Marc Kudisch's BARITONES UNBOUND Heads to the Royal George This Winter

Continuing to bring original musical stories and new productions to beloved Chicago audiences, 'Hershey Felder Presents' (George Gershwin Alone, Maestro Bernstein, The Pianist of Willesden Lane, Louis and Keely 'Live' at the Sahara) now brings BARITONES UNBOUND, a new play with music and baritone superstars to the Royal George Theatre as part of a continuing season of new productions.

Performances begin at the Royal George, 1641 N. Halsted Street, on Friday, December 11th, 2015 and continue through Sunday, January 3rd, 2016 with a press opening on Sunday, December 13th at 3:00 p.m. A special New Year's Eve performance includes a champagne and dessert reception with the artists.

Conceived by three-time Tony Award nominee Marc Kudisch, and written by Kudisch along with Broadway veteran Merwin Foard, Metropolitan Opera star Jeff Mattsey, and Musical Director Timothy Splain, BARITONES UNBOUND explores "the uncommon voice of the common man." Starting in 1791 with the first major baritone role, Papageno in Mozart's The Magic Flute, our Baritone guides create for our eyes and ears each musical period raising the Baritone's stature making him hero, anti-hero, and ultimately the romantic voice of the common man. Using theatrical and musical mechanisms, world-renowned voices but, above all, a lot of comedy, Broadway star Marc Kudisch, and international opera stars Nathan Gunn (amusingly referred to as the Barihunk or the Hunkitone) and Mark Delavan (The Voice of God) give you an unforgettable, laugh-filled, thoughtful and ultimately moving musical theatrical evening.

Highly well-received in its world premiere at Boston's ArtsEmerson, the Boston Globe declared "Tenors, your time is up! A captivating night with Baritones!" Beloved by audiences, these guys just let loose and give you a great time -- all the while, taking you through almost 300 years of some of the greatest music ever composed for the voice.

The artistic team for BARITONES UNBOUND is led by Director David Dower. Scenic Design is by Hershey Felder and Trevor Hay, Sound Design is by Erik Carstensen, Lighting and Video Design are by Christopher Ash. Scenic Decoration is by Meghan Maiya. Karen Racanelli serves as Executive Producer and the Production Stage Manager is Rebecca Peters. Hershey Felder and Samantha F. Voxakis serve as producers.

Marc Kudisch (Creator/Co-Writer/Performer) - Three time Tony nominee, Drama Desk Winner and four-time Drama Desk nominee, Two time Outer Critics Circle nominee. Broadway: Hand To God, 9 To 5, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Apple Tree , Assassins, Thoroughly Modern Millie, Bells Are Ringing, The Wild Party, The Scarlet Pimpernel, High Society, Beauty & The Beast, Joseph & Tech Dreamcoat. Off Broadway: The Wayside Motor Inn (Signature Theatre), Hand To God (MCC), The Blue Flower (Second Stage), A Minister's Wife, The Glorious Ones (Lincoln Center), See What I Wanna See (Public Theatre). Opera: Pirates Of Penzance, A Little Night Music (NYC Opera); A Little Night Music (LA Opera). Recent Regional: Baritones Unbound, Conceiver/Co-Writer (ArtsEmerson/Asolo Rep), Hamlet (Yale Rep); Tartuffe (Westport), Golden Age (Kennedy Center); Sycamore Trees, The Highest Yellow, The Witches Of Eastwick (Signature Theatre DC). Film/TV: House Of Cards, Unforgettable, Person of Interest, Power, Blue Bloods, Smash, Sex And The City among others. Symphony work includes NYC and Philadelphia Philharmonics, Ravinia Festival, Jerusalem Symphony, Utah Symphony, Portland Symphony.

Nathan Gunn (Baritone) - He has appeared in internationally renowned opera houses such as the Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, Royal Opera House, Paris Opera, Bayerische Staatsoper, Glyndebourne Opera Festival, Theater an der Wien, Teatro Real in Madrid, and the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie. His many roles include the title roles in Billy Budd, Eugene Onegin, Il Barbiere di Siviglia, and Hamlet ; Guglielmo in Cosí fan tutte, the Count in Le Nozze di Figaro, Malatesta in Don Pasquale, Belcore in L'Elisir d'Amore, Ottone in L'incoronazione di Poppea, Tarquinius in The Rape of Lucretia, and The Lodger in The Aspern Papers.

Also a distinguished concert performer, Mr. Gunn has appeared with the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, Minnesota Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra, Münchner Rundfunkorchster, and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra.

Mark Delavan (Baritone) - Metropolitan Opera: Aida, Die Frau ohne Schatten, Nabucco, Tosca, Rigoletto, La Forza del Destino, Cav/Pag, Andrea Chenier, The Queen of Spades, Francesca da Rimini, The Ring Cycle. Broadway: Sweeney Todd (NYC Opera). Regional: includes Chicago Lyric Opera, San Francisco Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, COC, Atlanta Opera, Santa Fe Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, LA Opera, Royal Opera House/Covent Garden, Prague State Opera, Washington National Opera. TV: Metropolitan Opera HD broadcast, Francesca da Rimini.

Timothy Splain (Pianist/Musical Director) - Off-Broadway/New York: A Minister's Wife (Lincoln Center), Adding Machine (Minetta Lane), The Holiday Guys (York Theatre Company), Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice (NYMF), The Hundred Dresses (Atlantic for Kids). National Tour: Little House on the Prairie. Regional: A Minister's Wife, She Loves Me, A Little Night Music (Writers' Theatre), Neil Berg's Phantoms of the Opera (MSC OPAS), Next to Normal (Milwaukee Rep), Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (First Stage), Rent (ATC/About Face), The Threepenny Opera (Hypocrites), Little House on the Prairie (Paper Mill Playhouse).

David Dower (Director) - David is the Artistic Director at ArtsEmerson in Boston, where he staged the world premiere of Baritones, as well as Daniel Beaty's Breath and Imagination and Mr. Joy, also currently touring nationally. He has directed new works at Arena Stage, Asolo Repertory, Berkeley Repertory, Intiman, and dozens of world premieres in the San Francisco Bay Area. He spent six seasons as Associate Artistic Director at Arena Stage, leading the artistic development team on over 50 productions, including the Tony-winning productions of 33 Variations, Next to Normal (Pulitzer Prize) and Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf. He was the founding Artistic Director at San Francisco's Z Space, a theater development center now in its 22nd season, where he developed and directed five monologues and three films with Josh Kornbluth. He is a co-founder of HowlRound (howlround.com) and a member of SDC. You can follow him on Twitter at @ddower.

Hershey Felder (Producer) - Broadway, London's West End: George Gershwin Alone (Helen Hayes Theatre, Duchess Theatre). Regional and international appearances of "Composers Sonata" (1999-2015) - George Gershwin Alone, Monsieur Chopin, Beethoven As I Knew Him, Maestro: Leonard Bernstein, Franz Liszt in MUSIK and Hershey Felder as IRVING BERLIN (Geffen Theatre LA World Premiere, Laguna Playhouse, Majestic Theatre Boston, upcoming: La Jolla Playhouse, Theatreworks Palo Alto, Arizona Theatre Company, McCallum, Chicago and more). Winner of 2007 Los Angeles Ovation Awards, Best Musical and Best Actor for George Gershwin Alone. Worldwide live broadcasts, George Gershwin Alone, 2005 and 2011 for the WFMT Network and Maestro Bernstein from Town Hall, NY. Direction includes Mona Golabek in The Pianist of Willesden Lane (National Tour). Current Projects include Hershey Felder as IRVING BERLIN; Tchaikovsky; American Hero; Chosen by God; Amargos, Jamaica Farewell, I Found My Horn and several other titles in development for various artists now in production. Mr. Felder is a Steinway Concert Artist, and has been a Scholar in Residence at Harvard University's Department of Music. He is the President of Eighty-Eight Entertainment and is married to Kim Campbell, former Prime Minister of Canada.

The artistic team for BARITONES UNBOUND is led by Director David Dower. Scenic Design is by Hershey Felder and Trevor Hay, Sound Design is by Erik Carstensen, Lighting and Video Design are by Christopher Ash. Scenic Decoration is by Meghan Maiya. Karen Racanelli serves as Executive Producer and the Production Stage Manager is Rebecca Peters. Hershey Felder and Samantha F. Voxakis serve as producers.

Performances of BARITONES UNBOUND begin Friday, December 11th at 8:00 p.m. and continue as follows: Wednesdays at 7:30 p.m., Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sundays at 3 p.m. STRICTLY LIMITED ENGAGEMENT THROUGH SUNDAY, JANUARY 3rd ONLY. No Performances December 24, 25; January 1. Additional Performances December 28, 29. Special Performance December 31, 10:00 pm, followed by champagne and dessert reception ($150).

All tickets are $60 with the exception of December 31, 2015 ($150). Tickets can be purchased at The Royal George Theatre box office or by calling 312.988.9000. Box office hours are 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. Tickets may also be purchased online at www.ticketmaster.com.

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