The Jerks Who Are Making This Shit, Pt. 10

Here we are! Opening night! And our final jerk!

But first, a shout out to all our other little jerks:

Our kickass assistant directors: Moira Begale, Devan Cameron, Adam McDowell, and Jeremy Ohringer.

All the other very special people: Olivia Lilley & The Parlor; Joe Stearns, Ronan Marra, Stephanie Ingram & Signal Ensemble Theatre; Erica Barnes; Jesus Contreras; Lloyd Mulvey; and everyone who's worked with us on Nines past.

And of course: you. all of you who have come to see a previous part of The Nine. all of you who are coming to see Part Four. all of you who are reading this. you're all our favorite little jerks. thanks.

NOW! DOWN TO IT!

I left Anthony DeMarco as the final Jerk to be introduced because he tends to be the calming center once this cast gets up and running. I thought that would be a good energy to evoke going into opening. Of course, there was the time he went on a rampage and threw everything not nailed down into one corner of the basement. Or the multiple times pissed off Anthony came out when other people wouldn't go to sleep when he wanted them to. Or that Friday he sent out a gchat trying to figure out why he didn't get a post on the blog yet because it's already opening night.

Okay, revision: Anthony's the calming center most of the time. And the rest of the time? Watch yoself. He'll show you what he's working with.

AND NOW, FOR THE THIRD TIME WITH THE NINE, OUR FINAL JERK:

Anthony DeMarco aka Nose aka Anthony DeMarco!

Bio: Anthony (Anthony market) and market New York soalan arrtshye seneatshai stravdog director Red Hat 9 and the number of brain cells.

The Jerks Who Are Making This Shit, Pt. 9

It's the home stretch, pals! Tomorrow night we open! Tomorrow night we party! (Well, that's not necessarily exclusive to tomorrow, but roll with me.) Tomorrow night we take over the whole damn world! I mean, the whole damn basement of 1434 N. Western! Set your sights high!

So, you're probably asking why there's a picture of Batman on this post. Reasonable question. But look closer. Is that Batman? Or is it Nick Mikula? Or... could it be... both? Just ponder for a second.

All you lovelies -- for the third time with The Nine, put your god damn bathands together for!!!!

Nick Mikula aka Neck aka Nick Mikula!

Bio: Success, "Macbeth" (Greece), 500 (Jing) 1000 Hot Night (Seneca Chicago) and eight defeats Caroline and John, I miklos "(center) selected song (the Council) (right)."

The Jerks Who Are Making This Shit, Pt. 8

Oh hello, didn't see you there. Was just sitting here reading the Chicago Reader's review of The Gas Heart. Would you like to see?

"Go lie down," say each of the six disembodied characters—Eye, Mouth, Nose, Ear, Neck, and Eyebrow—at the end of Tristan Tzara's brash, non sequiturial Dada masterpiece. And on opening night all the actors lay motionless, muttering, "Go to sleep," for so long that half the audience (half being two people) walked out. Director Bries Vannon's ingeniously aggravating finale to the Nine's raw, chaotic production, staged in an unfinished residential basement, is an assault on middle-class theatrical convention that brings Tzara's playful aesthetic thrillingly to life. The preceding hour, however, doesn't. Vannon discards Tzara's tight rhythms and exacting structure in favor of a middling free-for-all, as the performers futz listlessly and toss out occasional lines from the script. Rather than high-relief absurdity, it's featureless diddling. —Justin Hayford

Look at that -- something for everyone. Featureless diddling, an assault on middle-class theatrical convention, ingenious aggravation, raw chaos, listless futzing, ALL THE FUN WORDS.

We officially open this Friday, which means a full third of your chances to see this show happen this weekend. A. Full. Third. You know what to do.

Today, we meet Mary Jo -- you might remember her from her previous adventures in Part Two. Actually, let me rephrase: you damn well better remember her from her previous adventures in Part Two. And speaking of our review, MJ has something she wants on the official record. She says all of her lines from The Gas Heart. At some point. In some manner. Somewhere.

INNNNNNNTRODUCING!

 Mary Jo Bolduc aka Mouth aka Mary Jo Bolduc!

Bio: I - ... The good news arrtshye Chicago and rural life, stress and vspk room komedisportz akavavit to be able to follow the nine ships, thank you ... A cheese.

The Jerks Who Are Making This Shit, Pt. 7

Well, it's almost here -- final dress tonight, previews tomorrow and Sunday, and then we open next Friday! Jesus H., you all, they grow up so fast. Before you know it, we'll be kissing the Porn Room goodbye, except not literally, because gross.

Nah, j/k. We've got plenty of other nasty things to do to the Porn Room before we bid adieu.

There's still a few folks you're waiting to meet, but today I wanna bring it back a notch for the only one of this crew that I feel ever-so-slightly bad about calling a Jerk Who Is Making This Shit. Michelle Carlene Roth, our all-star stage manager, kinda sorta got roped into this gig by a half-lie on my part. "Super-easy gig," I said, "the only thing you really have to do is make sure everyone's alive!" And, technically, that's not wrong. Except I left out the part where Michelle also has to put up with the theatrical equivalent of seven (eight if you count me) toddlers eating their way out of a pile of Pixy Stix. Or the part where 'make sure everyone's alive' isn't necessarily the cakewalk you'd think. Or the part about The Basement. The other day, during a particularly hectic rehearsal (...the one where the cast discovered fire...), I mentioned that I felt like Kindergarten Cop. Michelle signed up for a full run as Kindergarten Cop. God bless her.

BUT! She also gets to be 100% in charge of the dance break. So don't try and tell me there aren't perks.

YOU MAY REMEMBER HER AS A DANCING OSTRICH! NOW SEE HER AS ONE OF ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER'S LESSER ROLES:

Michelle Carlene Roth aka Dear God, How Does She Do It? aka Michelle Carlene Roth!

Bio: Michael Carl clean rooms, modern and contemporary theater Chicago Theatre Chicago, stroke, heart disease, and Mitchell, South Dakota, Asia, and the number of games bovavo mud volcano Prometheus credit increase. Center towers (ACE), the Pacific, see