Native Chicago playwright Alan Gross teams up with director Steven Robman to bring his newest work, High Holidays, to Goodman Theatre.
At the center of this four-character drama (inspired by Gross’ own life and family experience) is young Billy Roman (Max Zuppa) and the anxiety-riddled preparations for his Bar Mitzvah in 1963 north suburban Chicago.
When Billy’s older brother Rob (Ian Paul Custer) returns from college for the High Holidays, he further elevates household tensions by bringing along his own ideas about his future–and the boys’ parents Essie (Rengin Altay) and Nate (Keith Kupferer) must face some difficult truths about coming-of-age in America.
Set Designer Kevin Depinet (last season’s The Crowd You’re In With) returns to the Goodman with another hometown-influenced realistic backdrop for the action.
High Holidays runs Oct. 31 – Nov. 29, 2009 in the Goodman’s Owen Theatre.
Tickets ($10 – $40) are now on sale by calling 312-443-3800 or visiting GoodmanTheatre.org.
Production Sponsors for High Holidays include the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust and the Goodman World Premiere Season Sponsors M. Ann O’Brien and Randy and Lisa White, and New Works Season Sponsors: Julie and Roger Baskes; Joan and Robert Clifford; Patricia Cox; Eva and Michael Losacco; Kenneth and Harle Montgomery Foundation; Karen and Richard Pigott; Alice Rapoport and Michael Sachs, Sg2; Shaw Family Supporting Organization; and Orli and Bill Staley.
“I’m delighted to host Alan Gross, Steven Robman and their wonderful cast at the Goodman with this incisive, wryly funny new play,” said Artistic Director Robert Falls, who first met Robman at Wisdom Bridge Theatre when he directed the 1985 production of Rat in the Skull, starring Brian Dennehy.
“Alan’s signature wit and wisdom is at full tilt in this universally-relatable world premiere–at once gracious, sympathetic and unapologetically honest.”
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About Goodman Theatre
Currently playing at the Goodman Animal Crackers, book by George S. Kaufman and Morrie Ryskind, music and lyrics by Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby, directed by Henry Wishcamper (extended through November 1, in the Albert);
Named the country’s “Best Regional Theatre” by Time magazine (2003), Goodman Theatre is a leader in the American theater, internationally recognized for its artists, productions and educational programs since its founding in 1925.
Artistic Director Robert Falls and Executive Director Roche Schulfer’s forward-thinking leadership has earned the Goodman unparalleled artistic distinction, garnered hundreds of awards–including the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre (1992) and Pulitzer Prizes for Ruined by Lynn Nottage and Glengarry Glen Ross by David Mamet–and moved dozens of plays from Chicago to stages in New York and abroad.
Central to its commitment to the reinvestigation of classics and development of new plays and artists is the Goodman’s Artistic Collective, including Brian Dennehy, Frank Galati, Henry Godinez, Steve Scott, Chuck Smith, Regina Taylor and Mary Zimmerman.
The largest not-for-profit theater in Chicago, the Goodman moved in 2000 into a brand new state-of-the-art complex which houses two principal theaters: the 856-seat Albert Ivar Goodman Theatre and the 400-seat flexible Owen Bruner Goodman Theatre. Board Chairman is Patricia Cox and Karen Pigott is President of the Women’s Board. American Airlines is the Exclusive Airline of Goodman Theatre.
MEDIA CONTACT:
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Press@GoodmanTheatre.org
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