Northlight Theatre Presents [TITLE OF SHOW] Tonight, May 4

Northlight Theatre, under the direction of Artistic Director BJ Jones and Executive Director Timothy J. Evans, presents [title of show] with music and lyric by Jeff Bowen and the book by Hunter Bell, directed by Peter Amster.  The production runs tonight, May 4 – June 10, 2012 at Northlight Theatre, 9501 Skokie Blvd.  The press opening is on Friday, May 11, 2012.  Tickets for [title of show],$25-60, are available by phone at 847.673.6300, or online at northlight.org. Young Adult tickets (25 and under) are $10 (one per person with valid ID). 

Jeff and Hunter, two struggling writers, hear about a new musical theatre festival. However, the deadline for submissions is a mere three weeks away. With nothing to lose, the pair decides to try to create something new with the help of their friends Susan, Heidi and Larry on the eighty-eights. With the cast in place, Jeff and Hunter begin a conversation about what to write about. Eventually, Jeff Suggests they write about what to write about. They make a pact to write up until the festival's deadline and dream about the show changing their lives.

[title of show] - taken from the space on the festival's application form which asks for the [title of show] – follows Hunter and Jeff and their friends on their journey through the gauntlet of creative self-expression. In the span of 90 minutes they write and perform their show at the festival and learn lessons about themselves as people, friends and artists.

[title of show]received a Tony Award® nomination for Best Book of a Musical in 2009.

"Title of Show is as authentic a glimpse of the journey as you are likely to find about the creation of the modern musical. Jeff Bowen and Hunter Bell chronicle their struggle to bring a show to life and to get it into one of the many showcases held in New York every year, with the ultimate goal of getting the show to Broadway. In the case of Title of Show, it did get to Broadway, a Cinderella story come true. Funny and true it is a real eye opener for lovers of musical theatre who root for the little guy and who believe that perseverance and talent will win the day," comments BJ Jones.

The cast includes McKinley Carter (Susan), Matthew Crowle (Hunter), Stephen Schellhardt (Jeff), Christine Sherrill (Heidi) and Doug Peck (Piano/Conducter)

Designers include Christopher J. Fitzgerald (Set Design), Rachel Laritz (Costume Design), Chris Binder (Lighting Design), and Victoria DeIorio (Sound Design).  Rita Vreeland is the stage manager.

Jeff Bowen (Music and Lyrics)recently wrote the music and lyrics for and starred in Now.Here.This. at the Vineyard Theatre and also in the Broadway musical [title of show] (OBIE Award, 2009 Best Plays Yearbook, Drama League nomination for Distinguished Performance by an Ensemble, Broadway.com Audience Award, GLAAD Media nomination). He was awarded the Jim Owles Human Rights Award and was named one of the 100 most influential people in OUT MAGAZINE. He has written music and lyrics for Villains Tonight! for the Walt Disney Company, the Easter Bonnet competition for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, the Actors Fund 125th Anniversary Gala, the Vineyard Theatre's 25th Anniversary Gala, the 53rd Annual Drama Desk Awards, Broadway in South Africa, Broadway Bares 18: Wonderland, Over the Moon: Broadway Lullaby Project. He has composed music for several shows at P.S. 122 including Avant-Garde-A-Rama in Sparklevision; Sparklefest 2000 at Dixon Place; The A-Train Plays; and the film Boat Mime. As an actor he has performed works at The O'Neill Center, Manhattan Theatre source, Ars Nova, the Vineyard Theatre and appeared in the Actors Fund benefit of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas at the August Wilson. He co-wrote and starred in the web series, "the [title of show] show" as well as scoring and performing its theme song. He developed a half-hour sitcom "Glass Houses" for ABC. Jeff is a proud member of the ASCAP, AEA, WGA, Dramatists Guild, Yale Dramat, and the National Audubon Society. 

Hunter Bell(Book Writer) earned an OBIE Award, a Drama League nomination, and a Tony nomination for Best Book of a Musical all for the original Broadway musical [title of show].  Other credits include the books for Silence! The Musical, Bellobration! (Ringling Bros. Circus), Villains Tonight! (Disney Cruise Lines), Now. Here. This. (Vineyard Theatre) and the upcoming The Great American Mousical (Goodspeed). He is a co-creator of the web series the [title of show] show and recently co-created and co-wrote the pilot Glass Houses for ABC Studios/Television and Cherry-Wind Productions. Hunter has developed new works at the O'Neill Center, Ars Nova, PS 122, Weston Playhouse, Manhattan Theatre Source, and the NYMF and NY Fringe Festivals. He is a distinguished alumnus of Webster University, a proud member of WGA, the Dramatists Guild, and a MacDowell Fellow. 

Peter Amster(Director) returns to Northlight, where he directed Pride and Prejudice (Jeff  nomination), The Mystey of IRMA VEP, Master Class and Enter the Guardsman. Currently a resident of Sarasota, he spent most of the last 45 years in Chicago, and was nominated for Jeff Awards for his direction of Once on This Island, The World Goes Round, and The Rothschilds (Apple Tree).  Chicago work includes Steppenwolf, Goodman, Court, Live Bait, Pegasus, and Route 66.  Regional work includes: Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Geva Theatre in Rochester, Indiana Repertory, American Repertory Theatre, Syracuse Stage, Milwaukee Repertory, Peninsula Players, Weston Playhouse, and Maltz Jupiter Theatre. Peter has directed and choreographed operas for the Lyric Opera of Chicago, Chicago Opera Theatre, Light Opera Works and Skylight Opera in Milwaukee.  Although now retired from academe, he has taught opera, theatre, and performance studies at Northwestern, CALARTS, LSU, DePaul, Columbia College and Roosevelt University.

Doug Peck (Music Director & Pianist) returns to Northlight.  Other credits include Carousel (Jeff Award) and Man of La Mancha (Jeff Award) at Long Wharf and Court; Caroline, or Change, Raisin, Guys and Dolls, James Joyce's The Dead, and The Importance of Being Earnest at Court; Fiorello! (Jeff Citation) for TimeLine; Little Women, Shenandoah (Jeff nomination), The All Night Strut (Jeff nomination), and State Fair at Marriott Lincolnshire; Dessa Rose (Jeff nomination) and Hello Again (Jeff nomination, After Dark Award) at Apple Tree; The Most Happy Fella at Ravinia; Willy Wonka and Seussical! at Chicago Shakespeare; Into the Woods at Peninsula Players; I Do! I Do! at ATC; fifteen shows at the Wagon Wheel; the original cast album for Loving Repeating: A Musical of Gertrude Stein; and Assassins for Porchlight.  He is a Northwestern University graduate who also trained at Interlochen Center for the Arts. 

McKinley Carter (Susan) makes her Northlight Theatre debut. She most recently performed her newest cabaret, "Spring Forward/Fall Back" with the Cabaret With A View series on the Millennium Park Stage.  Chicago credits include: Ragtime, Something's Afoot, Superman, and Elsa in The Sound of Music (Drury Lane); John and Jen (Apple Tree, Jeff Nomination - Best Actress); Turn Of The Century, The Visit, Floyd Collins (Goodman); Forbidden Broadway (Royal George); Winesburg Ohio (Steppenwolf); Into the Woods, A Christmas Carol (Marriott); James Joyce's The Dead (Court); A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Comedy of Errors, Antony And Cleopatra, and Henry IV (Chicago Shakespeare). Regionally she has worked with First Stage Milwaukee Children's Theatre, Stage One Family Theatre in Louisville, and has spent several seasons with Peninsula Players in Door County, WI. 

Matthew Crowle (Hunter),making his Northlight debut, performed on Broadway in Monty Python's Spamalot, Off-Broadway in Take Me Along, and tap danced across the country with Tommy Tune in the national tour of Doctor Dolittle.  Favorite Chicago credits include Tulsa in Gypsy, and Patsy in Spamalot (Jeff nomination), both at Drury Lane. Other Chicago and regional credits include Marriott, Chicago Shakespeare, Gateway Playhouse, and The Arkansas Rep. Matthew is also a tap instructor at the Gus Giordano Dance School in Andersonville.   

Stephen Schellhardt (Jeff) Stephen makes his Northlight debut in [title of show]. National Tours: Altar Boyz. NYC/Regional credits: The Greenwood Tree (NYMF); Laurie in Little Women (BRT - Barrymore nomination) Malcolm in The Full Monty opposite Sally Struthers, Lionel in R&H's Cinderella (North Carolina Theatre), and Motel in Fiddler on the Roof (West Virginia Public). His Chicago credits include: Koko in Hot Mikado (Jeff nomination), and Lon Smith in Meet Me in St. Louis (Drury Lane); Herman opposite George Hearn in Most Happy Fella (Ravinia); Laurie in Little Women (Jeff nomination), Sam in Shenandoah, Doody in Grease, Jimmy in Thoroughly Modern Millie, and Harry in State Fair (Marriott). Stephen is a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University. 

Christine Sherrill (Heidi) Northlight audiences recently met Christine this past Valentine's Day with The Three Divas in concert.  She has performed nationally as Tanya with the tour of Mamma Mia! Chicago and regional credits: Mrs. Cratchit in A Christmas Carol (Goodman); Dyanne in The Million Dollar Quartet (Broadway in Chicago); Georgia Hendricks in the regional premiere of Curtains, Fraulein Kost in Cabaret (Drury Lane Oakbrook), Joan in Anyone Can Whistle (Ravinia Festival), Nurse/Actress in Hello Again (Apple Tree) . Ms. Sandra in All Shook Up, Celeste in Once Upon a Time in New Jersey (Jeff Nomination), Paulette in Legally Blonde (Marriott); Lena Lamont in Singin' in the Rain (Drury Lane Evergreen Park and Chicago Center for the Performing Arts, Jeff Nomination and After Dark Award). 

Tickets for [title of show],$25-60, are available by phone at 847.673.6300, or online at northlight.org. Young Adult tickets (25 and under) are $10 (one per person with valid ID). 

The Box Office is located at the North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, 9501 Skokie Boulevard, in Skokie.  Box Office hours are Monday-Friday 10:00am-5:00pm, and Saturdays 12:00pm-5:00pm. On performance days, the box office hours are extended through showtime. The Box Office is closed on Sundays, except on performance days when it is open two hours prior to showtime.

 Curtain times are: Tuesdays 7:30pm (May 8 and 29 only); Wednesdays at 1:00pm (no show May 23) and 7:30pm (no show May 30); Thursday at 7:30pm; Fridays at 8:00pm (except Opening on May 11, at 7:30pm); Saturdays at 2:30pm (no show May 5) and 8:00pm; and Sundays at 2:30pm and 7:00pm (no show May 13, 20 and June 10).

Northlight is continuing its popular special event series in conjunction with each production.  All events are free for subscribers and ticket holders.  

Salon Seriesis a series of panel discussions led by local experts for audience members to gain deeper insight into each of the five plays-including historical context, playwright background and influences and much more.  Salon Series is held prior to select Sunday matinee performances.The Salon for [title of show] will be held on May 20at 1:00pm. Reservations are required, or 847.679.9501 x3555 or specialevents@northlight.org.

Backstage with BJis amid-day discussion with Artistic Director BJ Jones, featuring special guest artists, actors, directors and designers, offering behind-the-scenes insight into each production while it is still in rehearsal.  Backstage with BJ for [title of show] will be held on May 4 at 12:00pm and will last approximately one hour.  Reservations are required, 847.679.9501 x3555 or specialevents@northlight.org.

Northlight Theatreaspires 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.

Now in its 37^th season, the organization has mounted nearly 190 productions, including over 40 world premieres.  Northlight has earned 151 Joseph Jefferson Award nominations and 28 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.

Northlight is supported in part by generous contributions from The Allyn Foundation; Blackman Kallick Bartelstein, LLP; BMO Harris Bank; the Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation; ComEd, An Exelon Company; Edgerton Foundation for New American Plays Award; Ernst & Young; Evanston Community Foundation; Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; The Irving Harris Foundation; The Joyce Foundation; Kirkland & Ellis Foundation; The Lehman Family American Experience Series; The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; MetLife Foundation; McKinsey & Company; Modestus Bauer Foundation; National Endowment for the Arts; North Shore Center for the Performing Arts Foundation; Nuveen Investments; The Offield Family Foundation; The Pauls Foundation; Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Foundation; Sanborn Family Foundation; Dr. Scholl Foundation; Shubert Foundation; Sullivan Family Foundation; and the Theatre Communications Group.

Jeff and Hunter, two struggling writers, hear about a new musical theatre festival. However, the deadline for submissions is a mere three weeks away. With nothing to lose, the pair decides to try to create something new with the help of their friends Susan, Heidi and Larry on the eighty-eights. With the cast in place, Jeff and Hunter begin a conversation about what to write about. Eventually, Jeff Suggests they write about what to write about. They make a pact to write up until the festival's deadline and dream about the show changing their lives. 

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