Northlight Theatre To Produce SONGS FOR NOBODIES

Northlight Theatre opens its 2021-2022 season with Songs for Nobodies, written by Joanna Murray-Smith, directed by Rob Lindley, with music direction by Andra Velis Simon, and featuring Bethany Thomas.

Songs for Nobodies runs September 23 - October 31, 2021 at Northlight Theatre, 9501 Skokie Blvd in Skokie. The press opening is Friday, October 1, 2021 at 8pm.

This one-woman tour-de-force celebrates the iconic work of Judy Garland, Patsy Cline, Billie Holiday, Edith Piaf and Maria Callas. Share in the unexpected encounters between these legendary divas and the ordinary women whose lives were changed by their brushes with fame. Featuring such favorites as "Come Rain or Come Shine," "Crazy," and "Ain't Nobody's Business If I Do," Songs for Nobodies illuminates the power of song to share a story, heal a heartbreak, and inspire a dream.

Songs for Nobodies features Bethany Thomas. The creative team includes Jeffrey D. Kmiec (Scenic Design), Mieka van der Ploeg (Costume Design), Jesse Klug (Lighting Design), and Lindsay Jones (Sound Design). The production stage manager is Rita Vreeland.

"Over the last year and a half, we have streamed and zoomed our way into your homes through computers, ipads, or cell phones. But we are artists that have dedicated our careers to live performance, and though it was briefly enjoyable to put our work into the ether, we were missing the most important ingredient in our work-the audience! We missed the laughter, the gasps, the murmurs of audiences beginning to unwind the dramatic knot the playwright has tied. We missed the applause of appreciation for our work, and the observations at post-show discussions. It is the interaction between audiences and artists that fuels our passion for this art form; it is our oxygen, and in the last year and a half we have been fighting for breath," comments Artistic Director BJ Jones. "We return joyously with the amazing Bethany Thomas whose artistry is thrilling and in Songs for Nobodies, her talents are on full display. It's a perfect and uplifting way to gather in our theatre. See you in the lobby!"

Northlight's production of Songs for Nobodies is supported in part by Avidor Evanston and the Zunamon-Cunniff Family.

Bethany Thomas is making her Northlight debut. Credits include Into the Woods, A Moon for the Misbegotten (Writers Theater); Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Songs For Nobodies, The Color Purple (Milwaukee Rep); The Tempest (Chicago Shakespeare); Marry Me a Little (Porchlight Music Theater); and Porgy and Bess (Court Theater). She's also frequently entangled with The Neo Futurists, Steppenwolf, Second City, The Fly Honeys, The Paper Machete, and The Hideout. As a singer/songwriter, BT tours and records with Jon Langford, and recently released an album with Tawny Newsome entitled Material Flats, and a solo album entitled BT/She/Her. Find Bethany's music on iTunes, Bandcamp, Spotify, and everywhere else.

Rob Lindley's directing credits include Far From Heaven, How to Succeed in Business...., Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill, A Wonderful Life (Porchlight Music Theatre); and 50 Shades!: The Music Parody (Off-Broadway and National Tour). Rob also directs many cabaret evenings from intimate club engagements to large-scale galas for many Chicago organizations including Court Theatre, Porchlight Theatre, Northlight Theatre and the Chicago Humanities Festival. As an actor, Northlight audiences might remember Rob from his performance in Funnyman. Other acting credits include: Monsieur André in the National Tour of Phantom of the Opera; Fun Home (Victory Gardens); The Tempermentals (About Face Theatre); Candide (Goodman); The Secret Garden, Angels in America, Caroline or Change, James Joyce's The Dead, Carousel (Court Theatre); and Oh Coward! (Writers Theatre) for which he won a Jeff Award for Best Actor in a Revue.

Andra Velis Simon is making her Northlight debut. She works extensively in Chicago and around the country as a music director, adapter/arranger, pianist, educator, and vocal coach. Regionally, her work has been seen at Actors Theatre of Louisville, A.R.T. in Cambridge, Berkeley Rep, Brooklyn Academy of Music, NYU's Skirball Center, Olney Theatre Center in Maryland, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Pasadena Playhouse, and Three Oaks in Michigan. In Chicago, she has had the pleasure of collaborating with Chicago Children's Theatre, Firebrand Theatre, Goodman Theatre, The Hypocrites, Steppenwolf, Theater Wit, Writers Theatre, and dozens of others. She is a Practitioner in Residence at Columbia College Chicago, where she has taught musical theatre performance since 2008.

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