CHF Announces FOUR WOMEN Cast

The Chicago Humanities Festival (CHF) presents Four Women: Josephine, Eartha, Nina, and Tina, this year's William and Greta Wiley Flory Concert, an annual cabaret performance, Monday, Nov. 2 as part of the 26th Fall Festival: Citizens, Oct. 24-Nov. 8. For the first time ever (due to high demand), the cabaret will have two performances, one at 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. at Francis W. Parker School. Created by Rob Lindley and Doug Peck and hosted by Lili-Anne Brown, Four Women will explore the lives and music of Josephine Baker, Eartha Kitt, Nina Simone,and Tina Turner. The production will feature performers Dee Alexander, Karla Beard-Leroy, E. Faye Butler, Monique Haley, Lynne Jordan, Alexis Rogers, and Bethany Thomas. Tickets range from $12-25 and are available at chicagohumanities.org or by calling the CHF Box Office at (312) 494-9509.

Four Women is the sixth CHF collaboration with Jeff Award-winning actor/director/writerRob Lindley and Jeff Award-winning music director Doug Peck. Previous Flory Concerts include Follies, A Night at the Oscars, Assassins, Birds Do It, Bees Do It...., and last year'sA Night at the Tonys. In keeping with the Fall Festival theme of Citizens, Four Women will explore the lives and careers of four African-American women who all became expatriates:Josephine Baker, Eartha Kitt, Nina Simone, and Tina Turner. Performances will include "Ne Me Quitte Pas," "Mississippi Goddam," "J'ai Deux Amours," "River Deep--Mountain High," "Private Dancer," and "I Want to Be Evil."

The cabaret will feature internationally recognized jazz singer Dee Alexander (Songs My Mother Loves), performer and music educator Karla Beard-Leroy (Once on This Island at Apple Tree Theatre; Voice of Good Hope at Victory Gardens Theater), six-time Jeff Award-winning actor E. Faye Butler (Hello Dolly! at Drury Lane Theatre; Caroline or Change at Court Theatre), choreographer and dancer Monique Haley (Aida at Drury Lane Oakbrook;Disney's Jungle Book at Goodman Theatre), acclaimed singer and entertainer Lynne Jordan (Lynne Jordan and the Shivers), Jeff Award-winning performer Alexis J. Rogers(Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill at Porchlight Music Theatre; Porgy and Bess at Court Theatre) and Jeff Award-winning musical theater artist Bethany Thomas (South Pacific at Marriott Theatre; Porgy and Bess at Court Theatre).

Rob Lindley's directing credits include: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill (Porchlight Music Theatre), and the Off-Broadway musical parody 50 Shades!: The Musical. As an actor, Lindley has been seen in James Joyce's The Dead, Angels in America: Parts 1 & 2, Caroline or Change, Carousel and The Secret Garden (Court Theatre); Bach at Liepzing, Oh Coward! (Writers' Theatre);Urinetown (Mercury Theatre); The Most Happy Fella (Ravinia Festival); and A New Brain,Sweeney Todd, and Closer Than Ever (Porchlight Music Theatre). Lindley won a Jeff Award for his performance in Oh Coward! and his cabaret trio Foiled Again has won an After Dark Award for Outstanding Cabaret Performance. Lindley can currently be seen at Northlight Theatre in Funnyman, starring Tim Kazurinsky and George Wendt.

Doug Peck is the winner of six Jeff Awards (The Jungle Book; Porgy and Bess; Caroline, or Change; Carousel; Fiorello!; and Man of La Mancha) and two After Dark Awards (Guys and Dolls; Hello, Again), as well as the Sarah Siddons Award and the Guy Adkins Award for his music direction and orchestrations in Chicago and across the country. Peck is a graduate of Northwestern University and also trained at the Interlochen Center for the Arts. He is a Creative Partner with the Goodman Theatre, an Artistic Associate with Porchlight Music Theatre, and a faculty member of the National High School Institute of the Arts. Peck is about to open Ride The Cyclone at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, and travels this season to Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles for productions of Kiss Me, Kate and Guys and Dolls.

Lili-Anne Brown, a native Chicagoan, works as an actor, director, and educator, and has performed in, directed, and produced many award-winning shows, both local and regional. She is Artistic Director of Bailiwick Chicago, an Artistic Associate of Timber Lake Playhouse, and a graduate of Northwestern University. She is a member of Actor's Equity, SAG-AFTRA, and an Associate of Stage Directors and Choreographers.

The Four Women orchestra is conducted by Music Director/Pianist Doug Peck and features: Guitarist Felton Offard, Bassist Larry Kohut, Drummer Robert Reddrick, Percussionist Sarah Allen, and Keyboardist Jaret Landon. The artistic team includes: Co-writer and Host Lili-Anne Brown, Director and Co-writer Rob Lindley, Projections and Video Designer Jon Runnfeldt, and Dramaturg Nikki Yeboah.

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