Girl Monday Holds Reading of DUO: 1 IS 1, 2 IS MATH

Duo: 1 Is 1 ;  2 Is Math." ...The  "I Do I Do" for the new century. The story follows a couple from their first meeting (played by Chicago veterans Suzanne Petri and Roger Anderson) through their marriage.  A Union filled with the ups and downs of their relationship as they move through their life together, growing, moving, changing, through difficult times and life's lessons until they discover "Why We Stuck."  They are funny and moving and human.  This sophisticated yet approachable play, directed by Steppenwolf ensemble member, Robert Breuler,  is filled with new and affecting music composed by Elizabeth Doyle.  "Duo" is a new work that appeals to everyone from the young couples starting out to couples that are in the middle years-the difficult time in a relationship that is everyday yet long lasting. The story comes alive with insight, intelligence and wit.  This is a staged reading and the producers, SuzBo Entertainment welcome suggested donations and feedback is strongly encouraged.  A reception with refreshment will follow immediately after the reading.

Roger Anderson Roger's local credits include: Marriott Theatre:  Joseph (2000, 2009), Aladdin, The Producers, Sunset Boulevard, Mame, Victor/Victoria. Drury Lane Oakbrook:  Something's Afoot, Dames At Sea, Evita, Pirates of Penzance, Once Upon A Mattress.   Light Opera Works:  Decline and Fall ...Cole Porter (Jeff nominated).  Porchlight Theatre:  Closer Than Ever (After Dark Award)    Northlight Theatre:  Side Show.  Drury Lane Evergreen Park: Georges (Jeff nominated) in La Cage Aux Folles (Jeff Award).  Ravinia:  Anyone Can Whistle, Passion, Doll. For the past three seasons, Roger has toured the country as the title character in the Classical Kids production of Tchaikovsky Discovers America.  Regional Theatre: Pontius Pilate in Jesus Christ Superstar, Harold Hill in Music Man, KoKo in The Mikado, Fred/Petruchio in Kiss Me Kate, P.T. Barnum in Barnum, Herbie in Gypsy, Sky Masterson in Guys and Dolls, Michael in I Do! I Do!, and the New England premier of Putting It Together.  He sings with the vocal quintet Table for Five and, along with his work as an actor, is a practicing Speech/Language Pathologist.

Bob Breuler is celebrating his 39th year as a member of Actors Equity Association. From his first role at Joe Papp's New York Public Theatre where he played Kress in David Rabe's The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel to Mornings at Seven at Drury Lane-Water Tower, he has played over one hundred roles, including Big Daddy in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof; Moe in Riverview and Dean Strauss in Spinning Into Butter, at the Goodman. Bob is a member of the Steppenwolf acting ensemble where he has performed in some 40 roles over 23 years. Some favorites: Botvinnic in A Walk in the Woods also by Lee Blessing, Father Lux in Our Lady of 121st Street, Pa Joad in The Grapes of Wrath, Charlie "Blackie" Blackwell in John Olive's Killers which he recently directed at the Mary Archie Theatre. Favorite plays: Cherry Orchard, A Lesson Before Dying, The Time of Your Life, Mother Courage and Her Children, Uncle Vanya, The Infidel, and Molly Sweeney.
Television credits: Prison Break, Early Edition, NYPD-Blue, The Untouchables, Angel Street and in made-for-TV movies such as Open Admissions, The Father Clements Story, and Keeper of the City with Lou Gossett Jr. Films include The Crucible, Trial by Jury, The Company, Love and Action in Chicago, Miles from Home, A Piece of Eden, and Suspended Animation. He recently performed at Millennium Park where he was in Studs Terkel's Will the Circle be Unbroken? One of his favorite roles was with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra where he played The Devil in Stravinsky's The Soldier's Tale. On Broadway he has been in The Grapes of Wrath, The Song of Jacob Zulu, Carousel and Death of a Salesman. He is a recipient of the William and Eva Fox Fellowship Grant.

A featured guest on Marian McPartland's NPR program Piano Jazz, Elizabeth Doyle was the magnet for many years at Chicago's famed Pump Room. Recently at the Dank Haus presenting a World War II cabaret and at the North Lakeside Jazz Supper Club night in Not Just a Boys Club: Women's Contributions to the Great American Songbook, Doyle had three of her musicals on stage this past year: "Sleepy Hollow" with productions in Chicago and California, The White City presented at the Writers Bloc Festival and at IIT sponsored by the Mies Van der Rohe Society and the work-in-progress Duo.  This past May, she was music-director and performer in a tribute to Blossom Dearie at Skokie Theatre. Other music direction projects include Summer On the Seine at Theater 773 and Marcie, the Marvelous Tree for Theatre-Hikes. Elizabeth has two CDs available, "Elizabeth Doyle" and "Time Flies."  www.elizabethdoylemusic.com
 
Suzanne Petri is an actor, singer, producer, director and a proud ensemble member of American Blues Theater.  A Jeff nominated actor, she recently played Grandma in the Jeff nominated Tobacco Road with ABT and Lysistrata for the Poetry Foundation at Victory Gardens Theater.  She was seen in Kid-Simple, The Hairy Ape,Two Rooms, A Lie of the Mind, The Threepenny Opera, The People's Temple and Oklahoma. Her show, "Marlene Muzik," A Tribute To Marlene Dietrich: The Actress, The Music, The Desire, receives raves as do her many musical concoctions. She was honored with the Gold Coast Award for Cabaret excellence, the After Dark Award for Outstanding Cabaret Artist and she is the president of the Chicago Cabaret Professionals. Her film and TV work includes  Lac du Flambeau, Just Visiting, Milwaukee, Minnesota, Early Edition and Evil Has A Face. Suzanne and husband Bob Breuler (SuzBo Entertainment Events) are looking forward to their upcoming production of the original musical Duo.

Playwright Bill C. Thomas says of Duo, "It's the most mainstream play with music I have written to date. It is sprinkled with the magic dust of honesty. It addresses the sheer work of long-term material commitment and the mathematics of faith required to make such marriages work."
Thomas has written and produced 20 experimental plays during a 40 year time span. These include Home Movie, a multimedia theatrical event at the School of the Art Institute; Starstruck, a rock musical at a musicians' warehouse in Chicago; Burst!, a history of theatre event in Portland, Oregon, and Chairs, an audience-participation event, SoHo, New York. His theatrical events often combine live actors, live music, film, slides, sound-on-tape, and special lighting effects.
He has produced 75 special events, including the Berghoff Street Festival, and similar festivals in Lakeview, Andersonville, and at Navy Pier. Thomas, a former journalist, previously was a publisher of poetry and art books guest-edited by such artists as Andy Warhol/Gerald Malanga; and Gary Snyder as well as producer of poetry chapbooks by James Broughton, Ruth Krauss, and Philip Whalen, among others.

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