Naked July Extended Two More Weeks

The National Pastime Theater recently announced that they have extended two of the shows that are a part of the Naked July Festival in 2010. Because interest has been high, The Emperor’s New Clothes and Living Canvas – Demons have both been extended until Saturday, August 14. This extension means that four additional performances of each show have been added to the schedule. The curtain for The Emperor’s New Clothes goes up at 8:00 pm on August 6 and 7 this weekend and then for the final time the following weekend on August 13 and 14. Living Canvas – Demons starts at 10:00 pm on those same dates.

Writing in the Windy City Times, critic Mary Shen Barnidge recently added her praise for Keely Haddad-Null's new adaptation of the classic tale by Hans Christian Andersen. Barnidge observes, “Most retellings of this popular parable soften the satire, but director Carolyne Anderson rejects easy escape routes, instructing her actors to play their roles with never a wink or snicker. The dialogue, forged from contemporary buzz-vocabulary, is delivered with deadpan solemnity, right down to the inspirational oratory—"We are living the American Dream!"—spewed forth with evangelical fervor by the city's chief official, clad in nothing but tan lines. Meg Elliot projects mischievous charm as the trickster tailor (who keeps her clothes on—specifically, Emily Beaudin's enchanting gown-of-many-colors), Don Claudin and Miona Harris are a delightfully clueless First Couple, while Mary Roberts, David Bettino and Taylor Entwistle comprise the deliciously amoral trio of civil servants.”



Pete Guither’s extremely popular “living canvas” performance concept has become a Chicago tradition over the past several years, and this year’s installment titled Living Canvas – Demons has been drawing praise from critics. Paige Listerud from the Chicago Theater Blog recently echoed the praise of other Chicago critics cited here in previous posts. Of Guither’s show, she writes, “The community formed by the performers and audience around each new story or theme evokes a “happening” in the style of the 60s. At the end of the show, performers talk about their personal evolution in body consciousness after performing under Guither’s projections in the nude and then audience members are invited onstage to partake of the experience. It’s nice to see so many in the audience take up the invitation and allow their human bodies to have a greater range of expression than most art usually permits.”



These shows seem to be a perfect fit for the performance space at the National Pastime Theater. Elayne LeTraunik, NPT publicist, sums up the experience: “Enter through the historic storefront, past the years of smoky haze into the authentic speakeasy turned theater where the debaucherous scandals of the past give life to the art of today. Excitement is palpable, temptation extreme. No other theater in Chicago can offer such libidinous exploitation of your senses. Where else but The National Pastime Theater lives the promise of the impossible?”

More information about the Naked July Festival and links to the online ticket system are available on the festival web site. Start your evening with the witty and entertaining Emperor’s New Clothes and then stay for Living Canvas – Demons and immerse yourself in an amazing and unforgettable multimedia experience. If the spirit moves you at the end of the evening, you are invited to strip away your inhibitions, join the cast onstage, and become a “living canvas” yourself. Be sure to catch these great shows before they close in two weeks.

Accolades for Naked July Festival

The Naked July Festival at National Pastime Theater has been open for over two weeks now, and accolades for the Festival concept and the individual shows have been appearing in print and on several Chicago theater web sites. Here is a small sampling of what area theater critics are saying about the month-long event at NPT.

In a recent review that was posted on the Buzz Magazine web site, Kimberly Katz makes a very apt but thought-provoking observation when she writes, “When is the last time you saw full frontal nudity in the theater? Was it “HAiR”, “Oh! Calcutta!” or maybe “The Blue Room”? Maybe you have never seen a play with nudity in it; well, here is your chance to experience the liberating effect of live theater specifically designed to give you the feeling that your body - despite its quirks or flaws - is OK just the way it is.” This reviewer has very succinctly captured the essence of the Naked July Festival—live shows on a small stage featuring actors with the courage and skill to perform without clothes, even when they are in close proximity to the audience. It works well here because the intent is not to shock the audience with a cheap or gratuitous nude scene as other playwrights or producers have tried; rather, nudity plays a fundamental role in all of these shows just as it does in our own lives and in our intimate relationships with other people.

In her review of Living Canvas –Demons, Katz writes “The performance of the lead dancer Emily Mark, who portrays Lily the autistic, was worth noting as she was not only an accomplished dancer but also an accomplished actor in expressing without words a very precise and deeply moving sense of what it must be like to be trapped in a body and mind afflicted with Autism. Also, I think it is a tremendously courageous task to undertake a role like this involving nudity from beginning to end. The neat thing about “Living Canvas” shows is that at the end they allow the audience to strip down and join them onstage under the lights and a lot of people actually went for it and joined in. That in itself was a beautiful, free love kind of thing to see happen in a theater setting in the year 2010, not 1968!” You can read the full review by clicking this link to go to the Buzz Magazine web site.

Katie Rauser, in another review on the Buzz Magazine site, wrote about the sensual qualities of Eros and the strong performances turned in by all of the actors. “Curator Shifra Werch, based on her research in which she asked several people what turned them on, chose each piece used in Eros. Werch not only did a fantastic job in choosing the material, but she also did well in assembling a shining cast that includes Reggie Robinson Jr., who hits a homerun with his performance of “Song of Solomon”, along with Taylor H. Entwistle and Nicolas Gamboa who successfully merge hot and funny in “Yum”. Gina Marie Koontz and Jason Gorczyca round out the outstanding cast that works so well together and continuously displays a strong comfort despite the changing of sexual partners from scene to scene. In line with the Naked July Festival, “Eros” contains plenty of nudity to further convey its message and it is done with great direction - beautifully and tastefully.” Rauser’s complete review can be found on the Buzz Magazine web site.



Tom Williams had similar praise for Living Canvas – Demons in his review posted on the Chicago Critic site. Of the popular late show he wrote, “This show is a expression of storytelling told with whimsical movement and dance devoid of dialogue. The choreography by Megan Piccochi is stylish and brave. Emily Mark and Miona Harris anchor the work. The actors are at ease as the celebrate their bodies in a stylish and creative work.”

In the final paragraph of his review, Williams provides us with a fitting summary of the Naked July experience – “One of the missions of the Living Canvas is to celebrate the human body in their work–therefore–they invite audience members to join them on stage nude to dance their inhibitions away. Three men and a woman did just that. A good time was had by all. If you ever want to experience nudity as art and personally-get to the Naked July Festival and strip away your inhibitions.” Click here to read the full review.

For ticket information for the remaining shows and more details about the Festival, be sure to visit the Naked July website.

The Naked July Collection—Part II

As noted in an earlier post, there is more to the Naked July Festival than the four shows that grace the performing space throughout the month. The lobby of the National Pastime Theater is filled with paintings, drawings, and photographs created by several local artists, and all pieces are available for purchase. Throughout the month, people who visit the lobby can participate in a silent auction and submit bids to purchase one or more of the pieces of art on display. The winners of the auctions will be announced at the end of the Festival.

One large painting shown here is a piece titled “Bluebees” and is the work of an artist named John Bickel. He maintains a website called “Art Signs” and the site is filled with examples of the artistic signs that he has created for a variety of stores and restaurants. If you would like to view more of Bickel’s work or get a quote on a custom project, you can click this link to visit his web site.

Another large and visually compelling piece in the Naked July Collection is this painting titled “Broken Promises” by Kim Aigner. Aigner’s online gallery is filled with dozens of outstanding samples of her paintings including stylized portraits, colorful still lifes, and amazing abstracts. Her philosophy of art is simply stated on her site: “I paint life as I see it - the good, the beautiful, the bad and the ugly.” Click this link to visit Aigner’s web site to view her gallery or contact the artist.

Mila Ryk is a Chicago-based artist who was born in the Ukraine and now maintains a studio in Morton Grove. There are several colorful paintings by Ryk in the Naked July Collection including the beautiful piece titled “Prelude” shown here. You can see her work at art festivals all around Chicago and the suburbs. More information about Ryk's exhibitions and art work can be found on her website titled “Imaginary Expressionism.”

Ursula Rivera created the set of three paintings shown below, and there are works by many other artists on display throughout the run of the Naked July Festival. Be sure to arrive early when you come to see the shows so that you have time to view the art and place a bid to purchase a piece for your own home.

Two More Festival Shows Now Open

The remaining two shows of the Naked July Festival opened on Thursday, July 8, as audiences had their first opportunity to see The Tumultuous Tale of the Tragically Transparent Tunic and Eros. Eros starts just one hour after the Transparent Tunic is over, so many audience members purchase tickets to both shows for a complete and very diverse evening of entertainment.

The early show written by David Denman is an adaptation of the classic tale “The Emperor’s New Clothes,” but this version is set at an unspecified time and place that leaves the story open to many interpretations. In this scene, the emperor recalls a romance with a woman named Moonbeam in the hippie era of the ‘60s. Mike Brown and Megan Brown share a quiet moment here before she suggests that they undress so that they can experience the beauty of nature in a free and natural way without the restrictions of clothing that society imposes on us.

In a later scene, Jen LaTurner and Shawn Goudie play the Empress and Demersal, two associates who are plotting to assassinate the Emperor in order to seize power. They are shown here in a sensual dance of love as they celebrate their plan to poison the leader with a vial of potent and deadly chemicals. They will discover later that there are some holes in their scheme.

The late night show in the Naked July schedule on Thursdays and Sundays is an extremely entertaining and edgy piece titled Eros. Unlike the two satirical adaptations of "The Emperor’s New Clothes" and the magical and colorful world of Living Canvas - Demons, Eros is decidedly erotic in nature. The show is composed of a series of short episodes or skits that are all built around the central themes of sexuality and eroticism in our lives. The cast of six intrepid performers, three male and three female, skillfully work through a diverse evening of scenes that range from whimsical and humorous to intensely erotic. With the infusion of music, dance, sensual lighting, and multimedia elements, Eros might remind viewers of Oh! Calcutta!, the infamous off-Broadway show that shocked audiences in the late ‘60s.

We first meet the six performers when they move out into the thrust stage area clad only in black underwear. Throughout the evening, the live performances on stage are accompanied with short multimedia slide shows filled with images of erotica throughout history from countries and cultures around the world. Like Taylor Entwhistle and Carolina Granger shown here, all of the performers move around the stage just a few feet from the audience as they chant the single word “erotic” to prepare the audience for the segments to come.

Eros confronts issues of sexuality from a wide range of perspectives, and the show is filled with sensual dance and musical numbers as well as allusions to familiar stories such as Dracula, Romeo and Juliet, and Brokeback Mountain. Shown here in one of the most intimate and erotic scenes in the show is a lesbian encounter between Gina Marie Koontz and Taylor Entwhistle as they undress and enjoy the pleasures of a new sexual experience with each other for the first time. Photo by David Silverman.

In a later scene that evokes images of the dark world of vampires and the Dracula saga, hooded figures descend on the stage and then haunt the audience as they move around the house making muted hissing noises. A scream is heard backstage and a frightened woman in a white gown is dragged to the center of the stage and then encircled by the vampire spirits. The young woman played by Gina Marie Koontz is helpless as a prince of darkness strips away her clothes before making her a victim of his evil intentions. Photo by David Silverman.

Eros is a show that will challenge your views of eroticism and sexuality, and the memorable scenes will remain with you long after the performance is over. The six performers reveal a considerable range of talent as they seamlessly move from one segment to another, and their bold and confident performances are the key to the success of Eros.

2010 Naked July Festival is Open

Naked July 2010 opened last evening with the first performances of The Emperor’s New Clothes and Living Canvas – Demons. The shows themselves are extremely entertaining, and, like last year, the Festival organizers have filled the lobby with artwork of a similar theme that audience members can view before they step into the performance space for the evening shows.

This year’s Festival opened with The Emperor’s New Clothes, a creative new adaptation of the classic tale that was written by Keely Haddad-Null, a member of the National Pastime Theater company. The story still features all of the familiar characters, albeit in a much different setting, and in an early scene, the “tailor,” played by Meg Elliott, begins to reveal her schemes to the audience as she coyly asks “ Why work so hard to get other people naked?” It is a question that some of us may have asked ourselves at one time or another, and it soon becomes clear that this ambitious tailor has her reasons.

David Bettino, Taylor Entwistle, and Mary Roberts play the three scheming associates who seek to undo the mayor of the City of Angels, but in the end they are exposed in more ways than they ever imagined. Don Claudin and Miona Harris turn in strong performances as the mayor and his wife Ginny, and they have everyone’s attention as they move around the thrust stage wearing only the new “clothes” that their tailor created just for them. We find that it is true what the tailor says when she observes that all of her fashion creations fit her clients perfectly and that no two outfits are ever exactly the same.

Some details about the new Living Canvas – Demons show have been posted here already, and it is interesting to note that Artistic Director Pete Guither has incorporated something new this year—images projected from the ceiling that are directed straight down to the performing space below. This has created an entirely new dimension to his concept since the nude performers are even more completely enveloped in the rich colorful patterns and textures as they move around the set and the thrust stage area just a few feet from the members of the audience.

In staging four bold new and original shows again this year for the second annual Naked July Festival, Laurence Bryan, Steven Besic, and the entire National Pastime company remind us once again of the tremendous creative potential that Chicago storefront theaters hold for local audiences. The NPT leaders fearlessly confront issues of sensuality and nudity on stage that other theater companies typically avoid, and in doing so, they challenge us to reassess our views about our own bodies and our own lives.

Be sure to find some time this month to see all four shows. Performances of The Emperor’s New Clothes and Living Canvas – Demons are on Friday and Saturday nights, and The Tumultuous Tale of the Tragically Transparent Tunic and Eros are on Thursdays and Sundays. Click here for ticket information—tickets for individual shows are available, and you can also purchase a Festival Pass that will admit you to all of the shows at a discounted price.

The Ultimate in Audience Participation

It is a long-standing tradition with Living Canvas productions to allow any and all interested audience members to experience for themselves what it is like to be a “living canvas”. Free spirited individuals of all ages and sizes get the opportunity at the end of each performance to shed their clothes while the theater is still dark and then step down onto the stage and join the cast for a few minutes as they move through a series of richly colored projections that will cover the entire performing area. 

This year, the directors of Living Canvas – Demons have once again integrated the audience participation segment into the final portion of the show in a way that will make it very easy for interested and curious audience members to join in the fun. At the conclusion of the curtain call at the end of the performance, cast members will invite people to undress while the house lights are still down and then move onto the stage that will already be bathed in colorful patterns. The performers will guide them through some basic movements as rhythmic music adds to the experience. Some people may want to simply stand and watch in amazement as the colors play over their skin. Others will feel totally liberated as they play and dance like children under the cover of the projected images.

Sound outrageous? Perhaps to some, but many people from the audience participate after every show and they all seem to agree that they never really feel exposed on stage since the intricate projected patterns cover their naked bodies like clothing. It’s like body paint without the mess!

At the end of this segment, those audience members who ventured on stage will be able to return to their seats, put on their clothes again in the darkened theater, and then take their seats for an informative question-answer session to end the evening. The performers and directors will take questions from the audience and explain all aspects of the artistic concept and the challenges of staging a Living Canvas production.

So this year, as you watch the energetic performers bring Living Canvas – Demons to life, remember that you too can be part of the experience. It’s easy and it’s fun, and it is definitely an experience you will never forget.

A Tumultuous Tale

This year's Naked July Festival features two adaptations of "The Emperor's New Clothes," a familiar tale most commonly associated with the fable by the Danish storyteller Hans Christian Andersen. But even though the two new plays are based loosely on this classic story, they are unique in many ways. On July 8th, David Denman's play titled The Tumultuous Tale of the Tragically Transparent Tunic directed by Phil Canzano will open on the National Pastime stage with an original take on the familiar story. Much is left to the imagination of the audience since the story is set in an unnamed land and in a time that is vaguely identified as a “post war era.”

In this modern adaptation, a naïve emperor faces many challenges, but he clings to memories of a beautiful relationship with a woman named Moon Beam in the hippie era of the ‘60’s. His present life is far more complicated than that peaceful summer of love, however, since he is surrounded by people who seek to swindle him or plot to take his life. In this photo shot during a weekend rehearsal, the Emperor played by Mike Brown sits on his throne while actors Jen LaTurner, Mallory Schuh, and Ben Zisk vie for his attention.

In a later scene, Mallory Schuh and Arch Harmon work to refine their dialogue as they rehearse a scene from the play. Other actors appearing in The Tumultuous Tale of the Tragically Transparent Tunic include Megan Brown, David Denman, Shawn Goudie, Erin Robinson, and Hubertus Van Lonzenoaer. Some of these versatile actors play more than one character in the play, and the action is fast-paced as they move from role to role.

So what is the emperor’s fate? Will his enemies succeed in their evil plots and schemes or will the forces of good prevail in the end? One thing is certain—this tumultuous tale will leave you with entirely new interpretation of Andersen’s classic tale.


The Art of the Living Canvas

As soon as the house lights go down and the first of a series of projected images fills the stage, you know immediately that you are in for a mesmerizing experience that will delight your senses. The concept of the Living Canvas begins with the notion that the human body is innately beautiful and made even more remarkable when bathed in rich patterns of light and color. The performers are nude, and their bodies become art as they move gracefully through projected images or subtle patterns of light and shadow that fill the stage. Few spoken words are required here since, like many thought-provoking stories told on stage, the details are more effectively revealed through expressive dance movements and compelling music.

This year's show is titled Living Canvas - Demons and it tells a deeply moving story of a young woman named Lily who is drawn away from the world she knows into the unknown mysteries of another world filled with fanciful creatures and amazing adventures. Her sister tries desperately to bring Lily back, but Lily seems to be more fulfilled and happy in this strange new land and resists her sister's efforts to be reunited. It is a voyage of self-discovery for both young women, and the emotional closing scene will linger in your thoughts long after you leave the theater.

What makes The Living Canvas such a remarkable experience is the fact that the audience is first able to watch this extraordinary symphony of light and music on stage and then have an opportunity to find out what is feels like to be a "living canvas." Audience participation opportunities and question-answer segments with the cast are integral parts of all Living Canvas performances, and the directors of this year's show have devised some exciting new ways to allow the audience to be a part of the experience. Living Canvas - Demons opens at 10:00 pm on Friday, July 2, at the National Pastime Theater. Pete Guither is the Artistic Director for this show and Lisa Adams is the writer and director. More information about the show and this unique artistic concept can be found on The Living Canvas web site.

New Clothes for the Naked July Festival

Everyone knows the story of "The Emperor’s New Clothes,” a fable told across many cultures over the years but most commonly associated with the tale by Hans Christian Andersen. The story of an arrogant and selfish leader who is easily duped by a group of swindlers has become a symbol for the hypocrisy and self-delusion that have defined the persona of some politicians or other celebrities. So what does a beloved children’s tale have to do with the Naked July Festival? The answer rests with two new original plays that will premiere at the National Pastime Theater this summer—The Emperor’s New Clothes, adapted by Keely Haddad-Null, and The Tumultuous Tale of the Tragically Transparent Tunic, adapted by David Denman.

In a bold new adaptation created for the Naked July Festival, The Emperor’s New Clothes tells the story of a mayor of Los Angeles, a power-hungry leader whose administration is tainted with scandal and corruption. Like Andersen’s foolish and gullible emperor, this mayor is an easy target for the scheme of a self-serving tailor and ends up standing before the people he professes to serve wearing only a “garment” that he believes can only be viewed by enlightened people like himself. But this time, the leader is not the only one to be blinded and exposed by his own conceit—his wife and advisors also have appointments with the tailor in this modern adaptation of the classic tale.

Under the direction of Carolyne Anderson, the bold and confident cast is coming together quickly while facing a dauntingly short rehearsal schedule. Some of the cast members are new to the Naked July Festival while others performed in shows last July and are also appearing in other Festival shows this summer.

So what will you see when you come to watch The Emperor’s New Clothes on the National Pastime stage? Are you enlightened and sophisticated enough to see the grandeur of the “clothes” that the mayor, his wife, and his advisors are “wearing” during the big parade? Or will you be like the young boy in Andersen’s story who makes his simple and candid observation that they are not wearing any clothes?

The Emperor’s New Clothes kicks off the Naked July Festival with the opening performance at 8:00 on July 2. It will be performed every Friday and Saturday night in July at 8:00.

The Essence of a Chicago Storefront Theater

Anyone who has visited the National Pastime Theater venue or enjoyed watching a performance in the old ballroom space knows that there is a great deal of history associated with this location. Built as the Buena Park Hotel in the late 1920’s in the midst of the Prohibition era, it now serves a contemporary theater audience with reminders of a glamorous though sometimes notorious past. The original marble clock dominates the main wall of what is now the performance space, and the missing hands on the face of the clock seem to instill a sense of timelessness in the room. Those actors and directors who work in this space insist that they feel the magic and energy that seem to emanate from all corners of this historic space.

Given this history, it seems fitting that this location serves as the home for the Naked July Festival for a second summer. During the Prohibition years, revelers sought a private refuge in the “speakeasy” here so that they could assert their personal freedoms as they willfully disregarded the federal ban on alcoholic beverages. In that same spirit, the artistic directors who have created the Naked July Festival are determined to challenge the views of those individuals in today's society who would have us believe that simple nudity in dance or the performing arts is somehow wrong or distasteful or immoral. As NPT founder Laurence Bryan pointed out in a Chicago Tribune article a few years ago, “We are in this place for a reason. We have had a very anti-Establishment theme here and I think it fits the history of the place. This is the perfect place to produce the plays that we do.”

It certainly seems like a perfect place to stage the four performance pieces that make up the Naked July program this summer. The shows are sure to amaze you and challenge your sensibilities. This bold and innovative concept is the essence of storefront theater in Chicago. Don’t miss it.

The Naked July Collection

There is more to the Naked July Festival than live performances, as visitors to the National Pastime Theater will notice as soon as they step into the lobby of the storefront theater on Broadway. The walls are covered with artwork done in a variety of media created by several local artists. The festival planners have created this gallery in part to showcase the work of these talented artists, but also to help prepare the audience for the live performances.

The gallery of art in the Naked July Collection will continue to grow in the weeks ahead, but here is a sampling of the artists and works on display:

Gary Schirmer is an instructor in the Art Department at the College of DuPage and also has experience with the development of museum exhibits and the production of the scenic designs for television and film. His web galleries feature several figure drawings similar to the work displayed in the National Pastime lobby, but he also has a strong interest in the Chicago urban landscape.

Nude figure studies constitute an important segment of Schirmer’s work, and he explains his philosophy in this way: ”I consider the human figure, as well as portraiture, to be an important staple of my artistic development and inspiration, stressing personal depiction, empathic response, anatomical fundamentals, and the expressive uses of both color and medium application.” For more information about Schirmer’s work or to learn how to purchase paintings or drawing that he has created, please click here to visit his web site.

David Denman is the founder of Clock Productions. This production company located in Chicago includes a staff of actors and artistic designers and has been producing theatre and video productions since 1997. Denman is the director of one of the performance pieces in the 2010 Naked July Festival, and several of his paintings are featured in the collection in the theater lobby. Like the example shown here titled Hallway, Denman’s use of colors and stark settings invite comparison to the works of Edward Hopper and they challenge the viewer to reassess familiar surroundings. More examples of Denman’s work can be viewed by clicking on this link to the Clock Productions web site.

Pete Guither has been amazing audience members for years with a unique and captivating art concept that he calls The Living Canvas. Guither works from the premise that the human form is beautiful in all shapes and forms, and then uses the nude bodies of his performers and models as “living canvases” on which to project colorful patterns of light. The first live performances of The Living Canvas took place on a stage at Illinois State University in 2001, and in more recent years, Guither has staged performances in the Chicago area at the Strawdog Theater, Chicago Actor’s Studio, Boxer Rebellion Theater, Victory Gardens Theater, and last year at the National Pastime Theater.

Some samples of Guither’s still photography work are on display in the theater lobby and will give audience members a glimpse of what is in store for them when they step inside the performance space to see The Living Canvas: Demons this summer. Whether he uses colorful projected patterns or the subtle use of light and shadow, Guither challenges the viewer to consider the beauty of the human body in a new way. Be sure to visit the Living Canvas web site to learn more about this unique art concept.

Look for the works by these artists and many more when you visit the National Pastime Theater this summer to experience Naked July in Chicago.

Welcome to Naked July 2010

The Naked July Festival is back. After a very successful debut event in 2009, the creative team at National Pastime Theater is putting the final touches on the details for a new Naked July event this summer.

Once again, the program is filled with stunning performances that have one unifying theme--the celebration of the beauty of the human form.

Shows this year include:

The Emperor's New Clothes
Living Canvas: Demons
The Tumultuous Tale of the Tragically Transparent Tunic
Eros

Information about shows and tickets can be found on the Naked July Festival web site or at the theater venue:

National Pastime Theatre Ensemble
4139 North Broadway Ave.
Chicago, IL. 60613
Phone: 773-327-7077 | 733-327-7422
E-mail: nationalpastime@sbcglobal.net