Hubbard Street and The Second City Extend THE ART OF FALLING at Millennium Park

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago Artistic Director Glenn Edgerton, and Erica Daniels, President of Second City Theatricals, are delighted to announce the return by popular demand of Hubbard Street + The Second City's acclaimed collaboration THE ART OF FALLING, at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Millennium Park, located at 205 East Randolph Street in Chicago. Single tickets are now on sale for this special encore engagement, opening June 9 and now extended through June 19, 2016.

All ticket-holders for the June 9 performance are welcome to enjoy a Champagne reception at the Harris Theater beginning at 5pm. Following the opening-night performance at 6pm, Hubbard Street will hold its Season 38 Spotlight Ball at the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel, located at 221 North Columbus Drive in Chicago, with Honorary Chair Andrew Alexander, CEO/Executive Producer of The Second City. For their leadership commitments, Hubbard Street thanks Season 38 Spotlight Ball Presenting Sponsor Kenneth C. Griffin; Season 38 Spotlight Ball Benefactors Sara Albrecht, Denise Stefan Ginascol and John Ginascol, Grosvenor Capital Management, and David Herro and Jay Franke; and Season 38 Spotlight Ball Sponsors Allstate; Meg and Tim Callahan; Lew Collens; Patti Eylar and Charles Gardner; Illinois Tool Works; Jenner & Block, LLP; Richard L. Rodes; Deborah and Kelly Stonebraker; and Jamie and Rob Taylor. Further details about Hubbard Street's Season 38 Spotlight Ball including special guests, auction items and more will be announced at a later date. Spotlight Ball reservations begin at $700 per guest; table reservations and sponsorship opportunities start at $7,000. All proceeds from the Spotlight Ball support Hubbard Street Dance Chicago's education, community and artistic programs. For more information, contact Lizzy Fahey at 312-553-2000, via email at efahey@pjhchicago.com, or visit pjhchicago.com/hubbardstreetdance. Cocktail attire is requested.

(In addition today, Hubbard Street is happy to announce that more than $80,000 was raised at its 13th annual Bold Moves for Bold Women event, held on March 17 at Baker & McKenzie, LLP. Click here to view and download the post-event release for more details, and click here to access a set of high-resolution images as well as a PDF with complete captions for each.)

Helmed by Jeff Award-winning director Billy Bungeroth (The Second City Guide to the Opera), the largest creative team in Hubbard Street's 38-year history, including more than 30 performers, were assembled to devise THE ART OF FALLING, written by Tim Mason with Carisa Barreca, T. J. Jagodowski, Kate James, Chris Redd and the casts of The Second City; and choreographed by Alejandro Cerrudo, Lucas Crandall, Jonathan Fredrickson, Terence Marling and Robyn Mineko Williams. Named to "best of 2014" lists by the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times and Newcity, and lauded by dance and theater critics throughout Chicago, THE ART OF FALLING was declared "hugely entertaining and strikingly emotional," and "not-to-be-missed" by Chicago Tribune chief theater critic Chris Jones. The production "has real legs," wrote theater and dance critic Hedy Weiss for the Chicago Sun-Times, "a buoyant spirit counterbalanced by a genuine sense of gravity." Kris Vire, associate editor and chief theater critic at Time Out Chicago, said, "it's hard to imagine a more seamless marriage" than Hubbard Street and The Second City's collaboration.

The unique two-act production, which combines sketch comedy with contemporary dance, musical theater, and improvisation, returns by popular demand to Chicago following its equally successful west coast premiere in November 2015, through Glorya Kaufman Presents Dance at The Music Center's Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles. "Uproarious sketch-comedy [and] first-rate contemporary dance," wrote Lewis Segal of The Los Angeles Times, "a wildly entertaining barrage of sight and sound, words and moves." Downtown Los Angeles News declared, "dance will never be funnier, and comedy will never be more graceful," while NBC4 Los Angeles noted, it's "a mash-up to end all mash-ups."

Musical direction, original composition and sound design for THE ART OF FALLING is by Julie B. Nichols, with additional instrumentation by Emma Dayhuff, and Hubbard Street Dancer David Schultz. The show's improvised scenes are coached and created by T.J. Jagodowski and Hubbard Street 2 Director Terence Marling, with set designs by Martin Andrew, lighting by Michael Korsch, costumes by Branimira Ivanova, properties design by Tierra G. Novy, and video design and production by HMS Media.

As part of Hubbard Street's expanded programming for audience engagement, four special pre-performance events will be offered during the Season 38 Summer Series.

In the Harris Theater balcony on Friday, June 10 and Friday, June 17 at 7pm, ticket-holders are welcome to attend casual conversations with members of the creative team for Hubbard Street + The Second City's THE ART OF FALLING. Admission is free and no advance reservations are required.

In the Harris Theater's Level 2 Donor Room on Sunday, June 11 and Sunday, June 19 at 2pm, ticket-holders are welcome to attend "The First Dance" cocktail receptions with light refreshments, hosted by members of the creative team for Hubbard Street + The Second City's THE ART OF FALLING. Admission to "The First Dance" is $10 per person and space is limited; call 312-850-9744 for reservations.

Hubbard Street's Season 38 Summer Series is at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance in Millennium Park, located at 205 East Randolph Street in Chicago, and the complete performance schedule is as follows:

• Thursday June 9, 2016 at 6pm, followed by the Season 38 Spotlight Ball at 8:30pm
• Friday June 10, 2016 at 8pm
• Saturday June 11, 2016 at 8pm
• Sunday June 12, 2016 at 3pm
• Thursday June 16, 2016 at 7:30pm
• Friday June 17, 2016 at 8pm
• Saturday June 18, 2016 at 8pm
• Sunday June 19, 2016 at 3pm

Single tickets for the Season 38 Summer Series start at $30 and are available now, online at hubbardstreetdance.com/summer or by phone to the Hubbard Street Ticket Office at 312-850-9744. Discounted rates and add-on experiences are available for groups of 10 or more patrons; visit hubbardstreetdance.com/groups or call 312-850-9744 ext. 164 for more information.

The world premiere, five-performance engagement of Hubbard Street + The Second City's THE ART OF FALLING was commissioned by the Harris Theater for Music and Dance, with support from Sandra and Jack Guthman through the Imagine campaign. Hubbard Street Dance Chicago extends special thanks to its Season 38 Sponsors Athletico, Official Provider of Physical Therapy; Chicago Athletic Clubs, Official Health Club; Crain's Chicago Business, Season 38 Media Sponsor; and 98.7 WFMT, Season 38 Radio Sponsor. Season 38 Summer Series Sponsors are Wessex 504 Corporation, and Baker & McKenzie, Diversity Partner.

Rooted in the improvisational games of Viola Spolin, The Second City opened in Chicago in December 1959 and began developing its entirely unique way of creating and performing comedy. Founded by Spolin's son, Paul Sills, along with Howard Alk and Bernie Sahlins, The Second City was experimental and unconventional in its approaches to both theater and comedy, railing against conformist culture with scenes that spoke to a younger generation. Broadway successes for Mike Nichols and Elaine May -- members of The Second City's predecessor, The Compass Players -- put attention on the fledgling company. Alumni such as Alan Arkin, Barbara Harris, Robert Klein, David Steinberg and Fred Willard cemented the theater's reputation for developing multiple generations of comedic voices.

The original October 1975 cast of NBC's Saturday Night Live included alumni John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd and Gilda Radner, and The Second City became internationally recognized. The Second City's sister theater in Canada developed its own sketch comedy series, SCTV, hailed as one of the greatest of all time with an all-star cast including Martin Short, Andrea Martin, Catherine O'Hara, John Candy, Eugene Levy, Dave Thomas, Joe Flaherty and Rick Moranis. By the mid-1980s, The Second City began a new era as Second City Toronto proprietors Andrew Alexander and Len Stuart bought out Bernie Sahlins' interest in The Second City Chicago and set in motion a new era of innovation for the company.

Today, The Second City continues to produce premier comic talent, its imprint felt across the entertainment industry, as represented by alumni Mike Myers, Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, Tina Fey and many others. The organization has diversified as it's grown, launching Second City Training Centers in Chicago, Toronto and Los Angeles; four touring companies performing Second City revues across North America and abroad; Second City Communications, an industry leader in bringing improv-based methodologies to the corporate sector; and a growing commitment to producing innovative, original content for film, television and the digital realm. Visit secondcity.com to learn more.

Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, under the artistic leadership of Glenn Edgerton, celebrates its 38th season in 2015 and 2016. Among the world's top contemporary dance companies and a global cultural ambassador, Hubbard Street demonstrates fluency in a wide range of techniques and forms, and deep comprehension of abstract artistry and emotional nuance. The company is critically acclaimed for its exuberant and innovative repertoire, featuring works by master American and international choreographers. Hubbard Street's artists hail from four countries and 12 U.S. states, and comprise a superlative ensemble of virtuosity and versatility. Since its founding by Lou Conte in 1977, Hubbard Street has grown through the establishment of multiple platforms. Each is dedicated to the support and advancement of dance as an art form, as a practice, and as a method for generating and sustaining communities of all kinds.

Hubbard Street 2, directed by Terence Marling, cultivates young professional dancers, identifies next-generation choreographers, and performs domestically and abroad, in service of arts education, collaboration, experimentation and audience development.

Extensive Youth, Education and Community Programs, directed by Kathryn Humphreys, are models in the field of arts education, linking the performing company's creative mission to the lives of students and families. Hubbard Street also initiated the first dance-based program in the Midwest to help alleviate suffering caused by Parkinson's disease. Youth Dance Program classes at the Hubbard Street Dance Center include Creative Movement and progressive study of technique, open to young dancers ages 18 months to 18 years.

At the Lou Conte Dance Studio, directed by founding Hubbard Street Dancer Claire Bataille, workshops and master classes allow access to expertise, while a broad variety of weekly classes offer training at all levels in jazz, ballet, dance fitness, modern, tap, African, hip-hop, yoga, Pilates and more.??

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