STEPPENWOLF THEATRE COMPANY ANNOUNCES THE AFTER PARTY, A LINE-UP OF LATE-NIGHT, CROSS-GENRE PERFORMANCES DURING GARAGE REP 2013
Steppenwolf Theatre Company is pleased to announce The After Party, a line-up of late-night, cross-genre performances Thursday nights during Garage Rep 2013, starting March 7. Curated by Steppenwolf Associate Producer Jacob Padrón, The After Party includes performances bySalonathon; experimental rock trio, Paper Mice; genre-bending classical musicians, Spektral Quartet; solo performer and spoken word artist Shannon Matesky; Route 66 Theatre Company; comedy-variety show, The City Life Supplement; and soul dance party, Windy City Soul Club. The After Party performances are in The Steppenwolf Garage (1624 N Halsted St) at 11pm, following Thursday evening Garage Rep performances; full schedule below. Tickets ($5) are on sale now through Audience Services (1650 N Halsted St), 312-335-1650 and steppenwolf.org.
“Steppenwolf has an ongoing commitment to making the Garage a space for young artists and audiences, and so we launch The After Party,” comments Associate Producer Jacob Padrón. “We welcome all artists in the Garage and this series complements Garage Rep, where we welcome Chicago companies into our space. We aim for an eclectic line-up for The After Party, and hope to see new faces there.”
The After Party Line-up
(All performances, artists and dates are subject to change)
March 7
Salonathon
Since its inception in July 2011, Salonathon has shared hundreds of performances with a burgeoning community of artists and supporters. Expanding upon her endeavors to bring art out of people and people to see art, founder and head curator Jane Beachy launched Salonathon Presents in December 2012 with a curated night of apocalyptic performances at the Metro called “You’re Gonna Die.” Salonathon Presentsis also co-producing the annual Anti-Valentine’s Day Party with Chicago Reader and The Empty Bottle on February 14, 2013 and has several other events in the works. facebook.com/salonathon.
March 14
Paper Mice and Spektral Quartet
Paper Mice are an experimental rock trio whose music plays with irregular time signatures, extreme shifts in dynamics and tempo, and lyrics crafted from news-coverage sound bites. Their energetic live performances have become a staple in Chicago’s DIY punk music scene. papermice.com.
With its innovative programming consistently filling venues with a “crowd that other classical presenters would kill to attract” (Chicago Classical Review), the Spektral Quartet has established itself as one of Chicago’s most intrepid and adroit ensembles. With a priority on evaporating the perceived boundary between traditional masterworks and the music of the present, Spektral concerts feature the likes of Beethoven and Mozart alongside Carter and Adés. spektralquartet.com.
March 21
Shannon Matesky presents She Think She Grown
Shannon Matesky has been seen on numerous stages across the country as a poet and actress. Some of her theatrical credits include: The March (Steppenwolf Theatre Company); Hit the Wall (The Inconvenience, Steppenwolf Garage Rep); Sophocles: Seven Sicknesses (The Hypocrites); and Sonnets for an Old Century (UrbanTheater Company, Steppenwolf Garage Rep). Shannon was a featured spoken word artist of the Brave New Voices College Tour and the final season of HBO’s Def Poetry Jam. She has performed with the likes of Talib Kweli, Marc Bamuthi Joseph, Danny Hoch, Rachel McKibbens, George Watsky, Rafael Casal and countless others. She is featured in the award-winning documentary 2nd Verse: The Rebirth of Poetry (Corduroy Media). Shannon is an activist and teacher who has worked with such organizations as Young Chicago Authors, Youth Speaks, Step-Up Women’s Network, Kuumba Lynx and others, aiding young adults in technical and life skills. She Think She Grown is her first solo play.shannonmatesky.com.
March 28 and April 11
Route 66 Theatre Company presents a reading of Next Stop: A New Chicago Musical
Next Stop: A New Chicago Musical is a collaboration between eight Chicago playwrights (Alice Austen,Danny Bernardo, Aaron Carter, Ike Holter, Alexander Lubischer, Brett Neveu, Caitlin Parrish andEmilio Williams) and one phenomenal Chicago singer-songwriter (Diana Lawrence). First performed as a staged workshop in the summer of 2012 at Theater Wit, this unique musical in development received praise and coverage from Time Out Chicago and Chicago Sun-Times. Since the original workshop production, the piece has undergone dramatic re-development, and Route 66 Theatre Company is thrilled to share this work-in-progress in the Steppenwolf Garage. route66theatre.org.
April 4
The City Life Supplement
The City Life Supplement (CLS) is a comedy-variety show that’s a little naughty with a lot of heart, featuring stellar comic writers, actors performing sketches, stories and original songs, and a local musical guest. Center Square Journal called the show “The Best Live, Recorded, Theater, Radio, Sketch, Improv, Comedy, Drama, Music Show Podcast You Haven’t Heard of…Yet. [The City Life Supplement] is a mash-up of social commentary, musical interludes, storytelling and general silliness that’s surprisingly sincere.” The City Life Supplement records their live monthly show the last Saturday of each month at The Holiday Club in Uptown. citylifesupplement.org.
April 18
Windy City Soul Club
Windy City Soul Club (WCSC) brings together Chicago’s top rare soul deejays to create the best party this city has ever seen—and if you’re inclined to think real deejays need only a box full of vinyl, you’ll likely agree. WCSC deejays play all original vinyl of the Northern Soul variety, Motown-style gems, regional hits, ace dancing tunes as well as your favorite recognizable sing-along classics. If you’ve ever wanted to ‘shake a tail feather,’ then this is your chance to get dapper and get down with DJ’s Aret Sakalian, Nick Soule, Jason Berry and Xavier Velez. windycitysoulclub.com.
The Steppenwolf Garage is dedicated to new plays, new artists and new audiences for the American theater. It offers artists the opportunity to present their work with the scale, space and resources it merits. For audiences, it provides opportunities to engage in multigenerational conversation about the new, provocative work emerging from Chicago’s diverse and vibrant theatre scene. Garage Rep 2013 marks the fourth annual series, featuring Bailiwick Chicago’s
See What I Wanna See, Buzz22 Chicago’s She Kills Monsters and Theatre Seven of Chicago’sBlackTop Sky. For more information about Garage Rep 2013, visit steppenwolf.org/garagerep.
Support for Garage Rep is provided by the “Leading for the Future Initiative,” a program of the Nonprofit Finance Fund, funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
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-seatDownstairs 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/