Northlight Theatre announces its 2008-09 Season!

Artistic Director BJ Jones and Executive Director Timothy J. Evans are proud to announce the 2008-2009 Northlight Season, including: the Chicago Premiere of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher and directed by Jessica Thebus; the Midwest Premiere of the Tony Award-winning musical Grey Gardens, directed by BJ Jones with music direction by Doug Peck; the World Premiere of Kenneth Lin's Po' Boy Tango; the Chicago Premiere of Theresa Rebeck's award-winning Mauritius; and the Chicago Premiere of Martin McDonagh's award-winning The Lieutenant of Inishmore. 

Currently celebrating its 33rd Season and BJ Jones' 10th Season as Artistic Director, Northlight Theatre is a strong and vibrant presence in the Chicago theater community. For the past three decades the theatre has treated its audiences to a blend of world premiere plays, new musicals, rediscovered classics of the stage, and recent hits from New York and regional theatres, while showcasing some of the country's most talented actors, designers, and directors.

"Northlight's upcoming season continues our tradition of smart and diverse work, with provocative themes and vibrant theatrical forms," says BJ Jones. "These five works explore the idea of personal identity, and grow out of our relationships with artists such as Martin McDonagh, Theresa Rebeck, Jeffrey Hatcher, and Jessica Thebus, all of whom have connected strongly with our audiences in recent seasons, and Kenneth Lin, whose exciting new work we have developed as a part of our Interplay Reading Series this year." 
 
THE 2007-2008 NORTHLIGHT SEASON IS:

The Chicago Premiere of
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher
Based on the novella by Robert Louis Stevenson
Directed by Jessica Thebus
September 17 – October 26, 2008

What happened the night that Henry Jekyll died? Against the backdrop of Victorian London, the respected doctor has begun to display alarmingly erratic behavior toward his friends. At the same time, a mysterious figure haunts the city's streets under the cloak of the London fog.  

Nationally renowned playwright Jeffrey Hatcher brings Robert Louis Stevenson's classic tale to life with a fiendishly clever and theatrically innovative new adaptation.

The Midwest Premiere of the Tony Award-winning musical
Grey Gardens
Book by Doug Wright, music by Scott Frankel, lyrics by Michael Korie
Directed by BJ Jones
Music Direction by Doug Peck
November 12 – December 21, 2008

This brand new musical comes to Chicago after its 2007 Tony Award-winning Broadway run, giving Northlight audiences the chance to rub elbows with Edith Bouvier Beale and her daughter "Little Edie," Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis' most scandalous relatives!  Once the highest of high society, the two have become East Hampton's most notorious recluses, living in a dilapidated 28-room mansion with 51 cats for company.  Set in two eras—1941 when the celebrated estate was the picture of wealth and sophistication, and 1973 after it had been reduced to squalor—Grey Gardens is a hilarious and heartbreaking look at two indomitable women.

The World Premiere of
Po' Boy Tango
By Kenneth Lin
January 7 – February 15, 2009

A celebration of the human spirit and the joy of cooking, Po' Boy Tango tells the story of Richie Po, a Chinese immigrant who turns to his estranged friend Gloria to help him recreate his mother's "Great Banquet." Despite the challenges of shark fin soup, duck po' boy sandwiches and underlying cultural tensions, Richie and Gloria find common ground through their shared humor and the blending of traditional Taiwanese cuisine and African-American "Soul Food." Helped by lessons from Po Mama's television cooking show, the two discover a deeper understanding of food, culture and the nature of friendship.  Po' Boy Tango comes to the Northlight stage for a full production after a successful workshop and reading as a part of the Northlight Interplay series—the third production to make such a transition (Lady, Better Late).

The Chicago Premiere of
Mauritius
By Theresa Rebeck
February 25 – April 5, 2009

The stakes are high when half-sisters inherit a book of rare stamps that may include the "crown jewel" of the stamp-collecting world.  The battle for possession takes a dangerous turn when three rival collectors enter the sisters' world, willing to go to any lengths to stake their claim on the find.  Named one of Time Magazine's 'Top Ten Plays of 2007', Mauritius is a gripping blend of sharp comedy and heart-pounding drama that combines the best aspects of Hitchcock, Chandler and Mamet. By the Pulitzer Prize nominated author of Omnium Gatherum and The Scene.

The Chicago Premiere of
The Lieutenant of Inishmore
By Martin McDonagh
April 29 –June 7, 2009

"Wee Thomas" the cat has been killed.  What's worse, he was the beloved pet of Padraic, a ruthless Irish hitman who considers the IRA "too soft".  As the folks back home fight over who has to break the bad news, the violence escalates—recalling Shakespeare and Quentin Tarantino at their bloody best. 

A few murders, several dismemberments and a smattering of cow mutilations later, all is finally right with the world again.  Or is it?  In this wickedly funny black comedy from the author of The Cripple of Inishmaan, A Skull in Connemara and the recent film In Bruges, McDonagh considers the implications of outrageous reactions to small misunderstandings.
          

Subscriptions to the 2007-08 Northlight Season are available through the box office, 9501 Skokie Boulevard in Skokie, by phone at (847) 673-6300 or online at www.northlight.org. More information is available at www.northlight.org. Subscriptions range in price from $99-$230. A limited number of season subscriptions for the Opening Night performances (also includes a reception with the cast) are available for $275, subject to availability. Subscription renewal is currently underway. New subscribers can guarantee seats by pre-ordering their subscription online at www.northlight.org. Subscriptions go on sale to the public on May 2.

Single tickets will go on sale August 11, 2008, and range $25-$58. Opening nights are $75, and include a post-show reception with the cast.
 
Curtain times are: Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m.; select 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.; Sundays at 2:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

Northlight's 2008-09 Season is sponsored, in part, by The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation; The Chicago Community Trust; the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency; The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; The Shubert Foundation.  Season media sponsor is the Pioneer Press.

 

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