Thanks to photographer Zack Whittingon, we have some early photos to share! Check out our two couples: Beatrice (Ashlee Edgemon) and Benedick (Martel Manning), and Hero (Vivian Knouse) and Claudio (Adam Habben).
The show opens July 19. Make your plans now!
There is an online, grassroots movement happening this week in the Chicago Theatre Community. Several Chicago theatre folks were very moved by the response to the recent UCSB shooting, and specifically the #yesallwomen and #allmencan hashtags. They have started a campaign for the Chicago theatre community to show our support by posting photos on Facebook of ourselves holding signs with supportive messages.
One of the architects of the movement, John Morrison, said on Facebook, “I strongly believe that the best way to face anger, contempt, and cruelty is with empathy, compassion, and kindness.” Here is Midsommer Flight’s photo, taken at Much Ado About Nothing rehearsal on June 17, 2014.
Last night was our first rehearsal outside. It feels great to be out in the parks again!
Our annual fundraising campaign is underway! Please help us reach our goal to raise $1,000 by July 18, 2014, the day before Much Ado About Nothing opens.
Your contribution will support all areas of our production: costumes, prop & scenic elements, and administrative costs, to name a few. Because we present our performances free to the public, we are counting on support from our generous donors to help defray the costs of production.
Please consider a donation of the average cost of a theatre ticket in Chicago (anywhere from $50 to $20) to support free Shakespeare in the park.
To make your contribution, click here. Thank you!
We are thrilled to announce that casting is complete for Much Ado About Nothing. Thank you so much to all of the actors who auditioned; we had tough decisions to make and we sincerely appreciate everyone’s time and talent.
And now, the cast of this summer’s Much Ado About Nothing (to see photos of the actors, click here):
| Benedick | Martel Manning |
| Beatrice | Ashlee Edgemon |
| Claudio | Adam Habben |
| Hero | Vivian Knouse |
| Leonato | Scott Olson |
| Antonio | J. Preddie Predmore |
| Don Pedro | Chris Smith |
| Don John | Frank Sawa |
| Borachio | Jason Markoff |
| Conrade | Liam Fitzgerald |
| Ursula | Kanome Jones |
| Margaret | Meredith Ernst |
| Balthasar | Elizabeth Rentfro |
| Dogberry | Jared Dennis |
| Verges | Christina Renee Jones |
| Watch 1 | Glenn Garrabrant |
| Watch 2 | Meg Harkins |
| Watch 3 | Travis Cook |
| Sexton/Friar | Sheila Willis |
A CHICAGO SUMMER TRADITION CONTINUES AS MIDSOMMER FLIGHT ANNOUNCES ITS OUTDOOR SUMMER PRODUCTION OF
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE’S MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING
JULY 19 – AUGUST 24, 2014
Midsommer Flight Returns to Rogers Park’s Touhy Park and Scheiber Park and Adds Gross Park in Lincoln Square to the Chicago Park District Venues Hosting Shakespeare’s Enchanting Comedy, Perfect for the Whole Family.
Midsommer Flight announces its third summer season of Shakespeare in the Park with the delightful comedy Much Ado About Nothing by William Shakespeare and directed by Midsommer Flight’s Founder and Producing Artistic Director Beth Wolf. Dedicated to presenting outdoor performances of Shakespeare’s plays, Midsommer Flight is a proud arts partner with the Chicago Park District.
Much Ado About Nothing runs for six weeks from July 19 through August 24, Saturdays at 6 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. For performance locations and details, click here. All performances will be presented free of charge (donations gratefully accepted). In addition, live music will be presented a half hour prior to each performance. Audiences are encouraged to come early and bring a picnic to enjoy this free programming.
Midsommer Flight’s Much Ado About Nothing features a cast of 20 and tells a tale of love winning out despite any obstacles. One of Shakespeare’s most beloved comedies, Much Ado takes the audience to an Italian villa, where two pairs of lovers, Beatrice and Benedick, and Claudio and Hero, navigate through deceptions ranging from sinister to hilarious on their journey toward happily ever after.
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We are so excited for another summer and we hope to see you at the park!
Great news! Midsommer Flight has been awarded a 2014 SEED grant from Friends of the Parks. Friends of the Parks (FOTP) is a 501(c)(3) designated park advocacy organization, dedicated to preserving, protecting, and improving Chicago’s parks and forest preserves for all citizens. We are so grateful to FOTP for their support and investment in our mission. This grant will go directly to support the costs associated with our 2014 summer Shakespeare in the park tour.
Speaking of which, plans are underway for another great summer. Stay tuned for more news and updates, including the play selection, dates, and announcement of a new park venue in 2014. It’s going to be another great summer!
Happy New Year!
Although the Midsommer Flight website has been quiet since our summer production of Romeo and Juliet closed, the company is definitely still at work. Exciting things are in store for Midsommer Flight in 2014. Starting with…
…the formation of Midsommer Flight’s Artistic Ensemble. These talented and dedicated artists have already made significant contributions to the company over the first two years. Please join us in welcoming the new faces of the company! You can read about these fantastic folks on our brand new Meet the Company page.
Midsommer Flight Artistic Ensemble
Ashlee Edgemon
John Ham
Kanome’ Jones
Beth Laske-Miller (Resident Costume Designer)
Molly Lyons
J. Preddie Predmore
Dylan Roberts (Producing Manager)
Brian Scannell
Chris Smith
Julian Stroop
Sheila Willis
The praise keeps coming for Romeo and Juliet! Chicago Theater Beat had quite a lot to say about our fantastic production:
[Romeo and Juliet] has captured the imaginations of generations and has been performed and adapted many times over – so much so that making a performance of Romeo and Juliet seem fresh is a challenging task. Midsommer Flight‘s Romeo and Juliet, however, manages to do exactly that….
Performed in Schreiber Park, this theatre experience is laid-back, and the production seems to foster a true sense of community as families who wandered into the park to play, were drawn to the show. It was also wonderful seeing young children in the audience….
[Ashlee Edgemon as Juliet] gives a spirited and endearing performance, and in Juliet’s happier moments, manages to exude a joy that is infectious. In the more somber moments of play, Edgemon’s performance deftly transitions to mournful without feeling sudden or overdone…. Edgemon and Brian Scannell, who played Romeo, have great chemistry together…. Another thoroughly enjoyable performance is Molly Lyonsas Juliet’s nurse. Lyons’ sincerity lends a sense of authenticity to Juliet’s scenes with her, which are among the best in the play.
Overall, this clean-cut execution of possibly the most famous love story in the world wins because it gives you the play as is, straight up, just as Shakespeare intended it (or as close as we can get today!) Whether you have read “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare” or are only just beginning to dip into the Bard’s works, this a great way to spend a relaxing midsummer eve. –Anuja Vaidya
You can read the entire review here.
What a fabulous opening weekend! Romeo and Juliet opened to great audiences and lovely weather. The audience reaction so far is uniformly positive, from the neighborhood kids to the seasoned theatergoers who came out to the park this weekend. We can already tell this is going to go by too fast — only three weeks left now to see the show.
Our first review is in and it’s a rave! The Chicago Reader sings our praises and has added Romeo and Juliet to their Recommended list:
I’d be singing the praises of Midsommer Flight’s latest, an outdoor performance of Romeo and Juliet in Rogers Park’s Schreiber Park, even if I weren’t so admiring of its mission: to perform Shakespeare in under-served communities. Part of the thrill was the random appearance of intrigued locals not used to hearing Shakespeare in a corner lot. R & J is, of course, the classic tale of emotional extremity. Director Beth Wolf moves things along with speed and agility, cutting strategically and keeping the whole thing under two hours. The simple set (four wooden boxes which become balcony, bed, and tomb) allows the words to take center stage. The actors are uniformly strong, from bawdy scene stealers Mercutio (Julian Stroop) and Nurse (Molly Lyons) to the solid leading lovers. Brendan Hutt’s Friar Lawrence had me considering the radical, subversive role of the church in devotion to love. —Suzanne Scanlon
We are so incredibly proud of this show and the work that the cast and crew have done to bring it to life. If you haven’t seen it yet, don’t miss Romeo and Juliet!
Midsommer Flight 