Victory Gardens Fresh Squeezed Hosts Performance of HARD HEADED HEART, 10/30

Victory Gardens Fresh Squeezed is hosting a speciAl Halloween Eve performance of Hard Headed Heart, written and performed by Blair Thomas and Company, Friday, October 30th at 8 pm at the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater.

This is the last chance to see this trio of solo shows performed by Chicago's most acclaimed puppet master, Blair Thomas. Hard Headed Heart will be presented in the intimate new Victory Gardens Biograph studio theater. Tickets are only $15 in advance, $20 at the door. For tickets and information, call 773.871.3000, or purchase online at victorygardens.org.

This Victory Gardens Fresh Squeezed presentation is the final installment of Thomas' current seven-stop Chicago neighborhood tour, and includes the following three shows:

The Puppet Show of Don Cristobal -A script by Federico Garcia Lorca. This play is a bawdy telling of the traditional trickster Cristobal's wooing and marriage to the delectable Dona Rosita and performed with wooden hand puppets and a drum kit.

ST. James Infirmary - Based on the traditional New Orleans folksong, this show is performed with rod marionettes, a motorized paper scroll and a one-man pit band.

The Blackbird - Based on Wallace Steven's "13 ways of Looking at a Blackbird," The Blackbird is a shadow puppet show performed on a set of four rolling paper scrolls lit by lamplight. Hard Headed Heart has toured to Spain and Mexico and across the U.S. since 2002. Two of its three performances have received UNIMA (international puppetry) awards for excellence in the field.

In 2002, Blair founded Blair Thomas & Company to create a distinctive Chamber Puppet Theater. His talents are exemplified in the many fantastic puppets he has created for Victory Gardens Theater's annual hit holiday musical, The Snow Queen, based on the story by Hans Christian Andersen, returning for its fourth consecutive year as Chicago's # 1 alternative to traditional holiday fare, November 27-December 27, 2009. Tickets to The Snow Queen are on sale now, starting at only $20. For tickets and information, call 773.871.3000, or purchase online at victorygardens.org.

With the company, Blair has also toured to Boston, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Tampa, Atlanta, Phoenix, Madison, Bloomington, Mexico, and Spain, and has built a repertoire of work for adults and for children. He was awarded the Illinois Arts Council Fellowship for New Performance in 2002 and 2004, and was hand-picked to serve in the inaugural position of Jim Henson Artist-in-Residence at the University of Maryland in College Park for the 2006-07 academic year. He is a graduate of Oberlin College. For more information, go to blairthomas.org .

Victory Gardens' 2009-2010 Fresh Squeezed series promises to explore the art of storytelling from every direction, boasting an eclectic mélange of talents with an emphasis on the works of women and queer artists. This season, Fresh Squeezed will showcase national paragons including Mike Daisey, Charles Busch, Julie Halston, Michael Kearns, Terry Galloway, Tim Miller and Holly Hughes, along with local favorites like The Neo-Futurists, 2nd Story, and Rohina. 

Victory Gardens Theater is home to the bold voices of world premiere theater. The company features the work of its own 14-member Playwrights Ensemble, as well as that of exciting playwrights who are changing theater in the United States and abroad. Since its founding in 1974, the company has produced more world premieres than any other Chicago theater, a commitment recognized nationally when Victory Gardens received the 2001 Tony Award for Regional Theatre. The company's dedication to developing, supporting and producing new work makes Victory Gardens an American Center for New Plays. For complete information, visit victorygardens.org.

 

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