Pivot Arts Festival Sets 2015 Lineup

Pivot Arts has announced the full line-up for the 3rd annual PIVOT ARTS FESTIVAL, featuring dozens of innovative performances and events throughout Chicago's Uptown and Edgewater neighborhoods from May 28 - June 7, 2015. Tickets, ranging from free to $20, are currently available at www.pivotarts.org/festival. All-access passes cost $45.

The ten-day PIVOT ARTS FESTIVAL will showcase a diverse line-up of live music, theater, dance, puppetry, discussions, wine tastings, workshops, children's performances and more. This year's theme, "Celebrate Community!," is focused on bringing diverse neighbors together through the arts. The Festival includes a first-time Community Parade on Saturday, May 30 at 1 pm, kicking off at Granville near Kenmore and culminating in performances at Loyola University's St. Ignatius Plaza. The parade is highlighted by handmade, large-scale puppets and the plaza performances feature Grammy-nominated singer Justin Roberts, star of the indie-family rock scene.

Additional highlights include: BAATHHAUS; Lucky Plush Productions; an inter-active "Memory Bank" with performances by Ayako Kato and Jessica Marasa; Dean Evans' Honeybuns; Storytown's Improv and Ice Cream at Lickity Split Custard & Sweet Shop; a writing workshop with Chicago Young Authors (Louder Than a Bomb) artist that culminates in dinner together at the Ethiopian Diamond; and the Festival's Opening Night with shorts by premiere theater and dance groups: RE Dance, the Neo-Futurists and About Face Theatre's Checking Boxes written by Shannon Matesky with the About Face Youth Ensemble.

"The Pivot Arts Festival not only serves as an opportunity for audiences to experience some of the adventurous work happening here in Chicago - but also serves to connect Chicago to a circuit of similar festivals happening across the country. As presenters increasingly attend, the festival provides local artists with the potential to showcase their work in other cities," comments Festival Director Julieanne Ehre.

The full PIVOT ARTS FESTIVAL line-up includes:

PRE-FESTIVAL EVENTS

Wednesday, April 15
FESTIVAL PREVIEW PARTY
6:30 pm at Francesca's Bryn Mawr, 1039 W. Bryn Mawr Ave.
$25 in advance, $35 at the door

Join Pivot Arts Board, artists and community members for a sneak peek of the upcoming festival. Food, drink and silent auction included.

Saturday, April 25 - Saturday, May 23
PIVOT ARTS and EDGEWATER WORKBENCH present PUPPET BUILDING WORKSHOP
Saturdays from 11 am - 1 pm at Edgewater Workbench, 1130 W. Thorndale Ave.
Tickets: $20 for one workshop, $60 for five workshops

Puppeteers Lizi Breit (Manual Cinema) and Dan Kerr-Hobert (Neo-Futurists) lead workshops to build large-scale puppets to be featured in the Pivot Arts' "Celebrate Community!" parade. Participants make puppets designed by Swift School students. No experience necessary, ages 15 - adult. Register at: http://www.edgewaterworkbench.com/pivot-arts/

THE 3rd ANNUAL PIVOT ARTS FESTIVAL

Thursday, May 28
PIVOT ARTS presents EDGEWATER COMMUNITY CRAWL
6 pm at Edgewater Workbench, 1130 W. Thorndale Ave.
7:30 pm at Independent Spirits Inc., 5747 N. Broadway St.
8 pm at Ethiopian Diamond Restaurant, 6120 N. Broadway St.
Tickets: $15 with 20% discount at Ethiopian Diamond

A writing workshop with a Chicago Young Authors' Louder Than A Bomb teaching artist, following by wine tasting at Independent Spirits Inc. and dinner at the Ethiopian Diamond.

Friday, May 29
FESTIVAL TAPAS NIGHT: SMALL PLATES OF THEATER AND DANCE
8 pm at Loyola University's Mundelein Center for the Arts, 1020 W. Sheridan Rd.
Tickets: $15 - $25

Clown "Madame Bustiere" (Pamela Chermansky) hosts this evening of short works celebrating the opening of the Pivot Arts Festival in multiple spaces throughout Loyola's Arts Center.

RE|DANCE GROUP presents MY NEAREST THOUGHT
Choreography by Lucy Riner, Original composition by Brent Roman
A dance/theater work that examines how the act of remembering evolves over time.

ABOUT FACE THEATRE presents CHECKING BOXES
Written by Shannon Matesky and the About Face Youth Theatre Ensemble.

Checking Boxes explores the often overlooked intersections of immigration, undocumentation and the LGBTQIA experience. Through storytelling, spoken word and slam poetry, actors share experiences of coming out, growing up and pursuing the American dream.

THE NEO-FUTURISTS present TOO MUCH LIGHT MAKES THE BABY GO BLIND
A special short version of Chicago's long-running hit show features 15 plays performed in 30 minutes!

Created by Greg Allen, written and performed by the Neo-Futurists and now in its 26th year, TMLMTBGB is the longest-running show in Chicago today. Part late-night comedy fest, part political manifesto, and all an honest portrayal of the writer-performers' lives.

OPENING NIGHT PARTY
Bar 63, 6341 N. Broadway Ave.
Performances are followed by an Opening Night Party with live music.
Saturday, May 30
LIFELINE THEATRE presents THE TRUE STORY OF THE 3 LITTLE PIGS
11 am at Loyola University's Mundelein Center for the Arts, 1020 W. Sheridan Rd.
(Special music opener by Merry Music Makers at 10:45 am)
Tickets: $10

Based on the popular best-seller by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith, Adapted by Robert Kauzlaric, Music by Paul Gilvary and William Rush, Directed by Amanda Link

There are two sides to every story and the long suppressed account of the Big Bad Wolf is finally brought to light in Piggsylvania's Trial of the Century, a hit musical for the entire family.

PIVOT ARTS presents "CELEBRATE COMMUNITY!" PARADE with Headline Performance by JUSTIN ROBERTS
12 pm: Gathering and bike decoration on Granville Ave. between Winthrop and Kenmore
1 pm - 4 pm: Parade down Kenmore to Loyola University's St. Ignatius Plaza, followed by performances in the plaza (Kenmore between Rosemont Ave. and Sheridan Rd.)

A community parade with large-scale puppets designed by Swift School students and built by community workshop participants as led by puppeteers Lizi Breit (Manuel Cinema) and Dan Kerr-Hobert (Neo-Futurists). Following the parade, enjoy a full afternoon of entertainment in the plaza including a headline performance by Grammy-nominated rocker Justin Roberts. Additional participants include: Ascension Dance, CircEsteem, Edgewater Singers, Edgewater Workbench, Ethiopian Community Association, Everybody Dance Now! Chicago, Joel Hall Dance, Lickity Split, Storytown, the Swedish Museum, Swift School Puppets and Japanese drumming group, Tsukasa Taiko.

STAGE 773 presents BRI-KO
4 pm at Loyola University's Mundelein Center for the Arts, 1020 W. Sheridan Rd.
Tickets: $10
With Brian Posen, Tim Soszko and Brian Peterlin

Winner of the 2014 Best of the Fest Award at the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival, Bri-Ko is a hilarious, non-verbal comedy and clowning show for the entire family.

LUCKY PLUSH PRODUCTIONS presents THE QUEUE
8 pm at Loyola University's Mundelein Center for the Arts, 1020 W. Sheridan Rd.
Tickets: $15 - $20
Co-created and co-directed by Julia Rhoads and Leslie Buxbaum Danzig

Equal parts dance and theater, The Queue unfolds in a fictional airport, where travelers stumble humorously, tragically and awkwardly into each others' private lives. Slapstick, vaudeville, Busby Berkeley-style choreography, creaky one-act plays collide with contemporary dance to create Lucky Plush's signature blend of immediacy and humor.

Sunday, May 31
LIFELINE THEATRE presents THE TRUE STORY OF THE 3 LITTLE PIGS
11 am at Loyola University's Mundelein Center for the Arts, 1020 W. Sheridan Rd.
Tickets: $10
Description above.

STAGE 773 presents BRI-KO
4 pm at Loyola University's Mundelein Center for the Arts, 1020 W. Sheridan Road
Tickets: $10

Description above.

LUCKY PLUSH PRODUCTIONS presents THE QUEUE
8 pm at Loyola University's Mundelein Center for the Arts, 1020 W. Sheridan Rd.
Tickets: $15 - $20
Description above.

Monday, June 1 - Sunday, June 14
PIVOT ARTS presents THE MEMORY BANK
1050 W. Bryn Mawr Ave.
Installation Hours: Monday - Friday 4 pm - 6 pm; Saturdays and Sundays 12 pm - 6 pm
Performances: Saturday and Sunday June 6 & 7 at 2 pm, 3 pm and 4 pm
Co-Created by Julieanne Ehre, Ayako Kato, Jessica Marasa, Tanya Palmer and Matthew York

Come deposit your memories inside the Memory Bank. Part-installation, part interactive experience, The Memory Bank is an on-going project that will collect community member's memories and then create a Memory Tour of Edgewater, Uptown and Andersonville in Fall of 2015.

Monday, June 1
PERFORMANCE AND COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
7pm at Uncommon Ground, 1401 W. Devon Ave.
FREE

A Iively discussion moderated by Michael Rohd, Director of the Center for Performance and Civic Practice, focusing on how the arts can have positive impact on communities.

Wednesday, June 3
THE BEST OF CHICAGO SPOKEN WORD
7:30 pm at Uptown Underground, 4707 N. Broadway Ave.
Tickets: $10 - $15

Chicago Young Authors present Louder Than a Bomb Team Poetry Slam

Chicago Slam Works House Ensemble presents Retrospecticus! Directed by J.W. Basilo

Louder Than a Bomb is the high school poetry slam featured in the award-winning documentary.

Retrospecticus features the best from Chicago Slam Works hit shows and incorporates spoken word, music, movement, and sketch comedy into a completely unique theater/poetry.

Thursday, June 4 & Friday, June 5
VANESSA VALLIERE presents HONORABLE MENTION
8 pm at Uptown Underground, 4707 N. Broadway Ave.
Tickets: $15*
By Vanessa Valliere and co-collaborator Lindsey Noel Whiting

Performance artist Vanessa Valliere uses puppetry, clown, and doll parts to tell hilarious and horrifying stories of failure, success, and successful failures.

DEAN EVANS presents HONEYBUNS
9 pm at Uptown Underground, 4707 N. Broadway Ave.
Tickets: $15*

Honeybuns, a rotund entity, creates a visceral and hilarious theatrical event. To share the room with the gigantic creature known simply as Honeybuns is to experience a highly physical, interactive piece of performance that has impressions of mime, improv and eletro-shock treatment.

*2-for-1: see both HONORABLE MENTION and HONEYBUNS for $20
Saturday, June 6
PIVOT ARTS presents THE MEMORY BANK
2 pm, 3 pm and 4 pm at 1050 W. Bryn Mawr Ave.

Short performances by Ayako Kato and Jessie Marasa (listed as Best Dance of 2014 by Chicago Tribune for last year's Pivot Arts performance) as part of the Memory Bank, an interactive installation project collecting patrons' memories that runs through June 14.

Full details above.

DEAN EVANS presents HONEYBUNS
8 pm at Uptown Underground, 4707 N. Broadway Ave.
Tickets: $15*
Description above.

BAATHHAUS
10 pm (9 pm doors open with DJ) at Uptown Underground, 4707 N. Broadway Ave.
Tickets: $15*

The queer-performance-art-group-band BAATHHAUS creates provocative music and choreography for an exhilarating evening - a cross between Nine Inch Nails and New Order with dark themes, glitter and gore.

*2-for-1: see both HONEYBUNS and BAATHAUS for $20

Sunday, June 7
STORYTOWN presents ICE CREAM AND IMPROV
11 am at Lickity Split Custard and Sweet Shop, 6056 N. Broadway Ave.
Tickets: $7

The 2015 festival culminates with a now favorite tradition - ice cream and improv with Storytown! From superheroes to undersea adventures, princesses to dinosaurs, Storytown takes you on an interactive, fully improvised adventure. The actors use audience suggestions and ideas to create a story brought to life by actors, artists and musicians.

PIVOT ARTS presents THE MEMORY BANK
2 pm, 3 pm and 4 pm at 1050 W. Bryn Mawr Ave.

Short performances by Ayako Kato and Jessie Marasa (listed as Best Dance of 2014 by Chicago Tribune for last year's Pivot Arts performance) as part of the Memory Bank, an interactive installation project collecting patrons' memories that runs through June 14.

Full details above.

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