The Beast Women Are Back!

The Beast Women are back by popular demand to take center stage at the 2012 Naked July Festival, and if you saw their performances at last year’s event, you will know why. These talented performers really know how to turn up the heat, and you can be sure that they will add a new dimension to the theme of Naked July 2012—Rise From the Embers.

The Beast Women will perform on the NPT stage only twice this year, so you will have act now in order to get seats for the performances. As you can see by the lists of performers below, each of the two shows features a different group of performers. The acts feature a variety of performance styles, and each ensemble member has been asked to use the “Rise From the Embers” theme as an inspiration for her work. In keeping with the spirit of Naked July, the Beast Women will be taking their acts to exciting new levels of sensuality. To give a sense of what audiences can expect, Jill Erickson, one of the founders of the Beast Women ensemble, suggests, “As always we are going to uncover our ladies in all possible ways--physically, mentally, comically, and erotically.”


Thursday, July 26th At 8:00pm - Hosted By Michelle Power

Alicia Sowisdral - Storyteller/Spoken Word Artist

Diana Carlson - Comedic Burlesque Performer
Marianne Schaefer a.k.a. Gillian Holloroyd - Erotic Poet

Sarah Heston – Modern Dancer

Caitlin Bergh - Standup Comedian
Holliwood Monroe - Singer/Burlesque Artist

Po' Chop - Burlesque Performer

Robin Fine - Poet

Roberta Miles – Monologist

Sunday, July 29th At 8:00pm - Hosted By Michelle Power

Viktoria - Russian Belly Dancer
Kristin Clifford - Standup Comedian

Elle Cassaza - Singer/Guitar Player

Bella Canto - Burlesque Performer

Kamani Raqs - Belly Dancer
Red Hot Annie - Burlesque Performer

Shannon Unick - Poet 

Colleen Lawson - Poet

Marianne a.k.a. Gillian Holoroyd  - Erotic Poet

Sarah Heston – Dancer

The fun starts tonight on the National Pastime Theater stage and continues again on Sunday. Thanks to Hunter Mathews for sharing the photos used in this story.

The Art of Naked July

With a headline show whose title includes an allusion to a famous surrealist artist, it is not surprising that art plays a central role in the 2012 Naked July Festival at the National Pastime Theater. There are fine art pieces for sale in the theater lobby, a beautiful large hand-painted backdrop in the main theater space, and performers who are “costumed” in nothing more than make-up and body paint. The person who has been directly involved in all of these endeavors is Gary Schirmer, a local artist who has been involved with the Naked July events for the past several years.

Gary Schirmer, shown here during a pre-show body painting session with actor Michael O’Toole, is a working artist and educator who has worked from the human form his entire artistic career. He experiments with multiple media such as chalk pastel, oil paint and oil pastel, ink and watercolor, and mixtures of those media. He combines portraiture and anatomical study with formal considerations of composition and surface treatment. He is the curator of the Naked July fine art gallery in the theater lobby again this summer, and he has assembled a very diverse and visually striking collections of art pieces.

Gary also plays an integral role in the production of References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot since he does the body painting work on four of the actors in the show. His painting work on Virginia Marie (Gabriela) and Michael O’Toole (Moon) supplements the costume designs created by Molly Kral, but his work on Alison Chemers (Cat) and Cameron Peart (Coyote) is even more critical since these two actors perform completely nude except for the painted designs he applies before each performance. In the sequence of photos below showing the painting process on Alison Chemers, Gary uses a series of French curve templates and an airbrush to create the soft and sensual shapes that are fitting for the domestic housecat character that she plays. The pastel colors applied by airbrush and standard paint brush add to the visual effect.

Schirmer uses a different approach and a different set of painting templates when painting Cameron Peart. Her character is the Coyote, a creature of the wild who survives in the harsh desert environment, and so the painted designs here are more angular with a brown palette to suggest the natural colors of the desert. In this sequence of photos, you can see the progress of the painting process from the beginning until the final touches are applied.

When you see the performance of References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot, you will also see Gary Schirmer’s work on the NPT stage since he painted the large backdrop that is seen throughout the show. It is original work that took many days to complete. The photos below show the painting work in progress.

Don't Miss the Naked July Gallery

Once again, the halls of the lobby of the National Pastime Theater are filled with outstanding examples of artwork created by some of the most talented artists in the Chicago metropolitan area. As you might expect of an art gallery created in conjunction with the annual Naked July festival, the works all celebrate the beauty of the human form. The art pieces on display represent a wide variety of media including ceramics, chalk pastel, charcoal, photography, silkscreen, and mixed media. Gary Schirmer is serving as the curator of the art gallery again this year, and he has included a few pieces of his own work in the collection. Here are some examples of the artwork in the gallery along with some information about the artists who created the pieces.

Jennifer Prucha is a passionate student of art and works extensively from the figure in a number of different mediums. She is also very interested and active in oil and watercolor painting, as well as photography, outside the genre of figure painting.  Her work with the figure has focused on experimentation with medium mixing and handling, the development of textural nuance, and the anatomical subtleties of the human form. Her work has been an invaluable asset to her personal fulfillment and growth.

Dorey Kronick is a mixed media artist, graphic designer, photographer, and an art and music curator who is freshly moved to Chicago from San Francisco. As a nomadic soul, she has worked all over the state of California in the creative field for over three years. Before, during, and after graduating with a BA in Graphic Design and a Minor in Studio Arts in 2009, she's been developing an ever-expanding list of dynamic art/design projects for a wide range of unique clients. A majority of her design work has been done with non-profit organizations, small businesses, entrepreneurs, private clients, musicians, and artists, with the exception of a few corporate clients. Outside of these endeavors, she has also instructed group 5th-9th grade classes in both Graphic Design and Digital Photography, as well as written a Graphic Design summer program curriculum called “Creativity for Life”.

Louis Mustari is a retired professor of Art History from Northern Illinois University and draws regularly from the human form. He also brings local artists together and maintains a drawing group with figure models in Dekalb. His work carries not only a personal discipline, but the discipline of the classical tradition of the rendering of the human form. 

Roy Villalobos is a self-didactic artist who finds in art the way of bringing to light the deepest feelings of the spirit and soul. He believes that art is a cleansing process that exposes the weaknesses and strengths that reside within him and that noble gifts come from a divine source. He leaves his subconscious to guide him through the creation of surrealistic metamorphic human figures. These figures become a reaction of personal experiences lived with all relations searching for the muse that will bring about balance.

More pieces from the NJ collection will be showcased in future blog posts in the weeks ahead. The artwork will be on display during the entire run of the 2012 Naked July Festival, and all of the pieces are on sale. When you come to see the performances on stage this month, be sure to arrive at the theater lobby early so that you have time to look over these outstanding works of art. Members of the NPT staff will be on hand to answer any questions you might have about purchasing a piece of art.

The Cat and the Coyote

In the fabric of magical realism that Jose Rivera has woven in References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot, the central character is a woman named Gabriela who moves seamlessly between two worlds. One is the harsh reality of her lonely existence in a bleak desert setting and the other a more sensual dream world filled with an amorous Moon who plays a violin while perched atop an old refrigerator and two anthropomorphic creatures—her household Cat and a wild Coyote with a taste for hot animal sex. We see firsthand the state of her strained relationship with her husband Benito when he returns from a tour of duty in the Middle East, but it is only when Gabriela steps into her fantasy world that we truly grasp the magnitude of her real desires.

The Cat and the Coyote are key players in the dream sequences in the play since their sexual encounters reflect some of the fantasies and sensual desires that haunt Gabriela. The following exchange between the two exemplifies Rivera's poetic style as the Coyote describes the exhilarating power of unrestrained sex:

Coyote:
You scream so hard your ancestors hear you.
 It’s not even sex.
It’s beyond sex.
Beyond bodies, come on, Cat.

Animal on animal.
I’ll knock you around so hard
All nine of your lives will have orgasms.

Cat:
…All nine?

Coyote:

Then you’ll hear little coyote—cats--

Tough mutant sons of bitches
Who love the taste of blood
And the chase and the moonlit night.

Cat:

I can’t do that—I’m fixed.

As Gabriela watches the steamy exchange between the two creatures, we begin to understand the circumstances of her own life and the fact that her relationship with her husband is unfulfilling to her both physically and emotionally.

Keely Haddad-Null and her artistic team have made some creative decisions as to the ways in which the Cat and the Coyote are portrayed on stage in their production at the National Pastime Theater. First, unlike many other productions of Rivera’s play in which these dream world denizens have typically been clothed in costumes of fur or masks, in this play Alison Chemers as the Cat and Cameron Peart as the Coyote play their roles completely nude, covered only in body paint to suggest their animal qualities. It is a bold staging decision that demands considerable poise and courage from these two talented actors, but the result is a visually striking presence on stage that helps draw the audience even deeper into Gabriela’s fantasy world that provides her with a sensual refuge from the harsh reality of her lonely and isolated life in the desert. Second, while the role of the Coyote is typically played by a male actor in most productions of this play, the NPT production features a female actor playing the role. This casting creates a different and powerful tension on stage as we watch the two creatures make sexual advances toward each other, and it also provides another dynamic to the surreal fantasy world that is played out before our eyes.

The Coyote is badly wounded by a violent outburst from the amorous but angry Moon early in the story, and near the end of the play, we see the Coyote pacing slowly and quietly across the stage wearing a diaphanous white gown to suggest her ghostly presence in Gabriela’s dreams. It is a portent of events to come as the final events of the story are played out on stage.

Alison Chemers and Cameron Peart give outstanding performances in their challenging roles, and artist Gary Schirmer is to be congratulated for his work each night to create the surreal animal illusions with his body paint.

Eureka!

The Living Canvas: Eureka has something for every taste—serene solo pieces, whimsical action sequences, haunting operatic arias, sensual dances, and light-hearted segments that are just plain fun. The overarching theme of this year’s Living Canvas show is the notion of discovery, and the audience will be challenged to look for the connections as they witness this wide variety of performance pieces. Eureka is fun, serious, evocative, and sensual. Above all, it is a celebration of the beauty of the human body, and it is a mesmerizing experience to watch the nude performers move gracefully through projected patterns and textures as they work around the stage just a few feet from members of the audience.

Every year, Pete Guither and his talented production team come up with new innovations that take the Living Canvas concept to new artistic and technological levels. In the early years, banks of slide projectors with faders filled the stage with colorful images. This technology eventually gave way to more versatile LCD projectors mounted at the back of the theater and in the lighting grid above the heads of the performers. LCD projectors are still being used this year to fill the stage with colorful patterns and textures, but with an exciting new dimension—small hand-held units that allow the performers to bring the light right down to the stage within a few feet of the action. The result is incredible since this innovation gives Guither the ability to bring his projections to places in the performing space that could not have been lit with the stationary projection units.

It is an amazing experience to watch a Living Canvas rehearsal. The ensemble has only been rehearsing together for a few weeks, but to see them work together so smoothly, it would be easy to assume that they had been together for a much longer period of time. The entire cast is actively involved in all phases of the production and they freely offer suggestions about the concepts underlying each of the performance pieces, the choreography of the dance movements, and the projected images that work best in each segment of the show. Each performer has many responsibilities, but when new tasks or challenges arise, ensemble members generously offer to help. For many of the members of the cast, this is the first time they have ever performed nude on stage, but their poise, confidence, and enthusiasm remind us all that it is natural and empowering to celebrate the beauty of the human body.

Audience participation has always been an important element of each Living Canvas performance, and this year the popular segment has been slotted in the middle of the show rather than at the end where it has been many times in past years. The segment involves a routine that is best done with many participants, and any intrepid members of the audience who might want to try the Living Canvas experience are invited to shed their clothes at this point in the show and join the cast onstage as they watch the beautiful colorful projections play on their bodies. The new National Pastime stage is larger than the stage used in past years, so there is plenty of room for volunteers!

The Living Canvas: Eureka opens at 10:00 pm on Friday, June 29, and will run until August 11. It’s an outstanding show with a group of very talented performers who will amaze you with their originality, energy, and grace. Individual tickets for this show are available at the Brown Paper Tickets site, but if you plan to see all of the shows in the Naked July festival this summer, you will save money by purchasing a Festival Pass that will admit you to all of the shows and other special events that are scheduled. The fun starts on Friday—see you at the National Pastime Theater.

It's Getting Hot at the National Pastime Theater

All of the shows to be featured at the upcoming Naked July festival are in their final week of rehearsal, and once again, Keely Haddad-Null has done a masterful job of crafting a play for the festival that is mystical, sensual, and thought-provoking. She is the director of Jose Rivera’s References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot, and she has challenged her actors to look deep into their own experiences to dredge up the passions and the hostilities that fuel Rivera’s story.

When she was recently asked why she felt that the play by Jose Rivera was a fitting selection as the headline show for Naked July, Haddad-Null offered this explanation: “Naked July: Art Stripped Down is a festival that celebrates the naked body as natural, beautiful, and true. Strip away the layers of clothing - items that appear to indicate a person's culture, values, or style--and you discover a human being--nothing more, nothing less. References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot centers on this search for truth. The story revolves around a series of events that occur over and over again. Gabriela awaits her husband's return home from the war. Benito enters and the husband and wife attempt to reunite, but small everyday occurrences keep pushing them apart. The cycle of fights to the death, hot sweaty sex, and search for the primary and real love continue.” 

Since Jose Rivera’s play is filled with dreamlike and surreal elements that set it apart from more traditional plays, Keely Haddad-Null reflected on some of the biggest challenges in capturing the full power of Rivera’s language and vision to maximize the magical experience for the audience. “Of course there are technical challenges to creating a magical world in which the moon plays a violin, a cat and coyote discuss their fears and desires, and a refrigerator rains sand. Still the biggest challenge is taking a surreal world and putting it into a concrete world that everyone understands. Each individual has a different idea of what a 'surreal' or 'dreamlike' world looks like, sounds like, or smells like. Creating this world in theater, which is by necessity a collaborative process, requires everyone to have a strong foothold in the tangible elements of this world in order for it to become a cohesive unit as opposed to a jumbled mess of ideas. This has forced our team - both cast and crew - to work in tandem and, as a pleasant side effect, this has brought everyone involved closer together.”

Michael O’Toole sits perched atop an old refrigerator through much of the play and offers his observations of life and love as the Moon when he is not playing his violin. Alison Chemers and Cameron Peart are the Cat and the Coyote, strutting the stage with only body paint covering their nude bodies--a fitting way to suggest their animal identities. The real heat is generated by Gabriela and Benito, the main characters played by Virginia Marie and Ernesto Melchor, Jr. Their dreams and disappointments are played our before our eyes as well as those of an oversexed neighbor boy (played by Nelson Rodriquez) who wants nothing more than to lose his virginity to the woman who occupies his thoughts and dreams.

This is an extremely entertaining production that works well as the foundation show for Naked July 2012. References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot opens at 8:00 pm on Friday, June 29, and Individual tickets for the show as well as Festival Passes good for all of the Naked July shows and special events this summer are available online at the secure Brown Paper Ticket site. Experience the passion and the sensuality at Naked July 2012.

Cameron Peart (center) gives some fighting tips to Virginia Marie and Ernesto Melchor, Jr, during a recent rehearsal.

Naked July Preview Night on June 23!

If you are among the many people who are anxiously awaiting the 2012 edition of the Naked July Festival, the artistic team at the National Pastime Theater has the perfect solution for you—a special “sneak peek” night featuring short segments from all of the shows that will be included in the Naked July 2012 celebration. This preview has become a much anticipated event each year since it allows audience members to get a first look at each of the shows, meet with the performers and directors, enjoy live music, and view the gallery of artwork on display in the theater lobby. It’s also a great opportunity to get a look at the great new performance space in the Preston Bradley Building on Lawrence Avenue in the Uptown neighborhood. Credit goes to Warren Winter/PSG for the photo of the new performing space shown here.

The Preview Night festivities begin at 8:00 pm on Saturday, June 23, and admission is free for people who have purchased a Naked July Festival Pass. A Festival Pass is a great value for people who plan to attend all of the shows this summer since it includes a ticket to each of the featured shows as well as special events that are scheduled throughout the run of the festival. If you have not yet purchased a Festival Pass, just click this link to go to the Brown Paper Ticket secure online ticket site:

Individual tickets for the Preview Night may be purchased at the door on the night of the event for $10.

If you have not attended Naked July events in past years, you should mark this event on your calendar and join the celebration. Naked July is about celebrating the beauty of the human body, and what makes this festival special is that there are many opportunities for audience members to get in the spirit and participate. In this sense, Naked July is a perfect manifestation of the self-stated vision of this bold theater company—“National Pastime Theater ensemble has the courage and the artistic vision. We are a company with a new reason for theater: setting to rights the jaded viewpoints of generations weaned on passive entertainment forms. No other theater in Chicago can offer such fearless exploitation of your senses. Where else but the National Pastime Theater lives the promise of the impossible?”

The clothes start coming off on June 23 and the celebration lasts until the beginning of August. Don’t miss the fun!

Richmond Jim--A Classic is Revived

One of the real benefits of attending the Naked July Festival hosted by the National Pastime Theater each summer is the opportunity to see bold and thought-provoking performances that are not likely to be staged in other venues around the city. Some shows get their premiere staging at NPT during the month-long Naked July festival, while others, such as the classic play by Cal Yeomans titled Richmond Jim, are revived after a long absence to entertain and challenge new audiences. Richmond Jim is directed by David Zak and is produced by Pride Films and Plays as part of the 2012 Naked July schedule.

Richmond Jim was the first successful play by Cal Yeomans. It premiered in San Francisco at the newly formed Theatre Rhinoceros and was selected as the Best Gay Play of the Year in 1979. Yeomans wrote several other plays over the next few years, but then turned his attention to poetry and photography in the mid-1980’s and specialized in creating artistic male nude images.  When a curator prepared an exhibition of some of his photography and lauded him for his groundbreaking plays, Yeomans replied that "my pictures say it better than my words ever did." Looking back, it is clear that his words and his images opened new frontiers for a generation of creative artists to follow.

Richmond Jim provides a compelling look into the gay community before the AIDS epidemic changed the landscape forever. PFP's Executive Director David Zak explains the project like this—“As we explore our mission to develop 'what's new and who's next' in LGBT plays and screenplays, we have also had the chance to explore important writing that has come before. When I first read Richmond Jim, I felt strongly that this play - which is a wonderful reflection of gay life before AIDS - would touch those who lived through this period, and teach those who have been born since."

The production includes performances by Kris Hyland (Jim), Jamie Smith (Biddy), and Chris Kossen (Mike). The Friday and Saturday performances start at midnight, but shows are scheduled for 8:00 pm during weekdays and at 6:00 pm for some special Sunday performances. More information about the Pride Films and Plays project can be found on their website. Thanks to David Zak for providing the photos used in this article.

Collaboration and Discovery

We have all experienced “eureka” moments at times in our lives when the figurative light bulb comes on in our heads and we grasp solutions or gain new insights to the mysteries in our lives. It is this spirit of self-discovery and epiphany that supplies both the title and the central theme of the 2012 Living Canvas show at the National Pastime Theater. Eureka will amaze audience members as they watch the talented cast of fifteen nude performers move across the stage bathed in colorful projected patterns and textures, and it will invite viewers to experience the liberating sensation of self-discovery for themselves at one point in the performance.

In one sense, Eureka takes the Living Canvas ensemble back to its formative roots. When Pete Guither staged his premiere Chicago performance of the Living Canvas on the Strawdog Theater stage back in the summer of 2001, the concept consisted of a series of short and visually compelling performance pieces. As the project evolved over the years, shorter vignettes gave way to full unified stories such as those told in the more recent memorable performances of Rain, Demons, and Nocturne. This year, the artistic team and the talented cast of performers have chosen to create a variety of individual pieces that will allow them to focus on those powerful moments of self-discovery that help to define and enrich our lives. Some of the segments will be solo performances or showcase the talents of a small group of performers while others will feature the full cast filling the entire performance space.

The notion of full collaboration has always been at the core of the Living Canvas concept, and the ability of the performers to work together creatively is a key consideration during the audition process. That collective spirit of creativity and innovation is even more apparent in this year’s production since ensemble members are responsible for developing the concepts and working with other ensemble members to bring their visions to the stage. Meagan Piccochi (pictured below leading a recent rehearsal) is working as a choreographer for the show, and she is joined by other members of the artistic team that includes Pete Guither, Adam Fox, Lisa Adams and Bill Daniel—all veterans of previous Living Canvas shows.

Since the new National Pastime Theater performing space is larger than the stage used for Naked July events in past years, the Eureka cast and artistic team have many new options as they develop both the dance moves and the projected light images to fill the space. As always, Pete Guither has promised some new technological innovations to make good use of the new performing space and to create the most powerful and memorable visual experience for the audience.

As noted above, each Living Canvas performance gives audience members an opportunity to experience the liberating sensation of shedding their clothes and discovering what it is like to be a “living canvas” as they move through a landscape of colorful projected patterns. The audience participation segment is completely voluntary, of course, but it is a unique chance to experience a marvelous “eureka” moment in the voyage of self-discovery.

You can use this link to read more about The Living Canvas or to see galleries of images from past performances. Eureka opens at 10:00 pm on June 29 and runs until August 11.

Surrealism and Sexual Desire

Picture a lonely and isolated woman living alone in a desolate desert region awaiting her husband’s return from a military deployment. Mix in the dreamlike musings of an all-seeing moon, a gentle house cat, a lustful coyote, an oversexed teenage neighbor, and a sexually frustrated husband who craves sex after months of abstinence, and you have the makings of an intensely heated drama. These are the essential ingredients of the play titled References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot, the headline show at the 2012 Naked July Festival at the National Pastime Theater.

Like the paintings of Salvador Dali, Jose Rivera’s play has a surreal quality. The dialogue is often dreamlike and poetic, and the suggestive language reveals the intense sexual yearnings that drive the actions of several of the characters who surround the woman named Gabriela who is more interested in emotional passion than physical pleasure. Rivera’s language is both intriguing and challenging, and the result is a theater experience that will cause audience members to examine their own views of personal relationships and sexual desires.

References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot opens at 8:00 pm on Friday, June 29, and will run until Saturday, August 11. Cast members include Virginia Marie (Gabriela), Ernesto Melchor Jr. (Benito), Michael O’Toole (Moon), Cameron Peart (Coyote), Alison Chemers (Cat), and Nelson Rodriguez (Martin). Under the direction of Keely Haddad-Null, this show mixes desires of the unconscious with the stark reality of alienation in a foreign desert and adds a thick layer of surrealist aesthetic to the naked body—qualities that are at the core of the Naked July concept. Don't miss this great show and all of the other performances and special events that are scheduled as part of Naked July 2012.

Naked July 2012 is Coming Soon!

Plans are already underway for the immensely popular Naked July Festival at the National Pastime Theater, an annual event that features bold and exciting productions that explore new creative boundaries and challenge audience members to rethink their notions about the human experience. Performances for the Naked July 2012 Festival will be held from June 29-August 11 at the new location—941 W. Lawrence.

Jose Rivera's References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot is the headliner for The National Pastime Theater's fourth annual Naked July: Art Stripped Down festival. NPT is an experimental theater company that pushes the bounds of live theater. This festival celebrates the human body in its most natural form. This year's theme is “Rising from the Embers”.

Returning to the Naked July Festival for another year is the Living Canvas ensemble under the artistic direction of Pete Guither.  For the past several years, audiences have been treated to some amazing performances as bold and talented nude dancers tell their story as they move gracefully across the stage bathed in a colorful kaleidoscope of projected images. The title of the 2012 production is The Living Canvas: Eureka.

Be sure to watch for new posts on the NPT web site and this blog in the weeks ahead for news about the 2012 Naked July Festival and a variety of events that will be scheduled as a part of the annual summer celebration.

Last Weekend for Naked July 2011

Another very successful Naked July Festival is drawing to a close at the National Pastime Theater, and now only one weekend of performances remains on the calendar before the festival comes to an end. With three different shows scheduled for the NPT stage this weekend, there is still time to see these outstanding shows for the first time or to return for one last look before they are gone.

Salome (August 19 and 20, 8:00 pm)

Many theater companies have staged Oscar Wilde’s classic tale of lust and greed employing a wide variety of interpretations. While some directors have opted for gothic or contemporary settings, sometimes with kinky overtones, Laurence Bryan has crafted his NPT production in a no-nonsense manner that remains true to Wilde’s original intent. Many critics have praised the current production of Salome that is one of the anchors of the Naked July Festival this summer, but Brian Kirst in a recent issue of Sheridan Road Magazine sums up the strength of Bryan’s show as well as any writer:

“Oscar Wilde’s Salome recounts the biblical tale of the privileged and spoiled stepdaughter of a king who demands the head of John the Baptist for a seductive dance. And, indeed, Salome’s dance is a whirling marvel, here, delivered with pout and criminal intent by her young portrayer, Rebecca Wolfe. What stands out the most in this simply elegant production, though, is the beauty of Wilde’s language. Whether exploring the tormented complexities of passion or the blank beauty of the moon, Wilde’s words are poetically intriguing and frankly honest. Director Lawrence Bryan thankfully lets them speak for themselves and guides his cast to subtle, honest portrayals.”

The Living Canvas: Rain (August 19 and 20, 10:00 pm)
Much has already been written on this site about the incredible Living Canvas multimedia experience, and audiences this year have been especially intrigued and amazed by the addition of water to the story this summer. Rain features one of the larger Living Canvas ensembles in recent history, and the fourteen talented men and women who perform nude while moving through an ever-changing kaleidoscope of colorful projected patterns draw the audience into a compelling story that will create indelible memories that will persist long after the house lights go up. The audience participation segment is as popular as ever, so if you are looking for relief from the summer heat, you have two more opportunities this weekend to toss your clothes, get wet with the cast onstage, and become a part of the “living canvas” experience.

Carnival of Curiosity and Chaos (August 19, Midnight)
This late-night show by some of Chicago’s most outrageous and intrepid performance artists has something to offer for audience members who are interested in acts that are beyond the realm of the ordinary or traditional. This unique concept is best summed up in the words of performer Tom Hill:

"The freaks display their acts for peoples’ unquenchable curiosity for the outlandish and the unknown. Witness these human attractions for yourself--you will not see anything like this. The dangers are real; therefore, this is not for the faint of heart. It is an 18 and older show. Throughout the show, audience members will be given opportunities to assist with the freak performers."

Remember also that the Naked July art auction will continue until the final performances on Saturday, August 20, so plan to arrive at the theater early so you have time to look over the paintings, drawings, and sculptures that fill the NPT lobby. Don’t miss out on the final days of Naked July 2011—call the NPT box office at 773-327-7077 or visit the secure online ticket site to reserve your seats.

Rave Reviews for Rain

If you have been following the theater reviews for the Naked July shows this summer, you have probably noticed that several reviewers have heaped praise on the current show by the Living Canvas ensemble titled Rain. If you have missed them, here are some excerpts from several reviews with links to the full versions of the stories. There are only four more performances for this great Living Canvas show on the schedule this summer (August 12, 13, 19, and 20), so if you want to be mesmerized by this marvelous multimedia experience, be sure to get to the National Pastime Theater in the next two weeks before the shows close on August 20.


Writing in a recent issue of New City, Zach Freeman writes “Rain is the eighth Living Canvas show in Chicago and it’s clear that artistic director Pete Guither has really made this one a collaborative effort. Working with a script by Bill Daniel, sound designer Isaac Mandel and director/choreographer Gaby Labotka (along with the talented cast) have created a moving, funny and visually striking piece that plays out beneath Guither’s projected images. Like the water that the show constantly references, Rain effortlessly flows from one vignette to the next till it reaches its impressively splashy finale. Most notably, Rain succeeds in its mission of letting the audience see the (non-sexual) beauty in bodies of all shapes and sizes.” Read the full article in the online version of New City.

Tom Williams wrote an extensive review of Rain in the Chicago Critic blog and he gives the show a “recommended” rating. After presenting a detailed synopsis of the plot of the show, Williams sums up the spirit of Rain with his final observations: “The fun culminates with a funny rendition of “Singing in The Rain” that found the cast splashing water around while spinning their umbrellas. The audience roared their approval. The show was fun especially for those adventurous audience members who eagerly stripped naked and joined the cast on stage upon an invitation from the cast. The fun show has a visceral appeal for more than the voyeuristic; it is a pleasant and tasteful expression of the human body. The cast and the audience have fun and no one is getting exploited- all play homage to the natural beauty of the body. If you’ve never been to a Living Canvas show – try this one – it’s fun.” The full review is available at the Chicago Critic site.

Likewise, the reviewer for the Sheridan Road blog had praise for the technological qualities of the lighting and sound that are at the core of this multimedia show, and concludes with this observation: “Because of this technical ingenuity, The Living Canvas: Rain ultimately offers itself up as one of the most unique and intensely beautiful stage shows that one is lucky enough to experience in their lifetime.” Click here to read the full article on the Sheridan Road site.

Don’t miss the final shows this summer and, when you do come to National Pastime Theater to immerse yourself in this amazing experience, don’t forget that you are invited to join the cast onstage at the end of the show to shed your inhibitions (and your clothes) to find out what it feels like to be a “living canvas.”

Vagina Monologues and a Curious Carnival

As the 2011 Naked July Festival at National Pastime Theater winds down, there are still several special events and performances left on the schedule before closing night later this month. Both Salome and Living Canvas: Rain have been extended until Saturday, August 20, and two other special performances have been added to the schedule as well.

The Vagina Monologues, the groundbreaking play by Eve Ensler, will be performed in a staged reading at 6:00 pm on Sunday, August 7. Since the first version of this play was performed in 1996, Ensler’s work based on interviews with more than 200 women has received critical acclaim and has spawned a national movement known as VDay that has helped to raise awareness and funds for rape crisis centers and other resources for women. Kaitlen Osburn directed this staged reading which was added to the Naked July schedule as one more means to advance the themes of the festival this year.

Another recent addition to the Naked July schedule is a completely unique and outrageous performance piece titled The Carnival of Curiosity & Chaos: Male Review Show. With acts including trapeze silks, “human bulletin board,” bed of nails, and “block head,” this event is sure to satisfy those who seek courageous and unusual live entertainment. Tom Hill, Jeffrey Pressley, and Eric Green are the scheduled performers for this special event that will be staged at midnight on Friday, August 19.

The true nature of this unique performance piece is revealed on the Carnival of Curiousity and Chaos Facebook page:

"Witness These Human Attractions For Yourself, You Will Not See Anything Like This. The Dangers Are Real Therefore These Performances Are Not for the Faint of Heart And Are 18 And Older Shows. Throughout The Show Audience Members Will Be Given Opportunities To Assist With The Freak Performers, Talk About An Up-Close Experience!"


Only two weeks remain for Naked July 2011, so if you have not yet made your way to National Pastime Theater, be sure to check out these special shows and get your tickets for Salome and Rain before they close on August 20.

Special Events at the Naked July Festival

In keeping with the underlying themes of the Naked July Festival and the celebration of the human form in all artistic media, the producers have once again scheduled a series of special events throughout the month of July so that artists and audience members can experience a variety of creative efforts.

As part of the Preview Night festivities on June 24, a group of artists and models got together in the NPT performance space and gave audience members a chance to mingle with them and observe the creative process as they created nude figure studies. Male and female models posed for the group of artists, and the dress code was clothing optional for artists as well as the models. Gary Schirmer, the curator of the fine art gallery in the NPT lobby, shared this photo from the event and was the organizer of the figure drawing special event. Don't forget to check out the outstanding fine art drawings, paintings, and sculptures in the lobby before and after you see the shows--the art pieces are all up for auction, so ask about the bidding process and the reserve prices when you pick up your tickets.

On Sunday, July 10, audience members were treated to a special multimedia performance by a group called the Impending Behavior Orchestra. The musical group is led by Barry Bennett who was pleased to return to National Pastime Theater where he performed many years ago, and he was joined by musicians Toru Hironaka and Edward Reardon. Kristin Reeves created the video segments and worked with the musicians throughout the evening as they created an “improvised splendor of sound and sight.” Reeves is a multimedia artist whose work always involves bodies and space and has been contributing moving images to live solo and collaborative performances in Chicago since 2005. You can read more about the creative work of these performance artists on their web sites—Barry Bennett Sounds and Kristin Reeves: Artist.


Be sure to watch the Naked July web site for information about upcoming special events and news about the shows that are appearing on the NPT stage this summer—Salome, Rain, and the Beast Women. You can also find the screening times for the Naked July cinema series on the web site.

The Naked July Fine Art Auction is Open

As noted in the previous post, the lobby and front windows of the National Pastime Theater are filled with drawings, paintings, sculptures, and ceramic pieces that challenge viewers to consider the human form in new and different ways. As you explore this collection of art, please remember that all of the pieces on display are for sale through an auction process that will continue through the entire run of the Naked July Festival. The artists have set reserve or minimum prices for their pieces, and the items will be sold to the highest bidders at the end of the festival if the final bids meet or exceed the minimum prices set by the artists. Be sure to ask for information about the auction when you arrive at the theater. Here are more examples of the great art on display:

Steven Hudson has two very striking and thought-provoking pieces hanging on the gallery walls in the NPT lobby this summer. Here are some thoughts that Hudson shared about his art concepts: “My dramas offer a fantastic view of humanity existing after some unspecified cataclysm. Here, the apocalypse is a conceit dulled by reiteration. Revealed in an unforgiving light, the pulpy and flawed inhabitants convulse or grope about, naked, as if on display. Glances are averted, gestures are uneasy. Names and places are no more. Their time of judgment has long been forgotten. Littered about them are token remnants of our own materialism, it’s meaning stripped away and replaced with something cryptic.” Be sure to visit Hudson's amazing web site to see more examples of his work.

Clare Rosean is a Chicago native who received her BFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 2010. Rosean is currently pursuing her MFA at the University of Chicago. She describes her work as “good clean fun” and she has posted a variety of her imaginative drawings paintings online. You can click this link to visit her web site to view more images or to purchase cards, stationery, and prints.

Mila Ryk is an immigrant from Ukraine who writes that the “most vivid memories I have of my childhood were the many days I spent painting, sculpting and drawing. My immigration from Ukraine to the United States changed many things for me. I am thankful for the opportunity to do something I love and be able to express myself in a way that is, I hope, inspirational to others.” Ryk has formed a company called Art & Beyond Studio, Inc. that was established in 2003. She is an Honored Member of the Cambridge Who's Who Registry of Executives and Professionals, and the Hamilton’s Who's Who in the “Artist” field. Ryk is also a member of the Chicago Artists Coalition, the Skokie Art Guild, the Elmhurst Artists' Guild and am a member of the Morton Grove Chamber of Commerce. Images of many of her art pieces are posted on her web site that she calls “Imaginary Expressionism.”

Ron Bork is an honors graduate of the University of Illinois School of Fine and Applied Arts, and continues studies at the American Academy of Art, the Palette and Chisel Academy and the College of DuPage, as well as various workshops. His work includes historical narrative subjects as well as figural and landscape work.


Be sure to ask for the auction list when you come to National Pastime Theater to see the performances during the remaining weeks in July. You can help to support local artists and add a new piece of art to your own collection.

Don't Miss the Naked July Fine Art Gallery

Once again, the theater lobby and front windows of the National Pastime Theater have been transformed into a fine art gallery featuring the work of some of the most talented artists in the Chicago metropolitan area. As you might guess, since this gallery was created during the annual Naked July Festival, figure drawings and paintings as well as other works that celebrate the beauty of the human body are the primary focus of the exhibit. All of the pieces will be on display during the festival in July and are available for purchase.

Patty Davoust created the eye-catching sculpture shown above that is displayed in the front window of the National Pastime Theater as well as a ceramic piece that hangs in the theater lobby. Patty is a resident artist at the Batavia Artists Association at Water Street Studios and a part-time instructor at the Moraine Valley Community College. Patty has also been an inspiration for other artists by working as a figure model for the past several years.

Gary Schirmer returns to NPT this summer, this time as the curator of the fine arts gallery for Naked July 2011. Gary has also helped to advance the understanding of the artistic process by facilitating figure drawing sessions at National Pastime Theater during the summer festival. In addition to his work as curator of the exhibit, Gary also has pieces of his own on display in the theater lobby again this summer. Be sure to visit his web site to learn more about his work or to contact him about purchasing one of his drawings.

Lauren Smith is a Chicago-based artist and writer whose portfolio includes drawings, sculptures, paintings, and children’s books. Lauren is a graduate of The School of the Art Institute of Chicago with a BFA in illustration and material studies. Her illustrations have been published and sold in several venues including Lulu.com publishing and Amazon.com. You can read more about this talented artist or commission her for a project by visiting her web site.


Louis Mustari is a retired art professor at the School of Art at Northern Illinois University who now works in drawing and woodcarving. He was the focus of a one man exhibition titled Drawing the Human Figure, of which he wrote “My work is the direct outcome of some of my most basic ideas. I believe visual art to be an aesthetic expression, in any given medium, that communicates something of the human condition and experience. The most direct, if not the best, way of communicating is by that which we hold in common: our human body.”


If you plan to attend any of the Naked July performances this month, be sure to come to the theater early so that you have time to look at the outstanding artwork on display in the lobby.

The Epitome of Teamwork and Collaboration

Anyone who has attended a Living Canvas performance is familiar with the creative choreography and disciplined dance movements that define each show. What audience members do not see, however, is an equally precise and choreographed sequence of tasks that the cast members complete behind the scenes before and after each performance as they set up and later dismantle all of the stage elements. With the addition of the water feature in this years show called Rain, the list of tasks is longer than ever as cast members set up two scaffold units, readjust stage lights, install a frame and pool liner on the stage floor, and hook up an overhead water delivery system—all in less than 30 minutes after the audience from the Salome performance exits the theater. The cast of 14 performers completes these tasks quickly and efficiently and their cooperative efforts provide additional evidence of the cohesiveness of this cast.

This cohesive and collaborative spirit has been a core quality of each Living Canvas ensemble over the years, and it is a testament to the skill and sensitivities that Pete Guither and his artistic team bring to each new show. Directors always hope that they can develop a productive sense of camaraderie when they assemble and work with a cast of performers, but when those performers work nude for the entire length of a show in a small space illuminated only by projected images, it is essential that every individual enjoys the trust and respect of every other dancer on stage. This year, Guither and director Gaby Labotka accomplished this goal in remarkable fashion, even in the face of the additional set-up and performance challenges that come with adding an overhead rain curtain and collecting pool to the mix.


As noted on the Living Canvas web site, “each show has had a different theme and structure, but all celebrate the power of the human body to be an expressive canvas, with an underlying theme of body acceptance. In fact, each show not only has a Q and A session following, but also an opportunity for adventurous audience members to see what it's like to be a Living Canvas”. When the 14 cast members came out after the performance of Rain this past Saturday for the traditional discussion segment, they were all very eloquent as they responded to questions from the audience. They addressed issues of body acceptance, the process by which the bonds of trust and respect were nurtured among cast members, and their thoughts about performing nude, a new experience for several of the performers.

The candid and spirited comments by these intrepid performers serve to reaffirm the core values of the Living Canvas concept and remind us once again of the importance of a theatrical festival in which the artistic directors and performers have the vision and the courage to take on such challenging issues in an enlightened and creative manner. If you have not had the opportunity to witness this dazzling display of music, dance, and projected images, be sure to see Rain this summer and immerse yourself in the Living Canvas experience.