JACK GOES BOATING Opens Tonight at Redtwist Theatre

A Chicago Premiere* - Jack Goes Boating by Bob Glaudini will be directed by Laley Lippard and opens tonight, October 19, at 3pm at Redtwist Theatre.

Part of Redtwist's new off-night series called MORE RED. Performed in rotating rep with Redtwist's MAIN season show, Clybourne Park, and its DARK RED late-night series show, Please Say Yes.

Andy Hager revisits the title role of Jack opposite Joanne Dubach, fresh from her role as Laura in The Glass Menagerie. The show is directed by Northwestern MFA grad, Laley Lippard.

THE HISTORY OF THE PLAY: In March, 2007, Jack Goes Boating was first produced by the highly respected Greenwich Village-based, LAByrinth Theater Company. Their world-premiere was staged at The Public Theatre. It was a very successful production featuring company member, Philip Seymour Hoffman, who had won the Oscar one year prior for his role in Capote (Hoffman directed the film version of Jack Goes Boating in 2010 with the same cast that appeared with him onstage, except for Amy Ryan, who replaced Beth Cole as Jack's love interest, Connie).

In July, 2007, the full playscript was published in American Theatre Magazine. At that point, given the success of the New York production, and the major reach of the magazine, the playwright and the licensing company, Samuel French, Inc., were likely expecting a major Chicago venue to produce the play in the 2008-2009 season.
*In April, 2009, a Chicago theater company called Thunder and Lightning Ensemble produced the play with Andy Hager in the title role (Andy will also be in the Redtwist show), but the production was forced to close the weekend after opening because the rights had not been approved. *Despite its being a successful New York theatrical production, as well as a respected indie film, the stage version of Jack Goes Boating has never had an official Chicago premiere...until now.

THE STORY: Jack Goes Boating is the charming love story of two very quirky, shy people who find each other and fall in love, while their best friends, a dashing married couple who fixed them up and seem to have it all, begin to uncover all the skeletons in their own closet, just as the love between the misfits begins to blossom. A charming and funny dissection of two fascinating relationships going in vastly different directions...with the lives of four good people on the precarious bubble.

DIRECTOR: Laley Lippard is a 2012 graduate of the MFA Directing program at Northwestern University under the leadership of Anna Shapiro. One of the goals of the More Red series is to provide immediate professional opportunities to MFA and BA graduates (directors, actors, and designers) of these local college programs.

CAST: Joanne Dubach (Connie), Andy Hager (Jack), David Lawrence Hamilton (Clyde), and KC Karen Hill (Lucy).

STAFF: Laley Lippard (Director), Lauren Alexis Miller (Stage Manager), Michael Genge (Set Designer), Olivia Leah Baker (Costume Designer), Eric J. Vigo (Lighting Designer), Daniel Carlyon (Sound Designer), Jeff Shields (Props Designer), Ross G. Hoppe (Technical Director), Jan Ellen Graves (Graphic Designer), Charles Bonilla (Box Office Manager), E. Malcolm Martinez (Box Office Associate), Johnny Garcia (Box Office Associate/Associate Producer), and Michael Colucci & Jan Ellen Graves (Producers).

The show opens on Sat, Oct 19, 3pm and runs Sat 3pm, Sun & Mon 7:30pm, closing on Mon, Nov 11. Running Time: Approx 1:35 hours, no intermission. Tickets: $20 (seniors & students $5 off). Call: 773-728-7529. Reservation link: www.redtwist.org. Redtwist is located at 1044 W Bryn Mawr, 2 blks W of LSD, 2 blks E of the Red Line EL station. Street parking (paybox til 10pm; free Sundays) available on Bryn Mawr, side streets, & Broadway. Please reserve 48 hrs in advance. Credit cards accepted by phone and online to guarantee seating.

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