Why theatre matters to us

Hello friends of Ghostlight,

As we approach the end of 2017 and the end of our fundraising drive, we wanted to share with you our personal stories of why theatre is so important to us and in turn to others. We know this is the time of year you are bombarded with requests from very worthy organizations and some of them are literally making life or death differences in people's lives.

Supporting the arts is more nebulous, we know. You look at Ghostlight and you think, "They put on theatre. That's nice." And we do that, yes. But theatre can sometimes ALSO make a life or death difference in a person's life. It empowers young people, gives them purpose, gives them friends, makes them realize there are others like them and they are not alone.

It has done that for all of us here at Ghostlight and for countless other theatre kids around this world. It may be doing it right now for someone you know and love, someone you don't realize is struggling to understand why they are here on this planet at this time and place.

That is why you should support the arts and why we hope you will support Ghostlight, as we make a place for future generations of artist to tell the stories that matter to them and to help them find their purpose, their home.

— The Ensemble

Thanks to everyone who attended Gingerbread Grindhouse!

And that's a wrap on our 2017 holiday production!

Thanks to everyone who came out to help Marie and the toys save Christmas during Gingerbread Grindhouse. We had full houses every night and for that we are so very thankful. We hope you have a happy holiday yourself with zero deaths by dolls.

We'll see you in 2018 at our 20th anniversary live reading of Spice World in January and at our spring production of An Ideal Husband in April.

Every nightmare comes to an end...doesn't it?

Thanks to everyone who packed our houses last weekend for Gingerbread Grindhouse!

Only two chances remain to catch Nutcracker Nightmare, plus trailers for Snow Day Bloody Snow Day by Babes With Blades, He'll Raise Her by New Millennium Theatre Co., Krampus!  by Ghostlight Ensemble and various improvised horror by The Stuntmen and Improvised Twilight Zone, all part of Gingerbread Grindhouse!

For those of you returning or attending for the first time, we strongly suggest purchasing tickets in advance, as people were turned away at the door last weekend.

Details

• Tickets are $15 and available online through the Greenhouse website, via email at boxoffice@greenhousetheater.org or over the phone at 773-404-7336.
• Remaining performance begin at 10:30 p.m. on December 15 & 16.
• Performances take place in the downstairs studio at Greenhouse Theater Center (2257 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago, 60614) in Lincoln Park.

What is Gingerbread Grindhouse? In a nod to the lurid, violent films popular from the 1930s through 1970s, Gingerbread Grindhouse will feature a series of live “trailers” for grindhouse-style plays yet to be, before continuing on to the feature production, Nutcracker Nightmare – 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.

Got extra cash lying around and it's been your dream to be killed on stage? We have one victim slot that remains open for Friday night. Learn more about that and all the tantalizing perks that are part of our end-of-the-year fundraiser here.

Hogan finds humor, humanity amid horror in her latest role

Though her latest production, "Nutcracker Nightmare," is set in a world where toys talk and dolls kill, Actress Annie Hogan found it was the human realities of the play that proved the most challenging.

"The biggest challenge for me is allowing my character to have grief and sadness without losing the humor that is inherent to the play, she said. "This family has experienced an awful tragedy. The grief has to be present, but you have to remember that these people are working through it. It is active. It would be very easy, as an actor, to play one extreme or the other - extreme grief/depression versus sitcom-type sadness. It's a tricky balance."

Read more about Hogan and her work in The Chicago Tribune and the Bucktown-Wicker Park Patch.

Jacobson gives life to children's nightmares in horror-inspired 'Nutcracker'

In Victoria Jacobson's book, things that slither along the ground are scary. Dolls are not. And yet in her latest role as Zipakna, a worry doll that comes to life and terrorizes the Stahlbaum family in "Nutcracker Nightmare," she is tasked with making an audience think just that.

"The biggest challenge was trying to find the balance between doll and creepy in a movement sense, Jacobson said. "What I consider to be bump-in-the-night scary are things that slither or move lower to the floor, while a doll would not necessarily be the type of creature to do so. Exploring a spectrum of movements in that sense is something that I worked on the hardest."

Read more about Victoria and her work in The Chicago Tribune or the Lakeview Patch. 

Nielsen takes on the (red) mantle for iconic Nutcracker role

Words may be the weapon most closely associated with an actor's trade, but for P. Tyler Nielsen taking on the iconic role of The Nutcracker in "Nutcracker Nightmare" meant acting with his body…and with actual weapons.

"I love the physical challenge of portraying such an iconic character who has so few lines," Nielsen said. "There is much to convey without the chance to verbalize the Nutcracker's internal journey.

"In addition, the chance to discover how a nutcracker might move, fight and express love is a joy," he added.

Read more about Tyler and his work in the Chicago Tribune or the Crystal Lake Patch.

Gingerbread Grindhouse presents: Babes With Blades!

Grindhouse wouldn't be Grindhouse without the trailers that come before the main feature -- often for movies that were never made.

At Gingerbread Grindhouse, we have trailers for plays yet-to-be. Will they ever become features? That remains to be seen. In the meantime, we present: Babes With Blades in Snow Day Bloody Snow Day.

A young schoolteacher finds herself at odds with a group of women devoted to their frosty master. Will she be able to claw her way out of their icy grip or be forced to join their depravity?
 
Snow Day Bloody Snow Day,written by Elyse Dawson, is directed by Hayley Rice and stars: Chloe Baldwin, Morgan Manasa, Izis Mollinedo, Hayley Rice and Kathrynne Wolf.

Find out more about Gingerbread Grindhouse.