Chicago Stage Style Theatre & Performing Arts News December 12, 2011 A 'Tempest' in a Teapot Chicago Shakespeare Theater has announced casting for its 25th Anniversary Season production of "The Feast: an intimate Tempest," an original CST commission and artistic collaboration with Redmoon.  A bold collision of text with extraordinary objects and imagery ignites this muscular, innovative adaptation of Shakespeare's "The Tempest" - carved out by three actors, a menagerie of handcrafted puppets, and original music and animations.  Co-created and co-directed by Jessica Thebus and Frank Maugeri and developed for CST by Creative Producer Rick Boynton, the production features John Judd as Prospero with Adrian Danzig as Caliban and Samuel Taylor as Ariel. "The Feast: an intimate Tempest" runs January 18 through March 11, 2012 Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare.  Tickets are on sale now for $35$45 with special discounts available for groups of 10 or more.  All patrons receive a 40% discount on guaranteed parking in Navy Pier garages.  For more information or to purchase tickets, contact Chicago Shakespeare Theater's Box Office at 312.595.5600 or visit the Theater's website at www.chicagoshakes.com/feast. "The Feast: an intimate Tempest" was developed at Chicago Shakespeare Theater through several workshops in 2011.  Performing role of Prospero is John Judd, a multiple Jeff Award nominee who has worked across Chicago at Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Lookingglass Theatre Company, Court Theatre and Writers' Theatre.  Judd's recent film and TV credits include a recurring role on the STARZ series "Boss," "Public Enemies" and "Chicago Code".  Adrian Danzig, appearing as Caliban, is a co-founder and producing artistic director of 500 Clown, a Chicago company specializing in action-based performance, improvisation and circus arts.  Danzig has worked with Goodman Theatre, The Second City and The Public Theater in New York.  Performing the role of Ariel is Samuel Taylor, who has appeared onstage at Redmoon, Lookingglass Theater Company and Steppenwolf Theatre Company, in addition to numerous Shakespeare productions with the Guthrie Theater.  Taylor also played a recurring role on HBO's "Boardwalk Empire". Co-Creators and Co-Directors Jessica Thebus and Frank Maugeri last worked at CST on Redmoon's production of "Salao: The Worst Kind of Unlucky," an inventive telling of Ernest Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea" presented Upstairs at Chicago Shakespeare.  Maugeri, the co-artistic director of Redmoon, led hundreds of collaborators to create the large-scale animation graphic novel "The Astronaut's Birthday," projected on the 80-foot façade of the Museum of Contemporary Art in September 2010.  Other recent projects include the remount and Brazilian tour of the critically acclaimed "The Cabinet," which he originally conceived and directed; the co-direction of Festival "J.O.E.: A Joyous Outdoor Event" around Chicago's Belmont Harbor; and the Chicago Humanities Festival's "Stages, Sights, and Sounds" festival, which featured Cape and Squiggle and Laika's Coffin.   The End of the World Comes Early Why wait until December 21, 2012?  16th Street starts its 2012 Season with the end of times.  Eric Pfeffinger's "Accidental Rapture," a comedy about faith, friendship and the end of the world plays January 12-February 18, 2012 at 16th Street Theater, 6420 16th Street in Berwyn, with a press opening of Thursday, January 19 at 7:30 PM.  Directed by Kevin Christopher Fox, "Accidental Rapture" is the first offering in 16th Street's Season Five 2012: Love, Faith and the Unknown.  16th Street Theater is located 17 minutes from downtown Chicago at the Berwyn Cultural Center.  Just west of Ridgeland, the theater is one mile southwest of the Austin exit off the Eisenhower Expressway/290 and the Austin Blue line.  There is free parking in the lot one block west at 16th and Gunderson.  Go to www.16thstreettheater.org to subscribe to Season Five 2012: Love, Faith and the Unknown, purchase tickets or for more information. A lot has happened in the ten years since Amy, Paul and Richard were in grad school together.  Amy and Paul got married and became academics; Richard also found a wife, a new job selling Christian merchandise, and a new life serving God.  So Amy's not really looking forward to spending an awkward weekend at Richard's house.  Will Richard's born-again wife object to Amy's feminism?  Will Amy and Paul's daughter get brainwashed by their God-fearing hosts?  And can Amy keep herself from cursing for forty-eight hours?  Of course things just get worse when the world ends. Featuring Associate Artist Stephanie Diaz, along with Rob Fagin, Niall McGinty, Erin Myers, Laura Shatkus and Catherine Stegemann.  "Accidental Rapture" premiered in Chicago in 2003 with Visions and Voices Theatre Company.  "I have always been a big fan of Eric's writing and this seemed like the perfect time to bring Rapture to 16th Street," said Artistic Director Ann Filmer.  "While we lived through two more failed rapture predictions in 2011 alone, we still have the end of the Mayan calendar to get past.  Americans and capitalism both love fear, and our great cultural divide only seems to widen by the day.  But Eric Pfeffinger keeps us laughing all the way to the end, while surprising us with questions of faith and belief." Eric Pfeffinger is a playwright in Ohio who grew up in Indiana and likes to work in Chicago.  His plays include "Hunting High," "Some Other Kind of Person," "Barrenness," "Assholes and Aureoles," "Malignance", and the plays for young audiences "Lost and Foundling" and "The Day John Henry Came to School".  In Chicago Erics stuff has been produced by Visions & Voices, as well as The Noble Fool, the side project, and Estrogen Fest.  Hes developed several scripts, including "Rapture," through programs at Chicago Dramatists.  Hes written new plays on commissions from the InterAct, Imagination Stage and the Signature and developed scripts through workshops and readings at PlayPenn, Page 73 Productions, the Rattlestick, the New Jersey Rep and available light.  Hes collaborated on pieces with the Internationalists and the New York Neo-Futurists.    American Identity Following the Storm Victory Gardens continues its 2011-12 season with "Ameriville," written and performed by Universes, developed with and directed by Artistic Director Chay Yew.  The production runs January 27-February 26, 2012 at the Victory Gardens Biograph Theater, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue in Lincoln Park.  The Press Opening is Monday, February 6, 2012 at 7:30 pm.  Regular run is February 826, Tuesdays at 7:30 pm (except no performance February 7), Wednesdays at 2:00 pm on February 15 only, 7:30 pm on February 1, 8 and 22, Thursdays at 7:30 pm, Fridays at 7:30 pm, Saturdays at 4:00 pm (except no performance on February 4), 7:30 pm, and Sundays at 3:00 pm.  Tickets for the regular run are $20-$50, and preview ticket prices are $20-$40.  Tickets are available at Victory Gardens, 2433 N. Lincoln Avenue, Chicago, by calling 773.871.3000 and at victorygardens.org. Performed by the celebrated performance ensemble Universes, this thrilling exploration of the American experience prowls the dark corners of our contemporary landscape and asks, "If Hurricane Katrina happened again, would we be ready?"  An electrifying evening infused with hip-hop, song, poetry and dance, "Ameriville" is a passionate and hopeful vision of a community's responsibility to another amidst a nation in turmoil. Chay Yew comments, An ensemble piece created and performed by one of the premier poetry-based ensembles in AmericaAmeriville takes a look at our countrys identity through the lens of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.  If it could happen in New Orleans, it could happen anywhereand are we ready as a communityas a countryto fight the next Katrina?   Universes weaves this beautiful, powerful 90 minute exploration of race, class, poverty, immigration, and political awareness into a great adventure about what it means to be American. Chay Yew (Artistic Director/ Director) joined Victory Gardens Theater in July 2011 as its first new artistic director in 34 years.  He is a recipient of the Obie and DramaLogue Awards for Direction.  He has directed world premieres by playwrights Jose Rivera, Naomi Iizuka, Kia Corthron, Julia Cho, David Adjmi and Jessica Goldberg, and performance artists Rha Goddess, Universes, Alec Mapa, Sandra Tsing Loh and Brian Freeman.  Chay is also an accomplished and widely respected playwright, and his plays are published in two titles, "The Hyphenated American Plays" and "Porcelain and A Language of Their Own", by Grove Press; the latter was nominated for a Lamda Literary Award.  He is presently editing a new anthology "Version 3.0: Contemporary Asian American Plays" for TCG Publications.  Upcoming productions include the world premiere of Dael Orlandersmiths "Black and Blue Boys" at Berkeley Repertory Theatre and the Goodman Theatre (spring 2012).   Stage 'Clutter' Wendy Kaplan, President of MadKap Productions, announces the riveting new production "Clutter: The True Story of the Collyer Brothers Who Never Threw Anything Out" will make its Midwest Premiere at the Greenhouse Theater Center, 2257 N Lincoln Ave., opening Thursday, January 19 at 7:30 p.m. and closing March 11, 2012.  Performances for "Clutter" will be Thursday through Saturday evenings at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m.  Ticket prices range from $15 for students, $30 for seniors, $30-35 for groups and $40 for general admission.  For tickets, call the Greenhouse Theater Box Office at 773.404.7336 or visit www.greenhousetheater.org.  For group tickets call 312.423.6612 or visit www.grouptheatertix.com.  "Clutter" is based on the compelling true story of the wealthy, reclusive Collyer brothers who became hoarders in their Fifth Avenue mansion in 1920s Harlem.  After years of compulsive collecting, the brothers have become notorious shut-ins in their aristocratic New York neighborhood.  Langley Collyer is missing and Homer Collyer is found dead amongst floor-to-ceiling piles of newspapers, books, and junk.  The police investigating the case, two brothers with a strained relationship mirroring that of the Collyers, are simultaneously making discoveries about themselves.  Narrated by the brothers and the police investigating the bizarre case, this darkly fascinating tale is a poignant and profound exploration of human behavior. "Clutter" is written by seven-time Emmy Award winning playwright Mark Saltzman ("The Muppets" and "Sesame Street," Writers Guild Award nomination, and five L.A. Ovation Award nominations including Best Musical).  Years after being scolded by his mother, who referred to him as a Collyer brother for having a messy room, Saltzmans research on the famous hoarders inspired him to write "Clutter".  Wayne Mell, Managing Director at Citadel, will direct the production.  "Clutter" originally made its World Premiere at the Colony Theater in Burbank in 2004 to much acclaim.  The production stars Andrew J. Pond as Langley Collyer, Edward Kuffert as Homer Collyer, Joe Mack as Sgt. Reilly Dolan, and Michael Jay Bullaro as Patrolman Keven Dolan, with Stephen M. Genovese and Tim Walsh. Playwright Mark Saltzman, who began his career writing for "The Muppets" with Jim Henson, is the winner of seven Emmy Awards for his work on "Sesame Street".  He has also been nominated for the Writers Guild Award and five L.A. Ovation Awards, including Best Musical. Notable works include "A...My Name is Alice," "The Tin Pan Alley Rag," "Romeo and Bernadette," and "Mr. Shaw Goes to Hollywood".  His work has been shown at Laguna Playhouse, The Ballroom, Soho Rep, 13th Street Theater, Village Gate, Pasadena Playhouse, Goodspeed, The Cleveland Playhouse, Floridas Maltz Jupiter Theatre, New Yorks Roundabout Theatre Company, Miamis Coconut Grove Playhouse, and New Jerseys Paper Mill Playhouse.  Film credits include Disney, Showtime, SONY, and Universal, including "Mrs. Santa Claus" (starring Angela Lansbury), "The Adventures of Milo and Otis," "Three Ninjas Kick Back," and "The Red Sneakers".   'Quake' and 'Residue' in Repertoire Buzz22 Chicago is pleased to announce that its second season will now be performed at The Royal George Theatre.  The season consists of two productions in repertoire: "Quake" by Melanie Marnich and "Residue" by Joel Sinensky.  Previews begin January 20 and press opening for both plays will be the weekend of January 27.  "Quake" runs January 20-February 18, 2012, Fridays at 8pm and Saturdays at 3pm.  "Residue" runs January 21-February 19, 2012, Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 3pm.  Tickets can be purchased through The Royal George Theatre’s box office, which can be reached via phone at (312) 988-9000 or via Internet at www.theroyalgeorgetheatre.com.  Tickets to each show are $20 or a two-play package can be purchased for $30. "Quake," directed by company member Sara Sawicki, follows the adventurous, quirky and touching cross-country journey of Lucy, a young woman looking for the big love of her life.  Featuring company members Fred Geyer, Rebecca Loeser and Ellie Reed, as well as Meg Elliot, Morgan Maher and Ben Zisk.  The Midwest premiere of "Residue" is directed by company member Scott Weinstein.  In this dark comedy, Jeremy, an aspiring writer, finds himself with a useless degree and an inability to score all but the most humiliating of day jobs, so he takes his financial future into his own hands by dealing cocaine.  But even as he delves deeper into that dark world, the most dangerous commodity in his possession may very well be his own book.  Featuring company members Phil de Guzman and Amanda Kahn as well as Melissa Fricke, Andrew Goetten, Peter Hegel, and Steve Thomas.   'Nancy Drew' is on the case at DePaul A World Premiere adaptation of the beloved detective heroine comes to Chicago as Chicago Playworks for Families and Young Audiences presents "Nancy Drew and the Sign of the Twisted Candles".  Based on the book by Carolyn Keene, adapted and directed by Damon Kiely, as the next installment of the 2011-2012 Chicago Playworks for Families and Young Audiences Series, this production opens Saturday, January 14, and runs through Tuesday, February 28, 2012, at DePaul's historic Merle Reskin Theatre.  Performances are Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10 AM and Saturdays at 2 PM.  There will be no performances on January 21, 24, 26, or 28. Tickets are $8.  Subscriptions and group rates (15 or more people) are available at (312) 922-0999.  DePaul employees, alumni, and college students receive a discount (with ID).  Tickets are available online at http://theatreschool.depaul.edu or by calling the Box Office at (312) 922-1999.  DePaul's Merle Reskin Theatre is located at 60 E. Balbo Drive at Michigan Ave., in Chicago.  For information about parking, please contact the Box Office.  The theatre is accessible via CTA busses (3-King Drive, 29-State Street, 146-Michigan/ Museums and others), and CTA El stops (Red, Blue, Brown, Green, Orange, Purple and Pink). Nancy Drew must search every corner of a spooky mansion to solve the mystery of a 100-year-old man's disappearing fortune.  Will solving the case jeopardize her friendship with best pals Bess and George?  Will the fortune be taken by the bad guys, or will Nancy use her brain power (and some luck) to save the day?  Don't miss this world premiere adapted and directed by Damon Kiely.  Recommended for ages 7 and up.  The cast features Krenee Alisha, Chelsea Angeletti, Camden Brown, Dan Cobbler, Libby Conkle, Olivia Douglas, and Lauren Guglielmello. Damon Kiely has directed for Next Theatre, TimeLine Theatre Company, A Red Orchid Theatre, American Blues Theatre, Chicago Dramatists, and Route 66.  His world premiere adaptation of "Thieves Like Us" was produced by The Theatre School and the House Theatre of Chicago last year.  He served as the Artistic Director of American Theater Company from 2002 to 2007.  Directing credits at ATC include "Oklahoma!" (Nominated for 6 Jeff Awards including Best Musical and Best Direction of a Musical), "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs," "Orpheus Descending," "A View from the Bridge," "Strictly Dishonorable" and "The Hairy Ape".  At The Theatre School he has directed "There's a Boy in the Girls Bathroom," "A Streetcar Named Desire," "Medea," and "Haroun and the Sea of Stories".   Steep-Witt: A Hot Ticket in 2012 Director Robin Witt returns to Steep Theatre this winter to direct the Midwest Premiere of red-hot playwright Dennis Kellys "Love and Money".  Past collaborations between Steep and powerhouse director Witt have resulted in some of the more memorable shows in recent Chicago theater history.  "Love and Money" opens Thursday, January 19 at Steep Theatre, and runs Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights at 8pm through Saturday, February 25.  Tickets for the production range from $20-$22.  Reservations can be made by calling (866) 811-4111 or by visiting www.steeptheatre.com.  Steep Theatre is conveniently located by the Berwyn Red Line stop and is within blocks of the #92, #36, #146, #147, and #151 buses. "Love and Money" is a darkly funny morality tale about monster debt and fractured desires, the high price of living and the stuff we buy to fill up the void.  Personal happiness is not just love, but Pottery Barn furnishings as well.  It premiered in 2006 at the Royal Exchange in Manchester before moving to the Young Vic in London later that year.  Playwright Dennis Kelly is currently making huge waves in London for his work on the smash-hit musical Matilda, which is now being produced in Londons West End by the Royal Shakespeare Company.  "Matilda," for which Kelly wrote the book, won Best Musical at the Evening Standard Awards and the Theatre UK Awards and recently received nine nominations for the Whatsonstage Awards.  Kellys other plays include "Debris," "Osama the Hero," "After the End," "DeoxyriboNucleic Acid," and "Orphans".  He is also the writer and co-creator of the hit BBC comedy "Pulling".  Director and Steep Artistic Associate Robin Witt most recently directed Simon Stephens "Pornography" for Steep Theatre, Enda Walshs "The New Electric Ballroom" for A Red Orchid Theatre, and "Stage Door" for the Griffin Theatre, which received 2011 Jeff nominations for Best Director and Best Production.  Robin is a proud artistic associate at both Griffin and Steep Theatres in Chicago and she holds an MFA in Directing from Northwestern University, and a BFA in Acting from New York University, Tisch School of the Arts.  Robin is an Assistant Professor of Directing at UNC Charlotte and she calls both Charlotte and Chicago home.  Future productions include Richard Greenbergs "The American Plan" at the Artistic Home (July 2012).  Along with playwright Joe Salvatore (NYU), she is currently creating a devised work, "Project/Hope," that will be performed at UNC Charlotte in the Spring of 2012. The "Love and Money" cast features Steep Ensemble Members Patricia Donegan, Peter Moore, and Julia Siple.  They are joined by Jason Lindner, Darci Nalepa, Molly Reynolds, and Gregory Rothman.  Steep Theatre has become known as a home for hard-hitting, finely tuned ensemble work.  With each production, the company has shepherded a growing community of audiences and stakeholders into bold new erritories of story and performance.  In five years of Jeff Eligibility, Steep has received 10 Jeff Nominations and has won the 2009 Jeff Award for Best Ensemble ("In Arabia We'd All Be Kings"), the 2010 Jeff Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role ("Harper Regan"), and the 2011 Jeff Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role ("A Brief History of Helen of Troy").  Steep was named the 2010 Broadway in Chicago Emerging Theatre Award Winner.   A mix tape of sound and memory The Plagiarists announce their new production, "I Am Saying This Right Now".  Directed by Plagiarists Paul Kastner and Kim Miller, "I Am Saying This Right Now" opens Thursday, January 12 and runs through Saturday, February 11 at Berger Park Cultural Center, 6205 N. Sheridan (Granville & Sheridan) Chicago, IL.  Conceived and edited by Plagiarist Kaitlin Byrd, the piece was written by Sid Branca, Kaitlin Byrd, Jeff Duhigg, Joshua Dumas, James Dunn, Paul Kastner, Brian Michael Lucas, Layne Manzer, Sara McCarthy, Ian Miller, Lindsay Verstegen, Andrea Wallace, and Jessica Wright Buha.  The production Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8pm for all performances.  Tickets are $20 for patrons and $15 for Students & Seniors.  Tickets can be purchased through Brown Paper Tickets at brownpapertickets.com or by calling 1-800-838-3006.  Whether on film, tape, or typewriter, we seem compelled to record our lives and collect souvenirs of our experiences.  Why are we driven to preserve these things?  Why do we record, photograph, and journal about our lives?  What did we miss and why does it matter?  "I Am Saying This Right Now" follows a group of characters as they grapple with the mysteries of memory and loss, the objects we imbue with love and nostalgia, the fear of forgetting or being forgotten, the passage from childhood to adulthood, and how the past both haunts and enriches the present.  "I Am Saying This Right Now" is part memoir, part fiction, part borrowed, and part original - a mix tape of memories, scenes, and sound art that explores the causes and the consequences of the human compulsion to document our lives and our world.  The cast features Sid Branca, Chad Brown, Ben Johnson, Dylan Marks, Sara McCarthy, Ken Miller, Kate Nawrocki, and Jessica Saxvik. The piece was inspired by the life and work of Tony Schwartz, a New York sound artist and archivist who archived some 30,000 recordings without ever leaving his neighborhood.  Using Tony Schwartz's work as a starting point, the play was created collaboratively by a team of thirteen writers, using techniques developed by author and cartoonist Lynda Barry.  Though the work was inspired by Schwartz, it grew to encompass a wide range of influences and source material and includes a number of original recordings made by the writing group: tapes from their childhoods, interviews made for the show, even messages left on a public voice-mail box.  The result is not the story of Tony Schwartz, but an impressionistic collage of scenes, monologues, music, and sound recordings evoked by his work and his ideas. Kaitlin Byrd describes the origin of the project: "Listening to Tony Schwartz recordings transported me through time and flooded me with nostalgia.  I dug old tapes out of shoeboxes in my closet and listened to sounds from my childhood.  I thought about what sounds I would want to record in my life today.  I thought of everything in between that I didn't record...I wanted there to be a play about this experience, using the medium of tape to document a life."  When asked what drew them to the project, director Kim Miller said, "I was fascinated by the idea of working collaboratively to explore the connection between memory and collection."  Director Paul Kastner said, "I was drawn to I Am Saying This Right Now for several reasons, one of which is that it's the perfect show for an 80-year-old man trapped in a 28-year-old's body."    'Trigger' Happy The Ruckus Theater is making some noise with its upcoming world premiere production of "Little Triggers" by Daniel Caffrey, directed by Ruckus Artistic Director Allison Shoemaker.  Martin battles an office full of malevolent puppets as he navigates the terrors of his office job and his creative writing.  Kevin Lambert stars as the office hero, alongside a cast of Chicago theater favorites and Ruckus regulars.  "Little Triggers" is performed at The Side Project Theatre January 12-Feburary 12, 2012.  All performances are at 8:00pm.  Preview tickets are $10.  General Tickets are $15.  Tickets to Little Triggers are $10 for previews and $15 for the run.  Tickets may be purchased online at ruckustheater.org or by phone at 773.769.RCKS (7257). As big believers in Dans work and the power of theatre to transport, challenge, and surprise us, we of the Ruckus couldnt be more thrilled about Little Triggers and its remarkable cast of puppet and humanoid life forms, said Ruckus Artistic Director Allison Shoemaker.  The play brings to life fears of unfriendly foreign beings and things that go bump in the night, along with the terror that accompanies staring down ones adult life and knowing art and practicality dont always mix. Once upon a dark and blustery Christmas Eve, a young man named Martin (Kevin Lambert) sits waiting.  Hes already said goodnight to his boss, Mr. Bahnson (Rob Grabowski) and the office is almost quiet. In the corner of the office, a printer spits, smokes and hisses in a way that would seem malevolent if Martin didnt know better.  He waits for the repairman (Neal Starbird), and watches the clock tick, and wonders what it is that hes doing with his life.  Little does he know that before the evenings out, a series of mysterious strangers, including a mysterious character from his past (Derek Van Barham), will force him to confront his ideas about success, happiness, and failure--and theyre starting with whats hidden in the back of his drawer.  In Little Triggers, Martin has to find the through-line for his story, and he had better do it fast, because the snow wont stop falling, and the printers out for blood. Playwright Dan Caffrey is the Artistic Director of Tympanic Theatre Company, which he founded in 2006 after moving to Chicago.  As a playwright, his work has been produced by ARFTCO, Chicago Dramatists, Dramatis Personae, Dream Theatre, Hobo Junction, Infusion Theatre, MOB Productions, The Rough House, Tympanic and WildClaw.  This year, his play "Orange Orbs" opens Tympanics 2011/2012 season.  He has directed for Tympanic, iO and the side project, and helmed The Ruckus world premiere musical "Escape from the Haltsburg Boys Choir".  Founded by an industrious group of Michigan ex-pats, The Ruckus is composed of actors, directors, playwrights, musicians, casting directors, publicity managers, grant writers, baristas, grad students, poets, computer fixers, appointment-makers and census-takers who aim to create a new kind of companya casteless theater that blends the lines between playwright and actor, audience and company member.  The Ruckus Theater is led by Artistic Director Allison Shoemaker, Associate Artistic Director Joshua Davis and a company and ensemble of nineteen.   ATC 'Disgraced' American Theater Company announces the World Premiere of "Disgraced" by Ayad Akhtar, directed by Kimberly Senior.  "Disgraced" is produced by special arrangement with The Araca Group (Broadway's "Urinetown," "A View From The Bridge" and co-producers of "Wicked").  The production will run January 27-February 26, 2012 at American Theater Company, 1909 W Byron, Chicago, IL.  Press opening is Monday, January 30, 2012 at 7:00PM. New York.  Today.  A Muslim-American lawyer is rapidly moving up the corporate ladder while he distances himself from his cultural roots.  At the moment of achieving his life-long ambitions, he falls victim to professional and personal betrayals that manifest in one of the most explosive and controversial scenes ever written for the theater.  American Theater Company teams up with the Broadway producers of "Urinetown" and last season's "A View From the Bridge" to premiere Ayad Akhtar's examination of a modern Muslim-American struggling to define his identity.  "Disgraced" features Ensemble Member Usman Ally as Amir, Alana Arenas as Jory, and Behzad Dabu as Abe. "I cannot wait for Chicago to experience Disgraced.  It unearths the unspoken cultural tensions fostered by our country's unfounded fear of the unknown.  And perhaps most importantly, it's the first time that post-9/11 Muslim Americans have taken center stage in the theatre, says Artistic Director PJ Paparelli.  I am honored that Ayad and The Araca Group chose ATC to birth this important American play." "The support and stewardship of PJ Paparelli and The Araca Group have meant so much to this play and to me," adds playwright Ayad Akhtar.  "I couldn't be more thrilled for the play to be making its debut at ATC."  Ayad Akhtar's first novel, "American Dervish," is being published by Little, Brown and Company in January 2012.  The first run of the novel will be published in 21 languages.  ATC will host a launch party for "American Dervish" at the theater on Tuesday, February 7, 2012.