Giant Cherry and Glitterati's THE GLASS PROTEGE Opens Tonight at Theater Wit

Giant Cherry Productions in association with Glitterati Productions presents the U.S. premiere of The Glass Protégé, written by Dylan Costello with direction by John Nasca. Press opening is set for tonight, February 26, 2015 at 7:45 pm at Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont, Chicago, Ilinois.

Hollywood, 1949. A time when the movies are king and the movie stars merely pawns for the studio bosses. A time when passion was lauded but sex was never discussed. So when naïve young actor Patrick Glass embarks on a scandalous homosexual love affair with his famous co-star, he starts to feel the full force of the studio's career-destroying muscle. Forty years later, as the truths of the past are uncovered, the true consequences of this "unacceptable" romance come to light. A powerful drama about money, image, and the power-obsessed "Hollywood machine."

Featuring: David Besky, Chazie Bly, Baird Brutscher, Christopher Carpenter, Tom Chiola, Tracey Green, Michelle McKenzie-Voigt, and Britt-Marie Sivertsen.

The show closes March 29, 2015. For more information, visit www.theaterwit.org.

ABOUT THE CAST:

David Besky (George) - David has appeared in Pride Films and Plays' Under a Rainbow Flag and Some Men. He was also in 42nd Street at Theatre at the Centre in Munster, IN and and Almost and Evening at Circle Theatre. He was seen in Our Leading Lady, Rudolph, The Red Hosed Reindeer, Lady X, Poseidon: An Upside Down Musical and TROGG, a Musical, Enter the Guardsman, Babes in Arms, Urinetown and he played George Hay in Moon Over Buffalo for Glitterati Productions. Currently he can be seen in Light Opera Works' production of The Merry Widow.

Chazie Bly (Patrick) - Chazie received his BA in both Theatre and Women's Studies from Penn State. Favorite credits include The History Boys, The Odyssey, Love's Labour's Lost, Metamorphoses (Pennsylvania Centre Stage), Ten Unknowns, and Harper Regan (Next Stage). Recently, he joined the cast of Hell in a Handbag's The Birds and modeled for Heatherette. Chazie holds his Professional Educator License as a certified Learning Behavior Specialist and Theatre instructor through the Teach for America Corps.

Baird Brutscher (Jackson) - Baird was active in the Minneapolis/St.Paul theatre community for several years including productions for the Minnesota Fringe Festival and the Guthrie Theater, as well as independent film projects. He holds a BA in Theatre with a minor in Music performance from Concordia University, St. Paul. In Chicago he has worked with The Runaways, Genesis Theatricals and Viable productions. Currently, he is appearing as Vladimir Panshin in On The Spot's original adaptation of the Russian novel Home of the Gentry. Baird also appeared in a thrice nominated short for the 2013 Guerilla film competition.

Christopher Carpenter (Lloyd) - Chris has worked as an actor, fight choreographer and Director of Proposal Development for Anthem BCBS. You can see the connection, right? Chris was previously seen as Sam the Snowman for 4 years in Rudolph the Red-Hosed Reindeer, Pussy on the House (Hell in a Handbag), North Shore Fish (Paper Moon), Company (Porchlight). Credits outside of Chicago include I Hate Hamlet, Laughter on the 23rd Floor, It's a Wonderful Life, Eating Raoul, Picasso at the Lapin Agile, Glengarry Glen Ross, Assassins, Romeo & Juliet and Hamlet. Chris is a graduate of Wright State University's BFA Acting program.

Tom Chiola (Pat) - Tom started his second career as an actor in Bailiwick Chicago's f-ing Men. You may have seen him in Theo Ubique's A Very Merry Madrigal or BoHo's Icarus or the concert version of Pride Films and Play's Under A Rainbow Flag. Tom has also worked with Remy Bumppo on Seascape and Steep Theatre on The Knowledge. Tom has been an LGBT community activist, lawyer, and Circuit Court Judge, and he is a proud member of the Pride Films and Plays Acting Ensemble. Most recently Tom appeared in Some Men and Take me Out.

Tracey Green (Ava) - Tracey is a graduate of Northwestern University with a BA in Theatre. She previously played the role of "Ann" in Eclectic Theatre's production of All My Sons, and in the fall she will be portraying "Agatha Wylie" in Piccolo Theatre's upcoming production of Smash. She recently completed a directing apprenticeship with Redmoon Theater and continues to collaborate as both as a performer and director on spectacle events and productions. When she is not onstage, she can be found teaching group exercise classes at a number of Chicago gym locations.

Michelle McKenzie-Voigt - Michelle has worked with such Chicago theaters as Light Opera Works, Profiles, Provision, Organic, and Handbag, among many others. Favorite roles include Rose (Gypsy), Joanne (Company), Lily Mortar (The Children's Hour) and Sissie (Sordid Lives), for which she won a 2012 Broadway World Chicago Award as Best Non-Equity Actress. A five-time Chicago Emmy Award-nominee, Michelle is a proud company member of both Glitterati Productions and Pride Films and Plays. She is delighted to be reunited with her favorite living British playwright, having performed the role of an 80-year-old Marilyn Monroe in a reading of his delightful Hello Norma Jeane.

Britt-Marie Sivertsen - Britt-Marie was last seen doing the "shimmy" in the Jeff Award nominated Smokey Joe's Cafe. She can also be seen on YouTube in Episode 5 of the web series Easy Abby, and associated with "Some Guys I Know" productions. Some of her favorite roles include Mercutio (R&J), the Narrator (JatATD), and an ensemble built version of Urinetown. When she's not in shows, she can be found in the gym, training clients, coaching kids, and in the studio teaching yoga.

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