Check out ChiIL Live Shows' exclusive interview with Vladik, juggler with Cirque du Soleil's Dralion who is also interviewed in print in The Ordinary Acrobat. It was truly a pleasure to chat with the 28 year old who was born into the Moscow Circus. He now combines elements of acro and dance with his juggling routines.
*The Ordinary Acrobat by Duncan Wall (5 hardbacks available/ $26.95 value each).Enter through midnight 7/30. Watch for loads of our original circus content throughout the month of our giveaway. We have video interviews with Cirque Du Soleil performers featured in the book,live show clips we've filmed at CircEsteem Shows, and loads of stills from international touring circuses including Cirque Shanghai, performing on Navy Pier all summer in Chicago, and more! It was our great pleasure to meet author Duncan Wall at City Winery on his book tour through Chicago this spring. Here are our stills from the reading and we'll have lots of video from that night up in the coming weeks.
City Winery
Our home base for circus arts, Chicago's own CircEsteem, is also referenced in the book. My kids have studied there for 3 years come fall. The night of the reading, we heard Maribeth Joy, the Executive Director of CircEsteem speak on Circus Philanthropy and saw performances by alum, Will, on diablo. We had to leave before instructor, Brian P. Dailey, gave a juggling demo that night, but we have sweet video footage and stills of him performing with El Circo Cheapo to share instead.
Click the link below for your chance to win one of 5 copies of this fascinating read through midnight 7/30.
We're so excited to offer one of our lucky readers 4 free tickets to the opening performance of Six Stories Tall at 4pm on Saturday, November 10th. Enter right here for your chance to win! *Wait for Rafflecopter to load up right here (if you've gone through RSS feed or are scrolling down the blog and don't see it, click on the actual page title and it should pop right up). Enter like we vote in Chi, IL...early and often. Entries accepted through midnight on 11/2/12. Winner will be announced on Saturday 11/3. Thanks to Adventure Stage for once again providing us with rockin' awesome tickets for our give aways.
Check out ChiIL Mama/ ChiIL Live Shows Past Interview With Director Tom Arvetis right here. We have an exclusive interview with Tom Arvetis, Adventure Stage's Producing Artistic Director, and his infant daughter, Vivian, which we first ran in December of 2011. Check out our video below for insights into balancing creative work and parenting, life after birth with 3 girls under 6, their past productions Walk Two Moons and The Giver. Walk Two Moons was adapted by Tom, who also expounds on "adapting" to fatherhood & life in theatre. We continue our series on "How Creatives Parents and How Parents Create". Click here for our full past feature on Tom Arvetis and Walk Two Moons at Adventure Stage
Adventure Stage Chicago presents the Midwest Premiere of
Marco Ramirez’s Six Stories Tall: a play about mermaids, monsters and spray paint! directed by ASC Producing Artistic Director Tom Arvetis
Nov. 10 – Dec. 13 at Vittum Theater, 1012 N. Noble St., Chicago.
Adventure Stage Chicago (ASC) at Northwestern University Settlement House is thrilled to present the Midwest Premiere of Six Stories Tall: a play about mermaids, monsters and spray paint!, written by Marco Ramirez and directed by ASC Producing Artistic Director Tom Arvetis.
Pictured top to bottom: Lance Newton, Alyssa Vera Ramos, Alexandar Knapp, Mark Anthony Gonzalez, Sarah Rose Graber, Kevin Brown and Danielle Davis. Production Photos by Johnny Knight.
ABOUT THE PLAY
What Does It Mean To Be A Hero?
Inspired by Hispanic folklore, Six Stories Tallis a storytelling spectacle unlike anything ever seen on our stage. Featuring a live DJ and incorporating a unique mix of narrative influences including comic books, video games, hip-hop music and mythology, the six fantastical tales that comprise this remarkable play create a thrilling, heartfelt journey that families will not soon forget.*Recommended for ages 8 and older (grades 3 and above).
Six Stories Tallis a play of six stories commissioned by Washington D.C.’s The Kennedy Center, where it made its premiere in October 2008 under the title Mermaids, Monsters and the World Painted Purple and was nominated for a Helen Hayes Award for Best New Play. One of the stories in the play, “I Am Not Batman,” was part of the 2007 Humana Festival and won the Heideman Award for Best 10-Minute Play before being incorporated into the complete script of Mermaids, Monsters and the World Painted Purple. This Adventure Stage Chicago production marks only the second time the complete play has been staged, and the first time under its new title Six Stories Tall: a play about mermaids, monsters and spray paint!
Tom Arvetis (Director/ASC Producing Artistic Director) says of the play: “The gift that Marco Ramirez has given us with Six Stories Tall is the joy derived from the power of youthful imagination and the conceit that young people can be superheroes, guardians and saviors. Through six uniquely wrought adventures we see a boy save a mermaid, a girl defeat the devil at the crossroads, another boy become Batman, another girl defeat a legendary monster relying on video game skills, a boy and a girl invent a musical language together, and a boy express his love for his grandfather by literally changing the world.“
Please join us for a FREE open rehearsal of Six Stories Talland gain a glimpse into the journey that awaits you as we pull back the curtain for a sneak peek into what you can expect on show day. Refreshments provided. Limited seating - register at 773.342.4141 or www.adventurestage.org.
OPENING DAY CUPCAKE SOCIAL Saturday, Nov. 10, 4:00-8:00pm Celebrate opening day with us and mingle with the cast after the show while enjoying yummy cupcakes from Kyle’s Cupcakery.
*ChiIL Mama's four pack ticket winner can have a show and cupcakes too!!
SETTLEMENT SATURDAY Saturday, Nov. 17, 4:00-8:00pm Settlement Saturday is a day to celebrate our parent organization, the Northwestern University Settlement House, as well as the Settlement's neighbors. This performance includes Spanish supertitles, and the pre- and post-show discussion are conducted in both Spanish and English. The show is followed by a food and game reception in Vittum Theater's Burnside Hall for all audience members to enjoy.
CAST AND CREWCast: Kevin Brown (Drummer/Chorus)
Danielle Davis (Rebecca/Marta Elena/Yennifer/Chorus)
Mikhail Fiksel (DJ/Chorus)
Mark Anthony Gonzalez (Tomas/Stranger/Abuelo/Chorus)
Sarah Rose Graber* (Sirena/Abuela/Lawn Guy/Chorus)
Alexander Knapp (Alfredo/Carbon/Warrior 2/Store Clerk/Chorus)
Lance Newton (Boy/Warrior 1/Chester/Chorus)
Alyssa Vera Ramos (Emilia/Lupe/Chorus)
Sara Sawicki (Understudy) Tony Garcia (Understudy)
Crew:
Director: Tom Arvetis* Asst. Director: Emilio Robles Stage Manager: Phil Claudnic Asst. Stage Manager: Morgan Gire Dramaturg: Brian Bell* Music Direction/Composition/Sound Design: Mikhail Fiksel Movement Director: Stephanie Paul Scenic Design: Brandon Wardell* Lighting Design: Heather Gilbert Costume Design: Jessica Kuehnau Wardell* Props Design: Catherine Campbell Technical Director: Jarrod Bainter
*denotes ASC company or ensemble member
BIOS
Marco Ramirez (Playwright) is a two-time Latino Playwriting Award winner at the Kennedy Center's American College Theater Festival and has had plays produced at The Juilliard School, The Arsht Center, and Actors Theatre of Louisville's Humana Festival of New American Plays (where he's twice received the Heideman Award). TV writing credits include FX's "Sons of Anarchy." He trained at both NYU and The Juilliard School.
Tom Arvetis (Director) founded Adventure Stage Chicago in 2004 and is responsible for the creative vision of the company, the implementation of all programming, and the supervision of the theater staff. Tom's directing credits for Adventure Stage Chicago include And A Child Shall Lead by Michael Slade, Katrina: The Girl Who Wanted Her Name Back by Jason Tremblay (world premiere), The Blue House by José Cruz González (world premiere), and A Woman Called Truth by Sandra Fenichel Asher. Tom also directed a reading of Katrina: The Girl Who Wanted Her Name Back as part of the 2008 New Visions/New Voices Festival at the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. Other directing credits include Dragon/Sky by Elizabeth Wong (workshop reading for Silk Road Theatre Project), The Search for Odysseus by Charles Way (The Simple Theatre) andThe City Wears a Slouch Hat by Kenneth Patchen (Wanderlust Productions). Playwriting credits for Adventure Stage include Walk Two Moons (honorable mention in Chicago Theatre Beat's Best Shows of 2011) and I Dream in Blues (dubbed "the sleeper hit of the season" by the Chicago Tribune). Tom was an Ann Shaw Fellow with TYA/USA in 2009 and a finalist for a 2010 Chicago Community Trust Fellowship. He is a board member with the American Alliance for Theatre and Education.
ABOUT ADVENTURE STAGE
Adventure Stage Chicago creates dynamic and transformative theatre for young audiences that activates the imagination, inspires dialogue and strengthens community among families, educators and artists. We strive to become Chicago's premier destination for theatrical productions and programming designed for young people and the adults in their lives; we aim to be leaders in theatre education through professional development workshops, residencies and resources that offer innovative ways to infuse theatre into the classroom; and we seek to cultivate and create challenging new work as well as produce celebrated stories. This is Adventure Stage's ninth season.
Adventure Stage has received numerous honors since its inception in 2004, including:
Recipient of a prestigious Continuing Innovation Stage II grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
Selected participant in EmcArts' Innovation Lab for the Performing Arts, a program generously funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
Zeta Phi Eta Winifred Ward Award for Outstanding New Children's Theatre Company from the American Alliance for Theatre and Education
Two-time Finalist for the Broadway In Chicago Emerging Theater Award
Participant in the New Visions/New Voices Festival at the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, Washington D.C.
Four-time Recipient of the National Endowment for the Arts Access to Artistic Excellence Grant
Adventure Stage Chicago is a program of Northwestern University Settlement House, the oldest continually operating settlement house in Chicago. Throughout its 121-year history, the Settlement has remained committed to providing resources that empower neighbors to overcome the obstacles of poverty. Adventure Stage extends this mission by presenting Chicago's young audiences, educators and families with an affordable artistic experience rooted in performance. Last season, Adventure Stage served over 7,000 students from 85 schools throughout the Chicagoland area and over 2,600 audience members for our weekend performances.
Each Adventure Stage Chicago production presents weekday matinees primarily for school groups, as well as weekend performances for the general public. Every performance includes a post-show audience talkback with the cast. Out of respect for our actors and audience members, children under age 5 are not permitted in the theatre during a performance.
All shows are performed at Vittum Theater, 1012 N. Noble St., in the heart of Chicago’s West Town neighborhood. Street parking is available, and the theater is close to the Noble St. stop on the #56 Milwaukee bus line and the Division stop on the CTA Blue Line. The theater is wheelchair accessible.
Dennis Watkins on the art of being Harry Houdini The House Theatre's smash hit,Death and Harry Houdini, reaches the end of it's final extension today. This is, without a doubt, one of our favorite shows of the year.
We published this interview with the show's lead, Dennis Watkins, back in the spring on Facebook and Twitter, but want it to live on in a searchable archive form, so we're breaking it back out at both ChiIL Live Shows.com and ChiIL Mama.com to celebrate the show's close.
It was our great pleasure to be invited to Dennis' lovely northside home. His passion for magic extends from the stage to his after hours, where he surrounds himself with vintage magic props that have been in the family, collector posters of renowned magicians, and even a Houdini coffee table volume. Check out "the magician's lair" here.
We got a rare peek into the home of magic man, Dennis Watkins, star of Death and Harry Houdini, The House Theatre's smash, sell out hit. His love of magic goes beyond his roles in Magic Parlour and Death and Harry Houdini. He's a 3rd generation magician whose home decor includes vintage tricks from his Grandfather's shop and sweet magic show posters, for his own endeavors and others. A big show banner from The House Theatre's first incarnation of Death and Harry Houdini 10 years ago, hangs just inside his front door.
In our interview, Dennis expounds on the history of the show, Death and Harry Houdini, and it's numerous reincarnations with The House Theatre since 2001. He gives insight into how to prep for the physically and mentally challenging role and how being successful at illusion isn't about ego and mastering trick, but it's all about the magic and wonder going on in the audience's heads.
My husband and I caught Death and Harry Houdiniopening night and loved it so much I spent months trying to buy tickets to take the kids back to see it. The run originally sold out in minutes, and although I was stalking their Facebook page, every time a trickle of tickets became available, they got scooped up before I could get my finger on the button. We finally scored a block of tickets and my kids were able to see the show for my son's March birthday, with one of his best friends. As I'd expected, the kids were enamored with the show and amazed with the acting and the illusions. We all sincerely hope that this is not the last we've seen of Harry Houdini, skillfully brought back to life by Chi-town's own magician extraordinaire, Dennis Watkins!
“A highly polished and visually thrilling show… MAGIC OF THEVERYHIGHESTORDER!”
- Chris Jones, Chicago Tribune
“…high energy, buzzy blend of traditional storytelling, music and spectacle… A THRILLINGRIDE!”
– Kris Vire, Time Out Chicago
“Soars on Dennis Watkins’ brilliance as a genuine magician and fearless stuntman… INGENIOUSLYWRITTENANDDIRECTED!”
– Hedy Weiss, Chicago Sun-Times
We've seen numerous productions by The House Theatre over the years and they do not disappoint. We highly recommend you check out their 11th season.
(click the show title for tickets and more info) Next up:
THE IRON STAG KING: PART ONE
August 31st, 2012 to October 21st, 2012
A myth of crowns and country
By Chris Mathews and Nathan Allen Directed by Nathan Allen Original Music by Kevin O’Donnell Choreography by Tommy Rapley
Featuring Company Members Cliff Chamberlain and Joey Steakley
From the writer/director of ‘Death and Harry Houdini’ comes a new epic journey filled with heated battles and life-size puppets.
Our unsuspecting hero, Casper Kent, is the son of a poor farmer. When an old storyteller reveals that Casper is the rightful heir to the throne, his life is threatened from all sides. Young Casper must escape the rebels, choose compatriots and question what is good and right for the land. Join him on his quest to lift the magical hammer that will unite or destroy them all.
LOCATION: The Chopin Theatre
1543 W. Division St., Chicago, IL
“A perfect evening of illusion and laughter… The Magic Parlour transformed a roomful of tired adults into wide-eyed, wide awake innocents. And that in itself is Watkins’ most impressive trick.
Who saw a Cirque du Soleil show at age 12 and told her Mom, "That's what I want to do when I grow up"....and did it?! (Her mom just flew in from Orlando last week to see her daughter fly through the air on silks at Allstate Arena).
Who trains for and runs triathlons when she's not rocking the aerial arts in Dralion's graceful love story? (Her partner on the silks for the last two years is also her personal trainer and good friend.)
Who can you see LIVE at United Center through July 1, dazzling in cobalt blue, as Azala, Goddess of the Air? (this tiny but mighty girl has a lofty job description as keeper of the sun and the guardian of immortality.)
Meet Amanda Orozco, fascinating aerial artist with Dralion and world class athlete.
ChiIL Mama/ ChiIL Live Shows has 4 free tickets to see Dralion THIS Saturday at 3:30pm at Allstate Arena, for one lucky reader!
Enter right here through midnight this Thursday, for your chance to win, then check back Friday 6/22 when we'll announce our winner.
Spread the word and enter like we vote in Chi, IL...early and often!! This one's short and sweet.
*Wait for Rafflecopter to load up right here (if you've gone
through RSS feed or are scrolling down the blog and don't see it,
click on the actual page title and it should pop right up).Entries accepted nationwide. Enter like we vote in Chi, IL...early and often. Winning rocks! a Rafflecopter giveaway
We're so stoked to be heading out to Allstate Arena this afternoon to shoot some hoops--not basketball, but Cirque du Soleil style, at Dralion's rehearsal. We'll likely even have another surprise performer video interview for you!
Check out our original Dralion Interviews With Vanessa and Vladik here.
Check out ChiIL Mama/ChiIL Live Shows interview with Vanessa, Senior PR Spokesperson for Cirque du Soleil's Touring Shows. She gave us the scoop on Dralion, the perfect show to see during 2012--the Chinese year of the Dragon! See clips of Dralion performers in action and get the story behind the show right here. Dralion is coming to both Allstate Arena and United Center in Chicago this summer, starting June 20th.
Check out ChiIL Mama/ChiIL Live Shows exclusive interview with Vladik, juggler with Cirque du Soleil's Dralion. It was truly a pleasure to chat with the 28 year old who was born into the Moscow Circus. He now combines elements of acro and dance with his juggling routines.
We thoroughly enjoyed catching up with Vanessa Napoli, Senior PR Spokesperson for Cirque du Soleil's Touring Shows. She gave us the scoop on Dralion, opening at Allstate Arena this Wednesday, June 20th, then playing at United Center the following week. Check out our original interview above, interspersed with Dralion live show clips, courtesy of Cirque du Soleil. We'll be there for opening night and will have a full show review up shortly thereafter.
One of the questions I asked Vanessa was about Cirque du Soleil's history of philanthropic partnerships in the cities they visit. She told us they do usually try to partner up with local circus arts organizations, especially deserving non profits, but she didn't have specific details at the time. We just got word that Dralion has indeed donated tickets to Chicago's CircEsteeem, so their young team and pre-team performers can catch the show. They will also be running some special workshops with the CircEsteem kids! Unfortunately, we'll be out of town shooting a travel piece, but if we can find another shooter, and if Dralion green lights it, we'll share stills and video from the workshop here as well.
Make 2012--The Chinese Year of the Dragon one to remember for your family!
Check out our original HD video interview with Nick, owner of Sundance Bikes of South Carolina. He created this rockin' SEVEN FOOT TALL BIKE and he's been ridin' high and makin' friends. Why settle for a fixie when you can DIY up a fun, funky, true original!
