PERFORMANCE ADDED ON SUNDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2004
Chicago — Steppenwolf Theatre Company's Arts Exchange program presents The Chosen, based on the novel by Chaim Potok, adapted by Aaron Posner and Chaim Potok, directed by Edward Sobel, featuring Adam DeGroot, Madison Dirks, Neil Friedman, Marc Grapey, Hunter Stiebel and Fredric Stone. An additional public performances has been added on Sunday, October 24, 2004, at 11:00 a.m. The production has Saturday performances on October 16, 23 and 30, 2004, at 11:00 a.m. The Chosen takes place in the Steppenwolf Downstairs Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted. Tickets are $10.
What starts as a stare down between Reuven and Danny on the baseball field transforms into a unique and challenging friendship. Together they are forced to better understand their fathers, their faith, and themselves. This acclaimed adaptation of Chaim Potok's celebrated novel set in 1940's Brooklyn examines the religious and intellectual choices that come with the passage from childhood to adulthood in America.
The cast for The Chosen includes Adam DeGroot (Klezmer), Madison Dirks (Danny Saunders), Neil Friedman (Reb Saunders), Marc Grapey (Reuven Malter), Hunter Stiebel (Young Reuven Malter), and Fredric Stone (David Malter).
The designers for The Chosen are Keith Pitts (set), Michelle Habeck (lights), Rachel Healy (costumes), and Michael Kraskin (sound). Deb Styer is the Stage Manager.
Title:
The Chosen
Author:
Chaim Potok
Stage Adaptation by:
Aaron Posner and Chaim Potok
Directed by:
Edward Sobel
Featuring:
Adam DeGroot, Madison Dirks, Neil Friedman, Marc Grapey, Hunter Stiebel and Fredric Stone
Location:
Steppenwolf Downstairs Theatre, 1650 N. Halsted Street
Dates:
October 16, 23, 24, and 30, 2004
Special Event:
A post–show discussion will follow the performance on October 23, 2004
Curtain Time:
11:00 a.m.
Tickets:
$10.00
Audience Services:
1650 N. Halsted Street
(312) 335–1650
www.steppenwolf.org
11:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m. everyday
11:00 a.m.–7:00 p.m. on days with evening performances
Student Matinees:
For information on groups or weekday student matinees, contact Dave Urlakis (312) 654–5629.
Steppenwolf Theatre Company is located near all forms of public transportation and is wheelchair accessible. Street and lot parking are available. Assistive listening devices are available.
Edward Sobel is the Director of New Play Development at Steppenwolf Theatre Company. For Steppenwolf, he has directed Romulus Linney's A Lesson Before Dying (also at Theater on the Lake) and the world premiere of Richard Strand's Ten Percent of Molly Snyder. Other recent directing credits include: the world premiere of Brett Neveu's American Dead at American Theatre Company, where he also directed Richard Dresser's Below the Belt (After Dark Award – Best Ensemble); and for Rivendell Theatre Ensemble Annie Weisman's Be Aggressive and Heather McDonald's Faulkner's Bicycle (also at Theatre on the Lake). Ed is one of the directors for WBEZ's Stories on Stage and holds an M.F.A. from Northwestern University. He will be directing the Rivendell production of Carson Kreitzer's play SELF DEFENSE or death of some salesmen this fall in the Steppenwolf Garage.
Adam DeGroot (Klezmer) is a graduate of Northwestern University, Adam is a woodwind player, arranger/orchestrator and music director. He has worked with the Court Theatre and American Theatre Company and has spent four summers at the Wagon Wheel Theatre in Warsaw, Indiana.
Madison Dirks (Danny Saunders) is a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and graduate of Louisiana State University. His previous regional credits include the Swine Palace productions of A Midsummer Nights Dream, Skylight and Romeo and Juliet (in association with Shakespeare and Co.), all under the direction of Barry Kyle.
Neil Friedman (Reb Saunders) recently completed a run of Into the Woods, playing the Narrator/Mysterious Man at the Peninsula Players. Other Chicago credits include: The Dead, The Romance Cycle, My Fair Lady and Guys and Dolls (Court Theatre); The Taming of the Shrew, Pacific Overtures, King Lear, and over twenty other productions (Chicago Shakespeare Theatre); Early and Often and Ghetto (Famous Door Theatre); Zoot Suit and Wings (Goodman Theatre); A Few Good Men (Theatre at the Center); 1776, The King and I, Chess and Matador (Marriott Theatre); My One and Only, The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Jesus Christ Superstar [Joseph Jefferson Award](Drury Lane Oakbrook); Woody Guthrie's American Song (Northlight Theatre). Regional credits include Capital Repertory Theatre, Albany, New York; Florida Studio Theatre, Sarasota; Coconut Grove Playhouse, Miami; Pope Theatre, West Palm Beach; Children's Theatre Company of Minneapolis; and Austria's Vienna English Theatre.
Marc Grapey (Reuven Malter) previously appeared at Steppenwolf in the Arts Exchange program in Antigone and more recently, in Mizlansky/Zilinksy. As the Co–founder and current Co–artistic Director of Chicago's Famous Door Theatre, Marc has acted and/or directed in over 25 of the company's plays, including the multiple Jeff Award–winning production of The Cider House Rules, parts I and II. Numerous film and television credits include The Daytrippers, The West Wing, Arrested Development, Two and a Half Men, and Sex and the City.
Hunter Stiebel (Young Reuven Malter) most recently appeared in Bash at Circle Theatre. Other Chicago roles include Dracula in Dracula for the Defiant Theater, 24 characters in a Piece of My Heart for A Reasonable Facsimile Theater, a prisoner in Far Away at The Next Theater and several staged readings with the National New Plays Network for The Phoenix Theater. Regional credits include The Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, and The National Playwrights Conference. Hunter holds a BFA in Acting from Meadows School of the Arts at SMU.
Fredric Stone (David Malter) has worked as an actor at most of the Chicagoland theaters. He played Agamemnon in Mary Zimmerman's production of Trojan Women at the Goodman Theatre and has spent much time at Chicago Shakespeare Theater in productions of Love's Labor's Lost (Boyet), The Tempest (Alonso), Richard II (Northumberland), Henry IV, parts 1 and 2 (Norththumberland, Francis, Vernon and Silence); Henry V (multiple roles), The Winter's Tale (Camillo) and The Taming of the Shrew (Gremio). Other Chicago credits include Fires in the Mirror (Northlight), Beau Jest (Victory Gardens), Isn't it Romantic (Ivanhoe), Singin' in the Rain (Theater at the Center), as well as work at the Court Theatre, Drury Lane Evergreen Park, and Illinois Theatre Center. Regional credits include New American Theatre, BoarsHead Theatre, Madison Repertory, and First Stage Milwaukee. Broadway and off– Broadway credits include All Over Town and Awake and Sing and tours include A Funny Thing Happened....Forum with Zero Mostel. Film and Television credits include Thief, The Untouchables, Crime Story and Missing Persons. Mr. Stone also created and performs a one–person Shakespeare show, Will and Testament (a life after death comedy) that he tours. He teaches Performing Shakespeare at Victory Gardens Theatre.
Tickets for the public performances are $10.00 and can be purchased through Audience Services. Audience Services hours are 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. everyday and 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on days with evening performances. The phone number for Audience Services is (312) 335–1650. Tickets can be ordered online at www.steppenwolf.org.
All tickets for weekday student matinees are $7.50 and can be purchased through Dave Urlakis, Group Sales and Marketing Associate, at (312) 654–5629 or Jean Kahler, Arts Exchange Education Coordinator, at (312) 654–5639.
There will be a post–show discussion following the performance on Saturday, October 23, 2004.
Steppenwolf's Arts Exchange Program is sponsored by the Target Foundation, the William Randolph Hearst Foundations, the Arie and Ida Crown Memorial, Kraft Foods, Avy and Marcie Stein, The Elizabeth Morse Charitable Trust, Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, Chicago Tribune Foundation, The Northern Trust Company, The Albert Pick, Jr. Fund, Allstate Foundation, the Kenneth and Harle Montgomery Foundation, Patrick and Anna M. Cudahy Fund, and The Grover Hermann Foundation.
Polk Bros. Foundation is the sponsor of Steppenwolf Theatre Company's Teacher Workshops offered in partnership with the Chicago Public Schools Office of Language and Culture and the Chicago Teachers' Center. The Chicago Community Trust supports educational opportunities for Chicago Public Schools students and educators through Arts Exchange Productions and Teacher Workshops.
ITW Foundation is the sponsor of Steppenwolf Theatre Company's Family Series. This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, and by a CityArts Program 4 grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. Steppenwolf's Arts Exchange is a citywide partner of the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) School Partner Program.
Committed to the principle of ensemble performance through the collaboration of a company of actors, directors and designers, Steppenwolf Theatre Company's mission is to advance 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 on–going group work. Steppenwolf has grown into an internationally renowned company of thirty–five artists whose talents include acting, directing, playwriting, filmmaking, and textual adaptation.