American Blues Theater (ABT), Chicago's second oldest Equity ensemble, proudly kicks off its 2011-2012 season honoring the American worker with Clifford Odets' classic one-act play "Waiting for Lefty" directed by Kimberly Senior Sept. 2 - Oct. 2. In addition, ABT will debut a new staged reading program of 10-minute scripts written and directed by various Chicago artists as part of its "Ripped: The Living Newspaper Project" Friday nights, immediately following performances of "Waiting for Lefty" on Sept. 16, 23, 30.
Press opening for "Waiting for Lefty" is Thursday, Sept. 8 at 7 p.m. All performances will take place at Victory Gardens' Richard Christiansen Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue. Given the Ensemble's mission and the play's theme, ABT is keeping the ticket price affordable for Chicagolands' workers. Tickets for previews (Sept. 2 - 4) are $15; post-opening tickets will be $25. Each performance will honor a union and offer their members a discounted ticket price. Complete ticket information including ticket on-sale date and performance schedule will be announced at a later date. "Waiting for Lefty" is made possible in part by funding by CME Foundation, The Saints Foundation, The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.
"ABT honors the American working man and woman with this emotionally powerful mix of classic and contemporary stories," says Wendy Whiteside, ABT producing artistic director. "Odets' classic one-act ‘Waiting for Lefty' resonates as strongly as ever. As for ‘Ripped: The Living Newspaper Project:' ABT has been cultivating short-plays for this project since 2009. Our staged readings have been developed for this fall's stagings with the help of our co-producers Piven Theatre Workshop, and a development grant by the University of Chicago."
"Waiting for Lefty," inspired by the New York taxi strike of 1934 and first staged by the Group Theater in 1935, features powerful vignettes that offer a timeless treatise on societal inequities. "We've been kicked around so long we're black and blue from head to toes," opines a Depression-era American working stiff in Odets' masterpiece. The New York Times hailed the 1935 staging as "soundly constructed and fiercely dramatic," and The Los Angeles Times reviewing a September 2010 staging deemed "Waiting for Lefty" "a paean to Everyman virtues without sounding phony or sentimental... undeniably relevant."
The cast of "Waiting for Lefty" will feature ABT Ensemble members Sarah Burnham, Cheryl Graeff, John Möhrlein, Suzanne Petri and Gwendolyn Whiteside; Artistic Affiliates Warren Levon and Manny Buckley; with guest artists Terry Hamilton, Zachary Kenney and Mechelle Moe.
"Waiting for Lefty" playwright Clifford Odets was born to a working-class family in 1906. Raised in the Bronx, New York, Odets left school at age 14 and pursued an artistic career first in vaudeville and radio, much to the chagrin of his father who wanted his son to continue in the family printing business. With The Group Theatre, a socialist and leftist ensemble of artists, Odets first achieved fame as a playwright with his 1935 short play, "Waiting for Lefty." Considered to be inspired by the 40-day taxi strike of 40,000 employees, "Waiting for Lefty" was hailed as being bold in its simplicity and was banned in seven cities and circulated under the radar in the Communist party, of which Odets had been a member. Other works by Odets include "Awake and Sing," "Till the Day I Die," "Paradise Lost" and the screenplay "The General Died at Dawn." His plays are known for their Depression-era, working-class characters in search of a dream, working to fight against the oppressive injustices existing in their world. His characters are raw and strong, and his language, theatrically biting. Odets stated that his plays are concerned with "the struggle not to have life nullified by circumstances, false values, anything." In his own way, as a proletariat playwright, he was looking to inspire hope in a desperate time.
"Waiting for Lefty" director Kimberly Senior is a Chicago-based director. Recent directing credits include "The Busy World is Hushed," "J.T. Rogers," "The Overwhelming" and "Madagascar" at Next Theatre Company; "The North Plan" at Steppenwolf Theatre Company; "Thieves Like Us" at The House Theatre of Chicago; "Mauritius" at TheaterSquared (Fayetteville, Arkansas); "Uncle Vanya," "Cherry Orchard" and "Three Sisters" at Strawdog Theatre Company; "The Pillowman" at RedTwist Theatre; and "All My Sons" at TimeLine Theatre Company. She is the founder of Collaboraction, where she has directed and/or produced more than 30 plays, including the company's lauded Sketchbook festival. She is adjunct faculty member at DePaul University, Columbia College Chicago and the University of Chicago, and serves as an artistic associate with Strawdog Theatre Company, Next Theatre Company and Chicago Dramatists. Senior is the recipient of the 2010 Excellence in Teaching Award.
