ELEGY Makes Chicago Debut at Victory Gardens, Now thru 12/1

The Elegy Project has announced the Chicago premiere of Elegy, tonight, October 31 - December 1, written by Ron Hirsen and directed by Dennis Zacek at the Richard Christiansen Theater at Victory Gardens Biograph, 2433 Lincoln Ave.

Preview performances are Thursday, Oct. 31 at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 1 at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 2 at 5 and 8:30 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 3 at 3 p.m. Opening/press night is Tuesday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m.and will be followed by a reception. The performance schedule is Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 5 and 8:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. There is no performance Thursday, Nov. 28 and an added performance Sunday, Dec. 1 at 7:00 p.m. Ticket prices are $30 for previews, $48 for opening night and $42 for the regular run. All tickets go on sale August 1 at 10 a.m. and are available at victorygardens.org, elegyproject.org or 773.871.3000

Elegy, a moving story that weaves through time and location, from Kristallnacht in Berlin to contemporary New York, dramatizes the perpetual torment of Holocaust survivors, the anguish felt by their Jewish American children and the conflict that occurs with the clash between the two generations.

The cast includes Greg Vinkler, "Helmut;" Iris Liberman, "Hilde," Justin Leider, "Jerry" and Bernard Beck, "Papa."

The production team is Grant Sabin, scenic design; Claire Chrzan, lighting design; Delia Ridenour, costume design; Scott Miller, sound design and Tina Jach, stage manager.

ABOUT Dennis Zacek, director: Dennis Zacek held the position of artistic director at Victory Gardens Theatre for 30 years, and recently accepted the Actor's Equity Association's (AEA) Spirit Recognition Award. The Spirit Award is given to institutions that "have made non-traditional casting a way of life." He also received the 2005 Jeff Award for Outstanding Achievement in Chicago Equity Theatre. He, his wife Marcelle McVay, and the theater are co-recipients of the 2001 Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre. He is also the recipient of the 2004 Artistic Leadership Award from the League of Chicago Theatres. Zacek and Ms. McVay received the 1999 Rosetta LeNoire Award from Actors' Equity and the 1998 Sidney R. Yates Arts Advocacy Award from the Illinois Arts Alliance Foundation. He has directed more than 250 productions in his career, including, most recently, the successful Drury Lane Oakbrook production of Boeing, Boeing. Zacek is a professor emeritus of Loyola University and was included in 2005 in Utne magazine's first-ever list of "Artists Who Will Shake the World."

ABOUT Ron Hirsen, playwright: Ron Hirsen is a resident playwright at Chicago Dramatists, he has had his plays produced and read in Chicago and throughout the country including Wisdom Bridge and the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. Elegy premiered at the Walnut Street Theatre in Philadelphia in 2002. The Frugal Repast was developed at the O'Neill in 2004 and premiered at the Abingdon Theatre in New York in 2007 and was staged again in 2012 at the Greenbrier VAlley Theatre in West Virginia. Land Where My Fathers Died, received the John Gassner Memorial Playwright Award for 2008 and the Dionysus Cup from Polarity Ensemble Theatre in Chicago in 2012. Hirsen is a member of the Dramatists Guild, a former member of Actors Equity and has served on the staffs of Victory Gardens, The Theater School of DePaul and as a consultant to other Chicago theatre companies.

Elegy, October 31 - December 1, written by Ron Hirsen and directed by Dennis Zacek at the Richard Christiansen Theater at Victory Gardens Biograph, 2433 Lincoln Ave. Preview performances are Thursday, Oct. 31 at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 1 at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 2 at 5 and 8:30 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 3 at 3 p.m. Opening/press night is Tuesday, Nov. 5 at 7 p.m. and will be followed by a reception. The performance schedule is Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 p.m., Saturdays at 5 and 8:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. There is no performance Thursday, Nov. 28. Ticket prices are $30 for previews, $48 for opening night and $42 for the regular run. All tickets go on sale August 1 at 10 a.m. and are available at victorygardens.org, elegyproject.org or773.871.3000

A portion of the ticket revenue goes to the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center. A benefit performance will be held for the Holocaust Community Services Leadership Committee of the Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago.

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