The New Colony and University of Chicago Stage B-SIDE STUDIO World Premiere, Now thru 10/12

Join a live studio audience on the set of a '70s-style sitcom as The Inconvenience, The New Colony and the University of Chicago's Theater and Performance Studies Program team up to co-produce the world premiere of B-SIDE STUDIO, co-written by Inconvenience Resident Writer Ike Holter and New Colony Co-Artistic Director Evan Linder and directed by Nicholas J. Carroll, Andrew Hobgood and Gus Menary. B-SIDE STUDIO is performed on Fridays and Saturdays at 9/8c (that's 8 pm in Chicago, meathead!) from tonight, September 13 - October 12, 2013 at The Logan Center for the Arts, 915 E. 60th St. in Chicago. The press performances are Friday, September 13 at 8 pm and Saturday, September 14 at 8 pm.

B-SIDE STUDIO stars Daeshawna Cook, Missi Davis, Michael Harnichar, Wes Needham, Brad Smith and Kevin Stangler.

Each week's performances of B-SIDE STUDIO will feature a new episode performed in front of a live studio audience. The Mondayfollowing each performance weekend, the most recently taped episode will be made available for online viewing at www.thenewcolony.org and www.theinconvenience.org allowing audiences to stay current with the latest antics of their B-Side friends. Season subscriptions for all four episodes of B-SIDE STUDIO will go on sale Wednesday, July 31 at 773.702.ARTS (2787) or www.ticketsweb.uchicago.edu. Tickets for single episodes will go on sale Wednesday, August 14.

The episodic story of B-SIDE STUDIO focuses on Gary and Felix McNamara and their failing Chicago recording studio. Despite Felix's get-rich-quick schemes, it seems that B-Side is never going to reach the heights of success that the once-promising McNamara brothers always dreamed of. When Felix decides to use the studio to record "Song Poems" with the help of their assistant Janice and in-house musicians Butch and Marvin, there might be hope yet to save the studio. They just have to convince Lady, the overbearing trophy wife of their absentee landlord. Tune in to find out what happens next at B-Side Studio.

In a joint statement, co-writers Linder and Holter said "B-Side Studio has been a long time in the works, so we're excited to finally be working together. This blending of creative mediums comes naturally to all three artistic partners, allowing each group to play off their own strengths while working together to build a unique performance experience that harkens back to the sitcoms of the 1970s while simultaneously revealing a glimpse into the future of the arts."

Both writers have seen recent success and accolades. Linder's 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche made its move to the off-Broadway Soho Playhouse after taking home the Best Overall Production prize at the 2012 NYC International Fringe Festival. Similarly, Holter's Hit The Wall received raves at the Steppenwolf Garage and played a subsequent run off-Broadway at New York's Barrow Street Theater.

Performances play The Logan Center for the Arts, 915 E. 60th St., Chicago. Press performances: Friday, September 13 at 8 pm and Saturday, September 14 at 8 pm. Regular run: Friday, September 27 - Saturday, October 12, 2013. Curtain Times: Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm. Please note: there will not be performances on Friday, September 20 and Saturday, September 21.

Tickets: Subscription pass $40/$20 students (all four episodes, one per week) Single episodes $20/$10 students. Season subscriptions for all four episodes of will go on sale Wednesday, July 31 at 773.702.ARTS (2787) or www.ticketsweb.uchicago.edu. Tickets for single episodes will go on sale Wednesday, August 14.

Production team: John Wilson (scenic designer), Nathan Rohrer (costume designer), Jeffrey Glass (lighting designer), Jenny Pinson (props designer), John Cicora (music director), Kaylie Honkala (stage manager), Laura Scales Ashlock (unit production manager), Bobby Huggins (first assistant director), Cole Simon (director of photographer/camera operator), Adam Bialy and Sarah Giroux (camera operators), Adam Goron (audio finishing) and Wes Lambert (music recording engineer).

Public Readings: In keeping with The New Colony's devised, collaborative artistic process, B-SIDE STUDIO will present two free public readings for audience feedback on Tuesday, July 16 at 7:30 pm (Episodes 1 and 2) and Tuesday, July 30 at 7:30 pm (Episodes 3 and 4) at the Dank Haus German American Cultural Center, 4740 N. Western Ave). No reservations necessary. Audience feedback is crucial in honing in on character development, overall story structure and clarity.

About the Artists:

Ike Holter's (Co-Writer) scripts have been workshopped with The Kennedy Center, The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, and The Playwrights Center. His work has been produced with The Steppenwolf Garage, LiveWire Chicago, City Lit Theater, Nothing Without a Company (where he is the Associate Artistic Director), Collaboraction's Sketchbook, EP Theater, Route 66, Theater on The Lake and The Inconvenience, where he is a founding member and Resident Writer. His show Hit The Wall is now playing Off-Broadway at The Barrow Street Theater in New York. Dexter Bullard will direct his new play Kitchen Sink this spring at The Merle Reskin Theater, and he is on commission with The Goodman Theatre as part of their Playwrights Unit.

Evan Linder (Co-Writer) is a founding member of The New Colony in Chicago where he also serves as Co-Artistic Director. A playwright, actor and director, Evan was recently listed on Chicago Magazine's 2013 Power List of Theater Scene Stealers. His first play produced in Chicago, Frat, was named as one of the best of 2009 in the Chicago Tribune, Windy City Times and Newcity. Other plays include 11:11, The Warriors, The Bear Suit of Happiness and 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche, which was named Best Overall Production at the 2012 NYC International Fringe Festival and is published by Samuel French. Since its debut in Chicago in 2011, 5 Lesbians has received productions in Kansas City, Omaha, Boulder, Louisville, Memphis, San Francisco and Charleston, SC, as well as a run Off-Broadway as part of the Soho Playhouse's 2012-13 season. Evan also co-wrote the book to the glam-rock musical Rise of the Numberless, which was developed by The New Colony and Bailiwick Chicago in 2012 and most recently wrote The Bear Suit of Happiness, which premiered this year with The New Colony and was remounted as the opening show in Theater on the Lake's 2013 season. He recently developed and directed Rewilding Genius at the University of Chicago, where he is an adjunct professor of theatre.

Nicholas J. Carroll (Director) is the Director of Films at The New Colony, where he directed the short film So Many Days and the short auto-documentary Script Comes Last. He is also the TAPS North Theater Manager at the University of Chicago, managing three theatrical spaces including the 140-seat Francis X. Kinahan Theater. Originally from Connecticut, Nick grew up working on his sister's indie film sets and there found his passion for storytelling through film. After moving to Chicago, he joined The New Colony as a company director in 2009.

Andrew Hobgood (Director) is the Founding Artistic Director of The New Colony, the Business Strategist for Vosges Chocolate, and an Adjunct Professor of Theater at the University of Chicago. His last play, 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche, won Outstanding Production at the 2012 New York International Fringe Festival before opening as an Off-Broadway production that Ben Brantley of the New York Times called "raw and magnetic dementia...destined to attract a cult following." 5 Lesbians has been performed in over ten cities since its premier, and is published with Samuel French. Hobgood's other work with The New Colony includes writing and directing the new musicals Tupperware: An American Musical Fable, That Sordid Little Story, and Rise of The Numberless as well as directing Amelia Earhart: Jungle Princess, the original and commercial productions of FRAT, and Hearts Full of Blood, which won Outstanding Script at the 2010 New York International Fringe Festival. In 2010 Newcity Magazine named him one of the 50 People Who Really Perform for Chicago; in 2011 he and The New Colony were honored with the Broadway in Chicago Emerging Theater Award; and in 2013 he and Co-Artistic Director Evan Linder were two of six people on Chicago Magazine's Cultural Power List of Theater Scene Stealers. His new play reWILDing Genius was commissioned by the University of Chicago, where it will also receive a workshop production this spring. When not directing, writing or acting, he can be found working in the Innovation Lab of Vosges Haut-Chocolat, or guest speaking and writing on the topics of devised/collaborative theater, the future of playwriting and theater, and the art of business/business of art.

Gus Menary (Director) is a company member and Director of Music Programming for the arts organization The Inconvenience. He's directed for many of their festivals, booked and coordinated over 20 concerts and created their summer block party BLOCKOUT. He is also a founding member of Jackalope Theatre Company where he's direcTed Shawn Reddy's My Name is Mudd, Andrew Burden Swanson's Moonshiner and co- directed Last Exodus of American Men also by Swanson. Most recently he directed Mickle Maher's Spirits to Enforce for Abraham Werewolf. He has worked with many other theatre companies in the Chicago area including Mary Arrchie, Pinebox and American Theatre Company.

About the Collaborators:

The Inconvenience, is a community of interdisciplinary artists who seek to create a new way of experiencing art through a collaboration of music, theatre, dance, fine art and celebration. We create, produce and curate work that challenges audience and artist perspectives and ignites social dialogue.

The New Colony, the 2011 recipient of the Broadway In Chicago Emerging Theater Award, strives to contribute original material to the American artistic canon and develop a new kind of theater going audience. Through collaboration with emerging artists of all disciplines, The New Colony continually develops new work and fresh perspectives. With the goal of exploring enticing subject matter and the common language of experience, The New Colony will cultivate the next generation of arts supporters.

This event takes place as a part of the Summer, Inc. Residencies with Theater and Performance Studies at The University of Chicago.

The Summer, Inc. program began out of a desire to extend the program's nurturing environment to Chicago's professional performance community. Recognizing the importance of hospitality, particularly in a moment when the arts are faced with acute economic challenges, when basic expenses make the creation of new work more of a conceptual wish than a pragmatic reality, UC Summer Inc. invites companies into our artistic home. Selected groups represent the city's boldness in its artistic approaches which has been demonstrated through projects of solo performance, clown adaptations, dance, and multi-media work. All of the new work developed reflected the University's commitment to interdisciplinary collaborations.

Pictured: Daeshawna Cook, Wes Needham and Kevin Stangler. Photo Credit: Ryan Bourque.

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