Church Basement Ladies

The hilarious new musical comedy Church Basement Ladies will make its Chicago premiere at The North Shore Center for Performing Arts in Skokie, beginning September 10, 2008.  William Christopher, the Evanston native who played “Father Mulcahy” for 11 years on the show that many consider to be the best TV sitcom of all time, M*A*S*H, is coming home to headline the musical comedy that mixes the silliness of Nunsense with the homespun humor of Prairie Home Companion.  Curt Wollan will direct. The show was a smash hit in Minneapolis, where it sold out for 130 straight weeks.

Church Basement Ladies is a celebration of the church basement kitchens everywhere and the wonderful, unsung women who work there.  Set in 1964-65, the show is a funny, heartfelt reflection on the four women who tirelessly prepare the food and solve problems for the congregation at a rural Minnesota church. The Church Basement Ladies include the elderly matriarch of the kitchen, a young bride-to-be, a jack-of-all trades farm wife and the best cook in the church.  Together, the ladies stave off potential disasters, share and debate recipes, instruct the young, and keep the Pastor on due course as they cope with the changing world.  In the span of a year, they plan a record-breaking Christmas dinner, the funeral of a dear friend, a Hawaiian Easter Fundraiser, and a steaming hot July wedding feast.

Church Basement Ladies is based on the best-selling book Growing Up Lutheran by humorists Janet Letnes and Suzann Nelson.  The show features a book by Jim Stowell and Jessica Zuehlke, with Music and Lyrics by Drew Jansen.  

Church Basement Ladies will preview September 10 and open September 11 with a run through September 27. For tickets, call The North Shore Center for Performing Arts at (847) 673-6300 or visit www.northshorecenter.org.  For more information on the show, visit www.cbl-chicago.com.