CHICAGO, IL—Sept. 24, 2015—The Chicago Humanities Festival ( CHF ) presents Four Women: Josephine, Eartha, Nina, and Tina, this year's William and Greta Wiley Flory Concert, an annual cabaret performance, Monday, Nov. 2 as part of the 26th Fall Festival: Citizens, Oct. 24-Nov. 8. For the first time ever ( due to high demand ), the cabaret will have two performances, one at 6 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. at Francis W. Parker School. Created by Rob Lindley and Doug Peck and hosted by Lili-Anne Brown, Four Women will explore the lives and music of Josephine Baker, Eartha Kitt, Nina Simone, and Tina Turner. The production will feature performers Dee Alexander, Karla Beard-Leroy, E. Faye Butler, Monique Haley, Lynne Jordan, Alexis Rogers, and Bethany Thomas. Tickets range from $12-25 and are available at chicagohumanities.org or by calling the CHF Box Office at ( 312 ) 494-9509.
Four Women is the sixth CHF collaboration with Jeff Award-winning actor/director/writer Rob Lindley and Jeff Award-winning music director Doug Peck. Previous Flory Concerts include Follies, A Night at the Oscars, Assassins, Birds Do It, Bees Do It...., and last year's A Night at the Tonys. In keeping with the Fall Festival theme of Citizens, Four Women will explore the lives and careers of four African-American women who all became expatriates: Josephine Baker, Eartha Kitt, Nina Simone, and Tina Turner. Performances will include "Ne Me Quitte Pas," "Mississippi Goddam," "J'ai Deux Amours," "River Deep—Mountain High," "Private Dancer," and "I Want to Be Evil."
The cabaret will feature internationally recognized jazz singer Dee Alexander ( Songs My Mother Loves ), performer and music educator Karla Beard-Leroy ( Once on This Island at Apple Tree Theatre; Voice of Good Hope at Victory Gardens Theater ), six-time Jeff Award-winning actor E. Faye Butler ( Hello Dolly! at Drury Lane Theatre; Caroline or Change at Court Theatre ), choreographer and dancer Monique Haley ( Aida at Drury Lane Oakbrook; Disney's Jungle Book at Goodman Theatre ), acclaimed singer and entertainer Lynne Jordan ( Lynne Jordan and the Shivers ), Jeff Award-winning performer Alexis J. Rogers ( Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill at Porchlight Music Theatre; Porgy and Bess at Court Theatre ) and Jeff Award-winning musical theater artist Bethany Thomas ( South Pacific at Marriott Theatre; Porgy and Bess at Court Theatre ).
Rob Lindley's directing credits include: How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill ( Porchlight Music Theatre ), and the Off-Broadway musical parody 50 Shades!: The Musical. As an actor, Lindley has been seen in James Joyce's The Dead, Angels in America: Parts 1 & 2, Caroline or Change, Carousel and The Secret Garden ( Court Theatre ); Bach at Liepzing, Oh Coward! ( Writers' Theatre ); Urinetown ( Mercury Theatre ); The Most Happy Fella ( Ravinia Festival ); and A New Brain, Sweeney Todd, and Closer Than Ever ( Porchlight Music Theatre ). Lindley won a Jeff Award for his performance in Oh Coward! and his cabaret trio Foiled Again has won an After Dark Award for Outstanding Cabaret Performance. Lindley can currently be seen at Northlight Theatre in Funnyman, starring Tim Kazurinsky and George Wendt.
Doug Peck is the winner of six Jeff Awards ( The Jungle Book; Porgy and Bess; Caroline, or Change; Carousel; Fiorello!; and Man of La Mancha ) and two After Dark Awards ( Guys and Dolls; Hello, Again ), as well as the Sarah Siddons Award and the Guy Adkins Award for his music direction and orchestrations in Chicago and across the country. Peck is a graduate of Northwestern University and also trained at the Interlochen Center for the Arts. He is a Creative Partner with the Goodman Theatre, an Artistic Associate with Porchlight Music Theatre, and a faculty member of the National High School Institute of the Arts. Peck is about to open Ride The Cyclone at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, and travels this season to Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles for productions of Kiss Me, Kate and Guys and Dolls.
Lili-Anne Brown, a native Chicagoan, works as an actor, director, and educator, and has performed in, directed, and produced many award-winning shows, both local and regional. She is Artistic Director of Bailiwick Chicago, an Artistic Associate of Timber Lake Playhouse, and a graduate of Northwestern University. She is a member of Actor's Equity, SAG-AFTRA, and an Associate of Stage Directors and Choreographers.
The Four Women orchestra is conducted by Music Director/Pianist Doug Peck and features: Guitarist Felton Offard, Bassist Larry Kohut, Drummer Robert Reddrick, Percussionist Sarah Allen, and Keyboardist Jaret Landon. The artistic team includes: Co-writer and Host Lili-Anne Brown, Director and Co-writer Rob Lindley, Projections and Video Designer Jon Runnfeldt, and Dramaturg Nikki Yeboah.
EVENT INFORMATION
Four Women: Josephine, Eartha, Nina, and Tina
The William and Greta Wiley Flory Concert
Monday, Nov. 2, 2015 | 6 & 8:30 p.m. | $12-25
Francis W. Parker School, Diane and David B Heller Auditorium
2233 N Clark St, Chicago, IL 60614
TICKETS:
Tickets to Four Women: Josephine, Eartha, Nina, and Tina are $25, with discounted tickets for CHF Members and students/teachers. Tickets are available at chicagohumanities.org or by calling the CHF Box Office at ( 312 ) 494-9509 Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. To become a member, visit supportchf.org .
ADDITIONAL FALL FESTIVAL PERFORMANCES:
Prices = General/CHF Member/Students & Teachers
Champian-ing the American Songbook
The Helen B. and Ira E. Graham Family Concert
Saturday, Oct. 24 | 6:30 p.m.
Northwestern University: Bienen School of Music,
Mary B. Galvin Recital Hall | $20/25/12
Jazz pianist and vocalist Champian Fulton, along with her quartet, will perform classics ranging from Gershwin to Dinah Washington.
Anthony McGill: An Evening of Performance and Conversation
The Allstate Program
Sunday, Oct. 25 | 7 p.m.
University of Chicago: Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, Performance Hall | $12/15/10
Born and raised on Chicago's South Side, Anthony McGill was recently appointed principal clarinet of the New York Philharmonic after a decade with the Metropolitan Opera. McGill returns home to perform and discuss his career, his family, and the state of diversity in classical music.
Spokaoke
Co-presented with the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
Tuesday, Oct. 27 | 6 p.m. | MCA Café | Free for Illinois Residents
Wednesday, Oct. 28 | 8:30 p.m. | Haymarket Pub & Brewery | $10
Come experience the joys of "Spokaoke!" Artist Annie Dorsen brings her participatory event to Chicago, inviting people to perform iconic political speeches, from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" to Sojourner Truth's "Ain't I a Woman?" and Ronald Reagan's "Tear Down this Wall!"
Escuela | In Spanish with English supertitles.
Co-presented with the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago
Friday, Nov. 6 | 7:30 p.m. | PRESS OPENING
Saturday, Nov. 7 | 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 8 | 3 & 7:30 p.m.
MCA Chicago, Edlis Neeson Theater | $24/30/24
A new play from Chilean actor/playwright Guillermo CalderÃ"n, Escuela tells the story of a group of masked left-wing youth who resist Chilean police forces during a military dictatorship in the 1980's.
Manual Cinema: My Soul's Shadow
Karla Scherer Endowed Series for the University of Chicago
Friday, Nov. 6 | 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 7 | 5 & 7:30 p.m. | PRESS OPENING
Sunday, Nov. 8 | 5 & 7:30 p.m.
Mana Contemporary | $20/25/20
In celebration of Spanish poet Federico GarcÃa Lorca, My Soul's Shadow is a bilingual, immersive audio-visual installation featuring projections and live, original music.
Bodies at the Center
Saturday, Nov. 7 | 5:30 p.m.
UIC Forum, Meeting Room GHI | $9/12/5
To celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, CHF commissioned an original performance with two artists who are at the heart of the conversation—Gregg Bordowitz and Marissa Perel. Together these two illuminate the ways in which disability culture is allied with feminist and gay rights, exploring what can be accomplished when shared vulnerabilities become a tool for revolution. Presented in partnership with the ADA 25 Chicago.
Seldoms_Small
The Seldoms: Rock Citizen | Elizabeth A. Liebman Program
Sunday, Nov. 8 | 4 p.m. | $15/20/10
Benito Juarez Community Academy, Auditorium
Whether or not you saw The Seldoms's triumphant Power Goes, you won't want to miss the contemporary dance theater company's preview of their companion piece, RockCitizen. Join artistic director Carrie Hanson and Northwestern University historian Michael J. Kramer for a preview performance and discussion.
SAVE THE DATES:
Saturday, Oct. 24, 2015 - Fifth annual Morris and Dolores Kohl Kaplan Northwestern Day on the Northwestern University campus in Evanston
Sunday, Oct. 25, 2015 - Ninth annual Hyde Park Day on the University of Chicago campus
Monday, Oct. 26-Saturday, Nov. 7, 2015 - Chicago Humanities Festival in and around downtown Chicago
Sunday, Nov. 8, 2015 - First annual Pilsen Day
About the Chicago Humanities Festival
For more than 25 years, the Chicago Humanities Festival has celebrated the questions that shape and define us as individuals, communities, and cultures. For the curious at heart, CHF's vibrant year-round programming and robust Fall Festival offer the opportunity to engage with some of the world's most brilliant minds. Collaborating with leading arts, cultural, and educational organizations, it presents scholars, artists and architects, thinkers, theologians, and policy makers that change how we see the world, where we're from, and where we're going. Under the leadership of Executive Director Phillip Bahar, Marilynn Thoma Artistic Director Jonathan Elmer, and Associate Artistic Director Alison Cuddy, CHF is one of Chicago's most vital presenting organizations. Visit chicagohumanities.org for more information.
About The Chicago Community Trust
The Chicago Community Trust, our region's community foundation, partners with donors to leverage their philanthropy in ways that transform lives and communities. Since its founding in 1915, the Trust has awarded approximately $2.3 billion in grants to thousands of local and national nonprofits, including $164.5 million in 2014. Throughout its Centennial year, The Trust will celebrate how philanthropy in all its forms-time, treasure and talent-strengthens our region and impacts the lives of its residents in countless ways.
