Steppenwolf Announces Casting for GARAGE REP 2013

Steppenwolf Theatre Company has announced the casting and creative teams for Garage Rep 2013, featuring Bailiwick Chicago's See What I Wanna See, Buzz22 Chicago's She Kills Monsters and Theatre Seven of Chicago's BlackTop Sky. These innovative storefront companies perform in rotating repertory for a ten-week run, February 15 – April 21, 2013; performances are scheduled Wednesday through Friday at 8pm, and Saturday and Sunday at 4pm and 8pm in The Steppenwolf Garage (1624 N Halsted St). Tickets ($20) go on sale December 7 at 11am through Audience Services (1650 N Halsted St), 312-335-1650 and steppenwolf.org.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company's Garage Rep 2013 Line-up
(All plays, artists and dates are subject to change)

Bailiwick Chicago presents
See What I Wanna See
Words and Music by Michael John LaChiusa
Directed by Lili-Anne Brown
Music Direction by James Morehead
Featuring Vasily Deris, Sharriese Hamilton, Evan Tyrone Martin, Peter Oyloe and Danni Smith

A 1950s murder noir, a priest's crisis of faith in post-9/11 New York, and the final tryst of two lovers in feudal Japan all serve to explore the relativity of truth in Michael John LaChiusa's three-part musical. The lush musical score incorporates jazz, pop, classical and Asian influences, driving the storytelling in this virtuosic five-person ensemble piece.

The creative team for See What I Wanna See includes Lizzie Bracken (scenic design), Samantha C. Jones (costume design), Lee Keenan (lighting design) and Cody Reynolds (sound design). Additional credits include Geoff Bleeker (associate producer), Michael Driscoll (assistant director), Emma Deane (assistant lighting designer), Christopher Kristant (technical director) and Heather Stuck (stage manager).

Buzz22 Chicago presents
She Kills Monsters
By Qui Nguyen
Directed by Scott Weinstein
Featuring Katherine Banks, Rinska Carrasco-Prestinary, Daeshawna Cook, Fred Geyer, Jessica London-Shields, Allie Long, Morgan Maher, Jose Nateras, Ellie Reed, Sara Sawicki and Richard Traub

Following the death of her geeky teenage sister, Tilly, Agnes's life is turned upside down when she stumbles upon Tilly's Dungeons & Dragons notebook and embarks on an action-packed quest to save her sister's soul. As her reality blurs, Agnes comes face to face with homicidal fairies, raunchy ogres and blood thirsty cheerleaders, and discovers a side of her sister she never got to know.

The creative team for She Kills Monsters includes William Boles (scenic design), Rachel Goldberg (costume design), Lee Keenan (lighting design), Daniel Carlyon (sound design), Matt Deitchman (composer), Chuck Coyl (fight choreography) and Lori Buchanan (dance choreography). Additional credits include Colleen Werle (puppetry design), Manual Cinema (shadow puppet design), Alex Tey (assistant fight choreographer, gore design), Ben Gojer (assistant gore designer), Jamie Karas (properties master), Mary Hungerford (production manager) and Christopher Leck (stage manager).

Theatre Seven of Chicago presents
BlackTop Sky
By Christina Anderson
Directed by Cassy Sanders
Featuring Kristin Ellis, Eric Lynch and Julian Parker

After police rough up a fellow resident of the projects, 18-year-old Ida takes an interest in the homeless man who sleeps on a nearby bench. When an unlikely friendship emerges, will it strengthen her connection to home or drive her away in search of a new life? BlackTop Sky examines the intersection of love, violence and seduction inside an institution with a haunting Chicago legacy: the public housing project.

The creative team for BlackTop Sky includes Lizzie Bracken (scenic design), Brenda Winstead (costume design), Lee Keenan (lighting design) and Chris LaPorte (sound design). Additional credits include Jennifer McClendon (production manager), Toni Kendrick (properties master) and Taylor Fenderbosch (stage manager).

Garage Rep 2013 is scheduled February 15 – April 21, 2013 in The Steppenwolf Garage (1624 N Halsted St). Performances are scheduled Wednesday through Friday at 8pm, and Saturday and Sunday at 4pm and 8pm. February 16, 17 and 23, there is no 4pm performance; March 2 and 3, no 1pm performance; and April 21, no 8pm performance. Tickets ($20) go on sale December 7 at 11am through Audience Services (1650 N Halsted St), 312-335-1650 and steppenwolf.org.

Since the inaugural repertory in 2010, Garage Rep has brought the work of nine storefront theater companies in Chicago to the Steppenwolf stage, including: The Twins Would Like To Say by Dog & Pony Theatre Company, punkplay by Pavement Group and Adore by XIII Pocket in 2010; Heddatron by Sideshow Theatre Company, The Three Faces of Doctor Crippen by The Strange Tree Group and Sonnets for an Old Century by UrbanTheater Company in 2011; and Hit the Wall by The Inconvenience, Oohrah! by LiveWire Chicago and He Who by Theatre Zarko in 2012. Garage Rep 2013 marks the fourth annual series, adding Bailiwick Chicago, Buzz22 Chicago and Theatre Seven of Chicago to the distinguished list of Garage Rep alumni.

The Steppenwolf Garage is dedicated to new plays, new artists and new audiences for the American theater. It offers artists the opportunity to present their work with the scale, space and resources it merits. For audiences, it provides opportunities to engage in multigenerational conversation about the new, provocative work emerging from Chicago's diverse and vibrant theatre scene.

Support for Garage Rep is provided by the "Leading for the Future Initiative," a program of the Nonprofit Finance Fund, funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

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