Walkabout Theater Presents TALL GIRL AND THE LIGHTNING PARADE this August

Walkabout Theater Company is pleased to celebrate summer with TALL GIRL AND THE LIGHTNING PARADE, an interactive, outdoor parade and performance spectacle featuring over 30 multi-disciplinary artists - performed in both Spanish and English and perfect for the entire family. Five free performances will be presented August 16, August 23-24 and August 26-27, 2016 at unique outdoor venues across the City, primarily through the Chicago Park District's "Night Out in the Parks" series.

Walkabout Theater's dedicated ensemble of eight is collaborating with 25 additional Chicago artists to create an immersive, celebratory performance with live music, masks, stilt-walkers and large-scale moments of choreography. Inspired by the Tzutujil Mayan story shared by Martín Prechtel in his book, The Disobedience of the Daughter of the Sun, TALL GIRL AND THE LIGHTNING PARADE tells the dramatic tale of Tall Girl's magical courtship with the iridescent little Hummingbird Boy. For additional information, visit walkabouttheater.org/tall-girl.

Conceived and directed by Walkabout Co-Artistic Director Thom Pasculli* and co-adapted by Isaac Fosl-van Wyke and Enid Munoz, TALL GIRL AND THE LIGHTNING PARADE will feature Lucía Mier y Terán Romero as Tall Girl with Sam Allyn, Noah Appelbaum, Jordan Arredando, Claire Bauman, Nigel Brown*, Ellen DeSitter, David Dowd, McCambridge Dowd-Whipple*, Micah Figueroa, Isaac Fosl-van Wyke, Kellyn Jackson, Kevin Jandrist, Arthur Lockhart, Angela Luem, Anjelica Masson, Enid Munoz, Dana Murphy*, Kelly Nesheim, Patrick Riley, Emily Robinson, Alex Rodriguez*, Aerica Siegal and Stephanie Vondell. *Walkabout company members.

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE

Tuesday, August 16 at 7 pm

The Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, 915 E. 60th St., Chicago

Tickets: Free - no reservation required.

Tuesday, August 23 at 7 pm*

Wednesday, August 24 at 7 pm*

Walsh Playground Park with a parade on the 606,1722 N. Ashland Ave, Chicago

Tickets: Free - no reservation required.

Friday, August 26 at 7 pm*

Saturday, August 27 at 7 pm*

La Villita Park, 2800 S. Sacramento Blvd., Chicago

Tickets: Free - no reservation required.

*Part of the Chicago Park District's "Night Out in the Parks" series.

The production team for TALL GIRL AND THE LIGHTNING PARADE includes: Julie Young (costume design), Kelly Nesheim (puppet design), Micah Figueroa (movement direction), Sam Allyn (original music score), Stephanie Pasculli (original songs), Cooper Forsman* (additional sound design), Kristina Isabelle (stilt choreography), McCambridge Dowd-Whipple* and Kendra Miller* (additional costume design), Erica Kast* (production manager), Nicole Middleton (asst. director) and Dina Klahn* (stage manager).

TALL GIRL AND THE LIGHTNING PARADE is presented as part of the Chicago Park District's Night Out in the Parks series and is supported by Mayor Rahm Emanuel. Arts programming in neighborhoods across the city advances the goals of the Chicago Park District and the Chicago Cultural Plan. Now in its fourth year, the 2016 Night Out in the Parks series will host over 1,200 cultural events and programs at more than 250 neighborhood parks throughout the city, making community parks a safe haven and hubs of activity. Projects will vary from traditional performances and concerts, to movies, peace rallies, community workshops, nature based programs, dance pieces, festivals, and more. The Chicago Park District has partnered with more than 120 arts and community organizations to expand and produce this successful initiative.

TALL GIRL AND THE LIGHTNING PARADE was developed in residence at the Chicago Performance Lab, Theater and Performance Studies at the University of Chicago, with special funding from the Cliff Dwellers Club in Chicago. Additional support for Walkabout Theater Company is provided by the Gaylord & Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, and the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events CityArts Program.

Thom Pasculli (Director) is a Chicago-based director and performer specializing in physical and laboratory theater, actor training and exchange. Past projects include creating a performance tour and international symposium in South Africa, an intensive street performance program for high school students in Colorado, and most recently a festival of innovative new works-in-progress for theater professionals at Dartmouth College. Most formidable in his experience were his years as a company member of Double Edge Theatre in MA, his training at the Odin Teatret in Denmark and the Grotowski Institute in Poland, and working with Steppenwolf, Redmoon, and Trap Door Theatre in Chicago. Thom has performed at the Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, and the Moscow Art School, and recent directing credits include Walkabout's Beach Party at the End of the World, The Wild at Steppenwolf's Garage Theater, Circle-Machine at Oracle Theater, Core of the PUDEL at Trap Door, and The Reluctant Lesbian at NYC's Cherry Lane Studio. The co-artistic director of Walkabout and one of the founding directors of Vox Theater's VoxFest, Thom is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Columbia College, and DePaul University, and he is a teaching artist with Steppenwolf for Young Adults.

Since 1999, Walkabout Theater Company (Thom Pasculli, Kendra Miller, Co-Artistic Directors; Emma Stanton, Associate Artistic Director) has performed and produced arresting theatrical events and new site-specific and experimental work in Chicago, challenging traditional theatrical models of production, performance, narrative and story. Through active exploration of the theatrical form and the architecture in which theater is created, Walkabout seeks to deepen the connection between the artist and the Chicago community. The ensemble is comprised of ten multidisciplinary artists that live and work in Chicago. Recent highlights include The Cure (2016), a site-specific search for immortality at the Chicago Cultural Center's Yates Gallery; The Wild (2014-16), a deconstruction of Dionysian rituals with text from playwright Charles L. Mee, performed at the Steppenwolf Garage Rep, Physical Festival Chicago, Garfield Park Conservatory, and the Bharat Rang Mahotsav Festival in Delhi, India; STORM (2015), an international collaboration with the Moon Fool collective at Links Hall; and Beach Party at the End of the World (2014), a guerrilla dance spectacle that appeared on eight different Chicago beaches between Edgewater and Hyde Park.

Launched in 2013, Night Out in the Parks is part of Mayor Emanuel's citywide vision for art and culture. It is also a key component of the Chicago Cultural Plan, which was launched by Mayor Emanuel and DCASE in 2012 and is the first plan of its kind in more than 25 years. Through the Cultural Plan, the City is making investments in public art, music festivals, films, concerts, exhibitions and performances. Browse through more than 1,200 events by date, location and interest to discover what interesting activities are happening nearby on the My Chi Parks™ App, which is available to download on Apple and Android devices.

The 2014 Gold Medal Award winner, recognized for excellence in park and recreation management across the nation. For more information about the Chicago Park District's more than 8,300 acres of parkland, more than 585 parks, 26 miles of lakefront, 12 museums, two world-class conservatories, 16 historic lagoons, nearly 50 nature areas, thousands of special events, sports and entertaining programs, please visit www.chicagoparkdistrict.com or contact the Chicago Park District at 312/742.PLAY or 312/747.2001 (TTY). Want to share your talent? Volunteer in the parks by calling, 312/742.PLAY.

Photo credit: Cassie Scott

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