Audience favorite Fairways will tee-off Steel Beam Theatre’s 10th anniversary season this Friday, September 10th at 8 p.m. Fairways was described as pure musical theatre by critics when it made its 2006 world premiere at Steel Beam to sold-out audiences. The show is jam-packed with a variety of musical numbers ranging from rock, jazz, ballads and even rap. Fairways runs Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. through October 10th. Tickets are $25, adults, $23 seniors (over 62)/students, $22 groups. Purchase online at steelbeamtheatre.com.
The Steel Beam Theatre 10th anniversary season lineup reflects the diversity and artistic range for which the Theatre has become known. Whether it is a comedic take on infidelity and relationships or bittersweet reflections on opportunities lost and life’s purpose, this season offers a variety of shows to suit every theatergoer’s taste. Upcoming 2010-11 Steel Beam Theatre Main Stage productions are: It’s Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas; Don’t Dress For Dinner; The Au Pair Man; Tuesdays With Morrie and Later Life. Visit www.steelbeamtheatre.com for details.
Steel Beam celebrates 10 years of affordable, high-quality professional theatre during its 2010-11 season. Consistently voted the Fox Valley’s Best Place for Live Theater, audiences know that a Steel Beam Theatre production delivers stirring experiences that inspire, challenge, provoke and above all, entertain. The intimate theatre propels the audience into the actor’s world, creating a personal connection with the characters. Steel Beam’s historic downtown location offers theatergoers a variety of restaurants and pubs for pre- and post-theatre dining. A free parking garage is located next to the Theatre.
An homage to both golf and musical theatre, Fairways is a lighthearted look at golf and what it means to a cast of quirky characters that could be found playing at any local course. Recent MBA Sam has asked his father Byron to teach him how to play golf “in a day” so Sam can impress his boss. Kathy wants to help her mother Betsy win the upcoming Mother-Daughter tournament, which would defeat Betsy’s rival and closest competition, Nancy, whose daughter Joan happens to be dating Sam. What Sam and Kathy both learn on the golf course is that life and love are unpredictable, and that it’s the choices we make that matter in the end.
Fairways was written by Chicago attorney Mary Hutchings Reed. Ms. Reed, an award-winning fiction author, holds a law degree from Yale Law School, and is Of Counsel to the law firm of Winston & Strawn, where she practices trademark, copyright, entertainment, and advertising law. She also holds Masters and Bachelor degrees from Brown University. “Golf is a spiritual exercise,” Reed says. “You really have to learn to play within yourself, to stay with the process rather than anticipate the results. I’ve always been fascinated with the idea of putting golf on stage—the theatre has that same ‘now-moment’ quality to it.”
Curt Powell wrote the music for Fairways. Previously, Powell served as Composer-In-Residence, Musical Director, Sound Designer, and Conductor for the Des Moines Playhouse/Kate Goldman Theatre, Des Moines, Iowa. In Chicago, he has served as worship musician for Second Unitarian Church. He has composed twenty-three original pieces and arranged more than fifty existing choral and instrumental works for worship.
SBT Founder Donna Steele will again direct this show assisted by Music Director Jeff-nominated Jeremy Ramey of Chicago, returning to SBT for the ninth time. Cynthia Hall of Aurora adds exciting choreography, including a Bob-Fosse inspired number.
The Fairways cast includes actors from throughout the Chicago area, including Greg Zawada of Geneva and Erika Grotto of Romeoville as Sam and Kathy; Dan Cerny and Dana Teichart of Geneva; Diane Handler, Luke Donia and Joe Billquist of St. Charles; Mary Hobein of Woodridge; Will Nifong of Chicago; Jim Heatherly of Bloomingdale; Kimberly Wiczer of Wheeling; Marcus Gentry of Riverdale; Abby Stark of Bolingbrook; and Peter Sipla of Warrenville as the Pro.
Steel Beam Theatre is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization founded in 2001 by Donna Steele dedicated to bringing high quality theatrical entertainment, training and arts awareness to the Fox Valley community at an affordable price. “STEEL: Strength, holding up, bearing responsibility, enduring. BEAM: Light, hope, joy, inspiration. THEATRE: A sacred place where we can share the mysteries, the joys, the wonders of our human experience.” Visit us on Facebook and at our website www.steelbeamtheatre.com.
