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The Goodman Theatre's A Christmas Carol - A Holiday Tradion Continues

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  The wind blew cold across my back as I turned the corner with a promise of the Chicago winter soon to come.   Heads turned as the wind followed me through the door into the lobby of the Goodman Theatre.   The occasion was opening night for the Goodman Theatre’s 44 th presentation of A Christmas Carol .   As I walked down the aisle to my seat, it struck me that it had been nearly 40 years since I had seen Goodman’s production of The Christmas Carol.   I had worked on Goodman’s A Christmas Carol during its second through fourth seasons.   I worked behind the scenes helping to create the magic under the direction of the iconic Tony Mockus.   A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas , a novella by Charles Dickens, was first published in 1843.   Prompted by financial pressures, Dickens is said to have written the story is less than six weeks.   Published on December 19, 1843, the first edition was sold out by Christmas Eve.   By the end of 1844, thirteen editions
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The Factory Theater Hits Home with World Premiere of The Kelly Girls

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  For over 25 years, The Factory Theater has presented original, creative, and sometimes challenging shows created from scratch.   The ensemble continue this tradition presenting the world premiere of The Kelly Girls , written by Shannon O’Neill and directed by Spenser Davies.     In 1960s Belfast, conflicts between various political factions threaten to tear Northern Ireland apart from the inside.  Sisters Fianna and Regan Kelly feel compelled to engage in the fight for their homeland.  But when they join the ranks of the Provisional IRA and find themselves committing acts of brutal terrorism and guerilla warfare, both young women are forced to question how much they are willing to destroy in the name of unity.  Playwright Shannon O’ Neill follows up her critically acclaimed May the Road Rise Up with this story of political upheaval and taking a stand. Ben Veatch, Brittany Brown, Anne Sheridan Smith, and Amber Washington in The Kelly Girls Photo by Candice Conner A fifth-generatio
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Award Winning Native Filmmaker Mike J. Marin Brings Urban Native Horror to a New Dimension

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Award winning Native filmmaker/writer Mike J. Marin (Navajo/Laguna Pueblo/Washoe) found himself increasingly frustrated during the pandemic. A diabetic, he was careful to isolate himself to protect his health. However, the restrictions shut down most options to pursue his greatest love, making indie films, particularly horror films. “I was a fan of movies, mainly horror and action, since I was very young,” explains Marin. A self-taught artist, music producer and filmmaker, Marin sharpened his skills at Chicago’s Columbia College, earning a B.A in film/video. While in Chicago, Marin wrote and directed The Smudging , beginning his journey into Urban Native Horror. Released in 2015, the film has over 25 million views on Amazon Prime. But mid-pandemic, he was unable to pursue the many projects running around in his head and his frustration grew. Finally, Marin’s wife said to him, “You have degrees in filmmaking and graphic arts. Do something! You have a room full of action figure
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WHERE WE BELONG at Goodman Theatre Makes Strong Emotional Connection

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  The land along the southern shores of Lake Michigan, now known as Chicago , has been a gathering place for Native people for thousands of years.   People travelled long distances to trade, socialize, and share stories.   The latest of these visiting storytellers is Mohegan theater-maker Madeline Sayet.   A member of the Mohegan Tribe in Connecticut, Sayet was raised on a combination of traditional Mohegan stories and Shakespeare, both of which have influenced her work as a stage director, writer, and actor of new plays, classics, and opera.   After a drink of water as she steps on to the stage, Sayet opens with an acknowledgement of the peoples who have historically lived on the lands where the theatre sits and is currently called home by one of the largest urban Indian populations in the country.   As she shares her story with passion, emotion, and humor, this modern Mohegan storyteller is a welcome guest. Madeline Sayet in Where We Belong Photo by Liz Lauren     Goodman Theatre has
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Music, Puppetry, and Self-Help Warm Up Audiences at Davenport's Piano Bar & Cabaret

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  The tinkle of ice as bartenders create cocktails while Cole Porter’s music plays over the sound system soon make the snow and cold of another Chicago winter a distant memory as people entered the doors of Davenport’s Piano Bar & Cabaret.   The occasion was the return of singer, actor, comedian, and writer, Jackie Smook, and her pianist, Joey Chimes, for a six-month engagement of The Jackie Smook Program of De-Dumbification .   Drink orders are placed (“a Bombay gin martini, please…shaken hard, not stirred”) as audience members and performers alike look forward to a night of live music, puppetry, and self-help. Smook and Chimes take the audience on a magical, puppet-filled, comedic (yet moving) ride into the Jackie Smook self-help cabaret.   It’s a roller coaster through her personal journey from a “dingy dongy dumb dumb” to the hard-working, go getting, ambitious woman she is today.   Told through four stages and 12 musical acts, audiences will be moved by this true story of gr
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Jingle Dress Dancers Mix Tradition with Technology To Help Heal the World During Covid 19 Pandemic

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The world is in crisis and once again a special group of Native women have rallied to address the problem.   This time jingle dress dancers are using technology to communicate their message of hope and healing to the world.   Using Facebook and Tik Tok challenges, Indigenous jingle dress dancing is going ‘viral’ on social media to help heal the world. According to Ojibwe tradition, the jingle dress originated during a time of great trouble.   In 1918, the Spanish Flu Pandemic was ravaging the world.   By the time it died out, the pandemic had killed more people than the Great War that preceded it.   It was during this crisis, an Ojibwe father was worried about his young daughter.   She was showing flu-like symptoms and was growing weaker by the day.   Unable to sleep, the father had a series of visions about four women, each wearing a special dress in four different colors, covered with metal cones and dancing a special dance.   When he awoke, he made the dress for his daughter a
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Got a Minute? Then Big Teeth Small Shorts Film Festival is for You

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Throughout history, storytellers have been a valued member of a community.   Whether passing down traditional stories over a winter fire in a tribal wigwam, creating a fictional world on the written page, or translating a story to a video format, storytelling is a valued skill.   But imagine being able to convincingly tell your story in under 60 seconds.  Now that is a truly unique talent.   On a cold evening in the backroom of a Ravenswood micro-brewery, attendees of the second quarterly live screening of the Big Teeth Small Shorts Film Festival were treated to a panoply of talented short form visual story tellers. The Big Teeth Small Shorts Film Festival is a quarterly showcase of great films from all over the world, each under five minutes in length.   The festival has a mission to give emerging filmmakers a platform in a way that celebrates very short form storytelling.   BTSSFF focuses exclusively on micro shorts (60 seconds or less) and small shorts (1-5 minutes).   Fil
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