THEATRE Y LEADS CHICAGO INTO A WALKING DREAM

Chicago’s own Performance Poet Marvin Tate combines the story of a forgotten Black artist with his own childhood memories in LAUGHING SONG: A WALKING DREAM. During a four-hour journey combining street comedy, happenings, humor rituals, poetry, dance, and--yes!--a meal, audiences will have the chance to listen to the music of laughter from the past even as they help create a Laughing Song for the future.

Performances run July 30 through August 28, 2022
Sat-Sun, 3 PM-7 PM (dinner included)

The show begins and ends at the YMEN Center at 1241 S. Pulaski, Chicago

Tickets are FREE thanks to our Members!
Members and Donations Welcome!

In 1890, a New York busker named George W. Johnson was “discovered” by phonograph company representatives looking for talent and became the world’s first Black recording artist. Johnson was initially known for his whistling, but his greatest hit turned out to be a novelty number called “The Laughing Song”. The lyrics were as racially ugly as the times, but the chorus was delightful—and maybe a little defiant. “And then I laughed,” Johnson sang,

“Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!
I could not help from laughing,
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha…

Johnson rode the laughter for about 15 years, recording his song on as many as 50,000 individual wax cylinders, until the advent of technology that made it possible to press an infinite number of copies from a single master recording. Neither necessary nor as popular as he’d once been, Johnson spent some of his last years as a doorman at a theater. He died of pneumonia and was buried in an unmarked grave along with his story.

Until now.

The spirit of George W. Johnson lives again in Laughing Song: A Walking Dream, a participatory, promenade-style theater experience written and performed by multi-disciplinary artist and performance poet Marvin Tate and the artists of Theatre Y. A native of North Lawndale, Tate will channel Johnson’s dreamlike presence and his own childhood as he leads us through his home streets in search of true laughter. During a four-hour journey combining street comedy, happenings, humor rituals, poetry, dance, and--yes!--a meal, audiences will have the chance to listen to the music of laughter from the past even as they help create a Laughing Song for the future.

Laughing Song is also a playful investigation into the nature, and even the science, of laughter itself, exploring techniques to decrease stress, improve blood flow, and change our brainwaves.  Laughing Song opens the imagination to a big idea: that we can use humor as a tool for community building, enhancing our own psychological well-being, and improving our quality of life.  

Directed by Melissa Lorraine, co-written by poet/artist Marvin Tate and dramaturg Evan Hill, and Devised by the Theatre Y Ensemble.

This production is supported by the MacArthur International Connections Fund and Theatre Y’s Members. Performances run July 30-August 28, 2022, each Saturday and Sunday, from 3-7pm, the performance will begin and end at YMEN (1241 S. Pulaski). Reserve your ticket.

BIOS

Marvin's art is exhibited in many galleries and museums, including The Intuit Museum in Chicago, one of the world's premier museums dedicated to presenting self-taught “outsider” art. Tate is represented by The Hana Pietri Gallery in Chicago.

Director and Theatre Y Co-Founding Artistic Director Melissa Lorraine - Graduating from Northern Illinois University with a B.F.A. in acting, Lorraine became a company member of Studio K in Budapest, Hungary. Co-founding Theatre Y with now deceased Director Christopher Markle. Premiering the English language version of Transylvanian writer András Visky’s JULIET with over two hundred performances worldwide. Starring in Visky’s I KILLED MY MOTHER, earning a Chicago’s Best Actress Orgie Award. Lauded by The Chicago Reader for turning even an “overwritten” and “implausible script” into “probing, harrowing, hallucinogenic truth,” for her Directorial work on VINCENT RIVER. In 2013 Lorraine directed the world premiere of THE BINDING, a collaboration between Theatre Y and two acclaimed Serbian/Hungarian choreographers, which was a cover feature of the Chicago Reader. Collaborating with Georges Bigot for one year (2015-16), Lorraine developed the Theatre Y Ensemble of 12 actors, according to the traditions of the Theatre du Soleil. She now leads this ensemble to discover a common language and a new way to work, searching for a way to make theater without the “dictator”. In 2018 she began to research Movement Therapy for Trauma Rehabilitation, and works with both harmed and responsible parties at Stateville Correctional Center.

Dramaturg Evan Hill—Evan is a dramaturg, critic, educator, and writer.  His work moves between academic and artistic contexts, and his current research focuses on the history and theory of experimental comedy. He is the associate editor of Yale’s Theater, an academic journal devoted to contemporary theater and performance practices, and has served as teaching fellow at Yale School of Drama and Boston University.  He’s the conceiver of Theatre Y’s Camino Project, and has worked as a playwright, dramaturg, and sometimes actor for the company over the last decade.  He holds an MFA in Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism from Yale School of Drama, where he is currently a DFA candidate. 

Music Direction, Composition, Cello and Banjo Performance: Olula Negre
Sound Design: Kimberly Sutton
Set and Props Design: Henry Wilkinson
Rehearsal Stage Manager and Assistant Director: Kayla Adams
Production Stage Manager: Jordan Large
Assistant Stage Managers: Cat Evans and Steffen Garcia
Executive and Production Assistant: Emily Bragg
Production Consultants: Haman Cross III and Sojourner Zenobia
Graphic Designer: Jimi Geiyer
Cinematographer and Photographer: Justin Jones
Chef: Joseph Cooper
Assistant to Chef: Arlene Arnone

August Garrett (he/they) (Ensemble) is a senior student at the Chicago Highschool for The Performing Arts(ChiArts) and is majoring in musical theatre. He is a singer, actor, dancer, and has been playing the violin for 11 years. August has starred as Seymour Krelbourne in Little Shop of Horrors, Lucas in The Addams Family Musical, Fipp in Urinetown, and is now a part of the Theatre Y ensemble! August is reaching towards becoming a Broadway actor, hoping to be inspiration, and representation to other aspiring black and transgender actors and actresses.

Lamarion Hall and Roesha Townsel have been training with Theatre Y’s Youth program in North Lawndale since the start of the year, studying spoken word with Marvin Tate and masks with Michael Montenegro. They are bright young stars, exploding with talent. This is their second time on the Theatre Y stage, but their first full production.

Nadia Pillay is a Chicago based actress that is pleased to have joined the Theatre Y Ensemble after appearing in Stories of the Body and Self-Accusation. Prior to that she collaborated with McKaw Theatre in Its Ok To Say Goodbye. She will be returning to the McKaw Theatres's stage this summer for the premier of Continuous Cut. She has been a Theatre Y Ensemble Member since 2018.

Cat Evans (she/they) (Ensemble) is a Chicago actor, voice over artist, and Theatre Y ensemble member. They recieved their BFA in acting from NIU and there favorite song about laughing is I love to laugh from Mary Poppins. They are happy and excited to be doing this show with new and lovely faces! They have been a part of the past 2 Caminos and are exciting to be doing this journey for the third time. Their most recent shows were Medea Material (Trap Door), What if (Trap Door), and You are Here (Theatre Y). 

Eric K. Roberts (Ensemble) is an actor, photographer, and social worker living and working on Chicago‘s West Side. He is a Theatre Y ensemble member since 2016.

Kezia Waters (Ensemble) I would define myself as a Multidisciplinary Artist. Having been influenced by my Theatre Arts background I value the importance of storytelling and dialogue. I do not see dialogue as being limited to things that are audibly stated but what the work sounds like in between the pages of performance. My work leans heavily into sonic performance, I like the idea of deep listening for understanding, incorporating body and emotional intelligence as strong values. Things are repeated, chopped, elongated, reduced and expanded based on how I feel within the immediacy of a moment. Time Traveling is not only a subject matter in most of my work but a method of creation/ a praxis/ a pedagogy. I push against, overlap and reject syncopation often. Growing up in The Black Pentecostal Church traditions, despite my queerness, I think of my work as trying to find that which is holy, whole, holistic and/ or holds within Black and/or Queer functionality. I do this often through spiritual surrealism and traditional folkloric techniques.

Olula Negre (Music Director/Composer/Performer) A descendant of two migrations fleeing US imperialism that converged on Cleveland, OH, experimental sound artist and activist, olula negre, is a cellist, improviser, composer, and visual artist whose work is rooted in their Black American and Latinx heritage, Afrofuturism, and queerness. With a deep commitment to social justice, olula creates and interprets works that embody principles of radical honesty, self-love, and equity. They are enthusiastic about collaborating across genres and mediums and have played alongside dancers, visual artists, actors, and singer-songwriters.

Steffen Diem Garcia (Ensemble and Assistant Stage Manager) is excited to perform with Theatre Y for the first time. Bringing this piece of history to life is an amazing honor. George W. Johnson helped create & shape the music industry we know it today. Steffen is repped by the Rock Agency. Recently, he starred & produced the film "The Last House of Horror" directed & shot by Manny Velazquez; premiering Friday, October 13th, 2023! www.steffendiemgarcia.com

Christine Watt (ensemble) is an actor and dramaturg who has previously worked in North Carolina, Maryland, and Texas. She relocated to Chicago during the pandemic and has enjoyed jumping into Chicagoland theatre, most recently in Come Undone at Three Brothers Theatre. She is so pleased to be working with Theatre Y for the first time.  In 2020, Christine graduated with a BA in Theatre from High Point University, where some of her favorite productions included Men on Boats, The Amish Project, and Photograph 51. When not making theatre, she can be found baking cakes or running on the 606 to justify the cake-intake. She’s grateful to Theatre Y for unearthing George W. Johnson's important story, as well as to the audiences who have stepped up to walk this journey with us. 

Jordan Large (Production Stage Manager) moved from Kansas to Chicago in 2018 to pursue their art career; having directed their first full length play at 17, and won their first short film award at 18. They have since been involved in film, theater and photography as a performer as well as a composer/crew member; and have gained representation through DDO Artists of Chicago. 

Arlene Arnone (Chef’s Assistant and Ensemble) became part of the Theatre Y Ensemble following her appearance in their production of Self-Accusation in 2019. Her last production was in The Elgin Theatre's production of Over The River and Through The Woods as Emma Cristano. This past November she appeared in Gallery Theatre's production of Last Romance and The Jewish Theatre of Elgin's production of Rosenstrasse as The Baroness. Arlene returned to her first love, the theatre, in 1997 when she retired to Florida after having run her own international advertising business. She immediately joined Curtain Call Playhouse in Pompano Beach and debuted in their first production, Last of the Red Hot Lovers as both 'Jeanette' & stage manager. She was involved in all aspects of that theatre, from acting and backstage work to Assistant Artistic Director.Her first love remained acting and she appeared in Romantic Comedy, My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music and Blythe Spirit. After her return to the Chicago area in 2013, she joined Theatre of Western Springs and has served on several crews, including Hospitality, Box Office, Paint & Costumes. She became TWS' Annual Costume Chair in 2014 and costumed Slaughterhouse Five, The Dinner Party, The Man Who Came To Dinner. & Rumors. Her acting roles at TWS were Louisa Cortlandt in Design for Murder in 2014 and Jesse in Calendar Girls in 2015. In September 2016 she played both Helen & Mrs. Hedges in Elmhurst's GreenMan Theatre Troupe's production of Born Yesterday and followed that with costuming GMTT's production of Nickle & Dimed in November. This past September she returned to the James Downing Theatre to reprise her role as Rose in Men Are Dogs, having played Rose in Old Ringers in September 2017. In 2015 she added film to her resume and since then has appeared in a number of student films for Colombia College, DePaul University as well as Northwestern and Loyola. She's also appeared in several short films, the most recent of which she shot in Milwaukee, WI called Walter's Wedding. Recently Someplace began playing on YouTube and she's done several stints on the Chicago TV shows....Fire, Med, PD, Empire and a brand new TV pilot which hopefully will be seen sometime in 2019, along with an episode of a new series called Proven Innocent.

This production is graciously being hosted by:

Young Men’s Educational Network - For nearly 30 years this organization has been growing leaders. We’re so proud to know so many of these extraordinary men and women today! Thank you for hosting this production!

Stone Temple Church - We are so grateful for the support of Pastor Reshorna Fitzpatrick and everyone who has joined our rehearsals!

Homan Rails Farm - We are so thankful for the way they have opened their space to our efforts and hope gardeners will consider volunteering!
https://www.wholekidsfoundation.org/blog/homan-rails-farm-from-old-railroad-tracks-to-a-flourishing-farm
volunteer page

History of The Camino Project 

• Laughing Song: A Walking Dream is the third iteration of Theatre Y’s Camino Project, which emerged from the ensemble’s 2017 walk across Spain’s Camino de Santiago, a 500-mile pilgrimage route dating from the 9th century. 

• In 2019, Theater Y extended the Camino experience to Chicago audiences, creating a five-mile performative trek designed to immerse attendees in journeys both physical and internal, real and imaginary, alone and in improvised community.  Josh Flanders of the Chicago Reader called the 2019 Camino Project “a theatrical experience unlike any other." Writing for Picture This Post, Amy Munice exclaimed, "What a LIFE experience this production is!”

• In 2021,Theatre Y worked in partnership with approximately 80 artists, community leaders, and organizations across a dozen communities. to create YOU ARE HERE: The Emerald Camino, which offered an urban pilgrimage through Chicago’s “Emerald Necklace”—the boulevard system that links the great public parks on Chicago's west and south sides. During its six-week run, YOU ARE HERE convened in Logan Square, Humboldt Park, East Garfield Park, North Lawndale, Little Village, Back of the Yards, Englewood, Washington Park, Bronzeville, Hyde Park, Woodlawn, and Jackson Park. Led by the Theatre Y ensemble, each four-mile route incorporated significant historic, social, cultural, and religious sites, and included performances by local artists, singers, dancers and poets.