The House Theatre recently sent me a press release announcing their new season. To me! As if I’m The Media. As I was/am so flattered to think they consider me as such, and care enough to bcc me, I will help spread the word. (If you are a Chicago theatre and want to also flatter me, see my side bar.)

Also, Jamie, whose opinion I trust totally and completely, saw their recent production of Rose and the Rime and said it was “the most beautiful show she’s ever seen on a Chicago stage.” And that’s saying something, since she’s seen her share of Chicago theatre.

So, I will try to catch part of their upcoming season:

ALL THE FAME OF LOFTY DEEDS is written by playwright and rock journalist Mark Guarino, based on the music of Bloodshot Records recording artist Jon Langford (The Mekons, The Waco Brothers). Originally developed at Victory Gardens Theater, LOFTY DEEDS is set on the dilapidated set of a western variety show, but travels into the mind of Lofty Deeds, an aging country star who had the misfortune of never dying young. LOFTY DEEDS relies heavily on magic realism, dark humor and strong visuals, and features a sentient tumbleweed, a talking horse and a hydra-headed record executive named Jeff.

FALL 2009
Directed by Tommy Rapley (Hope Springs Infernal, The Great and Terrible Wizard of Oz). Written by Mark Guarino. Featuring the music of Jon Langford.

WILSON WANTS IT ALL takes place in the not-so-distant American future, when the fate of a divided nation depends on the destinies of twin daughters, separated at birth and caught on two sides of a civil war. Taking its cues from the speculative fiction of Ray Bradbury and Philip K. Dick, the show draws from the narrative core of A Tale of Two Cities, the social commentary and irreverence of Mark Twain’s Pudd’nhead Wilson, and the mythology of the Kennedy ‘Camelot’ era. WILSON is The House’s first collaboration with writer and director Michael Rohd, founding artistic director of the Sojourn Theatre in Portland, Oregon. Rohd is a visiting professor at Northwestern University who focuses the core of his work on collaboratively-created performances and original devised shows.

WINTER 2010
Written and directed by Michael Rohd.

GIRLS VS. BOYS was originally developed by House artistic director Nathan Allen in conjunction with the American Music Theatre Project at Northwestern University. The show is an innovative pop opera about a brother and sister trapped in a dangerous battle of the sexes.

SPRING 2010
Directed by Nathan Allen (The Sparrow, Rose and the Rime). Written by Nathan Allen, Jake Minton and Chris Mathews (The Sparrow, Rose and the Rime) with choreography by Tommy Rapley (Rose and the Rime) and music by Kevin O’Donnell (Rose and the Rime).

Visit thehousetheatre.com for more info.