John Judd, Adrian Danzig Lead CST's The Feast: an intimate Tempest

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) announced today casting for its 25th Anniversary Season production of The Feast: an intimate Tempest, an original CST commission and artistic collaboration with Redmoon. A bold collision of text with extraordinary objects and imagery ignites this muscular, innovative adaptation of Shakespeare's The Tempest—carved out by three actors, a menagerie of handcrafted puppets, and original music and animations. Co-created and co-directed by Jessica Thebus and Frank Maugeri and developed for CST by Creative Producer Rick Boynton, the production features John Judd as Prospero with Adrian Danzig as Caliban and Samuel Taylor as Ariel.

The Feast: an intimate Tempest runs January 18 through March 11, 2012 Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare. Tickets are on sale now for $35–$45 with special discounts available for groups of 10 or more. All patrons receive a 40% discount on guaranteed parking in Navy Pier garages. For more information or to purchase tickets, contact Chicago Shakespeare Theater's Box Office at 312.595.5600 or visit the Theater's website at www.chicagoshakes.com/feast.

The Feast: an intimate Tempest was developed at Chicago Shakespeare Theater through several workshops in 2011. Performing role of Prospero is John Judd, a multiple Jeff Award nominee who has worked across Chicago at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Lookingglass Theatre Company, Court Theatre and Writers' Theatre. Judd's recent film and TV credits include a recurring role on the STARZ series Boss, Public Enemies and Chicago Code. Adrian Danzig, appearing as Caliban, is a co-founder and producing artistic director of 500 Clown, a Chicago company specializing in action-based performance, improvisation and circus arts. Danzig has worked with Goodman Theatre, The Second City and The Public Theater in New York. Performing the role of Ariel is Samuel Taylor, who has appeared onstage at Redmoon, Lookingglass Theater Company and Steppenwolf Theatre Company, in addition to numerous Shakespeare productions with the Guthrie Theater. Taylor also played a recurring role on HBO's Boardwalk Empire.

Co-Creators and Co-Directors Jessica Thebus and Frank Maugeri last worked at CST on Redmoon's production of Salao: The Worst Kind of Unlucky, an inventive telling of Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea presented Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare. Maugeri, the co-artistic director of Redmoon, led hundreds of collaborators to create the large-scale animation graphic novel The Astronaut's Birthday, projected on the 80-foot façade of the Museum of Contemporary Art in September 2010. Other recent projects include the remount and Brazilian tour of the critically acclaimed The Cabinet, which he originally conceived and directed; the co-direction of Festival J.O.E.: A Joyous Outdoor Event around Chicago's Belmont Harbor; and the Chicago Humanities Festival's "Stages, Sights, and Sounds" festival, which featured Cape and Squiggle and Laika's Coffin.

Multiple Jeff Award-nominated director Jessica Thebus is an Associate Artist at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, where her credits include Intimate Apparel, Dead Man's Cell Phone, No Place Like Home, When the Messenger is Hot (also at 59 E. 59th in NYC) Sonia Flew and Sex with Strangers (First Look Repertory of New Work). Thebus' credits across Chicago include the world premiere of Stage Kiss at Goodman Theatre and productions for Victory Gardens Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Court Theatre and About Face Theatre. She is a faculty member in the Directing Program at Northwestern University and an artistic associate at The Corn Exchange in Dublin, Ireland.

The creative team for The Feast: an intimate Tempest includes Art Director/2D and Silhouette Puppet Designer Andrea Everman, 3D Puppet Designer Jesse Mooney-Bullock, Scenic Designer Neil Verplank, Light Designer Andrew Myers, Projection Designer Mike Tutaj, Composer/Sound Designer Jeff Thomas and Costume Designer Sue Haas.

About Chicago Shakespeare Theater

Celebrating its 25th Anniversary this season, Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) is a leading international theater company, known for vibrant productions that reflect Shakespeare's genius for intricate storytelling, musicality of language and depth of feeling for the human condition. Recipient of the 2008 Regional Theatre Tony Award, Chicago Shakespeare's work has been recognized internationally with three of London's prestigious Laurence Olivier Awards, and by the Chicago theater community with 62 Joseph Jefferson Awards for Artistic Excellence. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Barbara Gaines and Executive Director Criss Henderson, CST is dedicated to producing extraordinary classic productions, new works and family fare; unlocking Shakespeare's work for educators and students; and serving as Chicago's cultural ambassador through its World's Stage Series.

Significant projects include: Barbara Gaines' two-part epic Henry IV at the Royal Shakespeare Company; Chicago Shakespeare's Olivier Award-winning production of Sondheim and Weidman's Pacific Overtures at London's Donmar Warehouse, directed by CST Associate Artistic Director Gary Griffin; Edward Hall's tour de force, Rose Rage, in Chicago and New York; a commissioned adaptation of Feydeau's A Flea in Her Ear by David Ives; a commissioned "hip-hoptation" of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing, Funk It Up About Nothin', which garnered acclaim in Chicago, New York and at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, toured Australia and made its London debut at Theatre Royal Stratford East; and participation in the inaugural campaign of the NEA's Shakespeare in American Communities initiative.

At its permanent, state-of-the-art facility on Navy Pier, CST houses two intimate theater spaces: the 500-seat Jentes Family Courtyard Theater and the 200-seat Carl and Marilynn Thoma Theater Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare. Through a year-round season encompassing more than 500 performances, CST leads the community as the largest employer of Chicago actors and attracts 200,000 audience members annually-including nearly 16,000 subscribers and 40,000 students and teachers.

About Redmoon

Redmoon's mission is to create artistic events that disrupt everyday life and provide opportunities for public engagement, community building and recognition of the possibility for change. Founded in 1990, Redmoon fosters civic well-being and transforms streets, stages, and architectural landmarks across international, economic, cultural and generational boundaries with a unique brand of Spectacle: a public art form that is equal parts puppetry, pageantry, gadgetry, robust physical performance and visual art installation. Through its vibrant outdoor performances, high-profile collaborations, and youth-focused Neighborhood Arts Programming, Redmoon fosters civic well-being and community engagement, reaching an annual audience of more than 20,000 people across Chicagoland. Over the past decade, Redmoon has garnered national and international attention for its unique productions, site-specific performances and events—which have been seen across Chicago, from the Jackson Park Lagoon to the façade of the Museum of Contemporary Art to Belmont Harbor, and performance venues as diverse as Steppenwolf Theatre and the Chicago Symphony Center. Over recent years, Redmoon has developed projects in Holland, Ireland, France, Australia and Brazil. The recent crowning achievement for Redmoon's team was an invitation by the White House for a Halloween spectacle performance on the front lawn for 2,500 trick-or-treating local school children, followed by a private party throughout the East Wing residence for US combat veterans and their families, dignitaries and the first family. In Redmoon's 21-year history, 420,000 audience members have seen 350 public spaces and over 100 stages transformed by the company's spectacle public art works. Redmoon creates unexpected theater events in unexpected locations. The company is led in a partnership of artistic vision by Jim Lasko and Frank Maugeri.

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