Chicago—Chicago’s young professionals will gather for a spectacular evening at Steppenwolf Auxiliary Council's Red or White Ball on Friday, May 12, 2006. The event will be held at the River East Art Center at 435 E. Illinois and runs from 8 p.m.-1 a.m. Tickets, available to the public, are $125 and available online at www.steppenwolf.org.
Steppenwolf Auxiliary Council’s Red or White Ball, the 4th annual Wine Tasting, will benefit Steppenwolf for Young Adults. Steppenwolf for Young Adults fosters the artists and audiences of tomorrow by sharing the principles of ensemble collaboration, superior acting and the creation of new work with students, teachers and families. The Auxiliary council members co-chairing the event are Lauren V. Dettloff, Jeffrey Gross and Julie Gustafson. Serving as honorary co-chairs are Steppenwolf for Young Adults director Hallie Gordon and ensemble member Tracy Letts, who first performed at Steppenwolf in the Steppenwolf for Young Adults production of The Glass Menagerie in 1985.
Steppenwolf Auxiliary Council members and hundreds of Chicago’s young professionals will sample from five tasting stations provided by KAFKA wine co. paired with delectables from Jewell Events Catering. Full bars featuring Grey Goose signature martinis alongside decadent chocolate tasting stations provided by Cosi, Moonstruck Chocolates and Translucent Chocolates will be accompanied by the sounds of DJ Plez. The evening will include a silent auction, signature raffle and conclude with the music of Maryann & The Professors.
A limited number of $500 VIP packages are available; each includes 2 event tickets, access for two to a 7:00 p.m. private artists reception featuring fine and rare wine selections from Hart Davis Hart Wine Co., enhanced goody bags and a one-year membership in the Auxiliary Council.
The Red or White Ball serves as the primary fundraiser for Steppenwolf’s Auxiliary Council. Steppenwolf’s Auxiliary Council is a community of dynamic young professionals who develop new financial resources and audiences for the creation and presentation of new work. In just five years of operation, the Auxiliary Council has raised over a quarter of a million dollars in contributions, enabling Steppenwolf to continue to advance artistic experimentation and collaboration.
Hallie Gordon, Director of Steppenwolf for Young Adults, staged the critically acclaimed production of The Bluest Eye. Steppenwolf for Young Adults will bring back Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, adapted by Lydia Diamond, in October 2006. Steppenwolf for Young Adults includes:
Cross-Town Ensemble & Mentorship
The Cross-Town Ensemble is composed of 15-18 year old writers and performers who under the guidance of instructors and mentors collaborate to create new plays.
Productions for Students and Families
Professional productions of established plays, original adaptations of novels and new works are presented for young adults through weekday student matinees and weekend family performances. The Subscriber School Program provides in-school residencies for each production, including scripts, study guides and tours of the theater.
Family Series
The Family Series is a unique opportunity for young people and their families to attend the theater together at an affordable price.
Educator Workshops
The Teacher Theater Immersion Course is designed to help teachers integrate theater arts into core curricula. The Master Teacher Workshops help teachers improve student comprehension of literature through drama. Both offer the opportunity to earn CPDU credits.
Internships
The Internship Program is an intense and rewarding experience which allows interns to work with Steppenwolf staff and artists during a 9-month apprenticeship or a for-credit summer internship.
Ensemble member Tracy Letts most recently appeared with ensemble member Amy Morton in Steppenwolf’s production of Richard Greenberg’s The Well-Appointed Room. His Pulitzer Prize-nominated play, Man From Nebraska, first produced at Steppenwolf, received its West Coast premiere at South Coast Repertory in March. The film version of his play Bug will open later this year. Next season at Steppenwolf he will appear in The Pillowman and Betrayal, and will premiere his play August: Osage County.
Sponsors for the Red or White Ball include: LaSalle Bank, AT&T, Jewell Events Catering, KAFKA wine co., Cole Haan, Fifth Third Bank, Fleishman-Hillard, Foley & Lardner LLP, Grey Goose – World’s Best Tasting Vodka, Hart Davis Hart Wine Co., Red Star Printing, River East Art Center, Sidley Austin LLP, Talon Asset Management, Time Out Chicago, Blum-Kovler Foundation, Cosi, Fey & Co. Jewelers, Goose Island Brewery, Moonstruck Chocolates, Quaker, Tropicana, Gatorade – a division of Pepsico and Translucent Chocolates.
Committed to the principle of ensemble performance through the collaboration of a company of actors, directors and playwrights, Steppenwolf Theatre Company advances the vitality and diversity of American theater by nurturing artists, encouraging repeatable creative relationships and contributing new works to the national canon. The company, formed in 1976 by a collective of actors, is dedicated to perpetuating an ethic of mutual respect and the development of artists through ongoing group work. Steppenwolf has grown into an internationally renowned company of thirty-five artists whose talents include acting, directing, playwriting, filmmaking and textual adaptation.
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