This week at GiGi’s Chicago

That’s all there is to say about our Teen Drama Club’s performance last Sunday. There were laughs (like when a Juliet told one of her scene partners to stop bothering her because she was “still dead), tears (it’s a tragedy, after all) and, overwhelmingly, pride, both from the teens, who clearly had a great time and put in a huge amount of effort, and from the audience, to see all that hard work pay off.

We are all indebted to our two tireless program heads/volunteers Katie Yohe and Mallory Schuh, who worked every week with the teens, as they decided which play to perform (“R&J” beat out “Robin Hood” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”), gave them all a chance to play their favorite characters (the leads were designated by costume, so everyone had a chance to play Romeo or Juliet) and recruited volunteers to partner during the performance to take away from the pressure of memorizing lines. Katie and Mallory deserve a huge standing ovation from all of us involved with the Playhouse for building something great. We can’t wait to see what they come up with in future sessions.

We also need to acknowledge the individuals and organizations who helped make the Drama Club (and their performance) such a success. Neal Bader and Lauren Warnecke at the Menomonee Club, for donating the performance space; Chicago Bagel Authority, for donating refreshments for the post-show reception; Bruce Coville; Crepes A Latte Cafe, Shirts Illustrated, which created the shirts to help us identify the Capulets and the Montagues; Marilyn Halperin, director of education and communications for the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre; Chris Matthews, of the House Theatre Company; Molly McCoy, of the Joffrey Ballet Trainee Program; Patrick Spottiswoode, director of education at Shakespeare’s Globe Theater; Sara Schuh, Jordan Jodon, Maria Yohe and the volunteers/line coaches for the evening: Jen, Justin, Lawrence and Phil. They all deserve a huge thanks.

Finally, we need to mention that Katie and Mallory pulled this all off with a minimal (as in no) budget. That’s one of the reasons why our 4th Annual Game Night are so important, so we can continue to provide a place for programs like this to grow. If you haven’t registered yet, please do so. We also accept straight financial donations.