Podcast With JEN BOSWORTH

Podcast With Jen Bosworth from Michael Roberts on Vimeo.

Jen Bosworth

An Evanston, Illinois native, Bosworth is an alumnus of Evanston Township High School and The Theatre School at DePaul University. Her numerous acting credits include the popular 90’s television series ER and Early Edition and a starring role in a Steppenwolf Theatre Company production of The House on Mango Street.

The debut of her first one-woman show – “I’m Not Trying to Get an Agent, This is My School Project” – was in L.A. in 2004 and was also staged in Chicago. A mainstay of Chicago’s “Live-Lit” scene, Bosworth is a founding member of The Chicago Story Collective and can be seen regularly all over town telling her honest and hilarious tales.

Bosworth holds two Master’s degrees in psychology – Spiritual Psychology and Counseling Psychology from The University of Santa Monica.  She has worked as a drug counselor at Lutheran Social Services in Chicago.

WHY NOT ME?

From the surreal Hollywood life as Academy Award Winner Nicolas Cage’s office manager to struggling actress to dealing with family illness, death and love, this new stage production is an uplifting story of one woman’s courageous romp through life’s heartaches, headaches and hysterics.  “Why Not Me. Love, Cancer and Jack White,” an original one- woman show performed by Chicago writer/actress Jen Bosworth, opens at 8 p.m. on Friday, November 16 and runs through December 8 at Stage 773 Theatre in Chicago.  The show is directed by veteran director Alyson Lyon.

Based on Bosworth’s real-life experiences, the wry, energetic, comedic performance reveals the humorous gaffes and tribulations of her days as an actress living in Los Angeles and her return to Chicago as sickness and cancer engulf her family, while, at the same time, popular singer Jack White invades her nightly dreams as an escape from reality.

“’Why Not Me’ is a statement, not a question,” said Bosworth. “I learned the hard way that life is tough…so live it bravely and go for it; that’s the essence of ‘Why Not Me.’”

The show chronicles Bosworth’s move to L.A. in 2000 to seek stardom but, instead, finds work as Nicolas Cage’s office manager, and quickly learned about the surreal workings of Hollywood, up close.  Mid-way through the decade Bosworth gives up on Hollywood and heads home to help care for her ill father who would pass away shortly after her return. Within two years her husband would survive a cancer battle and by the end of the decade her mother would die from cancer.

“When I lived in LA, agents told me I was too fat to be cast in any meaningful roles, so finding an acting job was extremely tough,” stated Bosworth reflecting on her early acting start.  “I lived in a dump at night and, ironically, picked pricey furniture for million-dollar mansions by day. I arrive back in Chicago and my parents die…oh, and my husband gets cancer. But, hey, we all have our crap…so turn it into gold.”

This humorous and poignant one-woman show runs at 8 p.m. every Friday and Saturday from November 16 through December 16 at Stage 773 theatre, 1225 W. Belmont Ave. in Chicago.

Tickets are $20 and may be purchased online at www.stage773.com or by calling (773) 327-5252, or in-person at Stage 773 box office, 1225 W. Belmont Ave in Chicago.