New Colony’s FRAT to Add Two Weekends of Performances in November

Hatmaker Theatrical Productions, LLC announced today the addition of four more performances of The New Colony's FRAT, by Evan Linder, at The Apartment Lounge at 2251 N. Lincoln Avenue in Chicago. Following this weekend's already-scheduled performances on Friday, October 21 and Saturday, October 22, the production will take a one-week hiatus in honor of Halloween. Performances will resume the following weekend, with shows on Friday, November 4; Saturday November 5; Friday, November 11 and Saturday, November 12. All performances begin at 8 p.m. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. when audiences can meet the cast for a "rush party." For more information, visit www.FratTheShow.com .

Tickets for all performances are now on sale through the Greenhouse Theater Center at 2257 N. Lincoln Avenue (a block and a half south of Fullerton Avenue and immediately next door to The Apartment Lounge at 2251 N. Lincoln). Tickets, priced at $28.50, are available online at www.greenhousetheater.org, by phone at 773-404-7336 or in person at the Greenhouse Theater Center Box Office. Box Office Hours for phone and in-person sales are Wednesdays through Saturdays from Noon to 8 p.m. and Sundays from Noon to 4 p.m.

John Olson, President of Hatmaker Theatrical Productions and lead producer for FRAT, said "FRAT has been a hit with a diverse group of audiences including regular theatergoers who have read our positive reviews, first-time theater goers blown away by the lively, immersive experience; college students and alumni who relate to the story and everyone else looking for a fun show and good time. Our cast of 18 actors loves doing the show and is looking forward to bringing it to more audiences in November." FRAT is performed promenade style, with audiences following actors around The Apartment Lounge, a Lincoln Park dance club decorated to look like a young guy's first apartment. The FRAT production adds props and set pieces to give it the ambiance of a college fraternity house or dorm.

FRAT was originally developed in 2009 by The New Colony, a non-profit theater company founded in 2008 that won the 2011 Broadway in Chicago Emerging Theater Award earlier this year. The New Colony's Founding Artistic Director, Andrew Hobgood, has once again directed FRAT for this remount - the first commercial transfer of any of The New Colony's productions. Twelve members of the original cast of 18 have returned for the remount, including playwright Linder.

Additional cast members for the remount of FRAT include Joel Kim Booster, Will Cavedo, Caitlin Chuckta, Patriac Coakley, Jered Fernley, Steve Gensler, Meg Johns, Alexander Lane, Thea Lux, Wes Needham, Benno Nelson, Henry Riggs, Brandon Ruiter, Tara-Jayne Sissom, Kevin Stangler, Gary Tiedemann and Quinn White. Understudies are Nick Delehanty and Sophie Gatins. The creative and production team for FRAT includes Set and Property Designer Kevin McClintock, Costume Designer Mark Botelho, Stage Manager Keely Haddad-Null and Assistant Director Ashley Wolfe.

The remount of FRAT opened on September 23, 2011. The Chicago Tribune's Chris Jones called it "surprisingly smart and juicy...frequently very funny in a wry, droll sort of way" and "a sophisticated piece of original, Chicago-style theater." TimeOut Chicago said "Evan Linder's affectionate, warts-and-all depiction of fraternity life feels thoroughly authentic" and called it "A Hell of a good time."

FRAT is based on the experiences of playwright Linder as a fraternity member at the College of Charleston in South Carolina. It follows the progress of four freshmen who pledge the fictitious "Theta Pi Psi" fraternity.

The Apartment Lounge
2251 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago
(Above the Lion Head Pub, next door to Greenhouse Theater Center)
www.frattheshow.com
www.facebook.com/NewColonysFrat
Twitter - @NewColonysFrat

Performance Times:

Tickets - $28.50, available online at www.greenhousetheater.org, in-person or by phone through Greenhouse Theater Center Box Office (open Wednesdays through Saturdays 12 Noon - 8 p.m., Sundays 12 Noon - 4 p.m.)
Groups (6+): groups@frattheshow.com
Public Transit/Parking: Red Line or Brown Line EL to Fullerton. Lincoln Avenue Bus #11 to Lincoln & Orchard, Fullerton Avenue Bus #74: to Lincoln and Belden. Parking: $6.00 discount parking is available at Children's Memorial Hospital, 2316 N. Lincoln and at Parking in the Park, 550 W. Webster with ticket stub or validation from Greenhouse Theater Center box office.

ABOUT THE CREATIVE AND PRODUCTION TEAM

ANDREW HOBGOOD , DIRECTOR - Andrew is the founding Artistic Director of The New Colony and has directed their productions of Amelia Earhart, Jungle Princess, Frat, Hearts Full of Blood; co-wrote and directed Tupperware: An American Musical Fable and That Sordid Little Story. He won a 2006 FringeNYC award for Outstanding Musical for 58! A Comedy about Bike Messengering and a 2008 FringeNYC award for Outstanding Music and Lyrics for Love Is Dead: A NecRomantic Musical Comedy, which he also co-wrote and directed.

EVAN LINDER, AUTHOR/ACTOR - Evan is Associate Artistic Director of The New Colony and a proud graduate of the College of Charleston. He began his professional career as an Associate Company member at Playhouse on the Square in Memphis and has worked in Chicago with About Face Theater, the side project, Promethean Theater Ensemble and Bohemian Theater Ensemble. In addition to "FRAT," he is the author of New Colony's 11:11 (with Tara Sissom), The Warriors and 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche (with Andrew Hobgood).

THE NEW COLONY - Founded in 2008, The New Colony is a Chicago-based non-profit theater company that strives to contribute original material to the American artistic canon and develop a new theater-going audience. Entering its fourth season, The New Colony has mounted nine fully-staged productions of original works, including Amelia Earhart: Jungle Princess, Frat, Tupperware: An American Musical Fable, Hearts Full of Blood; 11:11, That Sordid Little Story, Pancake Breakfast, The Warriors and Five Lesbians Eating a Quiche. In April, the company won the 2011 Broadway in Chicago Emerging Theater Award.

HATMAKER THEATRICAL PRODUCTIONS, LLC - Founded in 2011 by Executive Producer John Olson, Frat is Hatmaker's first production. Olson is a veteran of several Chicago advertising agencies and is also a freelance theater journalist. He is a contributing writer and associate editor of The Sondheim Review and Chicago theater critic for the website TalkinBroadway.com.

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