Upcoming Shows
Click on the calendar events, or scroll down past it to see full show descriptions.
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Mid-Century Tales By Wendy Parman (w/ Andrew Milliken) Sunday, October 1st @ 6:30pm What do Mozart, Barbie, drunken dads, and Space Food Sticks have in common? They all lurk in the darkly humorous heart of Wendy Parman’s Mid-Century Tales. With the delightfully talented Andrew Millikin on keys, this hybrid performance will feature readings, and stories with a sprinkling of songs, both original and obscure. We aim to pull you out of your doldrums and into your imagined past. |
Wendy Parman is both a performer and published author (!) who performs her original songs, stories, and personal essays. She was recently featured in Dorothy Parker’s Ashes “Rock ‘n Roll” edition, and is thrilled that her story “Voice and Movement” will be included in a soon to be released anthology, Awakenings: Stories of Body & Consciousness by ELJ Editions. Her works include a solo musical memoir with a very long name, and a musical comedy on Youtube, “Callie's Solo Web Series.” She has appeared in many theatrical productions and cabarets in Chicago. In the light of day, Wendy is a voice teacher with a thriving studio on the north side. She’s currently working on a memoir, when she isn’t chasing after her adorabeast, Felina Furrante.
Andrew Milliken has been a pianist/music director in the Chicago area since 2016, working primarily in storefront musical theater and as a dance accompanist. He would like to thank Wendy for the opportunity to play in a cabaret setting!
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WANTED By Sophie Brown Sunday, October 15th @ 3:30pm When resident Jew Sophie Brown is nearly turned away from a synagogue, she starts to question her place not only within her community, but in the company of the world around her. In a unique fusion between comedy and storytelling, WANTED tackles what it truly means to belong--plus, what to do when chronic people-pleasing strands you in Berlin. |
Sophie Brown is an up and coming comedian, storyteller, actor, and writer. Originally from Palm Springs, California, Sophie is a senior studying Theatre and Comedy at Northwestern University. She has performed all over Chicago and New York at venues such as The Bell House, Brooklyn Comedy Collective, and The Laugh Factory. She has over 4.5 million views and 600,000 likes on TikTok because her roommate is hot. She’s a huge people person and probably wants to talk to you! You can find her @sophiebrownhahahaha on Instagram or @philosophieee on TikTok.
Directed by Mantra Radhakrishnan.
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Mary Shelley: Personal Stories from a Historical Heroine By Megan Wells Sunday, October 15th @ 7:00pm Raised by two genius literary rebels, Mary was let loose into a world unprepared for her inventive mind. Writing Frankenstein at the age of 19, she inadvertently invents Science Fiction. |
Megan Wells is a highly sought after professional teller, coach and historical impersonator. With over 40 years experience in professional theater and the national storytelling scene, Megan has an extensive repertoire ranging from full length one woman shows to the pithy olio's beloved of festival audiences. She is an Oracle; Circle of Excellence inductee with the National Storytelling Network, holds three national awards for Fire in Boomtown, an original story musical about the Great Chicago Fire, as well as a Jeff Awards for directing and nomination for solo performance. She has been a frequent feature at The National Storytelling Festival, and performed with Yo Yo Ma at the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in her adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's Ugly Duckling. www.meganwells.com.
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An Intimate Evening
with D.C. Anderson (Featuring pianist Rose Snyder and guest Claudia Anderson) Sunday, October 22nd @ 7:00pm D.C. Anderson’s lyrics are poetic, confessional, searing, sometimes comic, explorations of love, family, negotiation, joy, heartache, gratitude. He has the soul of a folksinger, the voice of a troubadour and the spirit of a storyteller with a lifelong investment in possibility and wonder. |
D.C. Anderson is a Chicago born actor, singer and a songwriter. Northlight and Steppenwolf Theaters are on his resume along with a multi year run in THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA on Broadway and on tour. Other tours include THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES OF NICHOLAS NICKLEBY, MARTIN GUERRE and PIPPIN. The premiere of Michael John LaChiusa’s QUEEN OF THE MIST (his Off Broadway debut) produced an original cast recording. Most recently: ‘Matthew Cuthbert’ in Goodspeed’s premiere of the Matt Vinson and Matte O’Brien musical ANNE OF GREEN GABLES. His all acoustic vocal/piano/guitar recordings of originals and covers on the LML MUSIC label, of which there are over a dozen, are available on most streaming services and YouTube. D.C. is a Bistro Award recipient (Singer/Songwriter) and multi MAC Award nominee in the categories of Male Vocalist, Song, and Recording of the Year.
Actor/singer/songwriter/storyteller, Chicago born Claudia Anderson has had a decades long career as a college professor throughout the United States, landing back in Chicago teaching voice at the DePaul Theater School. Currently retired, she is making music all over Chicago - her passion being Irish traditional music as a vocalist and a player of the tin whistle, flute, guitar and bodhran. Her album of original songs is titled In Dreams I Can Fly.
With pianist/musical director Rose Snyder.
Actor/singer/songwriter/storyteller, Chicago born Claudia Anderson has had a decades long career as a college professor throughout the United States, landing back in Chicago teaching voice at the DePaul Theater School. Currently retired, she is making music all over Chicago - her passion being Irish traditional music as a vocalist and a player of the tin whistle, flute, guitar and bodhran. Her album of original songs is titled In Dreams I Can Fly.
With pianist/musical director Rose Snyder.
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Masters of Song
Featuring Val Leventhal, Jim Gary, Scott Wills, Barbara Smith, Patrick Reninger, & Anne McIntyre Sunday, October 29th @ 7:00pm Masters of Song showcases the work of a group of Chicago musicians who pursue excellence in the song form. The six performers meet regularly to try out new material, exchange musical ideas, and explore their craft together. Expect an intimate evening of soulful songs, challenging ideas, and virtuoso musicianship. |
Jim Gary is an award-winning songwriter and Kerrville New Folk Finalist with 6 CDs featuring 70 original songs of wit and wisdom in whatever genre suits his fancy!
Val Leventhal is a veteran singer songwriter with a powerful voice who has performed in the Chicago area since the 1970s. Her music is eclectic, lyric driven, and addresses the human condition past, present and future.
Scott Wills is a Chicago-based artist/musician. He composes, performs and records intense, story-driven songs with a wry, sardonic wit. He has performed in Chicago area in clubs, bars, coffee houses, private events and street festivals since the 1970s. His first album of original songs will be released in Fall 2023 on the Manatauck Music label.
Barbara Smith has appeared in shows in Chicago and Paris, including Studio Herbertot, Piano Vache, Chez Ma Cousine, Davenport's, Rosa's Lounge, Chief O'Neill's, Borellis, Ephiphany and the Cliff Dwellers Club. Her powerful alto voice is well suited to jazz, blues, and folk music as well as cabaret. She was the 2018 winner of the Skokie Idol.
Harmonica player Patrick Reninger is fiery soloist able to channel his passion for the blues into everything from a jazz ballad to a country weeper. In his teens, Patrick jammed with bluesmen at the famed Maxwell Street Flea Market on Chicago’s Near West Side. He has performed with country, blues and rock musicians throughout Chicagoland including gigs at the House of Blues, the Chicago Cultural Center and the 1997 Chicago Blues Festival.
Anne McIntyre - keyboards and occasional songwriter. Her dad taught her to play the blues when she was a little girl and she has been playing them ever since...she's a honky-tonk woman.
Val Leventhal is a veteran singer songwriter with a powerful voice who has performed in the Chicago area since the 1970s. Her music is eclectic, lyric driven, and addresses the human condition past, present and future.
Scott Wills is a Chicago-based artist/musician. He composes, performs and records intense, story-driven songs with a wry, sardonic wit. He has performed in Chicago area in clubs, bars, coffee houses, private events and street festivals since the 1970s. His first album of original songs will be released in Fall 2023 on the Manatauck Music label.
Barbara Smith has appeared in shows in Chicago and Paris, including Studio Herbertot, Piano Vache, Chez Ma Cousine, Davenport's, Rosa's Lounge, Chief O'Neill's, Borellis, Ephiphany and the Cliff Dwellers Club. Her powerful alto voice is well suited to jazz, blues, and folk music as well as cabaret. She was the 2018 winner of the Skokie Idol.
Harmonica player Patrick Reninger is fiery soloist able to channel his passion for the blues into everything from a jazz ballad to a country weeper. In his teens, Patrick jammed with bluesmen at the famed Maxwell Street Flea Market on Chicago’s Near West Side. He has performed with country, blues and rock musicians throughout Chicagoland including gigs at the House of Blues, the Chicago Cultural Center and the 1997 Chicago Blues Festival.
Anne McIntyre - keyboards and occasional songwriter. Her dad taught her to play the blues when she was a little girl and she has been playing them ever since...she's a honky-tonk woman.
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HERstory: Trailblazing
Female Firsts By Anita Kallen & Catherine Thomson w/ Beckie Menzie Sunday, November 12th @ 6:30pm This show salutes the gutsy gals who boldly defied society’s conventions - going where no woman had gone before - and achieved groundbreaking female “Firsts.” With songs by Harold Arlen, Stephen Schwartz, Dolly Parton, Tom Lehrer, and Sara Bareilles, among others, Anita and Catherine weave in inspiring stories of amazing women and their trailblazing triumphs. |
Anita Kallen and Catherine Thomson met in the summer of 2010, when they were among 38 students from around the world selected to attend the International Cabaret Conference at Yale University. They worked with Broadway veterans such as Faith Prince and Tovah Feldshuh, as well as cabaret legend Julie Wilson. In 2011, they debuted a successful two-woman show at Davenport’s Cabaret in Chicago called Dangerous Women, a comic exploration of the many ways in which women can be dangerous. The show was reprised at Davenport’s in 2012. The duo spent 2017 and 2018 as part of a quartet celebrating Leonard Bernstein’s 100th birthday. Bernstein at 100 was performed several times in the Chicago area, with Cabaret Scenes magazine describing it as, “a loving salute to Maestro Bernstein.” In 2019, they premiered a sold-out debut of HERstory: The 19th Amendment Turns 100!, a celebration of the law that affirmed women’s right to vote. When the pandemic caused the cancellation of live performance, they promoted a digital version of the show, which played around the country from 2019 to 2021. In 2022, they launched a second highly acclaimed show in the HERstory series, Trailblazing Female Firsts. They continue to perform both shows widely around Chicagoland, while working on a third in the series, A Century of Songwriting Sisters, which will open in March of 2024.
With pianist/musical director Beckie Menzie.
With pianist/musical director Beckie Menzie.