7-23-04
BY JENN Q. GODDU
Wanted: "A talented stage director and an artistic administrator" to take the reins at Light Opera Works in Evanston. Specifics of the search haven't yet been determined. The board of directors is meeting mid-July to hammer out details, but someone is needed to step in to replace the company's outgoing artistic director Lara Teeter. The company hopes to have someone new in place by January 2005.
Teeter, who joined Light Opera Works in September 1999, is moving to Winchester, Virginia to become the Charles T. Lipitin Endowed Chair at the Shenandoah Conservatory at Shenandoah University. "We're very sad to see Lara go," said Bridget McDonough, the company's general manager. Yet she remains optimistic someone as equally talented and qualified will be found. "We'll take it as a challenge and we'll take it as a growth opportunity just as it was five years ago when we got Lara." Teeter's directing and/or choreography credits while at Light Opera Works included The Gondoliers, Ragtime and The Pirates of Penzance. His final project will be directing and choreographing Candide, a co-production with Pegasus Players, opening Aug.14.
While Teeter's making his move to Virginia, there's also going to be a Chicago presence further up the East Coast this August. Chicago companies are taking a big bite out of the Big Apple this year, judging by all the Chicago-based offerings at this summer's New York City Fringe Festival. Over 800 shows submitted applications to participate in Fringe NYC, running this year Aug. 13 – 24. The wide range of those selected from the local scene will give New Yorkers a good idea of all that can be seen here in Chicago. WNEP Theater is remounting its Let There Be Light..!, Jen Ellison and Dave Stinton's adaptation of John Huston's banned documentary of WWII veterans. The Hypocrites' will mount Sean Graney's The Tragedie of Othello, the Moor of Venice; attributed to William Shakespeare, the Bard of Avon; A summary on cassette tape; A students' guide. Harvey Finklestein's Institute of Whimsical, Fantastical, and Marvelous Puppet Masterage gives new life to the Joe Eszterhas film Showgirls in Harvey Finklestein's Sock Puppet Showgirls. American Myth Theater Company takes Gregory Hardigan's exploration of office life, Tens and Twenties, to NYC while Nomenil will present its anarchist musical Love Pollution: A TeknoPopera. Ilana Manaster's My Life as a Blonde, COMEDEUS The Andy Ross Experience, Burning Doll Theatre's A Chicken and Its Breast and Wonderelastic Productions' musical comedy The Adams Conglomerate High School Drama Club Presents: Tales of the 8th Grade!! round out our representation in the eighth annual festival.
Closer to home, after years of itinerancy, Factory Theater has settled into a new permanent home, says company executive director Allison Cain. The ensemble's first show, Being at Choice, opened last month in a space shared with Prop Thtr and Hermit Arts. The 3502 N. Elston Ave. location had Cain a little worried at first. "We're the furthest off loop theatre west," she said. "We've beat The Viaduct by a couple of blocks." But sales have been as she'd expect at this time of year and informal surveys of audience members suggest they are pleased with the availability of parking and convenient access from the suburbs.
Company founder Nick Digilio has been re-elected artistic director after a hiatus from the role. He'll be looking to return Factory to its four-show season glory, along with late night shows and developing new works. Having a permanent home gives Factory back its flexibility, Cain said. "We're really looking to get back to our roots." Next up the company will mount Poppin' and Lockdown 2, Kirk Pynchon and Mike Meredith's sequel to an old Factory Theater hit.
Independent film in Chicago gets a boost with DePaul University's new Bluelight Productions. The professional independent film company features veterans from Chicago's professional theatre and filmmaking communities working with faculty, staff and students from DePaul's Theatre School and its new, state-of-the-art Digital Cinema Program. The inaugural film, Last Call, was to be shot in Chicago, Long Grove and Elk Grove Village from July 6th to the 20th.
In suburban theatre news, the Village of Arlington Heights voted 6-3 recently in favor of purchasing the property housing the Metropolis performing arts complex. The $2.1 million purchase gives the village ownership of the property but they plan to remain uninvolved in Metropolis' day-to-day operations, said executive director Tim Rater. "With them as our business partner, so to speak, we can plan for the future and know that we have a future," Rater said. The performing arts complex will answer for its finances to the village and a new 10-member board. "They are going to make sure that Metropolis not only grows and exists but thrives and becomes what it should be for the future," he said. Metropolis recently announced their 2004-2005 season, which includes a summer of the sexes rotating rep of The Vagina Monologues and Defending the Caveman.
AFTRA/SAG members wondering what their dues do may want to check out the new home office away from home in the AFTRA/SAG office. The Kaufherr Members Resource Center recently underwent an extreme makeover.