of The Hypocrites and The New Colony.

ABOUT STRAWDOG THEATRE COMPANY

Since its founding in 1988, Strawdog Theatre Company has offered Chicagoland the premiere storefront theatre experience and garnered numerous Non-Equity Jeff Awards with its commitment to ensemble acting and an immersive design approach. The celebrated Company develops new work, re-imagines the classics, melds music with theatre, asks provocative questions and delivers their audience the unexpected.

ABOUT HUGEN HALL

Under Hugen Hall’s Artistic Director Anderson Lawfer, Hugen Hall has grown from a cabaret space and Chicago’s “Best Theater Bar” (Chicago Reader) to a fully functional performance and gallery space. Over the past two seasons of presenting productions, Lawfer has overseen, and often directed, various premieres and new productions varying from superheroes in conflict to zombie world domination to family fare with many of Chicago’s leading talents. In addition, Hugen Hall has also displayed artwork from David Csicsko and other Chicago artists that reflect the action onstage.

The neighborhood has limited paid parking and is easily accessible by public transportation (via the Red Line Sheridan stop, plus 36-Broadway, 80-Irving Park, and 151-Sheridan buses).

Strawdog Theatre Company, Artistic Director Hank Boland and Hugen Hall Artistic Director Anderson Lawfer are proud to announce the first production in its 2015 – 2016 Hugen Hall season, the United States Premiere of Julia Lederer’s With Love and a Major Organ, September 12 – October 13, directed by Thrisa Hodits at Hugen Hall in Strawdog Theatre Company, 3829 N. Broadway St.. Opening night performance is Monday, Sept. 14 at

8 p.m. The performance schedule is Saturdays at 4 p.m., Sundays at 12 p.m., and Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m, with an added performance on Wednesday, October 14 at 8p.m.. Preview tickets are $10, single tickets are $15 and are currently on sale. Based on availability, a limited number of rush tickets are available at 50% off one hour prior to curtain and must be purchased in person at the box office.Subscriptions, group, senior and student discounts are also available. Tickets may be ordered online at strawdog.org or by calling OvationTix tollfree: 866.811.4111.

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Strawdog Theatre Company is supported in part by The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the Alphawood Foundation, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, the Illinois Arts Council (a state agency) and the annual support of businesses and individuals.

Photo features Abby Pierce. Credit to Jon Cole Media.