Strawdog Theatre Company Presents A Special Event Performance Of STRAWDOG AND FRIENDS PRESENT: THE PHONE BOOK

Strawdog Theatre Company is proud to announce a special event performance of Strawdog and Friends Present: The Phone Book, Monday, February 1, 2010 at 7 p.m. at Strawdog Theatre, 3829 N. Broadway Street. The Phonebook, directed by Strawdog Artistic Director Nic Dimond features members of the Strawdog Theatre Ensemble as well as acting and celebrity guests presenting a night that promises to be a collection of music, improv, essay, performance art and the unexpected. Tickets are now on sale for $75 and include access to full bar and hors d'oeuvres, call 773-528-9696 or go online at www.strawdog.org.

Tickets available for $75 until January 15 for $75, mention the code 'CONNECTION' when ordering tickets online, after January 15 tickets will be $100.

Managing Director Hank Boland says, "Chicago is so rich with talent that we thought this would be a fun way for Strawdog Theatre Company to get together and play with some of our friends. We know there are people with so much talent, so much charisma, so much charm, that you'd watch them read the phonebook. And that is the impetus for the entire night. But that idea is just the jumping off point." Strawdog is putting together an evening of top talent, theatrical and musical and magical, to present their interpretation of ‘reading the phone book."

Currently the roster of performers includes a "who's who" of Chicago talent. In addition to the Strawdog Theatre Ensemble, the talent to perform or participate in the evening is a wide swath of Chicago talent from a Chicago radio legend to an African and Reggae musician to a magician and everyone in between. Currently, the list includes:

Molly Brennan of 500 Clown
Will Clinger currently working on the feature film The Removed, and will soon be seen in the play Noises Off at Theater at the Center in Munster, IN.
Michael Stahl-David, "Cloverfield," "Behind the Star"
Sara Kerastas of 2nd Story
Rick Kogan of Chicago Tribune/WGN
Leon Mobley
Mike Nussbaum
Ajay Naidu
David Pasquesi & T. J. Jagodowski
Dennis Watkins award-winning magician, entertainer, and founding member of The House Theatre
with music by Seeking Wonderland.

Strawdog continues their 22nd season with Curt Columbus' translation of Anton Chekov's Uncle Vanya, directed by Strawdog Artistic Associate Kimberly Senior, February 21 - March 27, 2010 followed by David Harrower's translation of Bertolt Brecht's classic fable The Good Soul of Szechuan, directed by Strawdog Artistic Associate Shade Murray, April 22-May 29, 2010.

Strawdog Theatre Company is committed to ensemble acting and an immersive design approach, offering Chicago the premiere storefront theatre experience. They develop new work, reimagine classic plays, and explore new fusions of music and theatre, ask provocative questions and deliver their audience the unexpected. Strawdog provides a home for our celebrated ensemble to work and play with the most sought after artists in Chicago theatre along with the best new talents in the city. Founded in 1988, the Strawdog ensemble has consistently produced shows built on authentic human connections, and their comfortable 70-seat home in Lakeview is perfect for offering any audience a quintessential Chicago storefront theatre experience. "The whole wide world in a little black box." Strawdog is a proud member of the NortHalsted Area Merchant Association, The Chicago Storefront Theatre District and the League of Chicago Theatres.

Strawdog Theatre Company was formed in 1988 by a group of actors who had performed together in a production of Euripides's Helen at a (now defunct) theatre on the west side. The group took their name from Sam Peckinpah's movie Straw Dogs (Theatresaurus Rex was, thankfully, the runner-up), and they produced their first show, Len Jenkin's Five of Us at a (now defunct) space in Bucktown. At the time, the Chicago Reader said "Strawdog Theatre Company's inaugural production brings ... truth home with a vengeance," and Skyline Chicago added "The Strawdog troupe shows us what an ensemble can do." Twenty-two years later, Strawdog Theatre Company has survived the ups and downs of Chicago theatre, and is still dedicated to bringing the truth to audiences through the committed work of an award-winning ensemble of actors and designers.

Strawdog Theatre Company is supported in part by The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, the Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the Alphawood Foundation, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, the Illinois Arts Council (a state agency), Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation, Gerry Brown and Associates and the annual support of businesses and individuals.

Strawdog and Friends Present: The Phone Book, a Strawdog Theatre Benefit performance Monday, Feb. 1, 2010. Tickets are now on sale for $75 and include access to full bar and hors d'oeuvres, call 773-528-9696 or go online at www.strawdog.org. Tickets available until January 15 for $75, mention the code 'CONNECTION' when ordering tickets online, after January 15 tickets are $100.

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