Tag: Chicago Dramatists

Gail Gallagher Delights Tuesdays@9 Crowd ‘As Art Is Wont To Do’

Hear the 25-second report with a sample of Gail Gallagher’s “Spacesuit Days.”

Naked Angels Tuesdays@9 Chicago is successfully underway!

This week’s event featured new work from Chicago playwrights as well as writers in Maryland and New Mexico.

Tuesdays newcomer Gail Gallagher was the musical guest. She delighted the crowd with three songs that expressed her spirit, humor and grace. Gallagher recorded and released her debut album “Power of the Unnamed Passion” last year. She said it’s a concept album about those moments in life where everything falls apart and you learn to make new meaning.

“Oddly enough,” she said, “all these songs were written pre-pandemic but gained new meaning through the production process, as art is wont to do.”

The following musicians are scheduled for the remaining first half of the 2021-22 season.

Sep. 21 Aviva Jaye

Sep. 28 Heather Styka

Oct. 05 Shawn Erker

Oct. 12 Robbie Ellis

Oct. 19 Jake Dewar

Oct. 26 Ian Sutherland

Nov. 02 Aviva Jaye

Nov. 09 Joshua Fardon & Atlie Gilbert

Nov. 16 The Famous Brothers

Nov. 23 Mystery Guest

Nov. 30 Ezra Muse

Dec. 07 Gail Gallagher

Dec. 14 Joe McDaniel

Holiday Break (Dec. 15-Jan. 10)

Jan. 11 Jamie Shriner

Jan. 18 Robbie Ellis

Jan. 25 Aviva Jaye

Feb – May TBA

If you would like to perform as a musician or a comedian (or both) on a Tuesday sometime in February through May, it’s not too soon to get the ball rolling. Send me links or mp3’s of your music at connievkuntz@gmail.com. Thank you! -Connie Kuntz

Poster art by Tuesdays@9 creative director Joshua Fardon.

Feverland – Monday, March 8 at 7:00 p.m.

Feverland is an all-girl tribute play by Connie Kuntz about the life and times of Al Capone.

Al’s story — performed by female actors — begins in Brooklyn when he falls in love with Mae, peaks in Chicago with the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, and ends in his Florida mansion when he is dying from syphilis.

Told mostly from Mae’s perspective, Feverland gives the audience an intimate look at at a seasoned — but paranoid — criminal who values loyalty over family, appearance over reality, and routine over love. Mae — instead of being a patient and blissfully unaware wife — is introverted, calculating, and strategic.

The cast is rounded out by Al’s loyal hitmen, Boy #1 and Boy #2, and Al’s soft-spoken, bed-wetting son aptly called Junior.

Feverland is a one-hour one-act drama with comedy. It’s getting a virtual reading at First Draft through Chicago Dramatists on Monday, March 8 at 7:00 p.m. and it is free and open to the public. There are violent themes along with implied nudity, some sexuality, and mild profanity.

Feverland by Connie Kuntz

Al Capone – Jessica Rivera

Mae Capone – Meg Elliot

Junior Capone – Maeve Devitt

Boy #1 – Rhiannon Frazier

Boy #2 – Stephanie Grilo

Stage Directions – Jesse Kuntz

To receive the Zoom link, email First Draft director Maria Pretzl at mpretzl@chicagodramatists.org.