SHOWBIZ NATION LIVE! Interview with UNSPEAKABLE star E. FAYE BUTLER

SHOWBIZ NATION LIVE! Interview with UNSPEAKABLE star E. FAYE BUTLER from SHOWBIZ CHICAGO on Vimeo.

One of our favorite guests, E. FAYE BUTLER, discusses her new role playing Richard Pryor’s Mother in the new play biopic UNSPEAKABLE, which opens at the Broadway Playhouse on October 6th. For more information visit BroadwayInChicago.com.

E. FAYE BUTLER (Mama / Ensemble) Chicago credits: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Pullman Porter Blues, Christmas Carol (Goodman); Caroline Or Change, Little Foxes, La Bête (Court); Black Pearl Sings, Ella (Northlight); Crumbs From The Table Of Joy (Steppenwolf); Thoroughly Modern Millie, The Wiz (Marriot’s Lincolnshire); An Issue of Blood, Blue Sonata (Victory Gardens); Hello Dolly, Sophisticated Ladies (Drury Lane); Working (Broadway In Chicago’s Broadway Playhouse). Regional Credits: King Hedley ll, Smokey Joe’s Café, Oklahoma, Polk County, Trouble In Mind, Pullman (Arena Stage); Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Caroline Or Change (Centerstage); Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Philadelphia Theatre Company); Saving Amiee, Gospel According To Fishmen (Signature); Wizard Of Oz (Arkansas Rep.)., Trouble In Mind (Yale rep); Ella (Dallas Theater Center); Purlie (Pasadena Playhouse); Showboat (Asolo Rep.) Pullman Porter Blues (Seattle Rep.); The Wiz (La Jolla Playhouse). National and Regional Tours: Mamma Mia, Dinah Was, Ain’t Misbehavin, Nunsense, Nunsense ll, Don’t Bother Me I Can’t Cope. Recipient of Six Joseph Jefferson Awards, Two Helen Hayes Awards, Four Black Theatre Alliance Awards, RAMI Award, John Barrymore Award, Excellence In The Arts Award, After Dark Award, Ovation Award, Kathryn V. Lampkey Award, Sarah Siddons Leading Lady Award, Black Excellence Award. Lunt – Fontaine Fellowship, Women In Arts Museum in Washington, D.C.

Broadway In Chicago is pleased to announce full casting for the Chicago premiere of Unspeakable, a dramatic fantasia inspired by the life of comedic legend Richard Pryor. Unspeakable features a cast of many prominent Chicago performers and will play the Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place (175 E. Chestnut St.) for a limited five-week engagement Oct. 6 through Nov. 8, 2015.

The cast of ten – many playing multiple roles – features James Murray Jackson, Jr. as “Richard Pryor,” a role he originated in the 2005 New York International Fringe Festival earning him a New York Times rave for his “magnetic lead performance.” The cast also includes Chicago natives E. Faye Butler (Working, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike), Lamar N. Barnes, Ebony Joy and Akilah Perry. Also featured are Northwestern University alum Taryn Reneau (Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the Shrew), Roosevelt University alum Chris Amos (Both Your Houses, Tom Jones), Kierra Bunch (The Sun Always Shines for The Cool), Jeff Award winner Ginneh Thomas (The Submission) and Chicagoan Ronald L. Conner (King Hedley II).

Sex, Drugs and Comedy. Unspeakable is an unflinching ride through the emotional landscape of Richard Pryor spanning sixty-one years and focused on the period between 1967 and 1982. Born and raised in a Peoria brothel owned and operated by his grandmother, Pryor faced situations that forever shaped and scarred his sensitive soul. With a pimp for a father and his mother a whore, young Pryor’s imagination helps him escape and ultimately leads him to comedy. Unspeakable captures the energy of a man battling success and the demons it invites.

Director and Co-Author Rod Gailes OBC brings a cinematic vision to the provocative odyssey of Pryor with an ensemble approach highlighting the comedian’s journey from damaged child to comic legend, based on a script by OBC and Jackson.

Unspeakable is presented by Tenacity Park, Creative Mind Entertainment, OBC DreamTheatre, Stefani Nicole Von Huben and Kenneth Schapiro.

For his portrayal of Richard Pryor in the 2005 New York International Fringe Festival production of Unspeakable, Jackson received the Festival’s Outstanding Lead Actor Award.

Given the strong language and adult situations inherent in this story, this production is recommended for audiences 16 years of age and older. This play is in no way supported, endorsed or created by, nor does it in any manner emanate from, Richard Pryor, his estate or other successor(s).

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.
Fridays at 7:30 p.m.
Saturdays at 2 & 8 p.m.
Sundays at 2 & 7:30 p.m.

TICKET INFORMATION
Individual tickets for Unspeakable are now on sale. Group tickets for 10 or more are now on sale by calling Broadway In Chicago Group Sales at (312) 977-1710. For more information, please visit www.BroadwayInChicago.com.