Celebrity Playwrights

CBS2 entertainment reporter, film critic and Chicago Sun-Times columnist Bill Zwecker, retired Chicago Tribune chief theater critic Richard Christiansen, and the husband/wife duo Lisa Madigan, Illinois Attorney General, and Pat Byrnes, cartoonist for The New Yorker, are this year's celebrity playwrights for Victory Gardens Theater's Chicago Stories gala, Friday, May 4, 2007 at the Four Seasons Hotel, 120 E. Delaware in Chicago.

With its one-night-only presentation of three 10-minute, celeb-authored plays, Chicago Stories is always the city's most dramatic spring gala, plus a wonderful reflection of Victory Gardens' dedication to the playwright. More than 500 VIPs and supporters are expected to cheer on Victory Gardens' first-time playwrights on their opening - and closing  - night.

Richard Christiansen's first original play marks the Tribune's former critic's debut on the other side of the curtain.  A force in Chicago theater since the 1950s, Christiansen joined the Tribune in 1978, where his tireless reporting on Chicago's theater scene exposed and celebrated homegrown talent for which Chicago would become known.  He is the author of the book A Theater of Our Own:  A History and a Memoir of 1001 Nights in Chicago.

Lisa Madigan and Pat Byrnes are co-authoring a musical for their Chicago Stories debut.   A regular contributor to The New Yorker, Reader's Digest and America Magazine, Byrnes has published two books of cartoons, is creator of the comic strip "Monkeyhouse" and is an award-winning advertising illustrator and copywriter.   Madigan was elected in 2002 as Illinois' 41st - and first female - Attorney General. While in office she has passed legislation to crack down on sex offenders and help stop the spread of methamphetamine.  Prior to her election, Madigan served as a State Senator, litigator, teacher and community advocate on Chicago's west side.

Zwecker, who dishes out the latest celebrity news daily as entertainment reporter and film critic for CBS2, might reveal a few lessons learned from his years covering the celebrity beat.  He is also widely known for his daily column in the Chicago Sun-Times and serves as a frequent contributor to many national news and entertainment programs including Access Hollywood, Entertainment Tonight, Extra and The Today Show.

Victory Gardens Artistic Director Dennis Zacek will direct all three short plays, which star professional actors from Victory Gardens' stages.   In addition to a night of celebrity theater, guests at Chicago Stories will enjoy pre-show cocktails and appetizers, an extravagant silent and live auction and raffle, and a delicious gourmet meal in the Four Seasons' Grand Ballroom.  Proceeds will help underwrite costs of producing world premieres, providing education programs for Chicago Public Schools, offering assistive devices and services to the disabled community, and making theater available to underserved and disabled audiences.

Chicago Stories starts at 6 pm.   Tickets are $300.  Tables of 10 start at $3,000.   For reservations, call Kate Oczkowski, Victory Gardens Director of Events and Individual Giving, (773) 549-5788 ext. 2140. For more information visit www.victorygardens.org

By lending their time and talent to support the theater's new play mission, Victory Gardens' 2007 Chicago Stories playwrights are joining this elite list of Chicagoans also including:
 
Actors Gary Cole, David Eigenberg, Aaron Freeman. Richard Kind, John Mahoney,
William L. Petersen, Aidan Quinn and George Wendt
 
Architect Stanley Tigerman
 
Auctioneer Leslie S. Hindman
 
Authors Sara Paretsky and Sugar Rautbord
 
Businessman James S. Kemper, Jr.
 
Chicago Bulls coach Phil Jackson
 
Chicago Sun-Times editor Nigel Wade,
 
Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert
 
Chicago Tribune columnists Mike Royko and Bob Green
 
Judge Susan Getzendanner
 
Orchestra leader Stanley Paul
 
Philanthropist Susan Pritzker
 
Physicist Leon Lederman
 
Politicians Carol Moseley-Braun, Judy Baar Topinka and Jesse White
 
Radio personalities Roy Leonard, Kathy O'Malley and Scott Simon
 
Real estate magnate Samuel Zell
 
Reverend Jesse L. Jackson, Sr.
 
Sports journalists Dan Jiggetts, Rick Telander and Tim Weigel
 
Sports marketing consultant Stedman Graham
 
TV news anchors Bill Kurtis, Jay Levine, Mary Ann Childers, Harry Porterfield and Warner Saunders
 
TV personalities Ted Allen and Alpana Singh
 
University of Chicago scholar Martha Nussbaum
 
U.S. Attorneys James R. Burns and Scott R. Lassar

Last year's Chicago Stories gala featured plays written by chef/restauranteur Rick Bayless, Chicago Tribune columnist and WGN radio host Rick Kogan, and Check Please! host Alpana Singh. The event was a box office smash, attracted more than 500 people, and raised $220,000 for Victory Gardens.