Ghostlight featured on Chicago on Stage

Ghostlight was recently lucky enough to sits down with Karen Topham (aka chicagodramagirl) of Chicago on Stage and talk about our origin and what made us think we could make it in the crowded Chicago theatre scene.

According to the League of Chicago Theatres, there are about 200 theatre companies in the city of Chicago. Wikipedia also lists about this many, as well as thirty long-standing companies that are now defunct. And that doesn’t even begin to include the multitudes of companies that have appeared for a show or three only to vanish into the competitive haze of the Chicago theatre community, which is, without doubt, one of the most incredible live theatre markets in the country, but also one of the most unforgiving. 

Amid this whirl of dramatic achievement and failure, it must take a certain kind of people with a specific kind of audacity to start a whole new company from the ground up, yet that is precisely what Holly Robison and Maria Burnham, late of Strangeloop Theatre, and Chad Wise, founding member of New Millennium Theatre, and seven other founding members including co-artistic director Michael Wagman, are doing with Ghostlight Ensemble Theatre.

Read the entire article here.

Must Eat TV: A Live Reading of Your Favorite Thanksgiving Episodes

Ghostlight Ensemble presents a special Thanksgiving installment of its ongoing live movie reading series, Must Eat TV: A Live Reading of Your Favorite Thanksgiving Episodes.

Thanksgiving is all about stuffing yourself silly with family and friends; awkward moments with that person who isn't quite either, but is always at all your family functions (exactly who IS Cousin Daisy if she's not really your cousin?); giving thanks; and television. So join your Ghostlight family, friends and weird Cousin Daisy for a celebration of everyone's favorite eating holiday.

The lineup features selections from How I Met Your Mother, Friends and WKRP in Cincinnati at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, November 14, 2017, at the Celtic Crown.

The live reading is directed by Maria Burnham.

There is a suggested donation of $5 at the door, which will help Ghostlight fund its upcoming season, AND a non-perishable good or additional cash donation to benefit Common Pantry, of North Center.

Celtic Crown is located at the corner of Western Avenue and Cullom Avenue at 2356 W Cullom Ave, Chicago, IL 60618.

Our G.E.T. Funding fudraiser is off to a strong start

We're less than a month into our fundraiser and we've already hit 10 percent of our goal thanks to you!

October also saw a successful Potbelly Fundraiser and a fun and financially beneficial night in our Live Reading series — thanks to everyone who also came out to eat and drink with us at those events! And October isn't done yet!

This early funding is important to us as we are putting together the production team now for our spring show, An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde, and rehearsals are about to begin for our holiday show, Gingerbread Grindhouse. The early funding will help us to pay our production teams and cover the cost of rehearsal spaces and set/costume/props materials.

Thank you so much for your continuing support of Ghostlight. If you've already donated, are thinking about donating or just enjoy reading this blog for fun, you can continue supporting us by spreading word of who we are, what we do and of this fundraiser. Word of mouth works better than any other kind of marketing. YOU are our secret weapon.

Ghostlight holding auditions for Nutcracker Nightmare

Ghostlight Ensemble will hold auditions for its production of Nutcracker Nightmare, part of our ongoing Gingerbread Grindhouse holiday horror series on, Tuesday, October 24 and Wednesday 25 from 8:30 p.m. to 11 p.m. at Theater Momentum (1803 W Byron St #216, Chicago, IL 60613) .

Nutcracker Nightmare is a holiday tale of children, the toys they love and the toys that try to kill everyone they love. It's the perfect holiday entertainment. The play is written by Maria Burnham and will be directed by Chad Wise.

Time Commitment:
Performance Dates: Friday, December 8; Saturday, December 9; Friday December 15 and Satuday, December 16 at 10:30 p.m. at the Greenhouse Theatre Center.

Material To Prepare:
Please prepare a 1-2 minute comic or serio-comic monologue and don't take yourself too seriously. Submit H/R to Jean at casting(at)ghostlightensemble.com, and she will be in touch to schedule an audition appointment.

Ways you can help Ghostlight while G.E.T.ing some fun in return!

Want to star in your own play? Watch a live reading of your favorite movie? Have tea and biscuits with the wicked Mrs. Cheveley? Get murdered on stage? Then we have just the thing(s) for you...

Ghostlight has launched an independent fundraising drive. Wonder how these two things are releated? Read on.

Between October 1 and December 31, 2017, when you make a donation to our PayPal account, you can get a slew of cool, unique rewards — with a focus on experience-based incentives!

Your help will pay our artists and our rent for rehearsal and performance spaces, as well as fund design elements such as set and costumes, for the three shows that make up Season 1: Gingerbread Grindhouse, An Ideal Husband and The Princess Without Pots.

And by giving, you also G.E.T. Among the items to choose from: tea and biscuits with the cast of An Ideal Husband, getting murdered onstage as part of our holiday show, and having our Ensemble playwrights write a personalized play for you, starring you.

Perks will be given out on an ongoing basis, with all items distributed by the end of our 2017-18 Season.

We are self-producing this fundraiser, so word of mouth is very important to us. If you've supported Ghostlight in the past and enjoy what we do, please take a moment to let your friends know how they can help. You can also tell your enemies — we aren't picky or proud.

Details on exactly how this works and what you need to do are available on the fundraiser page of our website. And periodic updates will be posted there as well.

Ghostlight Ensemble is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, so any donation you give is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.

A Live Reading of Shaun of The Dead

Ghostlight is doing a special edition of our live movie reading series in October themed for Halloween.

Join us for You've Got READ On You: A Shaun of The Dead Live Reading at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, October 17, at the Celtic Crown (2356 W Cullom Ave, Chicago, IL 60618).


Shaun of The Dead is a 2004 British horror comedy film about a man trying to get some focus in his life as he deals with his girlfriend, his mother and stepfather — and also an apocalyptic zombie uprising.

Things may get a little bite-y, so grab a nice cold pint and wait for all of this to blow over.

The live reading is directed by Jean E. Burr. Check out all the details, including cast, on the special events page here.

Goodies for Ghostlight: A Potbelly Foodraiser

Fall may be here in theory, but it's still warm enough outside for milkshakes.

So join us on Wednesday October 11, 2017, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Lincoln Square Potbelly (4709 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, IL 60625) for another in our series of delicious fundraisers that will go to support our Season 1 programming.

Potbelly will donate 25 percent of net sales during that time to Ghostlight. You don't need any special paperwork or flyers or code words or secret handshakes, just come in, order and eat.

Ensemble members will be on hand to chat about our Company, the upcoming season, our favorite plays or anything that takes your fancy.

So come say hello and raise a toast — or a toasted sandwich — to the arts in Chicago.