February Artist News
published: Feb. 8, 2023
Cover image for Will Liverman and King Rico's "The Factotum" commissioned by Lyric Opera of Chicago.
News:
HALENA KAYS (2012 3Arts Awardee)
Halena was recently interviewed in Hollywood Soapbox about her direction of Do You Feel Anger? produced by the Circle X Theatre Company in Los Angeles. “The show, which is running at the Atwater Village Theatre, delves deep into a serious subject matter: the toxic masculinity and unsettling workplace culture at a debt collection agency. However, perhaps surprisingly, Nelson-Greenberg’s play is not a drama. It’s, in fact, a comedy, and that’s exactly what Kays loves about the piece.”
NORMAN TEAGUE (2019 3Arts/Denise & Gary Gardner Awardee)
Norman was recently featured in Artnet’s Gallery Network with an online writeup, “7 Questions for Norman Teague on Using Design to Effect Change and Finding Inspiration in Community.” The article discusses Norman’s recent exhibition at the Art Center Highland Park, his upcoming participation at the 2023 Venice Architecture Biennale, and his practice and history of making in Chicago.
Events:
HEATHER GILBERT (2012 3Arts Awardee)
Now playing in an extended run through February 26 at Northlight Theatre, Andy Warhol in Iran features lighting design by Heather. “In 1976, the artist Andy Warhol, having re-invented himself as the portrait painter of the rich and famous, travels to Tehran to take Polaroids of the Shah of Iran’s wife. Amidst taking in the Crown Jewels and ordering room service caviar, Warhol encounters a young revolutionary who throws his plans into turmoil and opens the pop icon’s eyes to a world beyond himself.”
SYDNEY LYNNE (2020 3Arts/HMS Fund Awardee)
Now playing through March 11 at Shattered Globe Theatre, the world premiere of Radial Gradient features scenic design by Sydney. “Three women enter a research study hoping to create positive change after a hate crime takes place at a liberal university in America.”
STEPHANIE DIAZ (2019 3Arts/SIF Fund at The Chicago Community Foundation Awardee)
From February 1 through March 19, Stephanie is among the cast members for Into the Woods, a major production as part of the “Broadway series” at Paramount Theatre in Aurora, Illinois.
BEN LAMAR GAY (2018 3Arts/ Stan Lipkin & Evelyn Appell Lipkin Awardee)
On February 2, Ben collaborates with percussionist Ian Antonio in a performance response to work by Assaf Evron on view at The Arts Club of Chicago. Evron’s exhibition, Collage for the Arts Club of Chicago, is an interior installation incorporating the image of a semi-transparent Conch shell on the gallery windows. For this performance, the musicians will “deconstruct musical materials and re-combine them to make something new, a metaphor for the process of breaking down shells to make travertine.”
WILL LIVERMAN (2017 3Arts/Stan Lipkin & Evelyn Appell Lipkin Awardee)
After successfully raising more than $10,000 on our 3AP platform in 2020 to support an initial workshopped reading, Will Liverman is now bringing a full production of The Factotum to Chicago’s Harris Theater stage this winter as a commission of Lyric Opera of Chicago. This new opera is co-created by DJ/multi-instrumentalist, King Rico, and inspired by Rossini’s The Barber of Seville, updating the action to a Black barbershop on Chicago’s South Side. The production runs from February 3 through 12.
CAT MAHARI (2021 3Arts/Walder Foundation Awardee)
On February 4 and 5, Cat presents a work-in-progress showing of Blk Ark: the impossible manifestation at Steppenwolf Theatre Company’s 1700 space as part of their LookOut series. The development of this piece was partially funded on our 3AP platform in 2022. “In embodiment of Hip Hop’s wildstyle, we choose a destiny of marronage, a fugitive movement from bondage and the creation of an alternative world—a journey of the outside. With riotous intent, Blk Ark (work in progress) asks, “What will it take to get free?'' and “Can we see a new world from here?”
AYAKO KATO (2016 3Arts/Reva & David Logan Foundation Awardee) and MEIDA MCNEAL (2017 3Arts Awardee)
On February 10 and 11, Links Hall co-presents GO ING, a “shared evening of artists stewarding the organization’s movement lineage.” The evening will feature performances by Bob Eisen and other Chicago dancemakers, including Ayako and Meida.
HEATHER GILBERT (2012 3Arts Awardee) and ERICKA RATCLIFFE (2017 Make A Wave Artist)
From February 14 through March 11, Steppenwolf for Young Adults presents Chlorine Sky, directed by Ericka and featuring lighting design by Heather. “A world premiere adaptation of Mahogany L. Browne’s popular young adult novel, Chlorine Sky is an intimate coming-of-age story told in verse about two girls who are best friends—until they aren’t. Sometimes, growing up means growing apart.”
NORMAN LONG (2011 3Arts Awardee)
On February 16, Glass Curtain Gallery will host a catalog release party, accompanying Norman’s solo show, Norman W Long: Calumet in Dub (closing February 17). The exhibition “focuses on Long’s research-based work delving into the ecology and soundscapes of the Southeast Side of Chicago along the Calumet and Little Calumet River area.”The full-color catalog includes an essay by guest writer, Erin Margaret Day.
BETHANY THOMAS (2019 3Arts/Restoration Hardware Awardee)
Opening February 16, Writers Theatre presents Once, the 2012 Tony Award-winning play described as “a soft-spoken, deeply felt musical about the forces that compel us to reach out to one another and hold on for dear life.” With music and lyrics written by Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová, this production of Once features a cast of actor-musicians, including Bethany in the role of Baruska. The play runs through March 26.
SYLVIA HERNANDEZ-DISTASI (2014 3Arts Awardee)
From February 18 through March 26, Sylvia directs the circus choreography for a new original circus theater production, Circus Quixotic, for The Actors Gymnasium in Evanston. “Adapted from Miguel de Cervantes’s Don Quixote, Circus Quixotic is an idealistic, unrealistic and impractical journey into the mad and noble imagination of an unlikely knight and his dim yet steadfast squire.”
ALLEN GILMORE (2015 3Arts/Denise & Gary Gardner Awardee)
This month, Allen performs with a star-studded cast in a special in-person and streaming staged-reading production of Jean Racine’s 17th-century tragedy, Phédre, at the Red Bull Theater in New York City in partnership with the French Institute Alliance. The live production will be simulcast live on February 20. A recording will be available for streaming from February 21 – 26.