Introducing the Cast of AS YOU LIKE IT

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COLLAGE1Midsommer Flight is thrilled to announce the cast of AS YOU LIKE IT. These fifteen talented actors will spend the summer touring to four Chicago parks, bringing free Shakespeare into Chicago communities.

The cast features Midsommer Flight ensemble members Adam Habben (Touchstone) and Elizabeth Rentfro (Jaques), along with returning guest artists Margaret Kellas (Audrey), Ian Michael Minh (Oliver, Lord, Musician), and Erick Rivera (Amiens).  Newcomers to Midsommer Flight include Emily Demko (Rosalind), Charlee Cotton (Celia), Eric Duhon (Orlando), and more. The full cast list is below.

With rehearsals starting next week, Midsommer Flight is excited to jump into another summer in the parks. We hope to see you at the show!

CAST LIST

in alphabetical order:

Charlee Cotton (Celia)
Emily Demko (Rosalind)
Eric Duhon (Orlando)
Richard Eisloeffel (Silvius, Second Lord)
Adam Gianforte (Le Beau, Lord/Musician, Jaques de Boys)
Sonia Goldberg (Corin, First Lord)
Adam Habben (Touchstone)
Margaret Kellas (Audrey, Lady at Court)
Maggie Miller (Adam, Oliver Mar-text)
Ian Michael Minh (Oliver, Lord/Musician)
Alexis Randolph (Phebe, Lady at Court)
Elizabeth Rentfro (Jaques)
Erick Rivera (Amiens)
Shane Roberie (Charles, Lord/Musician)
James Sparling (Duke Frederick, Duke Senior)

Meet the Cast of Twelfth Night

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Collage2Midsommer Flight is thrilled to announce the cast and production staff of Twelfth Night. We have a fantastically talented group of artists assembled to create the show.

Twelfth Night‘s cast will feature five Midsommer Flight ensemble members, three returning guest artists, and six new guest artists. In addition, six members of the cast will both act and play original music onstage throughout the show.

Admission to Twelfth Night is FREE, but reservations are recommended due to limited seating. Reservations are now available — book your tickets today!

Cast (in alphabetical order)

Will Burdin Antonio, Duke’s Attendant, Sailor
Jared Dennis Malvolio
Meredith Ernst Viola
Adam Habben Andrew Aguecheek
Kanome’ Jones Olivia
Jake Jones Sebastian
Nick Loumos Orsino
Alex Mauney Feste
Ian Michael Minh Sea Captian, Curio, Officer 2
Elizabeth Rentfro Maria / Music Director
Erick Rivera Sailor, Duke’s Attendant, Officer 1
Chris Smith Toby Belch / Violence Designer
Trey Wright Valentine, Sailor, Priest
Maureen Yasko Fabian, Duke’s Attendant, Sailor

Production Staff

Beth Wolf Director
Monisa Victrum Assistant Director
Julia Farrell Diefenbach Box Office Manager
Elizabeth Shorrock Costume Designer
Chris Smith Violence Designer
Elizabeth Rentfro Composer/Music Director
Dylan S. Roberts MF Producing Manager

MACBETH by the Numbers

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Another summer under our belts! Macbeth marked our fourth summer in the parks. Here’s how it went, by the numbers…

1,224 total audience members saw the play
102 average audience members at each performance
33 characters with distinct costumes
18 actors
15 scheduled performances
12 performances started
11 performances completed
8 weeks
8 swords used onstage
6 production staff members
5 knives/daggers used onstage
4 Chicago parks
3 battle axes used onstage
2 shields used onstage
2 performances canceled due to weather
1 performance stopped halfway through due to severe flash storm
1 understudy performed one show due to an actor’s family emergency
1 performance canceled due to an actor’s wife going into labor 6.5 weeks early

Many challenges. Even more victories. One amazing summer.

Macbeth-Midsommer_15-002

 

PHOTOS: First Look at Macbeth

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Thanks to photographer Zack Whittington for these preliminary photos of Macbeth. Here’s a sneak peek at Macbeth and Lady Macbeth, plus sword fights, witches and more.

Like what you see? Donate to support the show, and plan your trip to check out a performance later this summer.

Macbeth (Colin Wasmund) and Lady Macbeth (Maureen Yasko)
Macbeth (Colin Wasmund) and the Witches (Keyanna Khatiblou, Stephanie Mattos, & Elise Spoerlein)
The Witches (Keyanna Khatiblou, Stephanie Mattos, Elise Spoerlein)
Macduff (Chris Smith) and Macbeth (Colin Wasmund)
Macduff (Chris Smith) and Macbeth (Colin Wasmund)
Macduff (Chris Smith) and Macolm (Julian Stroop)

PHOTOS: First Outdoor Rehearsal

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On Saturday, we held our first outdoor rehearsal for Macbeth in Touhy Park. It was day full of glorious weather, sword fights, staging, and kids playing soccer alongside us. We can’t wait to get out there some more!

FIght rehearsal
Fight rehearsal…with battle axes
“Come you spirits…” – Maureen Yasko as Lady Macbeth
“When you durst do it, then you were a man” – Colin Wasmund and Maureen Yasko
Duncan enters with his train
“If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well it were done quickly” – Colin Wasmund
“I have no spur to prick the sides of my intent, but only vaulting ambition” – Colin Wasmund
“Is the King stirring?” – Colin Wasmund and Chris Smith
“You’re royal father’s murdered” – Jerome Beck and Julian Stroop
“I’ll to England” ” To Ireland I” – Jerome Beck and Julian Stroop
“Let’s briefly put on manly readiness” – Jeremy Thompson, Colin Wasmund, Chris Smith
“Is’t known who did this more than bloody deed?” – Francisco Lopez, Jr and Chris Smith

Cast Announcement: A Drum, A Drum, Macbeth Doth Come…

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Collage HeadshotsWe are only a few weeks away from beginning rehearsals for this summer’s outdoor production of Macbeth. If you haven’t heard about our 2015 season yet, you can check out the Current Season page or read the full press release. We have exciting things planned this year, including a new winter show in December inside the Lincoln Park Conservatory.

But before that, we have a whole summer to enjoy first! Midsommer Flight is especially thrilled to announce the cast and crew of Macbeth. We can’t wait to get to work with these incredibly talented artists.

Macbeth runs July 11 through August 30, touring to four different parks. We hope to see you this summer!

Cast (in alphabetical order):
Matt Bartholomew……….Duncan / Seyward
Jerome Beck……………….Donalbain / Norwegian Soldier / Dunsinane Soldier
Adam Habben…………….Murderer 1 / Menteith / Macdonwald
Christina Renee Jones……Porter / Messenger / Doctor
Margaret Kellas……………Fleance / Son / Young Seyward
Keyanna Khatiblou……….Witch 1
Francisco Lopez, Jr………..Ross
Nick Loumos………………Lenox
Stephanie Mattos…………Witch 2
Andrew McClelland……….Seyton / Norwegian Soldier
Elizabeth Rentfro………….Lady Macduff / Gentlewoman
Chris Smith……………….Macduff / Norwegian Soldier
Elise Spoerlein…………….Witch 3
Julian Stroop…………….Malcolm
Jeremy Thompson……….Banquo / Dunsinane Soldier
Colin Wasmund………….Macbeth
Adam Welsh………………Murderer 2 / Caithness / Norwegian Soldier
Maureen Yasko…………..Lady Macbeth

Crew:
Beth Wolf……………Director
Sarah Franzel……….Assistant Director
Matt Singleton………Violence Designer
Vivian Knouse……….Props Designer
Beth Laske-Miller….Costume Designer

Artistic Director Beth Wolf Interviewed for HowlRound

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HowlRound, a “center for the Theatre Commons,” has published an article in their NewCrit series which includes a positive review of this summer’s Much Ado About Nothing, along with a friendly interview with Midsommer Flight’s Artistic Director, Beth Wolf, about presenting Shakespeare in the Park.

The acting style was broadly comedic and easy to follow (no easy feat, given the complexity of Much Ado’s plot), and the pacing tight—as the performance clocked in at ninety minutes. The words fit comfortably in the actors’s mouths as they made clear sense of the complex language. Martel Manning’s Benedick gave a particularly memorable performance leaping and hiding to eavesdrop on Leonato (Scott Olson) and Claudio (Adam Habben) as they gossiped about Beatrice’s (Ashlee Edgemon) love for him. The audience erupted into peals of laughter at the physical comedy. 

To read more, including anecdotes from Wolf about working in the park, check out the full article: Neighborhood Shakespeare in Chicago’s North Side Parks, by Dani Snyder-Young.

 

“Much Ado About Nothing is Much About Something Good!”

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The great reviews just keep rolling in for Much Ado About Nothing!  James Murray from Showbiz Chicago writes,

Midsommer Flight has been performing his plays in different parks throughout Chicago since 2012 and if their current production of Much Ado About Nothing is any indicator, this is a company with a strong vision, great artistic direction and some strong actors who are at ease with the language, possess excellent diction and understanding of the text and excel at the art of story-telling…. Director Beth Wolf has done a fine job with staging the piece and getting some really great comic performances out of the actors…. Benedick and Beatrice [are] played with matched skill and strong chemistry by Martel Manning and Ashlee Edgemon…. Beth Wolf and Midsommer Flight’s Much Ado about Nothing is highly entertaining and people should flock to see the magic that is created by this talented group through poetic language, superb story-telling and strong direction and acting. Read the whole review.

More Praise for “a rollicking, high-energy Much Ado About Nothing”

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Yet another reviewer loves Much Ado About Nothing.  Hugh Iglarsh of Newcity Stage writes,

Some of the nicer things in life really are free, such as Shakespeare served al fresco on a summer evening by the talented and community-minded Midsommer Flight theater collective. Now in its third year, the troupe is presenting a rollicking, high-energy “Much Ado About Nothing” …

The trick to staging the most difficult-to-follow playwright in the most distracting of settings is to visually underscore the action. Director Beth Wolf gives us a good example of this…

Ashlee Edgemon [as Beatrice] and Martel Manning [as Benedick] offer us convincingly zesty, bawdy versions of the two lovers…  Midsommer Flight gives us the meat of a marvelous play in a form that all can enjoy, for one evening turning a nothing scrap of city park into an imaginative something to behold. Read the whole review.