THE ODD COUPLE Begins 4/5 at Gorilla Tango's Skokie Theatre

Robert Bills will present Neil Simon's The Odd Couple (female version) performing Fridays and Saturdays at 7pm, April 5 - June 1, 2013 (no performances Saturday, 4/27 or 5/25) - at Gorilla Tango's Skokie Theatre (7924 Lincoln Ave, Skokie, Il). Tickets are $20; to purchase tickets call 847.677.7761 or visit www.gorillatango.com.

Unger and Madison are at it again! Florence Unger and Olive Madison, that is, in Neil Simon's hilarious comic classic: the female version of The Odd Couple. Instead of the poker party that begins the original version, Ms. Madison has invited the girls over for an evening of Trivial Pursuit. The Pidgeon sisters have been replaced by the two Constanzuela brothers, but the hilarity remains the same!

The show stars improv legend Melanie Blue as Florence and veteran Chicago actor Elizabeth Styles as Olive. We have the pleasure of introducing to Chicago Caroline Blasius as the ditzy Vera. The cast rounds out with a bevy of talented Chicago actors: Debra Rodkin, Valerie Gorman, Dagoberto Sato, Nick Fragale and Taia Thomas.

ABOUT THE PRODUCER/DIRECTOR
Robert Bills (Director/Producer) is also a gallerist in Chicago's West Loop gallery district. He directed and produced Jim Holt's "Sleeping Indoors" at GT Skokie this past fall. He also directed and produced a critically acclaimed revival of Harold Pinter's "Betrayal." Kay Daly had this to say about Betrayal in Timeout Chicago: 'The dialogue moves at a brisk, casual clip, expanding unexpectedly in gloriously eloquent "Pinter pauses," those uneasy silences that speak louder than words. Bills's cast revels in them...the actors deftly record the body blows as they land tiny cataclysms...' Bills has studied acting and/or directing at the Northwestern University Summer Program, The Steven Ivcich professional actor conservatory program, iO West in Los Angeles, Victory Gardens Training Center, Act One Studios with David Cromer and the Conservatory Program at the venerable Second City Training Center.

ABOUT THE CAST
Melanie Blue (Florence Unger) is a former Del Close acolyte and a celebrated former member of iO's Armando Show and was the inspiration for and star of Del Close's The Melanie Show. Former coaches include: Chris Farley, Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Neil Flynn, and Dave Pasquesi, among other notables. She is a graduate of the theatre program at Sarah Lawrence College. She also has an active film career, including a coming role in the film version of the play Sleeping Indoors in which she starred last fall.

Elizabeth A. Styles (Olive Madison) is thrilled to be part of such a talented cast. Elizabeth is an actor, violence designer and stage combat instructor. Some of her favorite roles include Prince Hal in Henry IV, Part 1, Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter and Legoland in Frodo-A-Go-Go, The Rings Recycled. Her violence has been seen most recently in Circle Theatre's Pippin and Piccolo Theatre's Six Dead Queens and an Inflatable Henry. You have the privilege of seeing some of her violence designing in this production.

Caroline Blasius (Vera) is excited to make her Chicago debut. She is a recent graduate of the University of the Arts in Philadelphia.

Nick Fragale's (Jesus) previous credits include Sleeping Indoors (GT Bucktown) as Dwayne, Sexual Perversity in Chicago as Bernie Litko, Savage in Limbo asTony Aronica and American Dreamsicle: A Sketch Revue as ensemble.

Valerie Gorman (Mickey the Cop) has worked with many Chicago companies and most recently with Steep Theatre in MOMENT and SEVEN DAYS, 16th Street Theatre in END OF THE TOUR and PULL OF THE MOON, Eclipse Theatre in 4 BY GUARE, SUDDENLY LAST SUMMER, ECCENTRICITIES OF A NIGHTINGALE, and Collaboraction in BE A GOOD LITTLE WIDOW. She was a former ensemble with Reflections Theatre, is SAG AFTRA and has appeared in numerous TV commercials and industrial films.

Debra Rodkin (Sylvie) is a company member of Redtwist Theatre where you may have seen her in their acclaimed productions of Cripple of Inishmaan, Equus x 2 (Dora) & Glengarry Glen Ross (Aaronow) among others. She performed in Steel Magnolias (Clairee) for SSP, Beau Jest (Miriam) for Big Noise Theatre, Night Blue's Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Big Mama), Citadel Theatre's Another Piece of Cake (Ann), Rabbit Hole (Nat) for Buffalo Theatre Ensemble and the world premiere of The Brother (Tessie) for Hancock Prods/Film Acres. She has appeared at many area theatres including Victory Gardens, National Jewish, Apple Tree, Eclipse and Stage Left, of which she was a founding member.

Dagoberto Soto (Manolo) has studied at Piven Theatre and Second City. He recently portrayed four characters in a stage play called "Cars and Quineñeras" at Clockwise Theatre and has appeared in an array of supporting to lead roles in TV shows such as Animal Planet, The History Channel and a feature called Roundabout American, including the hilarious web series The Guys Book Club as well as national and local TV commercials. Dago has extended his actor role into film production and is a founding member of Structure Productions, an indie film production house which has produced and recently won best audience and picture awards for short films.

Taia Thomas (Renee) began acting in high school and carried that over into a career in public speaking- speaking on the issues of Religion and Spirituality. Taia studied acting and drama at The Alliance Theater in Atlanta, GA and is a graduate of the year long improvisation program at The Second City - (also trained at iO and The Annoyance Theater). Nine to five you will find Taia working as a Geriatric Physical Therapist. Interests and passions include: learning to play the drum kit, writing poems and songs, and searching for Chicago's next great soul food restaurant.

Alexandra Boroff (Mickey understudy) has worked in the past with Edge Theater, The Unrehearsed Shakespeare Company of Chicago, A Reasonable Facimile Theater Company, and is the Financial Director of Blunt ObjectsTheater.

Lauren Lundy (Ass't. Director and Technician) is a soon to be graduate of The Theatre School at DePaul University. Past productions include directing Love Song and assistant directing Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy, Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead, and Careless Love.

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