Northlight Theatre Announces Casts for 2022-2023 Season Shows; THE GARBOLOGISTS, ANDY WARHOL IN IRAN & More

Northlight Theatre has announced its 2022-2023 season, opening with the buddy comedy The Garbologists by Lindsay Joelle, directed by Cody Estle; followed by Georgiana & Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley by Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon, directed by Marti Lyons; the new play by Brent Askari Andy Warhol in Iran, directed by BJ Jones; The Porch on Windy Hill: a new play with old music, conceived and directed by Sherry Lutken; and closing with Marie and Rosetta by George Brant, directed by E. Faye Butler.

The cast of The Garbologists is: Tiffany Renee Johnson (Marlowe) and Luigi Sottile (Danny). The cast of Georgiana & Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley includes: Janyce Elenia Caraballo (Georgiana Darcy), Samantha Newcomb (Kitty Bennet / Kitty O'Brien), Amanda Drinkall (Elizabeth Darcy), Preeti Thaker (Lydia Wickham / Sarah Darcy), Emma Jo Boyden (Jane Bingley / Emily Grey), Andrea San Miguel (Mary Bennet / Margaret O'Brien), Erik Hellman (Henry Grey) and Arash Fakhrabadi (Thomas O'Brien). The role of Fitzwilliam Darcy will be announced at a later date. The cast of Andy Warhol in Iran includes: Rob Lindley (Andy) and Hamid Dehghani (Farhad). The cast of The Porch on Windy Hill includes: Lisa Helmi Johanson (Mira), David M. Lutken (Edgar), and Morgan Morse (Beckett). The cast of Marie and Rosetta includes Bethany Thomas (Rosetta Tharpe). The role of Marie Knight will be announced at a later date

The 2022-23 Season with casting is as follows:

THE GARBOLOGISTS

By Lindsay Joelle

Directed by Cody Estle

Featuring Tiffany Renee Johnson (Marlowe) and Luigi Sottile (Danny)

September 1 - October 2, 2022

Opening: Friday, September 9, 2022

This off-beat buddy comedy pairs a blue-collar, old-school sanitation worker with an Ivy League-educated newbie in the shared cab of a New York City garbage truck. When these two essential workers from different worlds are thrown together to pick up what the world has discarded, they discover there's more that binds them than taking out the trash.

Rolling World Premiere

GEORGIANA & KITTY: CHRISTMAS AT PEMBERLEY

By Lauren Gunderson and Margot Melcon

Directed by Marti Lyons

Featuring Janyce Elenia Caraballo (Georgiana Darcy), Samantha Newcomb (Kitty Bennet / Kitty O'Brien), Amanda Drinkall (Elizabeth Darcy), Preeti Thaker (Lydia Wickham / Sarah Darcy), Emma Jo Boyden (Jane Bingley / Emily Grey), Andrea San Miguel (Mary Bennet / Margaret O'Brien), Erik Hellman (Henry Grey) and Arash Fakhrabadi (Thomas O'Brien). The role of Fitzwilliam Darcy will be announced at a later date.

November 25 - December 24, 2022

Opening: Friday, December 2, 2022

The beloved characters from Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice return for a third and final installment of the Pemberley trilogy (Miss Bennet, The Wickhams). The youngest Darcy and Bennet sisters have become fast friends, and eagerly await the arrival of Georgiana's secret correspondent. Mixups of manners and overprotective big brother Mr. Darcy keep romance from unfolding easily. But music, ambition, friendship, and sisterhood lead to happiness... and a love story that spans a lifetime.

Andy Warhol IN IRAN

By Brent Askari

Directed by BJ Jones

Featuring Rob Lindley (Andy) and Hamid Dehghani (Farhad)

January 19 - February 19, 2023

Opening: Friday, January 27, 2023

In 1976, the artist Andy Warhol, having re-invented himself as the portrait painter of the rich and famous, travels to Tehran to take Polaroids of the Shah of Iran's wife. Amidst taking in the Crown Jewels and ordering room service caviar, Warhol encounters a young revolutionary who throws his plans into turmoil and opens the pop icon's eyes to a wider world.

THE PORCH ON WINDY HILL: a new play with old music

By Sherry Lutken, Lisa Helmi Johanson, Morgan Morse & David M. Lutken

Conceived and directed by Sherry Lutken

Featuring Lisa Helmi Johanson (Mira), David M. Lutken (Edgar) and Morgan Morse (Beckett)

April 13 - May 14, 2023

Opening: Friday, April 21, 2023

A young violinist and her song collector boyfriend flee the confines of their Brooklyn apartment to the mountains of North Carolina, where the Appalachian music of Mira's childhood is just the authentic inspiration they're searching for. When they descend on her old family home, and an estranged grandfather she's never mentioned, the unexpected complexity of past pain, prejudice, joy, and discovery reveals itself through the music that binds them. Featuring bluegrass favorites and the foot-stomping, hand-clapping finest of American roots music.

MARIE AND ROSETTA

By George Brant

Directed by E. Faye Butler

Featuring Bethany Thomas (Rosetta Tharpe). The role of Marie Knight will be announced at a later date.

July 6 - August 6, 2023

Opening: Friday, July 14, 2023

Hailed as the "Godmother of Rock 'n Roll," Sister Rosetta Tharpe influenced rock icons from Elvis Presley to Jimi Hendrix. Bringing fierce guitar playing and sizzling swing to gospel music, Rosetta was a trailblazer, a young Black woman singing at church in the morning and the Cotton Club at night. This play with music chronicles Rosetta's first rehearsal with a young protégée, Marie Knight, as they prepare for a tour that would establish them as one of the great duet teams in musical history.

Notes of Interest:

• Luigi Sottile returns to Northlight this season, where he previously played Fitzwilliam Darcy in The Wickhams, a far cry from playing a sanitation worker in The Garbologists. Prior to The Garbologists, he appeared on Broadway in The Slave Play.

• Bethany Thomas last appeared at Northlight in Songs for Nobodies. In her recently Jeff-nominated performance, Bethany played five different real-life music legends. She's returning for Marie and Rosette to play yet another real-life legendary figure in music history, the "Godmother of Rock 'n Roll," Sister Rosetta Tharpe. The production will be directed by Chicago performer E. Faye Butler who is also a member of Northlight Theatre's Board of Trustees.

• Rob Lindley will play Andy Warhol this season. He returns as a performer, after directing Songs for Nobodies last season at Northlight.

• Hamid Dehghani, who plays Farhad in Andy Warhol in Iran was recently named the Artistic Fellow for Nothlight's 2022-2023 season.

• Other returning favorites to the Northlight stage include Amanda Drinkall (Funnyman, By the Water), Erik Hellman (Miss Bennet, Lost in Yonkers, Shining Lives), and David M. Lutken (Woody Sez).

• Tiffany Renee Johnson, Janyce Elenia Caraballo, Samantha Newcomb, Preeti Thaker, Emma Jo Boyden, Andrea San Miguel, Arash Fakhrabadi, Hamid Dehghani, Lisa Helmi Johanson, and Morgan Morse are appearing on Northlight's stage for the first time this season.

• Lisa Helmi Johanson, who will appear in The Porch on Windy Hill, spent the spring and summer on Broadway as an understudy for POTUS by Selina Fillinger, who made her professional playwriting debut at Northlight with Faceless.

Curtain times are: Wednesdays at 1:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.; Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.; Fridays at 8:00 p.m.; Saturdays at 2:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.; and Sundays at 2:30 p.m.

How to purchase tickets

Subscriptions to the 2022-2023 Northlight Season are available at northlight.org/subscribe or 847.673.6300.

Subscriptions range in price from $117-$275. With its wide range of ticket prices, discounted subscription packages and complimentary parking, Northlight remains of one of the best theatrical values in Chicagoland. Package options include traditional 5-Play Packages, 4-Play Packages, and Flex Packages. Subscriptions are available at northlight.org/subscribe or 847.673.6300.

The complete 2022-2023 season will be performed in theater's current location at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Blvd in Skokie, IL.

Northlight Theatre aspires to promote change of perspective and encourage compassion by exploring the depth of our humanity across a bold spectrum of theatrical experiences, reflecting our community to the world and the world to our community.

Founded in 1974, the organization has mounted over 220 productions, including more than 40 world premieres. Northlight has earned 208 Joseph Jefferson Award nominations and 36 Awards, as well as ten Edgerton Foundation for New Play Awards. As one of the area's premier theatre companies, Northlight is a regional magnet for critical and professional acclaim, as well as talent of the highest quality.

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