Photo Flash: Sideshow Theatre Company's CLLAW XV Lady Arm Wrestlers, Returning 2/16

Cupid's got nothing on these gals! Spend Valentine's Day Weekend with the ladies of CLLAW! The Chicago League of Lady Arm Wrestlers are flexing their forearms once again at CLLAW XV on Saturday, February 16, 2013 at their super colossal new venue, the Logan Square Auditorium, 2539 N. Kedzie Ave. in Chicago. Brought to you by Sideshow Theatre Company, CLLAW's 15th match will feature fearsome lady arm wrestlers decked out in over-the-top outfits, an open bar, shady referees and audience participation all wrapped into one wild, crazy, theatrical event. All proceeds from CLLAW XV will benefit Sideshow Theatre and its partner charity, Girl's Rock! Chicago. Check out photos of some of the competitors below!

The Main Event
Calamity Pain. Killer Bee. The Cutting Edge. Bust Your Tooth Bluth. Their names echo through the ages. They come from all corners of Chicago, united only by One Dream: to elbow their way through the competition and wrestle their way to the top. With Master of Ceremonies Rokke L. Squelch, and a couple of questionable referees to control them, eight ladies in outrageous costumes volunteer their time to vie for that most cherished prize: the bedazzled CLLAW gloves. Who will leverage their way up the bracket? Or bribe their way to the top? All these questions and more will be answered, and all of Chicago is invited to bear witness.

CLLAWdience Participation and Prizes
Not content to leave the fun in the arms of its competitors, CLLAW XV gets everyone in on the action. Audience members have the opportunity to purchase CLLAWBUX, the official currency of CLLAW, throughout the night. With their CLLAWBUX, onlookers can bet on their favorite wrestlers to prevail, and maybe slip a few to the referees to even the score. All CLLAWBUX purchased also go towards fantastic raffle prizes.

All for a good CLLAWSE
A portion of the CLLAW XV proceeds will benefit Girl's Rock! Chicago, a nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering girls' creative expression, positive self-esteem and community awareness through rock music. Through music education programs for girls ages 8 to 16, Girl's Rock! Chicago is committed to educating girls about the musical, technical and creative aspects involved in musicianship because the organization believes that young girls are rarely encouraged to explore self-expressive creative outlets and are less likely to be given access to musical and technical instruction or equipment. Girl's Rock! Chicago believes that rock music can be a crucial tool in allowing young women to respond to preconceived notions of what they can do and what they can become.

Proceeds will also benefit CLLAW's creator and producer, Sideshow Theatre Company. Since its first match in 2009, Sideshow's CLLAW events have helped fund raise for numerous Chicago based non-profits including Marwen, Chicago Arts Partnership in Education, Rock for Kids, About Face Youth Theater and others.

Founded in 2007, Sideshow Theatre Company's mission is to mine The Collective Unconscious of the world we live in with limitless curiosity, drawing inspiration from the familiar stories, memories and images we all share to spark new conversation and bring our audiences together as adventurers in a communal experience of exploration. From its first production, 2008's "vivid, intimate and visually arresting" (The Daily Herald) Dante Dies!! (and then things get weird), through its most recent staging of Roland Schimmelpfennig's Idomeneus, which was praised by Hedy Weiss of the Sun-Times as "highly recommended... a marvelous production," Sideshow has consistently brought a sense of excitement and wonder to Chicago's stages.

Tickets for CLLAW XV are $25 and include access to a three-hour open bar from 10 pm - 1 am. Not interested in the open bar? A $10 entry fee will get you into the event, and a cash bar is available. The doors open at 10 pm, the first match is at 10:30 pm. Advance bar packages are currently on sale at www.cllaw.org. For additional information on Sideshow Theatre Company, visit www.sideshowtheatre.org.

Photo Credit: Jonathan L. Green