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Court Theatre Presents the Chicago Premiere of Joan Didion's National Book Award-Winning The Year of Magical Thinking

Chicago, IL – Court Theatre continues its 55th season with the Chicago Premiere of The Year of Magical Thinking written by Joan Didion and directed by Artistic Director Charles Newell. The production will run January 14 - February 14, 2010 at Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Avenue. Press opening is Saturday, January 23, 2010 at 8:00 PM. Acclaimed writer Joan Didion adapts her own National Book Award-winning memoir to the stage. A fiercely intelligent, courageous, and comic exploration of loss, this monumental one-woman journey will be performed by Mary Beth Fisher in its Chicago Premiere. The Year of Magical Thinking marks Mary Beth Fisher’s seventh production under the direction of Court Theatre Artistic Director Charles Newell; her latest collaborations with Newell include Rock ‘n’ Roll at the Goodman and Court’s production of The Wild Duck.

"Joan Didion's book The Year of Magical Thinking was instrumental for me in coping with the loss of my mother, so when Mary Beth Fisher and I were invited to visit Didion herself at her home in New York, it was an unforgettable meeting for me, both personally and artistically." says Artistic Director Charlie Newell, “This process has been a journey for Mary Beth and me, and I'm thrilled to return to directing in Court Theatre's space for the first time since Caroline, or Change."

The designers are Jennifer Tipton (lighting design), John Culbert (set design), Susan Hilferty (costume design), Andre Pluess (sound design), and Mike Tutaj (projection design). Megan Geigner is the production dramaturg, William Collins is the production stage manager, and Jonathan Nook is the assistant stage manager.

Joan Didion (Playwright) was born in California and is a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley. Winner of the 2005 National Book Award, The Year of Magical Thinking is one of 13 books by Joan Didion. Her other books include Play It As It Lays, Democracy, Slouching Towards Bethlehem, The White Album, Salvador, Miami and Political Fictions. With her husband, John Gregory Dunne, she wrote the screenplays for such pictures as The Panic in Needle Park with Al Pacino, True Confessions with Robert De Niro and Robert Duvall, A Star Is Born with Barbra Streisand, and Up Close & Personal with Michelle Pfeiffer and Robert Redford. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, which awarded her its 2005 Gold Medal in nonfiction. She also received the 1996 Edward MacDowell Medal, the 1999 Columbia Journalism Award and the 2002 George Polk Book Award. She contributes to various periodicals, most frequently The New York Review of Books. Didion has spent her adult life in New York and Los Angeles.

Charles Newell (Artistic Director / Director) has been Artistic Director of Court Theatre since 1994, where he has directed over 30 productions. He made his Chicago directorial debut in 1993 with The Triumph of Love, which won the Joseph Jefferson Award for Best Production. Directorial highlights at Court include The Wild Duck, Caroline, or Change, Titus Andronicus, Arcadia, Man of La Mancha, Uncle Vanya, Raisin, The Glass Menagerie, Travesties, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Hamlet, The Invention of Love, The Little Foxes, Nora, and The Misanthrope. Charlie has also directed at the Goodman Theatre (Rock ‘n’ Roll); the Guthrie Theater (Resident Director: The History Cycle, Cymbeline); Arena Stage; John Houseman’s The Acting Company (Staff Repertory Director); the California and Alabama Shakespeare Festivals; Juilliard; and New York University. He is the recipient of the 1992 TCG Alan Schneider Director Award. He has served on the Board of Theatre Communications Group, as well as on several panels for the National Endowment for the Arts. Opera directing credits include Marc Blitzstein’s Regina at the Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Rigoletto at Opera Theatre of St. Louis. Charlie is a multiple Joseph Jefferson Award nominee and recipient. Most recently, his production of Caroline, Or Change at Court was the recipient of 4 Joseph Jefferson Awards, including Best Production–Musical and Best Director–Musical.

Mary Beth Fisher (Joan Didion) Chicago credits include The Wild Duck, What the Butler Saw, Arcadia, The Glass Menagerie, Travesties, The Importance of Being Earnest (Court Theatre); Frank’s Home, The Clean House, Dinner With Friends, Heartbreak House, The Rose Tattoo, The Guys, Boy Gets Girl, Spinning Into Butter, Design For Living, Light Up the Sky, The Night of the Iguana, Marvin’s Room (Goodman Theatre); Dead Man’s Cell Phone, The Dresser, The Memory of Water (Steppenwolf Theatre); Little Dog Laughed, Theatre District (About/Face); My Own Stranger (Writer’s). Her NY credits include Frank’s Home (Playwright’s Horizons); Boy Gets Girl (Drama League Honoree, Lucile Lortel and Drama Desk nominations), The Radical Mystique, By The Sea (Manhattan Theatre Club); The Night of the Iguana (Roundabout); Extremities (Westside Arts); Are You Now or Have You Ever Been? (Promenade). She has worked in regional theatres all over the country, most recently in the world premiere of Richard Nelson’s How Shakespeare Won the West (Huntington Theatre, Boston). Her TV/Film credits include: Without a Trace, Numb3rs, Prison Break, NYPD Blue, Profiler, Early Edition, Turks, To Have & To Hold, Formosa Betrayed, Dragonfly, Trauma, and Safe Storage. Ms. Fisher was recently named an inaugural fellow of The Ten Chimneys’ Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Program dedicated to the creation of artist-mentors in the American Theatre.

Jennifer Tipton (Lighting Designer) is well known for her work in theater, dance and opera. Her recent work in opera includes Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, directed by Bart Sher at the Salzburg Festival; La Traviata for the Scottish National Opera and Il Trovatore for the Metropolitan Opera, both directed by David McVicar; and the Wooster Group’s La Didone. Her recent work in dance includes Balanchine’s Jewels for the Royal Ballet in London, Jerome Robbins’ Les Noces for the New York City Ballet, and Paul Taylor’s Beautiful Renegade. In theater, her recent work includes Conversations in Tusculum, written and directed by Richard Nelson at the Public Theater; The Wild Duck, directed by Charlie Newell for the Court Theater in Chicago; and The Glass Menagerie, directed by Gordon Edelstein at the Longwharf Theater in New Haven. Ms. Tipton teaches lighting at the Yale School of Drama. She received the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize in 2001, the Jerome Robbins Prize in 2003, and the Mayor’s Award for Arts and Culture in New York City in April 2004. In 2008 she was made a United States Artists Gracie Fellow and a MacArthur Fellow.

John Culbert (Set Designer) recently designed scenery for Court Theatre’s productions of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Caroline, or Change, Man of La Mancha (for which he received a Joseph Jefferson award) and Carousel; Northlight Theatre’s Grey Garden; Rigoletto for Opera Theatre of St. Louis; and Lyric Opera of Chicago’s Regina. He also designed Lookingglass Theatre’s Argonautika, Goodman Theatre’s Rock ‘n’ Roll and Mirror of the Invisible World, and Long Wharf Theatre’s Hughie. He has designed productions for the Singapore Repertory, Opéra National du Rhin, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, McCarter Theatre, and the Shakespeare Theatre. Other projects include the lighting design for the Chicago Park District’s Buckingham Fountain. Mr. Culbert serves as the dean of The Theatre School at DePaul University.

Susan Hilferty (Costume Designer) has designed over 300 productions from Broadway to the Bay area and internationally including Japan, London, Australia, Germany and South Africa. Recent designs include Wicked (2004 Tony, Outer Critics Circle, Drama Desk, and Olivier nominations), Spring Awakening (Tony nomination) August Wilson’s Radio Golf and Jitney, Lestat (Tony nomination), Assassins, Into the Woods (Tony and Drama Desk nominations; Hewes Award), Manon at LA opera, Berlin Staatsoper, Richard Nelson’s Conversations in Tusculum, and Frank Wildhorn's Wonderland. She works with such well-known directors as Joe Mantello, James Lapine, Michael Mayer, Walter Bobbie, Robert Falls, Tony Kushner, Robert Woodruff, JoAnne Akalaitis, the late Garland Wright, James MacDonald, Bart Sher, Mark Lamos, Frank Galati, Des McAnuff, Christopher Ashley, Emily Mann, David Jones, Marion McClinton, Rebecca Taichman, Laurie Anderson, Doug Wright, Carole Rothman, Garry Hynes, Richard Nelson and Athol Fugard (the South African writer with whom she works as set and costume designer and often as co-director since 1980). Hilferty also designs for opera, film, and dance, and chairs the Department of Design for Stage and Film at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Hilferty's many awards include a 2000 OBIE for Sustained Excellence in Design.

Andre Pleuss (Sound Designer) is based in Chicago and his credits include numerous productions for Lookingglass Theatre, Court Theatre, Victory Gardens Theatre, About Face Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre, Northlight Theatre and many other Chicago and regional theatres. Broadway credits: Metamorphoses, I Am My Own Wife, and The Clean House (Lincoln Center). He has received 11 Joseph Jefferson Awards and citations, an L.A. Ovation Award, Barrymore Award, a Drama Critics Circle Award and a Lortel nomination for composition and sound design.

Mike Tutaj (Projection Designer) has been designing multimedia for theater in Chicago since 2002. This is his first production with Court Theatre. Previous design credits include: History Boys, Fiorello!, The House with no Walls, Guantanamo, Tesla's Letters (Jeff Nomination), Martin Furey's Shot (Jeff Award), and This Happy Breed with TimeLine Theatre Company; Tomorrow Morning (Jeff Award) with Hillary A Williams LLC, Jon (Jeff Nomination) with Collaboraction; Macbeth and Romeo y Julieta with Chicago Shakespeare Theater; Hana's Suitcase and The Red Kite Project with Chicago Children's Theatre; Pangs of the Messiah and Our Enemies (Jeff Nomination) with Silk Road Theatre Project; Love Person, and I Sailed with Magellan (Jeff Nomination) with Victory Gardens; and Death of a Salesman and Columbinus (Jeff Nomination) with Raven Theatre. Mike is an artistic associate with TimeLine Theatre Company, and a company member of Barrel of Monkeys Productions.

Previews are January 14- 22, 2010. The opening press performance is on Saturday, January 23, 2010, at 8:00 p.m. Curtain times are Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. with Saturday matinees at 3 p.m.; Sundays at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Ticket prices are $32 to $40 for preview performances; $38 to $56 for regular run performances. Tickets are available at the Box Office, 5535 S. Ellis Avenue, Chicago; (773) 753-4472 or online at www.CourtTheatre.org. Student and senior discounts available. Groups of 10 or more may purchase tickets by calling Milan Pejnovich at (773) 834-3243.

The Year of Magical Thinking is sponsored by The Elizabeth F. Cheney Foundation.

Upcoming Events

University of Chicago Student Night: Friday, January 15, 2010 at 8:00 PM

University of Chicago students are invited to enjoy free food and soda after the performance. University of Chicago student tickets are always just $10 with valid U of C student ID.

David Bevington Discussion:  Wednesday, February 3, 2010 at 7:30 PM

Join world-renowned University of Chicago theater scholar David Bevington in a lively post-show conversation with Resident Dramaturg Drew Dir and Artistic Associate Jack Tamburri. Your comments and questions are part of the discourse as Professor Bevington and the artistic staff provide context and probe the deeper issues of each play in Court Theatre’s season. One Wednesday performance of each play features this popular in-depth discussion. These conversations begin immediately after the performance, last approximately 30 minutes, and are free and open to all.

Court Theatre, the professional theatre in residence at the University of Chicago, is located at 5535 S. Ellis Ave. in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood. To purchase single tickets for The Year of Magical Thinking or to receive more information, call the Court Theatre Box Office at (773) 753-4472, or visit Court’s website at www.CourtTheatre.org. Court Theatre’s 55th Season, under the leadership of Artistic Director Charles Newell, is generously supported by Richard and Barbara Franke, Hyde Park Bank, The Joyce Foundation, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Polk Brothers Foundation, Shubert Foundation, and the University of Chicago. Court Theatre is also funded in part by grants from CityArts Program IV of the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs; and the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.

FACT SHEET

Synopsis: Joan Didion adapts her own acclaimed memoir to the stage. A fiercely intelligent, courageous, and comic exploration of loss, this monumental one-woman journey will be performed by Mary Beth Fisher in its Chicago Premiere.

Title: The Year of Magical Thinking

Directed by: Artistic Director Charles Newell

Written by: Joan Didion

Featuring: Mary Beth Fisher

Press opening: Saturday, January 23, 2010 at 8:00 PM

Regular run: January 14 - February 14, 2010 Schedule: Wednesdays & Thursdays: 7:30 p.m. Fridays: 8:00 p.m. Saturdays: 3:00 p.m. & 8:00 p.m. Sundays: 2:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.

Location: Court Theatre, 5535 S. Ellis Ave.

Tickets: $32-$56

Box Office: Located at 5535 S. Ellis Avenue, Chicago; (773) 753-4472 or online www.CourtTheatre.org

Court Theatre is the professional theatre in residence at the University of Chicago continuing to discover the power of classic theatre. Court Theatre operates under an agreement between the League of Resident Theatres and Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States. Productions are made possible in part by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, and by a City Arts grant from the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. Court Theatre is a constituent of Theatre Communications Group, the national organization for the American Theatre; the League of Resident Theatres; the Illinois Humanities Council; the Illinois Arts Alliance; the League of Chicago Theatres; and Hyde Park Cultural Alliance.

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