Category: ARTS MANAGEMENT
Meanwhile, at the arts fundraising headquarters…
The cats would love to take your donation for the National Endowment for the Arts. (or to your favorite arts group). Give now or the kitties will be vewwy, vewwy sad….. 
Aside: This Chicago ticket broker offers a great selection of tickets in the city – Purchase tickets for Blue Man Group in Chicago and Chicago Jersey Boys tickets – which is now celebrating its second year of sellout performances!
Chicago theater openings and specials this week
show openings
5th of July - Oak Park Festival Theatre
The Alcyone Festival 2009 - Halcyon Theatre
Belmont Burlesque Revue – Gorilla Tango Theatre
Follies - Actors Theatre Company
Improv Children of the Corn 2 – Cornservatory
Jesus Hopped the “A” Train - Village Players Performing Arts Center
Little Brother – Griffin Theatre
Nederlands Dans Theater I - Auditorium Theatre of Roosevelt University
A Song for Coretta – Eclipse Theatre
Strauss at Midnight - Theater Oobleck
For special ticket offers, click on “Read more”
Theater Thursday
Thursday, June 11
Oedipus
The Hypocrites at The Building Stage
412 N. Carpenter Ave., Chicago
Sean Graney’s new adaptation tells the story of a compassionate, albeit arrogant, leader whose desire to heal his people causes his own demise. The promenade staging transforms the traditionally passive chorus into an actively engaging audience experience. The Hypocrites reinvent this 2,500-year-old play into a contemporary and thrilling theatrical event. Then stay for drinks and informal discussion with director Sean Graney and the cast. Please note that the show contains haze, strobe, brief moments of complete darkness and that you are encouraged to move around the performing space. Run time: 55 minutes (no intermission)
Event begins at 8 p.m. Stay afterwards for drinks and discussion.
TICKETS ONLY $20
For reservations call 773.989.7352 and mention "Theater Thursdays" or buy online at www.the-hypocrites.com.
Free parking available in The Building Stage lot.
Illinois is trying to cut arts funding by 75% – act now to prevent this from happening!!
Hey gang – I just received this very urgent e-mail:
State funding for the Illinois Arts Council will drop to $6.4 million, an unconscionable 75 percent cut from FY2009, unless the General Assembly acts to pass a responsible budget. Per capita state spending for the arts in Illinois will plummet from approximately $1.17 per person to a near national low of $.49 per capita.
We must act now to send a powerful message to our elected officials and legislative leaders. There is less than a month before the new fiscal year begins and these devastating cuts take effect. Here’s what we need you to do:
- Thank legislators who showed leadership by supporting full funding for the arts and encourage them to work with their colleagues to pass a responsible budget
- Urge other lawmakers to step up and negotiate a comprehensive, responsible budget that protects our investment in the arts
We’ve made it easy for you to take action. Just enter your address and the appropriate message will appear. Thoughtful, customized communications are more effective than form emails and petitions. Please take a moment to personalize your message by sharing what the arts mean to you and your community.
When the legislative session came to a close on May 31, lawmakers failed to pass a responsible budget that addresses Illinois’ multibillion dollar deficit. Instead they passed a bare bones budget that makes catastrophic cuts to the arts as well as K-12 and higher education, childcare, college scholarships, health care, public safety, transportation, and local government.
This "doomsday" scenario would decimate the arts infrastructure in Illinois and put artists and cultural organizations at extreme risk.
Act now and urge your elected officials to protect the arts by passing a responsible state budget.
Many thanks for all you do, 
Ra Joy
Executive Director
Illinois Arts Alliance
P.S. Please forward this action alert to other arts professionals and supporters in Illinois.
Aside: This Chicago ticket broker offers a great selection of tickets in the city – Purchase tickets for Blue Man Group in Chicago and Chicago Jersey Boys tickets – which is now celebrating its second year of sellout performances!
Theater Thursday: “Sexual Perversity in Chicago”
Thursday, June 4
Sexual Perversity in Chicago and Bobby Gould in Hell
Organic Theater Company at the Greenhouse Theater Center
2257 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago (map)
Organic Theater Company returns to its roots with the 35th Anniversary production of Sexual Perversity in Chicago by David Mamet, which had its world premiere at the Organic in 1974, presented on a double-bill with Bobby Gould in Hell, Mamet’s darkly funny companion piece to Speed-the-Plow. Before the show, join the company at The Spread Bar and Grill (2476 N. Lincoln Ave.) for a reception with appetizers and drinks.
Event begins at 6:30 p.m. Show begins at 8 p.m.
TICKETS ONLY $20
For reservations call 773.404.7336 or visit www.organictheater.org and use code “ELECTRA”
Next week’s Theater Thursday: Oedipus at The Hypocrites.
“Thursday Thursday” brought to you by the web’s best food, restaurant and wine guide.
For this week’s special ticket offers, click “Read more”
Think Fast: Anima auditions, Rockin’ Messiah
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A Shrekcation??
Producers of Broadway’s Shrek the Musical have put together a family fun that they are calling a “Shrekcation” deal (I know, kinda lame), to offset the economic downturn. The deal, available for dates June 6 thru September 6, includes ticket offers up to buy-one-get-3-half-off, as well as related discount offers at Gotham-area restaurants and family attractions including American Girl Place and Madame Tussauds.
Does this mean that the producers, DreamWorks Theatricals, are getting desperate? Not so much. The industry is generally optimistic about this summer’s box office, although an expected year-on-year decline in tourism could put a damper on sales. Producers are hoping that history repeats itself, however, as historically Broadway has posted gains during vacation frames when tourists come to town. And even though tourism is on the decline, the discounts affiliated with these package are hoping to garner a huge response. More here.
Lifeline Theatre’s new MARQUEE
Pretty cool, huh? Lifeline Theatre, which recently was awarded more Jeff Award nominations – a total of 14 – added this great marquee to their theatre edifice. My theory of theater is that it’s the ultimate live experience (okay, along with opera), and thus all parts of the experience must be taken into account when developing your outer persona. I always connect marquees to those theaters I went to when I was a kid, so seeing this brings back those joyous memories. And this priceless memory is added (usually subconsciously) into the ticket price, especially when person is assessing whether the ticket price is worth it. Way to go Lifeline Theatre!!
