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Victory Gardens Theater will officially rename its longtime location at 2257 N. Lincoln Avenue the Victory Gardens Theater Greenhouse at a free Open House celebration, Tuesday, August 29 from 6 to 8 pm.
Here's your chance to sample the variety of companies and plays that will be seen at the Victory Gardens Theater Greenhouse on any given night...for free! Resident companies About Face Theatre, Eclipse Theatre Company, MPAACT, Remy Bumppo Theatre Company and Shattered Globe Theatre will perform sneak peek excerpts from their upcoming 2006/07 seasons. Performances and behind-the-scenes presentations will rotate on the half-hour on both floors and in all four Greenhouse spaces, including:
· About Face - Artistic staff to give season preview presentation
· Eclipse - Scenes from Spinning into Butter
· MPAACT - Scenes from Panther Run and Blaxploitation 2
· Remy Bumppo - Open rehearsal for The Best Man
· Shattered Globe - Scenes from Come Back, Little Sheba
Victory Gardens will get in the act with scenes from its Spring 2007 Greenhouse production My Children, My Africa, and staff from the Victory Gardens Greenhouse Training Center will give free demo classes. Enjoy free food and refreshments, and enter to win free tickets, subscriptions, T-shirts, and classes. The first 150 people through the door will go home with a free plant, courtesy of the Victory Gardens Greenhouse Theater.
Prompting the new Greenhouse name is Victory Gardens' recent $11.3 million purchase and renovation of Chicago's historic Biograph Theater, two blocks north at 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue. Victory Gardens' new Biograph mainstage opens in late September, transforming the company into a two-venue creative campus along Lincoln Avenue.
Victory Gardens Artistic Director Dennis Zacek noted, "The new Greenhouse name signifies a warm, nurturing environment, consistent with Victory Gardens' reputation for incubating and mentoring younger Chicago theater companies."
Key to the Greenhouse concept is raising visibility for its resident companies. To that end, colorful new 10' x 3' vertical banners will be hung on the front of the building, each displaying a resident company's logo. A "Greenhouse Theater" copy strip will be added to the existing marquee, and the facade will be accented in green for fresh street-level appeal.
The Victory Gardens Theater Greenhouse Open House is free, but reservations are recommended. To RSVP, call Shannon O'Neill at (773) 549-5788 ext. 102 or send email to soneill@victorygardens.org.
Complete information on the Victory Gardens Theater Greenhouse Open House, as well as upcoming performances at both the Biograph and Greenhouse locations, can be found at http://www.victorygardens.org