Strawdog theatre Company Opens BIG LOVE, 4/18

Strawdog Theatre Company concludes their 25^th anniversary season with Big Love by Charles L. Mee, directed by Strawdog Artistic Associate Matt Hawkins, April 18 - May 25, at the Strawdog Theatre, 3829 North Broadway Street. Preview performance tickets are $15 with performances Thursday, April 18,, Friday, April 19 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, April 21 at 4 p.m. There is a board preview benefit performance, Saturday, April 20 at 7 p.m., with $50 tickets that include access to a post-performance reception. Opening Night is Monday, April 22 at 8 p.m. The performance schedule is Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m. Tickets are $28 with group, senior and student discounts available. Tickets may be ordered online at strawdog.org or by calling OvationTix toll-free: 866-811-4111.

Charles Mee's 2000 play Big Love, based on Aeschylus' The Suppliants, gives the term "battle of the sexes" a whole new meaning when a group of brides-to-be on the run from the altar face down their jilted grooms at an Italian villa. Director Matt Hawkins returns with the same unique, brash approach to Big Love that breathed new life into the award winning, critically-acclaimed productions of Cyrano at the House, Cabaret with the Hypocrites and Strawdog's own smash hit Red Noses. Hawkins returns to the Strawdog main stage with Mee's poetic and chaotic riff on love, politics, violence and gender roles.

The cast of thirty-two includes Strawdog Ensemble members Anita Deely (Eleanor), Paul Fagen (Giuliano), John Ferrick (Nikos), Kyle Gibson (Oed), Sarah Goeden (Olympia), Carmine Grisolia (Leo), Michaela Petro (Thyona) and John Henry Roberts (Piero), with featured guest artists Shane Kenyon (Constantine), Cheryl Roy (Bella), and Stacy Stoltz (Lydia).

The cast also includes a chorus of Brides and Grooms featuring Chris Acevedo, Jon Beal, Sami Cravens, Matt Dealy, Luke Daigle, Dane Halvorson, Michael Medford, Tyler Meredith, Emilie Modaff, Johnny Moran, Shane Michael Murphy, Rasika Ranganathan, Brandon Saunders, Eleni Sauvageau, Kevin Sheehan, Elise Spoerlein, Rebecca Taylor, Britni Tozzi, Walls Trimble, and Casey Wortmann.

The production team features Strawdog Ensemble Member Mike Mroch (scenic designer), and guest production staff Brittany Dee Bodley (costume designer),

Sarah Burnham (production manager), Heather Gilbert, USA (lighting designer), Heath Hays (sound designer), Kathy Logelin (dialect coach), Marissa Moritz (choreographer), Clare Roche (stage manager), and Jeff Shields (props designer).

ABOUT STRAWDOG THEATRE COMPANY

Since its founding in 1988, Strawdog Theatre Company has offered Chicagoland the premiere storefront theatre experience and garnered numerous Non-Equity Jeff Awards with its commitment to ensemble acting and an immersive design approach. The celebrated Company develops new work, re-imagines the classics, melds music with theatre, asks provocative questions and delivers their audience the unexpected.

The current Strawdog ensemble includes Jenny Avery, Hank Boland, Michael Dailey, Anita Deely, Paul Fagen, John Ferrick, Misha Fiskel, Kyle Gibson, Sarah Goeden, Aly Greaves Amidei, Carmine Grisolia, Kyle Hamman, Tom Hickey, Shannon Hoag, Jordan Kardasz, Anderson Lawfer, Sean Mallary, Kat McDonnell, Joanna Melville, Gregor Mortis, Mike Mroch, Michaela Petro, Mike Przygoda, John Henry Roberts, Justine C. Turner, and Jamie Vann. Strawdog's Interim Artistic Director is Hank Boland and the general manager is Mike Mroch. Notable Strawdog alums include Elizabeth Auman (TimeLine), Alexandra Billings (actress, cabaret star), Nancy Bishop (casting director), Chrisanne Blankenship (director), Becca Cardo (voice-over artist), Kristin Caskey (Fox Theatricals), Scott Cummins (actor, director) and James Denton (Desperate Housewives).

Strawdog Theatre Company Board of Directors include Seth Rickard, Gregory Altman, Stephen Bennett, Meaghan Clayton, Jim Hobart, Thomas V. Linguanti, Joyce McGreevy, Jennifer Nelson, Jack Rubin, Mark D. Warner, Pat Yuzawa-Rubin.

Coming Soon to Strawdog's Hugen Hall

The Hunting of the Snark

Based on Lewis Carroll's poem

Directed by Josh Sobel

May 6 - May 28

Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays at 8 p.m.

Monday, May 21 and Tuesday, May 22 at 9 p.m.

PRESS OPENING: Monday, May 6 at 8 p.m.

Based on the classic Lewis Carroll poem, The Hunting Of The Snark, is a family friendly show inviting its guests to come aboard for a tall tale of mischief and mayhem, of high sea hijinks and impossible voyages, of an improbable crew and an extraordinary task, of an inconceivable creature in a peculiar land, and of the unquenchable thirst for adventure. A design and ensemble-based piece mixing theatrical influences from Chicago and around the world; Strawdog stretches, flexes, trips over a ladder and treats the audience to a hilarious and touching take on one of the world's best loved poems.

All productions, plus ongoing late night offerings, are presented at Strawdog's space in the heart of Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood, 3829 N. Broadway Street. Tickets are available by calling OvationTix toll-free: 866-811-4111 or at www.strawdog.org.

The neighborhood has limited paid street parking and is easily accessible by public transportation (via the Red Line Sheridan stop, plus 36-Broadway, 80-Irving Park, and 151-Sheridan buses).

Strawdog Theatre Company concludes their 25^th anniversary season with Big Love by Charles L. Mee, directed by Strawdog Artistic Associate Matt Hawkins, April 18 - May 25, at the Strawdog Theatre, 3829 North Broadway Street. Preview performance tickets are $15 with performances Thursday, April 18,, Friday, April 19 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, April 21 at 4 p.m. There is a board preview benefit performance, Saturday, April 20 at 7 p.m., with $50 tickets that include access to a post-performance reception. Opening/Press Night is Monday, April 22 at 8 p.m. The performance schedule is Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 4 p.m. Tickets are $28 with group, senior and student discounts available. Tickets may be ordered online at strawdog.org or by calling OvationTix toll-free:866-811-4111.

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