TimeLine Theatre presents The Front Page

Mar 17, 2011
The Front Page

TimeLine Theatre Company presents The Front Page by Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, directed by TimeLine Associate Artistic Director Nick Bowling, April 16 - June 12, 2011 (previews April 12 through April 15) at TimeLine Theatre, 615 W. Wellington Ave., Chicago.

In this landmark comedy set inside the crowded pressroom at Chicago's Criminal Courts Building during the 1920s, a group of reporters covers a controversial execution and exposes the rampant corruption, scandal and hi-jinx associated with Windy City politics and journalism. In reviving this quintessential Chicago classic, TimeLine will highlight the wealth of local history embedded in Hecht and MacArthur's semi-autobiographical script and bring to life the toughness and grittiness inherent in its tale of rough-and-tumble reporters and politicians jockeying for control of a story and the city.

"I am so excited to be bringing The Front Page to TimeLine's stage, a play we have been talking about for a long time," said TimeLine Artistic Director PJ Powers. "It's a treasure trove of Chicago history with extraordinary - and often hilarious - insight into the political and media machines of 1920s Chicago."

"This play has characters who are beautiful and ugly at the same time," said director Nick Bowling. "The beauty comes through in the ways that they love their jobs and the ugliness sometimes in the ways that they do their jobs. This production goes back to the original text of the script so it can live in the real and sometimes dark place that Hecht and MacArthur wanted to expose when they wrote it."

The 18-member cast of The Front Page features TimeLine Artistic Director PJ Powers as Hildy Johnson and TimeLine Associate Artist Terry Hamilton as Walter Burns, with Bill McGough, Rob Riley, Larry Baldacci, Don Blair, Angela Bullard, Malcolm Callan, Rob Fagin, Alex Goodrich, John Gray, Michael Kingston, Laurie Larson, Loren Lazerine, Mike McNamara, Mechelle Moe, Bridgette Pechman Clarno and Mark Richard.
 
To purchase tickets or for more information, call the TimeLine Theatre Box Office at 773.281.8463 x6 or buy online via timelinetheatre.com.