Theatre On The Lake

The Chicago Park District's 56th annual Theater on the Lake season features reprisals of eight artistically diverse Chicago theater companies June 11 - Aug. 3, 2008. Each production will be performed for five evenings only at the theater at Fullerton Avenue and Lake Michigan.

Hallie Gordon, Artistic Director of Theater on the Lake, comments, "Theater on the Lake is one of Chicago's most beloved and affordable summertime activities that combines the beautiful lakeside setting and the best of the city's off-Loop theater ensembles."

Designed in 1913 and constructed in 1920, the Theater on the Lake building was originally built as the Chicago Daily News Fresh Air Fund Sanitarium, a recuperation ward for babies suffering from tuberculosis and other diseases. The pavilion housed 250 baby cribs, nurseries and rooms for older children. Doctors and nurses contributed their services and children were treated to fun-filled days in "the country." Free health services were provided to more than 30,000 children each summer until 1939, when the sanitarium closed.

During World War II, the structure reopened as a USO Center for soldiers and sailors. After the war, the Chicago Park District used the venue for then-popular barn dances. In 1952, it was converted into the Theater on the Lake performance venue and showcased productions staged by the Park District’s many community theater organizations. In 1996, the programming evolved into its current format, and the Chicago Park District began inviting professional theater companies to remount their best works.

The 2008 Theater on the Lake season is as follows:

Greasy Joan & Company
The Misanthrope
By Moliere
Directed by Libby Ford
June 11 - 15

Full of love triangles, lies and lots of laughs, The Misanthrope packs a social punch with its critique of corrupt society. Greasy Joan re-imagines Molière's classic comedy, turning the world of opulence into a maze of catastrophic illusion by setting the play in a dystopian environment. Alceste, the misanthrope, loves Celimene, the most popular woman in society, despite the fact she participates in behavior that makes him loath society. In this world of dangerous lawsuits and ridiculous accusations, Celimene dares not reveal her true affections for Alceste for fear of retribution from the three jealous marquises. Uncompromising philosophies of love and society make a humorous disaster out of misunderstanding and missed opportunities.

Pegasus Players
Jitney
By August Wilson
Directed by Jonathan Wilson
June 18 - 22

Jitney tells the stories of the men working in a Pittsburgh taxi station where tensions run high as the city threatens to shut down the company. Jitney is Pulitzer-prize winning playwright August Wilson’s acclaimed first play and the 1970’s installment in his renowned cycle of ten plays that depicts African-American life in Pittsburgh’s Hill District during the 20th century.

Schadenfreude
Schadenfreude
June 25 - 29

Over the past decade, Schadenfreude has performed at countless venues around the world including The Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf, Lollapalooza, The Second City, the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre (Los Angeles), HERE (New York City) and twice at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. The ensemble has headlined numerous sold-out venues at annual Chicago Improv Festivals and was awarded the first festival highlight award in 2002. Schadenfreude has branched across numerous mediums including a weekly show on Chicago Public Radio, countless short films, and even cell phone downloads. The group has completed two screenplays and is currently working with WTTW Channel 11 to create and perform a new weekly comedy program called “IL-Informed.”

The Neo-Futurists
Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind, 30 Plays in 60 Minutes
July 2 - 6

Too Much Light is an ever-changing attempt to perform 30 plays in 60 minutes. Now in its 20th year, it’s a high-energy, whip-smart collage of the comic and tragic, the personal and political, the visceral and experimental. TimeOut Chicago says, “Here are the best parts of Chicago theater: low in maintenance, high in creativity, broad in appeal …” and The Chicago Reader calls it “unashamedly live and democratic theater.”

Chicago Dramatists
Cadillac
By Bill Jepsen
Directed by Edward Sobel
July 9 - 13

Howard Austin treats every customer at Lindy Motors like they’re special—not at all the stereotypical used car salesman. Valuing loyalty and service, he has built his career on principles, in an industry mired with sharks and hucksters. But as the hours tick away on the last selling day of the month, those principles are challenged and he must choose between his own career and a customer’s life-long dream. Debates of ethics and morality erupt in the most unlikely of places: a used car lot.

Bohemian Theatre Ensemble
Songs for a New World
Music and Lyrics by Jason Robert Brown
Directed by Elizabeth Margolius
July 16 - 20

Lauded composer Jason Robert Brown (composer-lyricist of the hits The Last Five Years and Parade) has had the world talking about Songs for a New World ever since its exciting premiere. With a small, powerhouse cast and a driving, exquisitely crafted score running the gamut of today’s popular music, Songs for a New World is a great example of the next generation of musical theatre.

The House Theatre of Chicago
The Attempters
By Shawn Pfautsch
Directed by Marika Mashburn
July 23 - 27

Danny Hackles is a 17-year-old boy with a righteous guitar, a silver tongue and a chaotic mind who believes he is destined for fame. Abandoned by his family, he seeks to fill that void with fame at any cost. Through his journey, he abandons the people who love him most, and he must come to accept and present himself as who he is -- with no tricks, no spectacle, and no speeches.

Shattered Globe Theatre
Suddenly Last Summer
By Tennessee Williams
Directed by Kevin Hagan
July 30 – Aug. 3

In this tale of the darker side of old world Southern privilege, a family seeks the truth about the life and death of one of their own. New Orleans matriarch, Violet Venable, is on the verge of ordering a lobotomy for her niece Catherine, who has been institutionalized for her account of the events surrounding the death of Mrs. Venable's son, Sebastian. Set on preserving Sebastian's memory—and erasing her own role in the unspeakable acts that led to his demise—Mrs. Venable will go to any length to discredit Catherine's account. Shattered Globe brings back the production that Windy City Times said, “oozes with gorgeous, carnivorous sensuality” and Chicago Sun-Times called “ominously beautiful.”

The Chicago Park District’s Theater on the Lake is located at Fullerton Avenue and Lake Shore Drive in a historic building that offers breathtaking views of Lake Michigan. The schedule for all performances June 11 – Aug. 3 is Wednesdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 6:30 p.m.

Single tickets are $17.50 and a season subscription to all eight plays is available at a discounted price of $110. All tickets go on sale Tuesday, June 3, 2008 at 2 p.m. at the Theater on the Lake box office at Fullerton Avenue and Lake Michigan or via phone at (312) 742-7994. Beginning June 3, the box office is open Tuesdays - Saturdays, 2 - 8 p.m. and Sundays, 3:30 - 7:30 p.m.

For more information about the Chicago Park District, visit www.chicagoparkdistrict.com or call 312-742-PLAY.