HOW TO BE A ROCK CRITIC and More Slated for Steppenwolf's LookOut Series 2017 Summer Lineup

Steppenwolf's LookOut Series has announced their summer lineup, which will feature a three week run of the acclaimed solo play, How To Be A Rock Critic (Based on the Writings of Lester Bangs) by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen, the award-winning writers of The Exonerated and Aftermath. The show will run July 6 - July 22 in Steppenwolf's 1700 Theatre (1700 N Halsted St); the press performance is Friday, July 7 at 8pm.

For the three week engagement each evening show will be followed by legendary Chicago area musicians playing some of Lester Bangs' personal favorite songs and artists. The lineup includes Bethany Thomas (July 6-8), The Lester Bangs Memorial Tribute Band with Jim DeRogatis (July 13-15) and David Singer & The Sweet Science (July 20-22).

The Saturday matinee performances are followed by discussions with Chicago area music professionals whose lives and trajectories have been wholly altered by the work of Lester Bangs; panelists will be announced at a later date.

America's greatest rock critic, gonzo journalist and inventor of the word "punk," legendary music writer Lester Bangs was an American icon. Lester traveled with some of the most iconic musical figures of the 20th century, peeling away the veneer between "star" and audience and revealing the "greats" as flawed and failing humans. Music could save the world. At least that's what you tell yourself when you start out. But when the ragged, rebel ethos of the seventies gave way to the corporate pop of the eighties, Lester lost the myth he'd built a life around, and died of a drug overdose in 1982. This solo play by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen adapts Lester's own writing to chart the life, work and death of one of the 20th century's most ground-breaking, risk-taking, pioneering voices.

Additional summer highlights include Strawdog Theatre's production of Barbecue by Robert O'Hara (a LookOut Visiting Company), Steppenwolf's new play development series SCOUT presenting a reading of La Ruta by Isaac Gomez, accessible performances of The Neo-Futurists' The Infinite Wrench, as well as evenings of live music, poetry, comedy and more. Full lineup below.

Tickets to most Summer LookOut programming go on sale May 11th at 11am through Audiences Services (1650 N Halsted), 312-335-1650 and steppenwolf.org. Steppenwolf Red and Black Card Members may use credits towards shows in the 1700 Theatre. Lineup below; prices vary. For information, visit steppenwolf.org/lookout.

Steppenwolf's 1700 Theatre is an 80-seat cabaret-style space connected to Steppenwolf's own Front Bar: Coffee and Drinks at 1700 N Halsted St., a creative space to grab a drink, have a bite, or meet up with friends and collaborators, day or night. Guests can take drinks into the theater.

For spring and summer Front Bar offers a new menu with food prepared by Goddess and Grocer. The menu focuses on fresh, accessible fare, featuring grab-and-go salads and sandwiches for lunch and adding shareable small plates and desserts for evening and post show service. Visit www.front-bar.com for more info.

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LookOut Summer Lineup:
Listed in date order. All artists, dates and prices subject to change.
*Doors open 30 minutes before performance time

The Neo-Futurists present The Infinite Wrench
Created, written, and performed by The Neo-Futurist Ensemble
Two performances featuring accessible services for people with disabilities
Friday, June 2 & Saturday, June 3
7pm
$15

The Infinite Wrench is a mechanism that unleashes a barrage of two-minute plays for a live audience. Each play offers something different-some are funny, others profound. Some are elegant, disgusting, topical, irrelevant, terrifying, or put to song. All of the plays are truthful and tackle the here-and-now, inspired by the lived experiences of the performers. The Infinite Wrench is The Neo-Futurists' ongoing and ever-changing attempt to shift the conventions of live performance and speak to the present audience, including those unreached or unmoved by other types of theater.

In pursuit of this mission, The Neo-Futurists are proud to present two performances featuring accessible services for people with disabilities. For people who are deaf or hard of hearing, the performance on Friday, June 2 will feature Open Captioning and ASL Interpretation; for people who are blind or have low vision, the performance on Saturday, June 3 will feature Audio Description and a pre-performance Touch Tour at 5:30pm.

The 1700 Theatre is wheelchair accessible and is equipped with an induction hearing loop for people who use personal hearing devices that have a T-coil. Front Bar, directly in front of the 1700 Theatre, has a push-button entrance, wheelchair accessible seating and multi-stall all-gender restrooms.

You're Being Ridiculous: PRIDE
Wednesday, June 7; Wednesday, June 14; & Wednesday, June 21
8pm
$20

At You're Being Ridiculous, real people tell true stories about their lives. Each performer is linked by our rotating themes, and by the desire to make you laugh-and, once in a while, cry. Our motto: Good stories are better than good times. We laugh at ourselves, and laugh with each other. Everyone has a story to tell. What's yours?

The Dilettantes presents: Science Night
Friday, June 9 and Saturday, June 10
8pm
$10

A live interactive game show that invites audience members to experience what it means to be a scientist on the cusp of glory...or failure. Scientists will face off against each other to win the title of Pre-Eminent Tandem Scientists by completing middle school science experiments. Scientists must outmaneuver their opponents all before time - or resources - run out.

SHADE: An ACTUALLY Diverse Comedy Show
Thursday, June 15
8pm
$20

Let's be frank: Comedy has a ways to go when it comes to making space for diverse voices and bodies. Across the country, there are strong, vibrant, and hilarious standup comics striving to break into the conversation. SHADE: An ACTUALLY Diverse Comedy Show is a showcase of stand ups of color and LGBTQI comedians. All are welcome, Shade is mandatory. Hosted and Produced By Colette Gregory and David Perez.
Lineup includes: Sammy Arechar, Kellye Howard, Peter Kim, Dina Nina Martinez, Shannon Noll and more.

An Evening with Bethany Thomas
Friday, June 16 & Saturday, June 17
8pm
$20

Join critically acclaimed performer and Jeff Award-winning actress Bethany Thomas for an acoustic, genre-spanning set of old favorites, originals, and one-night-only treats with her partners John Szymanski and PatRick Martin. Featuring special guests Jon Langford on June 16 and Doug Peck on June 17.

Erik & Jessie and Everyone You Know Variety Show
Monday, June 19
7:30pm
$15

Local actor/musicians Erik Hellman and Jessie Fisher return to LookOut to present their updated variant of the classic variety hour: Original music, special guests, comedy, magic, improv, and ephemera along with the tightest country/soul band in the land. Fast-paced, fun, funky and fresh.

SCOUT presents a reading of La Ruta
By Isaac Gomez
Directed by ensemble member Sandra Marquez
Thursday, June 22
7pm
Free, Reservation Required

The desert is hiding many secrets...some of them buried in the sand. Pulled from real testimonies, La Ruta follows two mothers searching for their missing daughters. Set in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, a city plagued by the unsolved murders of hundreds of women, this play with music examines a community of women attempting to live in the wake of unspeakable loss. Steppenwolf ensemble member Sandra Marquez directs this reading.

Steppenwolf's SCOUT is a play development series dedicated to workshopping new American plays by a diverse group of emerging and established playwrights in direct connection with our award-winning ensemble. This new play initiative, which serves as an incubator for season programming, consists of an intense three to five day workshop and culminates in a public reading. Future SCOUT readings will be announced throughout the year with the LookOut Series.

An Evening with the Fergus Daly Band and the Lonely Belles
Saturday, June 24
8pm
$10

The Fergus Daly Band combines unmatched lyrical content with bursting, electric musicianship creating an undeniably rich musical experience. The melodies will charm you, the words will move you, and the beats and guitar licks will have you dancing in the aisles. Come early to see the Lonely Belles, two of the sassiest Midwestern moms you've ever heard sing their hearts out.

WERKSHOP featuring music from Erick Deshaun Dorris
Monday, June 26
7:30pm
$15

In this one of a kind musical experience, musicians and singers create multiple versions of songs composed by Erick Deshaun Dorris. Live performances of the songs are recorded in front of a studio audience, and then the audience votes on their favorites. Versions with the most votes are released on iTunes, Spotify and most major digital music sites. Featuring Doug Abram, Natalie Grace Alford, Armando Pérez, and Brooke Reams. String Arrangements: Mike Pryzgoda. Audio Engineer: Paul Reszczynski.

How To Be A Rock Critic(Based on the Writings of Lester Bangs)
By Jessica Blank & Erik Jensen
Directed by Jessica Blank
Produced by ArKtype / Thomas O. Kriegsmann
Thursday, July 6 - Sunday, July 22
Press performance: July 7 at 8pm
Thursdays at 8pm
Fridays at 8pm
Saturdays at 3:30pm and 8pm
$30

Gonzo journalist, America's greatest rock critic and inventor of the word "punk," legendary music writer Lester Bangs was an American icon. Outsized, manic, fucked-up and impossibly creative, Lester traveled with some of the most iconic musical figures of the 20th century- The Clash, Bob Marley, Lou Reed- peeling away the veneer between "star" and audience and revealing the "greats" as flawed and failing humans. He was at once irreligious and messianic about his hopes for the future, humanity in general, and music in particular. Music could save the world. At least that's what you tell yourself when you start out. But when the ragged, rebel ethos of the seventies gave way to the corporate pop of the eighties, Lester lost the myth he'd built a life around, and died of a drug overdose in 1982.

This solo play by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen (award-winning writers of The Exonerated and Aftermath) adapts Lester's own writing to chart the life, work and death of one of the 20th century's most ground-breaking, risk-taking, pioneering voices.

For the three week engagement each evening show will be followed by legendary Chicago area musicians playing some of Lester Bangs's personal favorite songs and artists. The lineup includes Bethany Thomas (July 6-8), the Lester Bangs Memorial Tribute Band with Jim DeRogatis (July 13-15) and David Singer & The Sweet Science (July 20-22).The Saturday matinee performances are followed by discussions with Chicago-area music professionals whose lives and trajectories have been wholly altered by the work of Lester Bangs; panelists to be announced at a later date.

WE HERE: Growing Concerns Poetry Collective Record Release
Friday, August 4 & Saturday, August 5
9pm
$20

Growing Concerns Poetry Collective celebrates the release of its inaugural recording WE HERE. Fusing music with narrative, lyrical, and hip hop poetry, Mykele Deville, McKenzie Chinn, and Jeff Austin share the genre-defying work they have created and performed throughout Chicago since coming together at the start of 2017. Growing Concerns is poems + sound. Growing Concerns is #poemsforthepeople.

Strawdog Theatre Company presents
Barbecue by Robert O'Hara
A LookOut Visiting Company
Directed by Damon Kiely
August 17 - September 30$15-45

A modern American family uses a summer barbecue as a pretext to ambush sister Barbara with an intervention. If you think "all families are crazy" is just a cliché, you've not spent time under the influence of the O'Mallerys. An afternoon in the park with these raucous siblings and you'll be challenging your own assumptions about family, race, and reality. The Chicago premiere of Barbecue by Obie and Helen Hayes Award winner Robert O'Hara will have you laughing out loud and questioning how it's true that in America, you sometimes taze the ones you love.

Tickets for Barbecue go on sale Thursday, June 22 at 11am at 312-335-1650 and steppenwolf.org.

Coming this fall!
Lucky Plush Productions presents
Rooming House, a world premiere dance theater work
Co-created by Julia Rhoads and Leslie Buxbaum Danzig
November 4 - 19, 2017
Ticket pricing and performance schedule to be announced at a later date

In Rooming House, a disagreement about the classic story of Orpheus and Eurydice propels a group of friends into a physically and psychologically complex game of whodunit, solved through contemporary interpretations and personal storytelling. Rooming House offers a playful and lively blueprint for pursuing the question: what makes a person do something that could have shattering and irreparable consequences?

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LookOut is Steppenwolf's performance series that presents the work of artists and companies across genre and form, emerging artists and performance legends, quintessential Chicago companies and young aspiring ensembles, familiar Steppenwolf faces and new friends. Tickets to all LookOut programming are available through Audience Services (1650 N Halsted), steppenwolf.org or 312-335-1650. Prices vary for each show. Steppenwolf Red Card and Black Card Members may use credits towards any LookOut programming.

The LookOut Series is presented year-round and announced on an ongoing basis. John Zinn, Greta Honold and Patrick Zakem are the producers for LookOut. For more information, visit steppenwolf.org/lookout.

Located in front of the 1700 Theatre is Steppenwolf's café & bar, Front Bar: Coffee and Drinks. Open daily from 8am to midnight, Front Bar is a creative space to grab a drink, have a bite, or meet up with friends and collaborators, day or night. Front Bar serves artisanal coffee and expresso is provided by La Colombe and has a new menu for this spring and summer with food prepared by Goddess and Grocer. The menu focuses on fresh, accessible fare, featuring grab-and-go salads and sandwiches for lunch and adding shareable small plates and desserts for evening and post show service. Functioning as a stand-alone entity, the café & bar also connects to Steppenwolf's existing main building creating an expanded lobby space. More info at front-bar.com.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company is the nation's premier ensemble theater-redefining the landscape of acting and performance. Formed by a collective of actors in 1976, the ensemble has grown to 48 members who represent a remarkable cross-section of actors, directors and playwrights. Thrilling and powerful productions from Balm in Gilead to August: Osage County-and accolades that include the National Medal of Arts and 12 Tony Awards-have made the theater legendary. Steppenwolf produces hundreds of performances and events annually in its three spaces: the 515-seat Downstairs Theatre, the 299-seat Upstairs Theatre and the 80-seat 1700 Theatre. Artistic programing includes a seven-play season; a two-play Steppenwolf for Young Adults season; Visiting Company engagements; and LookOut, a multi-genre performances series. Education initiatives include the nationally recognized work of Steppenwolf for Young Adults, which engages 15,000 participants annually from Chicago's diverse communities; the esteemed School at Steppenwolf; and Professional Leadership Programs for arts administration training. While firmly grounded in the Chicago community, nearly 40 original Steppenwolf productions have enjoyed success both nationally and internationally, including Broadway, Off-Broadway, London, Sydney, Galway and Dublin. Anna D. Shapiro is the Artistic Director and David Schmitz is the Executive Director. Eric Lefkofsky is Chair of Steppenwolf's Board of Trustees. For additional information, visit steppenwolf.org, facebook.com/steppenwolftheatre, twitter.com/steppenwolfthtr and instagram.com/steppenwolfthtr.

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