"Playful and intelligent whimsy."
- TimeOut Chicago
"Entertaining and clever...touching scenes... laugh-out-loud funny."
- Splash Magazine
"...touching pathos and humor, colorful characters...a charming and clever testimony to love and loss that is imaginatively directed by Sarah Norris."
- Chicago Theater and Arts
Production photos by Tom McGrath
The Making of Still Dance
Learn more about the development of Still Dance the Stars
from Director Sarah Norris, choreographer Ashlee Wasmund & producer/actor Michael Aguirre.
Video by Zach Griffin
The People of Still Dance
Read a terrific interview with actors Bethany Geraghty, Courtney Knysch, and Michael Aguirre speaking about their upbringing and influences around Chicago.
MEET THE ARTISTS
Click here to read the team bios.
James - Martel Manning (Chicago-based)
Anne - Bethany Geraghty* (NYC-based from Chicago)
Hope - Ariana Sepúlveda (Philly-based)
Ashley - Courtney Knysch* (NYC-based from Chicago)
Phillip - Michael Aguirre* (NYC-based from Chicago)
Clayton - Carl Jaynes* (NYC-based from Chicago)
Margaret - Claudia Campbell* (NYC-based)
Layna O'Rion - Dana Martin* (LA-based)
DJ Spinner - Kaycee Jordan (Chicago-based)
Written by Jayme McGhan (North Carolina-based)
Directed by Sarah Norris* (NYC-based)
Choreography by Ashlee Wasmund* (North Carolina-based)
Line Producing by D. Aguirre (Chicago-based)
Set & Costume Design by Ashleigh Poteat* (New Jersey-based)
Lighting Design by John Kelly (Chicago-based)
Sound Design by Andy Evan Cohen* (NYC-based)
Stage Management by Becs Bartle (Chicago-based)
Technical Direction by Alan Weusthoff (Chicago-based)
Technical Support from Justin Glombicki (Chicago-based)
Press Representation by The Heron Agency (Chicago-based)
* indicates NLTP company member
Subsidized studio space provided by the A.R.T./New York Creative Space Grant, supported by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.”
Rehearsal pics by Hunter Canning
About the Play
Six years after their viral marriage proposal video swept the internet, James and Anne begrudgingly prepare for yet another nationally televised interview with a notoriously difficult TV anchor. The night before the interview, James and Anne drunkenly battle for and against their marriage using a box of stuffed animals won from various carnivals as symbolic characters from their real lives. One special stuffed animal, Hope the Hippo, makes it her quest to rekindle the flame of love that James and Anne once shared.
Still Dance the Stars is a highly theatrical story about the struggles of love in the face of unthinkable loss.
2017 Grafting Project Recipient
A co-production with Chicago Dramatists
August 25 - September 15, 2017
Chicago Dramatists - 1105 W Chicago Avenue