Theatre Season 2022/23 Bold Voices

THE FANTASTICKS

This September, welcome back to the joy of live theatre at the Beverly Arts Center.

“Try to Remember” a time when life was sim pler and sweeter and prepare to fall in love all over again when the world’s longest-running musical, The Fantasticks lights up the BAC this September. Magic, moonlight, and the blush of first love take center stage in this timeless and poetic story, perfect for audiences of all ages.

A LETTER FROM OUR ARTISTIC DIRECTOR

Welcome back, friends,

There is much to celebrate, so we’re throwing a party and you’re invited

This autumn, the Beverly Arts Center celebrates an incredible 20 years in our award-winning space on the corner of Western Avenue and 111th Street. Our 40,000 square feet of inspiring and engaging education and arts spaces have made us a cul tural cornerstone of the South Side.

2022 also marks 55 years since the BAC’s founding. For many in our community, the Beverly Arts Center is where you brought your children for their first dance classes, or came to see your favorite band, or learned to play bridge. You’ve been with us every step of the way, through the good times and the challenging ones, and for that we are forever grateful.

To celebrate this banner year we’re bringing you a thrilling roster of live theatre. Our 2022/23 Season, Bold Voices, has something for everyone; we’re presenting a phe nomenal roster of stories that truly honors our great city and its artists. Season highlights include The Lady With All the Answers, a one-woman show about Chicago luminary Ann Landers, the return of the Chicago holiday family favorite The Christmas Schooner, and a June 2023 production of Five Guys Named Moe directed by Tony-nominee (and Blue Island resident), Felicia P. Fields. And to kick it all off, we continue our Professional Theatre Series with a September 2022 production of the beloved musical The Fantasticks - the perfect show to welcome our patrons back to the beautiful Baffes Theatre.

Taking advantage of all of this great entertainment couldn’t be easier. By purchasing a Season Subscription Flex Package, patrons get advance notice of upcoming events and flexibility on how to use their tickets, all at significant savings. Even better, you won’t even have to leave the neighborhood to experience excellent entertainment with the add ed convenience of ample free parking.

Whether you’re a new patron or an old friend, we can’t wait to party with you in 2022/23. Welcome back!

Kevin Pease, Artistic Director

Ed & Lori McGunn

THE LADY WITH ALL THE ANSWERS

Ann Landers was many things: a writer, a Chicago icon, even 1978’s “most influential woman in the US”. In The Lady With All The Answers, playwright David Rambo takes us inside Landers’ posh Lakeshore Drive apart ment as she prepares to write the most chal lenging column of her career. Filled with wit, humor, and Lander’s signature straight-talk, this is a play not-to-be-missed!

The BAC production is a remounting of the 2021 production of The Lady With All the Answers produced by Diamond Head The atre, Honolulu, HI, with original direction by John Rampage.

It’s Christmas Eve, 1914, at the Western Front of World War 1. Out of the violence came a silence…then a song. A German soldier stepped into No Man’s Land singing “Stille Nacht.” Thus begins an extraordinary night of camaraderie, music and peace.The Beverly Arts Center is proud to honor all of our Veterans with All is Calm, an a capella opera based on remarkable true events, told in the words and songs of the men who lived it. Join us this Veteran’s Day weekend as we celebrate the undeniable power of music as an instrument of peace.

THE CHRISTMAS SCHOONER, A MUSICAL

Beverly Arts Center proudly announces the return of a Chicago family favorite when The Christmas Schooner sails into the Baffes The atre this December. Based on the true sto ry of the Rouse Simmons, a schooner ship which brought the first Christmas trees to Chi cago by way of the treacherous winter waters of Lake Michigan, this story of love, faith, and family is bound to become a new holiday tra dition for Beverly audiences.

A RAISIN IN THE SUN

Set on Chicago’s South Side, A RAISIN IN THE SUN explores the divergent dreams and conflicts with in three generations of the Younger family. When her deceased hus band’s insurance check arrives, Mama Lena dreams of moving to a new home and a better neigh borhood in Chicago. Other family members, however, have different ideas of how they would spend the money. Sacrifice, trust and love and the heroic struggle to retain dignity in a harsh and changing world are explored in this searing and timeless story of hope and inspiration.

VIOLET

Discovering your true self is the jour ney of a lifetime. A young woman with a disfiguring scar sets out from her home in Spruce Pine, NC to seek healing and finds her true beauty along the way. Set in 1964 just weeks after the passage of the Civil Rights Act, Violet won both the Drama Critics’ Circle Award and Lucille Lortel Award as Best Musical for its touch ing script and show-stopping anthems ranging from American-roots, to folk, to gospel. Violet is the moving story of a courageous heroine you won’t soon forget.

Five Guys Named Moe follows the story of down-on-his luck Nomax: he’s broke, bro kenhearted, and drowning his sorrows in booze. Out of his 1930s-style radio, five guys named Moe (Big Moe, No Moe, Eat Moe, Lit tle Moe,and Four-Eyed Moe) appear to help him get his life back on track. Through song and dance they comfort him, teach him about life and love, and set him on the straight and narrow.

This electrifying musical revue features the songs of Louis Jordan, one of the most re vered talents of the 20th century, whose mu sic brought a popular new slant to jazz that paved the way for the rock-and-roll of the 1950s. You’ll be dancing int he aisles to in stantly recognizable classics such as “Early in the Morning,” “Don’t Let the Sun Catch You Crying” and “Is You Is or Is You Ain’t My Baby”.

LOCATED

2407 W 111th St Chicago, IL 60655 beverlyartcenter.org 773.445.3838 frontdesk@beverlyartcenter.org

BUSINESS HOURS

Mon – Thurs | 2-7PM // Fri | 12-5PM Sat | 9-5PM // Sun | CLOSED

ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF

KEVIN PEASE | Artistic Director

DR. CARLA CARTER | Managing Director

PROGRAM CHANGES

The Beverly Arts Center reserves the right to make changes in programs and artists without prior notice.

CAMERAS & RECORDERS

All cameras and recording devices are strictly prohibited in the Beverly Arts Center.

PARKING

Free parking is available in the parking lot to the west of the building.

SPECIAL SERVICES

Anyone needing wheelchair accommo dations should contact the Box Office at 773.445.3838 ext 0 for assistance in selecting your seats. beverlyartcenter.org D E Q M