ChiIL Mama’s ChiIL Picks List:
Adult Shows With Family Themes On Our Radar
GOODMAN RESIDENT DIRECTOR CHUCK SMITH’S MAJOR REVIVAL OF THE SECOND WORK IN AUGUST WILSON’S 10-PLAY AMERICAN CENTURY CYCLE
Joe Turner’s Come and Gone
***THIS WEEKEND, VISIT THE “HIDDEN GEMS” POP-UP MARKET CELEBRATING AFRICAN AMERICAN ARTISTS AND ART***
Tonight, longtime August Wilson interpreter Chuck Smith’s major revival of Joe Turner’s Come and Gone opens—and extends its run through May 19. I'll be there tonight, covering the production for ChiIL Mama and ChiIL Live Shows, so check back soon for my full review. I've seen most of August Wilson's century cycle and I'm beyond excited to see Goodman's revival of Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.
Featuring an all-Chicago cast, the play follows Herald Loomis, who, in a journey in search of his estranged wife, must first contend with his own sense of heritage and identity in this story of spiritual and emotional resurrection.
This weekend, theatergoers can support local African American artisans at the “Hidden Gems” pop-up market on-site at the Goodman, featuring arts, crafts and more, on Saturday, April 27. Joe Turner’s Come and Gone appears through May 19 in the 856-seat Albert Theatre. Tickets ($25 - $90; subject to change) are available at GoodmanTheatre.org/Joe or by phone at 312.443.3800. Extension week performances include May 16 at 7:30pm; May 17 at 7:30pm; May 18 at 2pm and 7:30pm; and May 19 at 2pm (closing). For more information about Hidden Gems pop-up market, visit GoodmanTheatre.org/HiddenGems. The Goodman is grateful for the support of The Elizabeth Morse Charitable Trust (Lead Funder of IDEAA Programming).
“August Wilson was a poet, and it’s easy to see why Joe Turner’s Come and Gone was one of his favorite plays. There’s a lot of mysticism in this work, and he’s always had that mysticism,” said Chuck Smith, longtime Goodman Theatre Resident Director, whose previous Wilson works include directing Gem of the Ocean (2022), Two Trains Running (2015) and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (1997). “There are children in this play who represent the new way. We’re reminded that we must take very delicate care of our children and do whatever we can, as best we can, to provide them a better future.”
A journey of self-discovery leads to salvation in this major revival of Joe Turner’s Come and Gone—the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright’s masterwork and one of his best-loved, most compelling plays. Herald Loomis (A.C. Smith) searches the country with his young daughter to find his estranged wife. But first, he must regain a sense of his own heritage and identity in this story of spiritual and emotional resurrection. The cast features Harper Anthony (Reuben Mercer), Anthony Fleming III (Jeremy Furlow), TayLar (Bertha Holly), Gary Houston (Rutherford Selig), Kylah Jones (Zonia), Nambi E. Kelley (Mattie Campbell), Krystel V. McNeil (Molly Cunningham), Tim Rhoze (Bynum Walker), Shariba Rivers (Martha Loomis) and Dexter Zollicoffer (Seth Holly).
ChiIL Mama's Thematic Theatre Pairings:
ChiIL out in Chi, IL with both the Chicago premiere of August Wilson’s autobiographical show, Congo Square Theatre's HOW I LEARNED WHAT I LEARNED at Broadway In Chicago's Broadway Playhouse, and Goodman's Joe Turner’s Come and Gone.
August Wilson’s 10-play American Century Cycle is a singular achievement in the American theater. Goodman Theatre was first in the nation to produce every play—including two world-premiere productions—of the cycle, each one set in a different decade of the twentieth century, including: Gem of the Ocean (1900s), Joe Turner's Come and Gone (1910s), Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (1920s), The Piano Lesson (1930s), Seven Guitars (1940s), Fences (1950s), Two Trains Running (1960s), Jitney (1970s), King Hedley II (1980s) and Radio Golf (1990s).
Born and raised in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, August Wilson (1945-2005) authored the American Century Cycle of 10 plays, including Gem of the Ocean, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, The Piano Lesson, Seven Guitars, Fences, Two Trains Running, Jitney, King Hedley II and Radio Golf. These works explore the heritage and experience of African Americans, decade by decade, over the course of the 20th century. Goodman Theatre was the first in the country to have produced every play in Wilson’s cycle. In 2003, Wilson made his professional stage debut in his one-man show How I Learned What I Learned. Wilson’s work garnered many awards, including Pulitzer Prizes for Fences (1987) and The Piano Lesson (1990); a Tony Award for Fences; Great Britain’s Olivier Award for Jitney; as well as seven New York Drama Critics Circle Awards for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Fences, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, The Piano Lesson, Two Trains Running, Seven Guitars and Jitney. Additionally, the cast recording of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom received a 1985 Grammy Award and Wilson received a 1995 Emmy Award nomination for his screenplay adaptation of The Piano Lesson. On October 16, 2005, Broadway renamed the theater located at 245 West 52nd Street the August Wilson Theatre.
Chuck Smith is a member of Goodman Theatre’s Board of Trustees and is Goodman Theatre’s Resident Director. He is also a resident director at the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe in Sarasota, Florida. Goodman credits include the recent revival of August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean (2022) and the Chicago premieres of Objects in the Mirror; Pullman Porter Blues; By the Way, Meet Vera Stark; Race; The Good Negro; Proof and The Story; the world premieres of By the Music of the Spheres and The Gift Horse; James Baldwin’s The Amen Corner, which transferred to Boston’s Huntington Theatre Company, where it won the Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE) Award for Best Direction; A Raisin in the Sun; Blues for an Alabama Sky; August Wilson’s Two Trains Running and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom; Ain’t Misbehavin’; the 1993 to 1995 productions of A Christmas Carol; Crumbs From the Table of Joy; Vivisections from a Blown Mind and The Meeting. He served as dramaturg for the Goodman’s world-premiere production of August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean. He directed the New York premiere of Knock Me a Kiss and The Hooch for the New Federal Theatre and the world premiere of Knock Me a Kiss at Chicago’s Victory Gardens Theater, where his other directing credits include Master Harold… and the Boys, Home, Dame Lorraine and Eden, for which he received a Jeff Award nomination. Regionally, Mr. Smith directed Death and the King’s Horseman (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Birdie Blue (Seattle Repertory Theatre), The Story (Milwaukee Repertory Theater), Blues for an Alabama Sky (Alabama Shakespeare Festival) and The Last Season (Robey Theatre Company). At Columbia College he was facilitator of the Theodore Ward Prize playwriting contest for 20 years and editor of the contest anthologies Seven Black Plays and Best Black Plays. He won a Chicago Emmy Award as associate producer/theatrical director for the NBC teleplay Crime of Innocence and was theatrical director for the Emmy-winning Fast Break to Glory and the Emmy-nominated The Martin Luther King Suite. He was a founding member of the Chicago Theatre Company, where he served as artistic director for four seasons and directed the Jeff-nominated Suspenders and the Jeff-winning musical Po’. His directing credits include productions at Fisk University, Roosevelt University, Eclipse Theatre, ETA, Black Ensemble Theater, Northlight Theatre, MPAACT, Congo Square Theatre Company, The New Regal Theater, Kuumba Theatre Company, Fleetwood-Jourdain Theatre, Pegasus Players, the Timber Lake Playhouse in Mt. Carroll, Illinois and the University of Wisconsin in Madison. He is a 2003 inductee into the Chicago State University Gwendolyn Brooks Center’s Literary Hall of Fame and a 2001 Chicago Tribune Chicagoan of the Year. He is the proud recipient of the 1982 Paul Robeson Award and the 1997 Award of Merit presented by the Black Theater Alliance of Chicago.
Full Company of Joe Turner’s Come and Gone (in alphabetical order)
By August Wilson
Directed by Chuck Smith
Harper Anthony…..Reuben Mercer
Anthony Fleming III……Jeremy Furlow
TayLar…..Bertha Holly
Gary Houston……Rutherford Selig
Kylah Renee Jones……Zonia
Nambi E. Kelley…….Mattie Campbell
Krystel V. McNeil…...Molly Cunningham
Tim Edward Rhoze…..Bynum Walker
Shariba Rivers….Martha Loomis
A.C. Smith…..Herald Loomis
Dexter Zollicoffer…..Seth Holly
Creative Team
Associate Director/Choreographer/Intimacy Consultant…Cristin Carole
Set Designer….Linda Buchanan
Costume Designer…Evelyn Danner
Lighting Designer…Jared Gooding
Sound Designer and Composer…Pornchanok Kanchanabanca
Understudies for this production include Sean Blake (Jeremy Furlow/Bynum Walker), Stacie Doublin (Bertha Holly/Martha Loomis), Kristin E. Ellis (Mattie Campbell/Molly Cunningham), Anthony Irons (Harold Loomis), Bill McGough (Rutherford Selig), Jean-Luc Nazaire (Reuben), André Teamer (Seth Holly) and Riley Lauren Wells (Zonia).
Casting is by Lauren Port, CSA. Neena Arndt is the Dramaturg. Mars Wolfe and Kimberly Ann McCann are the Production Stage Managers and Beth Koehler is the Stage Manager.
ENHANCED AND ACCESSIBLE PERFORMANCES AT GOODMAN THEATRE
ASL-Interpreted Performance: Friday, May 10 at 7:30pm – Professional ASL interpreter signs the action/text as played.
Touch Tour* and Audio-Described Performance: Saturday, May 11, 12:30pm Touch Tour; 2pm performance – The action/text is audibly enhanced for patrons via headset.
Spanish-Subtitled Performance: Saturday, May 11 at 7:30pm – An LED sign presents Spanish-translated dialogue in sync with the performance.
Open-Captioned Performance: Sunday, May 12 at 2pm – An LED sign presents dialogue in sync with the performance.
Visit Goodman theatre.org/Access for more information about Goodman Theatre’s accessibility efforts.
ABOUT GOODMAN THEATRE
Chicago’s theater since 1925, Goodman Theatre is a not-for-profit arts and community organization in the heart of the Loop, distinguished by the excellence and scope of its artistic programming and community engagement. Led by Artistic Director Susan V. Booth and Executive Director/CEO Roche Schulfer, the theater’s artistic priorities include new play development (more than 150 world or American premieres), large scale musical theater works and reimagined classics. Artists and productions have earned two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards and more than 160 Jeff Awards, among other accolades.
The Goodman is the first theater in the world to produce all 10 plays in August Wilson’s “American Century Cycle.” Its longtime annual holiday tradition A Christmas Carol, now in its fifth decade, has created a new generation of theatergoers in Chicago. The Goodman also frequently serves as a production and program partner with national and international companies and Chicago’s Off-Loop theaters.
Using the tools of theatrical practice, the Goodman’s Education and Engagement programs aim to develop generations of citizens who understand and empathize with cultures and stories of diverse voices. The Goodman’s Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement is the home of these programs, which are offered for Chicago youth—85% of whom come from underserved communities—schools and life-long learners.
Goodman Theatre was built on the traditional homelands of the Council of the Three Fires: the Ojibwe, Odawa and Potawatomi Nations. We recognize that many other Nations consider the area we now call Chicago as their traditional homeland—including the Myaamia, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Sac and Fox, Peoria, Kaskaskia, Wea, Kickapoo and Mascouten—and remains home to many Native peoples today. While we believe that our city’s vast diversity should be reflected on the stages of its largest theater, we acknowledge that our efforts have largely overlooked the voices of our Native peoples. This omission has added to the isolation, erasure and harm that Indigenous communities have faced for hundreds of years. We have begun a more deliberate journey towards celebrating Native American stories and welcoming Indigenous communities.
Goodman Theatre was founded by William O. Goodman and his family in honor of their son Kenneth, an important figure in Chicago’s cultural renaissance in the early 1900s. The Goodman family’s legacy lives on through the continued work and dedication of Kenneth’s family, including Albert Ivar Goodman, who with his late mother, Edith-Marie Appleton, contributed the necessary funds for the creation on the new Goodman center in 2000.
Julie Danis is Chair of Goodman Theatre’s Board of Trustees, Lorrayne Weiss is Women’s Board President and Kelli Garcia is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals.
