Kauffman & Hart's ONCE IN A LIFETIME Begins Tonight at Strawdog

Strawdog Theatre Company and Artistic Director Hank Boland present the final main stage production in its 2015 - 2016 season and the final production to be produced at Strawdog's Broadway home for 26 years*, George S. Kauffman and Moss Hart's ONCE IN A LIFETIME. The production begins tonight, April 22, and continues through June 4, directed by Damon Kiely, at Strawdog Theatre Company, 3829 N. Broadway St.

Previews are Friday, April 22 and 29, Saturday, April 23 and 30 at 8 p.m., Sunday, April 24 and May 1 at 4 p.m. and Thursday, April 28 at 8 p.m. Opening night is Monday, May 2 at 8 p.m. The performance schedule is Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m. An industry performance is Monday, May 9 at 8 p.m. and a fully accessible performance in conjunction with the Access Project at Victory Gardens is Thursday, May 12 at 8 p.m.** Preview tickets are $15 with regular run tickets $28 - 30, they may be ordered online at strawdog.org or by calling OvationTix toll-free: 866-811-4111. Subscriptions, group, rush, senior and student discounts are also available.

May (Kathleen McDonnell), Jerry (Mike Dailey) and George (Scott Danielson) are giving up vaudeville and leaving New York to cash in on California's latest gold rush: talking pictures. Kaufman and Hart's 1930 comedy classic about Hollywood and the quest for fame is a love letter to the theatre with thirteen actors playing over forty characters. Damon Kiely, the acclaimed director of American Blues Theatre's Hank Williams: Lost Highway and author of How to Read a Play: Script Analysis for Directors directs this epic satire of greed run amok.

Additional cast includes ensemble members Jamie Vann, Justine C. Turner, Sarah Goeden, Nicole Bloomsmith, Brandon Saunders, Michaela Petro, Anderson Lawfer, Paul Fagen, with guest artist Kamille Dawkins.

The production team also includes Strawdog Company Ensemble Members Jordan Kardasz, lighting designer; Heath Hays, sound designer; Brittany Dee Bodley, co-costume designer with guest artists Cassandra Bass, co-costume designer; Max Colvill, assistant stage manager; Spencer Diedrick, assistant director; Mike Ford, choreographer; Jamie Karas, properties designer; Emmaline Keddy-Hector, production manager; Matthew Lightfoot, assistant lighting designer; Austin Oie, music director; Casey Peek, stage manager; Joe Schermoly, scenic designer; Arianna Soloway, dramaturg; Rob Stepek, master electrician and Alan Weusthoff, technical director.

**FULLY ACCESSIBLE PERFORMANCE - Strawdog Theatre Company continues its partnership with the Access Project at Victory Gardens to present ONCE IN A LIFETIME at Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, in the Prince Charitable Trust Rehearsal Room, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Thursday, May 12 at 8 p.m., with a touch tour at 6:45 p.m. The performance is fully wheelchair accessible with audio description and open captioning.

ABOUT DAMON KIELY, DIRECTOR - Damon Kiely is a professional director and writer, as well as a full time professor of directing and acting for DePaul's Theatre School. He is currently writing a book for Routledge called How to Read a Play: Script Analysis for Directors due out May 2016. He was recently nominated for a Jeff Award for Best Director of a Musical for the production of Hank Williams: Lost Highway for American Blues Theater which won the Jeff for Best Production of a Musical, midsize theatre. In Chicago, he has directed regional premieres of work by Lisa Kron, Kirsten Greenidge, and Jordan Harrison for Next Theatre, the Chicago premiere of Gore Vidal's Weekend for TimeLine Theatre Company, the regional premiere of Gina Gionfriddo's Becky Shaw for A Red Orchid Theatre, and the world premiere of McMeekin Finds Out for Route 66. He's also worked at Eclipse Theatre, Chicago Dramatists, WildClaw and others. The House Theatre of Chicago produced his world premiere adaptation of Thieves Like Us and The Revel. He served as the artistic director of American Theater Company (ATC) from 2002 to 2007. Directing credits at ATC include Oklahoma! (Nominated for six Jeff Awards including Best Musical and Best Direction of a Musical),The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, Orpheus Descending, A View from the Bridge, and The Hairy Ape. At The Theatre School he has directed many plays for the Showcase and Playworks series including Our Town, the first show in the Theatre School's new building. Prior to moving back to Chicago he produced, directed or taught for the Public Theatre, New York Theatre Workshop, the Ontological Theater, Adobe Theater Company, PS122, Ensemble Studio Theater and New Dramatists in New York City. Kiely also served as the artistic director for Real Time Theater and was a producing director at the Ontological-Hysteric Theater as well as the associate artistic director for the Children's Theater of Maine. He is a winner of the 2000-02 NEA/TCG Career Directing Program, the 2000 Drama League Fall Directing Program and the 1997 Princess Grace Award.

Since its founding in 1988, Strawdog Theatre Company has offered Chicagoland the premiere storefront theatre experience and garnered numerous Non-Equity Jeff Awards with its commitment to ensemble acting and an immersive design approach. The celebrated Company develops new work, re-imagines the classics, melds music with theatre, asks provocative questions and delivers their audience the unexpected.

*Strawdog Theatre Company recently announced its 2016 - 2017 season will be produced in its itinerant home at the new Factory Theatre in Rogers Park, 1621 W. Howard St. on the Chicago-Evanston border in the historic Howard Theatre building. The theatre space is a newly created 70 seat three-quarters thrust just two blocks from CTA's Howard Red Line terminal. Strawdog's 29th Season may be viewed online at strawdog.org.

RUSH TICKETS - Strawdog Theatre Company offers six tickets at a 50% discount one hour before every production. The rush ticket must be purchased in person, exclusively at the Strawdog Box Office. Limit of two tickets per person, not applicable with other discounts, offers or on previously purchased tickets, first come, first served.

The neighborhood has limited paid parking and is easily accessible by public transportation (via the Red Line Sheridan stop, plus 36-Broadway, 80-Irving Park, and 151-Sheridan buses).

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