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Event
THE WHITE CITY MUSICAL
THE WHITE CITY MUSICAL, written by June Finfer and Elizabeth Doyle, shines a spotlight on a time of tremendous optimism and growth in this country. Inviting the world to come to the 1893 Columbian Exposition, Chicago put its ingenuity to work and hired the best men for the job of building the Fair. Chicago skyscraper architects Daniel Burnham and John Root were put in charge, to the chagrin of Louis Sullivan. The musical explores, with humor and pathos, what must be compromised and sacrificed when you pledge yourself to a difficult task. Your home life? Your principles? Your future? This is a journey that is taken by the architects and their families when duty calls. What does it take to cooperatively build what amounts to a new, if temporary city in the middle of a brawling, chaotic 19th century industrial town made up of immigrants and fortune seekers, just 35 years after the Civil War and less than 20 after the Great Chicago Fire? The White City marks the beginning of planning for safe, efficient cities, led by architect Daniel Burnham.
This concert performance will be in an architectural gem built in 1897 by architect George W. Maher, the John Farson House, also known as Pleasant Home, an Arts and Crafts interior with art glass windows and intricate carved wood. It is a 30 room mansion, a National Historic Landmark. www.pleasanthome.org
The musical is produced by Lost and Found Productions, a Chicago not for profit which has produced plays, concerts and films about the arts, architecture, and planning.
Playwright June Finfer's play The Glass House was produced by New York's Resonance Theatre in 2010, starring Harris Uhlin. She is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America, The Writer's Guild of America, and Chicago Writers Bloc. She is a graduate of Northwestern University's Theatre Department and has a Master's Degree in Language and Literature from the University of Chicago. june@lostandfoundproductions.org
Composer Elizabeth Doyle is a featured guest on Marian McPartland's Radio Jazz program on NPR. Doyle was the magnet for many years at Chicago's famed Pump Room.
In addition to White City, Doyle has composed music for Sleepy Hollow, Fat Tuesday, Alice in Analysis, The Virginian, and Duo, which was performed in a concert reading at
Steppenwolf Theater in 2011. Her CDs include Elizabeth Doyle and Time Flies. For more information, see: www.elizabethdoylemusic.com.
The performances will be directed by Stacey Flaster and music directed by Linda Slein.
The cast includes Jon Steinhagen as Daniel Burnham, Doug Pawlik as John Root, Kevin Grubb as Louis Sullivan, Melonie Collman as Margaret Burnham, Colette Todd as Bertha Palmer, Patrick Tierney as Michael O'Malley, and Rob Brady and Peter Eli Johnson as Chicago business leaders.
Songs include: Never Marry an Architect, We Need a Man, Are You In?, Buildings That Dance, We Are a Team, Sailing into the Wind, Like a Bicycle Wheel, Out Eiffel Eiffel, and Time Was My Friend.
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LocationPleasant Home (View)
217 Home Avenue
Oak Park, IL 60302
United States
Categories
| Minimum Age: 14 |
| Kid Friendly: No |
| Dog Friendly: No |
| Non-Smoking: Yes! |
| Wheelchair Accessible: Yes! |
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