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The Distant Flight of Birds and Other Works

LINKS HALL
December 15 – 17 | 7 p.m.

Chicago, IL- Come join us for this compilation of thought-provoking and entertaining acts. The Distant Flight of Birds and Other Works features a series of performances centered on music, storytelling and imagery.

When: December 15th, 16th and 17th at 7 p.m.

Where: Links Hall / 3111 N. Western Ave. / Chicago IL 60618

Tickets: $15 advance, $20 at the door via Ticketfly.com

The evening kicks off with Black Cat Theatre taking us on an exploration of the female experience through image and puppetry inside the visceral beauty of Manuel de Falla’s Siete Canciones Populares Españoles.

Nelia Miller, in conjunction with Mozawa, will perform Cetology, a re-telling of Ahab and Jonah’s stories and a telling of what happens after. Cetology examines the destructive and nurturing sides of both ourselves and our relationships.

Award-winning author Abby Geni will read “Landscaping,” a short story from her first book, The Last Animal, about parenthood, love, autism, and the moon.

The night leads up to The Distant Flight of Birds, a series of original songs developed out of a six-week exploration by 16 Chicago-based artists and therapists around themes from the Grimms Brothers’ “Seven Ravens.” These songs are a meditation on the themes of the family cycles and our struggles to mend what becomes broken. The Distant Flight of Birds is a debut work-in-progress.

About the Performers:

Black Cat Theatre is the name under which Mikalina Rabinsky collaborates with other creative artist types and where interdisciplinary theatrical works are explored and developed through devising and play. Past works include Le Cat Show, A Tiny Republic, A Little Party and The Black Geese. Artists: Susan Payne O’Brien, Soprano | Nyela Basney, Pianist | Mikalina Rabinsky, Director and Designer

Nelia Miller is an accomplished actor, singer, and model now residing in the Chicago area. Mozawa is a Chicago-based incubator advancing collaborative art and artists.​ Websites: www.neliamiller.com and www.mozawa.org

Abby Geni is the author of The Lightkeepers, winner of the 2016 Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award for Fiction and the inaugural Chicago Review of Books Awards for Best Fiction, and The Last Animal (2013), an Indies Introduce Debut Writers Selection and a finalist for the Orion Book Award.  Her short stories have won first place in the Glimmer Train Fiction Open and the Chautauqua Contest and have appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies.  Geni is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and a recipient of the Iowa Fellowship. Website: www.abbygeni.com

The Distant Flight of Birds created by Sarah Bendix, Lara Golan, and Susan Payne O’Brien will be performed by Forte Chicago singers: Leah Hungerford, Amanda Neal, Alex Salas, Alexandra Plattos Sulack, and Angela Torres-Kutkuhn. More information here.

Fabulous Faculty Showcase!

Mrs. Murphy & Son’s Irish Bistro
November 17 | 8 p.m.

You won’t want to miss this treat to see your teachers in action! The evening of entertainment from the Voice Lab faculty and staff takes you through opera, music theater, jazz, pop, and original songs!

In case you did miss the recital, you can catch a recording of our LIVE stream here. 

La La Lady Show

Forte Chicago presents the La La Lady Show, an operatic sketch comedy spectacular! You won’t believe your ears and eyes as these ladies push the boundary of what passes for an operatic good time. When their comedy goes high, be prepared to go la la low. You won’t want to miss this show of new bits from Chicago’s only all-female, operatic, sketch comedy performers.

Featuring the talents of Forte Divas Susan O’Brien, Angela Torres, Amanda Noelle Neal, Soprano, Alexandra Plattos Sulack, Alex Salas, Erica Wilens, Leah Hungerford and Margaret Izard. With musical stylings and compositions by the talented Heidi Joosten and design by Sarah Bendix.

Buy your tickets now because these ladies will sell out and you won’t want to miss these never before seen bits!

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Stay after Forte’s show for the Story & Sketch improv and storytelling performance at 9:30.

Use code LALALADY for $5 Story & Sketch tickets.

Saturday, October 28 | 7:30 pm
Saturday, November 4 | 7:30 pm
Saturday, November 11 | 7:30 pm
Saturday, November 18 | 7:30 pm

Tickets: $15
www.fortechicago.com

Piven Theatre
927 Noyes St, Evanston

The divas of Forte Chicago will perform the Chicago premier of “The Gauntlet” at three lunchtime pop-up concerts near the Loop as part of the Make Music Chicago celebration on June 21. “The Gauntlet” is an interactive choral presentation by composer Sxip Shirey, where the audience is encouraged to walk between the singers. Forte Chicago is an ensemble of women who use comedy, spectacle, and improvisation to push the boundaries of operatic entertainment. Check the Make Music Chicago online schedules for times and locations.