Season 18, 2021 - 2022
The Spoon River Anthology Project
July 24-25, 2021 GreenMan Theatre presented "The Spoon River Anthology Project" outdoors at the Churchville Schoolhouse and Cemetery in Bensenville.
"The Spoon River Anthology Project" is a compilation of stories drawn from the poetry of Edgar Lee Masters. In the piece, former residents of a fictionalized rural Illinois town speak directly to the audience from beyond the grave. Masters' "Spoon River Anthology" first appeared in 1915 and brought the author immediate fame. Masters had left his boyhood homes in Petersburg and Lewiston, Illinois, determined to escape the small-town hypocrisy that he saw there. At the time, the poems caused a scandal, as many of the fictional residents of Spoon River were clearly recognizable as real people in Masters' hometowns. Time has diminished the scandal, but not the power of the book, which has been reprinted numerous times and is widely read and studied. Appearing in "The Spoon River Anthology Project" are Katie Lahey, Nikki Lahey, Debbie Proska, Rhys Read, Mary-Carol Riehs, Joe Schram, Kate Troc, and Lauren Visser.
GreenMan's artistic director, David Soria, has adapted and directed the production, with assistance from Carolyn Thomas-Davidoff and Karen Soria. Live music is provided by Lauren Visser. Becca Easley is running sound, and the dramaturge for the production is Mary-Carol Riehs. Support for the production is provided by the Elmhurst History Museum. The audience will meet a wide range of characters, as the actors portray over 30 different roles during the show. The stories range from humorous to serious, sentimental to downright scary! Many of the stories are interlinked. In one example, there is the tale of a husband who ran away from home and had wild adventures in Chicago, followed by the story of his wife, who understands her husband's departure in a completely different way.
"One of the most fascinating interlinked groups is the McNeeley family," says director Soria. "The patriarch of the family starts out life with high hopes for his children, but they all disappoint him in some way. We also get to hear directly from two of the children, as well as the woman who ends up inheriting the man's estate."
The production is intended for adults, but middle school and older children are welcome to attend. "The Spoon River Anthology Project" is performed without intermission. The Churchville Schoolhouse is located at 3N784 Church Road, just north of Grand Avenue in Bensenville.
"The Spoon River Anthology Project" is a compilation of stories drawn from the poetry of Edgar Lee Masters. In the piece, former residents of a fictionalized rural Illinois town speak directly to the audience from beyond the grave. Masters' "Spoon River Anthology" first appeared in 1915 and brought the author immediate fame. Masters had left his boyhood homes in Petersburg and Lewiston, Illinois, determined to escape the small-town hypocrisy that he saw there. At the time, the poems caused a scandal, as many of the fictional residents of Spoon River were clearly recognizable as real people in Masters' hometowns. Time has diminished the scandal, but not the power of the book, which has been reprinted numerous times and is widely read and studied. Appearing in "The Spoon River Anthology Project" are Katie Lahey, Nikki Lahey, Debbie Proska, Rhys Read, Mary-Carol Riehs, Joe Schram, Kate Troc, and Lauren Visser.
GreenMan's artistic director, David Soria, has adapted and directed the production, with assistance from Carolyn Thomas-Davidoff and Karen Soria. Live music is provided by Lauren Visser. Becca Easley is running sound, and the dramaturge for the production is Mary-Carol Riehs. Support for the production is provided by the Elmhurst History Museum. The audience will meet a wide range of characters, as the actors portray over 30 different roles during the show. The stories range from humorous to serious, sentimental to downright scary! Many of the stories are interlinked. In one example, there is the tale of a husband who ran away from home and had wild adventures in Chicago, followed by the story of his wife, who understands her husband's departure in a completely different way.
"One of the most fascinating interlinked groups is the McNeeley family," says director Soria. "The patriarch of the family starts out life with high hopes for his children, but they all disappoint him in some way. We also get to hear directly from two of the children, as well as the woman who ends up inheriting the man's estate."
The production is intended for adults, but middle school and older children are welcome to attend. "The Spoon River Anthology Project" is performed without intermission. The Churchville Schoolhouse is located at 3N784 Church Road, just north of Grand Avenue in Bensenville.
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GreenMan Theatre Presents: MTI's All Together Now
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Performances: Saturday, Nov 13th 7:30pm; Sunday, Nov 14th 2pmIn Person Viewing: Community Bank of Elmhurst, 2nd floor, 330 W Butterfield Rd, Elmhurst. $20
GreenMan Theatre will be presenting a musical revue of popular showtunes to welcome our audience back to live theatre! The following individuals have been cast in MTI's All Together Now at GreenMan Theatre: Melissa Harrison, Amy Jackson, Elizabeth Ley, Valerie Meachum, Donna Miller, Christine Millins, Brittani Moore, Debbie Proska, Kay Rower, Kate Troc, Justin Vidovic All Together Now is directed by Becca Easley and Justin Vidovic with musical direction by Melissa Harrison Songs Performed: Be Our Guest: Disney’s Beauty and the Beast Pure Imagination: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Writing Down the Story of My Life: Junie B. Jones, The Musical Meadowlark: The Baker’s Wife Gimme, Gimme: Thoroughly Modern Millie Spread the Love Around: Sister Act Tomorrow: Annie The New World: Songs for a New World I Dreamed a Dream: Les Misérables Consider Yourself: Oliver! Children Will Listen: Into the Woods Take a Chance on Me: Mamma Mia! Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?: My Fair Lady Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious: Disney and Cameron Mackintosh’s Mary Poppins Seasons of Love: Rent You Can’t Stop the Beat: Hairspray |
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The Angle of Mercy
April 29 - May 15, 2022
GreenMan Theatre Troupe announces its first production back in its theatre space (232 S York, Elmhurst) after the COVID shutdown: the world premiere of The Angle of Mercy, a comedy written and directed by Craig Gustafson.
The Angle of Mercy takes place at a Hollywood party in 1947, where glamour and fashion mix with intrigue and sex to provide a comedy that combines Burns and Allen-style wordplay with door slamming farce. Eric and Mary Ryan, a screenwriter and his radio star wife, are at a party in honor of the studio's signing of sex bomb movie star Iila Wolverton. Eric's career is in flux - he wants to become a producer; their friends, Ruth (costume designer) and Cliff (film noir star) Lerner are having marital troubles; Iila has to deal with bullying studio head Frank Staerkel; and gangster Chinese Charlie Leoni & his girlfriend Marilyn Uzitis crash the party to stop production of Eric's "Murder in the Fog." Mary, whose train of logic runs on a completely different track from anyone else's, decides to help everybody with their problems. She is the Angle of Mercy.
Cast includes Jennifer Ciombor (Wheaton), John Corona (Highland, IN), Angela DeMarco (Orland Park), Neal Goldman (Willow Springs), Margie Gustafson (Lombard), Peter Lemongelli (Cicero), Kasia Salim (Plainfield) and Sean Thomas (Wheaton). Assistant Director/Stage Manager is Michelle Ho (Woodridge.)
GreenMan Theatre Troupe announces its first production back in its theatre space (232 S York, Elmhurst) after the COVID shutdown: the world premiere of The Angle of Mercy, a comedy written and directed by Craig Gustafson.
The Angle of Mercy takes place at a Hollywood party in 1947, where glamour and fashion mix with intrigue and sex to provide a comedy that combines Burns and Allen-style wordplay with door slamming farce. Eric and Mary Ryan, a screenwriter and his radio star wife, are at a party in honor of the studio's signing of sex bomb movie star Iila Wolverton. Eric's career is in flux - he wants to become a producer; their friends, Ruth (costume designer) and Cliff (film noir star) Lerner are having marital troubles; Iila has to deal with bullying studio head Frank Staerkel; and gangster Chinese Charlie Leoni & his girlfriend Marilyn Uzitis crash the party to stop production of Eric's "Murder in the Fog." Mary, whose train of logic runs on a completely different track from anyone else's, decides to help everybody with their problems. She is the Angle of Mercy.
Cast includes Jennifer Ciombor (Wheaton), John Corona (Highland, IN), Angela DeMarco (Orland Park), Neal Goldman (Willow Springs), Margie Gustafson (Lombard), Peter Lemongelli (Cicero), Kasia Salim (Plainfield) and Sean Thomas (Wheaton). Assistant Director/Stage Manager is Michelle Ho (Woodridge.)