Actors return to 16th Street in MENORCA

Just cast my three leads in Robert Koon's beautiful new play MENORCA and I am thrilled to announce the return of two actors: Kirsten D'Aurelio and Juan Gabriel Ruiz.

Kirsten D'Aurelio is one of those 'wow' actors who you think after working with her... "She can just do anything and make it multi-layered, full, honest and engaging." She was one of the powerhouse cast of our all-female FIRES IN THE MIRROR during our Season Two in 2009. She tore it up as Leonard Jeffries talking about the making of Roots. Made you squirm, she did. She will play Ollie, a woman misplaced.

Juan Gabriel Ruiz is a young man I first worked with when he was still a student at De Paul. It was my first time directing there and I had a blast working with 10 2nd year BFAs on Steven Dietz' THE NINA VARIATIONS. Gabe was a standout, not only acting in the piece but also creating the music for the sound design. So I was thrilled when he appeared in OUR LADY OF THE UNDERPASS in its original production with Teatro Vista and then followed them here to Berwyn. If you partook in any of the post-show dialogues you will remember Gabe's thoughtful, intelligent and passionate musings on Tanya's play of faith and desire under the interstate. He is a very gifted and funny actor. He will play border patrol agent, George.

And then today I had the pleasure of seeing Doug MacKechnie who I have known in name for a long, long time but only recently saw his work in Mia McCullough's knockout Lucinda's Bed at Chicago Dramatists last year. He and Kirsten erupted with an intense chemistry during the callback today. They are going to be great together. Playwright Rob and I could not be happier!

And by the way, on a side note, you can see Kirsten on stage now in PEOPLE YOU KNOW at side project acting with playwright Koon. Yes it is true Rob is back on stage.

Now onward to cast the students. I already cast Rachel Rizzuto (from UIC) who did the reading of MENORCA for us last year. She is fabulous, a smart actor and awesome to work with.

Casting always make a new play seem that much more real. 5 more roles to go. The biggest cast thus far at 16th Street. It will be very exciting to have all that energy up on stage.

The arts impact our lives. Sing it loud! Sing it proud!

Today is Arts Advocacy Day. I had to repost the letter below written by actor Gary Houston sent to his representatives. He has a way with words. Most of us do not speak so eloquently, yet we must add our voice to the dialogue. If we do not, then who will? The arts feed our souls and make us more engaged citizens. It is necessary and vital for the good of our society. And now, I turn it over to Gary:

"On April 13, 2010, Arts advocates from across the country spread out over
Capitol Hill to urge Congress to support the arts and arts education.
While I could not be in Washington, I stand by my fellow arts supporters
in asking you to support the following:

The arts provide an essential service to public life. They are the brick
and mortar with which we sustain our morality, our sense of balance
between what is true and what is illusory and between what is and is not
of value. Some believe you cannot defend the role of the arts in society
to a stubborn utilitarian because their value is intrinsic and not of
immediately visible utility. Yet each of us is a personal witness to the
influence of one or more of the arts upon our individual lives, influences
that led us to better mindsets with which to make important decisions than
we otherwise would have had. This is utility of the personal rather than
the recorded sort, but it is utility all the same. And it is vast in its
impact upon our neighborhoods, towns, cities, states and country."

Sincerely,
Gary Houston

And now it's your turn. Go here to nudge your representatives:

Unveiled: "What good theater should be"

It's so nice to wake up the next morning after opening a show the night before to an email like this. Thanks Elizabeth. Spread the word!


"I really loved Unveiled. I was going to tell you last night, but you were busy and I was afraid I wouldn't find the words. But that play was so enlightening, so funny, so poignant, mostly, so important. It taught me a lot about what good theater should be: something that makes you leave the theater just buzzing inside, and dying to tell everyone you know to go and see it. It's the kind of multi-level play that really stays with you. I loved the set design, too. And what an actress!
I've told you this before and I'll say it again: You're doing such good and original and refreshing and thought-provoking work, and I'm so glad to have met and worked with you. But mostly I'm glad I get to see whatever you'll come up with NEXT."
Best,
Elizabeth

Rabbi Brant Rosen on Rohina Malik at JRC: Unveiling Our Humanity

Rabbi Brant Rosen of JRC in Evanston posted this on his blog about the interfaith event Sunday night. Thank you JRC for once again welcoming 16th Street to your beautiful synagogue (we were there one year ago with FIRES IN THE MIRROR). This is why we do theater. For dialogue. To be moved to conversation and action. To share our humanity indeed. --Ann Filmer

"Last night JRC was honored to host a performance of the one-woman show Unveiled by Rohina Malik. Breathtaking.

Rohina is a playwright, actress and solo artist of South Asian heritage who was born in London and emigrated to Chicago when she was 15. She is an impressive and important contemporary artist – and her identity as an American Muslim woman clearly plays an important role in her art."

Read the rest of Rosen's blog here

A Great Review from a new fan of 16th Street!

Hey all at 16th Street,

I saw "The Last Barbecue" twice, and loved it. I knew that I would have to come back.... so I did. I saw "The End of the Tour" last Saturday and loved it just as much. Cecilie Keenan did great things with a wonderful cast. I was probably most impressed with the relationship that Madrid and Kevin were able to develop. Those two men were outstanding together, so genuine and lovable, so three dimensional and real. They weren't stereotyped people, they weren't over the top gay men, they were real people, they were three dimensional human beings. The stage presence of Madrid was overwhelming, he forces you to listen to every word he has to say. Kevin was able to cry like a man that has been beaten into submission, to watch a man being pushed to that point is painful, and he made it so real. Kathleen was able to dig so deep and truly react to everything, she made everything important, significant, and meaningful. In her specificity she was able to develop a great character. Roslyn is a treat, with her wonderful timing and bravery to just jump in and be bold she keeps you on your toes. Valerie was wonderful, it is often hard to pay attention to the characters that don't really say much, but she was able to say everything without opening her mouth. Her face told a thousand stories because everything meant something to her, and it was beautiful to see her reacting and living through Norma. Ron was definitely able to find subtlety and boldness, and he was good at choosing exactly when each was appropriate. H.B. Ward was just outstanding. He was so invested in his cat, his daughter, his house, Jan, and Tommy... it was heartbreaking. He was able to make me wonder how he got that cat to stay in the box, he got me mad at him for hitting his wife, he made me feel bad that they couldn't even be in the same room any more... he made me feel so much. It is for these reasons that I'm coming back to see the show again. I'm very excited, and I wanted to thank you all. And to you, Ann Filmer, thank you for making all of this possible.

Thank you from a lover of theatre and the art we create,
Bob Gardner

Thank you, Bob, for sharing. This makes us all here at 16th Street very happy!

Thoughts on Home

We are only into our second show in our Season Three 2010: What is Home? but I am already hearing such lovely musings on home from our audience members. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. Keep them coming.
This below from 100 Club member, Rich Faron:

"We were very moved by the play. Afterwards I kept thinking about your theme of 'Home' and one thing that 'Tour' helped to render are the many facets of 'home'. There is the reality of the home that continues to be in real-time but there also exists the home of our memories, the memories of others who have shared our home with us and perhaps most importantly the way that all of that can be suddenly altered when we eventually return home. And for that reason I'd like to shout-out a 'Bravo' for the staging which allowed all of the characters to remain in the scene while the play moved from one scenario to another. Each scene whether 'live' or not... reinforced for me that 'Home' is not something that can be defined in any singular fashion."

Thanks for the dialogue.

Lots of laughs, pain and hope

Here is a review posted on Chicago reader online by one of our audience members. Thanks for the dialogue!

"Don’t miss this play! Great theater in a little space. Our group of four saw ‘The End of the Tour’ and went through the range of feelings – joy, sorrow, fear, hate and love. Johnson writes strong story elements of family and friends, dysfunctional as they were. As audience members, if we didn’t directly relate to their stories, the story certainly appealed to our emotions. Lots, of laughs, pain and hope. Well acted and well staged. Congratulations to 16th Street and the theatrical company for a highly entertaining evening. Keep them coming."