American Blues Theater

American Blues Theater

Formation	1985
Type	Theatre group
Location	Chicago
Artistic director(s)	Gwendolyn Whiteside
Website	http://www.americanbluestheater.com/

American Blues Theater is the premier American theater producing visceral theatrical works while engaging its audience with local service agencies. American Blues Theater illuminates the American ideas of freedom, equality, and opportunity in the plays it produces and communities it serves.

American Blues is committed to developing the classic plays and musicals of tomorrow. Its new work development consists of a variety of programs – including World and Regional Premieres, the Blue Ink Playwriting Award, Blueprint commissions, and Ripped: the Living Newspaper Festival of new short-plays. More than half of American Blues' mainstage productions are world and Chicago premieres.

History

Founders
American Blues Theater was founded in July 1985 by Edward Blatchford, Rick Cleveland, James Leaming, and William Payne. The company dedicated itself to new and classic American plays. Richard Christiansen of the Chicago Tribune cited American Blues as one of three companies in his editorial "Chicago Theater Forges New Standards of Glory." In August 1993, the company leased a warehouse on Byron and Lincoln. In 38 days, James Leaming led a community-based 90+ volunteer crew to transform the space into an intimate 134-seat theater. From 1994-1997, the Ensemble was lauded with numerous Joseph Jefferson Awards and After Dark Awards.

Leadership from Outside the Ensemble
From 1997-2009, the company was led by Artistic Directors from outside of the Ensemble. Under the leadership of Brian Russell and Damon Kiely (‘97-‘07), the theater's name changed to American Theater Company (ATC), the mission statement was revised, and the business expanded greatly. In 2008, under new management, the Ensemble theater practice was dismantled. Citing "major administrative and artistic differences" all four Founders and every Ensemble member prior to 2008 chose to leave the ATC organization in March 2009.

Blues Skies Ahead
The Ensemble reformed under its original name American Blues Theater. Founding Board members reconstituted the Board, giving tremendous support and guidance. Ensemble member Gwendolyn Whiteside became the Producing Artistic Director. Whiteside ushered in the annual Blue Ink Playwriting Award, Blueprint Play development, implemented community service into the company's mission, and adapted the arts education program The Lincoln Project for Chicago Public Schools.

Current and upcoming seasons

Season 29 (2014-15): Lost & Sound

• Hank Williams: Lost Highway by Randal Myler and Mark Harelik
• Native Son adapted by Nambi E. Kelley (co-production with Court Theatre) +
• It's a Wonderful Life: Live in Chicago by the American Blues Theater Ensemble
• Yankee Tavern by Steven Dietz
• Side Man by Warren Leight

Season 30 (2015-16): Seeing is Believing

• The Rainmaker by N. Richard Nash
• It's a Wonderful Life: Live in Chicago! by the American Blues Theater Ensemble
• Looking Over the President's Shoulder by James Still
• Little Shop of Horrors by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken

Production History

+ indicates World Premiere production

Season 1 (1985)

• Dogman's Last Stand by Rick Cleveland +

Season 2 (1986)

• Geography of a Horse Dreamer by Sam Shepard
• Hawk Moon by Sam Shepard

Season 3 (1987)

• Summer Brave by William Inge
• The Hairy Ape by Eugene O'Neill

Season 4 (1988)

• Bad Moon by Rick Cleveland +

Season 5 (1989-1990)

• Desire Under the Elms by Eugene O'Neill
• Peacekeeper by Keith Reddin

Season 6 (1991)

• Monsters: Glimpses of Urban Lunacy +

Season 7 (1992)

• Monsters II: Visiting Hours +

Season 8 (1993)

• Food From Trash by Gary Leon Hill

Season 9 (1994)

• Monsters III: The El Ride +
• On the Waterfront by Budd Schulberg and Stan Silverman +

Season 10 (1995-1996)

• Keely and Du by Jane Martin
• Tom and Jerry by Rick Cleveland +
• The Homage That Follows" by Mark Medoff

Season 11 (1996-1997)

• The Flight of the Phoenix by Tim Hendrickson +
• Don’t Disappoint Captain January by Joseph Urbinato +
• Stalag 17 by Donald Bevan and Edmund Trzcinski (co-production with Harvest Productions)
• Train of Thought by Andrew Micheli +
• Toys in the Attic by Lillian Hellman

Season 12 (1997-1998)

• A Stone Carver by William Mastrosimone
• Scapin adapted from Molière by Bill Irwin and Mark O'Donnell
• Bus Stop by William Inge
• The Million Bells of Ocean by Edward Mast

Season 13 (1998-1999)

• The Threepenny Opera by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill
• One Day Only by Edward Mast +
• Pledge of Allegiance by Mark R. Giesser
• Below the Belt by Richard Dresser
• La Tectonica de las Nubes/Cloud Tectonics by Jose Rivera (co-production with Centro Cultural Helenico, Mexico City) +

Season 14 (1999-2000)

• The Skin of Our Teeth by Thornton Wilder
• American Buffalo by David Mamet
• Medea by Euripides, translated by Nicholas Rudall +
• The Mineola Twins by Paula Vogel

Season 15 (2000-2001)

• Endgame by Samuel Beckett
• Working by Stephen Schwartz and Nina Faso
• Vick's Boy by Ben Bettenbender
• Catch 22 by Joseph Heller +

Season 16 (2001-2002)

• A Lie of the Mind by Sam Shepard
• Flung by Lisa Dillman +
• The Trip to Bountiful by Horton Foote

Season 17 (2002-2003)

• Quake by Melanie Marnich
• Where Have You Gone, Jimmy Stewart?" by Art Shay +
• Two Rooms" by Lee Blessing
• The Hairy Ape by Eugene O'Neill

Season 18 (2003-2004)

• Tintypes by Scott Joplin, George M. Cohan, John Philip Sousa, and others
• Angel City by Sam Shepard
• American Dead by Brett Neveu +
• Strictly Dishonorable by Preston Sturges

Season 19 (2004-2005)

• A View from the Bridge by Arthur Miller
• It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play adapted by Joe Landry from the film by Frank Capra
• Kid Simple by Jordan Harrison
• Living Out by Lisa Loomer (co-produced with Teatro Vista)

Season 20 (2005-2006)

• Orpheus Descending by Tennessee Williams
• It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play by the American Blues Theater Ensemble
• St. Scarlet by Julia Jordan
• Heritage by Brett Neveu +

Season 21 (2006-2007)

• The Dark at the Top of the Stairs by William Inge
• It's a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play by the American Blues Theater Ensemble
• Oklahoma! by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II
• Half of Plenty by Lisa Dillman +

Season 22 (2007-2008)

• I Do! I Do! by Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt
• It's a Wonderful Life: The Radio Play by the American Blues Theater Ensemble
• Augusta by Richard Dresser
• Speech & Debate by Stephen Karam

Season 23 (2008-2009)

• People's Temple by Leigh Fondakowski
• Celebrity Row by Itamar Moses
• It's a Wonderful Life: The Radio Play by the American Blues Theater Ensemble
• Topdog/Underdog by Suzan-Lori Parks
• True West by Sam Shepard

Season 24 (2009-2010)

• It's a Wonderful Life: Live at the Biograph! by the American Blues Theater Ensemble +
• Tobacco Road by Jack Kirkland

Season 25 (2010-2011)

• It's a Wonderful Life: Live at the Biograph! by the American Blues Theater Ensemble
• Rantoul and Die by Mark Roberts

Season 26 (2011-2012)

• Waiting for Lefty by Clifford Odets
• It's a Wonderful Life: Live at the Biograph! by the American Blues Theater Ensemble

Season 27 (2012-2013)

• Illegal Use of Hands by James Still +
• It's a Wonderful Life: Live at the Biograph! by the American Blues Theater Ensemble
• Collected Stories by Donald Margulies

Season 28 (2013-2014)

• Hank Williams: Lost Highway by Randal Myler and Mark Harelik
• It's a Wonderful Life: Live in Chicago! by the American Blues Theater Ensemble +
• American Myth by Christina Gorman
• Grounded by George Brant

References

As of this edit, this article uses content from "Ensemble History", which is licensed in a way that permits reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, but not under the GFDL. All relevant terms must be followed.

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