Songs from an Unmade Bed

Kevin Webb* and Jordan Phelps* star in Songs from an Unmade Bed – This Chicago premiere runs March 29 to April 27 at Apollo Theater Studio

Pride Films & Plays’ next mainstage show is the Chicago premiere of Mark Campbell’s musical revue Songs from an Unmade Bed, a love letter to gay men living in the city. Songs From An Unmade Bed is performed by Kevin Webb* and Jordan Phelps*, joined by understudies Jonas Davidow and Tommy Thurston on percussion, and is directed by Derek Van Barham*, under the music direction of Robert Ollis*.

*Denotes member of PFP’s Artistic Ensemble

Songs from an Unmade Bed explores the experiences (romantic, sexual and otherwise) of two gay men living in the city. Lyricist Mark Campbell worked with eighteen composers (one per song) to create a unique musical revue, accompanied by piano and cello, with gorgeous songs that range from funny, poignant, melancholy and ultimately hopeful about life and love. The composers are Debra Barsha, Mark Bennett, Peter Foley, Jenny Giering, Peter Golub, Jake Heggie, Lance Horne, Stephen Hoffman, Gihieh Lee, Steven Lutvak, Steve Marzullo, Brendan Milburn, Chris Miller, Greg Pliska, Duncan Sheik, Kim D. Sherman, Jeffrey Stock, and Joseph Thalken.

Originally conceived as a one-man show, PFP has divided Songs into a conversation between two on-again, off-again lovers (played by Kevin Webb and Jordan Phelps). The audience is invited to arrive early to have a drink at the bar, mingle with the other guests, and enjoy songs from the pre-show band (joined on alternating nights by Tommy Thurston and Jonas Davidow) . The curtain is at 7:30PM, but the doors open at 7PM. Come relax, unwind, and go wild for once.

Production designs are by Ashley Ann Woods (set), Raquel Adorno (costumes), Cat Wilson (lights), and Kallie Rolison & Derek Van Barham (Sound).

Production Details: Songs from an Unmade Bed

Directed by Derek Van Barham*, Musical Direction by Robert Ollis*

Location: The Apollo Theater Studio, 2540 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago

Previews: Thursday and Friday, March 27 and 28 at 7:30pm

Press performance/opening: Saturday, March 29 at 7:30pm

Regular run: Thursday through Sunday, March 30 through April 27, 2014

Curtain Times: Thursday, Fridays and Saturdays, and Sundays at at 7:30 pm

Tickets: Previews $15. Opening $30. Regular Run: Thursdays $25; Friday, Saturdays, and Sundays $30. Students and seniors: $5 off all performances. Industry: $10 during previews. Tickets are www.ticketmaster.com or 773 935 6100.

Kevin Webb* is a member of the artistic ensemble of Pride Films and Plays. Previous credits with the company include Under A Rainbow Flag and Love Sucks! Other Chicago credits: The Pitchfork Disney (Interrobang Theatre Project – upcoming), Assassins (The GoForth), The Ritz (Circle Theatre), All My Sons (Eclectic Full Contact Theatre), The Taming of the Shrew (Muse of Fire Theatre Company), HMS Pinafore (Light Opera Works) and Forest Fantasies (Lingerie Lyrique). Kevin received his Masters in Music from Roosevelt University. You can also hear Kevin in the choir every Sunday at Saint Clement Church. For more information about Kevin and his burlesque alter-ego Lee O. Narcissus, visit www.kevinwebb.org.

Jordan Phelps* is a recent addition to the PFP Artistic Ensemble after originating the role of Stefano in Under A Rainbow Flag. He has been performing in and around Chicago since 2008. Other Chicago credits include two seasons at Light Opera Works in Oliver and The Student Prince, The Whole World Is Watching with Dog and Pony Theater Company, All the Girls Love Bobby K with Point of Contention, The Ritz at Circle Theater, and Adrift In Macao with Innatevolution Theater Co. Jordan also does regular Supernumerary work with Chicago Opera Theater at The Harris Theater and other public locations and is an avid performer in new works with MODOFAC Productions. He attended the Chicago College of Performing Arts at Roosevelt University and was raised in Bellingham, WA.

About the Lyricist

Mark Campbell is one of the most in-demand librettists working in opera today, recently profiled in Opera News as one of twenty-five people “poised…to become major forces in opera in the coming decade.” He has collaborated with many leading composers of this generation, including Mark Adamo, William Bolcom, Ricky Ian Gordon, Jake Heggie, Martin Hennessy, Paul Moravec, John Musto, Kevin Puts, Richard Peaslee and Michael Torke. His most successful operas include Volpone, Later the Same Evening, Bastianello/ Lucrezia, Rappahannock County, and Silent Night. Mark has received many prestigious awards for his work. Most recently, Silent Night was honored with the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in Music. Volpone received a 2010 Grammy® nomination for best Classical Recording. He also received the first Kleban Foundation Award for Lyricist, two Richard Rodgers Awards and a New York Foundation for the Arts Playwriting Fellowship. As a lyricist, Mark penned all of the lyrics for Songs from an Unmade Bed, a theatrical song cycle with music by 18 composers including Jake Heggie and Duncan Sheik. Other musicals for which he has written lyrics include: And the Curtain Rises, The Audience, Splendora, Akin, and Light Shall Lift Them.

The Composers

Debra Barsha, Mark Bennett, Peter Foley, Jenny Giering, Peter Golub, Jake Heggie, Lance Horne, Stephen Hoffman, Giheih Lee, Steven Lutvak, Steve Marzullo, Brendan Milburn, Chris Miller, Greg Pliska, Duncan Sheik, Kim D. Sherman, Jeffrey Stock, Joseph Thalken. Their bios are available at www.pridefilmsandplays.com.

About Pride Films and Plays

Pride Films and Plays fosters excellence in writing for the stage and screen with LGBT themes by linking an international network of writers to our Artistic Ensemble in Chicago and professionals working in the field internationally. Using stories with gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender characters or themes, Pride Films and Plays develops human stories that speak for the community and is essential viewing for all audiences.

PFP’s contests – the Great Gay Play Contest, Women’s Work (for works by women with lesbian characters or themes) and the Great Gay Screenplay Contest – reach their conclusion during Festival Weekends of readings and workshops sponsored by Center on Halsted. Writers from around the world have worked with PFP’s Artistic Ensemble in extensive rehearsals and performances of “enhanced staged readings” which include movement, blocking, and technical elements. Our Gay Play Weekend for 2014 is May 9 to 11 at Center on Halsted’s Hoover-Leppen Theater.

PFP’s fully staged productions include reinvigorated classics, Chicago premieres, and world premieres of scripts that have been developed in the contests. Those productions have included 2012 Gay Play Contest winner At The Flash by Sean Chandler and David Leeper was Jeff-recommended in Chicago, a successful run in Los Angeles, and a trip to the Dublin International Gay Theater Festival. Fully produced shows last season included a 20^th Anniversary Production of Beautiful Thing by Jonathan Harvey, and Under A Rainbow Flag by Leo Schwartz, which won the Jeff Award for Best New Work and Best Musical Production, and included Songs From An Unmade Bed actors Kevin Webb and Jordan Phelps and Music Director Robert Ollis.

This season’s productions have included the world premiere of Directions for Restoring the Apparently Dead by Martin Casella, and the Jeff Recommended 80^th Anniversary revival of The Children’s Hour by Lillian Hellman.

For more information on contests or productions, visit www.pridefilmsandplays.com.