Steppenwolf Announces Additional Casting For 2012/13 Season

Steppenwolf Announces Additional Casting For 2012/13 Season 1  Steppenwolf Theatre Company Artistic Director Martha Lavey announced today additional casting for the 2012/13 Subscription and Steppenwolf for Young Adults seasons.  Steppenwolf Theatre Company Artistic Director Martha Lavey announced today additional casting for the 2012/13 Subscription and Steppenwolf for Young Adults seasons. 

Will AllanKeith Kupferer and Lusia Strus join previously announced ensemble members Alana Arenas, Mariann Mayberry and Molly Regan, completing the cast of the season opener, Good People. The cast of the Steppenwolf for Young Adults production of The Book Thief features ensemble member Francis Guinan with Patrick AndrewsAmy J. CarleRob FaginRae GrayDennis William GrimesNikki Klix,Ian KnoxAnthony-Jon LeSageClancy McCartneyAndy MonsonMark Ulrich andNicole Wiesner. Other additions to the 2012/13 slate include Sandra DelgadoSandra MarquezJohn Ortiz and Gary Perez in The Motherf**ker with the Hat, and Cheryl Lynn BruceGlenn Davis and Jacqueline Williams in Head of PassesEdward Torres has also signed on to direct the Steppenwolf for Young Adults production of How Long Will I Cry?: Voices of Youth Violence (previously titled Oral Histories) with Artistic ConsultantKelli Simpkins.

Steppenwolf ensemble members currently confirmed for the 2012/13 Season include:Alana Arenas, Kate Arrington, Ian BarfordK. Todd Freeman, Francis Guinan,Moira Harris, Jon Michael Hill, Tim Hopper, Tina LandauJohn Mahoney, Mariann Mayberry, Tarell Alvin McCraneyAustin Pendleton, Molly Regan and Anna D. ShapiroAdditional casting to be announced.

 Season subscriptions and individual tickets to The Book Thief are currently on-saleat Audience Services (1650 N Halsted St), by calling 312-335-1650, or by visiting steppenwolf.org.

Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s 2012/13 Season

(All plays, artists and dates are subject to change)

 

Good People

By David Lindsay-Abaire

Directed by ensemble member K. Todd Freeman

Featuring ensemble members Alana Arenas, Mariann Mayberry and Molly Regan withWill AllanKeith Kupferer and Lusia Strus

September 13 – November 11, 2012 in the Downstairs Theatre

When Margie Walsh loses her job at a South Boston dollar store, she reaches out to old flame Mike, a Southie boy who left the neighborhood and became a successful doctor. Margie’s attempt to hit Mike up for a job takes on a threatening cast when she realizes the power a secret from Mike’s past holds. From Pulitzer Prize-winner David Lindsay-Abaire,Good People looks at the dangerous consequences of either choosing to hold on to the pass or to leave it behind.

 

The Book Thief            

Based on the novel by Markus Zusak

Adapted by Heidi Stillman

Directed by Hallie Gordon

Featuring ensemble member Francis Guinan with Patrick AndrewsAmy J. CarleRob FaginRae GrayDennis William GrimesNikki KlixIan KnoxAnthony-Jon LeSageClancy McCartneyAndy MonsonMark Ulrich and Nicole Wiesner

October 16 – November 9, 2012 in the Upstairs Theatre

 

Leisel Meminger is a young girl struggling to survive in Nazi Germany. Her life is filled with risk and danger but her love of books guides her through a brutal world. Death watches over her, fascinated by humankind’s will to live. The Book Thief looks at the terrible cost of violence, bearing witness to our compassion and complicity. When Death tells a story, you listen.

 

The Motherf**ker with the Hat

By Stephen Adly Guirgis

Directed by ensemble member Anna D. Shapiro

Featuring Sandra DelgadoSandra MarquezJohn Ortiz and Gary Perez

December 27, 2012 – March 3, 2013 in the Downstairs Theatre

 

Things are on the up-and-up for recovering alcoholic Jackie and girlfriend Veronica—until Jackie spots another man’s hat in their apartment and embarks on a sublimely incompetent criminal quest for vengeance. Fast-paced and uproarious, Mother asks probing questions about the havoc addiction wreaks. Ensemble member Anna D. Shapiro, director of the acclaimed Broadway premiere, returns to direct the Steppenwolf production.

 

The Birthday Party

By Harold Pinter

Directed by ensemble member Austin Pendleton

Featuring ensemble members Ian BarfordFrancis GuinanMoira Harris and John Mahoney with Sophia Sinise

January 24 – May 19, 2013 in the Upstairs Theatre

 

Petey, Meg and their long-time tenant Stanley live comfortably, if without particular flair, in a seaside boarding house in England. But their humdrum daily routine of cornflakes, newspapers and naps comes to a sudden end when two mysterious men appear, bringing with them menace, mystery and one overwhelming question: What exactly are they searching for? When the group gathers together to celebrate Stanley’s birthday, alliances are re-drawn, scandals are revealed and all are left teetering on a precipice. Lambasted by critics during its 1958 premiere, Nobel laureate Harold Pinter’s play has since gained a reputation as a twentieth-century dark-comic classic.

 

How Long Will I Cry?: Voices of Youth Violence

By Miles Harvey                

Directed by Edward Torres

Artistic Consulting by Kelli Simpkins

February 26 – March 9, 2013 in the Upstairs Theatre

In recent years, violence has devastated the lives of countless young Chicagoans. In the first three months of 2012 alone, homicides in the city have risen nearly 60 percent. And despite extensive media coverage, we rarely hear from the people most directly affected by the problem—young people themselves. Woven together from interviews gathered by journalist Miles Harvey and his students at DePaul University, How Long Will I Cry?provides raw, truthful insight into the complexity of this epidemic. By giving voice to those who know the tragic consequences of violence first-hand—families of the victims, residents of crime-ridden neighborhoods and especially young people—How Long Will I Cry? inspires all of us to join together in search of a solution.

 

Head of Passes

By ensemble member Tarell Alvin McCraney

Directed by ensemble member Tina Landau

Featuring ensemble members Alana ArenasK. Todd FreemanJon Michael Hill andTim Hopper with Cheryl Lynn BruceGlenn Davis and Jacqueline Williams

April 4 – June 9, 2013 in the Downstairs Theatre

 

The distant present, at the Mississippi River’s mouth. Shelah’s family and friends plan a surprise birthday party, but the festivities are overshadowed by revelations that point to a dark family secret. Ensemble members Tarell McCraney and Tina Landau—writer and director of Steppenwolf’s lauded The Brother/Sister Plays—team up again for this world premiere drama, told in McCraney’s sweeping, signature style. Head of Passes is the recipient of a Joyce Award.

 

Belleville

By Amy Herzog

Directed by Anne Kauffmann

Featuring ensemble members Alana Arenas and Kate Arrington

June 27 – August 25, 2013 in the Downstairs Theatre

 

Twenty-something American expats Zack and Abby live an enviably hip, do-gooder existence in the up-and-coming neighborhood of Belleville, Paris. But a single encounter one morning in the apartment they rent from their Senegalese landlords Alioune and Amina tips the scales of their relationship, revealing that the bubble they’ve built abroad is much closer to bursting than it appears. Dubbed a “thrillingly good” drama with elements of a “nail-biting psychological thriller” by The New York Times, Amy Herzog’s play asks unsettling questions about upheaval and the power of a lie.

 

 

Free post-show discussions are offered after every performance in the Subscription Season. Steppenwolf is located near all forms of public transportation and is wheelchair accessible. Street and lot parking are available. Performances featuring American Sign Language interpretation, open captioning and audio description are offered during the run of each play. Assistive listening devices and large-print programs are available for every performance.

 

Steppenwolf Theatre Company is America’s longest standing, most distinguished ensemble theater, producing nearly 700 performances and events annually in its three Chicago theater spaces—the 515-seat Downstairs Theatre, the 299-seat Upstairs Theatre and the 80-seat Garage Theatre. Formed in 1976 by a collective of actors, Steppenwolf has grown into an ensemble of 43 actors, writers and directors. Artistic programming at Steppenwolf includes a five-play Subscription Season, a two-play Steppenwolf for Young Adults season and three repertory series: First Look Repertory of New Work, Garage Rep and Next Up. While firmly grounded in the Chicago community, nearly 40 original Steppenwolf productions have enjoyed success both nationally and internationally, including Off-Broadway, Broadway, London, Sydney and Dublin. Steppenwolf has the distinction of being the only theater to receive the National Medal of Arts, in addition to numerous other prestigious honors including an Illinois Arts Legend Award and nine Tony Awards. Martha Lavey is the Artistic Director and David Hawkanson is the Executive Director. Nora Daley is Chair of Steppenwolf’s Board of Trustees. For additional information, visit steppenwolf.org,facebook.com/steppenwolftheatre and twitter.com/steppenwolfthtr.

 

Currently on stage is Three Sisters by Anton Chekhov, adapted by ensemble member Tracy Letts, directed by ensemble member Anna D. Shapiro (through August 26, 2012) in Steppenwolf’s Downstairs Theatre (1650 N Halsted St).