Tom Amandes

Chicago actor-done-good Tom Amandes, a veteran of the city's Off-Loop stage scene lured away to play roles like Eliot Ness in TV's The Untouchables and Dr. Harold Abbott on the hit series Everwood, is coming home to star in Cynical Weathers, a new political drama by Douglas Post, and Victory Gardens Theater's next world premiere in its beautiful new home at the Biograph.

Amandes will originate the role of Congressman Dixon McDaniels, a moderate Texas Republican caught in the crossfire between his liberal wife Cat, who is an atmospheric scientist studying global warming, and his conservative chief of staff, an evangelical and believer in the end times.   Over the course of a weekend, the congressman and his wife grapple with deep-seated ideological differences brought to head by an energy bill he is attempting to push through Congress.  Meanwhile, a category five hurricane is looming off the Gulf Coast, threatening to wreak havoc on the McDaniels' beachfront estate, the surrounding terrain, and the congressman's shifting political agenda.

Victory Gardens Artistic Director Dennis Zacek will direct Post's timely new story of a modern-day politician at odds with his wife, his staff, his country and himself. Cynical Weathers also features Bethanny Alexander (Cat McDaniels), Tony Castillo (Manny Hernandez), Ben Brooks Cohen (Lee Gelman), and Lindsay Gould (Andrea Brady).

Open rehearsal for Cynical Weathers is Thursday, March 29 at 6 pm.  Watch cast members rehearse a scene from the show, then participate in a talkback with the director, designers and cast. Stay after and mingle with artists and patrons, with complimentary wine courtesy of WJ Deutsch & Sons Ltd, and a light buffet catered by Merlo Restaurant.   Open Rehearsals are free and open to the public.. Reservations are required.  Call (773) 549-5788 x2131 to RSVP.

After growing up in Richmond and Crystal Lake, as the sixth of 11 talented children, Tom Amandes graduated from the Goodman School of Drama, now The Theater School, at DePaul University.   He began his acting career as an ensemble member of the Body Politic Theater, performing in such productions as Translations (his 1982 debut), The Playboy of the Western World and Falstaff and Hal.  Other notable Chicago theater includes Candida, What the Butler Saw and The Mystery Cycle at Court, Free Advice from Prague and The Courtship of Carl Sandburg at Northlight Theatre, and Working Magic at Victory Gardens Theater.  His best-known television roles include Eliot Ness in The Untouchables, astronaut Jack Schmitt in From the Earth to the Moon and Dr. Harold Abbott in Everwood.  Film credits include The Long Kiss Goodnight, Brokedown Palace, and, yes girls, the Olsen Twins' Billboard Dad.   He can be seen in the upcoming films Bonneville and East River. He has three children and is married to actress Nancy Everhard, who he met when she was cast as his wife Katherine Ness on The Untouchables.  She played Sharon Hart on Everwood.  They reside in Park City, Utah.

Run dates for Cynical Weathers are April 6-May 13 at the new Victory Gardens Theater at the Biograph, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago. For tickets and information, call the Victory Gardens box office,  (773) 871-3000, or go to www.victorygardens.org